5th Week of Lent 2026 - Tuesday - Remedy for the serpent's poison

 

For forty years, God had provided for his people as they wandered the desert, giving them manna from heaven. God had fed them, God had sustained them. And yet, as we heard in the reading from the book of numbers today, “the people complained against God and Moses: We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

With their hearts hardened against God, the Israelites became subject to the deadly poison of serpents.

There is a bit of a parallel to Adam and Eve in the garden. God had provided food aplenty for Adam and Eve. But they were discontented with the food God provided, and looked to the fruit of the forbidden tree. They too became subject to the deadly poison of the serpent at the forbidden tree. They were poisoned by the serpent’s bite, and that poison brought death, not only for them, but for the entire human race.

The story from the Book of Numbers looks back to Adam and Eve and the consequences of sin, but it also foreshadows the victory of the New Adam in the Gospel.

The bronze serpent, mounted on a pole, becoming a source of life for the poisoned Israelites, foreshadows the saving death of Jesus Christ, mounted on the cross, which becomes a source of eternal life for all who believe in Him.

The drama of Adam and Eve, the drama of sin, the drama of the Israelites in the desert, plays over and over again in our lives.  We allow trust, love, and gratitude to God to die in our hearts whenever we turn to sin. We allow ourselves to grow discontent with the good food God has provided for us and seek to satisfy our hunger for God in so many artificial substitutes. We allow the serpent to whisper to us, that we should grasp for more than what God has provided. The story warns us of the folly of turning our hearts from God and the consequences that inevitably ensue.

For us and for all people, Jesus is the remedy for this cycle of sin and death. Lifted up on the Cross, He becomes the healing we could never provide for ourselves. To break the cycle, we must turn our ears away from the poisonous words of the serpent, but to turn our eyes to Christ with faith.

Lent teaches us to recognize the poison of sin in our lives and to turn again to the Crucified One. If we look to Him with repentance and trust, He will heal what sin has wounded and lead us from death to life for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Trusting in the mercy of God, and turning our eyes to Christ lifted up for our salvation, let us bring before the Father our prayers and petitions.

For the Church, that she may faithfully proclaim Christ crucified as the true remedy for sin and death, and lead many souls to repentance and healing.

For the defense of our nation from all threats foreign and domestic; for a quick and peaceful resolution to all violent conflict and safety for all first responders.

For those preparing to receive the Easter Sacraments, that by God’s grace they may be protected from evil and drawn ever more deeply into the saving mystery of Christ’s Cross and Resurrection.

For those whose hearts have grown hardened through sin, complaint, or ingratitude, that the Lord may soften their hearts and restore in them trust, love, and gratitude, let us pray to the Lord. Lord hear our prayer.

For the sick, the suffering, and those burdened by illness of body, mind, or spirit, that the healing power of Christ may strengthen them and give them peace, let us pray to the Lord. Lord hear our prayer.

For the faithful departed, that having looked to Christ in faith during this life, they may now behold Him face to face in the glory of heaven, let us pray to the Lord. Lord hear our prayer.

Heavenly Father, you sent your Son into the world to heal us from the poison of sin and lead us from death to life. Hear the prayers we place before you, and grant them according to your holy will. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

 

December 12 2022 - Our Lady of Guadalupe - Crushing the head of the serpent

 On December 9, 1531 Our Lady appeared to the simple peasant, Juan Diego, and sent him to tell the bishop that heaven desired a church to be built on the hill of Tepeyac. 

Like Moses at the burning bush, Juan Diego asked our Lady, and who shall I say you are who are sending me? 

And she responded in his native language of Nahuatl. She called herself "Tlecuatlecupe," (Ta-LAY-Cau-tul-CUP-pe) which means "the one who crushes the head of the serpent"

Remember, that at that time in Mexico the Catholic Church was very small. The first missionaries to Mexico only arrived in 1519. The bishop to whom Juan Diego was sent, was the first bishop of Mexico. The native religion was still very much in full force. In 1487, when Juan Diego was just 13 years old, he would have witnessed a most horrific event: the Aztec ruler at the time, dedicated a new temple pyramid to the chief gods of the Aztec pantheon, which involved the human sacrifice of over 80,000 men over a period of four days and four nights. 

Human life was not valued. Pagan Gods, such as the winged-serpent God—Quetzalcoatl—were worshipped through unimaginably bloody human sacrifice. And so, for our Lady to introduce herself as “the one who crushes the head of the serpent” had a number of meanings. Firstly, it was a reference to Scripture—for Genesis foretells how the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. Revelation, too, depicts the woman with child pitted against the ancient serpent returned. But her introduction was also prophetic in that the religion of human sacrifice which worshipped the serpent God would soon be crushed.

