Palm Sunday March 28th, 2010
Today we join the millions of Christian voices throughout the centuries who have been faithful to Christ; and along with them, we too desire to shout our loyalty to Christ and even more to show it by our deeds. We call this week Holy, but it could also be called "Loyalty Week."
Sadly, in our day many Christians are like the faithless tragic figures we just heard about the Passion narrative, they have not remained faithful to Christ. Yes, they may give Jesus lip service, but in the end, they preferred comfort, convenience, laziness and emotional highs, instead of steadfast faithfulness, and so loyalty to Christ. Many Christians today preferred a get rich, feel good gospel, instead a Gospel which demands a sharing in the very sufferings of Christ, and so a share in His loving act of redemption. In others words, too many so-called Christians prefer a Jesus without the cross, love without sacrifice, cheap grace, no suffering and no self-denial.
Sadly, many Catholics as well, from Catholic politicians to Catholic news journalist, claim the name Catholic but deny Christ by denying His true Mystical Body, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and her teachings. Yes, they receive ashes on their foreheads, they may even attend Holy Mass and receive communion, but they do so with no faith and thus commit the grave crime of sacrilege. They are not faithful to Christ because they are not faithful to the Vicar of Christ's, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict the XVI. We see this today in the recent vicious and untrue attacks against our beloved Holy Father. Just like with Christ, they don't care about the facts, they distort the facts to further their agendas. In the person of the Holy Father, Christ again is on trial.
Sadly, this lack of faithfulness is shown as well, by the many who will not take part in the beautiful ceremonies of Holy week, ceremonies that remind us of Christ faithfulness to us. Jesus faithfulness to us, took Him from heaven to earth, and then from the cradle to the cross and from the grave to the Resurrection. This week's ceremonies celebrate the great victory He won for us over sin and death by the same cross and the glorious true and historically real resurrection that followed. Too few Christians will take part in these ceremonies because they already do not show their faithfulness to Christ and to His Church by attending Holy Mass every week with full and actual participation; Holy Mass which makes truly present these saving events in our midst, and their power in our lives..."Father forgive them for they not what they do!"
This week reminds us clearly that we have a clear choice, and make no mistake about it, a clear choice of love, one that has eternal consequences. We can be loyal to Christ or disloyal to Him. There is a line that is being drawn in the sand which is becoming more and more pronounced in our day. Which side are we going to be on? True loyalty demands no middle of the road positions--in fact, you get run over in the middle of the road.
The hatred for Christ and His Catholic Church grows stronger. Will we be faithful to Christ? Will we truly love Him, or like the crowds on that first Palm Sunday, merely give Him lip service? For love is shown by deeds not by sweet words. For those who only give Him lip service, they will eventually cry out Crucify Him, Crucify His Church, Crucify His Pope, Crucify His priests, Crucify anyone one who follows Him; and for sure, crucify and mock, and even spit upon, anyone who would kneel or prostrate before a little white Host. They will turn against the followers and adorers of Christ just as those who turned against Christ on Good Friday.
When we look at the Crucifix and contemplate His Passion we see very clearly Jesus' great love for us; And we learn that our King will definitely be faithful to those who are faithful to Him, for He loves those who love Him. We who in faith, praise our King on this first day of the week--Sunday, and do so every first day of the week come hell or high water, we know that Jesus Christ will reward all of those who are faithful to Him, that is those who adore Him as the True and Living God. And so, we pledge our loyalty to Him no matter what the cost, even though many there are who prefer other things, the things of this world to Christ.
Today’s Holy Mass and every Holy Mass is a summary of Holy Week. On Palm Sunday we sing the praises of Jesus Christ; in every single Mass we praise our Lord. On the first Holy Thursday Jesus literally changed bread and wine into His Body and Blood and then gave to the Twelve His own divine power to do the same when He ordained them priests. In every single Holy Mass, through His priests, Jesus again changes bread and wine into His true flesh and blood, into His very self.
On that first Good Friday, Jesus died a bloody death for us; so too in every Mass this same sacrifice is made present to us in an unbloody manner so that we can, along with Jesus on Calvary, offer ourselves to the Father in a holy oblation of love.
On that first Easter Jesus truly rose from the dead; in this and every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass this same resurrection is made actually present so that we can share in its divine power and in its divine fruits.
This Holy Week, beginning with this Holy Mass is the time to recommit ourselves to Christ and fidelity to Him. He is offering us the graces to keep this commitment and to begin to make each and every Mass not only meaningful but effective in our life. If we aren't faithful to the Holy Mass and to the fact that the Eucharist is truly Jesus, God among us in His Human Resurrected body, then we cannot, cannot be faithful to Him our daily lives. Our Loyalty to Christ is in fact shown by our faithfulness to the Holy Eucharist.
There is no loyalty to Christ without loyalty to the Holy Eucharist, because the Eucharist is Christ. And if we truly believe this, then we must live out this belief in our thoughts, words and actions toward the Holy Eucharist. We must come before the Holy Eucharist as if it is God Himself, because It is. We must come before Him in faith, in purity of soul cleansed by confession; and in humility, we must adore Him and fall on our knees and even our faces before His Divine Majesty truly present in the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
It is a prideful people who refuse to fall on their knees before God. If at the name of Jesus every knee must bend, what about before the very person of Jesus. Those who refuse to adore God in the Holy Eucharist are not loyal to Christ....Judas' betrayal was due to His refusal to believe and so adore Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!!! All the apostles, except St. John, abandoned Jesus during the Crucifixion because they would not watch one hour. "Will you not watch one hour with Him?!"
Let us Promise Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, that we will be faithful to Him not only during this week, but during our whole lives by being faithful to His Holy Mass and His Catholic Church and her teachings. Let us adore our God truly among us in the Holy Eucharist with His same human nature which suffered the blows, insults and blasphemies of Evil unbelieving men. In fact, I proposed that we begin 24 hour, seven day a week perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in this very Church. Do we have the faith and the loyalty to Christ to commit to doing so?
Let us shout with our life as well as with our words, the concluding and heaven-shaking words of St. Paul in today’s second reading: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! Let us proclaim with our whole being that HE IS NOT ONLY LORD OVER ALL THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, but that HE IS LORD OVER MY ENTIRE LIFE, NO EXCEPTIONS and He is truly, personally, really present in the Holy Eucharist. So come, come let us in loyalty adore Him, let us give ourselves to Him and to the Father through Him. Let us be willing to go to the cross and face hell itself rather than to be unfaithful to our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.
May Mary, the first of all the faithful disciples of Christ obtain for us the grace to live this commitment of loyalty no matter what, even to the cross, even unto death. Amen.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
In the Eucharist the Father runs to us through the Son.
Fourth Sunday in Lent. Laetare Sunday. March 14th, 2010
Today’s Gospel is well known to all of us; in fact, for many of us, it is one of our favorite passages of the Bible. Certainly, it is one of the most well-loved of all of Jesus’ parables. It could be argued that it is the greatest short story ever told. It is truly a masterpiece. I think the reason for this is that it pricks at our heart, because in it we get an image of He who created our Heart, God our heavenly Father.
We must never forget, that one of the main reasons Jesus came to earth was to show us, the Father. Yes, Jesus came to save us, but He was sent by the Father. Jesus came to reveal the Father, to glorify the Father by doing the Father's Will. Jesus came to be the way for us back to the Father from Whom we came.
In our Gospel today, the Pharisees don't understand why Jesus is eating with sinners. To understand why Jesus eats with sinners is to know the Father. They do not know the Father; if they did, they would understand why Jesus is eating with sinners.
If we are honest with ourselves, we too have to admit that we have a hard time understanding our Father God. Mistakenly, we often rely only on our own limited human understanding of fatherhood in order to make a judgment about how God the Father should act. John Paul II once said, that because our experiences with earthly fathers may have not always been positive we have to be careful we don't put these negative experience onto God. We have to experience the Father in prayer daily so that our ideas of Him are purified of misunderstanding and error. God transcends all human fatherhood.
The only way Jesus' critics in today's Gospel can understand his motives for eating with Sinners is by coming to know the Father. It is the same with us. In order to avoid the attitudes of the Pharisees, we too, have to come to know the Father.
To know the Father is to know Christ. Every single aspect of Jesus' life is a revelation of the Father. In Christ we see the face of the Father. Even more, by telling us the parable of the prodigal Son, Jesus reveals to us the heart of the Father. And so, if we really want to know the Father, this incredible parable reveals much about Him.
