Holy Week 2021 - Holy Thursday Morning Prayer - Preparing for the Paschal Feast

 We’ve come to the final hours of Lent. As the sun sets, Lent concludes and the Paschal Triduum—the most Sacred Three days of the Church year—begins. 

On the evening of Holy Thursday 2000 years ago, the Lord gathered with his closest friends for the Last Supper. In preparation for that meal, around this time of day, Jesus sent his disciples to make preparations for that sacred meal—they were to search for a room, inspect it, and ensure it was furnished for that ritual meal. 

Just as Jesus’ disciples prepared for the Last Supper by ensuring the table and cups and plates and utensils and bowls for the ritual washings were in place for the Passover meal, every Catholic parish prepares today for this evening’s Mass.  We prepare the table of the altar, we decorate the church, we will get our liturgical vessels ready, our candles, the vestments, chairs and bowls for the ritual washing of the feet.

The external preparations for this evening’s ritual mass need to take place, but the internal preparations are also of vital importance. In other words, the more that we prepare our hearts for the Sacred Triduum, the more grace we will derive from their celebration. For the saving effects of these holy days are in direct proportion to our interior disposition of soul, openness to God’s grace, and docility to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.  A fervent practicing prayerful Christian will reap a much more abundant harvest of grace than one who fails to prepare his heart. And that’s true for the Christian life as a whole.

The Church’s morning prayer contains some powerful lessons to ready our hearts for the great Paschal Triduum to come.

The first Psalm today, Psalm 80, speaks of God as Savior. God is invoked as the “God of Hosts”—the leader of a heavenly army who brings victory over the evil in the lives of his people. This Psalm reminds us that the Sacred Triduum is a celebration of God’s great victory over evil and sin. But, that victory comes at a price. If you want less evil in your life, less evil in the world, we must imitate Jesus who conquers evil by the price of the cross. We must renounce sin and selfishness and take up our cross as well. 

The passage from the prophet Isaiah considered the identity of our savior. God indeed is our savior, but he does not save us from a distance. God has taken on the flesh and blood  of humanity in order to open the fountain of salvation to us. Jesus who goes to the cross is God incarnate, and we are to make his name known and exalted among all the nations.

And lastly, we recited the powerful Psalm 81. God not only saves, but feeds his people: with the “finest wheat” he feeds his people. At the Last Supper, tonight, we will celebrate how, on the night before he died—Jesus instituted the Sacrament of His Body and Blood—which is spiritual food—the finest of wheat—for His Church. Jesus says, unless you eat this food and drink this blood you do not have life within you. But he who eats this food will live forever.

In these final Lenten hours, our most important preparations involve preparing our minds and hearts for the upcoming festivities by pondering and emulating God’s great love for us. Don’t waste these precious hours on mere human activities, pray deeply during these upcoming days, that you may drink deeply of the fountain of salvation, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Holy Week 2021 - Wednesday - "I have set my face like flint"

In the middle of Holy Week, we hear from prophet Isaiah. 800 years before the Lord’s birth, Isaiah prophecies about the Messiah. He starts with a number of characteristics of the Messiah: he will have a well-trained tongue, he will speak to the weary, he will not turn his back on God or rebel from the will of God, as difficult as it might be.

Isaiah then foreshadows the sufferings the Lord will endure in his passion as he makes his journey to the cross: his back will be beaten, his beard will be plucked, he will be mocked, his face will be beaten and spit upon. On Good Friday, we will hear again how the Lord is beaten and mocked as he carries his cross through the streets of Jerusalem.

But, Isaiah also gives us a glimpse into the heart of our Lord as he carries his cross. He is not filled with resentment or despair. Rather, he sets his “face like flint”—a phrase to describe Jesus’ unwavering determination to persevere in the excruciating task set before him. His inner strength, to bear the cross, to bear the weight of the sins of the world, my sins and your sins—his strength and fortitude is beyond measure.

And yet, his strength and his firm and unflinching commitment to fulfill his mission derives from his absolute trust in his Father—as Isaiah says, “He is near who upholds my right…the Lord God is my help”

Staying on track in the Christian life requires setting our faces like flint. Difficult tasks and heavy burdens in the Christian life—fulfilling the responsibilities of one’s vocation, witnessing to the Gospel in a culture who mocks Christianity at every turn—requires fortitude. But that inner strength will quickly evaporate for us mere humans, like Peter’s courage at the sight of the cross evaporates, if we are not rooted in absolute trust, surrender, and love of God.

St. Paul explains the source of his fortitude in his evangelizing mission through storms, tortures, imprisonment and impending martyrdom, when he writes, “there but for the grace of God go I”. With abandonment to the grace and will of God comes the strength to remain faithful to God’s holy will despite the cost.

Contemplating our Lord’s own sufferings in the upcoming days, may we love God and trust God with ever-increasing abandonment to His divine will, that our faces may be set as flint against the buffeting winds of our culture, the temptations of the flesh, and fear of suffering for the Gospel, that we may be faithful to the holy work and heavy crosses of our time for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

For increased faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity. 

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

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.

Holy Week 2021 - Tuesday - 3 Responses to the Cross

 Each of the Gospels relate scenes from the night before Jesus died.  On this Tuesday of Holy Week, we are taken to the table of the Last Supper, where Jesus predicts his death and his betrayal.

Three characters have three different responses to Jesus. John, the beloved disciples lays his head on Jesus’ chest.  Peter, confesses his desire to follow Jesus even unto death, but at the sight of the cross flees in fear.  And Judas, with betrayal in his heart goes into the night.  

Sometimes we are like John: we have moments of great intimacy with Jesus, of deep prayer and unshakable love for the Lord.  Of all the apostles, it is John who stands at the cross with the Blessed Mother.  

Sometimes, we are like Peter: we can be so pious and enthusiastic one moment, saying, “Master, I will lay down my life for you”, and then the next moment, when discipleship becomes difficult and costly, we are running away in fear. 

And then sometimes we are like the silent Judas, rejecting the light and slinking off into the darkness—to sin. 

We’ve have all been like Judas, from time to time. Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, we betray him often for so much less, a moment of passing pleasure, a juicy morsel of gossip shared on social media, a greed for money and material things that keep us from charity towards the poor.

How will we ever overcome our fear of the cross like Peter? How will we finally overcome those moments, when we, like Judas prefer darkness and sin to faithfulness and trust?

First, we must ask the Lord to increase our faith. Faithfulness to Jesus must become more important than anything else—any earthly pleasure, relationship, or activity. Pray to the Holy Spirit for faith. For Peter’s faith does not truly become rock-like, until the descent of the Spirit on Pentecost.

Secondly, practicing fasting,  abstinence, mortification, acts of humility, and acts of mercy, not just through Lent but throughout the whole year, increases our hope. Our hope is not in the passing things of earth, but in the promises of Christ. As hope increases our fear of the cross decreases. So, small sufferings and humiliations prepare us for willingness for sacrifice in larger things, and increase our hope for life eternal. 

Thirdly, we must like John, lay our heads on the chest of Jesus in daily prayer.  In prayer, our love for Jesus in increases. If you are not putting your ear next to Jesus heart, how can you learn to love him and love others as he loves? Getting serious about prayer, especially fervent devotion to the Mother of Jesus, like St. John, will help increase our love.

Faith, hope, and love. The three theological virtues unite us with the life of God.

As we enter into the most sacred three days of the Church year—the sacred triduum—may our faith, hope, and love increase, that we may have the courage to journey with Jesus to the cross, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That God may be pleased to grant all necessary graces to the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity. 

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

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.

Holy Week 2021 - Monday - Lavish Charity in the House of Bethany

The Gospel for Monday of Holy Week presents two very different attitudes towards Jesus. One attitude symbolized by Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and another symbolized by Judas Iscariot on the other.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus recline with Jesus, they share intimacy with Him, serve Him and anoint Him. Lazarus is gratefully aware that the Master raised him from the dead and wants to share that joy with others as he invites friends to a banquet in his home to meet Jesus. Mary lavishly shows her love and affection for Jesus by anointing his holy feet with expensive perfumed oil and drying his feet with her hair.

But not Judas. Judas snickers, Judas sneers, Judas mocks. Judas envies. He covets. 

The Church, of course, is to embody the spirit of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary: serving Jesus, bringing people closer to Jesus that they may share with him in the banquet of life, lavishly pouring out our very best, our very selves to honor and love Jesus.

Very often, we encounter the spirit of Judas Iscariot, though, don’t we, sneering and snickering at the Church’s most holy expressions of love for Jesus—our liturgy, our care for the poor. The Church is mocked sometimes by her own members for if that unholy spirit can infiltrate the twelve, it can certainly infiltrate the Church. It is a whisper that even many devoted Catholics have heard in their own hearts—don’t serve Him, it’s too costly, you have more important things to do. The Spirit of Judas is always trying to turn people away from the lavish love of God.

What seems like an incredible waste of time, money, and effort to the world—our service, our worship, our prayers, are to be offered in a spirit of profound and lavish charity, like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in the Gospel today. Judas cries out that all this is a waste. But we know better.  Our lavish expressions of holy friendship with Him, our love of Him, our expressions of  gratitude for how he has blessed us, and for the immensity of what he suffers for us, are holy to God.

So, we must not be embarrassed in our lavishly loving Him, we must not hold back from lavishly serving him, and we must not be hesitant in inviting those who hunger for his goodness, his truth, and his beauty, to the table of the Lord. Yes, there are many Judas’ out there, but there are also many on the fringes, who are yearning to meet Him, know Him, and love Him. 

Each of us does well today to reflect upon how we can show our gratitude to the Lord, how we can serve the Lord, and how we can bring others to know the Lord, even perhaps to soften the hearts of the Judases of the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That God may be pleased to increase faith and understanding in the catechumens and candidates who approach the sacraments of initiation in the coming Paschal Solemnity. 

That those in need may find assistance in the charity of faithful Christians and that peace and security may be firmly established in all places.

For strength to resist temptation, and the humility to sincerely repent of sin.

That through fasting and self-denial, we may be ever more conformed to Christ.

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.

 

Palm Sunday 2021 - Eyes and hearts fixed on the cross

 This morning I woke up with a question on my mind, maybe you’ve wondered this too: “Why do we read the Passion on Palm Sunday, at the beginning of Holy Week? It’s called Palm Sunday after all. Why not just read the Gospel of the Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem at the normal Gospel time on Palm Sunday, and leave the Passion story for Good Friday? Why are we reading about the events of Good Friday today?

There are a number of reasons I could think of. 

One reason, perhaps, is that for many Catholics, Palm Sunday might be the only time they hear the Passion read, since the Good Friday liturgy is often held during workday hours, you might not be able to get to Church on Friday. Friday isn’t a Holy Day of Obligation, and so, placing the Passion on Sunday, provides the opportunity for the greatest number of Catholics to hear the Passion read at Church.

Another reason is that it’s kind of a preview. We begin the week with the end in mind. We reading the Passion today so that we can ponder it all week. I recommend reading Matthew’s Gospel and Luke’s Gospel this week, and especially John’s Gospel on Friday, if you can’t come to Church on Good Friday.

But, the other reason for reading the Passion on Palm Sunday, gets to the heart of the matter. As we enter into Holy Week, where better to start than at the cross—at the heart of the greatest act of love the world could ever know. 

Unlike those who call for Christ to come down from the cross, we ponder his cross all week. For it is from the Cross that God’s love for us is most fully manifested. Greater love has no one than this, than he who lays down his life for a friend. We begin Holy Week with this image of love, so that we know that it is love that motivates Jesus throughout all this week’s events.

He gives us the Eucharist on Holy Thursday out of love. He washes his disciples feet out of love. He goes to the garden and experiences agony, and sweats blood out of love. He allows himself to be betrayed by Judas, arrested, scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns, burdened by the cross out of love. He takes the sins of the whole world upon himself out of love. He allows himself to have nails driven through hands and feet, out of love. There is no greater love than this, and we begin this week, knowing that all that he does, and all that he suffers, you does out of love for you and for me, and for all people of all places of all times. 

It is by the cross that God shows us the depths of love. It is by the cross that God teaches us how to love. And it is this image of love that needs to be burned into our minds and burned into our hearts, as it has been burned into our souls through baptism. So many sins are committed throughout the day, throughout the week, throughout our lives—so much division and hatred and violence and unjust is committed—because we forget how much God loves us.

Keep your eyes fixed on Him this week, and he will reveal his heart to you. You will come to know how the Lord is with you in the crosses of your life: in the cross of a difficult marriage, or the grief of widowhood, the cross of loneliness, the cross of financial struggle, the cross of temptations of the flesh. Don’t call for him to come down off the cross. Let him show you, that as you contemplate the Lord on his cross, you come to discover that he is with you in your cross, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

5th Week of Lent 2021 - Friday - "You are gods"

 One week from Good Friday, with Holy Week looming on the horizon, our Gospel today begins in  dramatic fashion. The opponents of Jesus are ready to stone him to death. The violence, the plotting, the hostility toward Jesus is all starting to mount and come to a climax.  

