Easter Sunday 2026 - Easter Renewal

 

He is Risen, Indeed He is Risen! Alleluia!

On Good Friday, the world was darkened by an eclipse of the sun. Evil was so tangible that even the earth shuddered with an earthquake. It was a day when lies and conspiracies and plotting seemed to conquer truth, and darkness seemed to eclipse light, and death seemed to have been victorious over life, and Satan seemed to have gotten the upper hand on God.

But enough of that. For now we celebrate a morning when the tomb was empty; a morning when light was so bright it blinded roman soldiers and burnt an image into a burial cloth; a morning when life triumphed over death, and truth trumped falsehood, and hope was victorious over despair, and faith championed doubt, and God put Satan in his place. For He is Risen, Indeed He is Risen! Alleluia!

The extraordinary news of Easter morning is that not only did Jesus Christ conquer death for himself, but that he shares that victory over death and sin and despair and darkness and sin and evil with us. His victory is ours. He invites us to share in his triumph. If that is not extraordinarily Good News, I don’t know what is.

On the High Holy Days, many of us come to Church for a lot of different reasons: perhaps you are here today because it’s simply family tradition or because it just seemed like the right thing to do; perhaps you are a life-long Catholic, and there was never a doubt that you’d be at Church on Easter Sunday.

Maybe there’s a bit of darkness, or a lot of darkness in your life, and you just needed to draw near to the brightest light you possibly could today. In that case, you’re in very good company, because I’m pretty sure everybody in this Church has experienced are periods in life that seem more like Good Friday than Easter Sunday. Periods of life when you wonder about life’s meaning, periods of life when we seem stuck on a cross, or overwhelmed, like life has buried us in a tomb, when we struggle to find God amidst all the chaos and violence and evil in the world.

The message of course today is that Good Friday does not get the last word. Easter morning does. Our faith in Jesus Christ allows us to be confident that evil and death do not get the last word. So, if there is a part of your life, that still seems to be stuck in Good Friday, I invite you to ask Jesus very sincerely today, to enter that part of your life, to transform it. Ask him to come into that Good Friday broken relationship, that Good Friday doubt or confusion, that Good Friday sense of defeat. And to allow him to bring Easter Victory to your Good Friday sufferings.

A number of years before his death, Pope Francis offered these words on Easter: “Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.”

In just a few moments we will renew our baptismal promises. From time to time I meet a college student or older adult who, though baptized as an infant has left the practice of the Catholic faith: they aren’t coming to mass and they don’t accept the truth behind particular Church teachings.  I ask them why they’ve left the practice of the faith in which they were raised.   And they often say, “well, I was baptized as a baby, so I didn’t get a choice to become Catholic or not.”

Well, to all of you, who feel like you didn’t get a choice, today, and every Easter, we renew the promises of our baptism, we renew our faith that Jesus rose, we renew our belief in all the Church teaches in his name.  You will then be sprinkled with the Easter waters, that the Lord may breathe new life into your religious commitments.

In fact, the Early Christians celebrated every Sunday as a “little Easter”. They knew that without this little Easter every week, they’d be allowing those forces which conspired against Christ on Good Friday to have power over them. So, if you want to make this Easter part of your deliverance out of the Good Fridays in your life, make every Sunday a “little Easter”

For, if the power of Christ’s resurrection is to overflow in your life, constant faith must be an open conduit. Don’t shut off the flow of grace. If you are tempted to do so, remember that it’s the power of the world trying to isolate you again.

So today, the priest will ask every one of you here six questions for the renewal of your baptismal promises.  The first three have to do with Sin.  Christ’s Easter victory was a victory over sin, so the Christian is to seek to be rid of anything that has to do with sin.  So the priest will ask, “Do you renounce sin, so as to live in the freedom of the children of God. Do you renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you? Do you renounce Satan, the author and prince of Sin?”

What are we saying, when we say “I do” to these questions?  I’m promising to do everything in my power, with the help of the power of Easter, to put an end to sin in my life, to put an end to all self-absorption and all selfishness. I’m promising to do everything in my own power to change my life, to alter my daily and weekly routines, that they can better reflect the Christian faith as taught by the Catholic Church.  I’m renouncing all of those excuses of laziness which hinder the power of Easter becoming more manifest in me. All the powers of lust which cause me to focus on passing earthly pleasure instead of eternal heavenly joy. Today, we readily turn away from these things. For those excuses, those sins, are the most likely culprits for not enjoying the peace and joy God wants for us.

The last three questions of the baptismal promises concern the doctrines of the Faith.  Do you believe in God the Father, do you believe that Jesus Christ suffered and died and rose again, do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church.

These are teachings the Church professes every Sunday when we profess the Creed.  These are the truths upon which our religious life rests.  These are the truths that give us strength in the face of temptation, they are the light of truth in the darkness of the world’s confusion and error. Amidst all of the nonsense in the world, all of the error perpetuated through modern media, all the fake news out there, the Christian can say, I know these things to be true.

We renew our baptismal promises today, and by doing so open ourselves to the power of Christ’s Easter Victory. Through them, we become heirs of the promises of Christ, that we, like him, shall be risen from the dead and live forever. For he risen from the dead, indeed he is risen, alleluia, alleluia. 

