1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Eph 5:8-14
Jn 9:1-41
It is quite clear that the theme in all of these readings is light and sight, including the first reading – which doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the blind seeing or light, but let’s take a closer look. King Saul wasn’t cutting it as king of Israel and the Lord wanted a replacement so he sent Samuel to find a new King. From the house of Jesse of Bethlehem, Samuel looks at all the fine sons that Jesse had: seven of them. Strange thing though, the Lord didn’t want any of them – they were the cream of the crop and yet the Lord chose David – the youngest and tending the sheep, the guy out back, the last resort, the backup of the backup; yet scriptures call him, ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance.
“Not as man sees does God see,
because man sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart.”
Many times we are quick to judge and quick to act to think that we know best – as we grow older those habits become more engrained in us. “This is the way I’m gonna do it because this is the way that I’ve always done it….” We are quick to judge the book by its cover, quick to think we know what the other is up to. But our Lord doesn’t work like that – and if we are to do His will, then we are going to have to make some changes in our life; making Him part of the decision making process and this is the best season to do that.
The season of Lent calls us to prayer, fasting, and acts of charity to help us rethink what we thought was a foregone conclusion and reexamine our habits and routines that we have built up over the years. One of my Lenten promises was that I gave up watching Netflix, suddenly I have this new block of free time that I can actually use to sleep or read that book that’s been collecting dust on my table. The spiritual practices of giving up stuff disorients us in a way, blinds us in a way so that we have to turn to God to help make us see again… and to see the way that He wants us to see. He is the light of the world. He brings light into our darkness so that we can be children of the light, and not of the dark.
We in the world – with the gift of technology and communication – we are able to do so much and yet when we are faced with the horrible Malaysian Airlines plane crash in the middle of the Indian Ocean, we are at the mercy of the weather, the ocean, and limited by our “advanced technology”. When we make use technology as an end in itself rather than a means to an end, we end up becoming dependent and blinding ourselves. When we make assumptions about people and judging them harshly – including our own family members – we end up blinding ourselves.
The scary thing is… we don’t even know that we are blind, until it is too late and tragedy strikes and we don’t know to who to turn. We can’t turn to our family and friends because they warned us and we’re just gonna feel ashamed. We can’t turn to God because we forgot how to pray; and that’s when you have fallen into despair. It is really scary in the dark – even the things familiar to you like walking around your house in the dark. How many times have you run into a table leg or a door jam in the dark? Isn’t it your house – shouldn’t you know it well? Why are you running into things? If you don’t know God as well as you know your house, then you are going to have a bad time when it goes dark. Therefore don’t wait, don’t despair, but turn to him.
The irony of today’s Gospel if you were paying attention is that the blind man is the only one that is able to see. He is asked three times and explains it four times what had happened. It almost gets tedious – his neighbors, his family and the Pharisees all are completely blind to what has just happened. They question their own knowledge, their own habits, and their own son – how can this be? This man was blind, and now he sees? How is this possible?! A miracle that happens right in front of your eyes and you are on your smart phone and googling if this can really happen. Meanwhile we miss something spectacular and wonderful: God’s providence. There are miracles happening every day, but are we conscious and aware enough to see what is going on? The spiritual gift of sight is a powerful thing and we should desire to have this as an integral part of our lives to help us not only grow closer with God, but also to help others in witness and testimony to God’s wonderful providential acts.
We are now at the half way point of Lent. And I encourage and challenge all of you to persevere in your Lenten practices. Whatever you have given up, keep it up, challenge yourself and make it harder. For those that haven’t even started you still have three more to make it happen. Do not slumber any longer… awake from your sleep and arise from the dead!! Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness… but expose them to the light through confession and reconciliation. The light of the Lord will give sight to your eyes and your spiritual eyes so that you are no longer blind. But this just doesn’t happen miraculously, He can’t force you to do that, He invites you to ask Him to help you. Be like the blind man – where when one sense goes, the others become more aware; and you take nothing for granted – so that when your sight is restored you have a greater awareness of who is behind all of this. Today is the day to make these changes in your life; don’t delay any longer. May you persevere in growing closer to our Lord the rest of this Lenten season.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
III Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
Ex 17:3-7
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Rom 5:1-2, 5-8
Jn 4:5-42
It was hot in the desert. He was traveling through a small town, and He was thirsty, parched. He asked her for a drink – “Give me a drink,” He says. She was a lonely woman, five husbands later, struggling to make ends meet, and going to the well when no one was around so she didn’t have to deal with all the fuss of the other women… all the while still looking for that perfect someone. She was a little distracted on her way, thinking about how the watering well led to those chance encounters of her ancestors’ marriages: how Rebekah and Isaac were brought together (Gen 24:10-67), how Jacob and Rachel met (Gen 29:1-30), and how Moses met his wife Zipporah (Ex 2:15-21). Maybe today would be different she thinks and then she sees Him – a little distance away – sitting there, hands on His knees, clothes soaked, perspiring, and looking weak…. This is her chance! Coming closer and seeing that He is a Jew, she scowls and knows that her chance for serendipitously meeting that special someone quickly disappears. “Sorry dear... not today, not today.”
He asks for a drink. “The nerve of Him!” she thinks to herself. She gives a snarky reply – knowing that the two of them clearly know that their people have nothing to do with each other – “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” But even in His dehydration, He puzzles her with this cryptic reply, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Living water?” She thinks to herself. “There are no rivers around, there’s no rushing or gushing of cool waters anywhere… just this old cistern with stale stagnant water. He must have had too much sun.”
What is this water that this man is speaking of? Water, where if I drink I will never be thirsty again? That would be great, then I won’t have to lug this bucket back and forth and listen to all those women talk behind my back! “Sir, give me this water!” But He wants to talk to my husband? That can’t be right... how does He know that I have had five husbands?! Oh, He’s good!! Clearly there is more to Him than I can see… and now He’s telling me that Jews and Samaritans will be worshipping in a whole new way? This is incredible. Clearly He must be a prophet…
She leaves her water jar. That’s why she went to the well; she needed water – the old cistern of stagnant water – it’s all they had. But this is something else; something fresh, new, exciting, and profound. St. Augustine says that her “leaving the water jar” is a symbol for
This Samaritan woman – a recognized sinner, conversing with another man in public, and sharing a drink – has been transformed to both a believer and now a missionary to her town. What is incredible is that her witness is so compelling that her foul reputation does not distract or take away from the authority and witness to Truth. And so the townspeople are led to believe not just in her, but ultimately in Christ: “We no longer believe because of your [her] word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
When are we going to put down our water jars of our smart phones and tablets; our remote controls, and computer mouse to be transformed by the Word of God and be moved – no, compelled – to share this Gospel with someone else? This Samaritan woman is no saint and her past has been burdensome. Surely if she is able to do it, why can’t we? What’s stopping us? Perhaps we need to be transformed first…
Do we believe, as St. Paul writes to the Romans, that we "...have been justified by faith… have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ?” Are you compelled to boast in hope of the glory of God? If there is anything in the world to boast about, it is our salvation through Christ, our Faith, and what keeps us going each day. If we truly believe that we have accepted Christ and have been transformed by Him, shouldn’t we be satisfied? We are thirsting for sodas, energy drinks, coffee, and alcohol when we should be thirsting for the font of Living Water – the roots of our Baptism!! That’s why it is so important to give up things during Lent; so that we thirst for Him and not for the world. It was asked to me why we – who have been baptized, who believe, and are trying to practice the faith – why do we still spiritually thirst and where is this spring of water welling up to eternal life that our Lord speaks of at the beginning of the Gospel? It is not enough that you receive the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist – it’s not a “once and done” kinda thing, it’s not a check mark next to a box, an “achievement unlocked”, you have to keep going. You’re soul has been transformed, but your flesh, your body is still catching up. And God willing, on the day that we die we will die with our thirst truly quenched preferring nothing else to Him. If Moses is able to strike the rock and have water flow in the middle of the desert at Meribah and Massah, surely our Lord can strike us and have a spring of living water flowing out of our stony hearts.
I believe that is it is no accident that our Lord’s encounter with the Samaritan woman occurred at noon and that it happened at the well – where the Old Testament Patriarch bridegrooms met their destined brides – where thirst meets satisfaction and new life. Our Lord is also a bridegroom, THE Bridegroom and He beheld His Bride at noon when He was nailed to the Cross on Good Friday. He had been traveling a long and tired road up to Golgotha and He was weak and covered in blood. The faithful few stood at the foot of the Cross; His Mother, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary of Magdala, and His disciple whom He loved to name a few. He gave His Mother to His beloved disciple, “Woman, behold, your son;” and His disciple to His Mother “Behold, your mother.” And after He had done all of this – what did He say? “I thirst.”
My Brothers and Sisters, we are at the Well – the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on Golgotha. Here He says, “I thirst.” But it is us – the notorious sinner sneaking up as if no one was watching – who is really truly thirsty. He asks us for a drink. But if we knew who He really was, who truly is for us, we would be asking Him for a drink. We would cast aside those earthen jars, not calling him “sir” or “prophet”, but “Messiah! My Lord and My God! I am thirsty! Give me a drink!” And He will gladly open up His side and from His Most Sacred and Pierced Heart will pour out blood and water – gushing out – washing us of our sins, cleansing us, purifying us, and making us a new creation. The eternal living water that He gives us is the Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord, which we will drink and partake of and will never be found wanting again.
Who’s thirsty?
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Rom 5:1-2, 5-8
Jn 4:5-42
It was hot in the desert. He was traveling through a small town, and He was thirsty, parched. He asked her for a drink – “Give me a drink,” He says. She was a lonely woman, five husbands later, struggling to make ends meet, and going to the well when no one was around so she didn’t have to deal with all the fuss of the other women… all the while still looking for that perfect someone. She was a little distracted on her way, thinking about how the watering well led to those chance encounters of her ancestors’ marriages: how Rebekah and Isaac were brought together (Gen 24:10-67), how Jacob and Rachel met (Gen 29:1-30), and how Moses met his wife Zipporah (Ex 2:15-21). Maybe today would be different she thinks and then she sees Him – a little distance away – sitting there, hands on His knees, clothes soaked, perspiring, and looking weak…. This is her chance! Coming closer and seeing that He is a Jew, she scowls and knows that her chance for serendipitously meeting that special someone quickly disappears. “Sorry dear... not today, not today.”
He asks for a drink. “The nerve of Him!” she thinks to herself. She gives a snarky reply – knowing that the two of them clearly know that their people have nothing to do with each other – “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” But even in His dehydration, He puzzles her with this cryptic reply, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Living water?” She thinks to herself. “There are no rivers around, there’s no rushing or gushing of cool waters anywhere… just this old cistern with stale stagnant water. He must have had too much sun.”
What is this water that this man is speaking of? Water, where if I drink I will never be thirsty again? That would be great, then I won’t have to lug this bucket back and forth and listen to all those women talk behind my back! “Sir, give me this water!” But He wants to talk to my husband? That can’t be right... how does He know that I have had five husbands?! Oh, He’s good!! Clearly there is more to Him than I can see… and now He’s telling me that Jews and Samaritans will be worshipping in a whole new way? This is incredible. Clearly He must be a prophet…
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”I know that there is a Messiah that’s been prophesied, maybe that’s what He is talking about. “I am he, the one speaking with you.” This is too much. I don’t know why, but I believe Him and I have to tell the others. They won’t believe me, but I have to go.
She leaves her water jar. That’s why she went to the well; she needed water – the old cistern of stagnant water – it’s all they had. But this is something else; something fresh, new, exciting, and profound. St. Augustine says that her “leaving the water jar” is a symbol for
…the fallen desire of man that draws pleasure from the dark wells of the world but is never satisfied for long. Conversion to Christ moves us, like the Samaritan woman, to renounce the world, leave behind the desire of our earthen vessels, and follow a new way of life. (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, RSV 2ndEd, p.169)
This Samaritan woman – a recognized sinner, conversing with another man in public, and sharing a drink – has been transformed to both a believer and now a missionary to her town. What is incredible is that her witness is so compelling that her foul reputation does not distract or take away from the authority and witness to Truth. And so the townspeople are led to believe not just in her, but ultimately in Christ: “We no longer believe because of your [her] word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
When are we going to put down our water jars of our smart phones and tablets; our remote controls, and computer mouse to be transformed by the Word of God and be moved – no, compelled – to share this Gospel with someone else? This Samaritan woman is no saint and her past has been burdensome. Surely if she is able to do it, why can’t we? What’s stopping us? Perhaps we need to be transformed first…
Do we believe, as St. Paul writes to the Romans, that we "...have been justified by faith… have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ?” Are you compelled to boast in hope of the glory of God? If there is anything in the world to boast about, it is our salvation through Christ, our Faith, and what keeps us going each day. If we truly believe that we have accepted Christ and have been transformed by Him, shouldn’t we be satisfied? We are thirsting for sodas, energy drinks, coffee, and alcohol when we should be thirsting for the font of Living Water – the roots of our Baptism!! That’s why it is so important to give up things during Lent; so that we thirst for Him and not for the world. It was asked to me why we – who have been baptized, who believe, and are trying to practice the faith – why do we still spiritually thirst and where is this spring of water welling up to eternal life that our Lord speaks of at the beginning of the Gospel? It is not enough that you receive the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist – it’s not a “once and done” kinda thing, it’s not a check mark next to a box, an “achievement unlocked”, you have to keep going. You’re soul has been transformed, but your flesh, your body is still catching up. And God willing, on the day that we die we will die with our thirst truly quenched preferring nothing else to Him. If Moses is able to strike the rock and have water flow in the middle of the desert at Meribah and Massah, surely our Lord can strike us and have a spring of living water flowing out of our stony hearts.
I believe that is it is no accident that our Lord’s encounter with the Samaritan woman occurred at noon and that it happened at the well – where the Old Testament Patriarch bridegrooms met their destined brides – where thirst meets satisfaction and new life. Our Lord is also a bridegroom, THE Bridegroom and He beheld His Bride at noon when He was nailed to the Cross on Good Friday. He had been traveling a long and tired road up to Golgotha and He was weak and covered in blood. The faithful few stood at the foot of the Cross; His Mother, Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary of Magdala, and His disciple whom He loved to name a few. He gave His Mother to His beloved disciple, “Woman, behold, your son;” and His disciple to His Mother “Behold, your mother.” And after He had done all of this – what did He say? “I thirst.”
My Brothers and Sisters, we are at the Well – the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on Golgotha. Here He says, “I thirst.” But it is us – the notorious sinner sneaking up as if no one was watching – who is really truly thirsty. He asks us for a drink. But if we knew who He really was, who truly is for us, we would be asking Him for a drink. We would cast aside those earthen jars, not calling him “sir” or “prophet”, but “Messiah! My Lord and My God! I am thirsty! Give me a drink!” And He will gladly open up His side and from His Most Sacred and Pierced Heart will pour out blood and water – gushing out – washing us of our sins, cleansing us, purifying us, and making us a new creation. The eternal living water that He gives us is the Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord, which we will drink and partake of and will never be found wanting again.
