Homily: Easter Sunday - Renewing of Baptismal Promises

One of the great joys for a priest is the celebration of baptism.  One of the most joyous baptisms I’ve been able to celebrate here at Saint Columbkille was when 5 baptisms, that is 5 different children, from 5 different families were all huddled around the baptismal font.  But it was a great celebration of new life—both new life brought into the world through two loving parents, but also the new supernatural life which God was bringing into those children’s souls through the Sacrament of Baptism. 

Last night at the Easter Vigil, 3 adults, received the Sacrament of Baptism and became members of the Catholic Church.  Since the most ancient days of Christianity there has been this connection between Baptism and Easter.  For on Easter we celebrate Christ rising from the dead, and baptism parallels Jesus’ death and resurrection.  In baptism, one goes down into the waters, desiring to put an end to death, and rises to new life washed clean of sin and made a member of the Church.

From time to time I meet a college student or older adult who, though baptized as an infant has left the practice of the Catholic faith: they aren’t coming to mass and they are publically at odds with teachings of the Church.  I ask them why they’ve left the practice of the faith in which they were raised.   And they often say, “well, I was baptized as a baby, so I didn’t get a choice to become Catholic or not.”

Well, to all of you, who didn’t get a choice as infants, today, and every Easter, we renew the promises of our baptism, we renew our faith that Jesus rose, we renew our belief in all the Church teaches in his name.  And the priest then sprinkles with water all those gathered as a renewal.

And really, every time we come to Mass and receive Jesus’ Body and Blood in Holy Communion we are renewing our Faith that Jesus is risen from the dead. 

This is why the Early Christians celebrated every Sunday as a “little Easter” because EVERY SUNDAY the Church gathers to Christ’s victory.  Let me repeat, every Sunday Catholics are to gather to celebrate the Lord’s Day.

Without this weekly participation of the “Little Easter” of Sunday Mass, our lives will never contain the joy we long for, our families will never have the harmony we long for, the griefs and pains and wounds of our many Good Fridays will never be healed as they could be, the happiness that we seek in life will never be found.  Sunday Mass is at the very heart of the Christian life because Easter as at the very heart of the Christian life.  Without Easter, everything  we do as Christians is in vain, and without Sunday Mass everything we do during the week is in vain.

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

What are we saying, when we say “I do” to these questions?  I’m promising to do everything in my power, with the help of power of Christ’s victory, to put an end to sin in my life, to put an end to all self-absorption and all selfishness. I’m promising to do everything in my own power to change my life, to alter my daily and weekly routines, that they can better reflect the Christian faith as taught by the Catholic Church.  I’m renouncing all of those excuses of laziness which hinder me living my faith.

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

These are teachings we profess every Sunday when we profess the Creed.  These are the truths upon which our religious life rests.  These are the truths that give us strength in the face of temptation, courage in the face of death.  Amidst all of the confusions in the world, all of the winds of error perpetuated through modern media, the Christian can say, I know these things to be true.

We renew our baptismal promises today, taking personal responsibility for living and practicing the faith, and we do so in the midst and together with our brothers and sister Catholics. 

For all those already having received their First Holy Communion in the Catholic Church, it is a duty to receive Holy Communion at least once during the Easter Season.  If you are not in a state of grace as of this moment, because of missing Mass or other serious sin, please make a good confession this easter season, so that you can receive Our Blessed Lord worthily in Holy Communion and fulfill this precept of Our Faith.

For when we receive Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion the power of his victory over death becomes unleashed in us, freeing us from all that keeps us from loving God and others as we should, he frees us from all that keeps us from reaching the perfection for which he made us, and all that keeps us from witnessing to his truth and goodness and beauty.

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

Jesus is Risen, indeed he is Risen, let us rejoice and be glad.  Alleluia, Alleluia.

Homily: Holy Thursday 2013 - Banquet of Divine Mercy

This evening in Rome, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a prison—a youth prison actually.  what a powerful reminder to the convicted criminal, and to all of us, that God enters into our life, with all of our sins, all of our regrets, to offer mercy—that even in prison, a man can know the freedom that comes from God’s mercy.

He’s certainly not the first Pope to visit a prison, Pope Benedict celebrated Mass in this same prison in 2007.  

Some of you may remember when Pope John Paul II visited a prison—he visited the the Muslim man who attempted to assassinate him on May 13, 1981.  When John Paul II was entering Saint Peter’s square on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, he was shot and seriously wounded by a Turkish man named Mehmet Ali Agca.  While he was being rushed into the ambulance, it is said that John Paul verbally forgave his assassin, and while in his hospital bed  asked the Church to pray for Ali Agca.  Several months later, John Paul personally visited Ali Agca in prison offering once again, his personal forgiveness. 

What a beautiful image of mercy.  In a world with so many stories of hatred and violence, where petty differences, grudges and resentments, corrode so many friendships and marriages, Blessed John Paul gives us this wonderful example of Christian mercy.

So what a fitting gesture for Pope Francis this evening to visit this Roman Prison, to announce Christ’s Mercy available to all.

For Divine Mercy poured out in abundance is at the heart of everything we celebrate this evening and the next three days.  Divine Mercy offered to you, and to me, and even the most hardened sinner.  Divine Mercy which breaks in to our prisons, Divine Mercy raising us up out of the chains of our sins, promising us freedom from the hostile powers of darkness, Divine Mercy offering us eternal life.

Jesus said to Peter in this evening’s Gospel, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me” reminding us of a similar conversation with Nicodemus: “unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.””

For let’s not forget about what these sacred days are about, Jesus lays down his life in self-sacrifice, that we may be washed clean of our sins, and have eternal life.

After the homily at this evening Mass, the priest celebrant will perform the washing of feet a reminder of how divine mercy has been poured out on us in baptism, and will be poured out on those preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil.

We also heard in the Gospel how Jesus gave the great mandate to his disciples, “as I have done for you, you should also do”

This command can be understood on many levels.  Firstly, that of humble service.  Jesus, did the job of a lowly servant, doing the dirtiest job there was at a supper, washing the feet of the dinner guests.  The third grader’s often offer a giggle when I tell them that we need to wash each other’s feet, meaning, doing the jobs for each other that no one wants to do, we need to go out of our way to humbly serve those in need. 

