1st Week of Lent 2023 - Friday - The opposite of sin

The Gospel reading for today should sound familiar, we heard it just two weeks ago on the 6th Sunday of ordinary time. For a few weeks leading up to Lent, in fact, our Gospels were being taken from the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, his instructions to his followers on how to live a life of blessedness—of holiness. Growth in holiness is certainly one of the purposes of Lent.

“Unless your holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

The scribes and Pharisees were admired for their zeal, concern for purity, their conformity to the law of Moses.  The very word Pharisee came comes from the word meaning “to separate”. For the Pharisees sought to separate themselves from everything that was sinful. They would even avoid eating with sinners, hence, their consternation when Jesus would dine with tax collectors and prostitutes.  

How could our holiness possibly "surpass" that of the people of Jesus' day who obeyed every letter of the law?  It sounds as if Jesus has just set the highest standards in history.  

Well, what is the Lord doing in the Gospel today. He’s takes one of the 10 commandments. He mentions how most people of his time understand faithfulness to that commandment to be, and then says, no, my followers need to do better than that. Don’t just avoid murder, avoid hateful thoughts that could lead to hostility and also seek to make peace. Don’t just avoid adultery, avoid lustful thoughts that could lead to sins of the flesh, and seek to purify your heart from all perversion. Don’t just avoid theft, avoid thoughts of greed and envy that lead to stealing, and avoid emotional attachment to possessions by giving them to the needy. 

Not only do we need to turn away from sin, we need to turn towards goodness, selflessness. For Jesus isn’t holy simply because He is without sin, but because his charity overflows. Similarly with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary isn’t holy simply because she never sinned, but because her soul became an ocean of grace. And with all the saints whom we honor throughout the year. They are holy not simply because the avoid sin, but they sought to root out all attitudes that could lead to sin and engaged with real intentional effort.

The opposite of sin isn’t simply not sinning; the opposite of the selfishness of sin is the active engagement in patterns of goodness, charity, and mercy. The opposite of sin is the Love of the Sacred Heart, enflamed with charity, embracing the crown of thorns and all suffering, for the supreme good of others.

It is this transformation we seek during Lent, not simply avoid sin, but engagement in charity, which is the very life of God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -  

That the season of Lent may bring the most hardened hearts to repentance and bring to all people surpassing holiness seen in works of goodness, justice, and charity.

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.

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.

8th Week in Ordinary Time 2022 - Monday - "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

 

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

One of the great concern many priests and probably many of you have is that fewer and fewer people seem to be concerned with this question: young people, our family members, over 80% of Catholics who aren’t even going to Church on Sundays anymore. What happened? What changed?

It’s certainly one of the symptoms of the secularism and materialism of our age: this indifference to eternity. Many ask questions  like, “what must I do to get into Harvard, what must I do to be a famous athlete, what must I do to make my first million by the age of 30?” Maybe, many people do not even have a driving question.

This man in the Gospel today, he had this driving question. So much so, notice, St. Mark tells us, that he runs up to Jesus, he falls to his knees, to ask this question. 

Perhaps so few are asking about eternity because so much information is available at our fingertips now. People figure, well, when the time comes to start asking ultimate questions, I can just look up the answer on the internet. Perhaps, they are so caught up into the trivial, they don’t even think to concern themselves with what comes next.

Or, perhaps, they have thought about eternity, and instead of turning to God for answers, they’ve concluded that, well, eternal life is a guarantee, everybody goes to heaven.

And that would make things everything easier. Rich, poor, religiously devout, religiously neglectful, everyone goes to heaven. I’ve come across this belief among many Catholics. 

But this answer is at odds with what Jesus teaches in the Gospel. There are a lot of things that can keep us from heaven. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” And that’s just one situation. Read through the Gospels, and note how many times Jesus uses the word “unless”. Unless you do this, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. “Unless you become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” “Unless you are born again by water and the holy spirit, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood” and so on.

The young man went away sad in the Gospel, because the Son of God told him that unless he gave up his love of possessions he couldn’t go to heaven. Many refuse to ask that ultimate question, what must I do to inherit eternal life” because they are unwilling to face that “unless”. For some people, it’s just easier to provide their own answer, write their own Gospel—an anti-Gospel—where can have your cake and eat it to, where you can have heaven without having to change anything about yourself on earth. I’m already perfect is the great anti-Gospel of our age. Because why would you need God if you’re already perfect?

In a few days we begin the great season of Lent, a time for us to acknowledge what in us, in our attitudes and behaviors and attachments need to be given up, in order to be perfected by God. The world is confounded by this, those who already believe themselves perfect, can’t imagine why we would do penance. But God work through our penances to bring about a change of heart for those who live the anti-Gospel, that all hearts may come to long and seek the life that can only come from Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - -  

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.”

That the upcoming season of Lent may be a time of profound renewal for our parish and the Church as we engage in the penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

For the conversion of those who reject the Gospel, for grace to break through to hearts hardened toward God, for the protection of young people from the errors and perversions of our culture.

For those who struggle because of addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, inclement weather, or ongoing trials of any kind.

For the dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, and for X, for whom this Holy mass is offered. 

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

3rd Sunday of Lent 2019 - "Are you saved?"