The parable begins by really confronting us with the awful truth about ourselves. Because of our fallen human nature, we demand from the Father what we have no right to. We separate ourselves from communion with the Father, intimate friendship with Him. We squander the Father's gifts to us in a life of dissipation. And in our wretched state of desperation we realize that we do not deserve to be called the Father's beloved son or daughter. This is the truth of our situation, the reality of our situation. We need to realize and admit our wretched state, just as the prodigal son did. It took a pig pen for him to realized the state of his soul and his great need for his father.
It has been said that humility is realizing and admitting the truth about ourselves. This is why pride is so bad; it is such a lie. It denies the truth about ourselves and the truth about God and our relationship with Him. Like the prodigal Son we are in so many ways, "still a long way off." The knowledge of our situation, the situation of our sins and our sinfulness can either condemn us, or it can fill us with confidence to return to the house of the father. As mixed up and twisted as the prodigal son is, some grace still manages to enter into his heart and set him on the path home.
I can remember once reading St. Therese the Little the Flower speak about the Father and how we should react to Him. We can be like one son who upon messing up, says to his father, "I am so terrible, so worthless. How can you ever forgive me, I am such a piece of trash." Or we can be like another Son who just doesn't care one way or the other, indifferent to the father and his relationship with Him. Or we can like a third, who upon messing up runs into his father's arms, hugs him and tells his father that He loves him and that he will, with the father's help never offend him again. St. Therese said the actions of this last son is how we should be in our relationship with God. She said that though I sinned a million times, I would run into the Fathers arms, hugging him, telling Him I loved Him, asking for His forgiveness, begging Him for help never to offend Him again. In this we turn the Father's heart to us
The response of the father to the sight of his sinful son is such a stark contrast to the harden, prideful hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees; in their pride they knew nothing of the Father's love and mercy. The overwhelming compassion and mercy of the Father is revealed to us in three actions of the father of the prodigal son; The father runs to his son; he falls on his son's neck in an embrace, and he kisses him.
Unlike St. Therese's image of the son running into his father's arm and hugging him, here it is the Father who does the running, the embracing and the kissing. The Father doesn't even wait for the son to come running, the father runs to him while he is still a long way off. This running of the father, signifies the unabated initiative of the father to be reconciled with his wayward children at all costs. The embrace signifies the Father's desire to have us back, not as dutiful slaves, but as partakers in His boundless love and nature. And the kiss communicates to us a sharing in the Father's own life and being, like the breath of God once breathed into the first man--Adam.
We will never understand God our heavenly Father and his great love for sinners, unless we put ourselves in the position of the prodigal son, and open ourselves to receiving the Father's unmerited mercy, forgiveness and love. To open ourselves up we need to begin by recognizing our great need for the Fathers love. We are still a long way off; but the Father runs to us as well, will we allow Him to embrace us, fall on our neck in an embrace and kiss us.
The perfection of God the Father consists in giving himself wholly to us. As the father says to the older son, "Everything I have is yours." Yet that is precisely what the spoil brat son has forgotten in his blasphemous attempt to make the good father look like a bad father. Let us make sure we don't imitate this son; we cannot know the Father unless we are willing to see ourselves in the prodigal son. Like the father in the parable, the Father says to us, "Everything I have is yours." By giving us His Son, The Father has given us the fullness of His divine riches; everything He has and is; The Eucharist contains the fullness of the Father's divine riches, for the Eucharist contains the fullness of the Father's Son. The Eucharist is whole Jesus.
In the Eucharist the Father In the Eucharist the Father runs to us through His Son; and if we are open by leaving sin behind and turning to the Father, the Father through the Eucharist embraces us and kisses us. To know and understand this, is to know and understand the Father. Holy Mary, daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us!
Today’s Gospel is well known to all of us; in fact, for many of us, it is one of our favorite passages of the Bible. Certainly, it is one of the most well-loved of all of Jesus’ parables. It could be argued that it is the greatest short story ever told. It is truly a masterpiece. I think the reason for this is that it pricks at our heart, because in it we get an image of He who created our Heart, God our heavenly Father.
We must never forget, that one of the main reasons Jesus came to earth was to show us, the Father. Yes, Jesus came to save us, but He was sent by the Father. Jesus came to reveal the Father, to glorify the Father by doing the Father's Will. Jesus came to be the way for us back to the Father from Whom we came.
In our Gospel today, the Pharisees don't understand why Jesus is eating with sinners. To understand why Jesus eats with sinners is to know the Father. They do not know the Father; if they did, they would understand why Jesus is eating with sinners.
If we are honest with ourselves, we too have to admit that we have a hard time understanding our Father God. Mistakenly, we often rely only on our own limited human understanding of fatherhood in order to make a judgment about how God the Father should act. John Paul II once said, that because our experiences with earthly fathers may have not always been positive we have to be careful we don't put these negative experience onto God. We have to experience the Father in prayer daily so that our ideas of Him are purified of misunderstanding and error. God transcends all human fatherhood.
The only way Jesus' critics in today's Gospel can understand his motives for eating with Sinners is by coming to know the Father. It is the same with us. In order to avoid the attitudes of the Pharisees, we too, have to come to know the Father.
To know the Father is to know Christ. Every single aspect of Jesus' life is a revelation of the Father. In Christ we see the face of the Father. Even more, by telling us the parable of the prodigal Son, Jesus reveals to us the heart of the Father. And so, if we really want to know the Father, this incredible parable reveals much about Him.
The parable begins by really confronting us with the awful truth about ourselves. Because of our fallen human nature, we demand from the Father what we have no right to. We separate ourselves from communion with the Father, intimate friendship with Him. We squander the Father's gifts to us in a life of dissipation. And in our wretched state of desperation we realize that we do not deserve to be called the Father's beloved son or daughter. This is the truth of our situation, the reality of our situation. We need to realize and admit our wretched state, just as the prodigal son did. It took a pig pen for him to realized the state of his soul and his great need for his father.
It has been said that humility is realizing and admitting the truth about ourselves. This is why pride is so bad; it is such a lie. It denies the truth about ourselves and the truth about God and our relationship with Him. Like the prodigal Son we are in so many ways, "still a long way off." The knowledge of our situation, the situation of our sins and our sinfulness can either condemn us, or it can fill us with confidence to return to the house of the father. As mixed up and twisted as the prodigal son is, some grace still manages to enter into his heart and set him on the path home.
I can remember once reading St. Therese the Little the Flower speak about the Father and how we should react to Him. We can be like one son who upon messing up, says to his father, "I am so terrible, so worthless. How can you ever forgive me, I am such a piece of trash." Or we can be like another Son who just doesn't care one way or the other, indifferent to the father and his relationship with Him. Or we can like a third, who upon messing up runs into his father's arms, hugs him and tells his father that He loves him and that he will, with the father's help never offend him again. St. Therese said the actions of this last son is how we should be in our relationship with God. She said that though I sinned a million times, I would run into the Fathers arms, hugging him, telling Him I loved Him, asking for His forgiveness, begging Him for help never to offend Him again. In this we turn the Father's heart to us
The response of the father to the sight of his sinful son is such a stark contrast to the harden, prideful hearts of the Scribes and Pharisees; in their pride they knew nothing of the Father's love and mercy. The overwhelming compassion and mercy of the Father is revealed to us in three actions of the father of the prodigal son; The father runs to his son; he falls on his son's neck in an embrace, and he kisses him.
Unlike St. Therese's image of the son running into his father's arm and hugging him, here it is the Father who does the running, the embracing and the kissing. The Father doesn't even wait for the son to come running, the father runs to him while he is still a long way off. This running of the father, signifies the unabated initiative of the father to be reconciled with his wayward children at all costs. The embrace signifies the Father's desire to have us back, not as dutiful slaves, but as partakers in His boundless love and nature. And the kiss communicates to us a sharing in the Father's own life and being, like the breath of God once breathed into the first man--Adam.
We will never understand God our heavenly Father and his great love for sinners, unless we put ourselves in the position of the prodigal son, and open ourselves to receiving the Father's unmerited mercy, forgiveness and love. To open ourselves up we need to begin by recognizing our great need for the Fathers love. We are still a long way off; but the Father runs to us as well, will we allow Him to embrace us, fall on our neck in an embrace and kiss us.
The perfection of God the Father consists in giving himself wholly to us. As the father says to the older son, "Everything I have is yours." Yet that is precisely what the spoil brat son has forgotten in his blasphemous attempt to make the good father look like a bad father. Let us make sure we don't imitate this son; we cannot know the Father unless we are willing to see ourselves in the prodigal son. Like the father in the parable, the Father says to us, "Everything I have is yours." By giving us His Son, The Father has given us the fullness of His divine riches; everything He has and is; The Eucharist contains the fullness of the Father's divine riches, for the Eucharist contains the fullness of the Father's Son. The Eucharist is whole Jesus.