One of the spiritual diseases of our modern day is that attitude of entitlement, acting as if others need to bow down and wash my feet because I’m so great and so hard a worker.  Rather, the opposite is true, the medicine we need is to consider ourselves the slaves and servants of others.

Yes, this command is about humble service modeled after the Lord’s own humble service.  But on a another level, as the Lord was telling Peter that the washing of his feet symbolizes forgiveness of his sins, we need to make sure that we are seeking to rid our lives and our hearts of everything that estranges us from God and one another—our self-absorption, self-centeredness, and selfish attitudes and behaviors.

Finally, Jesus’ command at the last supper, to love one another as Jesus loves us points to what he will accomplish tomorrow, on Good Friday.  He goes to the cross for us, he suffers the greatest imaginable suffering for us, and he says, okay, now you must do the same for each other.  This is the part that makes us squirm in our seats.

Many find humble service to be very rewarding, most find forgiveness to be just the remedy for a damaged relationship, but the command to suffer for others, to suffer for the sake of the Gospel, to suffer that others may have faith, well, there’s the hard part isn’t it?

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us three gifts.  He gave us the model to follow in loving, humble service.  Secondly, he gave us the Eucharist. What an act of divine mercy! Knowing that he was to die, he gave us the Eucharist that he may remain present to the Church for all time.  Thirdly, at the last supper, he gave the Church the first ordained priests.  Priests, to be bearers of Divine Mercy, priests to bring Christ’s presence to us, priests to call us out of the prisons of our selfishness and into lives of humble service, priests to absolve our sins, to celebrate the Eucharist, to guide our spiritual lives.

In his homily this evening from the youth prison, Pope Francis said the washing of feet is a symbol, this sign, of his priestly service--that he and all priests are at the service of Christ's flock.  He said, “But it is a duty that comes from my heart and a duty that I love; I love doing it because this is what the Lord has taught me.”

I now invite those who have been chosen to come forward for the washing of their feet.  as a reminder of us all to lay down our lives in humble service, to seek to be free from all that keeps us from loving God and our neighbor as we should, and to witness to the pouring out of Divine Love upon the world through Christ’s own self-giving, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Holy Week - Tuesday - John, Peter, and Judas

John, Peter, and Judas: three disciples with three different responses to Jesus in today’s Gospel.

John, the beloved disciples lays his head on Jesus’ chest .  Peter, confesses his desire to follow Jesus even unto death, but at the sight of the cross flees in fear.  And Judas, with betrayal in his heart goes into the night. 

Like John, we can have those moments of great intimacy with Jesus, of deep prayer and unshakable love for the Lord.  It is this same disciple who stands at the cross with the Blessed mother. 

Like Peter, we can be so pious and enthusiastic one moment, saying, “Master, I will lay down my life for you”, and then the next moment running away in fear.  How does that enthusiasm so easily turn into sinful fear?  My guess, it was the sight of the cross.  Not the hypothetical one, but the real one.  Of actually seeing what it means to suffer, Peter fled, his inflated enthusiasm deflating like a broken balloon.  Jesus knows precisely how many times we will deny him in the course of our life, yet he calls us to follow him and witness to him just the same.

And then sometimes we can be like the silent Judas, rejecting the light and slinking off into the darkness.

If we are honest, I think we’ve all had wonderful John moments, naïve Peter moments, and dark Judas moments. 

This Holy Week, we recall the extreme suffering and pain of Jesus, which he endured because of his great love for us.  We do well, like John the beloved, to incline our ear to Jesus’ heart, to be honest with him about our fears and weak enthusiasm, those parts of his which need to be exposed to his light, and also allow him to strengthen our love for him as we journey with him to the cross, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: Palm Sunday 2013 - Still much dying to do

During my seminary formation, I was able to study in Rome, Italy for about six months.  I attended classes at the wonderful Dominican School, the Angelicum.  Only in Rome would you never complain about having to walk 40 minutes to class because every day would take us passed the Trevi Fountain and the famous Spanish steps, passed the most beautiful churches in the world, down the same streets that saints had walked.

In addition to our academic work, my seminary formation involved some sort of apostolic work.  I had the honor and pleasure of working alongside the Missionary Sisters of Charity, at a homeless shelter, in their care for the homeless men and women of Rome.  So, every Friday morning, I and two other seminarians would walk past the Coliseum to the Sister’s homeless shelter: we would serve breakfast to homeless men, clean up after breakfast, then help the sisters do the laundry.

Now Blessed Mother Theresa didn’t believe in modern conveniences, so the clothing and the soiled sheets and towels were washed by hand on old fashioned scrub boards.  Mother Theresa wanted the sisters to learn how to do small tasks with great love—which included doing laundry with the love of Christ in your heart.  While we scrubbed the sheets, we would often pray the rosary.

On the Friday before holy week, one of the seminarians asked one of the sisters, “sister, are you ready for Easter?”  In a very serious tone, yet without losing the spark of joy in her eyes, she said, “No, I still have much dying to do.”

Here was a woman.  She never took vacations.  She owned nothing, not even her religious habit was really hers.  She spent her life washing soiled sheets, after waking up before sunrise, celebrating Mass and spending an hour in adoration, bathing the grime of the streets of Rome off of the homeless.  Here was a woman, that if you gave her a present, she would give it away to the poor in order to bring a little bit of joy into another person’s life.  Who knows the special penances that she had undertaken for Lent, but you can be sure it was more than not eating potato chips or starbucks coffee!

 

But, “sister, are you ready for easter?” “No, I still have much dying to do.”

We begin Holy Week with the dramatic proclamation of the Passion.  But when we celebrate Holy Week, we aren’t simply recounting events that took place 2000 years ago: “Jesus died on the cross for us, isn’t that nice.” Jesus humbled Himself unto death, He totally abandoned himself to the Will of the Father, as Saint Paul wrote, “Jesus emptied himself and became a slave”.  In doing so, he showed us the path that every Christian must walk.  The path of detachment, of dying to self, as sister would say.

I think that wonderful Sister and so many of the saints remind us that the greatest joy in life is found in giving one’s life away.  The saints are constantly examining their lives for ways in which they need to die to themselves, they are examining their attitudes and their consciences constantly to detect even the smallest ounce of selfishness that needs to be converted into generosity.  The saints actively pursue ways in which they can abandon themselves to God.  They actively look for opportunities for humble service.

