2nd Week of Lent 2022 - Wednesday - Sacrificial Love and the Lenten Program

 Three times during Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord tells of his forthcoming Passion and Death 

The first foretelling of his Passion immediately follow’s Peter’s Confession that the Jesus is the Messiah, Son of the living God. 

The second foretelling comes after the Lord’s transfiguration and the healing of the demon possessed boy.

The third foretelling, which we heard today, precedes the request for James and John to sit at the right hand of Jesus in the heavenly kingdom.

In each of these three cases there is some revelation—some insight into Jesus’ identity, along with the news of his Passion. He truly is the Son of the Living God, as Peter asserts. He is glorious divinity as is seen on the mount of transfiguration and the one to overthrow the powers of the devil as he does when he descends the mountain. And he is the one to sit on the throne of heaven, as James and John’s mother rightly claims.

But Jesus shows that divinity is not about power, wealth, and fame, it is about love—self-sacrificial love. God loves us enough to take on the our humanity, and to suffer—to be handed over to the Gentiles, to be mocked and scourged and crucified. It is by willingly embracing sacrificial love that demons are cast out, that death is destroyed. Sacrificial love is sanctifying love—divinizing love. By it we are redeemed and made holy in the eyes of God. 

Catholics show such great devotion to the crucifix of our Lord, placing it in all of our churches, school classrooms, and homes because by it we are reminded of the source of our salvation and also the life we’ve been chosen to lead.

We are to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and that love is not a matter of lip service or a sentiment an emotion, but allows Jesus to teach us the way of self-sacrificial love, to fill us with his spirit of self-sacrificial love.

Lent is such an important season in the life of the Church for one because we contemplate the depths and God’s love for us in all that Jesus suffered, but also because the Lenten program of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving conditions us to embrace and practice that same form of love. Fasting conditions us to sacrifice the things we enjoy to achieve a higher good. Almsgiving as well, forms us in that practice of looking to the needs of others and sacrificing our goods for their good. And prayer, places us at the font of love, it contemplates love, drinks deeply of love, that we may have the courage and fortitude to practice love, to become love for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

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 this evening’s diocesan wide celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation will bring about a return of many hearts to communion with God. 

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.  We pray to the Lord.

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.

19th Week in OT 2019 - Monday - Sons of the King

Prior to ascending the Mount of Transfiguration, Our Lord announced to the apostles his forthcoming Passion. We know how the apostles reacted; Peter, especially was aghast, and tried to talk the Lord out of it. To which the Lord responded, “get behind me Satan, You aren’t thinking like God but like men.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has come down from the mount of transfiguration, and returning to Galilee, he makes his second Passion prediction. And again, his disciples are overwhelmed with grief. The truth has sunk in, a little deeper. He’s going to the cross. Peter doesn’t try to talk Jesus out of it this time; after all, he’s witnessed the Lord speaking about his Passion with Moses and Elijah while in Transfigured Glory.

Our Lord and the twelve then travel back to the base of operations, Capernaum, where the Lord’s public ministry began, and we hear this strange tale about fish and taxes. And perhaps, this incident is meant to lift the apostles spirits a bit. Because in the course of this story, the Lord once again equates himself with a King, and his disciples with his subjects. And really, our translation of the Greek isn’t great here. The Greek word really doesn’t mean subjects, but sons. Disciples of Jesus are not just members of the kingdom who live outside the king’s own house, they are sons of the king, members of the royal family, who eat at the king’s table, who receive the special blessings and special intimacy with the king. We have the king’s ear, always. We participate in the life of the King and the work of the King.

This important for the Christian to remember when we face our own crosses, when we are overwhelmed with grief and exhaustion. Just as a king showers blessings on his children, Jesus blesses us as members of his family.

St. Leo the Great said, “Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.”

It is important for us to recollect many times a day, our Christian identity and our Christian mission. That amidst the trials and crosses, we are Christians, we members of the royal family, and we have mission for which we are blessed with abundant graces, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all members of the Body of Christ may preserve and live-up to their Christian identity always and everywhere.

For the Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of August that that families, through their life of prayer and love, become ever more clearly "schools of true human growth."

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests, deacons and religious of the diocese of Cleveland, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

August 6 2019 - Feast of the Transfiguration - Glory through self-emptying

The Transfiguration of Jesus reveals the destiny of our human nature, a destiny which our first parents in the Garden of Eden failed to attain. They were meant for glory, but Adam and Eve headed the voice of temptation, which suggested to them that they had been forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge because God jealously wanted to keep them in a state of immaturity. But knowledge in itself does not make us like God.

