4th Week of Lent 2024 - Tuesday - Jesus the Water of Life

Yesterday, I mentioned how the 4th Sunday of Lent was a sort of dividing line in the Lenten season. During the first half of Lent, the scripture readings focus on penance, repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving which help us to bring our passions under control. 

This second half of Lenten assumes that we still continue to practice Lenten penances, of course, but the scripture readings and mass orations speak a lot more about grace, life, healing, and purification. 

In scripture and tradition, these spiritual realities are symbolized often by water. We hear of water in both of our readings today: water flowing out of the temple, water with healing properties at the pool of Bethesda.

Water is essential for physical life; nothing can live without it. In many biblical stories, water is a source of life and growth. Just as water nourishes, cleanses, and sustains physical life, grace, healing, and spiritual life are the divine nourishment and sustenance for the soul. This parallel makes water a natural symbol for the life-giving grace of God. Water quenches the thirst of our bodies--God quenches the thirst of our soul--we were made for him.

Water is a means of cleansing. We wash our cars, we wash our houses, we wash our bodies, with water. Water washes away dirt, impurity, and contagions. So too, it is used sacramentally, to symbolize the washing away of sin in the baptism, and we even use blessed water to purify objects and places exposed to the contagion of evil. 

That water is needed by all people, in all places, and all times, reminds us of how God is needed by all people, in all places, and at all times. 

Water has the power to change landscapes, erode rock, nourish dry land, and create channels of new life. Just as water can lead to dramatic changes in the physical world, God’s grace leads to significant changes in our spiritual lives and personal circumstances.

Water flows, moves, and follows a path. This dynamic quality of water makes it a symbol for the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. Just as a river follows its path, so does the Spirit guide us to the sea of God’s infinite goodness. 

Water flows from the Temple in the first reading today, foreshadowing how the water will flow from the side of Christ at his crucifixion and how the waters of baptism flow from the Church to all corners of the world, but recall that it is not water in itself that has the power to save us. Water, in fact, is shown to be insufficient in the Gospel today; it is Jesus who heals, it is Jesus who saves: A reminder that the saving waters of baptism are only capable of bringing new spiritual life, because of Christ. He is the living water--whoever comes to him shall never thirst, He is the one that causes a deep well of grace within our souls to spring up to eternal life. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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As the Solemnity of Easter approaches, dear brethren, let our prayer to the Lord be all the more insistent:

That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and those to be fully initiated in the coming Paschal Solemnity

For Peace throughout the nations of the world most threatened by hatred, division, and violence, for the protection of the unborn and the safety of the men and women in our armed forces.  

That all families will commit themselves to fervent prayer this Lent so as to grow in greater love and holiness.  

For the physical, emotional, and spiritual healing of all people, especially the spiritually blind and hard of heart.  

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for…  

Have mercy, O Lord, on the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in the divine mystery may never be left without your assistance. Through Christ our Lord.

1st Sunday of Lent 2024 - Noah's Ark and Desert Temptations

 Since the times of the Early Church Fathers, Noah’s ark has been seen as a prefigurement, a foreshadowing, of the Church. Just as the ark was the means by which Noah and his family were spared destruction, so also the Church is the instrument by which Christians are saved from eternal damnation.

The ark housed a male and female of every kind of animal, and the Church houses men and women from every nation, language, and background. God saved Noah and his family, not by a fleet of ships, but by one ark. Similarly, Christ founded not many Churches, but one Church. The ark of Noah sheltered his family from the storm, and it is in the Church that we take refuge from the storms and floods of life. 

The Ark prefigures the church and our salvation in Christ. The salvific wood of the ark foreshadows the salvific wood of the cross. After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy the earth in the same way. This covenant is seen as a precursor to the new covenant established through Jesus Christ.

In our second reading, Scripture itself sees the eight persons of Noah’s family being saved through the waters of the flood as a prefigurement of baptism. And by the way, from the early Church to this day, it is common to construct baptismal fonts with eight sides, to symbolize the eight people on the ark: Noah and his wife, and his sons, Ham, Shem, and Japeth, and their wives.  

We begin the season of Lent with this image of the ark and the waters of the flood because right from the beginning of Lent we are meant to be thinking about salvation and baptism. From the early Church, Lent was a time of preparing for baptism. Those seeking Christ, seeking baptism, would prepare for baptism at easter throughout this Lenten season through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving aid the catechumens—those seeking baptism—to conform themselves to Christ, who fasted, and prayed, and gave his life for our salvation.

But it’s not just the catechumens who pray, fasting, and give to the poor…all of us are to pray, fast, and a give alms during Lent, as a way of offering spiritual support and good example for those to be baptized, as well as a way of spiritual preparation for the renewal of our own baptismal promises at Easter.