Each of us still has much dying to do.  I encourage you to intensify your Lenten penances this week, especially on Good Friday.  May the remaining days of Lent and Holy Week help us in radical self-emptying and detachment from the things of the world, so we can witness to joy found in clinging to Christ and the things of heaven for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 5th Week of Lent - Friday - Hard Days Ahead

Today’s readings, just one week from Good Friday, grow more ominous as the enemies of Jesus seek to put him to death.  What threatens them the most?  He looks them squarely in the eye and speaks the truth.  They want to kill him in order to stop the message of the gospel he brings to them.

We all want to be liked and approved for what we do, but what do we do when our actions elicit not approval from others but criticism and even persecution?

Within hours of his election as Holy Father, Pope Francis was receiving angry criticism from those who hate the Church’s teaching on marriage and family.  This loveable and humble man is hated because he teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ.    

God may call us, as God called Jeremiah and Jesus, to stand up for righteousness and truth even though this righteousness and truth may not be accepted in our communities, in our workplaces, or even in our families: to call people back to Mass who have fallen away, to call people back to prayer, to call people back to works of charity.

As we move into Holy Week with Jesus, we realize poignantly that being a faithful disciple of Jesus may not always be easy.  If we are honest, I think we already know this.  Facing temptation is hard: resisting that urge to argue when we are annoyed with someone and their uninformed opinions.  Choosing to act out of faith even when our feelings want to go in another direction is hard.

It’s easy to believe in Jesus when we are in the Church, surrounded by sacred images, preparing to receive Jesus in Holy Communion.  We must allow our Christian faith to shape our attitudes and behavior and decisions both at Church and in the world.

Even though, today’s Gospel began with a group of people wanting to stone him to death, Jesus spoke to the truth, and recall the last line of the Gospel: “And many there began to believe in him.”

We are on the verge of a very intense week in the Church year, and we reflect upon how the gentle and humble Lord Jesus calls us to carry the cross with him, to face persecution with Him, to speak the truth with Him, to suffer for others with Him, to call sinners to repentance with Him, to die with Him, that we may rise with Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 5th Week of Lent - Thursday - The Great I AM

One of the scenes from the Old Testament with which we are most familiar is when upon Mount Horeb, God spoke to Moses through a burning bush.  While Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock, he was led to a bush that burned but was not consumed, and from the bush spoke the voice of God.  God explained that he had seen how miserable his chosen people, the Hebrews, were in Egypt, where they were being held as slaves, and that God was now sending Moses to free His people.

Moses, terrified, asked God his name.  And God said, "I AM WHO AM, you will say I AM, has sent me to you."

We can thank Cecil B De Mille for his rendition of the story of the 10 commandments for our familiarity with this story.  You can bet that Jesus’ Jewish audience in the Gospel were intimately familiar with this story—knowing it word for word.  And here Jesus was identifying himself with the very God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the creator of the world, the God who led the people out of slavery in Egypt.  And he did so by uttering the very name of God.

Anyone familiar with the New Testament would be able to guess the response of his audience—they did not fall down in worship, rather, they picked up rocks to stone Jesus to death, for they believed this to be an unforgivable blasphemy. 

All throughout the readings of Lent we’ve seen how difficult this truth is for some to accept.  And now, the drama is coming to a climax.  It is not long now. The dark powers of faithlessness conspire to bring Jesus to death.  Particularly as we read the Passion this weekend and on Good Friday, there’s that part of us that wants to cry out , “Stop! Don’t you know who he is?  How can you not know?!”

Yet, we undergo this drama every year, not so much for the purpose of condemning the faithless, pointing our fingers and shaming those who do not believe, but to remember that all that he suffers, he does out of love—that we can take up our cross and follow him. 

Every year at Easter, faith in Jesus brings people to baptism.  Through the evangelizing efforts of the Catholic Church—that is the lived faith of Catholics like you and me—men and women and young people accept Jesus’ claim, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.”

And on Easter Sunday, each one of us will renew our baptismal faith.  We will be asked if we reject sin and to renew our faith that Jesus is the God who saves us from the slavery of sin and death.

Let us continue to prepare for this renewal through our Lenten penances, denying worldliness, practicing self-sacrificial charity, and entering into deeper and more intimate prayer, to deny the “I”—the ego—in order to make room for the great “I AM” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 5th Week of Lent - Wednesday - "The truth will set you free"

Scripture diagnoses a spiritual disease particularly deadly to man’s right relationship with God—the spiritual malady known as hard-heartedness..  Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and would not listen to Moses.  Jesus condemns the Pharisees for not understanding his parables or the meaning of his miracles because of their hardness of heart.  Paul talks of those “who are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” 

The book of proverbs offers particular insight into the causes of hard-heartedness: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”  The concealing of transgressions—failure to acknowledge one’s sinfulness—is the leading cause of hard-heartedness.

Jesus’ audience in today’s Gospel seems particularly hard-hearted.  Jesus says to them, “you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you.”  What was the word that Jesus was preaching to them?  Freedom from sins.

Jesus’ audience had become so closed to the idea of needing a savior, that they wanted to kill Him, to destroy him, to erase him from their memory.  The hardened heart has no room for Jesus because it has no room for truth, particularly the truth that I have sinned and I need a savior.

Many people reject Catholic Christianity not for intellectual reasons but because they do not want to follow the moral teachings of Jesus Christ—they do not want to give up their sins.  The virulent attacks on the Church typically come from those who have adopted behaviors that are very contrary to Jesus’ teachings. 

Today, many people wish to be free.  But the freedom they seek is the freedom to do whatever they wish, whatever is their whim.  This is not the Christian notion of freedom.  Freedom is only truly real if it is based on the truth.  “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

In these final days of Lent, may our hearts continue to be sanctified by our Lenten penances for the great celebration of our salvation in the Paschal mysteries for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: March 19, 2013 - Saint Joseph, Patron of a Peaceful Death

This morning at Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome, Pope Francis celebrated a special Mass for the inauguration of his Papal Ministry.  In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the very special mission God entrusted to Saint Joseph: that of protector—protector of the Holy Family and protector of the Church. 

How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? In the words of Pope Francis, “As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.”

And just as he watched over and guarded the Holy Family, he watches over and guards the Church through his prayerful intercession—he is at OUR side in good dimes and bad, journey with us through our anxieties and joys, through all the dramas and labors.  We do well to befriend Saint Joseph, and invoke him often. 

Saint Joseph’s role as guardian and protector teaches us something  about the core of the Christian vocation: to protect Christ in our life.  Each of us has a responsibility to protect the divine treasure that God has given us—the gift of grace in our souls must be safeguarded against the evils of sin.  In eternity I think we will find out just how Saint Joseph was in our earthly life in our turning away from the allurements of the world. 

I also came across some wonderful words by Blessed Pope John Paul II concerning today’s feast.  “Saint Joseph is great in the spirit.  He is great in faith, not because he uttered any words of his own but above all because he heard the words of the living God.  He listened…and…he became…a witness.”

You won’t find a single word in the Gospels uttered by Saint Joseph.  But actions speak louder than words.  And his greatness, his sanctity, consisted of listening…obedience…to the will of God.   As we heard in the Gospel, out of obedience the pregnant Virgin Mary into his home and named her Son, Jesus.

Gathered with us today are all those who have taken part in our parish’s bereavement group.  How fitting, that we gather on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, who is also known as the patron of a peaceful death.

What does it mean to die a peaceful death?  I think those two traits of Joseph teach us the essence of a peaceful death.: to have guarded the divine life of God within, and to be listening and obedient to the words of the living God.  The essence of a peace death is to die in a state of grace knowing God’s closeness—hearing his words of comfort and promise of eternal life, hearing the words of Jesus saying “do not be afraid, but enter in to the joy of your Father’s kingdom,” that is the essence of a truly peaceful death. 

No doubt, many who are gathered here have followed the example of Joseph, helping a loved one die in the peace of Christ: by praying with them, encouraging them to fear not, calling for a priest to administer the last rites of the Church. 

But it is important to recall God’s comfort extends to those who grieve as well: and the essence of peaceful grieving? Again to be in a state of grace, and to listen to the comforting promises of God.

May Saint Joseph come to our aid and come to the aid of all those who will die today, and assist us in guarding our souls unto heaven for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 5th Week of Lent - Monday - Light expels the darkness

Today we have one of the longest First Readings in the entire lectionary—nearly 60 verses—almost the entire 13^th Chapter of the book of the Prophet Daniel.  It is the story of this beautiful, faithful woman, Susanna, who is falsely accused by two corrupt evil old men who wanted to have their way with her.  Though they were powerful men and elders in the community, Susanna remained chaste.  In order to protect themselves, they falsely accused her and condemned her to death.

Though all seemed lost. Surrounded by the powers of evil and darkness, Susanna surrendered to God, knowing herself to be innocent.

God stirred Daniel’s spirit, who demanded a thorough examination of the evidence.  Daniel made himself vulnerable to the hostility of these powerful men, calling the judges and elders fools.  He made himself vulnerable in order to bring justice to the innocent.

The story of Susanna, at this point in Lent, should remind us of another false accusation. 

The Lord Jesus, the sinless Lamb, allowed himself to be falsely accused and convicted by evil men.

Because who of us are as innocent as Susanna or as courageous as Daniel, willing to suffer to protect the innocent.  Most likely, we are more like the corrupt judges, or the Pharisees pointing their fingers at the Lord.  But the Lord lays down his life willingly, out of his great love for us, and his desire that we be with him in eternity.

During these final weeks of Lent, we do well to enter into some serious prayer, asking the Lord to shine his light of truth into the deepest, darkest, most unloving parts of our hearts.  That our selfishness and fears may be illuminated and that in the moment of trial we may remain faithful.

 

Christ is the light.  To quote the final words of Pope Benedict’s first encyclical

Faith, which sees the love of God revealed in the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, gives rise to love. Love is the light—and in the end, the only light—that can always illuminate a world grown dim and give us the courage needed to keep living and working. Love is possible, and we are able to practice it because we are created in the image of God. To experience love and in this way to cause the light of God to enter into the world.

This Lent may the light of Christ expel all darkness in our hearts for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 5th Sunday of Lent - "See, I am doing something new"

Ten years ago already, actor, director and producer Mel Gibson released a film depicting the final hours, and crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ called The Passion of the Christ.  I saw the film when I was studying in Rome during Holy Week, and I remember being deeply and tearfully moved by this highly realistic rendition of Jesus’ passion.  It definitely changed the way I pray the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary and the stations of the cross, the graphic bloodshed and suffering etched in my memory.   

Particularly difficult scenes to watch, were the scourging of Our Lord at the pillar and when the crown of thorns pierced his forehead and when he fell underneath the weight of the cross on the road to calvary.  Difficult, not just because the amount of blood and suffering was gross or morbid, but as the film progressed I got that growing awareness that his suffering was because of my sins.

I remember just being flooded with tears, at the scene depicting Jesus meeting his mother on the way of the Cross.  Amidst the mockery and beatings from the roman soldiers, Jesus meets his mother, looks at her, bloodied and beaten, and says, “See Mother, I make all things new.”  All of the suffering, all of the blood, the hard road of the cross was for the purpose of ushering in something new. 

Three hundred years before the crucifixion of Jesus, the Jews were in exile. In a sense, they had been bloodied and beaten by the captors.  God’s people suffered the humiliation of living in a foreign land, under foreign rule.  The promises of God seemed so ever distant, it looked as if God’s enemies were victorious. 

And in the darkness, God sends a prophet, Isaiah.  And through his prophet, God says, as we heard in the first reading, “see, I am doing something new!”  God is promising that He is going to break-in to creation in an unexpected way, he’s going to break the bonds of our captivity.  He’s going to usher in a new unheard of era of freedom from the powers of darkness and evil, a new way of walking in friendship with God, a whole new order to creation.

That’s what Jesus meant: “I make all things new.”  I make new human souls, I make new human community, I make new marriage, I make new man’s relationship with God. 

So many of the Gospel stories are brimming with that newness.  In the Gospel today, it looked like it was the end of the road for the women caught in the act of adultery.  She was guilty of a capital crime.  Yet, Jesus does something new.  He stops the momentum of this violent crowd and forces them to consider something new, to consider that they too are sinners, they walk away dumbstruck.  And then he invites the sinful women to a new way of life—a life without sin.

