Easter Week 2021 - Monday (EF) - Remain with us, Lord!

 Having encountered the risen Lord on the Road to Emmaus, the two disciple offer that beautiful supplication, “Mane nobiscum”, “Stay with us Lord.” The Carmelite Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen writes, “Stay with us Lord! It is the cry of the soul who has found its God and never again wishes to be separated from Him.” 

The Lord’s appearance on the road was mysterious. The disciples did not immediately perceive him—and for a number of reasons that we can surmise: the lack of understanding concerning his resurrection, their lack of faith that good Friday did not end in defeat, their fear about their own future. 

So too with us. Certainly our weak faith, our fears and anxieties, often keep us from detecting the presence of the Lord. Theologically, we know that God dwells within the soul in a state of grace, and our that the Lord is really and truly present in the Eucharist. The request, “stay with us, Lord” has been answered by God—through sanctifying grace and the gift of the Sacraments. We know this to be true, theologically, intellectually. And yet, we also know there is a difference between knowing something in our heads, and knowing it in our hearts. 

Likely, it is more up to God than our own efforts that the veil of that heart knowledge of the His presence is made known. But when that veil is pulled back, oh boy, we cry out with the disciples, “stay with us”. 

And yet, we know too, that those moments of profound intimate heart knowledge of God are often fleeting, for they are but a foretaste of heaven. God grants these holy moments, these spiritual consolations, to spurn us on in the Christian life. And we do well to recall them in moments of temptation and desolation.

We also do well to dispose our souls to the gift of heavenly consolation, through prayer and charitable works.

In an article for the Universe Bulletin, dear departed Bishop Lennon wrote a powerful description of this powerful spiritual dynamic. He wrote: “ when our life is centered on a false God of prosperity, prestige, or mere pursuit of the good life—one will likely reap a harvest of exhaustion and unhappiness.  But, the person and family, who places Christ at the center of life, including God in  their weekly schedules and activities, meals, chores, conversations, parenting, work, vacations, civic responsibilities, decisions, problems, crises, accomplishments, losses—the whole of their lives become changed and charged with God’s presence.”

Having broke bread with the Lord, the disciples of Emmaus “set out immediately” in order to report what they had seen. The Christian whose life is charged and changed by the Risen Lord becomes an effective instrument of bringing souls to Christ. There are many souls who have not met the Lord, who long to meet him, and often it’s in sharing our encounters with the Lord that will touch them and draw them closer to Him.

May our Easter celebrations help us to put and keep the Lord at the center of our lives, and share our Easter faith with the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Sunday 2021 - Who will roll back the stone for us

 “Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb.” Consider for a moment how Mary Magdalene had begun making her way to the tomb with no idea that the stone blocking the tomb would have been rolled back.

In fact, in Mark' version of the Gospel, Mary Magdalene states to the other women accompanying her, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” After all, the stone was heavy. It was large. It was truly a foreboding obstacle. It took several people to roll it into place. And yet, even before the first rays of Sunday-dawn began to fully shine, the faithful holy women went anyway to the tomb anyway—to anoint the body of Jesus. 

And yet, maybe there was something else. A hope. An intuition that something had changed. Perhaps, even an unspoken confidence that God would provide the means to overcome this obstacle. God was drawing them forward, despite the obstacle. And behold, hardly had they arrived when the saw “the stone rolled back”. For the Lord had risen!

We too have a keen desire to find the risen Lord. And we often worry that there are many obstacles to finding Him—wounds from the past, concerns about the present, anxieties about the future, doubts, attachments, preoccupying questions: My life is so busy, however will I find him? My life is so complex, however can I really trust Him. My sins are so great, however will he triumph over my vices?

I can assure you, precisely because you want to find the Lord, you have already overcome many obstacles-many doubts and attachments. God has already rolled back many stones for you.  