Who’s thirsty?
Sunday, March 16, 2014
II Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
Gn 12:1-4a
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
2 Tim 1:8b-10
Mt 17:1-9
A popular saying attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola: “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.” I think this is a great maxim to live your life by. It shows trust and faith in God AND it also shows personal responsibility in what is entrusted to you. But there is a danger that many people fall into; myself included. The temptation and tendency is to do one or the other, but not both. What good is it if you sit in the chapel all day without practicing your faith in your daily life? What good is it to just be a nice likeable person without any trust or faith in God? You cannot do one or the other but you must do both.
Here today our first reading comes from Genesis – the first promise that God makes with Abram. A promise to make him a father to a great nation, a great “name”, and a great blessing to all – fame, fortune, and power. If God were to approach you with this offer, how could you refuse? It sounds great! Well, let’s take a look at the reality: Abram is old and knows that he will not live long. He has no children – that’s kinda important; how is going to be a “Father” to nations without any kids? [You kinda need water to go swimming right?] And let’s be real: it’s gonna take a few years to develop a serious political portfolio as a sheep farmer in a foreign land to have any power. He’s a stranger in a strange land, a foreigner with no children and no money; and God makes this grand promise – this is whimsical, farfetched and a little bit ludicrous. But Abram is one who has faith and trusts in Him. He obeys God and ventures off, trusting in this promise. “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.”
Our Second Reading from the letter to Timothy again call on us to trust in God
Early Christian tradition places the time of our Lord’s Transfiguration forty days before Good Friday. It is only fitting that this event should occur, not randomly, but connected intimately with the Cross. And it is also why we hear these readings of trusting in God near the beginning of Lent. What happens before the Transfiguration sets the context to what is happening. St. Peter has just made the declaration that Christ is “the Son of God”, but immediately sticks his foot in his mouth by rebuking Jesus’ announcement that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer… and be killed and on the third day be raised. This is Christ’s first announcement that He was not going to be the Messiah that the disciples thought they knew. Jerusalem, the Holy City, is not only a geographical location but also the ultimate End (read: destination) for us in heaven… the New Jerusalem. And it has been said, you cannot get to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday. We must take that leap of faith to journey with Christ to the Cross – to pick up that Cross and carry it home. This is the paradox for us and the disciples. You can almost hear the questioning in disciples’ minds, “How is He going to be a Messiah if He is just going to die a painful death? How is this going to work?” How is God going to make Abram a father to the nations without any children?
Our Lord, knowing all of this, goes up a high mountain – taking His three trusted disciples: Peter, James, and John – and shows them what’s really going on. And there you see this account: his face transfigured, radiating light and his clothes white as light and the two critical figures of the Old Testament: Moses and Elijah – representing the Law and the Prophets, all coming together for this holy meeting. The signs and the symbols are just incredible. There should be no doubt in their minds: this Man is the fulfillment of the Old Testament – the Law and the Prophet have come to see Christ – and the transfiguration of Christ shows the fulfillment of the Resurrection; that is, the manifestation of the glorified body. The Past, the Present, and the Future are seen all at once. If there was any doubt that there would be a resurrection of our bodies, this account should put those doubts to rest. But of course the disciples are thickheaded thinking that this is just a neato place and so they want to build tents here to memorialize this event. You build memorials for heroes and events, this isn’t just an event but the heavenly reality realized in the here and now.
And to top it all off – the bright cloud descends upon them with the voice, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” And what are the first words from our Lord’s mouth, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” Falling prostrate in fear of the awesome power of God, the incredible vision that they had seen – this is not a warm fuzzy – this is, “Woe is me, how can I be in His presence and still be here and alive.” This is the “utterly and beyond comprehension” manifestation of God, a name not even dared spoken in Judaism. This is not the fluffy chubby cherub angels on clouds, but a booming thunder. It is not fearful or scary – but tremendous and so utterly Other – that leaves us not only speechless, but filled with awe. And the first words from the Second Person of the Trinity Godhead says, “Rise and do not be afraid.”
My brothers and sisters, wherever we are in Lent – if we just had a horrible start to Lent or an excellent beginning, we could all use more trust in God and fortify our faith. Our readings provide a formula for true trust and full faith. He has shown that we must work hard and persevere, not to our own design but in His. He has made the impossible possible; He has revealed the future, what is there more to do than to start walking towards Him? What are those sins that you have not confessed, that you have kept hidden all your life embarrassed and ashamed to speak? Why is that Bible collecting dust in the corner of your coffee table or shelf? And why aren’t you giving up the things that don’t truly satisfy you, but rather hold on to it as if you wanted to buried with it? Our lives are short, but there is enough time to make the changes we need to get right with God. We aren’t doing it alone, we are doing it together and the grace of God is surely working in your life. He won’t force you, He is inviting you. “Pray as if everything depended on Him and work as if everything depended on you.” Trust in God, do not be afraid. Get up and go – walk with Him… let us continue on to Jerusalem.
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
2 Tim 1:8b-10
Mt 17:1-9
A popular saying attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola: “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.” I think this is a great maxim to live your life by. It shows trust and faith in God AND it also shows personal responsibility in what is entrusted to you. But there is a danger that many people fall into; myself included. The temptation and tendency is to do one or the other, but not both. What good is it if you sit in the chapel all day without practicing your faith in your daily life? What good is it to just be a nice likeable person without any trust or faith in God? You cannot do one or the other but you must do both.
Here today our first reading comes from Genesis – the first promise that God makes with Abram. A promise to make him a father to a great nation, a great “name”, and a great blessing to all – fame, fortune, and power. If God were to approach you with this offer, how could you refuse? It sounds great! Well, let’s take a look at the reality: Abram is old and knows that he will not live long. He has no children – that’s kinda important; how is going to be a “Father” to nations without any kids? [You kinda need water to go swimming right?] And let’s be real: it’s gonna take a few years to develop a serious political portfolio as a sheep farmer in a foreign land to have any power. He’s a stranger in a strange land, a foreigner with no children and no money; and God makes this grand promise – this is whimsical, farfetched and a little bit ludicrous. But Abram is one who has faith and trusts in Him. He obeys God and ventures off, trusting in this promise. “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.”
Our Second Reading from the letter to Timothy again call on us to trust in God
Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus.What we have to go on and live by, my brothers and sisters, is simply to trust in a promise to carry our Cross, especially in this Lenten season, to unite our sufferings and burdens with Him because He came to love us, save us, and set us free. It is not by our own designs, our own plans and desires, but through HIS design and HIS grace that is bestowed on us. It is a simple request to trust in Him, but for us who have been wounded by the world, wounded by our own sin, and wounded by ones that we have loved this simple act of trust – hoping against hope – as Abram did, is one of the most difficult things to do. But yet, when we do – and you can see the proof in some of the people around you – when we do, you will find peace and joy. Pray for that grace. And put some more effort into your Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and charity. Pray– not just more, but pray with quality AND quantity. Fast more – truly hunger for Him in the things around you. Exercise compassion and charity to those around you; so that you may see Christ in others. These are the things that increase your awareness, sharpen your wit, and open your heart to the grace that He has for you. “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.”