We pray, fast, and give alms to help us get back to the basics of baptism: prayer, to remind us of the spiritual intimacy we must constantly nurture with God, fasting to remind us of the self-sacrifice of Christ which is to be the model of our own constant self-discipline and self-sacrifice, and almsgiving, to remind us of the charity which should mark every day of our life as Christians. 

Here at St. Ignatius, we have two candidates for full initiation this year: David & Tyler who will be received into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. This morning, there will be a short ritual called the rite of sending, in which we will pray for these candidates, who will be sent this evening to the Cathedral, to gather with Bishop Malesic and all the other catechumens and candidates from throughout the diocese.

Now David and Tyler are already baptized, and are seeking full initiation, but we still pray and fast for them, and for the thousands of people this year who will be baptized and will receive Confirmation and First Eucharist at Easter—about 150,000 adults each year in the United States—who are getting on board the ark of Holy Mother Church.

So, on this first Sunday of the season of Lent, we have the image of the ark and baptism—we have a glimpse of the destination. But, sort of paradoxically, not only do we have this image of water, but this image of the desert. Christ going into the desert, where he is tempted by Satan. 

This story is a powerful reminder that Lent, and really the whole Christian life, constitute a spiritual battle. The powers of Satan are at work to seduce us away from God—to separate us from God through sin. Just as Satan tempted the Lord, the devil utilizes temptation against us. He makes sin sound like a good idea, he makes self-centeredness and disobedience to God seem reasonable, he emphasizes the pleasures of sin while minimizing the physical, emotional, and spiritual cost of sin. 

One reason that Mother Church gives us this reading of Christ’s temptations each year on the first Sunday of lent is because she wants us to be aware that in reaching our destination there is going to be some resistance. Whether that destination is baptism, or individual sanctification, or heaven—there is going to be some resistance, some spiritual resistance by a being who does not want us to reach that destination. He does not want us taking up those weapons of self-restraint, as the Ash Wednesday liturgy called them—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. He wants us weaponless. He wants to disarm us and create obstacles to faithfulness through temptation. Temptation is real. 

I couldn’t stop thinking about cheeseburgers on ash Wednesday. I swear I am hungrier on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday than I have any right to be. Temptation is real. And as we engage in the Lenten observances, the devil redoubles his efforts to discourage us. 

The devil loves to make evil seem reasonable, and goodness seem unreasonable. He introduces strange thoughts into our heads to convince us to give up on the spiritual disciplines. Fast? Why would you want to fast? You’ll be too weak for work. You’ll starve. You’ll be so weak you won’t be able to think and you’ll embarrass yourself. Pray? You’re too busy to pray. After all you pray just enough as it is. You have other things to do. You don’t want to get behind on your programs after all. God forbid, you miss an episode of Wheel of Fortune. Those TV characters make you feel good about yourself. And Almsgiving? You already give plenty. You’re too poor to give any more than you already do. What about your needs, your wants, your security. Give too much away and you’ll find yourself homeless if you give any more than you are giving.

See, he tells us lies that are just plausible enough to discourage us from what can truly help us to be sanctified. So be aware, you will be lied to this Lent, lied to by the devil who hates you, who hates God, and wants nothing more than to separate you from Him. 

How will we emerge victorious from the desert? By uniting ourselves to Christ, the faithful Son of the Father, and allowing Him to live in us—to be victorious over Satan within us. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, please try to attend daily mass throughout the week as much as possible throughout Lent. Here at Church, Christ feeds us with his body and blood which is the greatest protection against the seductions of the enemy. For when we receive Christ in the Eucharist, we receive the one whose truth pierces the lies of satan—we share in his victory. God allows the devil to tempt us, because those temptations are opportunities to allow Christ to punch the devil in the nose—transforming us weak selfish creatures into the image of the faithful Son of God.

So please avail yourselves of the Eucharist as often as possible, eat his flesh and drink his blood, that you may not fall for the lies and empty promises of the devil, and that you might make use of all the opportunities to grow in grace that God desires for you. 

Throughout Lent, together we make this journey of faith, that we may prepare ourselves well to experience, after the mystery of the cross, the joy of Easter, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Octave 2021 - Tuesday - He gave them the water of wisdom to drink

During Easter Week, the Church continues to hold aloft in our prayers the newly initiated—those who became one with the Lord through the Easter Sacraments, and one with us in the communion of grace. In the early church, it was customary for the newly initiated to attend daily mass throughout the Easter Octave and continue to don their white baptismal garments in witness to the new life they received in Christ. Many of the scripture readings and liturgical prayers are partly directed to them.

