Annunciation of the Lord

The feast of the Annunciation goes back to the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has become one of us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us, the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces all humanity, indeed all creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

Mary has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity God destined her to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the creation and redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees of creation and redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation. As Mary is God’s instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end. Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity.

She is the virgin-mother who fulfills Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the will of God (Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38).

Together with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth. She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of human existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She shows how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances of life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant to become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of God. She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of us.

Comment:

Sometimes spiritual writers are accused of putting Mary on a pedestal and thereby discouraging ordinary humans from imitating her. Perhaps such an observation is misguided. God did put Mary on a pedestal and has put all human beings on a pedestal. We have scarcely begun to realize the magnificence of divine grace, the wonder of God’s freely given love. The marvel of Mary—even in the midst of her very ordinary life—is God’s shout to us to wake up to the marvelous creatures that we all are by divine design.

Quote:

“Enriched from the first instant of her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique holiness, the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding angel, by divine command, as ‘full of grace’ (cf. Luke 1:28). To the heavenly messenger she replies: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word’ (Luke 1:38). Thus the daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly and impeded by no sin to God’s saving will, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with him, serving the mystery of redemption, by the grace of Almighty God” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 56).

Why Catholics Celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday

By Rev. Alfred McBride, O.Praem.

On the Second Sunday of Easter of the Jubilee Year 2000, at the Mass for the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II proclaimed to the world that “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.”

Pope John Paul had actively promoted the message of St. Faustina. In his 1980 encyclical on God’s mercy, Rich in Mercy, he developed a scriptural and doctrinal basis for our faith in the mercy of God. By linking the revealed truth about God’s mercy to one of the most solemn Sundays after Easter itself, he illumined the fact that the liturgy already proclaimed the divine mercy. The truth has been embedded for two millennia in the worship of the Church. Once again we see an illustration of the ancient saying, “The law of faith is the law of prayer.”

On the Second Sunday of Easter, the responsorial psalm and Gospel for Cycles A, B and C center on the theme of mercy. In Psalm 118 we sing three times, “His mercy endures forever.” The Gospel, from John 20:19-31, begins with the risen Christ appearing to the apostles on Easter night. Jesus calms his disciples by saying and giving them “Peace.” He shows them the scars of his Passion, his wounded hands and side. His glorified body retains the evidence of his saving work through his suffering, death and resurrection.

He fills them with joy and again says to them—and produces in them—“Peace.” Then he breathes on them and explains what the divine breathing means with the words, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” He gives the apostles the power of God’s mercy for the sinner, the gift of forgiving sins from God’s treasury of mercy. The other texts speak of healing and give the assurance there is nothing to fear.

From Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday to the Eighth Day of Easter, the divine love song of mercy is chanted amid abundant alleluias. For centuries in liturgy the Church has proclaimed the mercy of God through the Word of God and the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The tables of Word and Sacrament are heaped with the promises of Divine Mercy and its grand effect in the lives of millions. The liturgy is the storehouse of the wisdom of God and a treasure chest for all the worshipers.

‘I spoke as a brother’

A TIME magazine issue in 1984 presented a startling cover. It pictured a prison cell where two men sat on metal folding chairs. The young man wore a black turtleneck sweater, blue jeans and white running shoes. The older man was dressed in a white robe and had a white skullcap on his head. They sat facing one another, up close and personal. They spoke quietly so as to keep others from hearing the conversation. The young man was Mehmet Ali Agca, the pope’s attempted assassin; the other man was Pope John Paul II, the intended victim. The pope held the hand that had held the gun whose bullet tore into the pope’s body.

In the cell, unseen in the picture, were the pope’s secretary and two security agents, along with a still photographer and videographer. John Paul wanted this scene to be shown around a world filled with nuclear arsenals and unforgiving hatreds. The Church has always used paintings, sculpture and architecture to communicate spiritual meanings. This was a living icon of mercy.

The Church was celebrating the 1,950th anniversary of Christ’s death and Christian redemption. The pope had been preaching forgiveness and reconciliation constantly. His deed with Ali Agca spoke a thousand words. John Paul’s forgiveness was deeply Christian. He embraced his enemy and pardoned him. At the end of their 20-minute meeting, Ali Agca raised the pope’s hand to his forehead as a sign of respect. John Paul shook Ali Agca’s hand tenderly.