 

 

Good Friday 2026 - Press the Cross to your heart

 There was a young boy, about 8 years old, who liked to have his own way, and would become very angry anytime his will would be contradicted.  He would talk back to his parents and teachers, fight with his brothers and schoolmates. He would be disciplined in school and at home, but nothing seemed to alter his behavior or attitude, and his parents began to despair.

One day, there was an unexpected change.  His selfishness seemed to entirely disappear; he became one of the most obedient and gentle children.  His parents began to wonder about this change of behavior, and then they noticed that from time to time, the boy would put his hand to his chest, and press something under his shirt close to his heart.  

The boy’s father asked what he was doing.  The boy said, just something grandpa gave me to help me.  The boy took out a crucifix which hung from a thin chain which he had been wearing underneath his shirt.  “When I am angry that I’m not getting my way, I press this image to my heart, I think of what Jesus suffered, and then I find it easy to be good.”  

Today we press the cross to our hearts.  

An eastern orthodox saint named St. Symeon the Theologian who was a monk in the 11th century wrote, “The only way to protect oneself against the devil is by constant remembrance of God: this remembrance must be imprinted in the heart by the power of the Cross, thus rendering the mind firm and unyielding”.

Today, we press the cross to our hearts, that its power might be imprinted there—the power of self-emptying love. When the Cross is pressed to the heart, it teaches us how God loves us, and it teaches us how to endure trial, temptation, and suffering. The devil tempts us toward pride, resentment, despair, and self-will. The Cross teaches us humility, forgiveness, hope, and surrender to the Father.

We venerate the cross today in some outward sign of devotion, so that we may venerate it every day in our actions, in our attitudes, in our speech. Self-emptying love is to mark everything we do, because Jesus self-emptying love has marked us. 

We press the cross to our hearts because we have been pressed to God’s heart, by God himself. In the Passion of the Lord, we see just how near God has drawn to us. He has not loved us from a safe distance. He has entered into our suffering, our betrayal, our loneliness, our fear, even into death itself. The Cross is the proof that there is no human misery Jesus has refused to touch, no sinner is unwilling to seek.

Today we offer solemn intercessions on behalf of the world and the Church, pressing our needs and struggles to his cross and those of the whole world.  We also solemnly venerate the wood of the cross, we press the cross to our lips, or our foreheads, to remember his great love, and that we may be rendered firm and unyielding in the face of temptation and confirmed in the desire to carry our crosses in union with the Son of God, and to bear the message of his love to a world in desperate need of it for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024 - "The Cross is a mirror"

 

On the liturgical calendar, September 14 is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Even though the feast (is replaced by our celebration of the vigil for Sunday/was yesterday) I’d like to focus on the cross a bit, after all, we hear about the cross in our Gospel, where the Lord tells us that  whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

A little girl at the funeral yesterday, seeing all the crosses and crucifixes here at St. Ignatius asked her father, “why are there so many Jesus’ in this church.” Our church is adorned with many crosses for a reason. Saint John Paul II called the cross THE symbol of Christianity. Most of us marked ourselves with the sign of the cross upon entering the Church today, we began mass with it, we’ll end Mass with it.  Essentially, every time we Catholics pray, we begin and end our prayer with the sign of the cross. Many of you have crosses throughout your homes, perhaps in your bedrooms—so that the cross is the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning. 

All types of people where crosses around their necks, from bishops to baseball players to musicians.   The priest holds his arms in this shape during the Eucharistic prayer.  

Worn around our necks, adorning our homes and churches, beginning and ending our prayers, the cross is not a good luck charm, it is a reminder that by the cross we are saved. As is sung on Good Friday every year, “Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung the salvation of the world.”

St. Anthony of Padua in a sermon on the cross said: “You cannot better appreciate your worth than by looking into the mirror of the Cross of Christ; there you will learn how you are to deflate your pride, how you must mortify the desires of the flesh, how you are to pray to your Father for those who persecute you, and to commend your spirit into God’s hands.”  

Let’s consider his words in depth. Firstly, St. Anthony called the cross a mirror in which you can appreciate your worth. The cross is proof—a visual reminder--that God believes that your soul and mine are worth dying for. Jesus willingly embraced the cross, taking upon himself the weight of all of our sins because we are worth something to God. God believes that saving our souls from hell is worth suffering the greatest suffering. And he wouldn’t believe that unless he loved us more than we love our own children, friends, and family—with love beyond all telling. So the cross is a mirror in which we can see our worth to God.

Secondly, St. Anthony says looking at the cross deflates our pride. How so? Well, again, it shows us that God’s ineffable love. It humbles us to fully realize how much we are loved, and how much Jesus suffered. His willingness to suffer puts our willingness to suffer—and often our unwillingness to suffer—to shame.  Many of us are willing to suffer for even those who are good to us, but Jesus suffered for all, including the most despicable, the most perverse, the most wicked, the most obstinate of sinners. So, the cross humbles our inflated pride.