In the Eucharist the Father In the Eucharist the Father runs to us through His Son; and if we are open by leaving sin behind and turning to the Father, the Father through the Eucharist embraces us and kisses us. To know and understand this, is to know and understand the Father. Holy Mary, daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us!
Friday, March 5, 2010
As human beings and children of God, our deepest need is for love to be loved, to love.
Third Sunday in Lent. March 6th, 2010
“Give me a drink.” This simple statement begins the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman in our Gospel today. This simple statement, “Give me a drink” reveals a lot about Jesus, and how he draws this woman into a new and profound relationship with God. The way in which Jesus deals with this woman can also teach us a lot about how Jesus deals with us; how He constantly try to draws us into a deeper friendship and deeper union with Him.
As we begin the story, it is important to note a couple of details: first it was midday- the start of the heat of the day. People just would not go to the well at the midday- it was too hot. They would go first thing in the morning or closer to sundown; it was cooler then. You’d only go at midday if you wanted to avoid others, that is, if you had a reason to hide.
And so, the fact that the Samaritan woman comes at this time reveals to us a lot about her. It reveals that she is definitely an outcast. First, she was a Samaritan, hated by the Jews; second, she was a woman; and third, she was living in sin and so committing public scandal. With this being the case, how does Jesus deal with the situation, with her?
Well first, Jesus takes a bold step here even speaking to a Samaritan woman, not to mention one who is trying to hide. A Jewish man would certainly not address a woman in public; and certainly would not address a Samaritan woman, not to mention a Samaritan woman living in public sin. No wonder why, the Samaritan woman is totally surprised by Jesus; but she was about to be surprised even more.
Jesus then says to her, “Give me a drink.” Unthinkable! If he accepts a drink from her a sinner, a Samaritan, a worse a woman, he will surely become unclean according to Jewish law. Yet, Jesus is poor; He has no bucket. He has no vessel to drink with, but He is really thirsty- it is noon and he has been walking in the heat of the day. Is his thirst just for water, or is it a thirst for something more?
Jesus asks her for water, yet he will say that he is the source of a new type of water—Living Water that will satisfy unlike anything she might have drunk before. Jesus uses this simple request of water to get at something much deeper- a deeper thirst that Him Himself has; He thirsts for her love, for Her heart, for her soul.
As human beings and children of God, our deepest need is for love to be loved, to love. Our souls thirst for love, even more than our bodies thirst for water. Jesus asks her for water, yet the Samaritan woman is the one who ends up asking him for "living water." She begins to see her need as she comes into contact with and experiences the divine person of Jesus, the very source of the living water, of new life - as she experiences the waters of His divine grace and life. And then this woman begins to taste, to drink in the gift of faith that is being offered to her by the one who thirsts not for water, but for her soul.
The story continues with another request from Jesus to the woman- “go and call your husband.” This seems to be quite a jump; yet, in the way Jesus was leading her,” it was the perfect next question. Once Jesus had made a personal contact with her, his divine presence opened up her desire for the love of God. However, Jesus saw the big obstacle in her life which was keeping her from happiness, keeping her from intimacy with God and His love—that obstacle was her sin and the consequences of her sin. This woman was living in adultery as a result of being married before five times.
Through grace, Jesus gently brings her to acknowledge truthfully her sin, yet it was not a condemning way, but very gently in order to heal her soul and quench its thirst for holiness. No doubt, she knew what sin was and she certainly knew the consequences of the sin, for she had been deeply wounded by the failed marriages. And her current situation surely couldn’t be called love, by living together with a man who was not her husband, she was basically being used-true love only comes from a life-long commitment of love within the sacred bond of marriage. And so, she was full of guilt and was so ashamed, that she did not want to even show herself in public. She came to the well at midday because she had really lost all self-respect, all hope and she had lost her trust in love.
Jesus however loved her, and by experiencing His love the woman realized that she was the one who was really thirsty. She was thirsting for Jesus. So she went to confession, we don’t know all of what she confessed to Jesus, but she told the people- “He told me everything I have done.” Jesus told her the truth, and the truth set her free. He forgave her of her sins and healed the shame she felt, he flooded her soul with the waters of his grace, which cleansed her of her guilt. The joy of repentance and forgiveness was so strong, that she went and told everyone in her village about Jesus, her new love, true love. With her burden lifted and her hope renewed, they believed her and so she evangelized them to the forgiveness of Christ and to His love for which they too were thirsting.
Jesus brought to this woman the great gift of faith. He heals her by forgiving her sins and placing His love in her heart. And then He renews her hope by showing her what or better yet, Whom to place her hope in. Today we realize that we are in the same position as the woman at the well. We are burdened by the struggles, trials of life; this life is so full of struggles and we are tired. In lent we see ever more clearly the degree of our defects and our sins in this life and we don’t seem to be making any real progress; we may even want to imitate the woman at the well and just hide. We like the woman are discouraged and have begun to lose hope, because we have so often and in so many ways placed our hope in the wrong things, instead of in Jesus alone. In Jesus alone is our hope; trust in God is everything.
Today at this Holy Mass Jesus comes to us as well and he tells us that He thirsts. And then he points us, as He pointed the woman at the well, to the source of living water and how we can come in contact with it. And how we come in contact with the Living Waters of God’s love, is adoration of God. Adoration of God is where faith and hope opens itself to love. Jesus is God on earth and His is the only source of living water. We only lose hope and become discouraged when we don’t look at Jesus, when we don’t adore Jesus and place our trust in Him.
Another name for a failure to adore and trust in Jesus is sin. Sin is when we adore ourselves—we trust in our selves, by putting our will before the will of God; we put our truth and our reality before THE TRUTH and before the way things really are, before the reality that God has created. Yes we get our own way, but create our own hell in the process, we begin to die of thirst and don’t even realize it.
But if we are to truly adore Jesus in Spirit and in truth, we must trustingly give ourselves completely to Him and experience Him through faith. To do so, we begin by first opening our hearts to His grace by confessing our sins as did the woman; when we experience His forgiveness and mercy, Jesus for His part pours into our hearts the grace of his love and the grace of a deeper conversion to Him.
We must drink deeply from the only well that can quench our thirst and that well is the heart of Christ. Drinking from any other well will leave us dying of thirst. And the Heart of Christ is the Holy Eucharist; however we can only experience Christ in the Holy Eucharist if we have faith that He is really and truly there, if we believe that the Holy Eucharist is Christ and so is God. And if we believe it then our actions must correspond with what we believe. And so we must not only receive Jesus once and while but often-weekly, even daily, with a pure heart cleansed by frequent confession; but we must not only receive Him, we must also most especially adore Him both within Mass and outside of the Mass at Holy Hours. Only when we adore God in Spirit and in truth by believing the Eucharist is really Jesus, our lives cleansed by His forgiveness in confession, and entrusting ourselves totally to Him by offering ourselves and all our love to Him at Holy Mass, only then will we begin to experience and quench our thirst for God’s infinite love, for God Himself—Jesus our Lord. Oh Blood and Water which gusted forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of love and mercy for me, I trust in Thee. Mother most merciful, pray for us.
“Give me a drink.” This simple statement begins the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman in our Gospel today. This simple statement, “Give me a drink” reveals a lot about Jesus, and how he draws this woman into a new and profound relationship with God. The way in which Jesus deals with this woman can also teach us a lot about how Jesus deals with us; how He constantly try to draws us into a deeper friendship and deeper union with Him.
As we begin the story, it is important to note a couple of details: first it was midday- the start of the heat of the day. People just would not go to the well at the midday- it was too hot. They would go first thing in the morning or closer to sundown; it was cooler then. You’d only go at midday if you wanted to avoid others, that is, if you had a reason to hide.
And so, the fact that the Samaritan woman comes at this time reveals to us a lot about her. It reveals that she is definitely an outcast. First, she was a Samaritan, hated by the Jews; second, she was a woman; and third, she was living in sin and so committing public scandal. With this being the case, how does Jesus deal with the situation, with her?
Well first, Jesus takes a bold step here even speaking to a Samaritan woman, not to mention one who is trying to hide. A Jewish man would certainly not address a woman in public; and certainly would not address a Samaritan woman, not to mention a Samaritan woman living in public sin. No wonder why, the Samaritan woman is totally surprised by Jesus; but she was about to be surprised even more.
