6th Sunday of Easter 2020 - To fall deeply in love with Jesus Christ

There’s a catholic philosopher and author I very much enjoy named Dr. Peter Kreeft. And Dr. Kreeft tells the story about a time he was invited to give a talk at a small monastery up in Connecticut.  And at the end of his visit, the monastery’s holy abbot approached Dr. Kreeft and said, “I’d like to ask you a question, Doctor. And it’s the same question we ask every visitor to our monastery when they are about to leave. And the question is, “If God asked you, what gift would you give to these monks if you could, what gift would you ask for these monks?” 

Dr. Kreeft, thought about it for a moment, and said, “I would ask God to make every single one of you fall totally in love with Jesus Christ for the rest of your life. That is the gift for which I would ask.” At his answer, the abbot smiled and some of the monks began to chuckle.  Not thinking it was a terrible answer, Dr. Kreeft asked the abbot why the monks were laughing at him. And the abbot said, we are not laughing at you or your response, it’s just that last month, Mother Theresa visited us, and she gave the exact same answer: that you may fall totally in love with Jesus Christ.

Why would Dr. Kreeft consider this the greatest gift you could wish for someone? Why do Mother Theresa and the Saints consider falling totally in love with Jesus Christ the greatest of all gifts? Why would they say if you could give one gift to a spouse or child or family member, one gift to you neighbor, one gift to a stranger, to the sick, imprisoned, or orphan, you’d want them more than anything to love Jesus Christ? What’s behind this answer? I promise it’s not false piety. They are serious, dead serious.

Well, because the love of God is the key to everything. Love is the key to the great joy of the saints. It is their motivation for lives of tremendous generosity and self-sacrifice. The love of God is what gives meaning to following the most difficult commandments in times of fiercest temptation. It’s what gives souls the motivation to turn away from sin, to leave lives of selfishness and self-destruction and wickedness. Sinners are converted when they learn to love Jesus Christ more than themselves. Children are inspired to seek lives of radical holiness when they learn to love Jesus Christ more than the prospect of wealth, fame, or power. Loving Jesus Christ is more important than becoming the all-star athlete, well-connected politician, or technological innovator. 

Love of Jesus Christ is the pearl of great price that is worth abandoning everything else in the world in order to obtain. To pursue It is to pursue eternal life. “If you wish to enter life,” Jesus tells the rich young man, “keep the commandments, love God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength.” Love of God, love of Jesus Christ true God and true man, sets us upon the road to eternal life. It keeps us on the road, when the road becomes difficult. It draws us back to the road when we foolishly go astray.

When we deeply love Jesus Christ we begin to value all that supports, nurtures, and sustains that love. We come to value prayer as the most important of our daily activities, prayer which brings us in contact with Our Lord; prayer which opens our ears to his voice, his teachings, his guidance and or hearts to follow his example of selfless oblation.  We come to value fasting, confessing, forgiving, turning the other cheek, generous giving, self-forgetting. 

And, when we love Jesus Christ, we begin to disdain all that hinders that love, all that keeps us from loving him whole-heartedly. We begin to scorn those forays into selfishness so prevalent in our modern culture. We disdain begin to disdain self-indulging, dishonesty, bearing resentment, impurity, impulsiveness, and self-aggrandizing. 

As we increase in our love of God, our love of Jesus Christ, our capacity to love others increases. Christian author C.S. Lewis, speaking about how to rightly order his love of God and love of his wife said “only when I have learned to love God more than my wife, shall I begin to love my wife as I should.”

Love of Jesus impels us to serve him in the poor and needy. It’s what impelled St. Francis to embrace the leper, St. Vincent de Paul to embrace the plague victims, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini to leave her native land to serve the immigrants, St. Junipero Sera and St. Rose Philippine Duchesne to educate and serve the Native Americans, St. Mother Theresa to serve the poorest of the poor, St. Maximilian Kolbe to take the place of the concentration camp prisoner about to be executed.

Love of Jesus Christ transformed the lives of these ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and it can for us as well, if we let it, if we make it our greatest pursuit, as did they. 

Love of God is the key to following all of the commandments. If you love me, Jesus tells the apostles in the Gospel today, keep my commands. The apostles’ personal love for Jesus leads them to obey his commandments, his teachings, and his example. All of them, save Judas the betrayer, would go on to suffer greatly for the spread of the Gospel.