When the pope left the cell he said, “What we talked about must remain a secret between us. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.” This is an example of God’s divine mercy, the same divine mercy whose message St. Faustina witnessed.

Ways to observe Divine Mercy Sunday

With a relatively new liturgical celebration like Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church will look among its members for ways to celebrate. When he was archbishop of St. Louis, in 1998, Cardinal Justin Rigali wrote a pastoral letter to his priests in which he urged them to preach on the mystery of the riches of God’s mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday:

I ask that each of our Archdiocesan parishes observe the Second Sunday of Easter as a celebration of Divine Mercy. . . . I ask that the principal focus of our observance be the Eucharistic Liturgy itself, with special attention given in the homily to preaching on Divine Mercy. The link between Divine Mercy and the Easter celebration, especially on the Second Sunday of Easter, exists on many levels . . . .The Scripture readings lend themselves to linking Easter and Divine Mercy since the texts highlight the forgiveness of sins.

The disposition of trust in God’s mercy is essential for receiving the graces God wants us to have. The time of preparation for the Divine Mercy Sunday is meant to strengthen our people’s trust in God’s mercy. Artwork or holy cards related to Divine Mercy can play an important role. There is one image of St. Faustina that speaks to many hearts in a way that is deeper than words. Like a good icon, it confronts the praying and worshiping person with the merciful love of Christ, and its inscription, “Jesus, I trust in you,” encourages the believer to respond to this invitation with greater confidence.

One way the Church celebrates God’s mercy throughout the year is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Cardinal Rigali notes, “This beautiful Sacrament was presented to the Church by Christ himself on the day of his Resurrection, hence this Sacrament of Mercy is supremely relevant also in this Easter season.” The cardinal also suggests that finding times for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is another good way to observe Divine Mercy.

St. Faustina Kowalska: Apostle of Divine Mercy

The story of St. Faustina Kowalska reveals the inspiration behind the Divine Mercy devotion. Helena Kowalska was born in Poland on August 25, 1905. She was the third child of a devout Catholic family. As a small child she reported seeing bright lights during her night prayers. At age 16 she went to work as a servant in a neighboring city. She soon resigned after a fainting spell, even though a doctor said she was healthy.

Helena told her parents that she wanted to enter religious life but failed to obtain her father’s permission because he felt she was too young. She took another post as a servant and made friends with a circle of young women. At a dance, she experienced a vision of Christ suffering that touched her conscience and revived her desire to be a nun. She soon left her job and sought entrance in a religious congregation.

In 1925, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, taking the name Faustina. She served as a cook, gardener and doorkeeper in Krakow and several other community convents. The sisters liked her but did not appreciate or understand her deep interior life, which included visions and prophecies. On February 22, 1931, Sister Faustina experienced a new and life-changing vision of Christ. She saw him wearing a white robe and raising his right hand in blessing with his left hand resting on his heart from which flowed two rays of light. Jesus told her, “Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the prayer, Jesus, I trust in you.”

Faustina could not paint, and struggled to convince her incredulous sisters about the truth of her vision. Ultimately she persuaded her spiritual director, Father Michael Sopocko, that the vision was real. He found an artist to create the painting that was named The Divine Mercy and shown to the world for the first time on April 28, 1935.

Father Sopocko advised Sister Faustina to record her visions in a diary. At one point she wrote that “Jesus said I was his secretary and an apostle of his divine mercy.” She devoted the rest of her life to spreading the message of divine mercy and the growth of popular devotion to it. Her mystical writings have been translated into many languages. She died of tuberculosis at age 33. Pope John Paul II canonized her on April 30, 2000.

The revelations experienced by St. Faustina were of a private nature, which are not essential to anyone’s acceptance of the Catholic faith. These types of visions and revelations are described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Throughout the ages, there have been so-called ‘private’ revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history” (#67).

In another section, the Catechism describes popular piety, which helps us to put St. Faustina’s revelations into a broader context: “The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church’s sacramental life, such as veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals, etc. These expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it....Pastoral discernment is needed to sustain and support popular piety” (#1674-76).

So we see that devotion to divine mercy in no way replaces any of our rich liturgical traditions. The Divine Mercy devotion fosters the virtue of trust in God’s mercy that finds its fulfillment in the liturgy of Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist. Popular piety animates the faith attitudes that make participation in the sacraments more vital and fruitful.