Jesus then says to her, “Give me a drink.” Unthinkable! If he accepts a drink from her a sinner, a Samaritan, a worse a woman, he will surely become unclean according to Jewish law. Yet, Jesus is poor; He has no bucket. He has no vessel to drink with, but He is really thirsty- it is noon and he has been walking in the heat of the day. Is his thirst just for water, or is it a thirst for something more?
Jesus asks her for water, yet he will say that he is the source of a new type of water—Living Water that will satisfy unlike anything she might have drunk before. Jesus uses this simple request of water to get at something much deeper- a deeper thirst that Him Himself has; He thirsts for her love, for Her heart, for her soul.
As human beings and children of God, our deepest need is for love to be loved, to love. Our souls thirst for love, even more than our bodies thirst for water. Jesus asks her for water, yet the Samaritan woman is the one who ends up asking him for "living water." She begins to see her need as she comes into contact with and experiences the divine person of Jesus, the very source of the living water, of new life - as she experiences the waters of His divine grace and life. And then this woman begins to taste, to drink in the gift of faith that is being offered to her by the one who thirsts not for water, but for her soul.
The story continues with another request from Jesus to the woman- “go and call your husband.” This seems to be quite a jump; yet, in the way Jesus was leading her,” it was the perfect next question. Once Jesus had made a personal contact with her, his divine presence opened up her desire for the love of God. However, Jesus saw the big obstacle in her life which was keeping her from happiness, keeping her from intimacy with God and His love—that obstacle was her sin and the consequences of her sin. This woman was living in adultery as a result of being married before five times.
Through grace, Jesus gently brings her to acknowledge truthfully her sin, yet it was not a condemning way, but very gently in order to heal her soul and quench its thirst for holiness. No doubt, she knew what sin was and she certainly knew the consequences of the sin, for she had been deeply wounded by the failed marriages. And her current situation surely couldn’t be called love, by living together with a man who was not her husband, she was basically being used-true love only comes from a life-long commitment of love within the sacred bond of marriage. And so, she was full of guilt and was so ashamed, that she did not want to even show herself in public. She came to the well at midday because she had really lost all self-respect, all hope and she had lost her trust in love.
Jesus however loved her, and by experiencing His love the woman realized that she was the one who was really thirsty. She was thirsting for Jesus. So she went to confession, we don’t know all of what she confessed to Jesus, but she told the people- “He told me everything I have done.” Jesus told her the truth, and the truth set her free. He forgave her of her sins and healed the shame she felt, he flooded her soul with the waters of his grace, which cleansed her of her guilt. The joy of repentance and forgiveness was so strong, that she went and told everyone in her village about Jesus, her new love, true love. With her burden lifted and her hope renewed, they believed her and so she evangelized them to the forgiveness of Christ and to His love for which they too were thirsting.
Jesus brought to this woman the great gift of faith. He heals her by forgiving her sins and placing His love in her heart. And then He renews her hope by showing her what or better yet, Whom to place her hope in. Today we realize that we are in the same position as the woman at the well. We are burdened by the struggles, trials of life; this life is so full of struggles and we are tired. In lent we see ever more clearly the degree of our defects and our sins in this life and we don’t seem to be making any real progress; we may even want to imitate the woman at the well and just hide. We like the woman are discouraged and have begun to lose hope, because we have so often and in so many ways placed our hope in the wrong things, instead of in Jesus alone. In Jesus alone is our hope; trust in God is everything.
Today at this Holy Mass Jesus comes to us as well and he tells us that He thirsts. And then he points us, as He pointed the woman at the well, to the source of living water and how we can come in contact with it. And how we come in contact with the Living Waters of God’s love, is adoration of God. Adoration of God is where faith and hope opens itself to love. Jesus is God on earth and His is the only source of living water. We only lose hope and become discouraged when we don’t look at Jesus, when we don’t adore Jesus and place our trust in Him.
Another name for a failure to adore and trust in Jesus is sin. Sin is when we adore ourselves—we trust in our selves, by putting our will before the will of God; we put our truth and our reality before THE TRUTH and before the way things really are, before the reality that God has created. Yes we get our own way, but create our own hell in the process, we begin to die of thirst and don’t even realize it.
But if we are to truly adore Jesus in Spirit and in truth, we must trustingly give ourselves completely to Him and experience Him through faith. To do so, we begin by first opening our hearts to His grace by confessing our sins as did the woman; when we experience His forgiveness and mercy, Jesus for His part pours into our hearts the grace of his love and the grace of a deeper conversion to Him.
We must drink deeply from the only well that can quench our thirst and that well is the heart of Christ. Drinking from any other well will leave us dying of thirst. And the Heart of Christ is the Holy Eucharist; however we can only experience Christ in the Holy Eucharist if we have faith that He is really and truly there, if we believe that the Holy Eucharist is Christ and so is God. And if we believe it then our actions must correspond with what we believe. And so we must not only receive Jesus once and while but often-weekly, even daily, with a pure heart cleansed by frequent confession; but we must not only receive Him, we must also most especially adore Him both within Mass and outside of the Mass at Holy Hours. Only when we adore God in Spirit and in truth by believing the Eucharist is really Jesus, our lives cleansed by His forgiveness in confession, and entrusting ourselves totally to Him by offering ourselves and all our love to Him at Holy Mass, only then will we begin to experience and quench our thirst for God’s infinite love, for God Himself—Jesus our Lord. Oh Blood and Water which gusted forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of love and mercy for me, I trust in Thee. Mother most merciful, pray for us.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
We must never forget that He is up here on this altar just as truly as He was on Mt. Tabor.
Homily for Second Sunday of Lent- Luke 9:28b-36
Even though we are still at the beginning of Lent, the Church gives us the true account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. It should seem odd to have this passage at the beginning of Lent because we have a Gospel that seems to point to the end of Lent. Instead of Jesus preaching a message of repentance, turning away from sin, the Church gives us the Transfiguration. Why is this?
Well, it is always easier to start a journey (esp. a difficult journey) when we know clearly where we are going. Before Jesus was to enter Jerusalem for His passion and death, He took Peter, James and John up a mountain. The Father desired to strengthen them and to show them the end of the journey that they were about to start. The end was the resurrection and ascension-Jesus risen from the dead and glorified at the Right Hand of the Father.
The Transfiguration was a pre-figuration of the power and glory of the resurrection. It was an epiphany, a manifestation of Jesus divinity, of His divine power shinning though his human body. Jesus humanity was, in a sense, a veil that covered His Divinity. Remember, when Jesus walked visibly on earth, He would have look like an ordinary person, only through the eyes of faith could you have seen that He not merely a man, but was Divine, was God. At the transfiguration, however, the disciples got a peek of the Divine Nature of Jesus shinning through the human body; the veil was move aside slightly and a sliver of his infinite power and Glory was revealed.
The disciples were about to enter into the Passion of the Christ. The disciples’ faith and trust in Jesus were going to be tested in the crucible of suffering. They would be struggling especially in their hearts, as they would see their master suffer and die. They struggled to believe and to hope. They struggled to love. They struggled to stay awake just one hour in prayer with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. They struggled with betrayal, especially Peter. The Father knew this struggle was going to take place in the hearts of Jesus’ apostles; He desired them to be strengthened prior to the horrible events of the Passion of the Christ with a vision of the victory that would take place. The Transfiguration was a glimpse of heaven, a sneak peak at heaven, in order to banish from the disciples’ souls the scandal of the cross.
Our Lord in His Divine Mercy allowed Peter, James, and John to enjoy for a very short time the contemplation of the happiness that lasts forever, so as to enable them to bear adversity with greater fortitude, so as to see adversity as a way to holiness, as a way to grow closer to Jesus, to become more like Him. You would think they would have written volumes about what they saw, but they didn’t because there are no words, because “eye has not seen, hear has not heard…” But, there is no doubt that the memory of those moments beside Our Lord on the mountain helped those apostles, not only during Jesus Passion and death, but later as well through many difficult moments in their lives. In the midst of struggles, pain and suffering, they remembered what they saw on that mountain and it helped them not to give up, but to keep going. They remembered what they saw on that mountain, the end that they would share in if they but remained faithful--they would share not only in the resurrection, but in the very glory and divinity of Jesus Christ.