Early Christian tradition places the time of our Lord’s Transfiguration forty days before Good Friday. It is only fitting that this event should occur, not randomly, but connected intimately with the Cross. And it is also why we hear these readings of trusting in God near the beginning of Lent. What happens before the Transfiguration sets the context to what is happening. St. Peter has just made the declaration that Christ is “the Son of God”, but immediately sticks his foot in his mouth by rebuking Jesus’ announcement that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer… and be killed and on the third day be raised. This is Christ’s first announcement that He was not going to be the Messiah that the disciples thought they knew. Jerusalem, the Holy City, is not only a geographical location but also the ultimate End (read: destination) for us in heaven… the New Jerusalem. And it has been said, you cannot get to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday. We must take that leap of faith to journey with Christ to the Cross – to pick up that Cross and carry it home. This is the paradox for us and the disciples. You can almost hear the questioning in disciples’ minds, “How is He going to be a Messiah if He is just going to die a painful death? How is this going to work?” How is God going to make Abram a father to the nations without any children?
Our Lord, knowing all of this, goes up a high mountain – taking His three trusted disciples: Peter, James, and John – and shows them what’s really going on. And there you see this account: his face transfigured, radiating light and his clothes white as light and the two critical figures of the Old Testament: Moses and Elijah – representing the Law and the Prophets, all coming together for this holy meeting. The signs and the symbols are just incredible. There should be no doubt in their minds: this Man is the fulfillment of the Old Testament – the Law and the Prophet have come to see Christ – and the transfiguration of Christ shows the fulfillment of the Resurrection; that is, the manifestation of the glorified body. The Past, the Present, and the Future are seen all at once. If there was any doubt that there would be a resurrection of our bodies, this account should put those doubts to rest. But of course the disciples are thickheaded thinking that this is just a neato place and so they want to build tents here to memorialize this event. You build memorials for heroes and events, this isn’t just an event but the heavenly reality realized in the here and now.
And to top it all off – the bright cloud descends upon them with the voice, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” And what are the first words from our Lord’s mouth, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” Falling prostrate in fear of the awesome power of God, the incredible vision that they had seen – this is not a warm fuzzy – this is, “Woe is me, how can I be in His presence and still be here and alive.” This is the “utterly and beyond comprehension” manifestation of God, a name not even dared spoken in Judaism. This is not the fluffy chubby cherub angels on clouds, but a booming thunder. It is not fearful or scary – but tremendous and so utterly Other – that leaves us not only speechless, but filled with awe. And the first words from the Second Person of the Trinity Godhead says, “Rise and do not be afraid.”
My brothers and sisters, wherever we are in Lent – if we just had a horrible start to Lent or an excellent beginning, we could all use more trust in God and fortify our faith. Our readings provide a formula for true trust and full faith. He has shown that we must work hard and persevere, not to our own design but in His. He has made the impossible possible; He has revealed the future, what is there more to do than to start walking towards Him? What are those sins that you have not confessed, that you have kept hidden all your life embarrassed and ashamed to speak? Why is that Bible collecting dust in the corner of your coffee table or shelf? And why aren’t you giving up the things that don’t truly satisfy you, but rather hold on to it as if you wanted to buried with it? Our lives are short, but there is enough time to make the changes we need to get right with God. We aren’t doing it alone, we are doing it together and the grace of God is surely working in your life. He won’t force you, He is inviting you. “Pray as if everything depended on Him and work as if everything depended on you.” Trust in God, do not be afraid. Get up and go – walk with Him… let us continue on to Jerusalem.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
I Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
Rom 5:12-19
Mt 4:1-11
Last week, I preached about the Stewardship of Time and I felt that the timing of the Stewardship of Time could not be better. Because the Season of Lent is here, we received our ashes and the time is now – if you haven’t already – to really put yourself into the desert with our Lord. Every first Sunday of Lent begins with Jesus’ temptation in the desert. The Church in her wisdom has given us these readings to give us the encouragement and inspiration to start us off on the right foot in the desert and to make it a good Lent.
Our Lord is tempted in the desert three times with three different things. What is the first one? Food - “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” After 40 days and nights in the desert, our Lord was hungry. Satan is no slouch when it comes to temptation; and he knows that if there’s a weakness with someone who has been fasting for 40 days and nights, the first place to attack would be the stomach. What is the second temptation? At the top of the Temple in Holy City Jerusalem, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you / and with their hands they will support you/ lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Our Lord is already weak in the body, now the Devil is tempting His faith – to test God with prayer. And finally, what is third temptation? The Devil taking Him to a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” Finally, an appeal to power and authority – a test and temptation of the mind – Satan has pulled out all the stops to try to make our Lord fall – body, spirit, and mind: the flesh, the faith, and the power. Doesn’t this sound a bit familiar? Perhaps maybe… what we are supposed to be doing for Lent?
I said it last week and again on Ash Wednesday: PRAYER, FASTING, AND ALMSGIVING are our Lenten disciplines. Fasting involves the body – giving up the things that are non-essential in life, paring back the clutter of our lives so that we can start to hunger and thirst for Him – not only physically, but most especially spiritually. How can we keep our Faith strong? How is our faith strengthened? Through PRAYER – time spent in prayer: be it devotions, silence and meditation, spiritual reading and contemplation. Specific time, dedicated time, consecrated time to God in addition to what you are already doing and supposed to be doing. Be specific and purposeful in your prayer and make it your time. Finally, as your relationship with God grows, you will be called to put your faith into action, which brings us to our third discipline of Lent: Almsgiving. Money is always a safe bet, but not always the best bet – everyone is blessed differently to give differently, but time spent in kindness to others, compassion for others, and acting justly and virtuously is always beneficial. It is up to your conscience to discern what your best spiritual practices are, but they should ultimately all be focused on one thing: growing in Holiness.
There should be some pain and suffering during Lent. How many of you really fasted and abstained on Ash Wednesday and then abstained on Friday? How many of you all did it for the first time? If you aren’t used to it, it most certainly will be a very painful experience. I compare it to the first day at the gym after the first workout. You go in all excited – I got my gym shorts, I got my Under Armor shirt, my brand new running shoes, my gloves, BPA-free water bottle, and protein shake ready to go!!! You walk-in, and you start working out, you’re feeling good, feel like you got a good sweat going, look at the time – it’s only be two minutes in to a 1 hour workout. At the end of it, you are a Complete. Mess. Yeah, that’s our spiritual lives too – we’re gonna be sore, we’re gonna look all disheveled and need a lot of icy-hot and Advil. But we are working out; we are exercising our Souls – our Spiritual Life. The rest of the year we’ve let it just sit idly, haven’t engaged it and now it looks like an obese couch potato.
This is a perennial problem ever since the Garden of Eden – spiritual weakness and concupiscence. The Good News is that we have the grace of God on our side. And what our Lord did in the desert is for us a model: He did it and so can we. “But Father, Father, He’s God! Of course He can do it!” I answer, “Yes, but He is also fully human – He is the New Adam.” He had to succeed where Adam and Eve failed. He had to do it right and make it right on human terms not on divine terms. Otherwise, the whole economy of salvation – redemption of man by man – would not have counted – as an early Church Father declared, “What He did not assume, He did not redeem.”
Notice that the Devil only acted AFTER the Father revealed that Jesus was His beloved Son when He was just baptized in the previous chapter. To have supernatural assistance against a supernatural foe would seem beyond our abilities in a battle in the desert, but do not forget that each one of you are baptized too! “What our Lord Jesus Christ has by nature, we have by adoption” to be called Sons and Daughters of God – that’s not some cheesy line out of Sunday School class – that is a fundamental theological reality that we quite often forget or don’t even realize. Therefore, we should not be scared to face these temptations of the flesh, of the mind, and of the spirit. The question is: What’s keeping you from entering into this journey?
