Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Every year at Christmas, my family and my wife’s family watches It’s a Wonderful Life (rumor has it that my father-in-law might be George Bailey). If you have never seen the film don’t stop reading, but do yourself a favor and watch it. Sorry if I spoil a thing or two, but even upon seeing the movie for the 28th time, it’s still good.
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
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
What is the first rule you can remember bring taught? For many of us it was our parent telling us that we had to eat our vegetables. An early rule I was be sure to look both ways before crossing the road. Consider the reasons for your parents teaching you the rules. Was it your parent’s intention to make your life difficult? We are given such rules because they love us and desire the best for us. Thus our families tried their best to raise us within the rules of the faith and moral life.
Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
Sometimes when I am ‘down and out,’ it’s completely unfair- someone else did something wrong, and I have to pay the price. Today’s readings are for those times when the opposite is true: when I dug a hole and fell into it.
When is the last time you were been in the hole because of your own actions, feeling helpless and foolish? Has it been a while? Or are you ‘in deep’ right now?
Monday of the Third Week of Lent
My grandson is at a fun age where his language is exploding, and he comes up with funny phrases or ideas every day. Currently, if we ask him where something or someone is, he tells us that it is “in his pocket.” As I was reading recently, I came across the idea of how sometimes we may try to put God in our pocket. We might claim to think we know God and can hold onto Him, even though He is more expansive in His love, mercy and compassion than we could begin to imagine. We will never know God completely, so we need to remain open to His revelation with a deep faith. When we see beyond our narrow viewpoint, we find that God is alive and active in the world around us- in places and in people that we could not even imagine. When we have open eyes and heart, we can see God’s surprises in our everyday lives. God invites us to take Him out of our pocket and allow Him to reveal the fullness of His love to us. Knowing this great love should fill us with joy and send us forth to share this wonderful God with others.
Third Sunday of Lent – Year A Scrutinies
I got a T-shirt as a gift for my 50th birthday! It said, “I Make 50 Look Good.” The T- shirt inspired another thought in me: “Jesus makes sinners look good.” Is that not what Paul means when he says in today’s second reading, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The story of the Samaritan woman is one of the most fascinating stories in all of scripture. From the time I first read it as a child and until today, the Samaritan woman comes across as a very likable person. At the end of the story, she comes out looking good. In reality, her five husbands, her sixth live-in, her brash mannerism, and her callous bravado, should make her look dubious. However, that is not how history remembers her. She comes out looking good. This is true of many characters in the Jesus story - Zacchaeus the unjust tax-collector, the woman who washed Jesus feet with her tears, the adulterous woman, Peter who betrayed Jesus, and even the centurial who crucified him. In the end they all come out look good! Sinners, when they encounter Jesus, come out looking good.
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
As I sit down to read reflections like this, somewhere in the back of my mind, I ask, however briefly, “What am I going to get out of it?” Do you do the same thing? We, by our society and by our sin, are so quick to ask, “What’s in it for me?” I think today’s gospel passage challenges that question.
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.
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
In today's readings, Jesus offers an interesting parable. We hear the story of two men - one, a rich man living a luxurious life of grandeur and ease and one a poor man who sat outside the rich man's door, desperate for some scrap of food to eat. And then we hear of their afterlife. The poor man is taken by angels to the bosom of Abraham, while the rich man is tormented in the netherworld.
Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent
Life can be difficult. Especially when we see life unfolding in a way that we think will harm us or at least wreck the world as we know it. We often bring the turmoil to prayer in a way that gives the Lord a narrow path in which to operate. “Lord hear my prayer request and answer it in this way.” While we do have the right to ask for specific prayer requests, these pleas must have a sense of openness.
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
“Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sinsbelike scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they may become white as wool (Is 1:18).” As we continue to celebrate the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Isaiah offers us this vivid and beautiful imagery of the Mercy of God, and his desire to help us “set things right.”
Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle
Do you know Jesus Christ well enough to declare to Him: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”? This declaration should be taken more seriously than any other we ever proclaim in our lives. And this is what exactly what Saint Peter declares in today’s Gospel. As the Church, on this day, celebrates the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, it is good that we reflect on this fundamental truth, especially during this season of Lent.
Second Sunday of Lent
Last Wednesday, Pope Francis was in the unlikeliest of all places - the US-Mexico border. He visited the border town of Cuidad Juarez, once known as the most violent place in the world. Before he celebrated mass for about two hundred thousand people, Pope Francis laid flowers at the memorial which remembers the immigrants who have lost their lives. The Pope’s gesture added fuel to the already fiery and controversial issue of immigration in the United States. While in Cuidad Juarez, he also visited the local prison, where, just a week before, 47 inmates were killed in gang-related riots. He said to the to the prisoners, “Jesus urges us to have the mercy that embraces everyone and is found in every corner of the world. There is no place beyond the reach of his mercy, no space or person it cannot touch.”
Saturday of the First Week of Lent
As I read today’s gospel passage I was reminded of a post I saw online. It said, “Love your enemies and you won’t have any.” Jesus’ line today goes a little more like this, “You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you”. So the question I want to raise is, “If you follow Christ’s instruction, does an absence of enemies naturally and necessarily follow? Is there possibly a bigger purpose for why we love our enemies?”
Friday of the First Week of Lent
Thursday of the First Week in Lent
As a child I often heard the phrase “be careful what you wish for.” This nagging reminder seems to have woven its way into my adult life in times when I’m cautioned to not pray for patience - because the truth is that if I pray for patience, God will allow my patience to be tested so that it may grow.
Wednesday of the First Week in Lent
If a person survives, a heart attack can be a wakeup call. As I chaplain I meet people whose hearts have stopped and been restarted. Not everyone reacts the same but much of the time people say their lives will be different. Recently, a patient reminded me how this profound awareness of their mortality changed things. The patient recalled to me their life before the experience and stated it lacked any real connection with God. Now that they were on the mend the remarked passionately, “from here forward I intend to have a relationship with Christ. My life will be different.”
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
The other day I was wondering, what is the “good news” that Jesus is always telling his disciples to go and proclaim? When I think of the good news (the gospel), I think of the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the forgiveness and healing that flow from it. But when Jesus was telling his followers to proclaim the good news, he hadn’t died and rose yet. So, what was he talking about? What was the good word?
Monday of the First Week of Lent
Today’s gospel passage tells the story where Christ separates the sheep from the goats on judgment day. As I read this passage, I was struck by the fact that neither the sheep nor the goats recognized Christ in the people they encountered. In order for us to be disciples of Christ- loving God, others and self, we must be able to recognize His Face not only within the faces of all those we meet, but also within us. No longer will it be me serving others, but it will be Christ in me showing mercy and love to Christ in those I encounter.