Like the disciples we too struggle not only in lent but in our lives, like them we too struggle to faithfully follow our Lord during difficult and trying times. We battle with sin everyday; we struggle to convert, to conform our lives to Christ Jesus, especially when we are given a share in His passion and suffering. In our day, we may struggle more than ever to believe in Jesus and the Church’s teachings and to live them. We struggle like the apostles to spend just one hour in prayer with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. We struggle with hope when the cross gets heavy or life doesn’t make sense. We struggle to forgive that person who has hurt us. We struggle to love as we should in a world that does not always love in return. And we struggle to Love God and grow closer to Him through our proper worship of Him. Our Lord uses Lent, just like He uses all of the crosses and difficulties in our life in order to remind us that we just can’t go it alone, we like the apostles need, absolutely need the help of the power of his divinity which comes to us through his humanity, truly present to us in the Holy Eucharist.
Jesus desires to be with us right in the midst of all our daily struggles, daily crosses; He knows how weak we really are. He has given to us His transfiguration to remind us He is God and as such He alone as the power to help us in this life. Just as he helped the disciples to face the trials of their lives, Jesus will come with all of his divinity, and His transforming power to help us and strengthen us. He will come with his divine love and be with us in our own struggles and crosses. He will help us not only to bear our crosses but give us the grace to use them to grow in holiness, to use them to grow closer to Him and even to use them to conform us to Him more fully.
Let us look up to him through the tears of everyday burdens and pains. Jesus showed the brightness, the joy, the hope, the power of His inner God-ness and goodness in the Transfiguration, so that every heart in the world could take courage and realize He is the Savior, the Healer, in every sense of the word. He showed himself bright and powerful to encourage you and me in the sufferings of our own lives and to give us the trust and hope that these sufferings can become the very means to transform us into saints. We too can look upon His transfigured and glorified body in the Holy Eucharist; this glimpse of His glory through the eyes of faith, will also help us, just as it help the disciples, to make it through life, remaining faithful to Jesus to the end.
When we look at the Holy Eucharist we look at our end, our Goal which is Jesus. And so, we have to look upon the Crucified Jesus truly present in the Holy Eucharist, lifted up for our salvation; if we do not we will not see the end of our journey, and so lose hope in the difficulties of the journey. We have to look upon the crucified Jesus truly present in the Eucharist so that we will not give up in our struggle to become holier this Lent and during our lives. In faith, if we become little, we too can see Jesus' power and glory, His divinity shining through the little white host.
It is the Holy Mass that makes the transfigured Jesus present to us, it is the holy Mass that makes the divinity of Jesus and His divine power present to us, because the Mass makes the Humanity of Jesus present, His body, blood, soul and divinity. Let us look up to Jesus in all the glory and power of his transfigured Body here in the Holy Mass. We must never forget that He is up here on this altar just as truly as He was on Mt. Tabor.
This lent let us open our hearts to be converted, that Jesus might transform us, so that we might grow in holiness. Lent is a time a dying to self, but only so that Jesus can live anew in us. This is the goal of lent, that we might be transformed, so that the transfigured Jesus might shine through our human nature for the world to see, so that other may see Him through our holiness of live and thus be led to Jesus, the source of hope.
It is the desire of the Father to do this- to really transform us- to begin the work here on earth that will fully manifest itself in heaven. Let us place our faith and confidence in Christ, who desires this for us. Let us also look to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for in her life we see this transformation. Her life was filled with the daily struggles of all of us and through her suffering, she became the source of hope for all of us. May she accompany us especially this Lent and help this time to be a time of deeper surrender to the transforming power of the sacraments.
Even though we are still at the beginning of Lent, the Church gives us the true account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. It should seem odd to have this passage at the beginning of Lent because we have a Gospel that seems to point to the end of Lent. Instead of Jesus preaching a message of repentance, turning away from sin, the Church gives us the Transfiguration. Why is this?
Well, it is always easier to start a journey (esp. a difficult journey) when we know clearly where we are going. Before Jesus was to enter Jerusalem for His passion and death, He took Peter, James and John up a mountain. The Father desired to strengthen them and to show them the end of the journey that they were about to start. The end was the resurrection and ascension-Jesus risen from the dead and glorified at the Right Hand of the Father.
The Transfiguration was a pre-figuration of the power and glory of the resurrection. It was an epiphany, a manifestation of Jesus divinity, of His divine power shinning though his human body. Jesus humanity was, in a sense, a veil that covered His Divinity. Remember, when Jesus walked visibly on earth, He would have look like an ordinary person, only through the eyes of faith could you have seen that He not merely a man, but was Divine, was God. At the transfiguration, however, the disciples got a peek of the Divine Nature of Jesus shinning through the human body; the veil was move aside slightly and a sliver of his infinite power and Glory was revealed.
The disciples were about to enter into the Passion of the Christ. The disciples’ faith and trust in Jesus were going to be tested in the crucible of suffering. They would be struggling especially in their hearts, as they would see their master suffer and die. They struggled to believe and to hope. They struggled to love. They struggled to stay awake just one hour in prayer with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. They struggled with betrayal, especially Peter. The Father knew this struggle was going to take place in the hearts of Jesus’ apostles; He desired them to be strengthened prior to the horrible events of the Passion of the Christ with a vision of the victory that would take place. The Transfiguration was a glimpse of heaven, a sneak peak at heaven, in order to banish from the disciples’ souls the scandal of the cross.
Our Lord in His Divine Mercy allowed Peter, James, and John to enjoy for a very short time the contemplation of the happiness that lasts forever, so as to enable them to bear adversity with greater fortitude, so as to see adversity as a way to holiness, as a way to grow closer to Jesus, to become more like Him. You would think they would have written volumes about what they saw, but they didn’t because there are no words, because “eye has not seen, hear has not heard…” But, there is no doubt that the memory of those moments beside Our Lord on the mountain helped those apostles, not only during Jesus Passion and death, but later as well through many difficult moments in their lives. In the midst of struggles, pain and suffering, they remembered what they saw on that mountain and it helped them not to give up, but to keep going. They remembered what they saw on that mountain, the end that they would share in if they but remained faithful--they would share not only in the resurrection, but in the very glory and divinity of Jesus Christ.
Like the disciples we too struggle not only in lent but in our lives, like them we too struggle to faithfully follow our Lord during difficult and trying times. We battle with sin everyday; we struggle to convert, to conform our lives to Christ Jesus, especially when we are given a share in His passion and suffering. In our day, we may struggle more than ever to believe in Jesus and the Church’s teachings and to live them. We struggle like the apostles to spend just one hour in prayer with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. We struggle with hope when the cross gets heavy or life doesn’t make sense. We struggle to forgive that person who has hurt us. We struggle to love as we should in a world that does not always love in return. And we struggle to Love God and grow closer to Him through our proper worship of Him. Our Lord uses Lent, just like He uses all of the crosses and difficulties in our life in order to remind us that we just can’t go it alone, we like the apostles need, absolutely need the help of the power of his divinity which comes to us through his humanity, truly present to us in the Holy Eucharist.
Jesus desires to be with us right in the midst of all our daily struggles, daily crosses; He knows how weak we really are. He has given to us His transfiguration to remind us He is God and as such He alone as the power to help us in this life. Just as he helped the disciples to face the trials of their lives, Jesus will come with all of his divinity, and His transforming power to help us and strengthen us. He will come with his divine love and be with us in our own struggles and crosses. He will help us not only to bear our crosses but give us the grace to use them to grow in holiness, to use them to grow closer to Him and even to use them to conform us to Him more fully.
Let us look up to him through the tears of everyday burdens and pains. Jesus showed the brightness, the joy, the hope, the power of His inner God-ness and goodness in the Transfiguration, so that every heart in the world could take courage and realize He is the Savior, the Healer, in every sense of the word. He showed himself bright and powerful to encourage you and me in the sufferings of our own lives and to give us the trust and hope that these sufferings can become the very means to transform us into saints. We too can look upon His transfigured and glorified body in the Holy Eucharist; this glimpse of His glory through the eyes of faith, will also help us, just as it help the disciples, to make it through life, remaining faithful to Jesus to the end.
When we look at the Holy Eucharist we look at our end, our Goal which is Jesus. And so, we have to look upon the Crucified Jesus truly present in the Holy Eucharist, lifted up for our salvation; if we do not we will not see the end of our journey, and so lose hope in the difficulties of the journey. We have to look upon the crucified Jesus truly present in the Eucharist so that we will not give up in our struggle to become holier this Lent and during our lives. In faith, if we become little, we too can see Jesus' power and glory, His divinity shining through the little white host.
