6th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - Pre-Lenten Preparations

 What perfect readings for this final day of Ordinary Time prior to the penitential season of Lent—the season of purification and enlightenment.

First, Noah’s preparation for the forty day flood.  At a point in history where humanity had turned away from God, had become so mired in sin, “the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth…that his heart was grieved.”

Today we, like Noah, are called to make preparation for the forty days of Lent. We are to examine the sin in our lives and resolve to repent, and to consider how we will be showing our repentance through acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For throughout Lent, we must make reparation for our own sins, but also the sins of the world, the wicked of the world, to show our love and concern for the souls even of those who reject God and the call to conversion. We do penance for those unwilling to do so for themselves. Who will you pray for, who will you fast for, who will you engage in sacrificial almsgiving for. Fix them in your mind, hold them aloft to God over the next 40 days. Do penance for them, those outside of the ark of the Church—either because of ignorance or willfulness—for their purification, that they, one day, may accept the invitation to come aboard the ark of the Church—to sail to the promised land.

The Gospel, too, is a wonderful pre-Lenten reading, for the Lord sits in a boat, like the ark of noah, with disciples who do not quite understand everything that’s been happening, everything that he’s been doing and teaching. They have eyes and not see, ears and have not heard.

The season of Lent is also for those who are already in the boat of the Church, to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of everything the Lord has done for us and continues to do for us. Lent is the season of purification, but also enlightenment. As we contemplate all the Lord suffered, his time in the desert, his march to Jerusalem, his ensuing passion and death, we are enlightened with a deeper understanding of the depths of his love for us and what it means to be his disciples, his apostles sent out into the world. 

May we prepare well for the 40 day flood which brings purification and enlightenment as we engage in the Lenten works and contemplate the depths of the Lord’s love and the call to ever more faithful discipleship, for the glory of God and 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 and enlightenment in the ways of God.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that the season of Lent will bring them great conversion to way of Christ. 

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

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.

6th Week in OT 2019 - Be on guard against leaven

Throughout Mark’s Gospel, the disciples are consistently misunderstanding Jesus’ teachings, they are slow to understand who He is, and the implications of His presence with them.

St. Mark records the disciples failure to understand Jesus’ parable of the sower. After Jesus calms the storm on the sea of Galilee, they question “Who is this guy, who even commands storms”? They were completely baffled by Jesus when he later walks toward them on the water. And Jesus lumps the disciples in with the Pharisees who do not understand his teaching about purity and the tradition of the elders.

Today, Jesus is aware of their anxiety over only having one loaf of bread. Jesus then warns them to guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. The Pharisees consistently are filled with doubt, hardheartedness, failure to fully believe in Jesus. All these things, Jesus warns will cause you to be spiritually blind, like the Pharisees, to His true identity, to His mission, to His power. And Herod? We heard of Herod’s adultery, his ego, and permission to murder John the Baptist. The leaven of Herod is the moral cowardice, the violation of the moral law which blinds us to the truth of Jesus’ law of Love.

Jesus says we must guard against these things. We must guard against the things that cause us doubt and hard-heartedness toward the Gospel, and also the breaking of the moral law. Popular culture bombards the senses with error and examples of moral error. Whenever we turn on the television or go on the internet we must guard ourselves from anything that will cause hardness in us toward the Gospel. Whenever we have conversations with non-believers or Christians of weak or compromised faith, we need to be on guard toward error.

How many Catholics live together before marriage because that’s what the culture expects? How many don’t go to Mass because of the culture’s attitude toward religion? How many young Catholic college students lose their faith because of the errors and morals of the college campus? How many parents fail to teach their children to pray, to confess their sins because of prevailing culture attitudes?

Be on guard! We guard our minds and hearts from the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod by studying the faith, studying the word of God, studying what the Church teaches and why she teaches it. And by coming to Mass and recommitting to Jesus that our faith may be strong, that we may be courageous in the face of hostility and temptation, that we may keep the word of the Lord in all things, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the bishops of the Church will act as true prophets through their faithful teaching, their courageous witness, and their self-sacrificing love. We pray to the Lord.

That government leaders around the world may carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for freedom and the dignity of human life.  We pray to the Lord.

For the grace to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to love our neighbors and enemies and those who persecute us, and to share the truth of the Gospel with all.  We pray to the Lord.

For all those who share in the sufferings of Christ—the sick, the sorrowful, and those who are afflicted or burdened in any way, especially those effected by hurricanes and storms.  We pray to the Lord.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased clergy and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, for the poor souls in purgatory, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray to the Lord.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

October 04 2018 - St. Francis- Widely Admired, Greatly Misunderstood

St. Francis is probably the most popular, widely recognized saint in the history of Church. Yet that has also come with great misunderstanding of the real man and his real values and sanctity. He is known as a great lover of animals, so his likeness is placed on birdbaths and garden statues. His respect for God’s creation has led him to be co-opted as a patron of climate change initiatives, even vegetarianism. Yet, Francis once berated a friar for wanting to abstain from meat on a feast day and said that on Christmas he would “smear the wall with meat.” Some invoke Francis’ poverty to condemn ornate liturgical furnishings. The real Francis, however, was meticulous in the ceremonials of the Mass, insisting that every sacred vessel and vestment be the best. Sometimes, Francis is invoked to condemn the institutional aspects of the Church. But the real Francis wrote in the Franciscan Rule that any friar who parted from the Pope on the slightest article of Faith was to be dismissed from the Order.

St. Francis and the Sultan of Egypt

A recent author wrote: Selective hagiography (biographies of saints) has reduced St. Francis to a sandal-wearing, animal-loving pacifist, but the real man was a stern defender of the faith, preaching obedience to God through His Church. Far from an aversion to active proselytism—forthrightly calling non-Catholics to convert—St. Francis traveled to Egypt to confront the Muslim sultan and preach the name of Christ at the risk of martyrdom. At the same time his letters attest to his insistence on honoring God in the liturgy with precious and beautiful altar furnishings (Marcantonio Colonna).”
On this, his Feast Day, we should seek to love what Francis loved: poverty, chastity, obedience to Church teaching, beautiful liturgy, his prayer for the authentic reform of the Church, and most deeply his ardent love for Christ.

Saint Francis had a deep interior life, who meditated upon the wounds of Christ constantly, who pushed himself to offer his own life for the spread of the Gospel. For this, he was given the gift of the holy stigmata, bearing the wounds of Christ in his hands and feet. His stigmata was a sign of his holiness—a willingness to suffer for the spread of the Gospel and the good of souls.

Here is a man whom the world called a fool, in whom we, however, recognize great courage, great zeal, and great faith.  Francis reflected the self-offering of Christ to the Father through his own embrace of poverty and humility. May the prayers and example of St. Francis help us to conform our lives to Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For Pope Francis, on this his patronal feast day: that he may know that constant assistance of the angels and saints in his ministry.

That the work and ministry of all Franciscan organizations and charitable institutions may bear fruit for the spread of the Gospel.

For the purification of our minds and hearts from the errors of the culture and from the lure of worldly attachments.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

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

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord