2nd Week of Lent 2021 - Friday - Overcoming our tendency to reject God

 Especially, it seems, during the season of Lent, our readings have common themes. In both first reading and Gospel today, we stories 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 tells of the tenant farmers who reject , seize and kill, not only the vineyard owners servants but also his son.

Jesus offers this parable to the chief priests and elders who are treating him like the son of the vineyard owner. The Lord 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. So too, the Lord explains that for those who reject Him, “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

Those who reject God are ultimately fruitless; whatever they hope to build drawing upon their own plans instead of Gods, will ultimately crumble and fall.

Personal Sin, for which we do penance during the Lenten season, always involves a rejection of God’s truth and God’s plan, a rejection of his prophets, a rejection of His Son. Sin pretends that our time, our talents, our treasures belong to us, to dispose of following the whims of our egos. Sometimes the teachings of the Church are found difficult—they infringe on our sinful habits and attachments—and so they are rejected.  At yet, they are difficult so often because we have hardened our hearts against them and have failed to trust God as we should. 

Thanks be to God for sending His missionaries and messengers and His Son into our lives in order to free us from pretend lifestyles.  For the Gospel helps us to remember that I am not the vineyard owner, merely a tenant; and God has sent his Son, to free us from our sins.

In the Lenten Call to repentance we acknowledge those times that we have rejected what God wants for us. The more serious we are about our Lenten penances the more we will come to hate sin and the rejection of God. For our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are meant to till the hardened soil of our hearts; to wake us up out of our tendency to reject God’s truth, and to help us obtain a life free of envy, impatience, jealousy, violence, arrogance, self-centeredness—for a life of authentic service of 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 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 Our Lady and St. Joseph may protect Holy Father Pope Francis in his apostolic visit to the war-torn country of Iraq, and that the Gospel may be accepted and cherished there and in every land. 

That we may generously respond to all those in need: the sick, the suffering, the homeless, the imprisoned, and victims of violence. For the protection of the unborn and a respect for the dignity of every human life.  

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 2021 - Wednesday - Can you drink the chalice?

 In yesterday’s Gospel, the Lord condemned the Pharisees for seeking to sit upon the chair of moses—the exalted position of power and authority. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted”.

Today, the mother the Apostles, James and John comes seeking an exalted position for her sons in Jesus’ kingdom.  

She wants greatness for her sons, as any mother would.  So there is something commendable in her words, she wants the best of her children, and she has come to believe that Jesus was destined to be king.  Yet, that belief is a misunderstanding of what the Messiah’s kingship means and entails.  

James and John seemed pretty ready to grasp at it the worldly greatness, perhaps dreaming of endless wealth, celebrity recognition, political power, and command of military might.  

Jesus, however, defines “greatness” very differently.  Greatness comes from giving, and service, and sacrifice. Whoever wishes to be great must become a slave, he says.  Greatness comes not in possessing the esteem of men, but in serving others with one’s entire life.  

It is good to strive for greatness.  But, again, whose version of greatness do you strive for, the world’s or Christ’s?  The royal road to Christian greatness is the cross.  The Christian should strive for great sanctity through great self-sacrifice.  The greatness of the saints is found in their ability to die to their own ambitions, and to pour themselves out abundantly in service to the kingdom of God.  

Jesus promises that James and John would drink of the same cup he would drink—the cup of torture and death for the salvation of souls.  James was the first of the Twelve to drink the cup of Christ when he was beheaded in Jerusalem by Herod Agrippa about ten years after the Lord’s death.  And although John was the only apostle to die a natural death, this was not before experiencing great hardship and exile.  One could say John lived a martyr’s life even if he never died a martyr’s death.

This morning, Bishop Malesic offered a simple reflection. His excellency wrote, “Jesus said to James and John that following him is not easy.  It has a cost.  Jesus asks them: “Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”  The chalice that Jesus is referring to is the cup of rejection and suffering.

Sometimes, doing the right thing is difficult.  Just ask Jeremiah the prophet in our first reading.  He was thrown into a pit because he spoke the truth to people who did not want to hear it. 

To follow Jesus will always entail a bit of pain, sometimes even a great amount of it.  Can we drink of that chalice?  Can we afford not to?”

Through our Lenten observances, may those attitudes of entitlement and self-preoccupation be conquered within us, and may we drink the chalice of self-sacrifice,  service, and love for the glory of God and salvation of souls.  

 

For profound renewal for the entire church during this Lenten season. 

That parents will help their children seek the priorities of the Christian Gospel over all else, and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.

For the protection of the unborn and respect for all human life. 

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.

2nd Week of Lent 2021 - Tuesday - Humility, humility, humility

Yesterday, we considered four commands given by the Lord to his disciples: Be merciful. Stop Judging. Stop condemning. Forgive.

Today’s Gospel can be boiled down to one commandment: be humble. 

Humility is the very first of the beatitudes preached in the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the poor in spirit. Being humble, being poor in spirit, is the first step in beatitude, in holiness. 

When St. Augustine was asked to name the three most important virtues, he gave an interesting answer. The first he said is “humility”, the second he said is “humility”, and third he said is “humility”

The Lord’s own humility is beyond our comprehension. He chose to be born in a stable at Bethlehem. As a baby, he was a Refugee in Egypt. He lived in the obscure village of Nazareth. He had the menial job of a carpenter. During His public ministry, he had nowhere to lay His head. As Isaiah foretold: "He was spurned and avoided by men, a Man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity". He allowed himself to be misunderstood, mocked, arrested, beaten and tortured. He humbled Himself even to death on a cross, the death of a slave.

St. Francis of Assisi said: “Everyday, Jesus humbles Himself just as He did when He came from His heavenly throne into the Virgin's womb; everyday He comes to us and lets us see Him in abjection, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar. He shows Himself to us in this sacred bread just as He once appeared to His apostles in real flesh.”  

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Our Lenten task certainly, then, is to identify those ways in which we exalt ourself, and imitate and practice the humility exalted and commanded by the Lord.

We are to give alms without the blowing of trumpets, pray behind closed doors, and fast without show. We are to shun the spotlight, turn away from seats of honor, and take up the washbasin to wash the dirty feet of our neighbor, and to do so without hope of earthly repayment or notoriety. We are to be broken, shared, and poured out like ordinary bread and ordinary wine. We are to seek the shattering of our earthly pride and seek forgiveness from God and our neighbor who we have wronged.

May this Lent help us grow in humility, by decreasing our instincts of self-aggrandizement and self-promotion, that we might truly learn to love and serve others for their own sake, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That our Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving may humble our earthly pride and bring about conversion and renewal within the Church.

For all those preparing to enter into Christ through the saving waters of Baptism and those preparing for full initiation this Easter, may these final Lenten weeks bring about purification from sin and enlightenment in the ways of holiness.

For those who have fallen away from the Church, who have become separated through error and sin, for those who reject the teachings of Christ, for their conversion and the conversion of all hearts.

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

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.

2nd Week of Lent 2021 - Monday - Be merciful. Stop judging. Stop condemning. Forgive.

The Lord gives four short commands for us in the Gospel today: Be merciful.  Stop judging. Stop condemning.  Forgive.  Be merciful.  Stop judging. Stop condemning.  Forgive.  

We’d do well just to replay those four commands in our heads over and over for the remainder of Lent. Be merciful.  Stop judging. Stop condemning.  Forgive.  

The call to be merciful is a perennial commandment in Holy Scripture. The people of Israel were to be known for their mercy to widows, orphans, and resident aliens. And so too, Christians are to practice the mercy of the good Samaritan, and mercy of the father of the prodigal son. And notice, the Lord doesn’t say, “be merciful....once in while.” “Be merciful, only to the people whom you like.”  “Be merciful, only to people who will be able to pay you back.”  No, he says, “be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful” and his mercy is available to all people at all times.  

What does it mean not to judge. We are certainly to avoid the sin of rash judgment—giving people the benefit of the doubt. Catechism says, To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:

Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another's statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.

To avoid condemning we need to avoid treating people as if they are not worthy of our help. To condemn a person is to say that they are too sinful, too ignorant, too perverse for my help or the help of God—I will have nothing to do with them because they are damned anyway. Rather, as long as a person draws breath, we are to bring God’s goodness to them and preach the Gospel to them. 

Finally, we must forgive. Forgive, forgive, forgive. If we do not practice forgiveness, we will not be forgiven by the Father. We must let go of all grudges, all resentment towards those who have injured us either physically or emotionally. We are to forgive 70 times 70 times when our brother sins against us. Some of us are more willing to forgive strangers than close family members, because we claim they should know better, but forgiveness is to granted to all people: strangers, neighbors, family, friends, those in authority over us, to all.

Forgive.  Be merciful.  Stop judging. Stop condemning. Forgive.  Be merciful.  Stop judging. Stop condemning. 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 and bring to all people purification of sin and selfishness.

For the Holy Spirit’s continued guidance for Our Holy Father, Bishop, and all Church leaders.

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 places where Christian’s are persecuted and 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.

2nd Sunday of Lent 2021 - Tests of Faith

 
From the moment we are introduced to the character of Abraham in the book of Genesis, his faith is constantly being tested by God.  

The very first time in Scripture God speaks to Abraham, God gives Abraham a test, and a serious one.  God tells Abraham: Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and your father's house to a land that I will show you. “Leave your home, leave your father and kinsfolk, leave everything you have ever known…trust me, I’ll let you know where you are going when you get there.”

That would test anyone’s faith. But I think it’s a pretty relatable one. Because each one of us are asked by God to go to strange people in unknown places. It’s that feeling or sense we get that there is something we should do that is outside of our comfort zone. My neighbor just lost her husband, should I go and comfort her, should I shovel her driveway, volunteer to get her groceries? Or…for the season of Lent…well I allow God to take me deeper this Lent in prayer? Will I go to stations of the cross? Will I go to confession? Will I go to weekday Mass? Will I open up the bible more often or pickup the rosary beads? 

Authentic spiritual growth always involves a test of faith, trusting God to lead us to unknown places. I know that when I’ve failed to trust God, I’ve always been a little sadder for it.

Another test came when Abraham was traveling through the countryside with his nephew, Lot.  The two men were shepherds. And over time their flocks grew larger and larger.  It became clear that the land could not support both flocks of Abraham and Lot. So, Abraham gave Lot a choice.  The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.

Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley. The whole area was well watered, it was ideal for raising a flock.  So, Lot chose for himself the fertile plans of the Jordan leaving to Abraham the land to the west, the rocky, hard, land of Canaan. Canaan was clearly less desirable, especially since, at the time, it was filled with wicked people who would likely terrorize Abraham and steal his sheep.  

This was a test, too.  Would Abraham trust God, even when it seemed like he was receiving an unfair settlement.  It's hard to trust God normally, even harder when there might be some suffering involved or when we have a temptation to tip the scale in our own favor. 

There are about twelve such tests of Abraham in the book of Genesis—the most popular and most difficult test we heard today.  God had promised Abraham numerous posterity—God said that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, and now he commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.  

Why did God test Abraham’s faith, anyway? Didn’t God know the outcome? Didn’t he know Abraham’s heart? Well, yes, of course. God knows all things. God doesn’t test us to make sure that we really love Him. He tests us because it is by that test, that our faith is fortified and strengthened. God tested Abraham’s faith to increase his faith, that he might become the father of a nation of faithful people.

So, too with us, a Christian who trusts God in small matters—who passes those small tests—is able to be used as God’s instrument in great matters. For example, St. Theresa the Little Flower trusted God in the small obediences of her life—she was obedient to her parents, she was obedient to her religious superiors, she undertook small sufferings and small acts of love for the good of souls, and because of it, she became a doctor of the Church to which millions of people look for guidance in their spiritual lives. 

A good priest friend of mine would often say, “everything prepares us for something else.”  Our little sufferings, those little tests of faith, prepare us, to help others in their trials and sufferings. Again, I think of our Lenten penances. We make these spiritual commitments, we undergo these little spiritual tests, and when we are faithful to them—there is spiritual growth--- something good comes out of our faithfulness to these commitments. We are strengthened in fortitude, we build up our spiritual muscles against the powers of temptation and fear. I am less afraid of suffering for the Gospel because I know what suffering is like, I’ve willingly undergone suffering for the kingdom. 

In the Gospel, we see Peter, James, and John, undergoing a little test of faith—they need to follow the Lord up the mountain. Because they trusted the Lord, they are given this glimpse of the Lord in his transfigured glory. And this prepares them for a bigger test of faith. No?

Soon after witnessing his glorious transfiguration, Peter, James, and John would see Our Lord arrested, beaten, mocked, scourged, crucified, and killed.  They would need to remember the glory of the transfiguration when they witnessed the horror of the cross. 

God uses those transfiguration moments of our lives to prepare us for when His glory is hard to see. St. Ignatius of Loyola called these transfiguration moments, “consolations in the spiritual life.” Hopefully, everyone here has had transfiguration moments in their lives, spiritual consolations: maybe at a beautiful mass, or your wedding, or on a really good retreat or Lenten mission, or kneeling in gratitude after a really good confession, or praying with other prayer warriors: in this powerful moments, like at the transfiguration, God’s goodness is palpable and undeniable. In those mountain top experiences of God, we might even respond like St. Peter today, bursting out “Lord it is good that we are here!”  These powerful experience of God’s closeness, inflame our hearts with love. 

But just like with the apostles, those transfiguration times prepare us for future trials, what St. Ignatius of Loyola called the times of desolation, the desert times, when God’s goodness and presence is hard or impossible to detect. In those times, faith is tested—the crucifixion is encountered—the prospect of suffering—the reality of evil is encountered,  but again, in order that we may grow spiritually and be prepared for God’s work out in the world.

Personally, I think I’m in a mountain top period right now: my Lenten spiritual reading and prayer is nourishing my soul, the burden of my Lenten penances is not particularly onerous, I made a good confession right before lent, I’ve been surprised at how moving praying our stations of the cross has been the last two weeks. 

When we are in the period of consolation, we saver it, we thank God for it—it’s a foretaste of heavenly glory, but always with the knowledge that the consolation is likely going to proceed a period of trial. 