It is the Holy Mass that makes the transfigured Jesus present to us, it is the holy Mass that makes the divinity of Jesus and His divine power present to us, because the Mass makes the Humanity of Jesus present, His body, blood, soul and divinity. Let us look up to Jesus in all the glory and power of his transfigured Body here in the Holy Mass. We must never forget that He is up here on this altar just as truly as He was on Mt. Tabor.
This lent let us open our hearts to be converted, that Jesus might transform us, so that we might grow in holiness. Lent is a time a dying to self, but only so that Jesus can live anew in us. This is the goal of lent, that we might be transformed, so that the transfigured Jesus might shine through our human nature for the world to see, so that other may see Him through our holiness of live and thus be led to Jesus, the source of hope.
It is the desire of the Father to do this- to really transform us- to begin the work here on earth that will fully manifest itself in heaven. Let us place our faith and confidence in Christ, who desires this for us. Let us also look to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for in her life we see this transformation. Her life was filled with the daily struggles of all of us and through her suffering, she became the source of hope for all of us. May she accompany us especially this Lent and help this time to be a time of deeper surrender to the transforming power of the sacraments.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
In the temptations of Christ we discover that Jesus has allowed Himself to be tempted for our sakes.
1st Sunday in Lent. February 21st, 2010
Lent is our time to imitate our Blessed Lord and to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into the desert. But why the desert ? Time in the desert signifies a time away from our normal cares, a turning away from the distractions of the world and worldly things which do not last, and a turning more fully toward that which last forever, the one thing in which we can truly trust--the eternal God and His unfathomable love for us.
In the Old Testament, God called Israelites out of Egypt, which represents the spirit of the world, and calls them into the desert. Why?, so that apart from the distractions of Egypt, and all of its idols and false worship, He could teach them again to recognize the sovereign rights of their True God; in order, that they could offer Him proper worship and adoration; not for God's sake but for their own.
In their struggles and hunger they would see their complete dependency on God and then turn to worshipping Him and adoring Him alone and doing so according to His dictates. He for His part would reveal His great Love for them. He would provide for their every need, give them water from the rock of salvation, feed them with bread from heaven and lead them to the promise land flowing with milk and honey; but most of all He would take them to Himself; He would be their God and they would be His people; He would share Himself totally to Him and make them one with Him lavishing them with His divine Love, that for which they truly hungered and thirsted; He would give them life.
Like the Israelites, God calls us too, out into the desert. In the desert, filled with silence, we too can hear the small, still voice of God speaking to us, teaching us, revealing His love to us. Apart from the distractions and noise of this world, we can come face to face with God in prayer, the God who draws near to us. It is then that we are able to honestly recognize the Creator’s sovereign rights over us. He is our Creator, the source of our existence and the loving and caring Father to whom we are called to return. We are poor creatures, completely dependent on Him and so need to reach out to Him by worshiping and adoring Him, and doing so properly. We must have an attitude of poverty, because the truth is we are absolutely nothing, have nothing without God; but with Him, we have everything.
The more we come to this realization of the sovereign rights of God over us, the more we see the many ways we have replaced our dependency on God with our idols, that is, those things that we have put in the place of God and so have worshiped and adored instead of him. True religion always, if it is true, consists in adoring God. It is our supreme duty to do so; it is a matter of justice. But this duty, is duty of love, better yet a response of love that comes from the fact that God has first loved us, he has created us and wants us to return to him.
As a result, in our effort to return to Him, we must necessarily deny ourselves of those things that have taken us from a deeper relationship with Him. We must deny our self of those things we have loved before Him and so have worshiped before Him; especially, our love of comfort, power and sinful amusements. Our inordinate attachment to these prevents us from offering proper worship and adoration of God.
And so in order to help rid ourselves of these inordinate attachments, we are asked in Lent to take on a spirit of penance and repentance, this leads us to self-denial; in other words, to the cross. We deny ourselves by giving up comforts and delights, such as abstinence from meat or other food or drink. This sacrificing and denying of ourselves leads us to discover that nothing, nothing on this earth can fulfill our dependency and our longing for God. Think about the things people give up for love- things like meals, sleep; we sacrifice because we want to be closer to the one we love.
During this time of Lent when we begin to discipline ourselves so we can convert and draw closer to our God, it is then that we will experience many temptations from satan. The devil always promises more than he can give. He doesn't want our happiness, anything he tempts us with is a miserable deception. In order to test us, the devil takes advantage of our own ambitions, our desire to be the center of attention and to seek ourselves in everything we do or plan. This self-centerness is at the heart of wanting material things so much that we end up turning to them before God and so worshiping them; we give God lip service if even at all. Material things then cease to be good because then separate us from God and from our fellow man; we then fail to serve God and our neighbor for love of God, and end up only serving ourselves and these leads to our destruction. But Jesus tells us that we should seek only His glory. He tells us, "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
Ultimately God, allows these temptations from the devil to help purify us, to make us holy, to detach ourselves from the things of the earth, to lead us where He is and by the route He wants us to take, so as to make us happy (even in a life which may not be comfortable); He allows them in order to help us to grow in Christian maturity and understanding, and to become more effective in our apostolic work for the salvation of souls. He allows temptations above all to make us humble, very humble.
It is then very clear why we need to spend these forty days in the desert very close to our blessed Lord, fasting with Him, praying with Him and giving alms, three things which weaken the power of Satan over us. And above all, we need to stay close to Him by make use of the Sacraments, especially Holy Mass and confession, in order so that we have the grace and the power to persevere in the battle and so share in Jesus’ victory over the devil and his temptations. Additionally, as well, we need to take in the Lenten devotions offered to us, like walking with Jesus along the way of His via dolorosa, His way to Calvary in the Stations of the Cross on Fridays; also, by experiencing all the Holy week Masses and services, like Holy Thursday and Good Friday. And especially, by spending time in adoration where we can really experience the silence of the desert but above experience the bodily presence of Jesus alongside us in our struggles.
In the temptations of Christ we discover that Jesus has allowed Himself to be tempted for our sakes. He was tempted as one of us, having laid aside His divine power. Christ, true God and true man, made Himself like us in all things except sin and voluntarily underwent temptation. He was tempted in order to give us an example and a model of what we are to do when we too are tempted by satan and to give us hope that we too can share in His victory. St. John Vinney, the Cure of Ars, said, “How fortunate we are, how lucky to have a God as model. Are we poor? We have a God who is born in a stable, who lies in a manger. Are we despised? We have a God who led the way, who was crowned with thorns, dressed in a filthy red cloak and treated as a madman. Are tormented by pain and suffering? Before our eyes we have a God covered with wounds, dying in unimaginable pain. Are we being persecuted? How can we dare complain when we have a God who is being put to death by executioners? Finally, are we being tempted by the demon? We have a lovable Redeemer; he also was tempted by the demon and was twice taken up by the hellish spirit: therefore, no matter what sufferings, pains or temptations we are experiencing, we always have, everywhere, our God leading the way for us and assuring us of victory as long as we genuinely desire it.”
This lent let us ask Our Lady for help to enter into lent more deeply. Let us ask her to help us avoid the temptation of Satan, a temptation that puts personal pleasure first, and does away with personal guilt and sin and the need for redemption, satisfaction, expiation, mortification and penance for our sin. A temptation that says that essence of love is personal gratification and not sacrifice, that of laying down one’s life for a friend. Our Lady can teach us how to adore Jesus; all we need to do is to ask her. Let us pray, that the Blessed Mother, who while adoring Jesus on the Cross was given John as her son and by this gift was given to all of us as her sons and daughters as well, that she may help us to enter the desert this lent and there learn how to adore the unseen God from whom we came and to whom we are called as his little children to return. Amen.
Lent is our time to imitate our Blessed Lord and to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into the desert. But why the desert ? Time in the desert signifies a time away from our normal cares, a turning away from the distractions of the world and worldly things which do not last, and a turning more fully toward that which last forever, the one thing in which we can truly trust--the eternal God and His unfathomable love for us.
In the Old Testament, God called Israelites out of Egypt, which represents the spirit of the world, and calls them into the desert. Why?, so that apart from the distractions of Egypt, and all of its idols and false worship, He could teach them again to recognize the sovereign rights of their True God; in order, that they could offer Him proper worship and adoration; not for God's sake but for their own.
In their struggles and hunger they would see their complete dependency on God and then turn to worshipping Him and adoring Him alone and doing so according to His dictates. He for His part would reveal His great Love for them. He would provide for their every need, give them water from the rock of salvation, feed them with bread from heaven and lead them to the promise land flowing with milk and honey; but most of all He would take them to Himself; He would be their God and they would be His people; He would share Himself totally to Him and make them one with Him lavishing them with His divine Love, that for which they truly hungered and thirsted; He would give them life.