Consider the entrance antiphon for this Easter Tuesday Mass: “He gave them the water of wisdom to drink: it will be made strong in them and will not be moved; it will raise them up for ever, alleluia.” On several occasions Jesus stated that he was the fountain of living water for all who believed in Him and He invited souls to draw near this spring. “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth in Me…within him shall flow rivers of living water.” The newly initiated are invited today to consider how, in the Sacraments, they now have access to that living water, the living fountain now wells up within them, as it does all Christians in a state of grace.

St. John Chrysostom teaches: “When the grace of the Holy Spirit enters a soul and is established there, it gushes forth more powerfully than any other spring; it neither ceases, dries up, nor is exhausted. And the Savior, to signify this inexhaustible gift of grace, calls it a spring and a torrent.” The water of grace propels a soul into God and brings that sweet intimacy and union desired by all men.

And yet for that fountain to remain active and forceful, the soul must apply itself to daily prayer, mortification, and good works. It must dispose itself and live out the wisdom of God. Again as Sirach says, “he gave them the water of wisdom to drink”. In order for wisdom to become strong, we must order our lives according to the wisdom of God. God’s priorities must become our priorities; what God loves, we must love, and despising whatever keeps us from this.

Notice in the Gospel today how Mary Magdalene’s tears are changed from sorrow to joy as she begins to understand that Jesus Christ is truly alive. So too with us, as we grow in wisdom and faith, as we allow the grace of the sacraments to grow within us, sorrow over earthly realities is transformed into joy over heavenly ones.

This Easter Season, may the grace of the sacraments continue to be unleashed in our lives: the wisdom that comes from turning away from the world and turning to the Risen Christ in baptism, the strength and fortitude for resisting temptation and spreading the Gospel that comes from confirmation, and the new life that comes to us under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

Filled with Paschal joy, let us turn earnestly to God, to graciously hear our prayers and supplications.

For the shepherds of our souls, that they may have the strength to govern wisely the flock entrusted to them by the Good Shepherd.

For the whole world, that it may truly know the peace of the Risen Christ. 

For our own community, that it may bear witness with great confidence to the Resurrection of Christ, and that the newly initiated hold fast to the faith they have received. 

For our brothers and sisters who suffer, that their sorrow may be turned to gladness through the Christian faith.

That all of our beloved dead and all the souls in purgatory may come to the glory of the Resurrection.

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

4th Week of Lent 2021 - Tuesday - "A stream whose runlets gladden the city of God"

 Of the seven miracles in the Gospel of John, three have to do with water. Jesus changes water into wine at Cana, Jesus heals the crippled man at the water of Bethesda, and Jesus walks on the water of the Sea of Galilee. 

Water is a prominent motif in the Gospel of John. Just like in Genesis 1, in which we hear of the waters of creation, in John 1, we hear of the Baptist baptizing with the waters of repentance. Water, in the very first lines of this Gospel, marks a new beginning of a life sorrowful for sin.

In Chapter 2, Water is changed by Jesus, at the wedding of Cana, to become wine that gladdens the hearts of the wedding guests. And in Chapter 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that his followers must be born again of water and the spirit.

In Chapter 4, Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman. He says, “everyone who drinks the water of this well will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

In Chapter 5, there is the water of the pool of bethesda. But this water seems to be ineffective at healing: true healing comes from Jesus. And in Chapter 6, Jesus walks on the water, showing his absolute authority over all the waters of creation.

An abundance of water pours forth from the Temple, in Ezekiel’s vision today, and our Psalm speaks of the “stream” of water “whose runlets gladden the city of God”. These foreshadow, along with all of those Gospel images, the waters of baptism which gladden the Church. 

In less than three weeks, thousands of catechumens around the world will be baptized in water at the Easter Vigil. And a billion Catholics will renew their baptismal promises and be sprinkled with fresh Easter water. 

The more seriously we take Lenten penance the more gladness we will experience on Easter Sunday. For Lent helps us to recognize and repent of the ways we have allowed that spring of living water within us to perhaps become clogged or obstructed through earthly attachments to sin. Rather, Lent calls us back to those life-giving, soul-saving, cleansing, freeing, healing water of God’s divine life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity. 

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

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

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

4th Sunday of Lent 2021 - Joyful Lenten Waters

 On the 4th Sunday of Lent, the Church celebrates Laetare sunday.  Laetare is the latin word for “rejoice”. Lent and Joy. Initially, it doesn’t seem like those two things would go together. Joy and Penance? Joy and Fasting? Joy and Tears of Repentance? 

