Excessive Mercy - Homily for April 7

Readings for Sunday, April 7 / 5th Sunday of Lent:  Isaiah 43:16-21  |  Psalm 126  |  Philippians 3:8-14  |  John 8:1-11

The Cost of Salvation - Homily for March 31

Readings for Sunday, March 31 / 4th Sunday of Lent:  Joshua 5:9-12  |  Psalm 34  |  2 Corinthians 5:17-21  |  Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Today we are reminded why Christ took on our flesh and what we must do to become inheritors of heaven.

Come to the Desert - Homily for March 10

Readings for March 10 / 1st Sunday of Lent:  Deuteronomy 26:4-10  |  Psalm 91  |  Romans 10:8-13  |  Luke 4:1-13

The Lord was led to the desert for a reason. We're invited there for a reason too.

Lent: Why the Cross - Homily for March 25

Readings for Sunday, March 25 / Palm Sunday: Isaiah 50:4-7  |  Psalm 22  |  Philippians 2:6-11  |  Mark 14:1-15:47

Why the Cross? Because any other way would be too easy to dismiss the message that the Cross conveys.

Lent: The Hour Has Come - Homily for March 18

Readings for Sunday, March 18 / 5th Sunday of Lent: Jeremiah 31:31-34  |  Psalm 51  |  Hebrews 5:7-9  |  John 12:20-33

Throughout the first half of John's Gospel we hear Jesus refer to 'my hour' and that it had not yet come. Today, the Hour has finally come and the Lord longs for us to join Him in it. 

Lent: Exposure - Homily for March 11

Readings for March 11 / 4th Sunday of Lent:  2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23  |  Psalm 137  |  Ephesians 2:4-10  |  John 3:14-21

Today we recall the 40 holy martyrs of Sebaste who were stripped naked and exposed to bitter cold until their death. Today the Lord invites us to expose our hearts and souls, no longer hiding behind our fear, guilt, shame, or pride, but conquering all for love of Jesus Christ.

Lent: Learning to Trust - Homily for February 25

Abraham and Isaac, c.1617 - Anthony van Dyck

Readings for Sunday, February 25 / 2nd Sunday of Lent:  Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18  |  Psalm 116  | Romans 8:31-34  |  Mark 9:2-10

Today we reflect on the faith of Abraham and the role of the Transfiguration in the faith of Peter, James, and John.

The Desert of the Soul - Homily for February 18

Readings for Sunday, February 18 / 1st Sunday of Lent: Genesis 9:8-15  |  Psalm 25  |  1 Peter 3:18-22  |  Mark 1:12-15

Jesus Christ is not afraid to come to the desert of our soul and pour His grace out in abundance to make of it a garden.

Go Show Yourself to the Priest - Homily for February 11

Readings for Sunday, February 11 / 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46  |  Psalm 32  |  1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1  |  Mark 1:40-45

Our contemporary world often tries to create a division between Jesus and Religion, as if Jesus was opposed to all religious affiliation. The Gospel today shows us quite a different story. 

Commit (Outlining St. Ann's Program for Lent) - Homily for February 4

Readings for Sunday, February 4 / 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Job 7:1-4, 6-7  |  Psalm 147  |  1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23  |  Mark 1:29-39

Feeling hopeless? Look closer. This homily also discusses the parish plans for Lent this year.

Lent: Lost Time and Good Fruits - Homily for April 9

Readings for Sunday, April 9 / Palm Sunday: Matthew 21:1-11  |  Isaiah 50:4-7  |  Psalm 22  |  Philippians 2:6-11  |  Matthew 26:14-27:66

How has your Lent gone? If it has been less than you desired, don't be discouraged! Our Lord can bring forth good fruit from lost time and wasted grace. Let's begin again!

Lent: How to go to Confession - Homily for April 2

Readings for Sunday, April 2 / 5th Sunday of Lent: Ezekiel 37:12-14  |  Psalm 130  |  Romans 8:8-11  |  John 11:1-45

Sometimes it's the lack of comfort with the words and structure of Confession that the devil uses to keep us away from the Sacrament. So let's hit the nuts and bolts on how to celebrate the Sacrament. Then put it into practice.

Lent: The Blind Leading Those With Sight (Homily for March 26)

'Healing of a Blind Man' by Brian Jekel

Readings for Sunday, March 26 / 4th Sunday of Lent: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13  |  Psalm 23  | Ephesians 5:8-14  |  John 9:1-41

The Lord loves to use physical signs to convey truth about spiritual realities all through the Scriptures. And He still does it today: the Seven Sacraments.

Lent: The Plan - Homily for March 12

Readings for Sunday, March 12 / 2nd Sunday of Lent: Genesis 12:1-4  |  Psalm 33  |  2 Timothy 1:8-10  |  Matthew 17:1-9

God has a plan for you today. It involves your holiness and some hardship. Bear your share of the hardship in the Gospel and spread the joy of knowing Jesus Christ to all whom you meet.

Lent: The Grappin - Homily for March 5

Readings for Sunday, March 5 / 1st Sunday of Lent: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7  |  Psalm 51  |  Romans 5:12-19  |  Matthew 4:1-11

Beginning this weekend, I will be posting my Sunday homilies in audio-only format on account of the extra time it takes to type, format, and post the text version. I apologize if this causes some inconvenience for you, but I trust you understand. I will continue to post the audio portion here along with links to the readings as normal. Thank you, as always, and know of my prayers for each of you. Please pray for me too.

Pre-Lent: Prayer - Homily for February 19

Readings for Sunday, February 19 / 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18  |  Psalm 103  |  1 Corinthians 3:16-23  |  Matthew 5:38-48

In the Holy Scriptures, the Lord God speaks to us, and the words of Jesus tell us that where a man's treasure is there also his heart will be. We know that anyone who has ever fallen in love, maybe someone who has ever born a child, and been able to hold that child - maybe a grandchild in their arms for the first time - the know the great joy the have in the other person. They don't have to consciously think about the other person, they just naturally do. One doesn't forget their child, one doesn't forget their beloved. And through the course of the day, they certainly come to mind in pleasant thoughts, and the desire or longing to be able to see them once again. We could say a similar thing of lesser greatness - simply maybe a new hobby, a new found joy, or a new toy. It brings us joy and a desire to be able to see it, enjoy it once again, take part in it once more when we are separated from it. Indeed those things are good and holy - our activities and treasures of this earth, but the most important about us Christians is that we are not people whose treasure is mainly on earth, but our treasure is in heaven. Our treasure is not just a thing, it's a person, and it's the Lord God Himself. The Lord God who comes to us and desires to be with us. Who loves us so much, He even took on our flesh, so we have a great gift in our God. Where man's treasure is, so also his heart will be. 

As such, following the same analogy, there is this reality of the Lord, as we go through the course of our day, it should be such that shouldn't have to consciously think of God if He surely is our treasure. Rather, He should simply come to mind naturally, organically, through the course of our day and the longing to see Him once more, to be with Him, united with Him in a moment of intimacy. That intimacy is what we call prayer. 

We can speak a thousand things on the topic of prayer. Indeed we can fill this chapel ten times over with the number of books that have been printed on the topic of what is prayer, how to do prayer, methods of prayer, spiritualities and so forth. While we can complicate it in so many ways, prayer is actually very simple, and the ones who describe it most simply and beautifully and most directly are the saints of God in the Church. The saints have described prayer as a simple conversation with the Lord. They have described it also as union with our God. St. John Vianney, one of my favorite quotes he references, "Our time of prayer is an overflow of paradise and a foretaste of heaven." A brief moment where we can be united to our God. Ultimately, it's a meeting place of the Bride and the Bridegroom. The Bride, the Church, each individual member comes to the Bridegroom of God to be united and look forward to the heavenly marriage feast that awaits us. 