Like the Israelites, God calls us too, out into the desert. In the desert, filled with silence, we too can hear the small, still voice of God speaking to us, teaching us, revealing His love to us. Apart from the distractions and noise of this world, we can come face to face with God in prayer, the God who draws near to us. It is then that we are able to honestly recognize the Creator’s sovereign rights over us. He is our Creator, the source of our existence and the loving and caring Father to whom we are called to return. We are poor creatures, completely dependent on Him and so need to reach out to Him by worshiping and adoring Him, and doing so properly. We must have an attitude of poverty, because the truth is we are absolutely nothing, have nothing without God; but with Him, we have everything.
The more we come to this realization of the sovereign rights of God over us, the more we see the many ways we have replaced our dependency on God with our idols, that is, those things that we have put in the place of God and so have worshiped and adored instead of him. True religion always, if it is true, consists in adoring God. It is our supreme duty to do so; it is a matter of justice. But this duty, is duty of love, better yet a response of love that comes from the fact that God has first loved us, he has created us and wants us to return to him.
As a result, in our effort to return to Him, we must necessarily deny ourselves of those things that have taken us from a deeper relationship with Him. We must deny our self of those things we have loved before Him and so have worshiped before Him; especially, our love of comfort, power and sinful amusements. Our inordinate attachment to these prevents us from offering proper worship and adoration of God.
And so in order to help rid ourselves of these inordinate attachments, we are asked in Lent to take on a spirit of penance and repentance, this leads us to self-denial; in other words, to the cross. We deny ourselves by giving up comforts and delights, such as abstinence from meat or other food or drink. This sacrificing and denying of ourselves leads us to discover that nothing, nothing on this earth can fulfill our dependency and our longing for God. Think about the things people give up for love- things like meals, sleep; we sacrifice because we want to be closer to the one we love.
During this time of Lent when we begin to discipline ourselves so we can convert and draw closer to our God, it is then that we will experience many temptations from satan. The devil always promises more than he can give. He doesn't want our happiness, anything he tempts us with is a miserable deception. In order to test us, the devil takes advantage of our own ambitions, our desire to be the center of attention and to seek ourselves in everything we do or plan. This self-centerness is at the heart of wanting material things so much that we end up turning to them before God and so worshiping them; we give God lip service if even at all. Material things then cease to be good because then separate us from God and from our fellow man; we then fail to serve God and our neighbor for love of God, and end up only serving ourselves and these leads to our destruction. But Jesus tells us that we should seek only His glory. He tells us, "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
Ultimately God, allows these temptations from the devil to help purify us, to make us holy, to detach ourselves from the things of the earth, to lead us where He is and by the route He wants us to take, so as to make us happy (even in a life which may not be comfortable); He allows them in order to help us to grow in Christian maturity and understanding, and to become more effective in our apostolic work for the salvation of souls. He allows temptations above all to make us humble, very humble.
It is then very clear why we need to spend these forty days in the desert very close to our blessed Lord, fasting with Him, praying with Him and giving alms, three things which weaken the power of Satan over us. And above all, we need to stay close to Him by make use of the Sacraments, especially Holy Mass and confession, in order so that we have the grace and the power to persevere in the battle and so share in Jesus’ victory over the devil and his temptations. Additionally, as well, we need to take in the Lenten devotions offered to us, like walking with Jesus along the way of His via dolorosa, His way to Calvary in the Stations of the Cross on Fridays; also, by experiencing all the Holy week Masses and services, like Holy Thursday and Good Friday. And especially, by spending time in adoration where we can really experience the silence of the desert but above experience the bodily presence of Jesus alongside us in our struggles.
In the temptations of Christ we discover that Jesus has allowed Himself to be tempted for our sakes. He was tempted as one of us, having laid aside His divine power. Christ, true God and true man, made Himself like us in all things except sin and voluntarily underwent temptation. He was tempted in order to give us an example and a model of what we are to do when we too are tempted by satan and to give us hope that we too can share in His victory. St. John Vinney, the Cure of Ars, said, “How fortunate we are, how lucky to have a God as model. Are we poor? We have a God who is born in a stable, who lies in a manger. Are we despised? We have a God who led the way, who was crowned with thorns, dressed in a filthy red cloak and treated as a madman. Are tormented by pain and suffering? Before our eyes we have a God covered with wounds, dying in unimaginable pain. Are we being persecuted? How can we dare complain when we have a God who is being put to death by executioners? Finally, are we being tempted by the demon? We have a lovable Redeemer; he also was tempted by the demon and was twice taken up by the hellish spirit: therefore, no matter what sufferings, pains or temptations we are experiencing, we always have, everywhere, our God leading the way for us and assuring us of victory as long as we genuinely desire it.”
This lent let us ask Our Lady for help to enter into lent more deeply. Let us ask her to help us avoid the temptation of Satan, a temptation that puts personal pleasure first, and does away with personal guilt and sin and the need for redemption, satisfaction, expiation, mortification and penance for our sin. A temptation that says that essence of love is personal gratification and not sacrifice, that of laying down one’s life for a friend. Our Lady can teach us how to adore Jesus; all we need to do is to ask her. Let us pray, that the Blessed Mother, who while adoring Jesus on the Cross was given John as her son and by this gift was given to all of us as her sons and daughters as well, that she may help us to enter the desert this lent and there learn how to adore the unseen God from whom we came and to whom we are called as his little children to return. Amen.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Lent is a time of honesty, a time to admit we can do better—become better; that is, if we care to make an effort.
Homily for Ash Wednesday
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.” “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Our readings today call us to this time of repentance- a forty day call to conversion to prepare ourselves for the joyful celebration of Easter.
I remember as child giving up sweets during Lent. I made the sacrifice, in fact I was quite proud about my success; but as I think back, my success didn’t really change me much. I didn’t save the money I would have spent on candy and given to the St. Vincent de Paul Society nor did I take extra time to prayer in order to grow closer to God. I can’t really say I ever really got anything out of Lent- it was just a time where I didn’t eat candy and got ashes and then went on with my same sinful selfish habits. I don’t think this is the type of Lent we are called to. Lent must be about more than just receiving ashes and then going on living our lives just like before; to be quite frank we might as well not waste our time. Receiving of the Ashes just becomes more a superstition, or a good luck charm; I got the ashes and so I am okay with God.
The ashes signify of course that our time in this world is very, very short, the comes death, judgment, heaven or hell. And so, the Lent our Lord calls us to today, is one of conversion, which is a change of heart. Our hearts need to turn back to God in love and our lives must change to reflect that love. We might not think we are so bad; after all we can say, "I try to go to Mass every week. Maybe I don’t make it but after all I’m a good person." The problem is, is that God doesn’t want us only to be good, He wants us to love Him; not like we love chocolate or coffee or anything else in this world, but to love Him fully completely, more than anything else in this world and to show that love by becoming a better Christian.
Lent is a time of honesty, a time to admit we can do better—become better; that is, if we care to make an effort. It is a time for reflection and self-examination, a time to admit our sinfulness, and make a commitment to do something about it. Lent is time snap out of our indifference and lukewarmness and admit truthfully that none of us love God enough…but from this point on we are going to ask God to increase our love by helping us to have a deeper conversion of heart in order to live our lives more deeply in union with Him.
Lent is also a time of hopefulness, of looking forward to the joy of Easter; not only to Christ victory over death, but our own victory over selfishness, self-centeredness, egotism and sin, which is always a failure to Love God and neighbor for love of Him. Lent is time to say yes, even though it is going to cost us some effort, we can, with the help of God grace, love Him more and love our neighbor more for love of Him. And so, today is the first day we, in a deeper way, put God and His will first, in order to show Him we love Him.
And so, instead of giving up candy or coffee maybe we can do the following:
*If we are not already doing so, devote time each day to talk to God in
Intimate prayer: every morning and evening for sure.
*If we already pray, increase the time we converse with God.
*Pray together with the family- even it be for five minutes; or better
yet pray the rosary together as a family.
*Make a firm committment to attend Mass every single Sunday if you
don't always do so; if you do always do so, make a committment to
attend daily Mass during Lent either at 8am or 5:30pm Mon-Thurs
and Saturday or 5pm on Fridays.
*Give up that television show, which probably isn’t really good to
watch anyway and instead read a good spiritual book one that will enrich my knowledge and love of our Lord and of His One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church.
*Come to Holy Hour and adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament on
Thursday nights or Saturday nights; consider signing up to cover an
hour during the Saturday all night Holy Hour each week during Lent.