Today, is a reminder that true joy only comes from God.  And when we make room in our hearts for him through penance, we fast from the things that keep us from hungering for Him, when we allow him to fill our hearts through prayer, we become filled with joy.  If you haven’t experience yet, during this season, maybe you aren’t doing it right? For Lenten joy abounds with all of the opportunities to turn our hearts to God.

One of my favorite cinematic images of Lenten joy comes from a very good movie called “The Mission” starring Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons.  If you haven't seen it, it's worth the time.  The Mission  is the story of the Spanish Jesuits who go to South America to bring Christianity to the natives there.  Robert DeNiro plays a slave trader.  He had spent years treating the natives as a commodity, often murdering them like cattle.   After he catches his wife and brother in the act of adultery, he murders his brother, and spirals into a terrible depression. Then something amazing happens: DeNiro's character becomes attracted to the Christian faith preached by the Jesuits and embraced by the natives.  

For a life of enslaving and murdering, he makes a confession of his sins, and undertakes a serious penance.  With a backpack filled with weapons and armor, symbols of his old life of violence, he climbs up this gigantic waterfall.  And the deeply moving scene of the movie is when after this tremendous strenuous penitential climb, he reaches the top of the waterfall, and surrounded by the Jesuits and Natives, he is embraced by both, and then falls to his knees.  Overwhelmed by the mercy of Christ and his own sorrow for his sins, he begins to weep and laugh for joy at the same time.  He experiences the sorrow of being a sinner and the joy of being a forgiven sinner at the same time.  Where there was only guilt and depression, through his penance, he opened himself to be touched by God.  I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced anything like that…but it changes your life.

A powerful image of Lenten joy, indeed  With great sorrow for our sins, we go to confession,  we undergo penances of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and thereby open ourselves to God in a new way.  We are changed internally, as we seek to conform our actions and our life to God.

St. Paul writes about the profound change that occurs in the soul when it comes to Christ in our reading this weekend: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” In Christ, the sinner is transformed into something new. Something awakens that was dormant in the soul, something that was dead is revived.  Blindness, like that of the blind man in the Gospel today, is transformed into sight. Hatred and coldness and selfishness is transformed into love, when Christ is truly encountered as Savior.

Our Lenten penances, our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—our stripping away the non-essentials to create pockets of silence and reflection—these things are meant to awaken something in us. But, maybe that’s why some of us find Lent so hard or unagreeable. We don’t want anything to awaken. We like our lives just the way they are. We like our earthly comforts. We like our isolation. We sense that if we became quieter, something might awaken that we don’t have control over. And so, we prefer spiritual blindness because we are afraid what we might see. 

Some of us resist the whole idea of admitting guilt. And that is to the great detriment of our church and our mission.  I don’t want to climb up a waterfall with the reminders of my sins on my back. I don’t want the Lord to spread muddy saliva on my eyes. It makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want to look at the ways I’ve  hurt or betrayed others with my words or actions. It’s humiliating. Yes, it is. But it’s the secret of the saints. With the sincere admission of guilt and penance for our sins comes great sanctity. 

Saint John Paul II lamented what he called the loss of the sense of sin.  He called it a crisis in the Church and the world that so many of us fail to acknowledge the destructive power that sin has in our society and our own souls.  Pope Francis echoing Saint John Paul said recently that “When you lose the sense of sin, you lose the sense of the Kingdom of God."  If we deny the fact that we are sinners, we deny our need for Christ.  

But remember, when Peter at the last supper, defiantly resisted the washing of his feet, and said to Jesus “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him,  “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”

Again, the good news, especially of Laetare Sunday is that Jesus does offer to wash us, he does offer to forgive us in the Sacrament of Confession, he does offer to place his hands on our eyes to heal our blindness, he offers to place his hands on our hearts to heal its coldness. Jesus beckons us, he calls us to repentance that we may know the joy of being redeemed sinners, and that his kingdom make take deeper root in our hearts.  

With the time that we have left of this most holy season, may the Holy Spirit help each of us to identify those selfish and sinful attitudes and behaviors and attachments which keep us from knowing the joy God wants for us. May we have the courage to do the penances we ought to, and allow ourselves to be washed by God’s mercy, and come to know the joy of his goodness dwelling within us for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Sunday of Lent 2021 - Water in the desert to quench our thirst for God

 Our scripture readings for this third Sunday of Lent may sound somewhat familiar. They were the last readings we heard prior to the lockdown last year due to the coronavirus. 

Leading upon to the third Sunday of Lent last year, we began to see news reports of this mysterious virus from an overseas laboratory beginning to hit our shores. And stories of stores being ransacked for basic necessities, especially toilet paper, as we with our fellow countrymen began to brace ourselves for the unknown. How much of the activity of this past year was governed by healthy caution and safety, or irrational fear, it will be hard to tell for some time. 