Love of God enables us to suffer wrongdoing patiently, to be kind to those who slander or mock us. Love enables us to overcome jealousy, pride, rudeness, and every earthly attachment. It enables us to bear all things,  believe all that the Church teaches, hope in the promises of Christ, and endure every trial. Love never fails.

May you fall totally in love with Jesus Christ today and all days, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

5th Sunday of Easter 2020 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled"

“Do not let your hearts be troubled”. We do well to return to those words, over and over, for if there is anything that we are not really good at, as humans, it’s keeping our hearts from being troubled, when we face danger or uncertainty or change or very strong emotion, like grief or anger. “Do not let your hearts be troubled”, easier said than done.

But, our Lord uttered these words knowing a little something about the human heart, with its frailties and fickleness. After all, he is its author. Knowing our tendency to over think, to be anxious, to lose our cool, to become frightened and discouraged, our Lord commands us still: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

It was on the night before his own death that he spoke these words to his apostles gathered for the Passover meal under some pretty strange circumstances. Jesus had already predicted that he would be killed because of his teachings and preaching of the Gospel. The apostles had already detected Jesus’ enemies conspiring against him. They knew that his mission would have consequences for him and for them, his closest followers. But now he spoke on the very night of his arrest, when he would be dragged before the high priest like the temple lamb being led to its slaughter.

They could no doubt sense something in the air. Perhaps they would be arrested like him, perhaps they would suffer like him, perhaps they would be put to death, as he predicted he would be. “Do not let your hearts be troubled” when you face the unknowable, the unthinkable. Do not let your hearts be trouble as you witness horror, when you see your world collapse, when those seemingly invincible earthly institutions begin to crumble, when security and health and mortality are threatened. “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Ever. Custody of the heart is to be kept always.

Not an easy task. When your world begins spiraling out of control, when death takes a loved one, when you lose your job. When it just doesn’t seem like there is anything you can do, there is always at least one thing. There is a choice we can make when we face the great chaos. A choice, an act of the will, a decision.  We can keep our hearts from being troubled. Our Lord wouldn’t have made this command if it were impossible. And all things are possible with God, including this.

What is this trouble, the Lord is talking about? In St. John’s Greek…this word for trouble is the Greek word tarasso, which means physically agitated, disturbing the inner works of a thing by shaking it. When we are experiencing chaos, doesn’t it feel just like that, like our inner world is quaking and shaking apart. Our plans for the future, our understanding of how the world should work begins to fall apart?

The latin translation of this word also is interesting. St. Jerome used the word turbetur, which connotes an angry mob rioting. And the Lord is saying keep your heart from becoming like an angry, irrational mob, smashing what it does not understand. Keep your heart from shaking apart. Keep your heart from disquiet and dread, distress and doubt.

That the Lord assumes that we even have this power within us, is kind of surprising. But he knows we do, because again, he made us.

So how can we keep our hearts from trouble? What does this mean? This choice, this decision it doesn’t mean we ignore our troubles, ignore the chaos or injustice or the divisions in our church or in our families. Ignoring our problems is not the key to peace. Nor, does this mean playing some sort of psychological game of just looking on the bright side of things like naïve Pollyanna, hiding behind some invincible optimism or a pair of rose-colored glasses.

Nor does true inner peace come from imposing control on things outside ourselves. When we feel our life going out of control, sometimes we seek to impose control on others—nagging our family members—or giving in to addictions, things that we feel we can control, at least for a time.
Rather, to keep our hearts from trouble, or Lord says, have faith. Choose to have faith. “You have faith in God, have faith in me.” The Lord said.

Commenting on this passage, Augustine writes “Our Lord consoles His disciples, who, as men, would be naturally alarmed and troubled at the idea of His death, by assuring them of His divinity.” Faith that Jesus Christ is God, Chrysostom writes, “is more powerful than anything that shall come upon you; and can prevail in spite of all difficulties.”

Have faith, engage your faith, live your faith that Jesus is God. No matter what you are going through, put Jesus Christ, True God at the center of it. “For I am convinced,” writes St. Paul, “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Faith that Jesus is God can conquer demons. This faith can move mountains. It grants us boldness and zeal when called upon to preach, it grants us fortitude when faced with temptation, it grants eternal perspective when faced with earthly ordeals. When you have true faith, when you have made Christ your cornerstone, your life becomes charged and changed by his presence. It grants the conviction that God’s plan is greater, and runs deeper, than our narrow perspectives.