All of these simply speak to an intimacy - to be willing to open our hearts to the Lord in His generosity in opening His to us. The fact that we can pray should bring us to our knees immediately because the God of creation, the God who made all things, who gave every blessing that we have, it would be enough just to know that He exists, it would be enough to know things about Him. But He goes even farther by letting Himself be known in a personal relationship. heart speaking to heart in a sense. We don't deserve it by any means, but our Lord gives it, and what a blessing. 

St. Augustine described the relationship with God, this time of prayer as a stretching of our hearts. He said in one of his homilies, "Our hearts are too small. They must be stretched." Can you imagine if God came to us one day and we were carrying a sack. And the Lord God said, "I have something I need to give to you." Immediately we would do everything in our power to make sure we can receive what God desires to give. We would take our sack and empty it of the earthly wears we have, whatever the earthly things we posses, and we would take our sack and stretch it as much as possible so it can receive as much as possible, in hopes of receiving what God desires to give. And what God desires to give is Himself - the infinite God, and so our hearts must be infinitely stretched. We must be a people of prayer, continually having recourse to our God. Certainly in the course of our day, calling to mind our Lord, lifting up what they call "the arrows of holiness," the short, little, pious prayers that we pray that pierce the heavens and pierce the heart of God with love, an arrow of love. We must also be a people who spend time in prayer, daily. To make that an absolute necessity. No one among us can go without food, or drink or air, and even less so can we go without God in prayer. So we must prayer. To be able to have the life of God within us. 

While we can complicate again in so many ways, it ultimately comes down to three central points, three essential aspects of prayer.

The first essential aspect of prayer is faith. We must trust in our God. It can be a temptation sometimes to treat God as if He is a magician or a genie, where we go up and say the right prayer, do the right thing, and ta-dah we get what we want. Thankfully God is not like that because every single one of us would be spoiled brats. And beyond that, sometimes your prayer and my prayer might conflict. I would love the church never to get about 55 degrees, some of y'all would hate that. Whose prayer wins? Good question. Theological debate ensues. It's the reality that our God is a Good Father. He doesn't just give us whatever we want, He gives us what is right, true, good and holy. He is a Father who cares for us. The Lord Jesus says to us, "What father among you when his son asks for a fish, would hand him a snake instead?" No one. And if your earthly father is that good, how much more your heavenly Father. And so, we approach our Lord with trust. We approach God our Father with the recognition that even though sometimes our prayers are not answered as we would like, ti seems that there is silence on the other end, we must trust and have faith that our God hears us, and He walks with us. Most importantly, He loves us and will provide for us. 

The second aspect of a life of prayer is honesty. We must be honest with our Lord in prayer. Every single one of us has that place in our house that we know we can store junk. When you got things laying around the house, and you have someone who calls and asks if they can come over real quick you say yeah give me five minutes. And we take those five minutes, we run around the house like a crazy person, grab everything that's a mess, and we throw it into that closet or room and we shove the door. My house looks great, doesn't it? Just don't go in that room, right there. That room is a tornado. We do it with God to in our prayer. We go to prayer, and as we are going to the chapel, Church or Mass, wherever we are going to encounter our Lord in prayer - We think we have to stuff all that bad stuff, the frustrations on my heart, maybe there is anger, suffering, sadness, depression .. I'm going to put those in that room or closet really quick and I'm going to go to prayer and say, Lord look how great my house is. Everything is nice and orderly. We go kneel in prayer and we place our hands in a very pious little angel pose - "Lord thank you for all the wonderful blessings. Life is so amazing. Thank you. Glory be to the Father and the Son and Holy Spirit ..." While inside in the depth of our hearts in that trashy room, we are screaming for God. Screaming. We must be honest in prayer. Because if we go before God in prayer and we give Him what we think He wants, what we think He wants, we are not praying We are lying. The Lord God put the things in our hearts there for a purpose. If there is sadness in our heart, it's for a reason. It's because our heart longs for something or it needs something, God desires to give it to us, He desires to respond. If there is suffering in our heart, anger, frustration, confusion, joy, exhilaration - all of these things - everything of the human heart, God put it there and He wants us to talk to Him about it. Whatever the emotion of the heart - if you are angry, be angry with God. There is some things I've brought to the chapel and made sure no one was around and I spoke to God, and I'm pretty sure if anybody was there they would've blushed because that's where my heart was that day. We need honesty in our prayer with the Lord because if we are honest with God, it gives Him the opportunity to actually deal with the mess of our life, rather than trying to make it appear very nice. 

