4th Week of Lent 2022 - Tuesday - Good versus evil

 

Yesterday, we reflected upon the second of the seven miracles stories in St. John’s Gospel: the healing of the royal official’s son. We also noted how St. John often includes people’s reactions to those miracles: some are amazed by Jesus, some come to believe, some fail to make that leap of faith or they walk away grumbling because his subsequent teachings are unappealing or deemed too difficult.

What was the reaction to the miracle detailed in today’s Gospel of the paralyzed man. On one hand, you have the obedience and witness of the man himself. He gets up and walks just as Jesus told him to do. When asked about the miracle, he testifies to the source of the healing. He is certainly a model for all of us. We are to testify to the healing we have received through Jesus Christ. 

For Jesus has healed our paralysis—our spiritual paralysis. Without the healing each of us have received in the pool of baptism, we would be paralyzed of walking toward heaven, walking in righteousness, walking in truth, walking up to the altar of God, God who is the source of our joy. Jesus has changed my life, and I know he has changed yours as well. And when people ask us about what animates our lives. We need to point to Him. You know what gets me up in the morning? The desire to serve my Lord who has healed me. We should not be timid about our faith.

So the Gospel contains this wonderful reaction of obedience and witness. But there was another reaction—that of the Jews, the religious authorities of Jerusalem. Their hearts were so far from God that they could not, or would not, recognize the goodness of what Jesus did. This man had been paralyzed for 38 years. Most of us cannot imagine what his life was like. The inability to work to support a family. The boredom. The abandonment. And the religious leaders criticize Jesus, when none of them lifted a finger to help the man into the pool. 

And for healing this man, freeing this man, liberating this man, restoring his hopes, helping him to know the love of God, the religious leaders, St. John tells us, begin to persecute Jesus. That was their response. “Goodness made itself known, and we can’t let that happen again.” Do you see how the powers of evil were rampant in the hearts of Jesus’ enemies?

As we near Holy Week, this reading helps us to understand the conflict that will reach its crescendo on Good Friday: the goodness of God—the life and the healing and moral and spiritual freedom God wants for us—versus the evil that takes root in the hearts—the coldness of the hell we make for ourselves when we turn away from God and seek to selfishly control and manipulate our fellow man.

Lent: it helps us to be open to the healing Jesus wants to work in our lives, it strengthens us to have courage to lead others to Jesus. It also helps us to repent and do penance for those time, when like those religious authorities, have coldly closed ourselves to the goodness of God. 

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For an increase in faith for the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.

That the Church might be delivered and protected from all evil—all coldness toward good, all indifference to life, all selfishness, error, heresy, schism, and unbelief.

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

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

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

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

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

4th Week of Lent 2022 - Monday - Facing Rejection and Inspiring Faith

 

Leading up to Holy Week, our Gospel readings for daily Mass are taken from the Gospel of John.  Where each of the other evangelists record many miracles, John chooses only seven to record in his Gospel: the miracle at the wedding of cana, the healing of the royal official’s son, the healing of the paralytic, the feeding of the five thousand, the walking on water, the healing of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus.

John carefully records people’s reactions to Jesus’ miracles, as well. Some are amazed by Jesus, some come to believe that he truly is the Son of God, some are initially impressed with his miracles, but then fail to make that leap of faith or walk away because his subsequent teachings are unappealing or deemed too difficult. 

Today’s Gospel begins with Jesus himself testifying how the people of his hometown for the most part rejected him. The rejection of Jesus is a great tragedy. For the Lord explains, “I came, so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” In rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting life, eternal life.

After his rejection in Nazareth, St. John tells us that the Lord traveled to Galilee and healed the royal officials son. Instead of rejecting him, the royal official and his whole household make that leap of faith. 

Jesus was met with both rejection and acceptance—unbelief and belief. So too will we. We mustn’t become too disheartened when our efforts are met with coldness and unbelief. We’re in it for the long haul, as long as God deems it. Jesus himself, the Word made flesh, was rejected in his ministry. And he could read hearts. He spoke with the clearest understanding of the truth men need to hear, and spoke without timidity. He performed miracles and was still rejected.

So when we’re rejected, we who are imperfect instruments in the hands of God, we mustn’t give up on the Gospel mission. We might need to be rejected by a whole town in order to inspire faith in a household. But that household is a seed for the kingdom to grow and flourish. Give me a family on fire with the faith over a lukewarm town any day. 

May our Lenten observances help us to persevere and trust God when we face rejection. May we, imperfect instruments in the hands of God, remain faithful to the Gospel mission always, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For an increase in faith for the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity.

That the Church might be delivered and protected from all spirits of error, heresy, schism, and unbelief.

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

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

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

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

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

3rd Week of Lent 2022 - Tuesday - Forgiveness and Inner Healing

The somber days of Lent provide us with an opportunity to do some serious soul-searching: examination of our conscience, reflection on our vices and virtues and habits and attitudes, with the hopes of identifying any obstacles in our hearts which keep us from imitating Our Lord and growing in holiness.