Next, St. Anthony says looking at the cross show us how we must mortify the desires of the flesh. What does that mean? Contemplating Jesus’ embrace of suffering on the cross, reminds us of the need to practice self-denial as well, turning away from indulgence and the pleasures of the flesh in order to pursue the higher calling—the will of God. St. Anthony is echoing Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

The self-denial that Jesus is talking about here, which every Christian must pursue, involves voluntarily giving up personal desires, comforts, and preferences in order to follow God's will more closely, grow in virtue, and resist the temptations of sin

We are to detach from any worldly comforts and pleasures that distract us from their relationship with God, especially those pleasures that are expressly forbidden by the Word of God and the teaching of the Church.

This is one good reason why it’s good to have a cross in your bedroom. If the cross is the first thing you see upon waking up, it’s a reminder that I’m in this life not just to pursue my own wants and desires, but the will of God, which will likely involve turning away and saying “no” to a lot of things today, so that I can more fully say “yes” to God.

Next, St. Anthony says that the cross shows us how we are to pray to the Father for those who persecute you. The Gospels tell us that the Lord prayed for his persecutors from the cross. He prayed for everyone responsible for his crucifixion—the romans, the jews, and all of us as well. He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”. 

We do not really comprehend how terrible are sins are—the damage that they do to our minds and souls and to one another. Every sin wounds us. Every sin wounds our relationship God. And every sin wounds our relationship with others. And most of us choose not to really think about the terrible wounds our sins inflict. But we’ll hold grudges against others for smaller slights than we commit, won’t we? We’ expect others to forgive us, we expect God to forgive us, but we’re really quick to trash talk those who we perceive as threats to us. 

Well, the cross is a reminder that we are to pray for those who threaten us, for those who commit injustices against us and our families and nation. The cross reminds us to pray as Jesus prays, to forgive as Jesus forgives. Instead of carrying around anger over the injustices we encounter, it is better for us to pray, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Lastly, St. Anthony says, the cross shows us how to commend our spirits into God’s hands. The cross shows us to practice another thing that many of us are not very good at: trusting God. In his final breaths, jesus said, “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit”.

To "commend" means to entrust or place something in the care of another. Jesus deeply trusted his Father, even from the cross—that his cross, his suffering, his death, would bring about the supreme good. Jesus was fully aligned with the Father's will, even when it involved death. And the crosses that we put in our homes and churches, whenever we make the sign of cross, remind us of the daily trust, the daily faith, we are to cultivate and practice. 

In the week ahead, I invite you, as a spiritual exercise, to spend 10 minutes meditating upon a crucifix, considering how it is a reminder of God’s love for you, how is calls you to deflate your pride, mortify your desires, pray to forgive others, and entrust yourselves for fully to the will of God, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

Good Friday 2024 - Morning Prayer - Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus

 There is a poignant line from the Letter to the Hebrews which contains an important injunction for any day of the year, but particularly for today, Good Friday. The biblical author writes, “let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross.”

This line from the Letter to the Hebrews is particularly poignant for Good Friday because it encapsulates the essence of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

Let’s break it down. First we are told,  “let us rid ourselves of every burden of sin”. Good Friday is a day of reflection on the weight of sin and our own inability to overcome it on our own. Yet, we must do our part in “ridding ourselves”—rooting out sin with the help of God’s grace, acknowledging our selfishness, and making a firm purpose of amendment to overcome it as we can. 

Next we are told to perseverance in Running the Race of Faith: Good Friday marks the culmination of Jesus' earthly ministry, during which he endured trials, opposition, and ultimately, crucifixion. And we his followers are to persevere in our own journey of faith, following the Lord’s example of steadfastness and endurance, even in the face of suffering and persecution. In this way, the Lord is the leader and perfecter of our faith. Our faith is imperfect until it attains union with Christ crucified. 

Then we are told to keep Our Eyes Fixed on Jesus. This is our task on Good Friday. We are to keep your focus firmly on Jesus throughout the day by reflecting on his life, his teachings, his sacrificial love, his obedience to God's will, the wounds, and blows, and mockery, and agony he suffered to obtain the ultimate victory over sin and death. Make every effort today to avert your eyes from all things that are not Him. 

Finally, Hebrews says that he endured the cross for the sake of the joy that lay before him. Despite the agony and suffering of the cross, Jesus endured it all for the sake of the joy that lay before him. This joy refers to the redemption and salvation of humanity. Your redemption and freedom from sin is God’s joy. Which is why, for God, today is Good. 

May our prayer this morning help us to enter into the goodness of the day. Helping us to keep our eyes fixed on him, to persevere with him to the cross, to be cleansed by him, that we may know his joy, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

2nd week of Lent 2024 - Friday - The stone rejected becomes the cornerstone

 Throughout Lent, so many of our liturgical readings point to the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus 

On Sunday, we considered how in the story of Isaac, God saved Isaac by offering the substitute of the ram, and how this story prefigured how God saves all of us from the eternal punishment we deserve by offering up the innocent lamb—his only begotten, for the atonement for our sins.

Our scriptures this morning provide a deeper glimpse into the saving work of God. 

In Genesis, Joseph is a prefigurement of the innocent lamb. He is innocent of any wrongdoing, yet he is sold into slavery by his own brothers out of jealousy and resentment. Yet, Joseph's suffering eventually led to his exaltation and his ability to save his family and the surrounding nations from famine. 