So when you begin to experience any sort of trouble of heart, any temptation, dread or despair, recall that Jesus Christ is God—that He is victor over all sin and evil and death. And then consider what that truth impels you to do. I guarantee it never includes sitting around and worrying or overeating or numbing yourself with drugs or lashing out at a neighbor or conspiring against him.
May we exercise true faith today and all days, faith which keeps our hearts from all trouble, faith which impels us to work for the spread of the Gospel for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Sunday of Easter 2020 - I am the gate

Since Vatican II we refer to the 4^th Sunday of Easter as Good Shepherd Sunday. Two out of three years of our cycle of Scripture readings, we read of Our Lord saying to his audience in the Gospels “I am the Good Shepherd”. His pronouncement certainly evokes images of shepherds watching over, feeding, teaching, and loving his flock. I always think of an image from my childhood of Jesus carrying the baby lamb in his arms. The good shepherds of Scripture patiently care for their flock, leading them to safe pastures, pulling them out of thorn bushes when they foolishly stray into trouble.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd—he knows us…intimately! And as we spend time under his care,  guidance and protection, we begin to recognize his voice amidst all the conflicting noises and voices of the world. Wonderful.

Every, third year, however, on Good Shepherd Sunday, we hear a slightly different message, a slightly different image. Before the Lord identifies himself has the Good Shepherd, he first explains, as we heard in the Gospel today, that he is the gate for his sheep. “I am the gate.” He says.

Well, what is the purpose of a gate? For one, the gate is an entry point. “I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved.” Our Lord himself is the gate to salvation. He is the open door through which we enter into salvation and good pasture and the life of God. His identification to be the gate, is very similar to his self-identification later in John’s Gospel when he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”

How do we enter through the gate of Christ? Through faith. Right belief and right practice. Faith is the doorway to salvation Our Lord opened for us through his death and resurrection. Back in 2011, in the seventh and final full year of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI ushered in a special “Year of Faith” with a document called “Porta Fidei” the door of faith, the gate of faith. The gate of faith, the holy Father writes, “is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church. It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime. It begins with baptism (cf. Rom 6:4), through which we can address God as Father, and it ends with the passage through death to eternal life, fruit of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, whose will it was, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, to draw those who believe in him into his own glory (cf. Jn 17:22).”

What a beautiful image, through faith, through baptism we enter through Christ the gate into the life of God, into the divine life which begins now in this earthly life and endures into eternity.

There is another purpose for gates alluded to by the Lord in the Gospel today. Gates keep-out robbers and thieves. Gates stop those people, those ideas and beliefs, those attitudes and actions, which deprive us of the life of God. When the Jesus Christ is king and Shepherd of your life, he acts as a sort of gate which protects us from evil in the world which seeks to enter our minds and hearts and rob us of the peace and joy and life of Christ.

The truth of Jesus Christ and that of his Church filters and protects us from the lies and heresies promulgated by the devil throughout the world, lies and heresies which cause division in the Church, ruin to souls and our separation from communion with God. The truth of Jesus Christ enables us to discern right from wrong—fallacy from veracity—when we come across it in the media, in propaganda, or from false shepherds.

This image of a gate, a Christian filter, is a important for the moral life as well. Often in the confessional, I’ll hear sins confessed like gossip, you know, speaking things about others which we have no business talking about, or saying hurtful, cutting, or cruel things to our loved ones or strangers when we become angry. Sins of the mouth, right? sins of speech. And I often give the following advice, I say, Christ must always preside over our speech. We need to have a Christian filter of our words. Before we say anything, ever, we must discern, is it true, is it kind, is it necessary, would Christ say these words? As Peter writes in today’s second reading, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten” And so must we.

Part of the Christian life is developing that filter of saying only what builds others up, what is for the sake of the Gospel. Is it true, is it kind, is it necessary? It sounds like a lot of work, but as you develop this filter, this virtue, it becomes easier and easier.

One of my favorite parts of the Mass, is right before the proclamation of the Gospel, we sign ourselves, don’t we, on our foreheads, our mouths, and on our breast, a simple, yet profound gesture. I was always taught to offer a little prayer at that point, to say something like, May the Lord be always in my thoughts, on my lips, and in my heart. We pray, at the point in the mass, that the gates of our minds might be opened to received and contemplate and understand the Gospel message, that our lips might be open to later go out and proclaim the Gospel message, and that our hearts might be open to love and live the Gospel message. But also, we are asking the Lord to keep from our minds, and lips, and hearts, any lies or heresies which might be contrary to his Gospel truth; we are asking Him to serve as a Gate and as Gatekeeper.

