Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
The Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults (this is the process whereby adults are either baptized or received into the Catholic Church) name Lent as “The Period of Purification and Enlightenment.” Like for the candidates the whole Lenten season is full of opportunities for all Christians to grow away from sin and become more faithful to the gospel. For any of us who have been trying to stay true to our Lenten sacrifices, we know that when faced with temptation, some days our resistance is better than others. Purification occurs when we stay true to our faith commitments. While this purification is painful at times, its sanctifying work in us makes us healthier and holier. What is not always clear about purification at the beginning of the process is what will be the end results?
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Following Jesus is hard. Really hard. And for good reason. And just in case we did not know that or somehow forgot it or otherwise have been distracted from it, the text from John today puts it to us directly.
Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
As Christians we believe in the Trinity- Father, Son and Spirit. In all three readings today we hear the term “father” and we are given some insights into what God the Father is revealing about Himself to us through the words of scripture. Our Father is not only creator, but He is committed and is active in both our present world and the future as well. He calls each of us to trust in His love, compassion, and mercy as He paves a path that will allow us the greatest opportunity to bring forth His kingdom through our lives.
Fifth Sunday of Lent – Year A Readings
I have had my share of funerals between both the parishes. There are many things I could say about each of these funerals. At one of them, the grand-daughter concluded her eulogy by saying what she would say to her grandpa when he was still alive. She said, “See you later, alligator.” Is it not precious that we can say that to each other as bury the people we love? Sometimes I think, though, that sometimes we take the reason for this hope for granted? Why is it that we can say, “See you later,” when people die? What did it take to get us to that hope?
As Lent begins to come toward the end, the readings are gradually drawing our attention to the events of Holy Week and Easter – the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. However, we do not reflect on Christ’s death and resurrection for its own sake. The readings are also trying to communicate to us that our destinies are closely tied to the death and resurrection of Jesus. In fact, it is because of the death and resurrection of Jesus that this grand-daughter could say, “See you later, alligator,” to her deceased grandpa. There is a reason why we leave a graveside with hope. It is because we believe in the words that Jesus said to Martha in today’s gospel reading, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” Jesus is the reason for our hope.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
“But others said, ‘The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he?’ (John 7:41B)
March Madness is upon us, and it is a favorite time of the year for me. The thrill of the upset and trying to predict the perfect bracket is very appealing to me. During March Madness, I always desire to root for the Cinderella story, the team that most experts feel doesn't belong in the tournament and turns out making a run deep into the tournament. There is something fun about rooting for the underdog, there is a thrill in watching the small schools that I’ve never heard of beat the big name schools.
Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
I hope no one else is finding this the case, but for myself, I am finding it difficult to be Catholic these days. This is not because I am thinking about leaving - but friends of mine - friends who are smart and loving and helpful and generous and usually kind but who do not share my faith, keep asking: "Why are you still Catholic?" Opposition to Catholicism comes from various all quarters: left and right, East and West. For some, it is Pope Francis' understanding of the Church and for others it is the church's teachings on homosexuality that lead them to ask these questions; for others, it is the church's stand of climate change and for others it is the church's stand on abortion. For still others, it is the apparent contradiction between a God who loves us and has a personal encounter with us with the empirical evidence of science that lead them to ask these questions. And for others, it is the sinfulness of a church hierarchy that has, in the past (hopefully now, always in the past) condoned sexual abuse through its silence.
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Throughout the ages, God wishes to be revealed to the people of the world. At the same time, Humanity longs to have an answer to the question, ‘who is God?’ Today’s readings show God’s long effort to communicate divinity to humanity. So often, we get stuck on the power and might of God, and what he can do. But God is especially interested in communicating to us who he is. We can know a bit of the mind and the heart of God.
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
We all have judgments that we need to make. We need to judge the veracity of our news sources, the quality of our food, the best ways to spend our money, and the list continues. Today’s Gospel also ends with Jesus talking about judgement.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
In the story from John’s gospel, we encounter a man who has suffered greatly for thirty-eight years from a terrible affliction that renders him nearly immobile. He has no real help in the world. The only people around him are other afflicted human beings with whom he must try to compete in order to get some relief in the pool. But he fails. And so, he can only reasonably expect to go on suffering for the rest of his days.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
I have had many conversations with people about their grown children. They often describe their children as successful, well-adjusted adults with families who contribute to the good of society. These parents have also expressed their ongoing concern about their children not practicing their faith. For many parents, this is not only a concern but a source of deep pain. It can also be a source of conflict and tension when, with good intention, parents try and convince their adult children to return to the practice of faith. Today’s Gospel led me to reflect on this issue. What does pressuring our grown children say about our own faith?
Fourth Sunday of Lent – Year A Readings
John is an amazing story teller. This story of the healing of the blind man is very powerfully scripted. John has his purpose in writing the story. He wants the world to come to faith in Jesus Christ. But there is a problem - blindness. His deeper point is what might be harder for us to accept - that the blind person in the story is not just the man born blind. We might say that we get the irony in the story and that the real blind people in the story are the Pharisees who refuse to see Jesus as the Messiah. John is making an even more poignant point - that the real blind person might be you and me.
Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
When I was in high school, I was of course concerned with the almighty perception of cool. So, when my mom suggested that I go to a Build a Bear store for my cousin's Christmas present I found the idea... less than desirable. (Unfamiliar with build a bear? This video reasonably captures my expectations.) The only thing was, as a high school boy, I didn't have a better idea, so with all of the awkwardness I could muster, I picked out a bear, stuffed it, gave it a heart, recorded messages on it, and produced its birth certificate. Despite my apparent “uncoolness” I found myself valuing that I was doing these things for my cousin. Admittedly there is something cool about building and shaping something the way you want it, to your desires and wishes. As long as that thing isn't God, but that is what we see happen in today's gospel. This famous parable tells us about the Pharisee and the tax collector who go to pray. There is much to be learned from this passage, but lets just focus on the posture and the prayer of the Pharisee.
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
Usually by this time, the end of the third week of Lent, I’ve started to waver a bit in my resolve to abstain from certain foods, to pray for certain things, to give money generously. Particularly I have difficulty with my decision to abstain from certain foods. As with New Years’ Resolutions, I start thinking that eating just a nibble of something or other won’t really hurt, and before you know it, I’m way off the track. Or, even if I have by some chance made it this far without succumbing to temptation, I find myself tired and annoyed with Lent, saying, “Okay, I get the point now. Can we get to Easter already?” But it turns out instead that there are another three long weeks ahead.
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Scripture Readings
If I had to break down today’s readings into three important quotes, this is what I would choose: “Listen to my voice,” “Harden not your hearts”, and “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Imagine an open field with lots of people playing and having fun, when all of a sudden a fence is put up around the edges of the field. Everyone becomes angry because their freedom has been taken away. However, this field is the top of a plateau, and there are steep cliffs at the edges of the field. The fence was installed to keep everyone from falling off the edges. The purpose of the fence wasn’t to limit freedom but to preserve it, to allow the people to continue playing in the field, without falling off the edges.
Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
The parable before us from Matthew today is really quite breathtaking. A very powerful king has decided that today is the day he is going to settle his accounts with his slaves (or servant/laborers). For one servant, in particular, this is especially bad news. This servant owes 10,000 talents. According to those in the know, a talent was worth a great deal. To translate it into labor, it would take a servant (or laborer) fifteen years just to pay off one talent. To pay of 10,000 talents—impossible. Knowing this, the king orders that the servant, along with his family and all of his possessions, be sold. There is no hope for this servant. He cannot ever pay that debt—no matter how long and or how hard he tries to do so. He is lost.
Monday of the Third Week of Lent
Lent is a time where we are called to grow in our relationship with God. But in order for us to deepen that friendship, we must be able to recognize His presence. I think it is easy to find God in awe inspiring things like the birth of a baby or a magnificent snow capped mountain, but finding God in the more ordinary parts of our lives is challenging. Both readings today encourage us to not become caught up in the amazing, but to see God in the simple, the ordinary and even mundane. If we have open hearts and minds, and the faith that God is present in all things, then we will recognize God’s great love, grace and mercy even in the small details of our lives.
Third Sunday of Lent – Year A Readings
The story of the Samaritan woman is narrated by John as a personal conversion story. Even though John tells it as a personal story, he does not tell us the name of the woman. Perhaps John was being intentional. This way, this is the story of every person. Her story can be your story and mine as well. Like the Samaritan woman, we all have a jar. In this jar we keep that which is most precious to us – family, friends, job, home, possessions, hobbies. Sometimes, this jar might be empty. The jar describes us – it is the sum of all that we are. That day, the Samaritan woman came to fill her empty jar with water. The irony is that Jesus does not merely fill her jar. Rather, Jesus led her to the well. The jar… she left that at the feet of Jesus. What does this story mean for me? What could it mean for you? Three things:
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
“Celebrate Mercy” was the name of a Lock-in I helped run a few years ago. We chose as our Scriptural cornerstone for that event, the parable we read today in Luke. For today we’ll call it the parable of the Prodigal Son, though a friend has made a good case for calling it the parable of the jerk-face brother. Anyway, I digress, for the real hero of the story is the Good Father.
Friday of the Second Week of Lent
Today's gospel passage (Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46) is one of the most mysterious of Jesus' parables, and also one that has been used, down through the centuries, to justify some of the most awful actions against Jews and others who are not Christian. It's a weird parable simply in terms of action: why is it that the vineyard owner keeps sending out slaves to be harmed? Why does he never call the police, raise up an army, or otherwise seek to punish the tenants? The tenants, too, act in very odd ways. Why are they bothering to beat up the slaves? They knew what the price was for renting the vineyard; their actions are more than a little inexplicable.