Join me this Lent. Enter into today’s Gospel prayerfully as a way for you to imitate Our Lord – His suffering and temptations are your sufferings and temptations. Go into the desert and begin your fasting, your prayer, and your almsgiving. Take away all those things that won’t bring you closer to God and start drawing nearer to Him. He is closer than you think. I realized that all of the Lents that I have been through (it’s not that many, I’m not that old), I have noticed that the more I give up, the more I pray, the more I act charitably – the closer my walk is with God. I am a sinner, I am a coward, I am weak, and I know that. But I also know that the better the effort, the purer the intention, the greater the reward. My fellow brothers and sisters, let us journey to Easter Sunday – where the sweets will be sweeter; and the sweetest of all will be our relationship with our risen Lord in the Resurrection.
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
Rom 5:12-19
Mt 4:1-11
Last week, I preached about the Stewardship of Time and I felt that the timing of the Stewardship of Time could not be better. Because the Season of Lent is here, we received our ashes and the time is now – if you haven’t already – to really put yourself into the desert with our Lord. Every first Sunday of Lent begins with Jesus’ temptation in the desert. The Church in her wisdom has given us these readings to give us the encouragement and inspiration to start us off on the right foot in the desert and to make it a good Lent.
Our Lord is tempted in the desert three times with three different things. What is the first one? Food - “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” After 40 days and nights in the desert, our Lord was hungry. Satan is no slouch when it comes to temptation; and he knows that if there’s a weakness with someone who has been fasting for 40 days and nights, the first place to attack would be the stomach. What is the second temptation? At the top of the Temple in Holy City Jerusalem, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you / and with their hands they will support you/ lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Our Lord is already weak in the body, now the Devil is tempting His faith – to test God with prayer. And finally, what is third temptation? The Devil taking Him to a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, "All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” Finally, an appeal to power and authority – a test and temptation of the mind – Satan has pulled out all the stops to try to make our Lord fall – body, spirit, and mind: the flesh, the faith, and the power. Doesn’t this sound a bit familiar? Perhaps maybe… what we are supposed to be doing for Lent?
I said it last week and again on Ash Wednesday: PRAYER, FASTING, AND ALMSGIVING are our Lenten disciplines. Fasting involves the body – giving up the things that are non-essential in life, paring back the clutter of our lives so that we can start to hunger and thirst for Him – not only physically, but most especially spiritually. How can we keep our Faith strong? How is our faith strengthened? Through PRAYER – time spent in prayer: be it devotions, silence and meditation, spiritual reading and contemplation. Specific time, dedicated time, consecrated time to God in addition to what you are already doing and supposed to be doing. Be specific and purposeful in your prayer and make it your time. Finally, as your relationship with God grows, you will be called to put your faith into action, which brings us to our third discipline of Lent: Almsgiving. Money is always a safe bet, but not always the best bet – everyone is blessed differently to give differently, but time spent in kindness to others, compassion for others, and acting justly and virtuously is always beneficial. It is up to your conscience to discern what your best spiritual practices are, but they should ultimately all be focused on one thing: growing in Holiness.
There should be some pain and suffering during Lent. How many of you really fasted and abstained on Ash Wednesday and then abstained on Friday? How many of you all did it for the first time? If you aren’t used to it, it most certainly will be a very painful experience. I compare it to the first day at the gym after the first workout. You go in all excited – I got my gym shorts, I got my Under Armor shirt, my brand new running shoes, my gloves, BPA-free water bottle, and protein shake ready to go!!! You walk-in, and you start working out, you’re feeling good, feel like you got a good sweat going, look at the time – it’s only be two minutes in to a 1 hour workout. At the end of it, you are a Complete. Mess. Yeah, that’s our spiritual lives too – we’re gonna be sore, we’re gonna look all disheveled and need a lot of icy-hot and Advil. But we are working out; we are exercising our Souls – our Spiritual Life. The rest of the year we’ve let it just sit idly, haven’t engaged it and now it looks like an obese couch potato.
This is a perennial problem ever since the Garden of Eden – spiritual weakness and concupiscence. The Good News is that we have the grace of God on our side. And what our Lord did in the desert is for us a model: He did it and so can we. “But Father, Father, He’s God! Of course He can do it!” I answer, “Yes, but He is also fully human – He is the New Adam.” He had to succeed where Adam and Eve failed. He had to do it right and make it right on human terms not on divine terms. Otherwise, the whole economy of salvation – redemption of man by man – would not have counted – as an early Church Father declared, “What He did not assume, He did not redeem.”
Notice that the Devil only acted AFTER the Father revealed that Jesus was His beloved Son when He was just baptized in the previous chapter. To have supernatural assistance against a supernatural foe would seem beyond our abilities in a battle in the desert, but do not forget that each one of you are baptized too! “What our Lord Jesus Christ has by nature, we have by adoption” to be called Sons and Daughters of God – that’s not some cheesy line out of Sunday School class – that is a fundamental theological reality that we quite often forget or don’t even realize. Therefore, we should not be scared to face these temptations of the flesh, of the mind, and of the spirit. The question is: What’s keeping you from entering into this journey?
Join me this Lent. Enter into today’s Gospel prayerfully as a way for you to imitate Our Lord – His suffering and temptations are your sufferings and temptations. Go into the desert and begin your fasting, your prayer, and your almsgiving. Take away all those things that won’t bring you closer to God and start drawing nearer to Him. He is closer than you think. I realized that all of the Lents that I have been through (it’s not that many, I’m not that old), I have noticed that the more I give up, the more I pray, the more I act charitably – the closer my walk is with God. I am a sinner, I am a coward, I am weak, and I know that. But I also know that the better the effort, the purer the intention, the greater the reward. My fellow brothers and sisters, let us journey to Easter Sunday – where the sweets will be sweeter; and the sweetest of all will be our relationship with our risen Lord in the Resurrection.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Ash Wednesday
Jl 2:12-18
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14, 17
2 Cor 5:20-6:2
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
*NB* Certain parts of this homily was given last year... still rings true.
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving mark the three major themes of practice during the season of Lent. Prayer is obvious – we should pray more. We should spend more time in prayer and meditating on the scriptures and spiritual works, meditating our lives, and most importantly evaluating our relationship with God. Fasting is typically concerned with food – because it is so essential and in our current state, quite optional: we can eat a big meal, we can eat small meals. But fasting can and usually does extend into our optional daily habits as well: television, books, video games, internet, shopping, and entertainment. Almsgiving is another act of sacrifice – it takes one out of themselves and into the life of another. Whereas the first two are more personal, almsgiving is communal. There are many corporal and spiritual works of mercy when one helps and supports another. Almsgiving incarnates – brings into the flesh, as it were – your spiritual works of prayer and fasting into action. The first two purify and sanctify, the last one actualizes.
Perhaps you might be asking: “Why do such things? My relationship with God is going great, it seems fine to me – why do I HAVE to pray, fast, and give to the poor? My life is busy as it is – nobody has time for that!” My answer is simply this: Liar! You are lying to yourself! If you have excused yourself from a mistake, reasoned your way out of going to Mass, to Church, felt lazy, or dodged some other responsibility. If you have sinned in any form – white lies, getting angry and frustrated, cutting corners, looking lustfully or enviously at anyone around you, you need Lent – you need these practices. Lent humbles us, wherever we are and helps us to see where we are and where we need to go. Fr. Glenn said in one of his homilies – “Too often we think we are alright because we compare ourselves to criminals and those people who don’t have their life together, ‘at least I’m not them!’ What we should REALLY be doing is comparing our lives to the saints!!” How true that is! Anybody can set a bar so low that they trip over it, but what good does that do?
