Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
This morning my 3-year-old son, Dominic, came running in from outside. His hands full of dandelion heads he excitedly poured them in my lap while telling me that these flowers are called daisies and there are a lot of them growing in the back yard, and they used to be giraffes that died and came back as daisies, and they came back because they wanted to grow in our back yard because they wanted a little boy to pick them to show his mommy and daddy how much he loves them. Wow. And here I thought they were just weeds.
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
At the RCIA meeting this past week we had a wonderful session where we discussed a variety of questions the candidates and catechumens were asking. One of the queries was to help the candidate understand the Catholic belief in purgatory. At the heart of the discussion we was that in this world we are not perfect yet in heaven we are a glorified body purged of our sinful nature. The process of moving from here to eternity requires us to be purified.
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today’s readings are all about vulnerability. We see in all of them—from Numbers, Psalms, and the Gospel of John—the reality of human frailty as well as the power of God. The Israelites, recently liberated from the oppression of the Egyptians, cry out to God and Moses when they are weary in the desert. Their cries are desperate and show their vulnerability. Elsewhere they ask Moses why he didn’t just leave them to die in Egypt.
Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
One of the things I try to do every morning is read the newspaper. It does not take long to see many news stories that reflect the growing attitudes of hatred, prejudice, pettiness, and greed in our city, country and throughout the world. In today’s gospel, Jesus demonstrates how we are called to be “transformers.” By the power of His Spirit, Jesus takes judgment and hatred and responds with mercy and forgiveness. We are called to do the same.
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Most of you know that I rushed home to India last week to see my father. This is the the third time in five months that I have travelled nine thousand miles. Behind my frequent visits is a fear - the fear that this might be the last time I get to see my father. It is a crippling fear. It is not that I do not believe in eternity or that I lack hope in the face of death. My fear has got to do with the utter grief that death bring brings. My fear has got to do with the physical absence of the person I love. In so many ways, death changes things permanently.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
There are many things that threaten our spiritual life. We can become overly scrupulous – convinced that every little thing is the gravest of sins – or we can have a dull conscience that doesn’t convict us of anything. We can put undue emphasis on material goods or on spiritual goods to the detriment of the other. And the list goes on for a long time. I think one the greatest threats we face is for Christ to become lackluster.
Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Have you noticed that devotion puts others on the defensive, even if it is devotion for God? In today's world, when secular people see religion as something not rational, it is easy for devotion to feel threatening. Regular attendance at worship or reading scripture is threatening for some. Indeed, even other Christians can feel threatened if they think someone else is trying to be a better Christian than them. Fasting, attendance at daily mass, praying at other times than table grace, protesting against unjust wages or the death penalty, trying to practice the church's teachings on marriage and family, using clean speech - all these and more become things that put others on the defensive (and not coincidentally, become the subject for a great many arguments online and offline).
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
We see in today’s readings an ebb and flow of relationships. In Exodus, we see the Lord disown the Israelites, when he says to Moses, “Go down to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt…” Moses was only God’s chosen spokesman. He didn’t bring anyone out of Egypt; God brought the ten plagues, parted the Red Sea, and led the people by pillars of fire and smoke. But the Lord has been rejected by the people, and accepts that rejection by assigning them to Moses. But Moses dares to correct the Lord, responding, “Why should wrath blaze up against your own people?”
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Recently archaeologists unearthed the “Cylinder of Cyrus”. This artifact is an ancient Persian treasure. This artifact also tells us by what is written upon it that Cyrus, though conqueror, was a benevolent King. On the “Cylinder”, an edict stated, (paraphrase) as your King I want you to know peace. You are no longer slaves and you are free to worship the religion of your ancestors.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
When I got sick growing up, my mom (a nurse) would let me drink juice or Sprite or Gatorade – things that I wasn’t allowed to have on a regular day. Not only would she let me have delicious drinks, she would insist on it. When you are sick, she would say, you need fluids to get better.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth…" How often have we recited this during Mass and for how many years? Even reciting something as consequential as this can become rote. Sadly, many of us say these words and go on…unmoved by the significance of what we have just proclaimed. The point is I am saying that 'I believe'!