This story always reminds me of what happens in the Sacrament of Confession.   In the Sacrament of Confession, the penitent is asking Jesus to do something new in them.  Lord make that part of me that is caved in on itself new, take that selfish part of me, take that self-centered part of me, though my sins be as scarlet, wash me clean.  And after absolving our sins, the priest dismisses the penitent, saying “your sins are forgiven, go in peace” .  Like Jesus in the Gospel, he is saying “go, and sin no more.” 

Something new is possible through the Sacrament of Confession.  The slate is wiped clean.  It’s a new start, a fresh start, with God’s promise that He will help me overcome the sinful tendencies I’ve just confessed. 

“Go, and sin no more” means a fresh start, but it also means the hard work begins.  It is going to be a challenge to not gossip the next time I have chance.  It is going to be a challenge to hold my tongue when I want to lash out in impatience.  It is going to be a challenge to make sure that I have time set aside every day for prayer.  But each of these challenges are opportunities for God to do that something new in us—and to cooperate with Him in that process  He’s going to help me relate to family members with more patience, he’s going to help me be a better Christian witness at work and in the public sphere, he’s going to help me be more disciplined in the use of earthly goods.  He’s going to bring new growth.  But growth in holiness isn’t just about being free from sins, but coming to new ways of generosity, new ways of self-giving, new ways of self-sacrifice.  God will make you new, if you let Him.

The word Lent comes from an old anglosaxon word meaning springtime.  In springtime we see new growth.  What new growth have you seen in your own soul through your Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Spring is also a time for pruning, cutting away the less healthy branches so that new growth can occur.  Has this Lent helped you identify those habits or attitudes that need to be cut back, in order that new Christian generosity can sprout and flourish.

If not.  If you can’t identify where you need to be pruned.  If you can’t identify where the Lord wishes you to grow, there probably hasn’t been enough time dedicated to prayer and reflection this Lent.  But it’s not too late. 

This week we saw the election of a new Pope.  A new Pope, the first Jesuit, with a new name, the first Pope to take the name Francis, the first Pope from the Americas.  And I think the election of Pope Francis has the Holy Spirit’s fingerprints all over it.  He wasn’t the traditional candidate that many conservatives were hoping for.  He’s wasn’t the progressive candidate that many liberals were hoping for.  There’s a freshness about him, isn’t there?  A Pope who before blessing those gathered at Saint Peter’s square first asked for the blessing of the people.  A Pope who rode the bus to work every morning. 

I think it is going to be very interesting and very exciting to see how God’s plan will continue to unfold throughout the Papacy of Pope Francis. 

800 Years ago, Francis of Assisi knelt in prayer at the Church of Saint Damiano.  Saint Francis saw the figure of Christ crucified come alive and say to him, "Francis, don't you see my house is crumbling apart? Go, then, and restore it!"  Francis literally started to rebuild the crumbling chapel, but he also brought great renewal in the Church through his poverty and chastity and Gospel living.

With the great falling away from the Church especially in Europe, but also in our own country, we pray Pope Francis may shepherd back into the flock all those who, for whatever reason, have strayed.  And that he may also have the courage to protect the flock against the many evils of our day.

During Lent, Jesus is reaching out his hand, to lift us out of our sin, to lift us up to a brand new start.  Today, as we contemplate Jesus' encounter with the sinful woman, let's ask him for the grace to trust him more completely, and to accept his offer of another chance as often as we need to, in our own prayer and especially in the sacrament of confession for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 4th Week of Lent - Saturday - "Never has anyone spoken like this man"

This Gospel passage is a little unusual in that Jesus does not appear in it directly; instead, Saint John concentrates on the reaction of those whom Jesus speaks to and calls. What impression does he make on them? What response do people have?

Some thought Jesus was a prophet, others, thought that he was the Messiah.  Others were focused on his Galilean origins.  The Pharisees and priests added to the confusion with snide remarks and insults.

Yet, the guards offer glimpse of truth: “No man has ever spoken like that before.” The guards met Jesus personally and have actually listened to what he was saying.  They were amazed at him and changed by him.

And though the error and vehemence towards Jesus would continue, II think the guards in the Gospel teach us an important lesson, how to respond to the hatred and confusion. 

Pope Benedict XVI, quite aware of the host of misconceptions about Jesus and the Church proclaimed this a Year of Faith to help people understand who Jesus is, and what the stakes are in following him or not.  

The Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”

The hatred towards Jesus hasn’t ended—the slander, and snarkyness, and insults have continued.  But the proclamation of Faith is the way forward.

Sure, the Church will continue to be the receiver of snide remarks and insults.  In fact, Jesus promised that when he said that the world will hate us because of him. 

But we are to imitate Him through our prayer, and fasting, and almsgiving, in our preaching of the Gospel, in the clear presentation of the Christian faith in the public sphere, in our self-sacrifice for others, and those whose hearts are open to Jesus’ truth will turn towards him once again.

The hiddenness in today’s Gospel resembles his hiddenness in today’s world.  He is only made known through the lived faith of the Church.  So, here again is the invitation to decrease, that Christ may increase in us and draw others to the life he offers.  Here is the invitation to, as Thomas Kempis says, to depart from ourselves, that we can enter into Him, to forsake the worldly goods, that we can enter into the divine good, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Week of Lent - Thursday - You can take the Israelite out of Egypt, but...

While atop Mount Sinai the Lord told Moses to go down to the people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. 

The Israelites had been led out of slavery by a pillar of fire, through the Red Sea which had miraculously parted for them.  They had seen and heard the thunder and lightning and a heavy cloud descend upon Mount Sinai.  Yet, the Israelites who had been exposed to the pagan worship of the Egyptian culture for centuries, soon turned away from God their savior, and began to worship a pagan idol.

You can take the Israelites out of Egypt, but taking the Egypt out of the Israelites is another story.  So God sends Moses back down Sinai to deal with these “stiff-necked people” as God himself calls them.

Don’t members of the Catholic Church have a similar story?  We’ve been given the pillar of light that is the teaching of Christ, we’ve been led through the waters of baptism into the Holy Catholic Church where we witness miracles upon miracles and receive blessings upon blessings.  We really have no excuse at not being pretty saintly.  But, exposed to the evils and distractions and idolatry of the culture, we adopt the attitudes of the world rather than the beatitudes of Christ.