Lent helps us to humble ourselves and in some cases humiliate ourselves because once we have it in our hearts that each and every single one of us are sinners and do not deserve anything – even life itself – it is only then can we rely on God’s grace and this divine relationship and understand how we can stand worthily before Him. When we die, all will be revealed – the TRUTH – of the lives that we live held to us like a mirror reflecting our past as we stand judged before Him. This can be a very scary thing because we have been conditioned for decades to just think happy thoughts and to overlook our shortcomings. Now is the time to face reality – the reality of the state of our soul. To strip away the window dressing, to strip away the gilded gold on our souls and to bring our hearts humbly before God to really fix what is broken and to rid us of what we no longer need. This season is not about damnation, but about redemption; it is not about condemnation but about being picked up and said to you, “Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more.”
I have to admit one of my pet peeves is this novel trendy idea: “Instead of giving something up, I’m gonna try to do more of something” and leaving it at that. As if to say, “between prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, I’m just gonna pick one.” And while that may work for some, it really misses the point of Lent. Lent is a season of austerity: somber reflection and stripping things bare. Why does Lent focus on what you give up? Because it removes the unnecessary things from your life. We live in a first world country where we have pie eating contests, hot dog eating contests, where we can super-size, add a side, and multiply whatever we want!! There are seemingly endless possibilities with what we can do. And then when you look at your possessions – how many of these things bring you closer to God or is it an anesthetic to numb your pain and suffering?
In this season, the disciplines of prayer and fasting and almsgiving will help us to journey towards healing, forgiveness, and redemption; but the three, I believe, must be used together. Prayer bonds the almsgiving and fasting, almsgiving bonds prayer and fasting, fasting bonds prayer and almsgiving. This trifecta of discipline and practice helps us better our relationship with God. I exhort you to make it a tough and challenging Lent filled with lots of suffering without the complaining. Yes you’ll be miserable at times, but you’re not to make others miserable! If you are, you’re doing it wrong! Some say that giving up this or that makes other peoples’ lives miserable and so it would be better if they didn’t give it up. Otherwise, you are taking fasting and giving up things in the wrong direction – why aren’t you turning to God but instead…. turning on others? It’s not the coffee or the chocolate that’s the problem – you can’t blame those for making you fall – you fell because you are weak and you have discovered a weakness for God to work on. Good! Stop the EXCUSES! Really pray about why you fell and move forward to grow with God; we are sinners but it doesn’t mean we have to stay there.
The more you invest, the more you sacrifice, the greater your Easter will be! If you find yourself frustrated and irritable, that’s when you should be reminded why you are doing what you are doing. Do not fall to the temptation of giving up your penance, but rather do your penance better and go to confession if you sin. Confession is not a punishment, but a medicine. If you fall off the wagon, get back on – this isn’t the Olympics, this is training; if we were perfect we wouldn’t need Lent.
If you knew you were going to die today, what would you do? You would do the very things that prepare you to meet God – you would stop doing what is not important: anything and everything that was unnecessary (video games, internet, television, sweets, extra helpings, etc.). And then you would do what was the most important – confession, penance, and making amends in your life – forgiving others and making the most of your time with your loved ones. The ashes that are put on your foreheads are said with these words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” When you think about it, our lives are limited. A single day to a hundred more years is nothing compared to eternity in heaven or hell. We are mortal, we are limited; and the things that we thought are important aren’t really that important. I cannot tell you how important Lent is for us this year. With as many things going on in the world, especially in Russia and Ukraine – each one of us need to get on the “praying, fasting, and almsgiving” bandwagon right now and do our part; not just for ourselves, but for the world.
Lent is a season of austerity that strips the leafy branches of our lives to reveal the bare branches of the reality of who we are. When we take away our coping mechanisms and means of escape through food, entertainment, and luxuries we are left with facing who we really are before God. And this is sometimes scary – we may not like what we see. What is life like without the TV on all the time, what is life like without social media? When you are faced with silence instead of the humdrum of life – can you handle it? Just *doing* something without taking anything away simply adds more layers to your life. You are already busy enough – why are you going to burden yourself with more stuff!? Go to the quiet place of your soul; go into the desert with our Lord this Lent. Have a one-on-one with Him without the distractions in life – don’t add more layers, but rather take things away and reprioritize life so that the noise of life will not drown out the sound of His voice. Go into the desert, have that heart-to-heart with Him and enjoy that tranquil solitude that only He can give.
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14, 17
2 Cor 5:20-6:2
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
*NB* Certain parts of this homily was given last year... still rings true.
Prayer, fasting and almsgiving mark the three major themes of practice during the season of Lent. Prayer is obvious – we should pray more. We should spend more time in prayer and meditating on the scriptures and spiritual works, meditating our lives, and most importantly evaluating our relationship with God. Fasting is typically concerned with food – because it is so essential and in our current state, quite optional: we can eat a big meal, we can eat small meals. But fasting can and usually does extend into our optional daily habits as well: television, books, video games, internet, shopping, and entertainment. Almsgiving is another act of sacrifice – it takes one out of themselves and into the life of another. Whereas the first two are more personal, almsgiving is communal. There are many corporal and spiritual works of mercy when one helps and supports another. Almsgiving incarnates – brings into the flesh, as it were – your spiritual works of prayer and fasting into action. The first two purify and sanctify, the last one actualizes.
Perhaps you might be asking: “Why do such things? My relationship with God is going great, it seems fine to me – why do I HAVE to pray, fast, and give to the poor? My life is busy as it is – nobody has time for that!” My answer is simply this: Liar! You are lying to yourself! If you have excused yourself from a mistake, reasoned your way out of going to Mass, to Church, felt lazy, or dodged some other responsibility. If you have sinned in any form – white lies, getting angry and frustrated, cutting corners, looking lustfully or enviously at anyone around you, you need Lent – you need these practices. Lent humbles us, wherever we are and helps us to see where we are and where we need to go. Fr. Glenn said in one of his homilies – “Too often we think we are alright because we compare ourselves to criminals and those people who don’t have their life together, ‘at least I’m not them!’ What we should REALLY be doing is comparing our lives to the saints!!” How true that is! Anybody can set a bar so low that they trip over it, but what good does that do?
Lent helps us to humble ourselves and in some cases humiliate ourselves because once we have it in our hearts that each and every single one of us are sinners and do not deserve anything – even life itself – it is only then can we rely on God’s grace and this divine relationship and understand how we can stand worthily before Him. When we die, all will be revealed – the TRUTH – of the lives that we live held to us like a mirror reflecting our past as we stand judged before Him. This can be a very scary thing because we have been conditioned for decades to just think happy thoughts and to overlook our shortcomings. Now is the time to face reality – the reality of the state of our soul. To strip away the window dressing, to strip away the gilded gold on our souls and to bring our hearts humbly before God to really fix what is broken and to rid us of what we no longer need. This season is not about damnation, but about redemption; it is not about condemnation but about being picked up and said to you, “Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more.”