But amidst the chaos and confusion, what has remained throughout it all, has been the human thirst for God. Whether in good times or in bad, in poverty or wealth, in sickness or in health, whether you’re a republican, democrat, atheist, Christian, Muslim, or Jew, man thirsts for God. 

We all experience many types of thirst. 

Daily our bodies thirst.  We of course desire actual water to quench parched lips and dry throats.  Our bodies need water; it’s part of our bodily nature.  Without water, our bodies die. In the first reading, the Israelites who had been wandering in the desert begin to fear that they might die of real actual physical thirst. It is clear they didn't quite trust God yet, which is why they are described as grumbling, complaining to Moses about this god who would lead them out into the desert. But their fear, and their thirst, was real. 

One summer I visited the African Island Country of Madagascar with Catholic Relief Services.  I remember visiting villages where regular access to clean drinking water was a real problem, as it is in many third world countries. And one of the tasks of Catholic Relief Services was to help people develop reliable access to clean drinking water. Certainly, one of our duties toward the Lord is to give drink to the thirsty--"for I was thirsty, and you gave me drink"

Beyond physical thirst, we also experience many different types of emotional thirst. A thirst for companionship; after months of isolation, thirst for human touch and social interaction, to see people’s faces and smiles. At points in our lives we thirst for fun and excitement, perhaps adventure; at other times we thirst for a stable job and a sturdy roof over our head. We thirst for knowledge and beauty and goodness and justice. Our human nature thirsts for these very good things.

And then of course, the deepest thirst of all, a thirst that nothing, no earthly relationship or earthly pursuit can quench: the thirst, only God himself can satisfy. This deepest thirst is not for some THING, but for some ONE.  For God.  God IS the living water, of whom St. Augustine said, “my heart is restless until it rests in you, my God.”  

Remember that beautiful Psalm 63: “O God, you are my God, for you I long, for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water”  And Psalm 42, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God.”

Our bodies need H2O and food, our minds need companionship and knowledge, and our souls need God—our souls need intimate, personal contact with Him.

As the Catechism puts it: "Man is made to live in communion with God, in whom he finds happiness" (#45).  God has created the human person to be in Communion with Himself.  We will never find true joy outside of His will.  

Finite things cannot quench the thirst for the infinite living God, and yet, and yet sinful man attempts to quench the thirst for God with so many artificial substitutes. The addict, the drug-addict, the sex or porn-addict, the gambling-addict, the tv-addict or video-game addict, the food or shopping-addicts, seeking God in so many artificial substitutes bring such sadness to themselves and their families. Their addiction cannot satisfy and leaves them hollow. To paraphrase Ken Kesey, every time they take a drink from the bottle, the bottle takes a drink from them. 

When some false God becomes the center of our life—the pursuit of pleasure, power, or the good-life, we are left exhausted and unhappy—because we end up drinking sand—and sand does not quench. The neglect of prayer and right religion leaves us literally dying of spiritual thirst while refusing to acknowledge that God could save us if we but humbly turned to Him. 

In the beatitudes, the Lord promises blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Our deepest hungers and thirsts can be satisfied by God. And not just ultimately in heaven, either. Our spiritual thirst for God begins to be satisfied as we enter into the mystery of God in this earthly life through the sacraments and the life of faith, through prayer and works of charity.

Jesus says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.” Jesus wants to give us this living water of His very Life with us, but he will not force us to drink.  

During Lent, we acknowledge those times in which we have been misguided in our search for God, when we have turned to sin, instead of turning to him.  And we do penance—we pray, fast, and give alms, not just for ourselves, but for the conversion of the lost souls out there. Those who cannot bring themselves to humbly admit how much they need God. We undertake penances, praying that their pride, their egos, will be softened, that they may hear the voice of Christ calling them to the waters of everlasting life—the living water of God. 

[Tomorrow ]/[This morning] we celebrate a special ritual, the first of three rituals called the Lenten scrutinies, for those preparing for the easter sacraments. Angela and Bruce will stand before the congregation, acknowledging their thirst for Christ, their desire to drink deeply of the waters of the Christian life and the sacraments.  They are reminders to all of us, to seek to be free from all that keeps us from drinking deeply from the waters Christ gives.

In Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we strip away the non-essentials of our lives, and make our lives into a sort of desert, and yet, it’s in the Lenten desert, that those with faith drink deeply of the living water of God flows abundantly in prayer, fasting, and self-giving.

Again, if you haven’t gone to confession this Lenten season, it is so important to acknowledge those times when we’ve have turned away from the living waters. Without confession, we begin to settle for less, we begin to settle for sand, and are left dying of thirst. 