In the Gospel, the Lord tells a parable which follows a similar logic to foretell what God is doing through the suffering and death that he will undergo.  The killing of the innocent landowner's son by the wicked tenants mirrors the suffering and death of God’s son. Yet, the Lord foretells that death is not the end of the story. There will ultimately be justice for those wicked tenants. Just as there will be justice for all those who reject God. And the stone that the builders rejected will become the cornerstone. Jesus' suffering and death on the cross led to the redemption of humanity, offering salvation and reconciliation with God to all who believe in him—the foundation stone of the Church and the source of everlasting life.

The readings today point to where we are heading in our Lenten journey, not just Good Friday, in which Christ the stone is rejected, but also Easter Sunday, in which the rejected stone becomes the cornerstone of the Church. They help us to understand why indeed we call Good Friday, “Good”. For from it, comes our salvation. 

Through the rejection, suffering, and death endured by Jesus, God brings about redemption for those who believe in him. God can bring the greatest good out of the greatest evil, and transform the death of the innocent lamb into the source of our hope, forgiveness, and new life. 

In the stories of Joseph and the parable of the wicked tenants, we witness God's relentless pursuit of our salvation. Despite the darkness of betrayal, suffering, and death, God's light shines through, offering hope and redemption to all who believe in Him.

As we journey towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we are called to embrace the paradox of the cross—the seeming contradiction of suffering leading to salvation, of death giving way to new life. For it is on the cross that we see the depth of God's love for us, and it is through the resurrection that we receive the promise of eternal life. May this knowledge fill us with hope, courage, and gratitude as we continue our Lenten journey for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - -  

That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring to all people purification of sin and selfishness.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that they may continue to conform themselves to Christ through fervent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence. 

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

Good Friday 2023 - Be hold the wood of the cross

 When visitors come to St. Ignatius, one of the things they often point out, is how the shadow cast by the cross in the main sanctuary here, remind them of the three crosses of Calvary on Good Friday. The two thieves crucified on the right and the left, with our Blessed Lord in the middle.

I do not know if this lighting trick was intentional, it was not part of the original design, for some of you may remember the baldachino that stood behind the high altar for…oh, about 80 years.

But the removal of the baldachino allowed for the placement of one of the most beautiful crucifixes in the diocese, if you ask me. 

The crucifix, the cross, is the great symbol of our faith. Many Catholics wear crosses and crucifixes around their necks, some of them simple gold or silver, some decorated with precious jewels. We hang crucifixes in our homes, some of us in every room. 

In a sense, this is a strange tradition. After all, the cross is an instrument of cruel torture - the cruelest torture perhaps ever invented by man: nails driven through the nerve bundles between the wrist and the palm of the hand, so every time the crucified moved - which he had to do if he wanted to keep breathing - the nails rubbed against the raw nerves and shot lightning pain through the body.

A cruel instrument of torture, and yet, wherever you go in the world, you will see crosses and crucifixes beautifully, exquisitely decorated with gold and jewels, adorning churches, crosses clutched tightly in moments of fear, sadness or held delicately by the pious to help direct their prayer.

Why adorn our crosses, why venerate them, why grip them so tightly?

It is certainly a reminder. The most important reminder of the most important truth: the very intensity of the suffering of the cross represents the ineffable intensity of love that God has for each one of us.

While dying on the cross, Jesus looks out at each one of us, whose sins have nailed him there, and he says: I forgive you, do not fear, come back to me, I want your friendship. 

This is why we reverence, we venerate, we kiss the cross today. For by doing so we kiss the heart of God, who forgives us…all sins.

The love shown on the cross, which is manifest for us today, embraces us in our sinfulness, and invites us to conform our hearts to his, to trust in Him, to follow in Christ's obedient footsteps, never fleeing from the vocation to which God has called us, so that we can deepen our communion with him and experience the fullness of life that comes from that communion.

Venerate the cross with all the love and contrition and gratitude you can muster today. Kiss it, bow your head to it, kneel before it. By doing so you express your faith, hope, and love in our crucified Savior, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Good Friday 2023 - Morning Prayer - Weep for your sins

 

Following the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples left the Upper Room, and processed to the Garden of Gethsemane up on the mount of olives. 

And there on the mountain he began to pray. He asked his disciples to stay awake with him and pray. But they kept falling asleep. Even Peter, James and John, his inner circle, who had witnessed his transfiguration on Mount Horeb, could not keep their eyes open.

And so, the Lord suffered, agony alone. St. Matthew tells us that his suffering was out of sorrow. Sorrow for who? Sorrow for Judas. Sorrow for Peter. Sorrow for his disciples’ indifference. Sorrow for the souls of those who would reject him ultimately, and spend eternity in hell. Suffering for those who call themselves Christians, yet persist in indifference to their vocation to holiness. Sorrow for priests who break their vows. Sorrow for married couples who break theirs. Sorrow for children whose hearts turn hateful toward their parents. And sorrow for parents who drive their children to such hatred. Sorrow for all the sins of the world. He took on himself not simply our sins, but the sorrow we should pay for them.

He sweat blood because we have failed to even shed sufficient tears for our sins.

Likely around 4am, the Lord was arrested and brought before Annas and Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin who brought false witnesses to testify against him. 