I have to admit one of my pet peeves is this novel trendy idea: “Instead of giving something up, I’m gonna try to do more of something” and leaving it at that. As if to say, “between prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, I’m just gonna pick one.” And while that may work for some, it really misses the point of Lent. Lent is a season of austerity: somber reflection and stripping things bare. Why does Lent focus on what you give up? Because it removes the unnecessary things from your life. We live in a first world country where we have pie eating contests, hot dog eating contests, where we can super-size, add a side, and multiply whatever we want!! There are seemingly endless possibilities with what we can do. And then when you look at your possessions – how many of these things bring you closer to God or is it an anesthetic to numb your pain and suffering?
In this season, the disciplines of prayer and fasting and almsgiving will help us to journey towards healing, forgiveness, and redemption; but the three, I believe, must be used together. Prayer bonds the almsgiving and fasting, almsgiving bonds prayer and fasting, fasting bonds prayer and almsgiving. This trifecta of discipline and practice helps us better our relationship with God. I exhort you to make it a tough and challenging Lent filled with lots of suffering without the complaining. Yes you’ll be miserable at times, but you’re not to make others miserable! If you are, you’re doing it wrong! Some say that giving up this or that makes other peoples’ lives miserable and so it would be better if they didn’t give it up.
The more you invest, the more you sacrifice, the greater your Easter will be! If you find yourself frustrated and irritable, that’s when you should be reminded why you are doing what you are doing. Do not fall to the temptation of giving up your penance, but rather do your penance better and go to confession if you sin. Confession is not a punishment, but a medicine. If you fall off the wagon, get back on – this isn’t the Olympics, this is training; if we were perfect we wouldn’t need Lent.
If you knew you were going to die today, what would you do? You would do the very things that prepare you to meet God – you would stop doing what is not important: anything and everything that was unnecessary (video games, internet, television, sweets, extra helpings, etc.). And then you would do what was the most important – confession, penance, and making amends in your life – forgiving others and making the most of your time with your loved ones. The ashes that are put on your foreheads are said with these words: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” When you think about it, our lives are limited. A single day to a hundred more years is nothing compared to eternity in heaven or hell. We are mortal, we are limited; and the things that we thought are important aren’t really that important. I cannot tell you how important Lent is for us this year. With as many things going on in the world, especially in Russia and Ukraine – each one of us need to get on the “praying, fasting, and almsgiving” bandwagon right now and do our part; not just for ourselves, but for the world.
Lent is a season of austerity that strips the leafy branches of our lives to reveal the bare branches of the reality of who we are. When we take away our coping mechanisms and means of escape through food, entertainment, and luxuries we are left with facing who we really are before God. And this is sometimes scary – we may not like what we see. What is life like without the TV on all the time, what is life like without social media? When you are faced with silence instead of the humdrum of life – can you handle it? Just *doing* something without taking anything away simply adds more layers to your life. You are already busy enough – why are you going to burden yourself with more stuff!? Go to the quiet place of your soul; go into the desert with our Lord this Lent. Have a one-on-one with Him without the distractions in life – don’t add more layers, but rather take things away and reprioritize life so that the noise of life will not drown out the sound of His voice. Go into the desert, have that heart-to-heart with Him and enjoy that tranquil solitude that only He can give.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
VIII Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Is 49:14-15
Ps 62:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
1 Cor 4:1-5
Mt 6:24-34
We hear in today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, Brothers and sisters: Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Although St. Paul is not speaking directly to us, but rather to the Church leaders; I believe that this most certainly applies to us as well. What is a steward? What is stewardship? We’ve been somewhat conditioned to immediately think: stewardship means something to do with finance or with administration. Skeptics consider it a euphemism: talking about donating money without talking about donating money. But spirit of stewardship includes a nice little alliteration of three things: “time, talent, and treasure”. At the very heart is a sense of duty and responsibility, and most especially privilege. We are privileged to receive God’s gifts: blessings of time, talent, and treasure; and He entrusts these gifts to us to evangelize to bring salvation into the world, but also very much for our own spiritual benefit and growth. It would be an absolute waste to bury the gifts that He has given to us and leave it unused. Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “Most people today want a religion which suits the way they live, rather than one which makes demands upon them. Religion thus becomes a luxury like an opera, not a responsibility like life.” Our faith demands an integration of the gifts in our life and to be good stewards of His gifts.
Today, I’m here to speak about the “Stewardship of Time.” What is stewardship of time? It is time spent in prayer with God – cultivating and deepening that relationship with Him. You might have noticed that it is March and Lent hasn’t started and you’ve been keeping quiet hoping that the Church might just skip it this year… The Church didn’t forget! Ash Wednesday is THIS WEDNESDAY. he discipline of Lent involves three things: FASTING, PRAYER, and ALMSGIVING. They’re connected if you look at it this way: FASTING or giving up things coincides with the very spirit of Lent: simplicity and austerity. Simplicity is meant to spiritually and physically clear out the clutter in your life and to hunger and thirst for God, making room for Him. After you have cleared out the clutter with fasting, giving things up, and are really thirsting and hungering for Our Lord, it makes sense that PRAYER will fill you up; He is the only one that truly satisfies and we often neglect that. And then finally, ALMSGIVING (giving to the poor) – corporeal acts of mercy or charity – is your personal response to God’s spiritual work in your life; you are so filled with Him that you are moved to compassion and love for others. These three disciplines – fasting, prayer, and almsgiving – go hand-in-hand. Don’t try to outthink Lent saying, “Instead of giving up something, I’m just going to do more of something.” Do all three – clear out the clutter, pray to Him, and allow Him to work through you – otherwise you’re just doing your New Year’s Resolution that failed three months ago.
So have you prepared for Lent? Have you looked at what you are going to do and not do? If you haven’t started, you’re already behind. You can still catch up: After Mass TODAY, spend some time as a family and talk about what you are going to do. That way you are ready for our Mardi Gras Celebration on Tuesday and roll straight into Lent on Ash Wednesday. Really spend time in prayer and ask God what you should do for Lent – challenge yourself, make it pinch a little. Don’t just make it a program for weight-loss or reading the “self-help” books, but make it a true spiritual journey in God. In addition to your personal time of prayer, check out our Parish Bulletin and look for opportunities to grow spiritually and with the community. Seton is really blessed to have so many ministries to help you with grow spiritually. If you don’t know how to begin, where to go or what to do, that’s alright. Chances are the person sitting next to you is just as clueless as you are.
Friday evenings here at Seton are wonderful. So just clear your calendar every Friday night until Easter (I’m serious). First we have our Lenten Soup Supper in the Parish Hall at 5:30pm, followed by Stations of the Cross, and then Evening Prayer afterwards; three wonderful things rolled into one. You don’t even need to be Catholic to do these things, so bring your friends and family or maybe someone who’s been away from the Church. And for all you guys and girls in High School– this is a special invitation for you – you can join me for a special scripture study during the Soup Supper called: “SOUPER SCRIPTURES”!!
Next Monday evening the Seton’s Women’s Club has a special Lenten talk. There’s a “Day of Retreat for persons with disabilities and caregivers” here at Seton on March 15. There are lots of Bible studies at Seton in the coming weeks: there are the regular ones on Sunday and Wednesday Mornings; a “Bible Book of the Month” on Thursday evening; a study on Corinthians starting on Tuesday evening. Just check out our bulletin, plenty of opportunities for spiritual growth, time with God – each and every week!!
Of course to be a good “steward of your time” in the midst of a busy life could very well mean that you have to actually schedule time to pray daily. Instead of a generic desire to “pray more”, lookup our daily Mass schedule and the schedules of other parishes around you and schedule daily Mass before or after work. (You can look up mass times easily online). Take advantage of our additional reconciliation times after Mass on Saturday morning or one of three penance services during Lent.
