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.

February 23 2021 - St. Polycarp and the many fruits of Prayer

 

We have many great saints whose feasts days fall within the Lenten season.  Today is the feast day of saint who was born just about 40 years after the death of Jesus. His name was Polycarp, and he was the bishop of a place called Smyrna, which is in the modern-day country of Turkey, not too far from Ephesus, where St. John took Mary to live after Jesus’ death and resurrection. In fact, Polycarp was a student of one of the apostles, of St. John.

In the middle column of stained glass windows here in the eastern narthex is a series of scenes from the life of our Patron St. Ignatius of Antioch. And In the top window, there he is with St. Polycarp kneeling at the feet of St. John the Apostle, as he reads his Gospel. Polycarp and Ignatius were ordained bishops by St. John—and each sent to their respective dioceses—Ignatius to Antioch and Polycarp to Smyrna.

Ignatius and Polycarp continued to correspond after their ordination.

Ignatius begins his epistle to the bishop of Smyrna praising Polycarp’s rock-like faith, the blamelessness of his life, and then encourages him to press forward in the race of the Christian life and to work for the salvation of all people. “In all circumstances be “wise as a serpent,” and perpetually “harmless as a dove”, Ignatius tells Polycarp, quoting our Lord in explaining to his disciples how they must deal with the worldly.

Then Ignatius tells Polycarp, give yourself to unceasing prayer, asking for more wisdom than you already have. A bishop must be a man of unceasing prayer and wisdom. While a bishop must certainly be out in the streets preaching the Gospel, administering his diocese, setting good example for his flock, a bishop must be a man of unceasing prayer seeking God’s wisdom always. 

This is good advice for all of us, too. Our Lord in the Gospel today, tells us that we must be people of prayer, who go to our inner rooms, shutting the door to the distractions of the world, and praying to the Father in secret. It is in that secret prayer that we will derive much strength and wisdom in dealing with all the challenges of our vocations. And in prayer, the word of God, as we heard in the first reading, waters our soul like the gentle rain, bearing fruit. In fact, Polycarp's name means "many fruit", no doubt, fruit cultivated through prayer.

St. Polycarp, like our patron, Ignatius, would go on to be martyred for the faith--the greatest of the fruits cultivated in his spiritual life--the courage to give that ultimate witness--becoming a fruit that nourished the church and continues to nourish us to this day. While he was bishop, at the age of 86, a violent persecution broke out in Smyrna against the Christians. Christians were being forced to give up their faith or face death. Because he was a bishop, Polycarp was arrested.  He was led directly to the roman judge, who ordered him make sacrifice to a pagan God and commit blasphemy. 

Some of his Christian friends had urged him to make the sacrifice in order to save his life.  But, Polycarp responded, “for 86 years I have served Jesus Christ, and he has never abandoned me.  How could I curse my blessed king and savior.” So refusing to give up his faith, Polycarp was sentenced to be burned alive.

No doubt, it was through his prayer, that made his love for Jesus stronger than the flames of his martyrdom. In fact, descriptions of his martyrdom claim that, as Polycarp prayed during his execution, the fire created a sort of dome around him, and instead of his flesh burning, his body was like bread baking in an oven, like gold a silver in a furnace, he began to radiate the light of God. And a sweet fragrance like burning incense filled the place.

May we like Polycarp, cultivate a love for the Lord through prayer that is stronger than any earthly flame, a prayer life that sustains us in all of our challenges and duties, 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.

Friday after Ash Wednesday 2021 - Fasting and Spiritual Hunger

 This morning I happened upon Bishop Malesic’s reflection for this first Lenten Friday. Apparently, his excellency wakes up and posts composes his daily homily earlier than I do! I will now shamelessly share with you some of his thoughts, as they are so very clear and poignant. 

Our shepherd writes: “There are only two days that most Catholics are required to fast: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  But we are not confined by the minimum requirements.  We can fast on more than just two days a year. 

So, why fast at all?

Fasting reminds us that we hunger for something more.  We hunger for justice for the poor.  We hunger for the presence of God.  We hunger for salvation.   When our stomachs grumble, let it remind ourselves that we are empty and needy.  Only God can fulfill our greatest expectations. Our fast, then, is a sign of our longing for God.

Fasting also reminds us that “not by bread alone do we live.”  There is something more essential than material things.  We live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.  

Fasting allows us to give up some of our excesses so that something is left for those more in need than we are.  What we don’t use, or what we save by our fasting, we can give away. This is how food pantries are filled up.

But ultimately, our fast from food is meant to help us fast from sin.  If all we do is give up food for the sake of dietary religious norms, without allowing God to change our hearts, then our fast is empty and meaningless. “

Simple and clear. Thank you Bishop Malesic! 

“The days will come…when my disciples will fast” says the Lord in the Gospel today. Well, those days are here. We will not regret taking seriously the Lenten call to fast. May our Lenten fasting deepen our hunger for the grace and the food and the life that only God can provide and strengthen us in our struggle against sin, for the Glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For the whole Christian people, that in this sacred Lenten season, they may be more abundantly nourished by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

For sinners and those who neglect right religion, that in this time of reconciliation they may respond generously to Our Lord’s call to conversion. 

For ourselves, that God may at last stir up in our hearts aversion for our sins and conviction for the Gospel.

For the sick and suffering and all those affected by severe weather, and the safety of all travelers. 

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.

6th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - Pre-Lenten Preparations

 What perfect readings for this final day of Ordinary Time prior to the penitential season of Lent—the season of purification and enlightenment.

First, Noah’s preparation for the forty day flood.  At a point in history where humanity had turned away from God, had become so mired in sin, “the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth…that his heart was grieved.”

Today we, like Noah, are called to make preparation for the forty days of Lent. We are to examine the sin in our lives and resolve to repent, and to consider how we will be showing our repentance through acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For throughout Lent, we must make reparation for our own sins, but also the sins of the world, the wicked of the world, to show our love and concern for the souls even of those who reject God and the call to conversion. We do penance for those unwilling to do so for themselves. Who will you pray for, who will you fast for, who will you engage in sacrificial almsgiving for. Fix them in your mind, hold them aloft to God over the next 40 days. Do penance for them, those outside of the ark of the Church—either because of ignorance or willfulness—for their purification, that they, one day, may accept the invitation to come aboard the ark of the Church—to sail to the promised land.

The Gospel, too, is a wonderful pre-Lenten reading, for the Lord sits in a boat, like the ark of noah, with disciples who do not quite understand everything that’s been happening, everything that he’s been doing and teaching. They have eyes and not see, ears and have not heard.

The season of Lent is also for those who are already in the boat of the Church, to come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of everything the Lord has done for us and continues to do for us. Lent is the season of purification, but also enlightenment. As we contemplate all the Lord suffered, his time in the desert, his march to Jerusalem, his ensuing passion and death, we are enlightened with a deeper understanding of the depths of his love for us and what it means to be his disciples, his apostles sent out into the world. 

May we prepare well for the 40 day flood which brings purification and enlightenment as we engage in the Lenten works and contemplate the depths of the Lord’s love and the call to ever more faithful discipleship, 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 purification of sin and selfishness and enlightenment in the ways of God.

For those preparing for baptism and the Easter sacraments, that the season of Lent will bring them great conversion to way of Christ. 

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.

6th Week in OT 2021 - Monday - The wholehearted sacrifice

 Over the past few weeks in RCIA, I’ve been offering catechesis to our catechumens on the Sacraments. We start with baptism, of course, the doorway to the sacraments, and make our way to the culmination of the sacramental life of the church, the source and summit of the Church’s life, the Eucharist. 

And I begin the session on the Eucharist examining the notion of sacrifice in the scriptures—sacrificial offerings made to God, for the Eucharist, of course, is the sacrifice the Son makes to the Father of his flesh and blood and life for the sake of the world. 

This morning we read from the book of Genesis the first depiction of sacrifice in scripture: Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.

Both of the sons of Adam and Eve offered sacrifice to God—they made sacrifice offerings from the fruit of their work. Both had no doubt worked hard for the fruits of their labors—by the sweat of their brows they shall obtain fruit. And even though, but were born with the effects of the sins of their parents, both still had this urge to make sacrificial offering to God. 

And yet, God smiled upon Abel’s sacrifice, where upon Cain’s he did not. Why? Well, we read Abel, brought the best of his flock. Cain, by contrast, did not; he gave God the leftovers. The Letter to the Hebrews explains  “By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s.”  Abel’s sacrifice was filled with faith and love, Cain’s was lacking. 

Perhaps Cain offered the sacrifice half-heartedly.  This makes us think, perhaps, of the widow in the Gospel, praised by the Lord, who offers not her leftovers, but from her sustenance. 

Perhaps Cain loved the fruits of his labor more than God—loving what is seen more than He who is unseen. Perhaps he wanted to get the sacrifice over as soon as possible so he could go back to worldly pursuits--like the person who wants Mass t
o be over as soon as possible so they can go back to playing Candy Crush on their iPhones—or back to his resentful musings which led to his brother’s murder.

Perhaps, he only offered the sacrifice in order to get something out of it.  Kind of like the followers of the so-called Prosperity Gospel today, who come to Christ because they believe God will make them prosperous and wealthy in this life on earth.  

On the Cross, and therefore, in the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus offers the perfect sacrifice, the wholehearted sacrifice, the sacrifice of his very self to the honor and glory of his father and for the highest good of others, greater even than the favored sacrifice of Abel. Again from Hebrews: “You have drawn near…to Jesus…and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.”

In the Eucharist we draw near to the perfect sacrifice, we receive it, that we may become what we receive, that we may give the wholehearted, unselfish, sacrifice of our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That all members of the Church will discover and offer their gifts wholeheartedly in service of the Gospel. 

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, that young people may live in faith-filled homes where the Gospel is cherished, studied, and lived-out.

For the grace to set good Christian example, and to courage to share the faith with non-believers and the lapsed.

On this President’s Day, Assist with your spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, Joseph Biden, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides. May he encourage due respect for virtue and religion. May he execute the laws with justice and mercy. May he seek to restrain crime, vice, and immorality.

For all of the sick and suffering, for the grace to unite their sufferings with Christ and to know His consolation and peace.

For our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. We pray to the Lord.

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