Fourth Sunday of Lent
I visited the Montgomery County Jail a few years back to hear a confession. When somebody makes a life-changing confession, I often remind them that the person who came into the confession is not the person who was going out. In other words, a person comes into the confessional a sinner but leaves a saint. But I could not say that to this man, because he was not going out anywhere. In spite of his confession he would still be in jail. In fact, I would be the one who would be going out. As I left the doors of the jail, I had that weird sense that even though this man was incarcerated, that at this moment he was more liberated than I was. Talk about irony, talk about light and darkness, talk about sin an holiness, talk about blindness and being able to see… it was truly weird.
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
I never know what station my train of thought is going to visit, and today did not disappoint. As I read the closing words of the Gospel today, I immediately thought of the line “As you wish.” Do you know it? The one from The Princess Bride that Wesley shouts as he tumbles toward the swamp filled with R.O.U.S. (Rodents of Unusual Size). You might be wondering what this has to do with the Annunciation, I know I was. It is that connection that I want to unpack a little today.
Friday of the Third Week of Lent
I've said it before, and I'll say it again now: the "Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But Words Will Never Hurt Me" rhyme is wrong, wrong, wrong. Words are important and we know this. People have anxiety about public speaking in part, I think, because we know the power of words to hurt, heal, unify, divide, and so on.
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
In today's first reading I am drawn to the statement, "This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people." The Lord tells us to listen to his voice. While this sounds easy, it is often challenging to hear God's voice, in order to listen. Amid all of the noise of our lives, we must discern the Lord's voice. We can not expect to naturally and organically just hear his voice. We need to carve out time and space in which we are intentionally listening for the Lord's voice. We can hear his voice when we engage in daily prayer, when we spend time with the scriptures and when we create daily, intentional times of silence.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with a family who were very aware of the fragility of life. While we were talking about God’s will, we waded into a discussion with one of the family who was unsure of their salvation. Their fear centered on being good enough to be loved by God. I nodded in the direction of their children and asked if they were perfect. Between the children and their parents they all agreed that they were flawed. The question then became did this parent love their children in spite of their faults. Of course the answer was “yes.” If our love is unconditional for our children, even more so is God’s love for us.
Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
We’re now in the very middle of Lent. We find ourselves in the middle of the desert, where it is not possible to turn back but reaching the end seems so far away. For those of us who gave something up, perhaps it’s getting really hard now: We crave the food we gave up or the TV show we let go for a time. But one of the beautiful things about Scripture, especially in the Old Testament, is the way in which it present honest human emotions. My students, many of whom were raised in Catholic schools, are often surprised to read passages in Scripture that show raw human emotions. They expect the Bible to contain only stilted and precious language. But so much of it is about the human response to both God and the troubles of the world. Today’s readings are meant to sustain us in the middle of our Lenten journeys.
Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Joseph. There are so many things about the life of St. Joseph that are inspiring. As the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus, he plays a critical role in the upbringing of Jesus. But what I find most amazing is the way that he lives out his role in salvation history with quiet, simple steadfast faith in God and complete obedience to God’s will for his life.
Third Sunday of Lent
(My homily today i a little different. It is an exercise in imaginative prayer. I have tried to enter into the mind of the Samaritan woman and narrate her experience first person).
You know what the worse thing is? They treat you like a piece of furniture - the cheap ones. The expensive ones… they got handled better than I did. I married five of them. Not one of them did it for love. I gave it my all. I cooked, I cleaned, I served, but was never loved. I even drew water from the well by myself. Chivalry is extinct! Neither was there any gratitude or appreciation. The man I live with now is no better. I was hoping that sixth time was the charm. I am the kind of girl whose dreams never come true. You think I would learn.
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
There are three main characters in the Parable of the prodigal son. They are the father, the younger son and the elder son. Usually as I read this parable I find myself asking if I’m like the younger or the elder Son right now. Am I returning to the father with my tail between my legs or am I indignantly refusing to celebrate another’s return to the Lord? Today, though, I was drawn to a different character; the father.