I always encourage folks to give up television, movies, video games, and diversionary use of the internet during Lent, these things which often occupy a lot more of our time than we think.  And once they’re gone, we have a little bit more time to think about our lives, our relationships.  We strip away some of those external distractions, and when we do that, our interior lives can begin to grow.

I think many people are resistant to give up these external distractions, because their interior lives are not all that pleasant.  Many of us can carry around some serious interior burdens in the form of resentment and bitterness over past hurts—old wounds which have gone unhealed for many years.

So Lent provides an opportunity to bring those wounds to the healer—to Jesus, the medicus vitae—the doctor of life.

In the Gospel today, Jesus teaches the most important remedy for the healing of our wounded souls and wounded relationships: forgiveness.  Through Jesus’ passion and death, God has forgiven us—our wounded relationship with God is healed.  And we are called to practice that same forgiveness towards others.  Just as there is not a single sin God will not forgive, so too there isn’t a single sin that we are not called to forgive.

Jesus says to forgive not just seven times, but seven times seven.

In the Hebrew tradition the number seven is a sacred number and refers to the limitless holiness of God.  When Jesus commands his disciples to forgive “seventy times seven” times, it is to say that his disciples are to have no limit in their own forgiveness.  

It is difficult to forgive those who betray us—who offend, who harm us with their words and actions.  To forgive them sometimes feels like we are giving them a free pass.  Forgiving once, is sometimes hard enough, when we are hurt, there is that part of us that says, “I don’t want to talk to them, I don’t want to see them, I don’t want to be near them, I don’t even want to think about them.”  A Christian must never say, “I will never forgive you.”  

For Christ came to heal the wounds of sin and division—our division from God, and the division we continue to create between ourselves.  

So we need to be constantly about the work of forgiveness.  If upon self-examination you detect any anger or any hurt, now is the time to let it go.  And if the Holy Spirit is urging you to seek the forgiveness of a family member or neighbor you may have offended, go, do your best to be reconciled, to make peace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance, bring healing to wounded hearts, and bring purification of sin and selfishness to all people.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that they may continue to conform themselves to Christ through fervent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of war and violence. 

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

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

2nd Week of Lent 2022 - Friday - Rejection of God

 

In both first reading and Gospel today we hear of rejection.  In the first reading, Joseph’s brothers rejected him and plotted to kill him.  In the Gospel, in the parable of the wicked tenants we hear how the tenant farmers reject, seize and kill, not only the vineyard owners servants, but also his son.

Jesus refers to himself as the cornerstone which will be rejected.  He too will be seized and killed by those who reject him.

The tale of rejection goes back to the beginning when Adam and Eve rejected God’s command, thereby rejecting His plan for them and for mankind.  By rejecting God they forfeited paradise. The sinner rejects God’s truth and God’s plan; he pretends that his life belongs to him for his own purposes.   

Sometimes the teachings of the Church are found difficult—they infringe on our sinful habits and attachments—and so they are rejected.  They are difficult so often because we have hardened our hearts against them. Yet, as G.K. Chesterton said, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”  

Many so-called Cafeteria Catholics belief the faith is like a buffet line, they can take what they like and reject the rest. But once you begin rejecting Church doctrine, where does it stop? Why does the current generation reject the Church almost outright? Perhaps we need to look no further than what their parents and grandparents rejected a generation ago. Cafeteria Catholicism in one generation, leads often to the total rejection of the faith in the next. Their parents never made them eat their vegetables because they initially found them bitter, and now they don’t eat vegetables at all.

In the first reading, Joseph’s brothers reject him because of envy—he was an obstacle to their happiness. Today, many people reject the faith for the same reason. They envy. They covet. They envy yuppies, movies stars, star athletes, power brokers, and so they reject the faith which tells them that these are false idols and empty pursuits. No wonder why they become so exhausted, they’ve become fixated on chasing an illusion—the illusion that something other than God can bring rest to their restless souls.

And we’ve all done this to some extent. Which is why Lent is so important. The prayer, fasting, almsgiving of Lent helps us to do penance for those not when I have forgotten that I am not the vineyard owner, but merely a tenant. Where I have rejected God’s call to holiness out of envy, arrogance, and self-centeredness. 

Help us to repent of our sins Lord, and to return to you with our whole hearts, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our Lenten observances will bring about profound renewal in our parish and in our lives and relationships.

That God will rescue all those who live at a distance from him because of self-absorption or sin.

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

That this Lent we will be faithful to fasting and to all the ways that the Lord sanctifies us.  

For generous giving for the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, victims of natural disaster, terrorism, war, and violence, the grieving and those most in need.  

For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory…

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

1st Week of Lent 2022 - Friday - Turn away, turn toward, turn with

 

Conversion is often thought of as a three-fold process. The first stage is aversion, turning away from the things that are not of God. The second is adversion, turning toward the things of God. The third is conversion, turning with the Lord, living one’s life with the Lord.