What was in 1531 an almost entirely pagan culture almost entirely converted to Christ.  According to a contemporary chronicler, nine million Aztecs became Catholic in a very short time.  And even though Catholicism flourished in Mexico for about 400 years, we know that the old serpent is always conspiring to regain his lost territory.

The last 100 years have seen terrible persecution of the Church: state sponsored persecution, the murder of holy priests, outlawing of monasteries, seizing of Church property, atheism, and also the neopagan worship of santa Muerte, a female deity of death. 

Wherever holy faith is abandoned, the powers of evil and death will soon return, but Our Lady is unfailing protection and strength to all who devoutly implore her assistance.

The Feast of Guadalupe is an important Advent feast, to remind us that we prepare during Advent to celebrate the birth of Christ the Savior, victor over the powers the ancient serpent—of sin and death. And so throughout Advent we do well to invoke Our Lady in our prayers for conversion--the conversion of our culture, especially for those who, because of their errors and false beliefs spread and participate in evil intentionally or unintentionally, and our own conversion—that the powers of evil and death may have absolutely no place in our hearts.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and the Right to Life Movement, pray for us, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We bring our prayers to God through Mary.

That Our Lady may protect the Church from all evil, and aid us in the mission of the Gospel.

That all government leaders may be awakened to the supreme dignity of each human life, and that all people of our nation may work together for an end to the culture of death. 

For all mothers, that they may find in Mary the example and strength to carry out their vocation. 

For all refugees forced to flee from their homes, that God may bring peace to them and their country of origin.

That the sick may draw strength, consolation, and healing by turning to Our Lady, who intercedes for us from her place in heaven. 

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

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

5th Week of Lent 2021 - Tuesday - The Remedy for Death

 Discontent with the food God has provided. An encounter with a serpent. Certain aspects of the story from the Book of Numbers this morning have certain parallels with the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

God had provided food aplenty for Adam and Eve. They could eat from any of the fruit trees in the Garden of Eden.  But they were discontented with the food God provided, and looked to the fruit of the forbidden tree.

Similarly, the Israelites in the desert: God had provided manna from heaven. But they were discontented. They wanted more. Their complaining was a sure sign that they were failing to trust God and be grateful to God.

Like the Israelites, who are bit and poisoned by serpents, Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be proverbially bit by the serpent at the forbidden tree. They are poisoned by the serpent’s bite, and that poison brings death, not only for them, but for the entire human race.

The story from the Book of Numbers not only looks back to Adam and Eve, but foreshadows the victory of the New Adam, in the Gospel. The bronze serpent, mounted on a pole, becoming a source of life for the poisoned Israelites, foreshadows the saving death of Jesus Christ, mounted on the cross, which becomes a source of eternal life for all who believe in Him.

The drama of Adam and Eve, the drama of sin, the drama of the Israelites in the desert, plays over and over again in our lives.  We allow trust, love, and gratitude to God to die in our hearts whenever we turn to sin. We allow ourselves to grow discontent with the good food God has provided for us and seek to satisfy our hunger for God in so many artificial substitutes. We allow the serpent to whisper to us, that we should grasp for more than what God has provided. And then the serpent strikes. We yield to sinful temptation. 

Even a venial sin would bring eternal death, if not for the saving grace of Christ. For the poison of sin is eternally lethal if left untreated. But thanks be to God, the divine physician has become the remedy of sin through his death.

There are many that refuse to turn their gaze to the saving cross of Christ out of stubbornness, ignorance, or attachment to sin. Yet, we are called to lift him up for all to see nonetheless, in our speech, in our liturgical life, and good Christian example.

As Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum near, let us look to the cross and lift high the cross that the Lord may bring healing and deliverance to those who love him. May the poison of sin which continues to linger in us in the form of selfishness, mistrust of God, or disordered attachment to earthly goods and activities, be eradicated in us through the grace of the Savior 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. And That the Church might be delivered and protected from all spirits of error, heresy, schism, and unbelief. Let us pray to the Lord.

That during this Year of St. Joseph, the Church may discover a deeper devotion to our Universal Patron. That through St. Joseph’s intercession families may be strengthened, priestly and religious vocations may increase, demons may be scattered, and the sick and dying may know the peace of Jesus. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow, isolation, addiction, or illness: may they experience the healing graces of Christ. Let us 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.  Let us pray to the Lord. Let us 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.