17th Week in OT 2020 - Tuesday - The Prophet Weeps, but hopes

Jeremiah the prophet, wept deeply, over the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem and Judah. The Jews living in the south of Israel, as we heard yesterday in that unforgettable scene, had become soiled—like a soiled loincloth. They had allowed the corrupt practices of Babylon to spread among them. Their children, instead of learning to love God with their whole hearts—were worshiping idols and engaging in the corrupt moral practices of Babylon.

So Jeremiah wept. The Lord 600 years or so later, would also weep over Jerusalem for largely rejecting the Gospel message.

Many of us, too, look out at the corruption of the world, the overwhelming number of Catholics who have left the Church. So many weak bishops, so many weak priests. Young people not learning to love God, not being brought to the sacraments by their parents. And we weep.

But Jeremiah did not simply weep, he prayed. He prayed for deliverance from the evils afflicting Judah. He prayed for the salvation of that once holy city. He prayed for a savior. Now some might say that Jeremiah was simply focusing on the negative. I don’t think so. Jeremiah saw the consequences of faithlessness rightly. And he wasn’t just weeping and ringing his hands. The man had been out in the streets preaching, delivering the prophetic message to repent. He was a man of action as well.

In the Gospel, the Lord explains the parable of the weeds and the wheat to his disciples. He explains that yes, there will be tremendous evil in the world. Christians will have to strive to remain faithful to the Gospel amidst terrible, toxic evil. And evil is going to be so insidious, it will often disguise itself—like a wolf in sheep’s clothing—weeds and wheat, during our earthly life, will often appear indistinguishable.

But, before we are tempted to withdraw in isolation from the world, the Lord tells us we must live out in the world, not through isolation from our adversities, but through the unceasing struggle with the weeds that the enemy has planted.

We will grow in holiness and we will find our salvation when we struggle to remain faithful in spite of the sins and weaknesses in our hearts and in spite of the adversity we experience out in the world. And yes, we weep over the sad state of the world, but we must never let our tears keep us from our Gospel mandate.

We don’t know who is a weed and who is wheat, so we preach the Gospel without reservation to all people, we invite all people to conversion, to experience the grace and life the Lord won for us through his own suffering and death, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
For the conversion of hearts hardened to the Gospel, for those who have fallen away from the Church, for non-believers and unrepentant sinners, and that Christians may be attentive to our responsibility of sharing the Gospel with all. We pray to the Lord.

For the purification of our minds and hearts from the errors of the culture and from the lure of worldly attachments. We pray to the Lord.

That leaders of nations may find guidance in the Word of God for proper governance and the pursuit of justice for all.

That Christian families may be places where the Christian faith is studied, understood, observed, and cherished.

For all those who suffer illness, those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. for whom this Mass is offered.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain

17th Week in OT 2020 - Monday - The rotten loincloth and the Mustard Seed

It usually isn’t too difficult to find a connection between the first reading and the Gospel. Today, though…well, let’s see.

First we heard of the rotten loincloth of Jeremiah. A strange image, but, thankfully it’s explained for us. Israel, which was supposed to have a very close, intimate relationship with God, had been soiled by the pagan influences of Babylon. And over time, those pagan influences had caused Israel to rot.
In the Gospel, we hear parables, not of rot, but growth, tremendous growth.

So, the connection between the two readings is not too difficult to grasp after all. When we allow ourselves to be corrupted by the wicked ways of the world, there will be negative consequences, but when we cooperate with the grace of God, there will be flourishing, and that’s true whether we are speaking about personal spiritual growth, or the growth of the Church.

In many places, we’ve seen a shrinking of the Church, our neighborhood—our country. There was a lot of worldliness that crept into the life of the Church the last 50 years: forsaking of time-honored devotions, attempts to change or water-down very clear moral teachings, and let’s not even speak about what happened to the liturgy—a liturgy that facilitated tremendous spiritual growth, was made almost unrecognizable from the liturgy of the ages.

And some folks—bishops and laity alike, believe that we didn’t go far enough, if we just make the church look even more like the world, then we’ll attract young people and non-believers. But that’s never worked, and it seems to contradict the wisdom of scripture.