So, may the Lord preside over our thoughts, words, and deeds this day. May nothing which is impure pass through our eyes or ears or through our lips. May he save us from the corruption of this generation, and lead us to eternal life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Sunday of Easter 2020 - Stay with us Lord

Just months before his death, Pope Saint John Paul II issued a beautiful letter to the Church titled, “Mane Nobiscum Domine” quoting words from today’s Gospel--this 3rd Sunday of Easter. Mane Nobiscum Domine, stay with us Lord, are the words the disciples speak to the Lord on the road to Emmaus. There words are a beautiful petition and an urgent plea. The Holy Father writes, Mane Nobiscum Domine, “this was the insistent invitation that the two disciples journeying to Emmaus on the evening of the day of the resurrection addressed to the Wayfarer who had accompanied them on their journey. Weighed down with sadness, they never imagined that this stranger was none other than their Master, risen from the dead. Yet they felt their hearts burning within them as he spoke to them and “explained” the Scriptures….Amid the shadows of the passing day and the darkness that clouded their spirit, the Wayfarer brought a ray of light which rekindled their hope and led their hearts to yearn for the fullness of light. “Stay with us”, they pleaded. And he agreed.”

The Holy Father’s words, written 15 years ago already, are so poignant. For we, like the disciples are on a sort of journey these days, aren’t we.  A journey not of physical distance, but of spiritual depth, a journey, for many of us, made in isolation, at least from first glance.

This beautiful passage urges us to consider, how has the Lord remained with us during these days of quarantine, and how have we sought to remain with him. How has the Lord been journeying with us, breaking the Scriptures open for us, breaking Bread with us? How has he wished to set our hearts afire?

Our Gospel, I believe is quite comforting, because consider the initial experience of these disciples on the road. Notice, there were walking away from Jerusalem. On easter Sunday, they were walking away from the victory, away from the resurrection, away from the Good News, away from the community of Apostles, away from the Church. And they were walking away not because they were these big terrible sinners, either. It’s not like they had fallen to depravity or immorality. They were walking away, they were fleeing Jerusalem because of what happened on Good Friday. They were scared. Their faith was week. They didn’t get it. They couldn’t believe that God could bring victory out of something as tragic as the terrible event on mount calvary. So they gave up. In a sense, they are experiencing hell. The hell of believing that God is dead, that God has not and cannot save them.

But into this sort of hell, Jesus breaks into their lives, the Lord appears as if out of nowhere. Jesus breaks into their lives, just like he broke into locked upper room, as we heard last week.  And the Lord begins to speak Good News to them about, he interprets the Scriptures, and deepens their understanding of what God accomplished on Good Friday, he explains that Good Friday was a victory, not a defeat. And I think this Gospel is so comforting, for it reveals how one does not necessarily need to have perfect faith or perfect understanding in order to encounter Jesus Christ, in order to have him set our hearts on fire. God can break in to confusion and doubt and failure and bring fire and light and truth.

This resonates with us, doesn’t it…that the encounter with Jesus Christ doesn’t always occur in the brightness of day, in the experience of joy and certainty. Rather, the encounter with Jesus often occurs in the experience of darkness and sadness and shadow and fear. The risen Lord is more powerful than these experiences. He is able to meet us where we are in order to lead us to Communion with Him and to Holiness.

And for many of us right now, there is darkness and isolation and fear. We, like the disciples may even be questioning, where is God in all this? How can we believe in God’s victory when the innocent suffer and pestilence spreads? How can we believe in Easter glory when loved ones die and the economy trembles and quakes?

As Christians, we don’t have to pretend that sometimes our faith is not tested. Darkness and shadow will often test our faith. We like the disciples are often poor wayfarers: bewildered and dejected men, sorrowing and not quite knowing what to think, not quite knowing what to do with their lives. But in this experience, we need to turn to the Lord all the more, and pray like the disciples, mane nobiscum, domine, stay with us lord.

This whole encounter on the road to Emmaus gives us a wonderful model for the daily prayer we need during these trying times.

