Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper
As the Triduum begins today, our readings recall the Passover foreshadowing of the Passion of Jesus that has deflected sin’s arrow. Just as the lamb’s blood signaled the Lord to pass over the Israelite households, so the Blood of the Lamb that we drink shields us from the spiritual death that normally follows sin.
Wednesday of Holy Week
We are half way through Holy Week and Triduum is only hours away. This said, today is a good day to take stock of our Lenten journey. Hopefully these forty days have helped us set our face like flint to our own sinfulness. Hopefully these days have helped us recognize that there is no disgrace in doing our best to turn away from all that distracts us from God. In short, reflect upon how this journey has brought us closer to the Lord.
Tuesday of Holy Week
The difference between what we are called to be and what we actually are can be pretty stark sometimes. In the first reading, we heard what might sound like a coach’s pep talk before a big game. “It’s not enough for you to be my servant. I will make you a light to the nations!” Then in the second reading, Jesus predicts Peter will deny that he even knows our lord, not once, but three times. Peter, the first Pope, leader of the Church, which is a light to the nations! Whose idea was it to put him in charge?
Monday of Holy Week
You know, on this Monday of Holy week, I was thinking of how many contradictory things many of us face during Holy Week. On one hand, we want to fully experience the Paschal Mystery, attend to our prayer, and participate in the sacred rituals Liturgies. On the other, we are trying to prepare for the Easter dinners, celebrations, and other traditions so special to our personal circumstances. And those are only the most obvious! Maybe over the years we somehow learn to strike a balance, but it can still remain a challenge to keep in sharp focus the significance of these approaching days.
Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion
Since I have been back from India after visiting my father who was seriously ill, numerous people have asked me about my trip. As I told them my story, many people shared their similar experiences. They talked about the time their parents were ill or about the time they took care of their parents. Some of them even cried about the time they lost their father or mother. In the strangest way, my story became theirs and their story became mine. It is almost as if by telling each other our stories, we were finding comfort, hope, and peace.
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
In Youth Ministry we are always trying to find new ways to present old truths without compromising on integrity. Some might say it is a byproduct of trying to fit faith into 140 characters and others would say it is just part of making faith manageable in our teens’ busy lives. Whatever the cause might be, it is a challenge of ministry.
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
I was talking with my daughter about a favorite movie - "Frozen". Perhaps most intriguing about this favorite movie of hers is that while she knows all the songs and states a definite preference for Elsa, she does not EVER, EVER, EVER want to watch the movie. "Why not?" I ask. "Because of all the scary parts." It's a reply that makes some sense, actually. But I tell her, with all my (supposed) adult wisdom: we watch all the scary parts but we know there's a happy ending. Isn't that good? Doesn't that make the scary parts just a bit better. "No!" comes the firm reply.
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.