Mercy in the midst of tragedy

The news is filled with illustrations of mercy—or the need for mercy—in our world. One of the most moving stories came to us on October 6, 2006, when an armed man entered an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. He chased out the little boys and lined up the 10 little girls in front of the blackboard. He shot all of them and then killed himself. Five of the girls died. After the medics and police left, the families of the fallen came and carried their slain children home. They removed their bloody clothes and washed the bodies. In each home they emptied a room of furniture except for a table and chairs. They sat for a time and mourned their beloved children.

After a while they walked to the home of the man who killed their children. They told his widow they forgave her husband for what he had done, and they consoled her for the loss of her spouse. They buried their anger before they buried their children.

On the wall of the local firehouse is a watercolor of the schoolyard painted by a local artist, Elsie Beiler. Its title is “Happier Days,” and it depicts the Amish children playing without a care before the shooting. Five birds, which some say represent the dead girls, circle the blue sky above.

Amish Christians teach us that forgiveness is central. They believe in a real sense that God’s forgiveness depends on their extending forgiveness to other people. That’s what the mercy of God is all about. That mercy is why we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday.

Rev. Alfred McBride, O.Praem., is a priest of the Norbertine Order and a widely known catechist via books, articles and TV programs. He holds a diploma in catechetics from Lumen Vitae, in Belgium, and a doctorate in religious education from the Catholic University of America.

Second Sunday of Easter (A) (also Divine Mercy Sunday)

Acts 2:42-47
Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
1 Pt 1:3-9
Jn 20:19-31

What does it mean to live the Easter experience? We are an Easter people, because we know and celebrate that Jesus has risen from the dead. And yet, we're not always rejoicing and shouting "hallelujah". We don't always feel like celebrating – in Mass nor outside the church where our joy could influence people toward conversion.

We're not quite able find an end to the Good Friday experience of carrying our crosses.

This Sunday's second reading describes what the Easter experience should feel like: We rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. But how?

An attitude of joy does not come from reaching the end of our cross-like burdens. Rather, it comes from knowing that Christ's death and resurrection is going to give us an inheritance of eternal life in God's abundant love and peace.

Our joy comes from knowing that this gift is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading," and that Jesus is keeping it ready for us so that when we die, we won't lose the gift – it's being safeguarded by the power of God because by our faith we have accepted the gift in advance.

This joy-from-knowing is the true definition of "hope". Hope isn't wishful thinking. Hope means celebrating what is certainly going to happen BEFORE it happens.

Many Catholics fear that they might lose their salvation, because they don't trust themselves. They fear that maybe they will turn away from Jesus between now and the hour of their deaths. If you worry about this, let me ask you: During times of suffering, do you reject God or run to him?

Even when we get angry at him, we're actually very close to him. We're angry because we believe in him and trust him and he seems to be disappointing us, not because we have no faith in him. And thus our faith is purified by our trials. As an Easter people, we know that our sufferings are temporary and that someday we will enter into eternal joy. This is what we celebrate even while carrying our crosses.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

In what ways has God apparently disappointed you? What's he doing — or not doing — that's upsetting you? How is this increasing your closeness to him, even if it feels like he's silent and distant?

Questions for Group Faith Sharing:

Give an example of wishful thinking: What have you wished for in prayer? What have you been begging God to do? How is this wish based on hope (joy-from-knowing)? Even if your wish never comes true, what's your reason for a higher hope?

****************************************

“I’ll need to see some proof.” “How can you be certain?” Have you used one of those expressions today?

Influenced by the scientific mindset which greatly affects the way we look at our contemporary world, most of us are quick to call for proof for anything out of the ordinary, or beyond our experience. We don’t want to be “taken in” by extravagant claims or wild speculations.

So today’s Gospel, the story of “Doubting Thomas,” has a modern appeal. Thomas wants proof of the Resurrection. Scripture scholar Father Raymond Brown notes that Thomas’s story comes near the end of a string of stories that link faith to something concrete: the Beloved Disciple sees the burial cloths in the tomb, Mary Magdalene hears Christ’s voice, the disciples see the Risen Lord. So it’s natural for Thomas, in turn, to ask for proof to answer his doubts.

But Father Brown notes that the evangelist and Jesus are looking for a different reaction: What about those who believe without any physical evidence? Clearly, John wants his readers to make that act of faith, for Jesus calls such believers “blessed.”

When we hear this Gospel proclaimed in our local parish this weekend, let’s look around and take heart from our fellow believers. When my faith wavers, I gain strength from the Holy Spirit, at work in the community of faith.