Around the time most of us were getting up this morning, between 6 and 8am, the Gospels are not clear Jesus was brought before the governor Pontius Pilate who found no reason to condemn Him, but sent him to the puppet-king Herod, who also failed to find a crime. 

Now with the crowd stirred up by the Sanhedrin, Pilate has Jesus scourged and then agrees to have him crucified, out of fear of a rebellion. Around 8am, Jesus begins to carry his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, and probably around the time you were starting your rosary, around 8:30am, Simon of Cyrene is tasked to help this stranger with the heavy burden.

Around 9am, the time we began our morning prayer, Jesus was nailed to the cross.

Following morning prayer we will depart in silence, but we will return to Church at the hour of the Lord’s final breath—“the ninth hour of the day”.

The Lord was sorrowful for us, and tells us that we ourselves should be sorrowful. He told the women of Jerusalem, “weep not for me, but weep for your sins and the sins of your children.”

Today, rightfully is a day of sorrow. We fittingly weep for our sins today. And we plead God’s mercy for ourselves, for all mankind, for priests and religious, for those who reject God, for those who seem to be stuck in cycles of sin, for those who have become lukewarm, for those who near death, especially those in danger of hell, that maybe, just maybe, if God wills it, a last opportunity for repentance may be given to them.

There is a tradition that of praying the Seven Penitential Psalms today: Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. Today also begins The Divine Mercy Novena, which is prayed from Good Friday until Divine Mercy Saturday. 

We plead God’s mercy today through the passion and death of our Lord, to help us grieve our sins sufficiently, and to save souls by bringing them to repentance, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2021 - Good Friday - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"

 

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”

While we did not read those words from St. Luke’s Gospel either on Palm Sunday or Good Friday this year, this plea for mercy for others uttered by our Lord from the cross have been echoing in my heart today.

To whom was the Lord addressing that prayer for mercy? In Luke’s Passion narrative, the Lord’s petition for forgiveness immediately follow’s the description of his crucifixion: When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Jesus no doubt offered this prayer on behalf of the Roman soldiers who literally nailed him to the cross. They knew not what they did, they were just following orders. They hadn’t heard him preach, they didn’t know his identity. They were treating Jesus just like they would any criminal, though maybe a bit more severely, due to his reputation as King of the Jews. They certainly did not know that he truly was a King, though his Kingdom was not of this world. If they would have known his true identity, writes St. Paul to the Corinthians, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (I Cor 2:8).

So certainly Jesus’s plea was for his actual executioners, who though they treated him with cruelty and harshness, did not know they were committing deicide—putting to death the innocent lamb of God. And yet, did Jesus not also offer that merciful plea to his Father on behalf of the Jews who conspired to put him on the cross? The scribes, pharisees, Sadducees, annas and Caiaphas: those who interpreted his teachings as blasphemy—those who saw him as a threat to their own religious authority—those who he threw out of the temple for turning God’s house into a den of thievery. Those who called for the release of Barabbas. Those who literally called for his crucifixion. They showed that they misunderstood his teachings and actions at every step, so wasn’t he also praying for them? Not just for his executioners, but those who conspired against him? 

But the Lord’s prayer was not simply just for his executions, or the Jewish conspirators, was it? We know who that prayer was for. It was for us. It was for me. It was for you. It was for Moses. It was for Adam and Eve. It was for us all. All people of all time. As St. Peter writes in his first epistle: “Christ suffered for sins, the Righteous One for the sake of the Unrighteous Ones (that’s us), that he might lead us to God. (I Peter 3:18)

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. None of us can really understand the gravity of our sins. Human sin, after all, is an afront to the infinite God. And can we really ever truly grasp God’s infinite goodness and love, which sin offends. We can’t even really comprehend how our sins wound and hurt our neighbor, or our family members, let alone the infinite God. “Those who do not know what they do” that’s us. 

But just because we don’t understand the gravity of our sins, doesn’t mean they aren’t sins and an abomination to God, just the same. Just because we don’t understand the impact, the severity, the wounds that we cause, doesn’t mean we’re in the clear. 

The reason today is called Good Friday, is as St. Paul writes: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). “Father forgive them” for we needed forgiveness.

Throughout the ages the martyrs have echoed the Lord’s prayer for mercy. St. James, the first of the apostles to be martyred, knelt and prayed as he was being stoned by the scribes and Pharisees: “Lord, God, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” St. Stephen, too, condemned to death by Paul, prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

Even our own patron, Ignatius to the Church of Ephesus, recommended that as they underwent persecution, they too should pray. Ignatius writes, “Offer prayers in response to their blasphemies…be gentle in response to their cruelty and do not be eager to imitate them in return…Let us eagerly be imitators of the Lord.” This, coming from a man who was being marched in chains to be torn apart by lions.