First the disciples encounter Jesus as a stranger. We need to open the scriptures, daily, as strange as they might seem, and begin to read.

Secondly, the disciples listen to Jesus explain the scriptures. As you read the scriptures, ask the Lord to help you understand them, how they apply to his life, and how they can apply to yours.
Next, the disciples share their burdens with Jesus. So too, share with the Lord your fears and temptations, angers and confusion.

But then, listen to the Lord some more, allow him to share his wisdom. Go back to the scriptures, look for guidance, look for hope. Every passage of Scripture in some way points to Him. You don’t have to have a degree in Scripture in order to pray with Scripture and encounter the Lord through the Scriptures. So give it a shot. These days, what do you have better to do?

As you grow in the practice of prayer, you will notice the Lord is with you, His light is shining in your life now, he’s been with you all this time.

So, don’t be afraid, these days of quarantine to seek that encounter with the Lord,  to turn off the television, especially to skip the fearmongering from the mainstream media, to seek that heart changing, faith igniting encounter with the Risen Lord Jesus in prayer, that the light of the Resurrection may banish all sadness and shadow in your life for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Divine Mercy Sunday 2020 - The Risen Christ and the Locked Room

Two years ago, on Divine Mercy Sunday, from St. Peter’s square, Pope Francis reflected upon today’s Gospel: of the Lord Jesus, after his resurrection, entering into the locked room, where the apostles had barricaded themselves from the world and from their fears. Little did the holy father know, that two years later, the vast numbers of the Catholic faithful, would, too be barricaded behind locked doors because of the Corona Virus.

The Apostles barricaded themselves, why? well, out of fear.  They feared the repercussions of their association with Jesus of Nazareth. Rumors had already begun to spread throughout Jerusalem that the apostles had stolen the body of Jesus claiming that he had risen from the dead. The apostles feared that they now would be arrested, and beaten, and tortured, and killed like their master, by those who conspired against Him. After all, in this very room, on Holy Thursday, Jesus had told them, that where the Master goes, so must the disciple.

Perhaps they also locked themselves in the upper room out of shame. Only one of the Apostles, St. John, had followed the Lord all the way to the cross. Peter, had even denied that he knew Jesus. Their shame became a locked room, a prison, their shame over their failure to believe and follow. The way out of their prison, out of their immobility, paralysis, and confusion, was not clear, as they failed to grasp the implications of Jesus’ Resurrection.

Now, our locked doors over this last month of quarantine are a little different. Our doors were locked out of safety and concern for our health and our neighbors, in compliance with government policy and the guidance of our religious leaders. And from talking with parishioners over the phone these last few weeks, most of us are quite ready to throw open those doors once again.

And, for many Christians, for believers, these locked doors have not been much of an obstacle to the Peace of Christ. I’ve heard wonderful stories how Christian families have been reading from Scripture together, praying together more than they ever have before. Christians have been phoning, and video conferencing family, and neighbors, and friends, baking and cooking and shopping for each other, sewing quarantine masks. Even the internet has become a way out of the locked room, or rather, an entry point for the Lord, when we’ve watched mass. We’ve learned once again the power of making spiritual communion with Jesus in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar even when we could not be physically present there. Our desire for Him, our longing for Him expressed in prayer has been a gateway out of our locked rooms into the dwelling place of God in heaven.

Like the Christians of the early Church in our first reading, have learned new ways and rediscovered old ways to be devoted to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers by studying our faith, and reaching out in charity to members of our community, and coming together for the breaking of the bread, albeit, through computer and television screens.

And we’ve grown in solidarity with many Christians around the world, like our brothers and sisters in the diocesan missions in El Salvador who do not have access to churches, to weekly mass, and yet they continue to study the word of god, and pass on the faith to the young, and spread the Gospel through their good works and preaching.

Perhaps, these weeks of quarantine have also helped us to have a deeper understanding of what Vatican II called the “domestic church” the Church of the home. The prayer, and devotion, study, good works, and forgiveness so essential to the spreading the Gospel out in the world, must first begin at home.

Maybe we’ve come to discover that a locked door is not necessarily a bad thing, truly coming to appreciate the Lord’s teaching on the first day of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, He instructs his disciples to go to their inner room, and shut the door, and pray in secret.