The third piece is persistence. And this is the hardest part because it's easy for us to go and to trust initially, it's easy for us to go and to be honest with our Lord, but sometimes when things don't go as we desire or as we expect, as we think it should be, as prayer is supposed to be - it's easy for us to give up. We go, in the middle of our prayer, if God doesn't respond like we want, or if ti's quiet on the other end, we just stop. And so often we stop right on the threshold of when God is about to move. We are just about there where God wants to do something and can do something, and we shut the door. We must persist in prayer, day in and day out, every single day, without fail. It should become so much a part of our routine that if we don't have time for prayer, we should be hungry for it. None of us goes through the course of a whole day without eating or without realizing at some point that we are hungry. At some point, your stomach gurgles a bit to let you know that it needs something. It should be the same with our souls. To know that through the course of our day that if we don't spend time with our Lord, something in us should ache a bit to remind us to go to Him.

We have faith, honesty and perseverance. In the midst of all these things, we can do so many things in prayer. Again, tens of thousands of books we can have recourse to. But the most important thing, in the end, if we are struggling, we don't know what to do, if we don't know what to say, tell that to the Lord. When the disciples were struggling with their own prayer, they looked around and seeing the the disciples of John the Baptist, "Lord, John's teaching his disciples to pray. Teach us. What do we do? What do we say? How do we respond?" And He gave them a simple prayer: the Our Father. Not that we simply prayer the Our Father and be done with it, that's all we need to do. He gives us a model, a method of trust imploring each of these things to come before our Lord. Ultimately, if all else fails, if we have no idea of where we are going and what we are doing, there is one simply prayer you need to pray and then rest with the Lord. And that prayer is simply, "Lord, teach me how to pray."

Pre-Lent: Salt and Sand

Readings for Sunday, February 5 / 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Isaiah 58:7-10  |  Psalm 112  |  1 Corinthians 2:1-5  |  Matthew 5:13-16

On account of a crazy schedule this week, I will not be able to type up the text from the homily as preached.

Tunnel Vision

Readings for Sunday, March 1/ 2nd Sunday of Lent:
Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18
Psalm 116:10, 15-19
Romans 8:31-34
Mark 9:2-10

Last weekend we began a three-week reflection on Pope Francis’ Lenten Message for this year, which focuses particularly on the aspect of indifference or coldness in our hearts. Looking through the lens of baptism, we saw how our being brought into the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, interconnects us with every other baptized individual in the world and as such we have certain obligations to pray for them in their time of need and they for us in ours. The second point of the Pope’s message is that the reality of our ties with the larger community also applies to the local community.

When we were baptized, in addition to being made members of the Body of Christ, we each received special gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we were first created by God He gave every single one of us particular gifts and talents to profit ourselves and to be used in service of the larger community. He desired certain of us to be teachers, musicians, artists, workers of the land, and so on, giving each of us those gifts. But in baptism we received the life of God that helps to make those things even more fruitful and adds supernatural power to what was already there. When we think of this, we often call to mind the invitation to be involved in the Church parish – to help with the Mass, with ministries, catechism, and the many other parts of parish life. While we indeed should be putting our gifts to use in the parish, Pope Francis is inviting us to recognize to take some time to look outside the visible Church.

In the Gospel we hear St. Peter happily exclaiming, “Lord, it is good that we are here! Let us build three tents – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” in response to the glorious vision of the transfigured Christ. It makes sense, really. Who among us wouldn’t be thrilled by such a vision that we wouldn’t want to set up camp and stay there for a good while? And that’s exactly the point. When Christ is transfigured, it is an experience that is so beautiful that St. Peter wants to stay there and not go back down the mountain because what awaits them down there is the Cross. It’s hard days, sleepless nights, little food, lots of walking, and difficult teachings. Simply put, the transfigured glory of Christ is a place of incredible comfort and this is why it doesn’t last very long for the disciples.