Spiritual growth will come when we hold fast to that which is good, and preach the Gospel as it was given to the Apostles by our blessed Lord. Pope Benedict, speaking about this current phase of the Church’s evangelization mission to the secular world. He said, it’s not about “immediately attracting the large masses that have distanced themselves from the Church”, rather, we need “to dare, once again and with the humility of the mustard seed, to leave up to God the when and how it will grow”. 

Humility is required for growth, humility which acknowledges that we may have made some mistakes the last 50 years. We may have made a few too many compromises with the secular culture. We may have failed to teach with conviction and clarity the standards of the moral life, and made the liturgy a little too much about man, and not enough about God.

May we exercise the humility needs in order to be that people the Lord made us to be, that we may be a people which spread his renown, his praise, his beauty, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - -

For the humility to repent of our sins, learn from our mistakes and failures, and commit wholeheartedly to the work of the Gospel.

That leaders of nations may find guidance in the Word of God for proper governance and the pursuit of justice for all.

That Christian families may be places where the Christian faith is studied, understood, observed, and cherished.

For all those who suffer illness, those in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice care, and all those who despair of the love of God.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, the deceased members of our families friends and parishes, for those who fought and died for our freedom, and N. for whom this Mass is offered.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all goodness, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain

2nd Week of Lent 2020 - Wednesday - Rejecting the Prophets

Although he had only sought their good in preaching the Word of God, the people of Jerusalem plotted to kill Jeremiah. The message of the prophets, the call to repentance is often met with hostility. The major prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel were martyred by their fellow Jews. The minor prophets Micah and Amos were also martyred.

Listen again, how dismissive and devious are the plots against Jeremiah: “Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah. It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests, nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets." In other words, so little did they think of Jeremiah, that by killing him, they thought they would lose nothing. "And so," they said "let us destroy him by his own tongue; let us carefully note his every word.”

The church fathers certainly see the resistance faced by the prophets as a foreshadowing of the hostility faced by Our Lord, who faced plots, mockery, and calumny, by his own people. The Lord himself speaks of how He was being treated like the prophets of old. Thrice, at least in Matthew’s Gospel, does the Lord predict how he will be handed over to the Jewish authorities to be killed for his Gospel mission.

As much as we are meant to sympathize with Jeremiah and the holy prophets, not being surprised when we face hostility for preaching the Word of God, during Lent, we are to consider the ways that we have resisted God’s Word—how we have dismissed the call to conversion, the call to holiness. We have been called to change, be less selfish, to strive for purity, to humble our pride, to bridle our tongues, and have not wanted to exert the effort.

So, during Lent we do penance through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving for the times we rejected truth, and scorned goodness, and were given to ugly words and uglier behavior, for the times when we have run away from the cross. And we plead, Lord have mercy.

This evening we will have confessions from 5 to 8 in every parish church in the diocese. Invite a fallen-away Catholic back to the Sacraments today. Pray for conversion for all, for the ability to respond humbly and generously to the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

- - - - - - - -

That the Christians will experience the graces of profound renewal during this season of Lent.
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.
For generous giving for the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, especially for victims of the coronavirus and serious seasonal illness, for the unemployed, victims of natural disaster, terrorism, war, violence, and human trafficking, and for those most in need.
For our beloved dead and 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.

December 18 2019 - The Lord our Justice

Yesterday, we heard one of the most ancient prophecies in the bible that the messiah would have royal lineage. Old dying Jacob prophecied to his son Judah, that from him would come a ruler, a king. And that prophecy certainly came true, as David the first king of the united Israel, came from the tribe of Judah. But, as the royal line continued, through David, then Solomon, and so on, those kings failed miserably in their royal duties and obligations. They allowed pagan idolatry to take root in their land, prostitution, child sacrifice, adultery and sexual deviance. David’s line appeared to be more of a lineage of unjust kings, a lineage of the unrighteous. And because of their poor leadership, Israel’s political and religious identity suffered and Israel became subject to foreign invasions from a host of enemies, particularly the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

During the Babylonian captivity God raised up a prophet, Jeremiah to preach to the people of Israel about the need to return to the precepts of the God of Israel and to purify their religion from foreign corruption. And in particularly scathing address to those unjust kings and their failures, Jeremiah offered a word of hope, the prophecy we heard today, of a righteous shoot, a righteous branch from the royal line of David, God will deliver Israel from those unjust kings, and raise up a righteous one.
“As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land…they shall name him the Lord Our Justice”

The O Antiphon for today, December 18, refers to the Messiah as Lord, “O Adonai” the Hebrew word for Lord, “O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel” O Lord and Leader of the House of Israel. Jesus is the just Lord, the righteous one, born of the royal line of David, the fulfillment of God’s promises and the oracles of the prophets.