A locked room can be a place where the peace of Christ is experienced profoundly. Why? Because the Lord Jesus, as we heard in the Gospel today, is not hindered by locked doors. The Risen Christ appeared and stood in their midst, and announced “Peace be with you” and he does for us as well. 
Now, there are many in the world, who lock the doors of their minds and hearts to Jesus. Their pride, their egos are so swollen, their sins or addictions or ignorance are so great, you meet them, and you think they’ll never allow Jesus into their lives. And there those who lock doors to Jesus out of shame, who hide from God like Adam and Eve in the Garden, they are ashamed of their sins, they fear going to Confession, they fear repentance and change of heart, and so they just hide.

But even shame, Pope Francis says, is a gift from God. Shame is a first step toward repentance. Shame is a sign that the conscience is still alive. Shame isn’t so much a locked door, but a sign that there is something, someone outside of ourselves .The tragedy, Pope Francis says is when we are no longer ashamed of anything. Let us not be afraid to experience shame! He says. Let us pass from shame to forgiveness!

Neither shame, nor pride, nor fear, are complete obstacles to the Lord Jesus. Know that he is with you now, in your locked rooms, announcing the invitation of his peace. For those who do not recognize his presence with them, et us pray assiduously that every imprisoned mind and selfish heart may come to detect his presence and know his mercy. No doubt, the very way he wishes to enter into the lives of nonbelievers and unrepentant sinners is through us, through those prayers, and acts of charity, the phone call, the hot meal or the plate of cookies, perhaps reaching out to that family member who we haven’t spoken to for years.

The mission of the Church now and always is bring the peace of Christ into the locked doors of the world, and we will be ever more effective in this mission, when we have opened every locked door of our own mind and heart to him through prayer and penance and works of mercy for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Easter Sunday - 2020 Belongs to Him!

Last night, at the Easter Vigil, in an empty Church, I performed one of my favorite rites of the entire Church year, the blessing of the Easter Candle, the Paschal Candle. Into the wax of the candle is carved the holy cross, the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, and the four numerals of the current year. As the priest carves these characters, he says the following words: “Christ yesterday and today, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. All time belongs to him and all the ages. To him be glory and power through every age and for ever.”

This ritual was strange this year for a number of reasons. First, to carve the year 2020 into the candle called to mind the strange and terrible events of these last few months. 2020 began in January with the escalation of international tensions and the threat of war. February saw the beginning of the spread of a terrible pandemic, which has brought sickness and death, economic instability, loss of job, family tensions and anxiety about the future. We have seen government taking measures to mitigate these forces, but also, in some places, government dangerously approaching the infringement of our great freedoms, the right of free speech, assembly, and religion. And then of course, one of the saddest consequences of the global pandemic, and the reason for this video, the closing of church doors, the suspension of public liturgies and celebration of the sacraments.

And yet, I was profoundly struck to, that those numerals 2020 are carved into the Paschal Candle between the symbols Alpha and Omega—symbols of Christ’s reign over all of human history. 2020 belongs to Him. All time belongs to him and all ages. Ages of good health, ages of pestilence, ages of war, ages of peace. In a sense, 2020, is just another year, in which the mission of the Church remains the same—to proclaim, celebrate, and live out the dominion of Jesus Christ over the forces of evil and death.

2020 belongs to Him. And the power of his Easter victory is unleashed when Christians pray, and when we preach, and when we allow his Word and His grace to guide our lives.

Even now, the good that is being done in this time of pestilence, can be traced to him. Hospitals were invented by Catholics following the Lord’s teaching to care for this sick. The Catholic Church remains the largest non-government provider of health services around the world, providing care to the young and old alike, regardless of religion or economic status. The scientific method being utilized to find a cure for this virus was developed by Catholics. And faithful to the Lord’s teaching, the poor and hungry continue to be fed even when the temptation is to be only concerned for ourselves.

The Paschal Candle reminds us, this feast reminds us, that Jesus Christ is not simply alive yesterday, he lives not just yesterday, but today and for eternity.

In a very real sense, the corona virus, and our hours and days and weeks of isolation and quarantine are under his dominion, and he calls us to seek him, and find him, and believe in him, and follow him. 2020 has offered us the opportunity to head the Lord’s call to “seek what is above” as St. Paul writes in our second reading, to consider what is most important in life, to not be so consumed with the earthly. Let me share with you the power words of Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, on this topic.