In this trial times—those desolate times—we recall the consolations of the past to give us some strength, we recall that the Lord is testing our faith that it may grow, that we may become more effective instruments of his goodness. 

If you haven’t really gotten serious about Lenten prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, it’s not too late to make some good spiritual commitments. For our God is so good that the transfiguration can be experienced even in times, maybe, particularly in times of penance.

If you’ve already found yourself failing in these matters, it’s not to late to recommit to them. And there’s an experience of God’s goodness, too—in his mercy and his patience.

Through our Lenten observances, may the Lord continue to lead us deeper into the Paschal Mystery for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

1st Week of Lent 2021 - Friday - The paradox of God's impossible standards

Unless your holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of God.

The scribes and Pharisees were renowned for their zeal, concern for purity, and their conformity to the law of Moses.  The very word Pharisee comes from the word meaning “to separate”. 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 humanely impossible standards for entrance into the kingdom of God. Well…he has.

No amount of fasting will gain you entrance to heaven. No amount of almsgiving will gain you entrance into heaven. No amount of feeding the poor and clothing the naked, on their own, will gain us entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

For there is nothing we can do humanly to gain entrance to heaven. If there was, we wouldn’t have needed a savior. Even the first reading contains the same impossible standard: “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.” Again, the same impossible standard. Who of us has kept all God’s statutes? Not a one. If we had, we wouldn’t have begun Lent marking ourselves as sinners with ashes on our foreheads.

Since my holiness and acts of charity and penances are not enough, what can I do? If there is nothing we can do, what can we do?

St. Paul understood man’s inability to gain entrance to heaven on his own. Which is why he sought for Jesus Christ to take over his life. So much so, that he goes on to say that, “It IS no longer me who lives, but Christ who lives in me.” How can the holiness of my life surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees—when it’s not my holiness—when it is not my will directing my life—but His.

A week into the season of Lent, and we are probably still doing pretty well with our Lenten penances—maybe even taking some pride that we haven’t slipped and snacked when we shouldn’t or given into gossip when we shouldn’t. Today’s readings are a remedy to human pride that can set in when we become focused on good works.  A reminder that our good works are not a replacement for our need for a savior, rather, they are the means by which we repent for not allowing God to direct our lives, and a solemn plea for Him to do what we cannot do, to purify, to cleans, to guide, and direct our lives, to help us decrease that he may increase in us, and to deepen our gratitude for the surpassing righteousness of Christ, who alone has saved us from our sins, 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 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.

1st Week of Lent 2021 - Wednesday - Lavish, dramatic, and over-the-top repentance

 A week into the penitential season of Lent, we read one of the most dramatic responses to the call to repentance in the entire old testament—the entire a city of Nineveh—about 120,000 people—everyone, the nobility, the peasantry, even the cattle and sheep—all repented when God sent Jonah to preach to them.  

We then read of the Lord Jesus referencing the story of Nineveh in his ministry. The Lord looks around at this crowd of pharisees, scribes, and common folk and he calls them an evil generation for failing to repent at his preaching. If an entire city of non-Jews will repent due to the preaching of Jonah, a lesser prophet, how hard hearted must this generation be for failing to repent at his teaching! some of these folk probably took their religion pretty seriously---and didn’t appreciate his tone, as we might say, these days.

Why are we presented with these readings, in tandem, a week into Lent. Well, for a number of reasons. First, we begin to understand a bit of the hostility toward Jesus. He’s basically telling folk that they’re evil for not accepting Gospel. So we hear these readings so that we are not surprised by calls for his crucifixion come Holy Week.

Secondly, we begin to understand our own need to repent. For unlike that evil generation of the Lord’s day, we are called to imitate the Ninevites in their dramatic, lavish, and over-the-top repentance. Our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving should be lavish, dramatic, and a little over-the-top…we shouldn’t let a bunch of Ninevites show us up, after all.

And thirdly, perhaps we remember that in preaching the Gospel in the midst of the fallen world and undergoing our Lenten penances, we might experience some of the same hostility as the Lord experienced. For turning our hearts to the Lord in visible signs of repentance, we might experience from the members of the current wicked generation, mockery or hostility—for pricking their consciences. They might try to convince us that we are wasting our time with all these “silly” penances.

Hostility, will certainly come from our spiritual enemy, who hates to see us taking Lent seriously. The devil hates signs of repentance. The devil hates our efforts to pray more, fast more, and give more. He hates that we seek to spread the kingdom because he knows that we’ll be successful. For just as in the Lord’s time, some people did respond positively to his call, and some people will respond positively to the call to conversion by the Church in this generation.

So may we persevere throughout these 40 days in our signs of repentance, our Lenten penances, that through us the Lord may continue to draw souls to himself 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 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.

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.