Knowledge needs to be accompanied by humility, obedience to God, thanksgiving, purity of heart, willingness to suffer for goodness sake. The glory indicated by the Transfiguration is only to be attained through the self-emptying of the Passion. St. Luke hints at this truth, by depicting Our Lord, in transfigured glory speaking to Moses and Elijah about his passion to come. And Immediately following the Transfiguration, in St. Luke’s Gospel, Our Lord teaches "If anyone wishes to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

This teaching" St Cyril of Alexandria comments, "is our salvation". It prepares us for heavenly glory through the acceptance of suffering for Christ's sake. The converse is also true: the vision of heavenly glory granted to Peter, James and John prepares them to accept the suffering that is shortly to come upon them...To see the Transfiguration is to see the kingdom of God. The radiant humanity of the Lord shows the apostles the destiny that awaits them. The Lord can now go to his suffering and death and the apostles can follow him, confident in the glory that can only be attained through sharing in the Cross.

If we wish to attain the glory revealed in the Transfiguration, each of us has much suffering to do, many crosses to carry, penances, detachment from earthly pursuits and pleasures. We have hard work to do, in preaching the Gospel through word and dead, in many works of mercy. Glory is only attained through self-emptying, self-effacement, self-forgetting.

May our faith, hope, and charity increase as empty ourselves of all willfulness and selfishness and bear our crosses in union with Our Blessed Lord for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That Holy Church may radiate the beauty of the transfigured Jesus through her preaching, teaching, works of mercy, and suffering for the sake of the Gospel.

That the Holy Father and all the ordained may find in the Transfiguration the strength and courage needed to bear the crosses which their mission entails.

For those who doubt or deny the divinity of Christ: May the Transfiguration help them believe that Jesus is true God and true man.

That those whose lives have been disfigured by vice and sin, may find in the transfiguration the inspiration they need to begin a new life.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation or illness: that the glory of the Transfiguration may bring them hope and consolation.

For the deceased members of our families and parish, for all deceased priests and religious, and all the souls in purgatory, that they may come to the destiny revealed in the Transfiguration of the Lord, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered.

Heavenly Father, hear the prayers of your pilgrimage Church, and grant us what we truly need that we may follow your Son in His Passion and Death and become heirs of his glorious Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

2nd Week of Lent 2019 - Wednesday - Satanic Resistance to the Cross

There are several instances in the Gospels of the Apostles confusion over Jesus’ teaching, or their slowness to grasp his identity and his mission. And sometimes their understanding of Jesus is downright flawed. Peter is usually the spokesman for the Apostles’ confusions, errors, and fears.

The first time Jesus predicts his Passion, in the Gospel of Matthew, Peter, makes an assertion that is bold, even for him. He brazenly rebukes Jesus, the unformed student pridefully rebukes the teacher. And Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan.” And to be honest, Peter’s assertion was Satanic. Jesus came to save us from our sins through the Cross, and Peter was tempting the Lord to turn away from the cross—to forsake his mission of human redemption.

Today’s Gospel contains Jesus’ third prediction of his Passion. He announces that he will be soon handing himself over to be mocked, scourged, and crucified. This time, it is not
Peter who criticizes the Lord. This time it is James, John, and their mother who approach Jesus.

Matthew includes a detail that shows they are off to a bad start right from the beginning: “the do him homage, wishing to asking him for something.” Do you worship God only so that he can grant you requests? Do you treat God like Santa Claus? What should have been a moment of conversion and deeper identification with Jesus and his ultimate mission, James, John, and Mom approach Jesus, with…false worship?

And then, their request reveals something similar to that Satanic resistance displayed by Peter. Their request is not, help us Jesus to bear the cross with you, but is as removed from the cross as anything possibly could. They request an earthly throne. In the desert, it is Satan who is the one who offers earthly thrones, promises of earthly glory, in exchange for false worship.

Jesus’ disciples are not to be known for their pursuit of earthly thrones and earthly glory. “Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” Rather than pursuing wealth, power, fame, and pleasure, Jesus’ disciples are to be known for their pursuit of service, their embrace of suffering for the good of others.

Sometimes like Peter, James and John, we put up an almost Satanic resistance to the cross, embracing pride right when we should be embracing humility, embracing greed and lust for power right when we should be embracing generosity and self-abandon. Right when we should be embracing prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we turn to earthly distractions, gluttony, and spending money on ourselves.
May our Lenten observances help to deliver us from all that keeps us from embracing the cross, and from Christian service for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the Christians will experience the graces of profound renewal during this season of Lent.  We pray to the Lord.
That God will rescue all those who live at a distance from him because of self-absorption or sin, that this evening’s diocesan wide celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation will bring about a return of many hearts to communion with God.
That all families will recommit themselves to fervent prayer this Lent so as to grow in greater love and holiness.  We pray to the Lord.
That this Lent we will be faithful to fasting and to all the ways that the Lord sanctifies us.  We pray to the Lord.
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.  We pray to the Lord.
For all those who have died, for all the poor souls in purgatory, for those who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.  We pray to the Lord.
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.