Last night at the easter Vigil, two souls in particular were in our midst, who, like Mary Magdalen, like Peter running to the tomb, Angela and Bruce, from our parish RCIA. Let me tell you, they were full of joy last night, seeking and finding the risen Lord in the Sacraments of the Church. We can only imagine the many obstacles that they had to overcome in order to make it here last night—and we are so glad they are—directed by divine providence, in answer to our prayers, and the sufferings of the martyrs and saints. The stone blocking the encounter with the Risen Lord in the Sacraments was finally rolled back. No doubt, a sign of new life, the life of the resurrection in our parish, as for the last two year we didn’t have any new initiates. It’s not too early to start praying for next year’s class, whoever those souls might be. Maybe someone here this morning will come to seek the Lord in Baptism or full initiation. For this we pray!

The search for the risen Christ, of course, is not only for the uninitiated. The search for God is an ongoing dimension of the Christian life. For this reason, following the example of the holy women, every Christian must always have a holy preoccupation about seeking and finding the Lord, daily. “Seek and Ye shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” Waking up in the early dawn—or whenever that alarm clock rings, and prayerfully committing to searching for him daily will make us industrious and diligent in our spiritual lives. 

And like the holy women, the Christian life also calls us to that confidence in divine aid, that the Lord will take care of those stones which are beyond our own strength to move. God is already at work to roll back many stones—many obstacles to grace—in the life of this parish, as he always has been. But not just the life of the parish in general, God is occupied with the large stones in our individual spiritual lives. For, the Lord desires to draw each of us deeper into His divine life, and will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, when we trust Him.

Trust. It’s not easy for many of us. Especially for those who have been wounded and betrayed in the past. But Easter is a time of new beginnings. So, trust that the Church’s teachings will enable you to walk in the fullness of life. Trust that devout prayer is worth more than all other earthly responsibilities. Trust, that the Church’s pastors will lead you in holiness and truth. Trust that the effort to break your selfish habits is worth it. Trust, not in your own strength, but in God’s grace, to roll back those unfathomably heavy stones.

Every year, Easter marks a time of renewal in our faith lives, our spiritual lives, in our search for God. But Easter is the promise that the Risen Christ can be found even in the emptiest of places, the most sorrowful places, those places once ruled only by death. 

In just a few moments, we will renew our baptismal promises: our resolve to not be mastered by sin, by those immovable rocks, but that through the faith of the Church, we will seek Him who longs to be found, over and over in our lives. For He is Risen. Death couldn’t hold him. Unbelief and human cruelty couldn’t vanquish him. Politics can’t replace Him. Science can’t explain him away. The noise of the world cannot silence him. Perversion, selfishness, human weakness cannot keep him from being longed for. 

For He was bound and now brings power. He was bruised and now brings healing, He was pierced and now eases pain, He was persecuted and now brings freedom, He was killed and now brings life. For he is Risen. Indeed, he is Risen. Alleluia. Alleluia. For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2021 - Holy Saturday Morning Prayer - Death and Victory

 As soon as Jesus expired, “the veil of the Temple was torn in two…the earth quaked, the rocks were rent. And the graves were opened: and many bodies…arose,” so that those who were present were seized with a great fear and said: “Indeed this was the Son of God”. Jesus willed to die in complete disgrace, accepting to the very end the mocking challenges of the soldiers, “If you are Christ, save yourself”. But scarcely had He drawn his last breath, when His divinity revealed itself in such a powerful manner that it impressed even those who, up to that moment, had been jeering at Him. Christ’s death began to show itself for what it really was, that is, not a defeat, but a victory: the greatest victory that the world would ever witness, the victory over sin, the victory over death, which was the consequence of sin, the victory which restored to man the life of grace.

Today the Church observes a day of silence, for though his victory was revealed in many signs—the earthquake, the rending of the temple veil—the sacred Body of Jesus, after so many tortures and sufferings, was laid in a silent tomb. 

Together with Our Lady, who received the lacerated Body of her divine Son into her arms, let us draw near today to gaze upon the wounds, the bruises on his body, and his blood, all of which speak so eloquently of Jesus’ love for us. It is true that these wounds are no longer painful, but glorious; and tomorrow, at Easter dawn, we shall celebrate the great victory which they have won. 

Today, we recall, too, that tomb is also meant for us. We too must die with him, if we are to live with him, we too must be buried with him, if we are to rise with him. We, like the catechumens who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil, who will go down into the waters as Christ went down into the tomb, must bury the old sinful way of doing things and treating people, the earthly way, the way devoid of love of God and neighbor. 

May this Holy Saturday, a day of recollection on the sacred wounds of Christ and the Sacred Burial of Christ, prepare us for the glory of Easter Sunday, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Collect: All-powerful and ever-living God, your only Son went down among the dead and rose again in glory. In your goodness raise up your faithful people, buried with him in baptism, to be one with him in the everlasting life of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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.

Holy Thursday 2021 - As if today were your last

If you knew you had one day left to live, what would you do? If you knew that today was the last day of your earthly life, what would you do?

Some of us might try to fill the day with as many exhilarating activities as possible: sky diving, roller coasters, driving a racecar or a harley davidson at its maximum speed. Some of us might fill the day with fine wines and a sumptuous feast. Others might prefer to spend the day contemplatively on a beach, watching the sun rise and set. Some might tell family that you love them, listen to some beautiful music, make a video recording to offer a message to the future generation. I’d probably like to go to confession, knowing that I’d soon be appearing before the judgment seat of God. 

Well, what does the Lord Jesus do, knowing he has but a day to live? We just heard part of his final hours in the Gospel this evening. The Lord gathers with his friends for a final meal. Many of us would likely do the same. Far fewer of us, however, would likely tie a towel around our waist and begin to wash the dirt and grime off the feet of our friends.

There is something so humanely profound about an intimate meal with friends. We enjoy peace and company with those who understand us. There’s something wonderful about sharing happy or funny memories with friends around a dinner table. No doubt, this time the Lord spent with his friends filled him with warmth and strength as he prepared for his upcoming trial of the cross.

But the Lord didn’t share any old meal with his disciples. He celebrated the Passover meal, the great ritual meal in which the Jews recalled how God freed his people from Egyptian Slavery. This was a meal that looked to not only human accomplishments, but divine accomplishments, and also looked forward to the future—when God would usher in his eternal kingdom of peace.

The gathering with friends for the religious meal, of course, for Catholics, takes place every Sunday; for some of us, every day. Since I entered seminary back in 2001, I’ve tried to attend Mass or celebrate Mass every day. I know I speak for those who attend daily mass, when I say, that it’s the most important part of my day. Because of what Jesus did at the last supper, we are able to receive His Body and Blood every day, if we wish. 

And every time we gather for Mass, celebrate the Passover in its truest sense, recalling not only how God delivered the Jews from Egyptian slavery, but how God delivered all mankind from the slavery of sin through the suffering and death of Jesus on the Cross. And like the Jewish Passover, the Mass also looks forward in time, doesn’t it? As we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again. We look back to his saving death, and look forward to his future return.

And we do so, with our friends, friends in the truest sense, our brothers and sisters in Christ, made one through the blood of the Lamb. And we eat, not ordinary food, do we? Whenever we gather for Mass, we are sharing the Last Supper with Jesus who feeds his friends with his Flesh and Blood. He feeds us because he loves us, and he knows that we need this spiritual nourishment throughout all of life’s joys and challenges. In our greatest joys and greatest sorrows, we can share in this sacred meal with Him, and know that he speaks those words to us, “take and eat, take and drink”.

“O sacred banquet at which Christ is consumed, the memory of his Passion is recalled, our souls are filled with grace, and the pledge of future glory is given to us So says the ancient hymn, “O sacrum convivium” O sacred banquet.

We also recall tonight, how at the Last Supper, Jesus not only fed, he also washed. The teacher took the low role of the servant, and washed the feet of his friends, to teach them, to give them an example of an attitude that must mark the life of every Christian, whether you are a priest, bishop, pope, or lay person. We must wash feet. Christianity is a religion of foot washing. Christians are to put ourselves at the service of others in all places at all times. 

It is humiliating, yes, but it is the way of Christ. As St. Augustine writes: “as [man] was lost by imitating the pride of the deceiver, let him now, when found, imitate the humility of the Redeemer.” This is the humble act of the Christian, set against the pride of the world. Jesus washing the feet of his disciple is a symbolic expression of his entire life-- Jesus lowered himself to serve sinful mankind, clothing himself in our miserable flesh to wash away our sins through his sacrifice. 

And so we must serve. We must serve not only those who will repay us. Not only those who look like us and act like us. We must serve all because Jesus served all.

At this Sacred banquet Christ teaches and feeds and washes and prepares us for the sacred banquet of heaven which will last for all eternity.  When we live according to his teaching and example, in humble service of others, with heaven in mind, we can truly say we are living each day as it should.

As the Lord rose from supper and began to wash the feet of his disciples as an example to follow, I now invite those who have been chosen to come forward for the washing of their feet.  Please pray for your priests and pray for each other, that we may lay our hearts bare to Christ to be washed and fed, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2021 - Holy Thursday Morning Prayer - Preparing for the Paschal Feast

 We’ve come to the final hours of Lent. As the sun sets, Lent concludes and the Paschal Triduum—the most Sacred Three days of the Church year—begins. 

On the evening of Holy Thursday 2000 years ago, the Lord gathered with his closest friends for the Last Supper. In preparation for that meal, around this time of day, Jesus sent his disciples to make preparations for that sacred meal—they were to search for a room, inspect it, and ensure it was furnished for that ritual meal. 

Just as Jesus’ disciples prepared for the Last Supper by ensuring the table and cups and plates and utensils and bowls for the ritual washings were in place for the Passover meal, every Catholic parish prepares today for this evening’s Mass.  We prepare the table of the altar, we decorate the church, we will get our liturgical vessels ready, our candles, the vestments, chairs and bowls for the ritual washing of the feet.

The external preparations for this evening’s ritual mass need to take place, but the internal preparations are also of vital importance. In other words, the more that we prepare our hearts for the Sacred Triduum, the more grace we will derive from their celebration. For the saving effects of these holy days are in direct proportion to our interior disposition of soul, openness to God’s grace, and docility to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.  A fervent practicing prayerful Christian will reap a much more abundant harvest of grace than one who fails to prepare his heart. And that’s true for the Christian life as a whole.

The Church’s morning prayer contains some powerful lessons to ready our hearts for the great Paschal Triduum to come.

The first Psalm today, Psalm 80, speaks of God as Savior. God is invoked as the “God of Hosts”—the leader of a heavenly army who brings victory over the evil in the lives of his people. This Psalm reminds us that the Sacred Triduum is a celebration of God’s great victory over evil and sin. But, that victory comes at a price. If you want less evil in your life, less evil in the world, we must imitate Jesus who conquers evil by the price of the cross. We must renounce sin and selfishness and take up our cross as well. 

The passage from the prophet Isaiah considered the identity of our savior. God indeed is our savior, but he does not save us from a distance. God has taken on the flesh and blood  of humanity in order to open the fountain of salvation to us. Jesus who goes to the cross is God incarnate, and we are to make his name known and exalted among all the nations.

And lastly, we recited the powerful Psalm 81. God not only saves, but feeds his people: with the “finest wheat” he feeds his people. At the Last Supper, tonight, we will celebrate how, on the night before he died—Jesus instituted the Sacrament of His Body and Blood—which is spiritual food—the finest of wheat—for His Church. Jesus says, unless you eat this food and drink this blood you do not have life within you. But he who eats this food will live forever.

In these final Lenten hours, our most important preparations involve preparing our minds and hearts for the upcoming festivities by pondering and emulating God’s great love for us. Don’t waste these precious hours on mere human activities, pray deeply during these upcoming days, that you may drink deeply of the fountain of salvation, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.