I offer confessions on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, on Monday nights, and will offer an evening of confessions for three hours, 5 to 8pm on Wednesday march 24. .

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Friday after Epiphany 2020 - The testimony of Baptism's waters

On Wednesday, I spoke about how it is fitting to read from the first letter of St. John during the Christmas season, as St. John takes up the task of explaining the significance of the incarnation of Jesus Christ and how that is to impact our lives as Christians.

God’s love is revealed to us in the incarnation, and so God’s love is to be revealed in our lives: God loved us, so we are to love one another.

Well, today’s readings are perfect for this particularly liturgical day, pointing us toward this Sunday’s upcoming Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. For John today explains how Jesus’s divinity is was revealed through water. At the baptism, the heaven’s opened, the Holy Spirit descended, and the voice of the Father spoke, “this is my beloved Son”.

God testifies to the identity of Jesus. He is the Son of God. Belief in Jesus’ divinity isn’t simply based on human testimony, John says today, it is based on God’s testimony. John connects water and belief, baptism and faith, the revelation that Jesus is God and the possession of eternal life. A perfect reading to get us ready for the feast of the baptism this weekend.

But also our Gospel reading introduces the theme of cleansing. A leper falls prostrate before Jesus, believing that Jesus has the power to heal him, and he is made clean. Faith in Jesus leads us to the waters of baptism which cleanse us, not of the terrible physical disease of leprosy, but a spiritual disease far worse: the sinfulness which has caused death to our souls.

Today’s reading prepares us to celebrate the Lord’s Baptism this weekend, as the final feast of the Christmas season. The babe born in Bethlehem gives us new birth in the waters of Baptism. Faith in Him leads us to those waters, sanctified by him, by which we are reborn to eternal life.

As we come to the end of the Christmas season, celebrating the birth of our Savior, we consider the importance of baptism, and its implications. At his Baptism, God testified to Jesus’ identity. Our baptism impels us to do the same: to testify that eternal life can be found through faith in the Son of God for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
For Pope Francis and all the clergy: that they will draw many to the mystery of baptism and inspire the faithful to live their baptismal promises with great devotion.

For leaders of nations: that they will govern with virtue and integrity, helping to build society in conformity with the teachings of Christ. 

For non-believers and for those preparing for baptism: that they may be open to the grace of conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ. 

For the sick, suffering, persecuted, and underemployed, and all those facing hardships. 

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, 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

4th Week of Lent 2019 - Tuesday - The drama begins

Yesterday, we began reading from the series of seven miracles in John’s Gospel, and today we read the third miracle, the healing of the man at the waters of Bethesda, pools of water that were open to the public, near the northern sheep gate of Jerusalem. The waters were thought to have healing properties, but healing eluded this crippled man for thirty-eight years. In the end, it was not the water at all that brought him healing, rather, his faith in Jesus Christ, the healing word of Jesus.

The power of faith, obedience to the word of Jesus, links yesterday’s gospel miracle, and today’s. Today’s story begins the drama which will continue to unfold and eventually lead to the climax of Good Friday.

The Jewish leaders, witnessing Jesus’ miracle, instead of responding to the miracle with faith, harden their hearts, and St. John tells us they begin to “persecute” Jesus. “Persecute” in the sense that they begin to obstruct his holy work and bring suffering to him,

One scripture commentary said that John’s use of the word “persecute” also has the resonance of “legal prosecution” for the Jewish leaders here begin to build a legal case against him, and bring judgment against him, accusing him of crime that will enable them to silence Him.
This reminds me of the beginning of the book of Job, were Satan, whose name means the “Accuser” seeks to build a legal case against Job. The Satanic spirit works to silence Jesus, to obstruct his work of salvation.

This reminds us of that opening prayer of Ash Wednesday, which spoke of Lent as a spiritual campaign, a spiritual battle being waged in us. While we seek to conform ourselves to Jesus through our Lenten penances, while the catechumens seek to ready themselves for the saving waters of baptism, Satan seeks to obstruct the work of God in us, to tempt us away from penance, to close our ears to the truths the Word wishes to speak to us, to hinder us in responding to God in faith.

While we increase our penances, temptation may also increase, forces which obstruct the work of God might conspire against us. So we keep our eyes and our hearts fixed on Jesus throughout Lent, knowing that through his suffering and death, he brings about victory over the forces of evil, and plants his spirit within us to endure suffering and hardship for the sake of the kingdom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For an increase in faith for the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.
That the Church might be delivered and protected from all spirits of error, heresy, schism, and unbelief, and that Christians who are persecuted for the Gospel might persevere in faith.
For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.
That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.
That those in need may find assist in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.
For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

4th Week of Lent 2018 - Tuesday - Water, Water, Everywhere

Of the seven miracles in the Gospel of John, three have to do with water. Jesus changes water into wine at Cana, Jesus heals the crippled man at the water of Siloam, and Jesus walks on the water of the Sea of Galilee.