Scripture:

•They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

•The LORD, my strength and might, came to me as savior. (Psalm 118:14)

•Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3,4)

•Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8)

•Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:21)

Reflection:

•How important is the Eucharist and prayer to your spiritual life?
a) Can take it or leave it.
b) More important when I am troubled or in a crisis.
c) Feel better when I take the time to pray and receive the Eucharist.
d) Can’t survive without daily prayer and more than weekly Eucharist.


•Describe your feeling of joy for prayer and the sacraments.
a) Don’t see a need.
b) Feel good about participating.
c) Daily practice and central to my life.
d) Overwhelming presence that is central to my sense of well-being.


•What does Jesus mean, “As the father has sent me so I send you.”
a) I don’t understand what is expected.
b) I live a Christian life of loving my family and friends.
c) I find ways to help the poor and marginalized.
d) I find ways to build the community of the faithful by participating in the Eucharist and being the Eucharist to others.

The more you pray, the more you want to pray…It’s like a fish that starts by swimming near the surface of the water, then plunges and goes on swimming deeper and deeper. The soul plunges, is swallowed up, loses itself in the delights of the conversation with God.¹

(In the quote above replace the word “pray” with “love”, “act kindly” or “give generously.”)

Easter Sunday (A)

Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23
Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8
Jn 20:1-9

Are you ready to proclaim the Good News about how Jesus has helped you? Or do you hesitate because don't yet understand how the deaths in your life have been resurrected into new life, how the tragedies and other difficulties have led you into triumphs and great blessings?

This was the mental state of the disciples on the first Easter morning, as depicted in the Gospel of John.

The attitude of Peter in the reading from Acts is quite a contrast! The disciples now know their calling: They were commissioned to testify and to teach that Jesus is the Savior, and they fully embraced this vocation.

To “testify” means to share the truth based on your own experiences. Peter specifically proclaimed that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins. Of course! Peter knew first-hand what it's like to need and then receive God's forgiveness.

We will not understand how our sufferings lead us to new life until we start talking about it. The first inklings of insight awaken when we discuss it within our close, holy friendships, like Mary of Magdala did when she ran to Peter and John after discovering the empty tomb. They, in turn, told the other disciples. It was while they were together, in community, that Jesus appeared and revealed the full truth to them. Later, with the help of the Holy Spirit, they evangelized the world by sharing their experiences with anyone willing to listen.

Reflect & Discuss:

1. The empty tomb doesn't immediately make sense. What has been confusing to you during your faith journey? What has caused you to feel empty and frightened? Where might Jesus be in this?

2. How have your own experiences of being forgiven enabled you to feel more compassionate toward others? Does that change the way you talk to them about God and church and other spiritual or moral issues?

3. What is the biggest change that Jesus has brought into your life? What were you like before this change? How did God intervene? What were the results? This is your testimony. Practice sharing it by telling the story to your small Christian community.

“There is no tale ever told,” author J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote in an essay on storytelling, that people “would rather find was true.” The Catholic author of the The Lord of the Rings was speaking of the story of Jesus. Today, as we accompany Peter and the Beloved Disciple, making their way to the tomb, we might echo Tolkien’s comment.

Our faith, as St. Paul tells the Corinthians, rests on the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. We base everything on the truth of the story. But establishing that truth is not a matter of science, history or archaeology. Rather, as we seek to grow in faith, we call upon the Holy Spirit, who lives within the Christian community. In the Easter Gospels, we hear the witness of the first followers of Jesus: Jesus was risen; they had experienced him, alive in their midst. Their testimony in the Spirit moves us to a faith-filled “Alleluia.”

It’s true that we live in a skeptical age. And yet in his essay, J.R.R. Tolkien pays tribute to the power of the Christian proclamation. He notes that there is no other story which so many skeptics “have accepted as true on its own merits.”

Our Easter Gospel is a story of living faith, in which we are participants, and to which we are now witnesses. The Spirit of the living Christ has called us to testify to its truth.

Scripture:

•They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised on the third day (Acts 10:39b,40a)

•The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. (Psalm 118:22,23)

•For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)

•On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. (John 20:1)

Reflection:

But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb. (Matthew 27:61) (Palm Sunday Liturgy)

Mary of Magdala, awake before dawn,
not waiting light.
Seeks the tomb,
quiet dark emptiness,
specter stone moved.
Heart quickens,
frees Peter’s grief,
after mourning denial.
Mary’s breath running lost,
tomb of emptied death.
Jesus echoes mind,
“After three days—raised up?”
Peter reprieves sleep again,
enters stone void.
Where is the Lord risen from the dead?