*Make a commitment to come to Friday night Stations of the Cross
with your whole family.
*Work on acts of charity; Such as:
Devote more time or money or both to help the work of the
Parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society.
*Work on my patience and kindness to others such as drivers I
meet on the word and especially members of members of my
family and to drivers I meet on the road.
*Give alms by beginning or increasing my yearly financial
gift to the Church and to the poor.
*And finally, For sure, spend quality time making a good examination
of conscience in order to make a good confession so that you heart
will pure, and so a pleasing offering to the Lord.
This Lent is meant to be a sober reminder of life itself. In a few moments, you will receive blessed ashes on your foreheads. This is more than just a sign of repentance; it is a source of the grace of conversion God desires to give us. We recall that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Our time here on earth is short and so it is urgent that we remove all those things that will keep us from heaven- all of those sinful patterns of our lives, and we remove them now. Time is short, someday which is really not all that far away, we will die and our bodies will turn to the dust from which we came; what will remain is our love for God or lack there of. May we entrust to the Virgin all of our desires to have a great season of Lent, filled with graces for our conversion ever closer to her Son.
“Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart.” “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Our readings today call us to this time of repentance- a forty day call to conversion to prepare ourselves for the joyful celebration of Easter.
I remember as child giving up sweets during Lent. I made the sacrifice, in fact I was quite proud about my success; but as I think back, my success didn’t really change me much. I didn’t save the money I would have spent on candy and given to the St. Vincent de Paul Society nor did I take extra time to prayer in order to grow closer to God. I can’t really say I ever really got anything out of Lent- it was just a time where I didn’t eat candy and got ashes and then went on with my same sinful selfish habits. I don’t think this is the type of Lent we are called to. Lent must be about more than just receiving ashes and then going on living our lives just like before; to be quite frank we might as well not waste our time. Receiving of the Ashes just becomes more a superstition, or a good luck charm; I got the ashes and so I am okay with God.
The ashes signify of course that our time in this world is very, very short, the comes death, judgment, heaven or hell. And so, the Lent our Lord calls us to today, is one of conversion, which is a change of heart. Our hearts need to turn back to God in love and our lives must change to reflect that love. We might not think we are so bad; after all we can say, "I try to go to Mass every week. Maybe I don’t make it but after all I’m a good person." The problem is, is that God doesn’t want us only to be good, He wants us to love Him; not like we love chocolate or coffee or anything else in this world, but to love Him fully completely, more than anything else in this world and to show that love by becoming a better Christian.
Lent is a time of honesty, a time to admit we can do better—become better; that is, if we care to make an effort. It is a time for reflection and self-examination, a time to admit our sinfulness, and make a commitment to do something about it. Lent is time snap out of our indifference and lukewarmness and admit truthfully that none of us love God enough…but from this point on we are going to ask God to increase our love by helping us to have a deeper conversion of heart in order to live our lives more deeply in union with Him.
Lent is also a time of hopefulness, of looking forward to the joy of Easter; not only to Christ victory over death, but our own victory over selfishness, self-centeredness, egotism and sin, which is always a failure to Love God and neighbor for love of Him. Lent is time to say yes, even though it is going to cost us some effort, we can, with the help of God grace, love Him more and love our neighbor more for love of Him. And so, today is the first day we, in a deeper way, put God and His will first, in order to show Him we love Him.
And so, instead of giving up candy or coffee maybe we can do the following:
*If we are not already doing so, devote time each day to talk to God in
Intimate prayer: every morning and evening for sure.
*If we already pray, increase the time we converse with God.
*Pray together with the family- even it be for five minutes; or better
yet pray the rosary together as a family.
*Make a firm committment to attend Mass every single Sunday if you
don't always do so; if you do always do so, make a committment to
attend daily Mass during Lent either at 8am or 5:30pm Mon-Thurs
and Saturday or 5pm on Fridays.
*Give up that television show, which probably isn’t really good to
watch anyway and instead read a good spiritual book one that will enrich my knowledge and love of our Lord and of His One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church.
*Come to Holy Hour and adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament on
Thursday nights or Saturday nights; consider signing up to cover an
hour during the Saturday all night Holy Hour each week during Lent.
*Make a commitment to come to Friday night Stations of the Cross
with your whole family.
*Work on acts of charity; Such as:
Devote more time or money or both to help the work of the
Parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society.
*Work on my patience and kindness to others such as drivers I
meet on the word and especially members of members of my
family and to drivers I meet on the road.
*Give alms by beginning or increasing my yearly financial
gift to the Church and to the poor.
*And finally, For sure, spend quality time making a good examination
of conscience in order to make a good confession so that you heart
will pure, and so a pleasing offering to the Lord.
This Lent is meant to be a sober reminder of life itself. In a few moments, you will receive blessed ashes on your foreheads. This is more than just a sign of repentance; it is a source of the grace of conversion God desires to give us. We recall that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Our time here on earth is short and so it is urgent that we remove all those things that will keep us from heaven- all of those sinful patterns of our lives, and we remove them now. Time is short, someday which is really not all that far away, we will die and our bodies will turn to the dust from which we came; what will remain is our love for God or lack there of. May we entrust to the Virgin all of our desires to have a great season of Lent, filled with graces for our conversion ever closer to her Son.
Important Clarifications from Ecclesia Dei
by Gregor Kollmorgen
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has recently answered some important questions regarding the application of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum submitted by the moderator for the faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the diocese of Rzeszów, Poland. The answers, however, are applicable generally. The original questions (in German) and answers (in Italian), published by Nowy Ruch Liturgiczny are reproduced below. Here is an NLM summary; questions 2 and 3 have easily the biggest impact:
1. If there is no other possibility, because for instance in all churches of a diocese the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum are already being celebrated in the Ordinary Form, the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum may, in the same church in which they are already celebrated in the Ordinary Form, be additionally celebrated in the Extraordinary Form, if the local ordinary allows.
2. A Mass in the usus antiquior may replace a regularly scheduled Mass in the Ordinary Form. The question contextualizes that in many churches Sunday Masses are more or less scheduled continually, leaving free only very incovenient mid afternoon slots, but this is merely context, the question posed being general. The answer leaves the matter to the prudent judgement of the parish priest, and emphasises the right of a stable group to assist at Mass in the Extraordinary Form.
3. A parish priest may schedule a public Mass in the Extraordinary Form on his own accord (i.e. without the request of a group of faithful) for the benefit of the faithful including those unfamiliar with the usus antiquior. The response of the Commission here is identical to no. 2.
4. The calendar, readings or prefaces of the 1970 Missale Romanum may not be substituted for those of the 1962 Missale Romanum in Masses in the Extraordinary Form.
5. While the liturgical readings (Epistle and Gospel) themselves have to be read by
the priest (or deacon/subdeacon) as foreseen by the rubrics, a translation to the vernacular may afterwards be read also by a layman.
________________________________________
by Gregor Kollmorgen
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has recently answered some important questions regarding the application of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum submitted by the moderator for the faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the diocese of Rzeszów, Poland. The answers, however, are applicable generally. The original questions (in German) and answers (in Italian), published by Nowy Ruch Liturgiczny are reproduced below. Here is an NLM summary; questions 2 and 3 have easily the biggest impact:
1. If there is no other possibility, because for instance in all churches of a diocese the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum are already being celebrated in the Ordinary Form, the liturgies of the Sacred Triduum may, in the same church in which they are already celebrated in the Ordinary Form, be additionally celebrated in the Extraordinary Form, if the local ordinary allows.
2. A Mass in the usus antiquior may replace a regularly scheduled Mass in the Ordinary Form. The question contextualizes that in many churches Sunday Masses are more or less scheduled continually, leaving free only very incovenient mid afternoon slots, but this is merely context, the question posed being general. The answer leaves the matter to the prudent judgement of the parish priest, and emphasises the right of a stable group to assist at Mass in the Extraordinary Form.
3. A parish priest may schedule a public Mass in the Extraordinary Form on his own accord (i.e. without the request of a group of faithful) for the benefit of the faithful including those unfamiliar with the usus antiquior. The response of the Commission here is identical to no. 2.
4. The calendar, readings or prefaces of the 1970 Missale Romanum may not be substituted for those of the 1962 Missale Romanum in Masses in the Extraordinary Form.
5. While the liturgical readings (Epistle and Gospel) themselves have to be read by
the priest (or deacon/subdeacon) as foreseen by the rubrics, a translation to the vernacular may afterwards be read also by a layman.
________________________________________
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