Earlier this week I went to a prayer breakfast and when I arrived I recognized the St. Ann’s parishioners present but as I looked around I saw a number of other faces that were unknown to me. They were the faces of the pastors of the other local religious communities. It struck me that I’ve been here for 8 months and yet I’ve never laid eyes on most of them. Why? Because I was focused on things here at St. Ann’s. I don’t see it as a great fault of mine, being as I’m trying to learn the parish and know you the parishioners, but it did raise my mind to the need to branch out a bit and connect with other ministers in the community. And that’s what we’re being invited to do in this time by Pope Francis: to branch out and see something, someone, new. This is admittedly difficult because we like our patterns. When I worked the morning shift as a cashier at my parents’ grocery store, I would line up cigarette packs on the counter in order: 2 packs Marlboro red, 2 packs Marlboro light, a pack of Kools, etc. The reason was that the customers were so predictable that I knew exactly what order they would arrive in the mornings, what they were going to buy, and how much it would cost. We like our patterns and can easily get tunnel vision on the things that interest us or affect us most directly. But when we do this we sometimes miss the exact person or circumstance through which God wants to speak to us.

This week Pope Francis is inviting us to look outside the comfortable place of the church walls around us and to seek God’s face in a new way and to serve Him in a new person. First, he says, we must look to the Church in Heaven, the Church Triumphant who have already finished the race and won their eternal crown. We look to them and ask for their prayers for us to be able to run our race well as they have already. And then we must look to the world around us. Think of it as a divine game of Where’s Waldo, as we go through our days looking to serve someone we might normally pass by, pray with someone we might normally leave to themselves, or share faith with someone who isn’t Catholic or isn’t practicing. It’s a matter of seeking in our hearts and asking ourselves where we have tunnel vision. Who are we looking past? Where is the Christ in our midst that we haven’t found yet? Where is the Lord in need, waiting for us to provide?

I want to conclude today with a poem by G.A. Studdert Kennedy that speaks directly to this point of Pope Francis, loving Christ in our midst. It’s entitled ‘Indifference’:

When Jesus came to Golgatha,

They hanged Him on a tree,

They drove great nails through hands 

and feet, And made a Calvary.

They crowned Him with a crown of 

thorns, Red were His wounds and deep,

For those were crude and cruel days,

And human flesh was cheap !

When Jesus came to Birmingham,

They simply passed Him by,

They never hurt a hair of Him,

They only let Him die;

For men have grown more tender,

And they would not give Him pain,

They only just passed down the street,

And left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cried, "Forgive them,

For they know not what they do!"

And still it rained the winter rain

That drenched Him through and through;

The crowd went home and left the streets, Without a soul to see,

And Jesus crouched against a wall

And cried for Calvary.

The Body

Readings for Sunday, February 22/ 1st Sunday of Lent:
Genesis 9:8-15
Psalm 25:4-9
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:12-15

Paragraph 1213 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: ‘Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word.’”

Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life.

As we begin this season of Lent, this time of renewal in the Church as a whole and in each of her members, it seems appropriate that the first reading we hear is that of Noah, the ancient symbol of baptism. The section we just heard comes at the end of the great flood, when the Lord made the covenant with Noah. That covenant was of great importance because it was much more than a simple contract, it was the creation of a sacred family bond that brought us into the Divine family. When this happened later with Abraham it was sealed by Abraham cutting an animal in half, laying it on the ground, then walking through it with the torch that represented God. By doing so they were each saying, ‘If I break the covenant, may this be done to me,’ pointing to the slain animal. God has kept faithful to the covenant with us. It is we who over and over again choose to turn away from Him and break the covenant. Yet He takes us back each time and never tires of doing so.  