Our readings today speak about hope in the midst of anxiety and trials. They tell us that we are not forgotten, that we are the most treasured of God’s creation, and that we have hope. Four times he tells us not to worry – what would He rather us do? Simply to Pray – to depend and grow in relationship with Him. We need to pray all the time, but especially in a time of anxiety and trial. The world out there is only getting worse, but we don’t have to; we can grow and we can trust in Him through prayer. We can pray, and pray without ceasing we do. He’s given us a personal relationship with Him and desires an even more intimate one – it can be as intimate as you allow it to be in your prayer. The invitation to pray is always there, are we going to seize Him? Seize God? One of my favorite quotes is from a Benedictine monk and he said, “Unless you believe that prayer is the best use of your time, you will never find time to pray.”
Among those three gifts in stewardship, I believe that the stewardship of “time” is the most important. Think about it: Our gift of treasure vary, our gifts of talents and skills vary, but all of us are given the same amount of time: one lifetime. All of us are given today to use at our disposal; how are you going to spend it? Are you going to use it to work late or watch one more TV show, talk and gossip on the phone, spend time on Facebook? Or are you going to use it to appreciate one more moment with the one whom you love the most, Our God? It is a popular saying to say, “Carpe diem” – Latin for “seize the day!”; but I say to you “Carpe DEUM” – Seize God! Every day and at every moment we can choose among many good things to do with our time, let’s make it a good one!
Ps 62:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
1 Cor 4:1-5
Mt 6:24-34
We hear in today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians, Brothers and sisters: Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Although St. Paul is not speaking directly to us, but rather to the Church leaders; I believe that this most certainly applies to us as well. What is a steward? What is stewardship? We’ve been somewhat conditioned to immediately think: stewardship means something to do with finance or with administration. Skeptics consider it a euphemism: talking about donating money without talking about donating money. But spirit of stewardship includes a nice little alliteration of three things: “time, talent, and treasure”. At the very heart is a sense of duty and responsibility, and most especially privilege. We are privileged to receive God’s gifts: blessings of time, talent, and treasure; and He entrusts these gifts to us to evangelize to bring salvation into the world, but also very much for our own spiritual benefit and growth. It would be an absolute waste to bury the gifts that He has given to us and leave it unused. Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “Most people today want a religion which suits the way they live, rather than one which makes demands upon them. Religion thus becomes a luxury like an opera, not a responsibility like life.” Our faith demands an integration of the gifts in our life and to be good stewards of His gifts.
Today, I’m here to speak about the “Stewardship of Time.” What is stewardship of time? It is time spent in prayer with God – cultivating and deepening that relationship with Him. You might have noticed that it is March and Lent hasn’t started and you’ve been keeping quiet hoping that the Church might just skip it this year… The Church didn’t forget! Ash Wednesday is THIS WEDNESDAY. he discipline of Lent involves three things: FASTING, PRAYER, and ALMSGIVING. They’re connected if you look at it this way: FASTING or giving up things coincides with the very spirit of Lent: simplicity and austerity. Simplicity is meant to spiritually and physically clear out the clutter in your life and to hunger and thirst for God, making room for Him. After you have cleared out the clutter with fasting, giving things up, and are really thirsting and hungering for Our Lord, it makes sense that PRAYER will fill you up; He is the only one that truly satisfies and we often neglect that. And then finally, ALMSGIVING (giving to the poor) – corporeal acts of mercy or charity – is your personal response to God’s spiritual work in your life; you are so filled with Him that you are moved to compassion and love for others. These three disciplines – fasting, prayer, and almsgiving – go hand-in-hand. Don’t try to outthink Lent saying, “Instead of giving up something, I’m just going to do more of something.” Do all three – clear out the clutter, pray to Him, and allow Him to work through you – otherwise you’re just doing your New Year’s Resolution that failed three months ago.
So have you prepared for Lent? Have you looked at what you are going to do and not do? If you haven’t started, you’re already behind. You can still catch up: After Mass TODAY, spend some time as a family and talk about what you are going to do. That way you are ready for our Mardi Gras Celebration on Tuesday and roll straight into Lent on Ash Wednesday. Really spend time in prayer and ask God what you should do for Lent – challenge yourself, make it pinch a little. Don’t just make it a program for weight-loss or reading the “self-help” books, but make it a true spiritual journey in God. In addition to your personal time of prayer, check out our Parish Bulletin and look for opportunities to grow spiritually and with the community. Seton is really blessed to have so many ministries to help you with grow spiritually. If you don’t know how to begin, where to go or what to do, that’s alright. Chances are the person sitting next to you is just as clueless as you are.
Friday evenings here at Seton are wonderful. So just clear your calendar every Friday night until Easter (I’m serious). First we have our Lenten Soup Supper in the Parish Hall at 5:30pm, followed by Stations of the Cross, and then Evening Prayer afterwards; three wonderful things rolled into one. You don’t even need to be Catholic to do these things, so bring your friends and family or maybe someone who’s been away from the Church. And for all you guys and girls in High School– this is a special invitation for you – you can join me for a special scripture study during the Soup Supper called: “SOUPER SCRIPTURES”!!
Next Monday evening the Seton’s Women’s Club has a special Lenten talk. There’s a “Day of Retreat for persons with disabilities and caregivers” here at Seton on March 15. There are lots of Bible studies at Seton in the coming weeks: there are the regular ones on Sunday and Wednesday Mornings; a “Bible Book of the Month” on Thursday evening; a study on Corinthians starting on Tuesday evening. Just check out our bulletin, plenty of opportunities for spiritual growth, time with God – each and every week!!
Of course to be a good “steward of your time” in the midst of a busy life could very well mean that you have to actually schedule time to pray daily. Instead of a generic desire to “pray more”, lookup our daily Mass schedule and the schedules of other parishes around you and schedule daily Mass before or after work. (You can look up mass times easily online). Take advantage of our additional reconciliation times after Mass on Saturday morning or one of three penance services during Lent.
Our readings today speak about hope in the midst of anxiety and trials. They tell us that we are not forgotten, that we are the most treasured of God’s creation, and that we have hope. Four times he tells us not to worry – what would He rather us do? Simply to Pray – to depend and grow in relationship with Him. We need to pray all the time, but especially in a time of anxiety and trial. The world out there is only getting worse, but we don’t have to; we can grow and we can trust in Him through prayer. We can pray, and pray without ceasing we do. He’s given us a personal relationship with Him and desires an even more intimate one – it can be as intimate as you allow it to be in your prayer. The invitation to pray is always there, are we going to seize Him? Seize God? One of my favorite quotes is from a Benedictine monk and he said, “Unless you believe that prayer is the best use of your time, you will never find time to pray.”
Among those three gifts in stewardship, I believe that the stewardship of “time” is the most important. Think about it: Our gift of treasure vary, our gifts of talents and skills vary, but all of us are given the same amount of time: one lifetime. All of us are given today to use at our disposal; how are you going to spend it? Are you going to use it to work late or watch one more TV show, talk and gossip on the phone, spend time on Facebook? Or are you going to use it to appreciate one more moment with the one whom you love the most, Our God? It is a popular saying to say, “Carpe diem” – Latin for “seize the day!”; but I say to you “Carpe DEUM” – Seize God! Every day and at every moment we can choose among many good things to do with our time, let’s make it a good one!
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