It was the festival of the Dedication of the Temple—what today is called Hanukah, and Jesus stood in a sacred place, one of the porticos of the Temple, preaching the truth about how he has been sent by the Father as the promised Messiah, the Son of God.

This enrages the people who weren’t ready to believe in Him, and certainly weren’t ready to give him the authority as the Messiah.  So they plotted against him, and were prepared to carry out that plot by stoning him to death as the Gospel opened today.

Jesus then speaks up and asks them, “why” are they persecuting him? They claim Jesus has committed blasphemy, but Jesus asserts, “I have simply been restating to you what is in your own scriptures.”  Jesus says, “you are trying to kill me for claiming to be the Son of God, while your own scriptures make that claim about all God’s people”  And he is right, of course.  Psalm 82 speaks about how the children of Israel can rightly be called “gods”—not because they have any claim on Divinity—but because God speaks to them as his own children—and calls them into a filial relationship through justice and sharing his divine life.

While Psalm 82 certainly calls Israel to filial love of God, it also stands as a powerful indictment of Israel’s failure to love and bow to God’s authority. “How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked?” God asks the religious leaders in Psalm 82. Not ironically, that is precisely what Jesus was doing in that moment. He was standing in the Temple, the dwelling place of God, passing a sort of judgment on Israel’s leaders. For failing to acknowledge that He comes from the Father, Israel’s leaders will be counted among the wicked and die. 

This certainly puts into perspective why the religious leaders want to arrest and kill Jesus right then and there. They aren’t so much concerned about Jesus’ supposed blasphemy, but that Jesus exposes their wicked, unbelieving hearts.

This dramatic event certainly helps us to prepare for Holy Week by helping us understanding some of the dynamics that were going on in Jerusalem leading up to Good Friday. And yet, like so many of our Lenten Gospels, they invite us to examine our own hearts: how does my pride keep me from loving Jesus as I should? How does my hardness of heart keep me from the fullness of life as a child of God?

May these final Lenten days help to humble our earthly pride so to help us live in the fullness of God’s children, 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.

5th Week of Lent 2021 - Wednesday - The Truth will set you Free.

 

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” This has always been one of my favorite lines from the Gospel: as disciples of Jesus we come to know the truth, and the truth will set us.

This is an important teaching for Catholics of the 21st century, for several reasons. First, it’s an affirmation that the truth is knowable. Human beings can genuinely know the truth about reality and morality. This needs to be stressed on account of the widespread relativism in our culture that says there is no truth, only individual opinions and expressions of power, or truth is determined by whoever shouts the loudest or claims to be the biggest victim or has the media on their side.

I think I was first really confronted with relativism in college, when meeting fellow students and professors who made comments like, “well, that’s your truth” or “my truth is just as valid as your truth”. The egotist, often trying to justify his perverted morality, has a very difficult time admitting that truth exists outside of themselves, that the truth isn’t something we make up for ourselves. 

And in 2021, we have been Catholics who have been infected with the mind virus of relativism, who claim that their personal beliefs trump Catholic Church teaching. In these poor souls, one can often sense such bitterness and unhappiness, even rage, when authentic church teaching is presented. They like the Jews in the Gospel today, claim to have God as Father, but reject the Son.

But how these souls would be free, free from that bitterness, unhappiness, and rage, if they would but submit their minds and hearts to Him.

And that’s the second reason why this line from our Lord is so important. It is a reminder that genuine human freedom and happiness depends upon our knowledge of the Truth. Jesus reveals the truth about God and human beings that we may live in freedom and beatitude from error which leads to sin and violence.

As the Second Vatican Council teaches, “Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light…Jesus, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear.”

As Jesus embarks on the road of suffering, taking up his cross, we see a man who is truly free, who following the Will of His Father, walks a road of perfect freedom. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the first reading foreshadow this holy freedom from fear and suffering. They foreshadow what Jesus perfect reveals: that in God’s will and in God’s truth, we find perfect freedom, even when a cross is on our shoulders…maybe especially when a cross is on our shoulders. 

May the church believe and live out every theological and moral truth that comes from Christ, and taking up our cross to walk with him, may he draw souls to himself through us 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.