The Catholic is subject to becoming stiff-necked; that is, resistant to divine teaching, dull to divine inspiration, and rejecting of the fullness of grace offered to him in the Sacraments.

Lent comes along every year to aid us in realigning our priorities and disposing our souls once again to all that God desires for us—that is the fullness of the gifts of salvation—he wants to make us into saints.

Ash Wednesday was four weeks ago, if you haven’t found Lent to be challenging perhaps it’s time to enter more deeply into the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that we may, as we prayed in the opening prayer “be corrected by penance and schooled in good works, to persevere sincerely in God’s commandments and come safely to the paschal festivities” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Thursday in the Fourth Week of Lent Exodus 32:7-14  Psalm 106:19-20, 21-22, 23 John 5:31-47

Pope Innocent's dream of Francis

The night before meeting with Saint Francis of Assisi to determine whether or not to approve Francis’ Rule of Radical Poverty, Pope Innocent III had a dream.  Pope Innocent dreamt he stood looking out over the Lateran Church and watched with fear as the proud building shook, the tower swung, and the walls began to crack. Suddenly, a small common looking man came towards the Lateran. He was dressed in peasant garb, was barefoot, and wore a rope around his waist for a belt. Rushing to the falling Church, he set his shoulder in under the wall and with a mighty push straightened the whole falling church, so that it again stood aright. The pope then recognized the man as Francis of Assisi.

In the chapel of San Damiano, St Francis was told by Our Lord "Francis, Go and rebuild my Church, which you can see has fallen into ruin.

May newly elected Pope Francis have the strength to work for the building up of the Church especially in calling home those who have fallen away, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

March 12, 2013 - Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff

After the death of Pope John Paul II, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, as Dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated a Mass for the election of the new Roman Pontiff with all of the other Cardinals, just hours before they would enter into conclave.  Little did Cardinal Ratzinger know that the next day he would be elected the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. 

The readings of that Mass were the very same we’ve proclaimed today (Eph 4:11-16, Ps 89, John 15:9-17).  And in his homily, Cardinal Ratzinger expounded upon that image from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, that unless we seek to attain full Christian maturity, we will remain infants in the faith and be tossed about by the waves and winds of falsehoods and errors and deceit and trickery of the world. 

I think we know all too well how the temptations of the world can blow us in a direction which is contrary to the faith.  And Cardinal Ratzinger was saying if we are not rooted in the knowledge of our faith, if we are not committed to prayer, if we’re not grounded in the commandments, we are going to be tossed about and swept away. 

Cardinal Ratzinger then warned against “building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.”  If you do not acknowledge something to be true other than your own feelings, again, you will be tossed back and forth and swept away.  We need the Faith, or we will drown.

Yet, when we are rooted in rock-solid faith, we, as the Lord says, will bear fruit, fruit that will last. 

When the Cardinals of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, elected Cardinal Ratzinger as the 265th Pope, they chose a man who is rock solid in faith, and history will show the lasting fruits of his teaching and guidance and humility and courage and his immense love for the Church.

Today’s Gospel takes us back to the Last Supper when the Lord said to his Apostles: “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you” This love that urges us to offer our own lives in service of our brothers and sisters.  Surely this is the attitude that we pray our next Pope will manifest on behalf of the whole Church.

So, we pray today, in this special Mass, that the Church will be blessed, once again with a Pope who will be a Pastor according to Jesus’ own heart, a Pastor who will guide us to knowledge of Christ, who will help us to be rock-solid in our faith amidst all of the waves and winds of error and falsehood and evil in the world today for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Week of Lent - Monday - Lent: Season of....Joy?

Maybe, it’s because yesterday was “Laetare” Sunday—but today’s readings seem rather, upbeat for this penitential season.  “Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.  Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight”.  Rejoicing, delight, happiness, joy…what happened to putting on sackcloth and ashes, what happened to compunction and repentance, where’s the call to fasting, mortification, and penance?  Even the Psalm proclaims that God has “changed our mourning into dancing”!  What’s going on here?

Our culture is sick and near death; it is continuously falling away from the Gospel call.  It needs Lent, it needs penance and conversion and mercy.  In fact, an Italian religious order of monks lived by the phrase: semper quadragesima, always Lent.  We are always in need of the penitential spirit of Lent throughout the whole of our Christian life.

Perhaps, through these readings today the Church is calling us, in the midst of our penitence and fasting, to realize what this season of Lent celebrates.  Christ suffered and dead, that we might have life eternal, that we might be citizens of this new heaven and new earth, that we might share in the joy and delight in the Lord.  Without Jesus’ self-sacrifice there would be no hope, there would be no fulfillment of this promise. But he is victorious!  And the cross does lead to the resurrection and to eternal joy!

As we know very well, this life will NOT be without suffering, for the Lord has promised us a share in the cross.  But our earthly suffering and all of our Lenten penances are flavored with this hope and trust that there will be gladness and rejoicing for those who pick up their cross and follow him for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

3rd Week of Lent - Friday - Return to God with your whole heart

So many of the Lenten themes run throughout our reading from the prophet Hosea this morning: returning to God, pleading God’s mercy, God’s healing, God humbling the proud, leading the wise, and causing the sinner to stumble.

Yet, all of those Lenten themes can be summed up in the word’s offered by the Lord in the Gospel this morning: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Put simply: Lent exists so that we can experience God’s love for us and we can love others better.

Lent is all about clearing away the debris, stripping away all those attitudes and vices and attachments which keep us from experiencing God’s love in a deeper way, which keep us from deep generous love of others because of selfishness,  fear, anger, and hurt.

God so desires the transformation of our hearts so we can experience all of the love he has for us, so that our hearts can in turn be free to love others with that same sort of love.

So we engage in deeper and more intense prayer throughout Lent to allow the healing mercy of God to reach into the deepest darkest corners of our heart to bring light to those dark places. 