Good Friday

Celebration of the Lord's Passion

Today's Readings:
Isaiah 52:13--53:12
Ps 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25
Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9
John 18:1--19:42

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/032108.shtml

What did Jesus do for you?

When we read today's Gospel story, we can ask ourselves: Has Jesus done enough for me? Do I have any prayer requests that have either gone unanswered or are not being answered satisfactorily? Do I suppose it's because he doesn't care? Have I been hurt and broken-hearted without getting enough healing and hope from him? Has Jesus done too little to make me happy? Do I feel like the reason why I've been treated unfairly is because Jesus likes someone else more than me?

Let's be honest. From time to time, we all fall victim to the mistaken assumption that life doesn't go the way it "should" because of God: He's being mean or uncaring or distant. Maybe we're not always conscious of this, but it's there, under the surface, affecting our behaviors and our level of faith.

The key to getting out of this self-imposed prison is to meditate upon what Jesus did for you on the original Good Friday. Since he was willing to do THAT for you, is he not also willing to do everything else that's good for you?

Everything else is easy for him in comparison to the cross, which he endured for your sake! Take very personally what he went through: For you he suffered abuses. For you he endured ridicule and torture. For you he accepted an excruciating death.

Of course he cares about you! Of course he wants to provide for you and give to you everything that you need, from the smallest blessing to the biggest healing (which is the healing of your soul).

By attending the Good Friday services in church and by listening to the Passion of Christ while looking at the cross, we can remind ourselves — and let Jesus himself remind us — that we really do matter to him, and enormously so!

In fact, he cares about us so much that he refuses to take short cuts and halfway measures or to settle for second best, so that he can fill all our needs, even the ones we're not aware of, and resolve all of our problems by implementing the best possible plan, even if we don't understand it for awhile.

Holy Thursday

Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper

Today's Readings:
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Ps 116:12-13, 15-18
1 Cor 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/032008.shtml

Finding Jesus in dirty feet

Why did Jesus wash the feet of his disciples in tonight's Gospel reading? Not because they were too lazy to handle their own hygiene and as their servant he would make life easy for them! Rather, he gave them (and us) a model to imitate.

We want Jesus to make our lives easier. Isn't that the purpose behind many of our prayers? Well, we get what we ask for, but maybe not the way we're hoping. When we imitate Jesus, it's the way we cope with the difficulties of life that becomes easier.

Have you washed anyone's feet lately? Maybe you haven't literally soaped up a friend's smelly feet as a sign of your unconditional love, but I'm sure you have given of yourself in a foot-washing way.

To wash the feet of others is to love them even when they don't deserve your love.

To wash the feet of others is to do good to them even if they don't return the favor.

To wash the feet of others is to consider their needs as important as your own.

To wash the feet of others is to forgive them even if they don't say, "I'm sorry."

To wash the feet of others is to serve them even when the task is unpleasant.

To wash the feet of others is to let them know you care when they feel downtrodden or burdened.

To wash the feet of others is to be generous with what you have.

To wash the feet of others is to turn the cheek instead of retaliating when you're treated unfairly.

To wash the feet of others is to make adjustments in your plans to serve their needs.

To wash the feet of others is to serve them with humility and not with any hope of reward.

Notice the posture of Jesus. He knelt. Imagine Jesus kneeling in front of you now, lowering himself to the level of your feet and tenderly ministering to your needs. He is in fact doing this, right now, today. And he does it again and again, every day!

He is asking you to go and do likewise: Be the hands of Jesus that wash the feet of the people around you.

By serving others, we gain understanding of what Jesus did for us 2000 years ago — and we become more observant of how he's ministering to us right now. We meet Jesus in the dirty feet that we lower ourselves to clean.

Holy Week - March 17th 2008

Good afternoon all,

It's been 3 months last Thursday since my dearest brother left us so suddenly. Now it's Holy Week, Lent is almost over and this season has been hard, harder than even Christmas. It's hard
to imagine that the one that you love is not around anymore, anyone who has lost someone can
attest to that, the pain has not lessened in fact it's getting harder to bear. The finality is so unbearable but to be strong is what is expected of everyone and what is expected of me....