Of course, we hope and pray that our political leaders will be righteous, who will work for our security and prosperity, who will hopefully stand as bulwarks against the powers of evil and corruption. But we recognize, that no earthly leader can do what Jesus the Lord can do and has done, only he can save us from our sins. Only he can bring the liberation from the powers of darkness in our own souls. Only he can bring eternal life and grant us the inheritance of his eternal kingdom. Only he can make us sons and daughters of God.

May we submit to his rule, and open our minds and hearts every more deeply to the redemption that only he can bring, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - -
 
We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.

That the witness of the Church may help all nations come to believe in the Lordship of Jesus.

That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for the dignity of every human life.  We pray to the Lord.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life and a strengthening of all marriages in holiness.

That Christ may banish disease, drive out hunger, ward off every affliction, and strengthen all who suffer persecution for the sake of the Gospel.

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

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.

5th Week of Lent 2019 - Friday - A pattern emerges

Just one week from Good Friday, our daily readings have grown more ominous. Particularly today, though, we detect striking similarities between Jesus and the prophet Jeremiah. Both Jeremiah and Jesus are denounced, criticized, abandoned by friends, and persecuted.

Jeremiah was sent by God to the Jews of Jerusalem who had allowed much corruption to enter into their religious life. Jesus was quoting Jeremiah when he cleansed the temple, condemning the religious leaders for making the temple into a “den of thieves”. For speaking against the corrupt religious authorities, Jeremiah was scourged. Like Jesus, Israel’s leaders similarly schemed against Jeremiah.  “Come they said, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah…let us destroy him by his own tongue; let us carefully watch his every word.”

Like Jesus in the Gospel today, Jeremiah is often found appealing to his divine mission and to the works he is performing: that in hardening your heart against his call to conversion, you are hardening your heart toward God.

In the reading today Jeremiah said, not only his enemies, but his friends were watching him intensely just looking for an opportunity to denounce him. This reminds us of the apostle Judas, who Jesus had called “his friend”, who next week goes looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. And also how the scribes and Pharisees, his fellow Jews plotted and conspired to bring Jesus to death. In today’s Gospel, things have reached such a fervor that they have rocks in their hands, ready to stone him to death.

These similarities between Jeremiah and Jesus show us that there is a pattern to how God works. He calls sinners to repentance. And our readings should increase our conviction that, like Jeremiah, Jesus is the one sent by God for our redemption. But today’s readings also show us that there is a pattern to how evil works as well. Evil hardens our hearts against the call to conversion, it criticizes what is good, what is from God, it leads people to conspire against God’s prophets, it ignores and even encourages corruption in God’s temple in the Church.

Let us ensure that as we enter into Holy Week, we’ve acknowledged and repented of the times when we have silenced the word of God speaking to us, calling us to conversion, perhaps even times when we have called evil “good” and good “evil”. By pondering the word of God may we grow attuned to those holy inspirations from God’s Spirit. And through our final Lenten penances, may we console Jesus as he prepares to endure tremendous suffering for our redemption, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That the Church will experience the graces of profound renewal during this season of Lent.  That we may grow in our eagerness in spreading the Gospel of Christ.

That all Christian families will recommit themselves to putting Christ at the center of their family life, so as to grow in faith, hope, and love.  We pray to the Lord.

For an end to abortion and for the reverence and protection of human life.  We pray to the Lord.
For the young people of our Church. May they be strengthened to be witnesses to the Gospel of mercy and work for a future that embodies a genuine culture of life.

For those preparing to enter the Church at Easter: that they will be profoundly blessed in their preparation for full initiation into the Body of Christ.  We pray to the Lord.

For the needs of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, those who are sick, unemployed, or suffering from addiction, mental, or physical illness, imprisoned, and those most in need: that the Lord in his goodness will be close to them in their trials.  We pray to the Lord.

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.