It’s difficult to respond to God when he says, “love me with all of your heart.”  For there is a fear, that if I love God with all of my heart, there won’t be anything left.  That’s both true and false.  It is true that if we love God with our whole heart, we will no longer love things, power, wealth, and fame.  But it is also false, for when loves God with one’s whole heart, love is not exhausted, rather, one love's with the heart of Jesus Christ—whose love for every man is divine and infinite. 

Do not be afraid to love God with your whole heart.  It will free you from disordered affections and intensify your love for others, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Lent - Thursday - Sin darkens the intellect

The people of Jeremiah’s time had become so disobedient, so rebellious, so hardhearted, that God was lamenting that “Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.”

So blind to the truth were some of the people who witnessed Jesus casting out a mute demon, that they claimed the Son of God was casting out demons through the power of Satan.  In other words, they were saying that instead of Jesus being the incarnation of God who is love, he was an agent of evil.

Sin clouds the mind.  It darkens the intellect.  It blinds us to truth.  It closes the heart to God’s love and truth.  It is possible for us to fall into this same sort of darkness and rebelliousness.

To have a darkened intellect means that the truths of faith I used to see so clearly, accept so readily and experience so profoundly become diminished, obscured and confused in my mind.

Sin is so dangerous that it can lead to the rationalization of evil actions.  It can cause Christians to forget about their responsibilities to be faithful to their baptismal promises and the call to holiness, to serve and promote human life and to fulfill their religious obligations.

Someone who attended Catholic school for 12 years might find them asking, “Does God really exist at all?  Does it really matter if I attend Mass?  Is there really such a thing as sin?”

One might be able to measure how quickly our world is under the sway of evil by its understanding of the words like faithfulness, holiness, piety, virtue, reverence.   

Any sin, even venial sin, is a spiritual disease that devastates the soul and clouds the intellect and therefore our judgments and attitudes. The longer we let these spiritual diseases live in us, the more damage is done. The good news is that Jesus Christ, our Divine Physician, heals us with his grace.

Our Lenten prayer, fasting, and acts of mercy enlighten our mind and invigorate our spirits because they bring us into contact with he who is Truth and Light and Love.  The light of His truth eradicates darkness and casts out evil.  Our faithfulness to the Lenten disciplines are instrument Jesus uses to bring deep healing and light and love into our minds and souls and hearts, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Lent - Wednesday - Simply Obey

Both Moses in the Old Testament Reading and Jesus in the Gospel extol a very important moral virtue this morning: obedience.

Summing up the entire spiritual life, Saint Francis de Sales, Patron Saint of Spiritual Directors said: “Simply Obey.  God does not ask anything else of you.” 

Obedience to the commandments keeps us in right relationship with God, and obedience to the inspirations of His Holy Spirit help us make us instruments of his grace in the world.  The word obedience comes from the latin word for turning your ear and harkening to the voice of another.  Communion with God and communion with the Church requires obedience to God’s commands and the teachings of the Church.

Alphonsus Ligouri said that obedience I more pleasing to God than all the sacrifices of penitential works or alms giving which we can offer to him.  All of our Lenten fasting and almsgiving is really at the service of helping us to be more obedient to the commands of God.  Fasting can strengthen our wills against disordered tendencies, and almsgiving flows out of that command to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

You may have already read on the front page of the Plain Dealer this morning how a priest who had promised respect and obedience to the bishop of the diocese of Cleveland has been excommunicated.  Excommunication is the Church’s way of alerting a person that they are doing something that gravely harmful to the unity of the church and their relationship with God.  In direct defiance of the church’s teachings and authority, this priest has led a group of Catholics into schism. 

We certainly pray today for reconciliation, that this group of catholics and this dissident priest may see this as a wake up call, that it is time to harken their ears again to the voice of the shepherd, in order to return to right relationship with God and the Church.

The Lenten journey leads us to encounter Christ who is totally obedient to his Father’s will, the Sacred Heart is an obedient heart, it is the heart of one which has surrendered everything to the Holy Will.  By God’s grace may we be free from all that keeps us from following the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter of God’s law and from faithfulness to God’s inspirations for his glory and salvation of souls.

3rd Week of Lent - Tuesday - Forgive from the heart

One of the great Lenten themes is that of forgiveness.  On Good Friday, we will hear Jesus plead from the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”  All that Jesus suffered, all that he endured, the tortures, the mockery, the humiliation—he endured that our sins may be forgiven.  Yet, Jesus was willing to die for the forgiveness of sins because of his great love for us.  Jesus came to earth for this purpose.

When GK Chesterton was asked why he became Catholic, his simple answer was “to get my sins forgiven”.

The reception of God’s mercy is not automatic.  We must want it, desire it, seek it, and do what it takes to receive it.  The soul stained by original sin must receive baptism.  The baptized soul stained by mortal sin must receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus calls wicked, the servant who refused to forgive.  For, the healing of the wounds of sin and division involves our own openness to forgive others. 

It is difficult enough to forgive those who have offended us even once with a small offensive remark or an unfriendly look.  I think Peter is pretty generous when he says that we should forgive even seven times.  But the Lord corrects Peter, forgive not seven times, but without limit.

A Christian must never say, “I will never forgive you.”  For if we are closed to forgiving others, we become closed to receiving the forgiveness which leads to heaven.  Jesus describes refusal to forgive as wickedness. 

Forgiveness is not easy.  It might feel like, say, being crucified.  If upon examining our hearts we detect any resentment or bitterness, we need to bring those feelings to the foot of the cross and let them go.  And if they rear their ugly heads again in the future, to repeat the process over and over.  If you are keeping a list against anyone of times they’ve offended me, rip up the list and consider the slate wiped clean.

So as we meditate this Lent upon the Lord’s forgiveness of our sinfulness, we also recall our own need to forgive without limit.  Forgive completely, forgive regardless the cost, forgive from your heart, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 3rd Week of Lent - Monday - How Ordinary!

Naaman, the Syrian army commander, afflicted with leprosy.  He was appalled at the suggestion that, to cure his leprosy, he ought to bathe in the Jordan River.  That river?  It’s so ordinary!

Jesus, after forty days in the desert, comes to his home town and is rejected by its citizens.  They knew him as a young boy.  They saw him working with Joseph in his carpenter’s shop.  He would come to synagogue.  They were filled with fury when he began to teach with authority?  How could He be a prophet, how could God be at work in Him!  God couldn’t possibly be that close!