“This virus acted as a warning. In a matter of weeks, the great illusion of a material world that thought itself all-powerful seems to have collapsed. A few days ago, politicians were talking about growth, pensions, reducing unemployment. They were sure of themselves. And now a virus, a microscopic virus, has brought this world to its knees, a world that looks at itself, that pleases itself, drunk with self-satisfaction because it thought it was invulnerable. The current crisis is a parable. It has revealed how all we do and are invited to believe was inconsistent, fragile and empty. We were told: you can consume without limits! But the economy has collapsed and the stock markets are crashing. Bankruptcies are everywhere. We were promised to push the limits of human nature ever further by a triumphant science. We were told about artificial procreation, surrogate motherhood, transhumanism, enhanced humanity. We boasted of being a man of synthesis and a humanity that biotechnologies would make invincible and immortal. But here we are in a panic, confined by a virus about which we know almost nothing. Epidemic was an outdated, medieval word. It suddenly became our everyday life. I believe this epidemic has dispelled the smoke of illusion. The so-called all-powerful man appears in his raw reality. There he is naked. His weakness and vulnerability are glaring. Being confined to our homes will hopefully allow us to turn our attention back to the essentials, to rediscover the importance of our relationship with God, and thus the centrality of prayer in human existence. And, in the awareness of our fragility, to entrust ourselves to God and to his paternal mercy.”

2020 belongs to Him. No doubt we all long to return to Church and return to the Sacraments in the weeks ahead, and even return to work or school. But we are also urged to consider how the light of Christ’s resurrection can fill our lives today. How his light can shine even in isolation, even in sickness and darkness and death. How Easter Joy is to be manifested today—how our hearts and minds and talents and treasure in His service, in the service of his Easter victory.

After carving those numerals, 2020 into wax, the Paschal candle is carried through the dark Church. It is carried through the church and lifted high, symbolic of our duty to allow the light of Christ to shine in the darkness of our lives. The candle is carried in darkness, but not before the priest offers a powerful prayer: “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”
Whatever darkness our world is experiencing, whatever darkness you are experiencing, allow Christ’s light to dispel it. Look to His light, open your mind and heart to his light through daily prayer and reflection on His Word and His Truth. Conform yourself to His light by turning away from all sin and selfishness, all irrational fear and worry, all addiction to material creation, and trust in earthly princes, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

April 03 2020 - Seven Sorrows of BVM (EF) & Quarantine

A few weeks ago I was thinking that my office needed a bit more sacred art. A priest friend of mine recommended a website (FineArtAmerica) where I could find some beautiful art, and I decided to purchase a print of this beautiful image by William Bouguereau titled "Pieta" (1886).

Today, on the Extraordinary Form liturgical calendar is the Commoration of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which I had the honor to celebrate. I couldn't think of a more appropriate day for the print to arrive via FedEx.

In the image, Our Lady, the Sorrowful Mother, holds the lifeless body of her Son, the Savior of the World. Sorrow pierces her heart, as was foretold by Simeon.

The Collect for this morning's Mass speaks of this event: "O God, in Whose Passion the sword, according to the prophecy of blessed Simeon, pierced through the soul of Mary, the glorious Virgin and Mother, mercifully grant that we, who reverently commemorate her piercing-through and her suffering, may, by the interceding glorious merits of all the saints faithfully standing by the cross, obtain the abundant fruit of Your Passion".

As I hung the print on my office wall, I thought of how this image speaks powerfully of our current sadness, the sorrow of so many good Catholic faithful who long for the Eucharist, but cannot attend mass because of the COVID-19 quarantine. We long to receive not a lifeless body, but the living Body of Christ--a living Body that gives life.

Our Lady knows the grief of the Church during this time, for she has felt it more deeply than we can possibly imagine. The Collect for the Mass certainly resonates not only with our grief, but also with the hope--a hope to receive once again the abundant fruit of the Lord's Passion--the fruit of His Body and Blood offered for us--which we receive in the Eucharist.

As we continue to experience the grief of not being able to receive the Eucharist as often as we would like, we certainly are united with those Catholics in the missionary territories, who only have a priest to celebrate mass for them a few times or only once a year, sometimes less. They are certainly our teachers, that during the desert of Eucharistic fasting, we can practice the precepts of our faith well, study our faith, and pass on our faith.

We also unite are grief with our Lady, who teaches us to trust and submit to God every moment of our life, especially in our grief, in hopes and trust that the Lord God is at work for the greatest good, the salvation of souls.