As each of us comes forward to adore the holy cross today, let us come with the same prayer upon our lips. We pray for the world. We pray for those who do not believe in Christ. We pray for members of the Church who love and believe imperfectly. Pray for those who have hurt you or who might hurt you in the future. Pray for those who bring ruin to our nation, to our diocese.  Pray for your pastor, as he prays for you. “Father, forgive them for they no not what they do. Father, forgive me, for I, so often know not what I do.” For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2021 - Good Friday Morning Prayer - Sanctifying the Hours

 Following the Lord’s Supper, he went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, where after a period of agonizing prayer, he was approached by Judas who kissed him as a sign of betrayal. Likely around 4 to 6am he was arrested and brought before Annas and Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin who brought him up on trumped up charges. Around the time most of us were getting up this morning, between 6 and 8am, the Gospels are not clear about the exact timeline, Jesus was brought before the governor Pontius Pilate who found no reason to condemn Him, but sent him to the puppet-king Herod, who also failed to find a crime. Now with the crowd stirred up by the Sanhedrin, Pilate has Jesus scourged and then agrees to have him crucified, out of fear of a rebellion. Around 8am, Jesus begins to carry his cross through the streets of Jerusalem, and probably around the time you were starting your rosary, around 8:30am, Simon of Cyrene is tasked to help this stranger with the heavy burden.

Around the time we began morning prayer, with the words, “God come to my assistance”, “at the third hour of the day” as St. Mark puts it, Jesus was nailed to the cross, and experienced those first excruciating agonies as we prayed the penitential psalm 51 calling for God to have mercy on us in our offenses. Considering our own responsibility for the crucifixion of Our Lord, this prayer, psalm 51, is certainly an appropriate response.

Following morning prayer we will depart in silence and return to Church at the hour of the Lord’s final breath—“the ninth hour of the day” as Matthew calls it for the Good Friday liturgy of the Lord’s Passion. 

Today is a powerful day for pleading God’s mercy, for ourselves, for all mankind, for priests and religious, for those who reject God, for those who seem to be stuck in cycles of sin, for those who have become lukewarm, for those who near death, and the souls in purgatory. Today also begins The Divine Mercy Novena, which is prayed from Good Friday until Divine Mercy Saturday.

There is a tradition that  the Penitential Psalms, Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 are prayed until we gather again at 3pm, sanctifying the hours with recollection of what the Lord is suffering. We do well to fast and pray, pleading to God for the purifying and washing that only he can accomplish, that he does accomplish, through the passion and death of His Son, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Sunday 2019 - Christ's Triumph over Death

He is Risen, Indeed He is Risen! Alleluia!

On Good Friday, the world was darkened by an eclipse of the sun. Evil was so tangible that even the earth shuddered with an earthquake. It was a day that lies and conspiracies and plotting seemed to conquer truth, when darkness seemed to eclipse light, when death seemed to have been victorious over life, when Satan seemed to have gotten the upper hand on God.

But enough of that. For now we celebrate a morning when the tomb was empty, a morning when light was so bright it blinded roman soldiers and burnt an image into a burial cloth, a morning when life triumphed over death, where truth trumped falsehood, when hope was victorious over despair, when faith championed doubt, when God put Satan in his place. For He is Risen, Indeed He is Risen! Alleluia!

The extraordinary news of Easter morning is that not only did Jesus Christ conquer death for himself. The good news is that he shares that victory over death and sin and despair and darkness and sin and evil with us. His victory is ours. He invites us to share in his triumph. If that is not extraordinarily Good News, I don’t know what is.

On the High Holy Days, many of us come to Church for a lot of different reasons: perhaps you are here today because it’s simply family tradition, perhaps you’re here because it just seemed like the right thing to do, perhaps you are a life-long Catholic, and there was never a doubt that you’d be at Church on Easter Sunday. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure everybody in this Church could raise their hands in agreement, that there are periods in life that seem more like Good Friday than Easter Sunday. Periods of life filled with death and darkness. Periods of life when we wonder about life’s meaning, when we struggle with sickness or the death of someone near to us, periods of life when we seem stuck on a cross, or overwhelmed, like life has buried us in a tomb, when we struggle to find God amidst all the chaos and violence and evil in the world.

The message of course today is that Good Friday does not get the last word. Easter morning does. Our faith in Jesus Christ allows us to be confident that evil and death do not get the last word, that there is truly nothing that can keep us from the love and life God wants for us. That his mercy endures forever and that God will always have the last word over Satan. So, if there is a part of your life, that still seems to be stuck in Good Friday, I invite you to ask Jesus very sincerely today, to enter that part of your life, to transform it. Ask him to come into that Good Friday broken relationship, that Good Friday doubt or confusion, that Good Friday sense of defeat. And to allow him to bring Easter Victory to your Good Friday sufferings.

A few years ago Pope Francis offered these words on Easter: “Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.”

In just a few moments we will renew our baptismal promises. From time to time I meet a college student or older adult who, though baptized as an infant has left the practice of the Catholic faith: they aren’t coming to mass and they don’t accept the truth behind particular Church teachings.  I ask them why they’ve left the practice of the faith in which they were raised.   And they often say, “well, I was baptized as a baby, so I didn’t get a choice to become Catholic or not.”

Well, to all of you, who didn’t get a choice as infants, today, and every Easter, we renew the promises of our baptism, we renew our faith that Jesus rose, we renew our belief in all the Church teaches in his name.  You will then be sprinkled with the Easter waters, that the Lord may breath new life into your religious commitments.

The Early Christians, in fact, celebrated every Sunday as a “little Easter”. They knew that without this little Easter every week, they’d be allowing those forces which conspired against Christ on Good Friday to have power over them. So renew your faith in him today, renew your commitment to seek that life, seek that joy that he wants to give you through a living relationship with Him.