When the Lord in the Gospel says that the righteousness that God wants for us must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, he was saying that more is necessary than that first stage. The pharisees focused on aversion, turning away, from the things that were considered unclean in the Law of Moses.

They turned away from unclean food, those rendered unclean through disease, and foreigners, considered unclean for being non-Jewish. 

So to, for Christians, we must follow that first stage of conversion, too. We must turn away from what our faith tells us is unclean. Unclean speech, unclean use of money, unclean use of our sexuality, unclean use of our eyes and ears. 

But Christian righteousness must surpass just that first stage of aversion to sin and uncleanness. We must turn toward the things of God. We learn about the teachings of Jesus. We read the Scriptures. We learn about the lives of the saints. We learn to distinguish between the foolishness and errors of the world, with the timeless wisdom of God. But still, this level keeps the things of God at a bit of a distance. Like going to Catholic School for 12 years, knowing what the Church teaches, but never integrating it. We mustn’t just learn about the things of God, we must integrate them into our lives. 

And that’s the third stage of true, authentic conversion: having turned away from sin, and toward the things of God, we integrate them into our lives. Not only do we turn toward the Church, we enter in. We engage in divine worship and authentic prayer, meditation, and contemplation. We don’t just learn about the commandments, we abide by them. We practice fasting willingly, recognizing it’s powerful spiritual value. We don’t just read the scriptures, we allow their wisdom to shape our lives, our behaviors, and attitudes. We don’t just learn about the saints, we begin practicing actual acts of sanctity. 

And the Lord says, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” The Kingdom of Heaven begins in this life. Walking with God, living with God, allowing the life of God to animate us, that begins now. And if heaven doesn’t begin for you in this earthly life, you won’t have a share in it once you shed this mortal coil.

600 years before the birth of Jesus, Ezekiel even foretells this in our first reading today: “If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die.”

May Lent help us to turn away from sin, turn toward the things of God, help us to do what is right, what is of surpassing righteousness, the holiness of Christ in whom we are to live, and move, and have our being, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For “an immediate end to the hostilities in Ukraine, for a restoration of peace and for the safety of all Ukrainian citizens. And for the Ukrainian community in Northeast Ohio, that their friends and family members in their beloved homeland be kept out of harm’s way.”

During these 40 days for Life, we pray for the unborn and for a change in laws, policies, and attitudes which devalue the sanctity of life.

That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring to all people purification of sin and selfishness.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that they may continue to conform themselves to Christ through fervent prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence. And for all victims of the coronavirus and their families. And for the Church in China and all places where the Gospel is silenced.

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

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

Friday after Ash Wednesday 2022 - The days are coming when my disciples will fast

 

“The days are coming when my disciples will fast”, well, here they are. Before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the entire season of Lent was a time of rigorous fasting for all adult Catholics: no eating between meals, and two smaller meals not adding up to the main meal of the day.   And throughout the whole year, Catholics were to abstain from eating meat on Fridays.  

After Vatican II, these disciplines changed.  The abstaining from meat on Fridays throughout the year may now be substituted with some other penitential practice, though Fridays during Lent are still days of abstinence from meat.  And we have only two mandated fast days to observe: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

The practice of fasting goes far back into our biblical roots.  The Old Testament shows people fasting as a sign of repentance and desire for conversion. The Jews even had days of fasting: “Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast” we heard from the prophet Joel on Ash Wednesday.

The New Testament also recommends the practice. “Some demons are driven out only by prayer and fasting” the Lord tells his disciples. And on Ash Wednesday, we heard the Lord say, “when you fast” you shouldn’t do so for outward appearances, but for interior renewal. When St. Paul was strike blind, he fasted for three days. The Lord Himself, as we’ll hear this Sunday, fasted for forty days.

Fasting for Christians isn’t just a sort of religious weight loss program.  We don’t fast simply for the purpose of reducing our waist size, though that is always a pleasant result of this spiritual practice.

Fasting is a spiritual self-discipline that makes us conscious of our dependence on God.  We voluntarily experience physical hunger in order to become aware of our true spiritual hunger.  That the deepest hunger of the human soul comes for the peace and joy and life that can only be satisfied by communion with God.

Another reason we fast is to subdue our passions and self-will; to discipline our unruly appetites. If we cannot control our stomach, how can we control our urges for pleasure, money, and power?  

Fasting opens our heart to charity.  Listen again to the Prophet Isaiah this morning: “This, rather, is the fasting, that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the throngs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.”

May we take seriously the call to fasting this Lent, that our minds and hearts may be conformed ever more deeply to Christ, and be made ready for the feast of Eternal Easter, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the whole Christian people, that in this sacred Lenten season, they may be more abundantly nourished by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

For the whole world, that in lasting tranquility and peace our days may truly become the acceptable time of grace and salvation.

For sinners and those who neglect right religion, that in this time of reconciliation they may return wholeheartedly to Christ.

For ourselves, that God may at last stir up in our hearts aversion for our sins and conviction for the Gospel.

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

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy.