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.