So today, the priest will ask every one of you here six questions for the renewal of your baptismal promises.  The first three have to do with Sin.  Christ’s Easter victory was a victory over sin, so the Christian is to seek to be rid of anything that has to do with sin.  So the priest will ask, “Do you renounce sin, so as to live in the freedom of the children of God. Do you renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you? Do you renounce Satan, the author and prince of Sin?”

What are we saying, when we say “I do” to these questions?  I’m promising to do everything in my power, with the help of the power of Easter, to put an end to sin in my life, to put an end to all self-absorption and all selfishness. I’m promising to do everything in my own power to change my life, to alter my daily and weekly routines, that they can better reflect the Christian faith as taught by the Catholic Church.  I’m renouncing all of those excuses of laziness which hinder the power of Easter becoming more manifest in me. We readily turn away from these things, for those excuses, those sins, are the most likely culprits for not enjoying the peace and joy God wants for us.

The last three questions of the baptismal promises concern the doctrines of the Faith.  Do you believe in God the Father, do you believe that Jesus Christ suffered and died and rose again, do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church.

These are teachings the Church professes every Sunday when we profess the Creed.  These are the truths upon which our religious life rests.  These are the truths that give us strength in the face of temptation, they are the light of truth in the darkness of the world’s confusion and error. Amidst all of the nonsense in the world, all of the error perpetuated through modern media, all the fake news out there, the Christian can say, I know these things to be true.

We renew our baptismal promises today, and by doing so open ourselves to the power of Christ’s Easter Victory. Through them, we become heirs of the promises of Christ, that we, like him, shall be risen from the dead, and live forever. For he risen from the dead, indeed he is risen, alleluia, alleluia. 

16th Week in OT 2018 - Monday - Catholic Guilt (nursing home mass)

Life-long Catholics might recognize portions of our first reading today from the liturgy of Good Friday. On Good Friday, during the Veneration of the Cross, the cantor chants what are known as the “Reproaches” which borrows passages from the prophet Micah.

O my people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
I led you out of slavery under Pharaoh…and you handed me over to the chief priests.
I opened up the Red Sea for you, and you opened up my side with a lance.
I rained down manna for you in the desert, but on me you rained down scourges and lashes.
I raised you up from your lowliness, and you hung me on the Cross.

The Reproaches are presented as Jesus crying out to His people for the injustices they have showed God after all that God had done for them. And they cause us to reflect, don’t they, on how we have squandered our blessings, how we’ve failed to use well the time we’ve been given, how we’ve failed to pray as we ought, practice virtue as we ought.

The Good Friday liturgy doesn’t present us with the truth of our sinfulness because it wants to make us feel bad, but because acknowledging guilt for our sins is a fundamental Christian disposition.

People will often talk about “Catholic Guilt” as if it’s a bad thing. But guilt is very good when it leads us to repent, to get our souls in order; guilt is good when it gets us to stop living only for ourselves and gets us to start living for God and for others.

Jesus condemns the Pharisees in the Gospel for their failure to repent. Jesus exposes their selfishness and calls them a wicked generation, an unfaithful generation, for failing to admit their guilt for using their religious authority for their own personal gain.

On Good Friday, unlike the Pharisees who refuse to kneel to Jesus, we kneel before the cross acknowledging our guilt. Then we come forward and kiss the cross, for from it God showed and showered upon us His boundless mercy. And then we come forward to receive the Body and Blood of mercy Himself in the Eucharist.

And that ritual is repeated every time we come to Mass: we begin Mass by practicing that fundamental Christian disposition, calling to mind our sins and asking God for mercy. We then kneel before the altar, which becomes for us the cross of Calvary, and we then receive Mercy in the Eucharist, which becomes a fountain of living water springing up within us to eternal life.

May this and every Holy Mass help us to experience the salvation Christ won for us, as we acknowledge our guilt and acknowledge Christ as Savior, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That Christians may be a sign for the world of God’s boundless mercy, by striving to practice Christian virtue in every circumstance.
For all those who suffer from violence, war, famine, extreme poverty, addiction, discouragement, loneliness, and those who are alienated from their families.  May they know God’s mercy and be gathered to the eternal kingdom of peace. 
For all those who suffer illness, and those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, that they may be comforted by the healing light of Christ. 
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and Joseph, John & Anna Perish, for whom this mass is offered

Good Friday 2018 - The Wood of the Cross on which hung the salvation of the world

In a few minutes, the cross will be processed up the aisle of the Church. It will be held aloft and the priest will chant, “Behold the Wood of the Cross, on which hung the salvation of the world.” To which each of us will respond “Come let us adore.”

There is an ancient Christian legend, concerning the wood of the cross,
dating all the way back to the 3rd century, the Legend of the Holy Rood: that when Adam fell sick, he sent his son Seth to the gates of the Garden of Eden to entreat God for an elixir from the Tree of Life to restore immortality to Adam, lost through Original Sin. Seth easily found his way to the garden, as no grass had grown over the footprints of Adam and Eve since their expulsion.