Water is a prominent motif in the Gospel of John. Just like in Genesis 1, in which we hear of the waters of creation, in John 1, we hear of the Baptist baptizing with the waters of repentance. Water, in the very first lines of this Gospel, marks a new beginning of a life sorrowful for sin.

In Chapter 2, Water is changed by Jesus, at the wedding of Cana, to become wine that gladdens the hearts of the wedding guests. And in Chapter 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that his followers must be born again of water and the spirit.

In Chapter 4, Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman. He says, “everyone who drinks the water of this well will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

In Chapter 5, there is the water of the pool of siloam. But this water seems to be ineffective at healing: true healing comes from Jesus. And in Chapter 6, Jesus walks on the water, showing his absolute authority over all the waters of creation.

Just as an abundance of water pours forth from the Temple, in Ezekiel’s vision today, and just as our Psalm speaks of the “stream” of water “whose runlets gladden the city of God”, John describes the  blood and water flowing from the side of Christ. This is the water of baptism, this is the water of Christ which continually gladdens the hearts of those in union with Him. Upon glimpsing the resurrected Christ on the sea shore, Peter jumps from his old fishing boat, right into the sea, to joyfully approach the Lord.

In less than three weeks, hundreds of thousands of catechumens around the world will be baptized in water at the Easter. And a billion Catholics will renew their baptismal promises and be sprinkled with fresh baptismal water.

When we encounter the Lord in the Sacraments, in prayer, and in our works of mercy, we partake of the life-giving, soul-saving, cleansing, freeing, healing water of His own divine life.

May our Lenten observances help us to truly yearn for these waters, that we may partake deeply of them, and to be nourished and transformed by them, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

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

Mercifully hear, O Lord, the prayers of your Church and turn with compassion to the hearts that bow before you, that those you make sharers in your divine mystery may always benefit from your assistance.

1st Sunday of Lent 2018 - Noah's Ark and the Lenten Desert

Since the times of the Early Church Fathers, Noah’s ark has been seen as a prefigurement, a foreshadowing, of the Church. Just as the ark was the means by which Noah and his family were spared destruction, so also the Church is the instrument by which Christians are saved from eternal damnation.

The ark housed a male and female of every kind of animal, and the Church houses men and women from every nation, language, and background. God saved Noah and his family, not by a fleet of ships, but by one ark. Similarly, Christ founded not many Churches, but one Church. The ark of Noah sheltered his family from the storm, and it is in the Church that we take refuge from the storms and floods of life.

But it gets even more interesting. St. Paul calls the Church, the Body of Christ. And St. Augustine noted how even the very ratio of the dimensions of the ark to each other suggest a human body, the Body of Christ. The dimensions of the ark were 300 by 50 by 30 cubits. St. Augustine writes, “For even its very dimensions, in length, breadth, and height, represent the human body in which the Lord came… For the length of the human body, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, is six times its breadth from side to side, and ten times its depth or thickness, measuring from back to front.” So the ark is a vessel with the dimensions of the human body which saved a family from destruction, and the Church, the Body of Christ, which saves us from eternal destruction.

The wood of the ark foreshadows the wood of the cross, and the waters of the flood foreshadow the waters of baptism.

Here at St. Clare, our baptismal font is three-sided, to represent the three divine persons of the Holy Trinity. From the early Church to this day, it was also common to construct baptismal fonts with eight sides, to symbolize the eight people on the ark: Noah and his wife, and his sons, Ham, Shem, and Japeth, and their wives.  We even heard in our second reading how Scripture itself sees the eight persons of Noah’s family being saved through the waters of the flood as a prefigurement of baptism.
So why do we begin the season of Lent with these scriptures talking about baptism? Again, from the early Church, Lent was a time of preparation for those preparing for baptism. The prayer, fasting, and almsgiving of Lent, are important spiritual practices especially for those preparing for baptism, to help them conform themselves to Christ, who fasted, and prayed, and gave his life for our salvation.

Those already baptized pray, fast, and give to the poor, as a way of supporting and offering good example for those to be baptized, as well as a way of spiritual preparation to renew our own baptismal promises at Easter

Here at St. Clare, we have three candidates who will be received into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. Following the homily, there will be a short ritual called the rite of sending, in which we will pray for these candidates, who will be sent this evening to the Cathedral, to gather with Bishop Perez and all the other catechumens and candidates from throughout the diocese.
Though the candidates we send to the bishop are already baptized, we are certainly conscious of the need to pray for and set good example for them, and to pray and sacrifice for the thousands of people who will be baptized and will receive Confirmation and First Eucharist at Easter.