Naaman wanted healing on his terms.  The people of Jesus’ home town wanted God on their terms.  One of the great difficulties that the very earliest Christians had was convincing their neighbors, accustomed to great religious spectacles, that baptism—just being washed with water—really did bring with it the promise of living forever.  “Washing in water?  Just ordinary water?” 

I’ve also talked to Catholics whose family members have fallen away from the Church and have fallen into to some pretty deadly sins.  They looked at me with surprise and doubt when I suggested they pray a rosary for their children every day.  A rosary, how ordinary!  I’ve talked to self-proclaimed Catholics who don’t go to Mass because it’s boring and ordinary. 

Pray, fast, and give alms.  The Lenten practices sound so ordinary.  What can fasting really do for me anyway, besides maybe help me lose a few pounds?  What can giving a little extra to charity do anyway…there’s so much suffering in the world?  And prayer?  I say my morning prayers, I come to Mass, what could more prayer actually do for me?

When you pray, fast, and give alms this Lent and recall the reasons that you are doing these things, out of love for God and desire to unite your suffering with him and to be free from selfishness, those ordinary actions have extraordinary value. 

At this point in Lent you may be starting to be disillusioned with your Lenten penances, they might seem so ordinary now.  But I urge you to persevere, God is working through those Lenten practices.  He will bring about great conversion including your own, if you let him.  For the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 3rd Sunday of Lent - Take care not to fall

A couple years ago there was a popular television show on NBC called Lost.  In its own way, the show dealt very well with many Christian themes: redemption, free will, the divine plan.  One particular scene from the third season, stands out in my mind.

A woman named Amira, had been imprisoned and tortured in an Iraqi prison camp.  She had been scalded by hot oil and scars covered her arms and hands.  After she was freed from prison, she married a very powerful man.  And her husband had tracked down and imprisoned the man who tortured her back in Iraq. 

So in the show she walks into the prison cell to confront her torturer, and she told a story.

 “After my husband and I (left Iraq) and arrived in Paris, I was afraid to ever leave our apartment. So I would stare out the window of our apartment and I would see this cat looking for scraps of food. One day some children came to the alley and trapped the cat in a box. I watched them light firecrackers and drop them into the box. I could hear the cat howling from three stories above. And finally, I had a reason to leave my apartment. I rescued this cat, and I brought it home. It sits with me when I read, sleeps with me, and he purrs. But, every once in a while, he will bite me or scratch me. He does this because he forgets that he is safe. So I forgive him when he bites me, because I know what it is like to never feel safe. And that is because of you. So today, I ask only one thing of you. I ask that you show me the respect of acknowledging what you did to me. That it was you who tortured me, and that you remember me."

In tears once torturer said, "I remember you. I remember your face. Your face has haunted me ever since I 

left Iraq.  I am so sorry for what I did to you.”

"I forgive you," she says. "When my husband returns I will tell him I made a terrible mistake. That it was not you. And he will release you."

"Why?" asked the prisoner.

"We are all capable of doing what those children did to that cat. But I will not do that. I will not be that!"

I recalled this story because of Saint Paul’s warning to the Corinthians in the second reading today: whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.

Lent is of course a time where we recall our past sins and repent.  However, Saint Paul is talking to people who have already been baptized, like you.  And he is saying even if you have already converted to Christ, even if you think you have this Christian thing licked, always remember the lessons of faith because we are all capable of falling back into sin.

The woman in the story, Amira confronted the man who tortured her in the Iraqi prison camp.  Yet she forgave him.  Why?  How?  I think because she acknowledged that part of her that was very capable of being driven by resentment, bitterness, and anger.  She knew there was that part of her that could easily strike out in revenge. Just like the kids she saw torturing the cat, she would become what she hated, if she became the torturer.  And so she made a very powerful choice, a choice born out of compassion and humility: forgiveness.

It is certainly humbling to acknowledge that given a number of wrong choices, I could easily end up falling into some pretty serious sins.

I remember back in my first year of seminary, another seminarian and I were assigned to visit the prisoners in Cuyahoga County Jail every week.  I remember sitting with one young man who had been arrested for drugs and theft and violence.  His eyes were haunted by guilt and drugs and terrible things that he had done and seen.  And as he told his story, I remember thinking, how if things were just a little different in my life, I could be sitting where he was sitting.  Given the right circumstances, the mistakes he had made were not unfathomable.  And when I recognized that, I had no desire to judge him or to treat him as unclean or even to pity him in a condescending way.  I remember a deep compassion for him, when I acknowledged that I could have easily been the prisoner. 

One modern spiritual writer put it, “Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others.  Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.” 

The compassion that we Christians are to show towards others, I think, is at least partially born out of that acknowledgment that I could easily be in their shoes.  Given the right circumstances, I could have been the one who lost his job, or who is suffering from a deadly illness.  In fact, doesn’t Jesus teach us that what we do for the least of his people, we do for him.

“Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall” is an important warning that any of us has the ability to fall.  And so we must show compassion and patience with each other as God has been compassionate and patient with us. 

Saint Paul’s warning is also a reminder that we cannot take our salvation for granted.  If we stop praying, if we stop coming to Church, if we start justifying selfish behavior and ignoring the commandments, if we don’t daily hold ourselves accountable before God for our actions, we can slide into some very serious sin—sin that can result in the loss of our salvation.

For in the spiritual life there are no plateaus—we are either ascending the mountain or falling down the mountain, diminishing, back sliding away from heaven—we are either climbing the mountain towards sanctity, or headed towards a very dark place.  And if we become smug, if we become complacent, if we start to loaf and get lazy about our prayer life…well, I will quote Jesus himself from our Gospel today, “I tell you, if you do not repent, you will perish!”

These are two challenges that most of us face daily: compassion towards those we meet because we might be in their shoes and the temptation to skimp on God.  And we get in trouble when we just start coasting along, pretending like there is nothing about my behavior and attitude that needs to change--or like a particular commandment or teaching of the Church doesn't apply to me.  If we haven’t thought about and discovered where we need to grow, where we are vulnerable to sin, then we haven’t thought hard enough. 

So, may the Lord bless us this Lent with a deep sense of our own sinfulness, and vulnerabilities, that we can radiate God’s patience and compassion towards those in need for His glory and the salvation of souls.