While Seth prayed at the gate, the Archangel Michael appeared to him, refusing Seth access to Eden and to the Tree of Life. However, Michael gave Seth a seed from the Tree of Knowledge from which Adam and Eve had eaten. On his return, Seth found his father dead, but placed the seed under Adam’s tongue and buried him.

From that seed sprang a tree, which had absorbed the blood of Adam. Generations later, Noah dug up this tree by the roots along with the body of Adam and took them onto the Ark to save them from the flood. And after the waters subsided, he buried the skull of Adam on what became Mount Calvary, or Golgatha, the place of the skulls. He planted the tree on the summit of Mount Lebanon. Centuries later, King Solomon cut down the tree, and cut it into a cross beam for his temple, but it wasn’t the right size. So Solomon cast aside the beam and buried it, and from the place where it was buried there bubbled forth a spring of water, which came to be known as the pool of Bethesda. To it the sick came to be healed.

Centuries later, that cross-beam floated to the surface of the pool. It was used as a bridge over which Jesus crossed into Jerusalem, and was finally used to fashion the cross upon which the Son of Man was crucified.

Is the legend of the Holy Rood true? Perhaps!

What is certainly true is that death came from a tree, and death was destroyed on a tree. From a tree, all the suffering of man can be traced. And from a tree, the suffering Son of Man, would redeem us. From a tree, division between God and man was wrought. And by a tree, God bridged the gap, he filled the chasm, he fashioned a bridge for Him and man to be reconciled.

Through God’s providence, the work of the evil one is undone by turning his own weapons against him. Suffering and death, which entered the world as a consequence of sin, were to become the very means by which sin was vanquished.

And yet, today, we are here not to worship a dead piece of wood, we worship the One who saved us through it. Though by venerating the cross, we honor the suffering of Christ. We approach the cross we such reverence, that we may revere the one who died for us. That his suffering may be imprinted upon us, that it may mark our lives, and mark us for salvation.

We bring to the cross today all the needs of the world and the church, all the needs of our families, all of our sufferings, all unbelievers, and all who suffer for the faith. That through the cross, we may experience the salvation Christ won for us, the defeat of sin and death, the healing of our deepest wounds, the fulfillment of all justice, the overflowing mercy of God

We turn our eyes to the cross, that we may one day see the one who suffered upon it face to face. We touch the cross, that we may feel his gentle caress when we are called to face our own, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Good Friday 2017 - Morning Prayer Reflection: The Penitential Psalms

Every Friday morning, the Church in her morning prayer recites Psalm 51, one of the seven Penitential Psalms, called such because they beseech God’s mercy for the forgiveness of sins. The Church prays Psalm 51 every Friday, to remind us of THIS Friday, Good Friday.

Prayerfully reciting the penitential psalms helps us to recognize our sinfulness, express our sorrow and ask for God’s forgiveness.

In Psalm 51, King David, guilty of adultery tearfully turns to God for mercy. King David is a symbol of all mankind guilty of sinning before God, but also a symbol of faithful Israel who turns to God for mercy. From the Psalm’s first line: David, isn’t making excuses for his sin, he isn’t bringing to mind his own past deeds to exonerate himself, he isn’t trying to weasel out of his guilt due to any extenuating circumstances. He is guilty, he admits it, and he knows only God’s mercy can save him.

We do well to pray with the Penitential Psalms today, particularly Psalm 51. Do so meditatively and earnestly: pleading to God for the purifying and washing that only he can accomplish. Perhaps pray one Psalm per hour until we meet again at 3pm at the hour of mercy.

Today also begins The Divine Mercy Novena, which is prayed from Good Friday until Divine Mercy Saturday.

Today is a powerful day for pleading God’s mercy, for ourselves, for all mankind, for priests and religious, for those who reject God, for those who seem to be stuck in cycles of sin, for those who have become lukewarm, for little children and for those who near death, and the souls in purgatory.

Good Friday is the source of all mercy. In union with faithful Israel, with believers through the centuries we cry out: have mercy on us, O God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out our offense.



The Seven Penitential Psalms can be found here.

Psalm 51

1
For the leader. A psalm of David,
2
when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.a

I
3
Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love;
in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions.
4
Thoroughly wash away my guilt;
and from my sin cleanse me.
5
For I know my transgressions;
my sin is always before me.b
6
Against you, you alone have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your eyes
So that you are just in your word,
and without reproach in your judgment.c
7
Behold, I was born in guilt,
in sin my mother conceived me.*d
8
Behold, you desire true sincerity;
and secretly you teach me wisdom.
9
Cleanse me with hyssop,* that I may be pure;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.e
10
You will let me hear gladness and joy;
the bones you have crushed will rejoice.
II
11
Turn away your face from my sins;
blot out all my iniquities.
12
A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.f
13
Do not drive me from before your face,
nor take from me your holy spirit.g
14
Restore to me the gladness of your salvation;
uphold me with a willing spirit.
15
I will teach the wicked your ways,
that sinners may return to you.
16
Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God,
and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice.h
17
Lord, you will open my lips;
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18
For you do not desire sacrifice* or I would give it;
a burnt offering you would not accept.i
19
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.
III
20
*Treat Zion kindly according to your good will;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.j
21
Then you will desire the sacrifices of the just,
burnt offering and whole offerings;
then they will offer up young bulls on your altar.