“Are you saved?” You may have heard this question asked by “born again” or “evangelical” Christians. A gentleman from a previous parish assignment told me a story how one day of how a pair of nicely dressed fella’s carrying bibles came to his front door and asked him “Are you saved?” To which he responded, “Am I saved? Am I saved? No, I’m Catholic!”

He then said, “Am I saved? Well, I believe that the Lord Jesus by His Death and Resurrection has saved me by my sins, by his blood my sins are washed away, he opened to me the gates of heaven, he gave me the chance to spend eternity with him forever. So yes, I believe I am saved…BUT, I can’t take that for granted. Being saved is something I need to work on every day. There’s nothing I want more than to spend eternity with my Lord and my beloved wife, BUT I can never just presume heaven is guaranteed to me. So every morning I pray, I try my best to get to Mass and Holy Communion, and every night I say an act of contrition, because I know I’m still a sinner. And when I know I’ve committed a serious sin, I go to Confession…I am saved, but I just don’t think we can take salvation for granted.”  Good Catholic answer.

In a sense, this answer encapsulates one of the paradoxes of the Christian faith. On the one hand, you bet we are saved: By Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, Our Lord has saved us from sin and Satan. On the other hand, the reception of that gift of salvation is something we need to be constantly open to. Baptism is not a get-out-of-jail free card. Faith is a living relationship: it requires daily prayer, confession of sin, reception of the Eucharist; and when we cease these things, our souls begin to wither, like the fig tree in the Gospel today.

For if salvation was guaranteed by a one-time profession of faith, why would St. Paul give the warning, we heard in the 2nd reading today? He said,  “Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.” We need to take care not to fall, because falling is a real possibility. Earlier in the same first letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks about the importance of mortifying—disciplining—his flesh for the sake of his salvation. He said, , “ I discipline by body lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. “Disqualification” from what? From heaven! Paul worried, or should I say, he acknowledged the possibility that he could be preaching the Gospel in one moment, and then, because of his failure to control his sinful appetites that he could lose out on heaven.

Jesus in the Gospels gives many such stark warnings. He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”  He says, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, unless you take up your cross and follow me, unless you repent…you’ll perish, as we heard repeated twice in our Gospel today, unless you are born again by water and the holy spirit, unless your righteousness surprises the scribes and the pharisees, unless you become like this little child you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Salvation is a path. Baptism sets us on that path, but it does not assure us salvation. Salvation is not assured simply by pronouncing some formula or creed, it doesn’t just require confessing ones sins and receiving communion. It doesn’t just require offering our sufferings in union with Jesus. It’s not just any one of those things by themselves, rather, salvation requires a living relationship with God through Christ that encompasses the whole of life: the rituals of the Church, humility of spirit, the acts of mercy, obedience to Church teaching, fervent recourse to the saints, all of this is part of salvation that we cannot take for granted.

St. Paul’s warning today in the second reading is an essential warning: “whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall”. If you think your salvation is guaranteed you are on slippery ground. None of us here in this place are beyond the danger of earthly pride, none of us have fully achieved the holy perfection for which we were made. We are works in progress. God is working to perfect us and sanctify us and stretch our hearts to be more like His, and hopefully we are cooperating with God’s grace to this end.

But there is the real possibility that we can turn away or obstruct God’s work, especially if pride gets in the way. And this is a possibility to our dying breath, because if we are not free to turn away we aren’t really free. Love requires freedom. Salvation involves cooperating freely with the grace of God. Saying yes, not just once, but every day, every moment.

We look to the saints as our great examples of sanctity, because they are the souls who say yes to God, over and over, without hesitation, not just when it is convenient for them, even when it means being brought out of their comfort zone. They give God the blank check, they approach the burning bush in prayer, even when it means that their egos might be immolated by that holy fire. They undergo serious penances, so that the soil of their souls be might tilled and made fertile and fruitful. They truly dare to utter from the depths of their being “speak Lord your servant is listening.” You should learn everything you can about your patron saints, who want to teach you how to respond generously to God and heroically, like they did.

In the Gospel, the Lord lamented that the religious leadership of Israel had failed to bear fruit: He compared them to the fruitless fig tree, because they had ceased to bear fruit for God. The leadership had failed to lead people to Jesus and ready acceptance of the Gospel. Fruitlessness. The Pharisees thought that “their salvation was assured” because they were observing certain external precepts that they decided were the marks of holiness.

But salvation requires not just external observance, but the humility to acknowledge that I am still in need of help, I am in need of conversion to the depth of my heart, I need that living relationship with God that is nurtured by prayer and manifested in the acts of mercy.

“Are you saved?” Yes, we are saved by faith, and that’s why I’m here at Mass lest I take that gift of salvation for granted. Yes, we are saved by faith, but that faith tells us that we are works in progress. Yes, we are saved by faith, by that faith that requires daily conformity with Christ, conformity of the mind, the heart, and will, assent to all that the Church proposes for belief, humble acknowledgement of my sins, acts of mercy toward my neighbor, and the reception of his flesh and blood.

May our Lenten observances assist us in seeking that daily conversion the Lord wants for us, that will enable us to bear fruit for the kingdom, that we may “take care not to fall” and so come to our eternal reward for the glory of God and salvation of souls.