And so, on this first Sunday of the season of Lent, we get a glimpse at our destination: the saving waters of baptism through which we die to sin and rise to new life in Christ. We pray, fast, and give alms to help us get back to the basics of baptism: prayer, to remind us of the spiritual intimacy we have with God, fasting to remind us of the self-sacrifice of Christ which is to be the model of our own self-discipline and self-sacrifice, and almsgiving, to remind us of the charity which should mark every day of our life as Christians.

With our destination in mind, our Gospel reading reminds us that as Christ went into the desert and was tempted by Satan, so too we are in a constant spiritual battle. The powers of Satan are at work against us, to separate us from God through sin, to seduce us into ways of worldliness.
Before we can reach the springs of new life, often we must travel through the desert. And in the desert we face challenge and temptation, but also purification, enlightenment, and deep communion with God.

How will we emerge victorious from the desert? By uniting ourselves to Christ, the faithful Son of the Father, and allowing Him to live in us.

After being delivered through the waters of the flood, we read today how God placed a bow in the sky as a covenantal sign, of his divine protection. So too, Christ spoke of his body and blood, as a covenantal sign, the sign of the new and everlasting covenant. The Eucharist, which is lifted up for us to see at every Mass is the sign that God is with us, in all of our hardships, in all of the dry-desert moments of life; in the Eucharist God strengthens us and nourishes us throughout our desert journey.

If at all possible, please try to attend daily mass throughout the week as much as possible throughout Lent. As we engage in the spiritual practices and penances of Lent, the enemy rolls up his sleeves as well. If he can tempt Jesus in the desert, he can tempt us as well. So please avail yourselves of the Eucharist as often as possible, that you may not fall under temptation, and that you might make use of all of the grace God has in store for you, for the purification and transformation of your minds and souls.

Throughout Lent, together we make this journey of faith, that we may prepare ourselves well to experience, after the mystery of the cross, the joy of Easter, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Tuesday - 4th Week of Lent 2017 - Streams of life-giving water

Yesterday, I mentioned how the 4th Sunday of Lent was a sort of dividing line in the Lenten season. During the first half of Lent, the scripture readings focus on penance, repentance, the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving which help us to bring our passions under control. This second half of Lenten assumes that we still continue to practice Lenten penances, of course, but the scripture readings and mass orations speak a lot more about the grace, the life, the healing, which comes from following Jesus. And we are invited to follow Jesus all the way to the cross.

Today, God’s power, his presence, his life, is symbolized in our first reading, by the water flowing from the Temple. The water that flows from God’s Temple, brings an abundance of life: the multiplication of living creatures, abundance of fish, fruit trees, unfading leaves, plants with healing properties.

This river of living water, would have been a stark comparison to the sea to the east of the Jerusalem Temple, the saltiest body of water on earth, the Dead Sea. It's called the Dead Sea for a good reason: nothing can live in it because the water is far too salty to support life. Ezekiel tells us that the river of living water was able to transform even the Dead Sea, to make its waters fresh.

Such is the result of God’s living water upon the land, but even greater is the power of God’s life in the human soul! He brings to life the deadened, salty, unfruitful parts of the human soul. Great sinners have been transformed into great saints.

This isn’t the first time this Lent we’ve heard of miraculous, living waters. On the 3rd Sunday of Lent, Jesus promised to give living water to the woman at the well—to those who believe in him. And in the Gospel today, a sick man lay near a whole reported to have healing properties, but he is healed, not by the pool, but by the word of Jesus.

The penances of this season, and particularly the Sacrament of Confession, strengthen our faith and dispose our souls to receive the living water of Jesus Christ. Perhaps this means that the Lord wishes to help us lay aside an old habit, an addiction, a compulsion, or perhaps he wishes to give us "a fresh, spiritual way of thinking", a new fruit he wishes to cultivate in us, a healing of a hurt, a resentment, a trauma, the effect of past mortal sins which have weakened our will and clouded our intellect.

May our Lenten penances help us to receive the living water Jesus wishes to cause to well up within us, the waters which come from his heart, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving may bring about conversion and renewal within the Church.

For all those preparing to enter into Christ through the saving waters of Baptism and those preparing for full initiation this Easter, may these final Lenten weeks bring about purification from sin and enlightenment in the ways of holiness.

For those who have fallen away from the Church, who have become separated through error and sin,
for those who reject the teachings of Christ, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the healing graces of Christ.