As we begin this season of Lent, we call to mind those ways where we have broken the covenant relationship with our Father and seek to come back to Him, to be renewed in Him. In his Lenten Message for this year, Pope Francis invited each of us to take a look at one specific reality in the life of the Church and of specific souls and it was this: indifference. Going back to the family analogy, when we welcome a new person into our family, whether by marriage or by birth, we usually have parties to celebrate it. But do we do that each and every time we see that particular person? No. It would get old quick and, frankly, rather expensive. We celebrate the initial arrival but over time we get used to the other and things normalize. But the problem Pope Francis point out is that sometimes this can lead us to become comfortable, complacent, indifferent. We begin to look less at the other person and more to ourselves, then we can quickly become less concerned about the other and become cold-hearted. This is what he is inviting the Church to reflect upon and he provides three specific areas upon which to reflect: the Church, the parish, and the self. And since we begin the Easter season with a renewal of our baptismal vows, I’d like to spend the next couple of weeks looking at these three aspects through the lens of baptism.

The first reflection is indifference toward the Church. The important thing to note is that Pope Francis isn’t thinking about just the hierarchical structure and the legalistic norms of the Church, he’s thinking more along the lines of St. Paul analogy of the Church as the Body of Christ, a body that lives and grows, and, unfortunately in some members, dies. It’s a living body that is intimately connected together, exemplified by St. Paul’s words: “If one member suffers, all suffer together.” The First Letter of St. Peter reminds us that baptism is “not a removal of dirt from the body.” If that’s what we think baptism is, then we’ve missed the boat. Baptism, as the Catechism said, is being made part of the Body of Christ. And it’s not just that we’re being put alongside others, as if what you do doesn’t affect me and vice versa. We are being connected to one another and to every other baptized person who has every existed. We are part of something MUCH greater than we can even imagine and in a way that has eternal consequences. How so? Because when one member suffers, all suffer together. Therefore, as members of the Body of Christ, we have an obligation to help others. Think about it this way. If you’re hammering a nail into the wall and accidentally hit your thumb, what happens? You immediately pull it back and hold it with the other hand. Or when we see football players and other athletes out on the field and they hurt a knee or something, what happens? They immediately, unconsciously, wrap up around it to protect it. This is what it means to be members of the Body of Christ. When some member in the Body hurts, it is for the rest of the Body to respond with prayer and offerings of grace, and sometimes physical aid, in order to bring protection, consolation, and peace. So where is the body hurting?

We can look at the obvious places like the Middle East and Africa, where ISIS and Boko Haram are reaking havoc on Christians, making martyrs daily. We can look farther east, in places like China where the Church is being persecuted not so much by violence as by governments trying to control the Church and tell her what to do rather than look to the Holy Father or their own bishops. And it doesn’t have to be persecution at all. We can look north. I was talking to my dad yesterday morning and he was telling me about the outrageous amounts of snow they’re getting and the temperatures being so low for so long. Then he asked if I had seen that Niagara Falls had frozen over. I shook my head in disbelief but he described it and sure enough, they are! In the cold we can see another part of the Body in need of help. Just as when we experience hurricanes and look sometimes for help from others, the same applies here. We may not always be able to do something about the situation – a smashed thumb just needs time to heal and usually a little ice – but we are invited to respond with some sign of care and concern for the member in need.

If we take Jesus just as a nice example to follow, says Pope Francis, then we have missed the point. He wasn’t just a nice teacher. He is our God who invites us to become one with Him, in Him, through Him by receiving and living out the sacrament of Baptism. Jesus was tempted for forty days in the desert for us, for you. What gift are we offer to Him this week to bring consolation to His aching members?

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Readings for Sunday, February 8/ 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Job 7:1-4, 6-7
Psalm 147:1-6
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Mark 1:29-39

What a joyful first reading we have this week, huh? Beautiful weather outside, our stained glass window back in at the chapel, and then…Job. Thankfully we know the end of the story turn out all for the good, but it still feels so heavy in the moment. In praying with the scriptures this week I was struck by the words those words though: My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. What struck me wasn’t the hopeless tone but the passing of time. How often have we all heard or said ‘the older you get, the quicker time flies by!’? And isn’t it true? Often it is the case that things happen before we’re even prepared for it and we’re left looking back wondering how it all passed so quickly. Pretty frequently when I’m driving I’ll start thinking about something and before I know it the place I was driving to is a half mile behind me. When I’m driving I can make a u-turn and go back to the spot, but in time we simply have to resolve to be better prepared next time.

