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.

The Lord Is With Me - Homily for June 25

Vesting Bishop Provost in preparation for Holy Mass

Readings for Sunday, June 25 / 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Jeremiah 20:10-13  |  Psalm 69  |  Romans 5:12-15  |  Matthew 10:26-33

This weekend the Scriptures call to mind the many things which we fear and wrestle with through our week - the attacks from others, the attack from sin, and the attacks of the evil one. In all of this, we need not fear because the Lord is with us. United to Him, He fights for us.

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!

Made for Heaven

Fr. Joshua Johnson

Readings for Sunday, June 1/ Ascension Sunday:
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9
Ephesians 1:17-23
Matthew 28:16-20

I don’t know about you, but this weekend has been an incredible one from my experience. Yesterday morning I had the joy of concelebrating at the Rite of Ordination of Priests at Sacred Heart Church in Baton Rouge. Deacon Joshua Johnson walked in at 10am and Father Joshua Johnson walked out just around noon changed, a priest of Jesus Christ. The experience, as every ordination I’ve been to, was one of incredible joy and hope. The diocesan choir and gospel choir present were both beautiful and lifted our hearts to the Lord in ways that rarely happen, the bishop preached an inspiring and challenging homily, and each of us priests was filled with thoughts and sentiments of our own days of ordination. The joy was palpable and not a single person that walked out the church did so without a smile on their face and a sense of awe at what had just taken place. In the midst of it all I simply tried to soak up the moment because days like that are few and far between.

Our vocation as Christian, Pope Francis continually reminds us, is to be a people of joy, hope, and life that reach out into the world that shine with the radiant Light of Christ. But you know as well as I that we don’t have to look very far to find things going on that try to steal that joy, hope, and life from us and replace them with sorrow, frustration, and despair. The torrential downpour that left many in our community – including some of you present today – with water in your homes, the expected or unexpected death of loved ones, illness that changes your daily life drastically, or just a whole slew of little things that seem to keep going wrong. These and others are ways that the evil one wants to quench the fire of hope in our hearts. But how do we fight back? How do we keep hope when things seem so difficult for us? Heaven. Remember that you and I were not made for this life. We were made for Heaven.

The feast of the Ascension, which we celebrate today, has two main points to it. First, it is about the Lord Jesus reclaiming the glory that is rightly His. The second point is that He doesn’t go to reclaim that glory alone, but to draw us into the glory of the Trinity with Him. The feast of the Ascension is celebrated because the Lord first humbled Himself and descended to be with us, draws us to Himself like a great magnet, and hoist us back up into Heaven with Him.  In short, the Ascension reminds us of that reality that Heaven awaits us and that it is our ultimate goal. The Collect for the Mass today spoke it such a wonderful theological and visual manner: where the Head has gone in glory, we the body are called to follow. Christ wants us to be with Him in Heaven because there alone we can find our fulfillment. There alone will we know true joy. In Heaven, the joy of our hearts will be so great that the greatest thing we experience in this life will seem as very little and the worst day here will seem as though it never even existed. Heaven is a place of such great glory that we can’t even comprehend it or conceive of an idea that comes close. And that is what we were made for.

The problem that I have personally is that while I know all of this in my head, it is often difficult for me to put it into action in my daily life. So as I was preparing for this homily I focused on three ways that I myself could try to re-orient my focus to Heaven. They are to simplify, reconcile, and pray.

Simplify. I’ve mentioned before that I love books. I don’t have that many valuable possessions or possessions at all for that matter, but I do have a good number of books. It’s funny because I always buy books. I don’t read them necessarily, but I buy them to have them in case I get to read them. I keep amassing this pile of books and the reality is that while all of those books are good and holy – mostly about Christ, the Church, the Mass, and other theological things – they are things that keep me focused on earth rather than Heaven. They enable me to do exactly what they are trying to prevent me from doing! And that’s not all. I fill up my time with all sorts of various activities and other things that complicate my life rather than letting things remain simple, permitting me to lift my mind to Heaven. To simplify is to remind myself that I don’t belong here. My treasure should be elsewhere.

Reconcile. In Heaven, every person will be perfectly united with God. They will have passed through purgatory and had cast aside all that separates them from the Blessed Trinity. And if every person is perfectly united to God, then that means every person is necessarily perfectly united to one another. And you and I both know that is not how this life works, unfortunately. I see in my own life that there are people with whom I am not completely reconciled. There is still room for forgiveness, increased unity, and a willingness to set aside past hurts, pre-conceived notions, biases, and all that other junk that divides me from others in order to build up here on earth what is going to be the reality of all eternity. To reconcile with others is to build up the body of Christ here and to prepare for the joy of true unity in the life come.

Pray. My vocation is primarily to pray and secondarily to serve the people of God. That sounds rather self-centered, but if I fail to spend the necessary time in prayer then my ministry among you will not be filled with the Holy Spirit but will be filled with the spirit of Fr. Brent Maher and whatever I feel like doing, and that is not what God wants. I recognize in myself that there are times that I pray well and am grateful for it, but there are also times where I fail to pray as well as I could. It’s easy to pop in the rosary while riding the roads and simply say the words but not give my mind to the mysteries and mark of my “pray the rosary” on the spiritual checklist. It’s easy to say the words of the psalms and readings for my obligatory priestly prayers each day and check that off too. But that is not what I am called to do. I am called to enter into real prayer that changes the way that I live my life. When I really pray, when I give myself time to enter into the presence of the God of Heaven, I interact with others differently, I interact with the Lord differently, my experience of life is approached differently. Everything changes because I was with the Lord and lifted up into Heaven.

It’s not about doing grand things. It’s about being willing to do regular things, but for the Lord. I was struck by a quote from St. Jean Vianney that I read the other day. It says this: “If we would only do as much for God as we do for the world we should all be saints.” How easy it is to get caught up in the things of this life! But when we do so we set ourselves up for sorrow, frustration, and despair because we were not made for this. We were made for Heaven. Let us pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to be with us to help lift our eyes to the place that awaits us and be filled with the joy that comes from God, knowing that what awaits us is even greater.

Come Sit With Me

Readings for April 18/ Good Friday:
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25
Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9
John 18:1-19:42

September 11, 2001 was a Tuesday. I’ll always remember that random fact because it was also the day that one of my favorite bands’ new album was to be released. I didn’t have time to get it before school that morning so I decided to go right after getting home from school. When I got home my mom was watching the news update on the attacks and she said, “Brent, come sit down and watch this with me.” I told her I would but first I had to run to the store to buy a CD. She said a bit more forcefully, “Brent, come sit down.” “Mom, I’m just gonna run to the store I’ll be back in like 15 minutes,” I replied and walked out the door. I knew the story of what was happening, but I didn’t grasp the full implications of it.

Today Mother Church says to each of us ‘Come sit down and watch this with me’ as we hear again the story of the Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus. The story we come to hear is far more significant than that of September 11 because it has consequences for every person throughout all time and even into eternity. Many fail to take the time to stop and listen, but if we do come and sit with our mother we are able to deepen our understanding of those events that took place 2000 years ago and yet take place again today. We learn our story – the story of the Cross.

The story of the Cross is a story of apparent contradictions. This shouldn’t surprise us since the whole life of Jesus is characterized by such. A God who takes on human flesh, a king born in a stable, one possessing riches unending is born poor and homeless, the Almighty God is helpless in the arms of His mother. Those are just a few of the images that come to mind, but if we look at the Passion of the Lord these images increase in frequency and intensity. The faithful Bridegroom of the Church is betrayed with a kiss. He who frees us from slavery to sin and death is bound in chains. The King of all creation is crowned with thorns. The Word of God stands silent before His accusers. The Innocent Lamb is made sin for us and sacrificed. He whose hands healed the blind is blindfolded and slapped in the face. He who wrapped the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple cloak of mockery. He who made man from the dust is pressed into that dust under the weight of the Cross. He who is adorned with every virtue is stripped of everything He owns. He who hung the earth and the skies in their order is hung upon a tree. He who came to heal our wounded hearts allows His to be pierced. He who is the Giver of Eternal Life gives up His Spirit and submits to death.

This is a stumbling block to the Jews, St. Paul tells us, and foolishness to the Gentiles. But to we who believe and are being saved, Christ: The Power of God and the Wisdom of God!

The Cross permits us to make sense of this life and understand our own story. The apparent contradictions above are signs that things are not always as they seem. The devil likes to make us think otherwise. He always calls to mind the half-truths in the story of our life. Think back on the trial account of Jesus. We heard all sorts of testimony against Jesus, false and true, but where were the positive accounts of the things done by the Lord? Who recounted the feeding of the 5000, the healing of countless blind, mute, lame, and dead? Where was that part story? When only half of the story is told, terrible things happen. Likewise with ourselves.

Are your sins not great ones, only venial?

Come to the Cross and behold the price for even the smallest sin.

Are your sins great ones?

Come to the Cross and see that there is nothing that God will not forgive.

Have you wounded others by your sins?

Come to the Cross and see what that sin does to others.

Have you been wounded by others sins?

Come and be healed by the wounds of Jesus.

Is your faith strong?

Come to the Cross and see how quickly it can become weak without Him.

Is your faith weak?

Come to the Cross and see how quickly He can make it strong.

Do you gossiped about others, uttered harsh words or made false judgments?

Come to the Cross and see the power of words.

Have you been gossiped about, spoken to harshly or judged?

Come to the Cross and see the One whose judgment alone matters.

Do you feel loved by others?

Come to the Cross and see the extent that we are called to show love.

Do you feel unloved?

Come to the Cross and see the extent of God’s love for you.

In just a moment we will have the Veneration of the Cross, when we will have the chance to come forward, genuflect or bow before a splinter of the True Cross that Jesus died on, and allow the Lord to help you hear the rest of the story. We all know most of the story of the Lord and of ourselves. But let us pause in this moment to really take the time to rest with our mother and see if there is more yet to be said. Come to the Cross of Jesus. Come and meet the Lord once more. Come, let us adore.

Where am I?

Pope Francis during the Passion Sunday celebration

Readings for Sunday, April 13/ Palm Sunday:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew 26:14-27:66

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.

This poem entitled ‘Indifference’ was written by G.A. Studdert-Kennedy  in the early 20^th Century as an indictment on a culture that had lost its passion and a people whose heart had grown cold. The same could well be said of our society today. We are one in which things are ‘better’ now than ever before and we would never do something as bad as crucify someone. We’re more civilized than that.

Blessed John Paul II often spoke in his reflections and homilies that the opposite of love is not hatred but indifference. Listen again. The opposite of love is not hatred but indifference. Jesus Himself says in the Gospels that we should be either hot or cold, for if we are lukewarm we will be spat out, rejected. In the Passion narrative we just prayed together, we heard a whole variety of voices. We heard the voice of Love Himself in the person of Jesus. We hear echoes of His love in the quiet presence of the Blessed Mother, St. Mary Magdalene, the others with them at the Cross, Simon of Cyrene and the like. We also heard those voices of hatred. The blistery words of Judas, the voices of the high priests, Sanhedrin, and elders, as well as the bloodthirsty crowd crying out for the death of the Christ. “Crucify Him! Let his blood be upon us and our children!” They were not content with scourging, beatings, or mockeries. Death on the Cross, and that alone, would quench their thirst. But then there is also another group here in the midst of the story that we often over look – the silent majority.

We don’t understand the magnitude of the city of Jerusalem. Jewish Historians recount that during the week of Passover, well over 500,000 Passover lambs were slain in the Temple and as the Gospel hinted at, each lamb required to men to prepare it for the meal. That means that over 1 million men had travelled to Jerusalem, many of them bringing other family or friends along with them, and that number being in addition to the community already dwelling there. This means that like 2 million or more people were around the city when the Lord entered in the triumphal procession and was later crucified. Where were their voices in the story? They were not hot or cold, but lukewarm. They weren’t angry enough to hate Jesus, nor were they strong enough to love Him. So they simply passed Him by, unaware that their salvation was right before them.

Homeless Jesus Statue by Timothy Schmalz

The Passion narrative is a lengthy one and there is much there to ponder. It’s not meant to be something we read once a year and are done with it. We should come back to it regularly, but especially in this Holy Week of preparation for the Sacred Triduum and Easter. So that’s what I invite you to do. Take up this Gospel passage each day this week and read through it as you ask yourself the question: Where am I in here? Where is my voice? Am I full of love for the Lord? Am I full of hatred for some reason? Has my heart grown cold such that Jesus doesn’t really have an impact upon my life? Where am I in here? Where is my voice?

O Good Jesus, let your Precious Blood truly be upon us, not to condemn us, but to heal us and save us.

HWP: Acclaim to the Suffering Christ

In the Calendar for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite of the Church, today is the feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great. In addition to being my patron and confirmation saint (he didn't help me become a rock star like I had anticipated...and the whole reason I chose him to start with), he is an incredible saint of God and had an influence upon the Church which we can't even conceive of in our current day. Below is a beautiful prayer attributed to him, which seemed quite appropriate for the celebration of the season of Holy Lent. So, without further ado...

The Prayer of Acclaim to the Suffering Christ

O Lord, you received affronts without number from your blasphemers, yet each day you free captive souls from the grip of the ancient enemy. You did not avert your face from the spittle of perfidy, yet you wash souls in saving waters. You accepted your scourging without murmur, yet through your meditation you deliver us from endless chastisements. You endured ill-treatment of all kinds, yet you want to give us a share in the choirs of angels in glory everlasting. You did not refuse to be crowned with thorns, yet you save us from the wounds of sin. In your thirst you accepted the bitterness of gall, yet you prepare yourself to fill us with eternal delights. You kept silence under the derisive homage rendered you by your executioners, yet you petition the Father for us although you are his equal in divinity. You came to taste death, yet you were the Life and had come to bring it to the dead. Amen.

Translation thieved from http://saints.sqpn.com/pray0540.htm 

HWP: Month of the Passion of Christ

As you may have read here or elsewhere before, there is a tradition in the Church of meditating on some aspect of the faith each month of the year to grow in imitation of that upon which we meditate. This month of February is the month in which Mother Church honors the Passion of Christ. Though Lent is still some weeks off, it is always fitting for us to prepare our hearts for that which the Lord seeks to work within us during that season of grace. And so we bring today two pious prayers or exclamations meditating upon Our Lord's Holy Passion: one directed toward Christ and the other toward His Mother.

To Christ 

We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You;

Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

(from the Traditional Stations of the Cross)

To Mary

Holy Mother, pierce me through;

In my heart each wound renew

Of my Savior crucified.

 (from the Stabat Mater)

Cling to the Throne

Readings for Sunday, November 24/ Christ the King Sunday:
2 Samuel 5:1-3
Psalm 122:1-5
Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43

 

Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Christ conquers! Christ reigns! Christ commands!

This ancient hymn of the Church recalls the kingship of Christ Jesus. Though the hymn is from centuries back, it was only in 1929 that Pope Pius XI instituted this universal solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. He did so in response to the upheaval taking place in governments around the world in the early twentieth century. Nearly world-wide at that time there were examples of national leaders coming to power and making their will and desires the law of the land. They did what they wanted, often desiring a sort of earthly paradise, and because it was not desired by the people they governed, it was most often done with fear and force. The feast of Christ the king shows forth the truth that despite whatever power rulers have in this life, there is but one true ruler over all creation and He comes to rule in a way unlike any the world had seen either before or since. Rather than seeking His own will He came among us to accomplish the Father’s will. Instead of the earthly paradise, He pointed the eyes of all toward the paradise that awaits the righteous. And the power He exercised was seen not in fear and force but love and service. This otherworldly king comes and proclaims His riches not in fine clothing and palaces. Paradoxically, He proclaims His kingship from the most absurd throne the world has ever known: the cross. The sign over His head, the Gospel tells us, said simply ‘The King of the Jews.’ Even now on nearly every crucifix I have seen the proclamation still remains in that little sign: I.N.R.I., Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews.

The Gospel story recounts to us the reaction of the crowds who gazed upon this King on His throne. The rulers there mocked Him saying, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” The soldiers spoke similarly: “If you are king of the Jews, save yourself.” And that foolish criminal on the cross beside Him even mocked Him as he questions Him, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.”

Each of these people had their expectations of the King and what He should do. They all thought in their heads, ‘if He is indeed a King He clearly doesn’t know how to rule very well!’ And sometimes we can think the same. ‘Save yourself and us!’ they cry. But with those words they say so much else in their hearts: ‘Lord, take away the pain of this life! Take away the illness and disease! Take away sorrow and death! Take away suffering, injustices, and the difficulty of fighting sin! Make things better! Make us happy now!’

To those cries Jesus did what He knew He must: He remained fixed to the cross with the nails and by love for the Father’s will and for the people He was redeeming. With that action Jesus shows us that we are not in control. God is. We don’t make the rules. God does. We cannot see the big picture. God can.

If we wish to be true followers of Christ, true Christians, the place we must find ourselves always is at the foot of the cross. Life is hard. We do experience suffering and pain. We do experience death and loneliness. We do experience illness, disease, injustice and the pain of sin. That is why we call this life the ‘vale of tears’. We all want to be perfectly happy and content in this life, but that is exactly why Jesus doesn’t give us everything we want in this life: because this life is not heaven. It’s not meant to be perfect. BUT, there is a place that awaits the faithful that is perfect, that is free from all pain and sorrow and discord. And to get there we need only remain with our King. In the Gospel passage we heard so many mockeries spoken but remember that silently there at the foot of the cross were the Blessed Mother, the Beloved Disciple John, and others quietly present with the Lord. What they were seeing and experiencing was painful beyond understanding, and yet they gazed upon Him trying to make sense of the mystery. That is our place: alongside the Blessed Mother, John and the others clinging to the cross of Christ knowing that just as Jesus died and was raised up to glory three days later, we too, if we stay with Jesus through the sufferings we endure in this life, will partake in the heavenly banquet. If we are faithful to Him in this life, He will be faithful to us in the next. So let us draw near to our King. By His grace and example let us take courage that whatever happens in this life, we have a King who is greater than anything we must face. He has won for us the victory. So we pray – maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! Come, King of the Universe! Come, live, reign in our hearts.

The Mission and the Means

Heaven, according to Wikipedia

Readings for Sunday, August 18 / 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Psalm 40:2-4, 18
Hebrews 12:1-4
Luke 12:49-53

What is our mission? Our purpose? Our goal? We all have one, whether we realize it or not. That something that all of our actions, thoughts, and words ultimately work to attain. What is it?

In the first reading from Jeremiah we hear about a group of princes whose goal was to keep the peace. The prophet Jeremiah came among them preaching God’s Word and it upset the people. Rather than good pleasant things he spoke of difficulties and trials, robbing them of their ultimate mission: earthly peace. The extent they went to keep that peace, ironically, was to kill the prophet of God. As I was praying with that I was struck by the reality of how we can implicitly make earthly peace our life’s goal. We all want peace - it’s written in our very hearts and we pray for it all throughout the Mass - but the reality is that the peace we long for is not an earthly peace, but a heavenly and eternal peace. Earthly peace isn’t bad and we must rejoice in it when we find it and pray for it often, but it is not our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is heaven, eternity. That’s what Jesus reminds us of as He boldly says, “Do you think that I came to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Nice Jesus.

This harsh Jesus can seem to shock us a bit. We’re used to the nice Jesus. The meek little lamb, the infant born to Mary at Christmas, the Jesus who loves us, accepts us, is merciful and kind, calling us to do the same. We’re used to the smiling Jesus in pictures with blonde highlights and a carefree attitude. We like that Jesus because He’s comfortable and comforting. But the truth is that ‘nice Jesus’ is the exact same person as the one who comes to bring about division and disrupt the peace. The meek lamb is also the powerful Lion of Judah. The merciful Lord is also the Just Judge. The God who is Love is also the God of wrath for the unrighteous. They are two sides of the same coin and that is something we must remember when following after Him. While He loves us endlessly and calls us to love others, He also sets the standards high and is not hesitant to hold us accountable to them. When we come to serve Christ, it is serious business. There are obligations and, of course, rewards.

Angry Jesus at the National Shrine

Let’s start with the rewards – we all like that part, right? The reward is that if we are faithful to the Lord He will be faithful to us and welcome us into eternal life. We can look forward to heaven, which will be greater than anything we can imagine – greater than anything we can conceive of, the scriptures tell us. But the key is being faithful to the Lord. Many Christians think that we just to ‘accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior’ and all is well, their ticket to heaven is secured, but it’s not. If I accept Jesus as my savior and then go off and fail to live in accord with His laws, then I will not be saved. We have to accept Him as Savior, yes, but even more important is living our lives according to what God wants of us. We have obligations.

The word ‘obligation’ in our modern culture can be something a bit repulsive. We are so set in this mindset of freedom being the ability to do what we want that we shrink back from obligations – ‘you’re taking away my freedom!’ is what we hear so often. The truth is that when we follow Jesus Christ, we are absolutely free, but the fact is that the way He sets before us is a narrow path and it is for us to choose to walk on it. We have the freedom to choose otherwise, but in exercising the freedom to do whatever we want we more often than not end up in slavery to sin; so much for freedom, huh?! That’s why the Lord sets the way before us and is so clear on right and wrong. He knows the path to Heaven and He wants us to walk on it, even to run on it! That’s what He means when He says to the disciples, “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing!” He wants us to be on fire with love for God and for His laws. He wants us to burn with love, to do things that are absurd in the eyes of the world because we are so enamored with Him that the world doesn’t matter to us anymore. Instead we are found wanting, not yet burning. Sure, some of us burn brightly and the more saintly among us show more clearly but by and large we are not yet burning. So He seeks to set us on fire because fire clears away the bad and purifies the good. He comes to purify us from our sins and to bring us to eternal life. You and I know that is extremely pain, and Christ knows it even more than we do, even though He never sinned.

After this speech of setting the earth on fire the Lord speaks of a mysterious baptism He must undergo and how great is his anguish until it is completed. That baptism was His death on the Cross, which was constantly before His eyes. Imagine going throughout your days with the knowledge in the back of your mind of your imminent death which include scourging, beatings, mockery, crucifixion, and abandonment by your loved ones. That’s what was in Christ’s mind each and every day as He walked with the disciples and yet he continue on, as the letter to the Hebrews reminds us “for the sake of the joy that lay before Him.” It wasn’t necessarily His joy – He was God and could easily have passed on to heaven whenever He willed – but rather our joy. Our heavenly reward was only attained by His death and in attaining life for us, He too surely received some joy too. That journey, though, is what He calls us to today. We all have trials in this life that take away our peace. We have sins that we cling to, burdens that cling to us, and a number of other things going on around us that keep us from enjoying a peaceful life. Today the Lord call us to look past all of those things to the joy that awaits us in Heaven. Again – our goal is heavenly peace, not earthly peace. And so we must choose to rid ourselves of the burdens and sins that cling to us and hold us back from attaining greater heavenly treasures. As I was praying with this myself I began to reflect on how I, as a priest, still struggle to recognize just how serious my sins are. As I reflected on my own faults and the sins I cling to, the question came to mind ‘Are you so attached to these sins that you’re willing to go to hell for them?’ The obvious answer is ‘NO!’ but it is so hard to live that ‘no.’ Part of this is because we look at the whole picture and try to tackle all of our sins at once and when we do that we get overwhelmed and fail. The key is to pick one sin that plagues us most and pray for God’s grace there until it is resolved, then moving on to the next sin over and again.  How do we do this though? How to rid ourselves of sin? The Eucharist!

Each week we come to Mass and it is easy to miss the miracles that take place here week after week and the grace that is held out to us. Our eyes and ears hold us back from understanding the reality because we think we settle for the externals and miss the interior. What we celebrate on this altar is not a reenactment, like we would do a Christmas play or Living Stations of the Cross. What we celebrate on this altar is the actual sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, the actual Last Supper, the truth of the Resurrection of Christ. We have not the eyes to see these realities but they exist, the same as we cannot see the change in the bread and wine that make them the Body and Blood of Christ. After the Sacred Words of Consecration when the priest holds us the host and chalice, he does so for the faithful to adore for a moment but also as an offering to the Father, symbolically saying ‘Father we cannot save ourselves, our only hope is in the flesh and blood of Your Son that won our redemption! Mercy, Lord!’ And as we gaze upon the elevation Body and Blood it is as if another secret dialogue takes place wherein Christ speaks to each of us from the Cross saying ‘All of this for love of you.’ He thirsts to hear us reply the same ‘All of this for You, Lord’ as we commit ourselves to ridding ourselves of sin and carrying the Cross on the narrow path to heaven. If we do this and are willing to put it into action, the Lord will give us the grace. Let us not miss this opportunity today to begin anew the fight to walk the way before us. Christ came to set the earth on fire. Would that each and every single one of us were already blazing!

HWP: St. Bridget

Yesterday was the feast of St. Bridget of Sweden, a wife, mother, mystic, founder of a religious community, and witness for all the faithful to look to. One of the notable things in her story is the revelations she received from Our Lord, when He would speak to her about His Passion. Powerful are her reflections on that great mystery! Below is a little (yet lengthy) clip written by St. Bridget herself as found in the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for her feast. Enjoy!

A Prayer to Christ our Savior

Blessed are you, my Lord Jesus Christ. You foretold your death and at the Last Supper you marvelously consecrated bread which became your precious body. And then you gave it to your apostles out of love as a memorial of your most holy passion. By washing their feet with your holy hands, you gave them a supreme example of your deep humility.

Honor be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ. Fearing your passion and death, you poured forth blood from your innocent body like sweat, and still you accomplished our redemption as you desired and gave us the clearest proof of your love for all men.

Blessed may you be, my Lord Jesus Christ. After you had been led to Caiaphas, you, the judge of all men, humbly allowed yourself to be handed over to the judgment of Pilate.

Glory be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, for the mockery you endured when you stood clothed in purple and wearing a crown of sharp thorns. With utmost endurance you allowed vicious men to spit upon your glorious face, blindfold you and beat your cheek and neck with cruelest blows.

 

Praise be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ. For with the greatest patience you allowed yourself like an innocent lamb to be bound to a pillar and mercilessly scourged, and then to be brought, covered with blood, before the judgment seat of Pilate to be gazed upon by all.

Honor be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ. For after your glorious body was covered with blood, you were condemned to death on the cross, you endured the pain of carrying the cross on your sacred shoulders, and you were led with curses to the place where you were to suffer. Then stripped of your garments, you allowed yourself to be nailed to the wood of the cross.

Everlasting honor be to you, Lord Jesus Christ. You allowed your most holy mother to suffer so much, even though she had never sinned nor ever even consented to the smallest sin. Humbly you looked down upon her with your gentle loving eyes, and to comfort her you entrusted her to the faithful care of your disciple.

Eternal blessing be yours, my Lord Jesus Christ, because in your last agony you held out to all sinners the hope of pardon, when in your mercy you promised the glory of paradise to the penitent thief.

Eternal praise be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, for the time you endured on the cross the greatest torments and sufferings for us sinners. The sharp pain of your wounds fiercely penetrated even to your blessed soul and cruelly pierced your most sacred heart till finally you sent forth your spirit in peace, bowed your head, and humbly commended yourself into the hands of God your Father, and your whole body remained cold in death.

Blessed may you be, my Lord Jesus Christ. You redeemed our souls with your precious blood and most holy death, and in your mercy you led them form exile back to eternal life.

Blessed may you be, my Lord Jesus Christ. For our salvation you allowed your side and heart to be pierced with a lance; and from that side water and your precious blood flowed out abundantly for our redemption.

Glory be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ. You allowed your blessed body to be taken down from the cross by your friends and laid in the arms of your most sorrowing mother, and you let her wrap your body in a shroud and bury it in a tomb to be guarded by soldiers.

  

Unending honor be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ. On the third day you rose from the dead and appeared to those you had chosen. And after forty days you ascended into heaven before the eyes of man witnesses, and there in heaven you gathered together in glory those you love, whom you had freed from hell.

Rejoicing and eternal praise be to you, my Lord Jesus Christ, who sent the Holy Spirit into the hearts of your disciples and increased the boundless love of God in their spirits.

Blessed are you and praiseworthy and glorious for ever, my Lord Jesus. You sit upon your throne in your kingdom of heaven, in the glory of your divinity, living in the most holy body you took from a virgin’s flesh. So will you appear on that last day to judge the souls of all the living and the dead; you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

Open Our Hearts

Manger Scene at St. Francis Church, Granada, Niacaragua

Gospel Readings for December 25/ Christmas:
(Vigil) Matthew1:1-25
(Midnight) Luke 2:1-14
(Morning) John 1:1-18

Today we celebrate the great turning point in the story of salvation. For centuries the Jews had been waiting for the Anointed One, the one to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven and at His coming among them as a child they were filled with joy who looked upon Him. So, too, are we filled with joy today because we, like they, recognize that salvation has indeed come to us. Salvation is here in our very midst, as a child. A child is born to us! The one who is all-powerful makes Himself helpless for us. He Who is clothed in glory in Heaven comes wrapped in swaddling clothes. The One through Whom and in Whom all things exists comes among us and finds no place to lay His head. He who lives eternally in Heaven comes to dwell in a cave. The Bread of Life comes is laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals, as a sign that even from the first moment of His existence among us He is meant to be consumed by the world that life might come to us and all of creation.

We come to celebrate the King of kings and Lord of lords who comes to be with us. That is the mystery we celebrate today, that God’s love for us is so great that He would stop at nothing to draw us closer to Himself in this life and eternity. If we grasp even the smallest bit of that love, we would surely die of joy.

I wish there was more time to speak of the beauty of the scriptures that we read for the Christmas Masses. For each of the Christmas Masses here at the parish there is a separate reading and there is so much that could be said about those passages. But I will limit myself to reflecting upon the gospel passages from each of the Masses.

Matthew’s Gospel passage illustrates how Jesus was truly born of human flesh, as we read the genealogy. This being born of human flesh is emphasized by the fact that Matthew highlights the person of King David in this narrative. King David was the one who a millennia before received the promise that an heir from his lineage would rise up as king of Israel and would reign gloriously, never allowing the scepter of power to be taken away. The people looked for centuries for this king and many had almost given up hope as they kingdom of Israel was divided and ultimately fell under the rule of foreign powers. But in the person of Jesus Christ, Matthew points out, the promise to David is fulfilled – a king is born from his line who indeed is to reign forever, both on earth and in heaven. Additionally, the genealogy includes four women, which was not done in Jewish tradition. This showed that Christ was indeed calling forth all people to be part of the Gospel. What’s more,  those women weren’t all Jewish, so even Gentiles were included in the mission of Jesus.

John’s Gospel is a bit more heady and theological, as it was written later with that intention in mind. He speaks of the eternity of the Word, how all things came to exist through Him. He helps us to understand that while Christ comes as a small child, He is also at the same time entire different from us. He is God; eternal, all-powerful.

Luke’s Gospel, with which we’re all more familiar, gives us the more historical account of how Joseph and Mary went to register for the census and while in Bethlehem Our Lord is born and placed in the manger. This again emphasizes the universality of the faith, including even – and especially! – those who are poor and lowly. The poverty of the Holy Family and the inclusion of the shepherds, which was a lowly task, highlight the call that all are important to God, loved by Him, and called to relationship with Him.

Each of these Gospels shows us a different aspect of the Lord. They have different authors, audiences, intentions, details, and yet they all come together to show us a beautiful picture of the Savior. In this we can see the beauty of the diversity of the Church. But even more, we see that God comes to us as individuals. He comes to each of us personally because we are all different. He knows, more than we do, that we are all at different places in our lives, have different needs, have different struggles, and are at different places in our relationship with Him. He knows all of these things and for this reason He comes still to be with us and to love us as we need to be loved. But He needs us to open up to Him. Certainly we’ve said yes to Him and opened up before, and we’ve already done so to some extent in that we are all here to celebrate this Mass. And yet He wants to have us open up that He might not only visit for a bit but truly remain and abide with us.

And so He comes to us, that little child who longs to love and be loved by us. Notice the beautiful image of Our Lord that we carried in tonight, the infant Jesus with arms outstretched, reaching out to us that we might pick Him up and in truly receive Him into our lives once more. He longs for us. He didn’t come simply to be among us for a time. He came to ransom us to Himself that we might be with Him forever in Heaven. Going back to Luke’s Gospel, we see that familiar story of how Christ is coming among us and yet He has no place to stay because there is no room in the inn. As He comes to us once more, He comes looking not for an inn but a dwelling place in our hearts. Let us open wide the doors of our hearts, that He might find a fitting dwelling place where He will indeed love and be loved. 

The Passion and Me

Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem

Readings for Sunday, April 1/ Palm Sunday:

Isaiah 50:4-7

Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24

Philippians 2:6-11

Mark 1:15-47

As we come once again to this opening of the most holy week of the year, the entire community is invited to take part in the proclamation of the Gospel – that beautiful narrative of the entry of Christ into Jerusalem up until His death and burial. With this we all truly enter into Holy Week. We are not simply bystanders; we are not men and women simply reflecting on an historical event that unfolded nearly 2000 years ago. We are there among the people of Jerusalem. With our palms today we welcome the King of Glory into our presence. And as happens so often in our lives, we quickly turn away from Our Lord and begin to look to ourselves and our own desires. Today we join the Jews of 2000 years ago in crying out “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” We cry out only twice, but sure we intend it many more. And it’s not them. It’s us. It’s me and it’s you.

As we watch His Passion unfold, we are blind to the reality of what is truly taking place before our very eyes. We do not fully understand that every sin of ours today is another wound to Our Lord.

Every time we decide not to attend Sunday Mass because something else came up, we are the three who fall asleep and are awakened by Jesus’ sorrow words, “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” When we fail to stand up for Christ or His Church, we are Peter turning away saying, “I do not know this man!” though only a bit ago we promised, “I will not deny you.”

Each act of greed or anger is another stripe across the back of the Lord. Our lustful acts and gluttony tear open His flesh because we have failed to properly make use of ours.

Our vengeful, impure and judgmental thoughts are thorns piercing the Sacred Head of Christ. Every word of profanity, gossip, degradation, or self-exaltation is another curse hurled at Our Lord as people spit upon Him. And when we exclaim ‘Oh my God’ or ‘Jesus Christ’ without really meaning it as a prayer, we are the guards that mock Jesus by dressing Him up and saluting Him, “Hail King of the Jews!” before slapping his head once more.

As we pass by those in need when we can help, we are the bystanders who watch as Our Lord continues to fall face down into the dirt path, buckling under the weight of the Cross pressing down upon Him. As we offer the drugged wine, we hold out to Him the times we have given in to drunkenness or drug use.

The nails that pierce His Holy and Venerable Hands are the many times where we have sought to tear control over our lives and our world from the hands of our God – our lack of trust and faith, our lack of openness to the Holy Spirit, and more physical things such as trying to build up unnecessary wealth for ourselves or using unnatural means of contraception to control our family.

And now after these many things we gaze upon our handy work. God has been rejected, bruised, beaten, pierced and now hangs nearly lifeless for all to see. And the amazing thing is that He let every bit of it happen. Like the suffering servant from our first reading – He has given His back to those who beat Him, his cheeks and face to be struck and spat upon. Rather than strike out in anger at us, He has permitted every one of these offenses to happen because He loves us.

My brothers and sisters, these are harsh things to ponder, but they are no reason to despair. In the Passion of Our Lord we find a sad story of creation’s rejection of the Creator. But more importantly, we find the story of the depth of the Love of that Creator for us, His creation, such that He would undergo anything to join them to Himself for eternity. He would go so far as to empty Himself of His glory and become obedient “even to the point of death – death on a Cross.”

This love is too much for us to understand and these things too far beyond us. Our Lord knows this clearly and for that reason He cries out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!”

Father, forgive us. For we know not what we do.