One of the times that I almost annually have to make that resolution is in the celebration of the Lent. It seems like every year I only realize it’s Lent after two weeks, start really doing my penances in the third week and then it’s half finished already! Last year I was playing at a golf tournament for the parish school in Paulina and they had food and drinks at the various holes. We pulled up to one hole and I started feasting on the stuff in front of me and looked around to see everyone staring at me rather shocked. One parishioner gently said, “Um, Father, that’s a pulled pork sandwich… and it’s Friday.” I know I’m not the only one either. This is because it’s hard to transition into the season so quickly. For those who remember the liturgy before the Second Vatican Council, you might recall the season of Septuagesima, which was a three week period prior to Ash Wednesday that helped the community to begin to transition into Lent so that folks were actually ready to go when time came around.

While we do not have that season in the Ordinary Form calendar, we can still employ the tactic of preparing ahead of time and beginning the transition into Lent. So I want to challenge you to join me in a simple three part activity this week to prepare for Lent. The formula is simple and we all know it from another context: Stop, Drop and Roll.

The first piece we need to do is take some time this week to just stop doing stuff. Carve out a bit of time – 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, whatever – and sit with the Lord. In the Gospel passage we just heard we saw a description of Jesus taking time from the craziness of His ministry to be in union with the Father. Imagine how overwhelming things must have been just on a human level to know that everywhere He went, Jesus was surrounded by people in serious illness looking for Him to a miracle. How town after town probably saw repetitions of the scene today where crowds block the exits of the home where He stayed. And yet He made the time to go away for private time in prayer. So we must follow His lead and stop everything else in attempts to rest with the Father.

In that time of rest, we don’t just sit there twiddling our thumbs. We speak with our Father and seek some understand of how He is inviting us to grow this Lent. Every one of us has something in our life that we could improve about our self; something we could do better, do more, or stop doing. So whatever it is that’s keeping us from becoming better people – drop it. Whatever that thing is that God is inviting us to improve – pray better, serve others more, sin less, grow in a specific virtue, etc. – focus on that particular thing for the whole season of Lent and find ways to make it happen.

Which leads us to the third thing: roll. Once we’ve taken time to rest with the Lord and discerned what it is that we ought to address this Lent, it’s time for the most important piece: we have to actually put it into action; we have to roll it out. A few weeks back we had our clergy formation days and part of it was on eating healthily. They passed out little three-partitioned plates and it had printed on it the food that went there. In the large part covering half the plate it said ‘fruits and vegetables’ and in the other two smaller portion ‘proteins’ and ‘grains’. While I was a bit confused how I would fit my whole steak into a small portion or how I was going to stomach so many greens, it was incredibly helpful to see what it should look like. In stark contrast was my health plan of the past 10 years that was so vague that it usually ended with me at McDonalds or Canes promising ‘tomorrow I’ll eat a salad’ and never following through on that resolution. When we have a desire to do something, it must be a concrete, measurable goal or we’re almost guaranteed not to do it.

‘I’m going to pray more this Lent.’ Awesome! How long are you going to pray? What are you going to pray? When are you going to pray?

‘I’m going to do some service for others.’ Fantastic! Who are you serving? When are you serving them? How are you going to do so?

‘I’m going to quit this bad habit.’ Great. What are you going to do instead? What are you going to do when tempted? Who is going to help you stay true to the commitment?

Easter is an incredible season, but it is only incredible because it is the fruit of the labor in Lent. Let’s make this Lent special. Live it with the intensity you would if you knew it was your last Lent ever. God has great things in store for us, dear friends. Let us take some time this week and hear the beginning of the plan.