I have spoken to so many people who have said things that provide some measure of comfort but it still does not lessen the pain. I guess this cross will be something that we have to bear though some may disagree and say we should let go because he is in heaven and he is a saint and he is watching over us, but to these dear people who mean well you can never know how difficult and how painful it is to let someone you love so dearly go.....

Dear Lord, I hope you can understand and forgive this selfishness that I am going through to want my dear brother back but I am only human. Dear David, only you can know now how much I miss you and wish I had that one chance to tell you how much I love you and how proud I am of you. I pray for strength and I pray for peace in my mind and in my heart and I know you are happy where you are so Godspeed and till we meet again. I remain,

Your loving sister always.

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (A)

Is 50:4-7
Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Phil 2:6-11
Mt 26:14--27:66 or Mt 27:11-54

The word "passion" has powerful implications. Theologically, we use it to describe the suffering love that Jesus had for each of us when he was beaten, mocked and crucified.

The world counterfeits this word by applying it to strong feelings of romantic, even lustful, attraction.

We also use it to refer to a strong motivation to do something that we enjoy or greatly care about, and this is why we can say that Jesus cared "passionately" about us while enduring The Passion.

The strong love that Jesus exhibited in his ministry and on Good Friday is a lesson on what it means to have "compassion" for others: We walk with them in their sufferings, we "suffer with". It's passionate love in it's holiest form.

Read the scriptures for Passion Sunday with an eye on how much they reveal Jesus' passionate love for you.

See yourself in the passion of the people who enthusiastically welcomed Jesus and in those who rejected and denied him.

Consider how much compassion Jesus must have had for you when he willingly subjected himself to the excruciating pains of his final hours, despite how much you've hurt him.

Reflect & Discuss:

1. Looking at the reading from Isaiah, how have you beaten on Jesus, plucked his beard, and spit on him, even while he was ministering to you?

2. How does your answer to #1 explain why Jesus emptied himself for you, as the reading from Philippians describes?

3. Identify the ways you've emptied yourself for others. In what ways does the Passion of Jesus minister to you in your own sufferings?

Question for the Journey:

For participating in the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the quiet tomb of Holy Saturday), bring to mind the most painful way you are suffering compassionately with someone else. Connect this to what Jesus did and to his sufferings. How does this help you feel more intimately involved with God's salvation plan? How does it make your life a modern Gospel?

************************************************

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion.

Some years ago, I saw an exhibit of paintings by Monet. Seeing a lifetime of work by that artist, rather than viewing one isolated painting, helped me appreciate the larger context of Monet's artistry.

And this Sunday context is important at Mass as we hear Matthew's account of the passion of Jesus. Matthew wrote for both Jewish and Gentile converts to Christianity, and drew on the Old Testament for his story of Jesus the Suffering Servant. His audience would understand the larger context: Jesus fulfills the promises God made to the chosen people.

Unfortunately, some Christians in later centuries used Matthew's words as a reason to charge all the Jews of Christ's time, or even Jews of later generations, with his death. Matthew's language often doesn't help, for example, when the crowds ask that Jesus' "blood be upon us and our children." This antagonistic tone may reflect a real hostility between Matthew's community (living 40 or 50 years after Christ), and the Jewish community of the time which did not accept Jesus.

But there's no excuse for anti-Semitism. Pope John Paul has urged an end to the hatred and misunderstanding between Christians and Jews. You and I can help foster such reconciliation by a careful—and prayerful—reading of the passion narratives.

Scripture:

•:The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. (Isaiah 50:7)

•:Indeed, many dogs surround me, a pack of evildoers closes in upon me; They have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones. (Psalm 22:17,18)

•:Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:7,8)

•:Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.…” (Matthew 26:27,8)

Reflection:

Only a few more days and Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter are here. Take some time before the Triduum begins to consider your Lenten experience. Consider how it started and how it ended and your Lenten journey. You have changed but in what way? It may be subtle but often a subtle difference in prayer, meditation or outlook may be the most profound. Take this small change and consider how to grow with it. Take some time to share in the liturgies on Thursday and Friday. Then take some time on Saturday before the Easter Liturgies are celebrated. Nothing happens on Saturday until the Easter Vigil. The sanctuary is empty. Take this last opportunity to stay in the emptiness of Lent to meditate one last time on your Lenten journey. Give the Lord the empty time to speak to you. Afterwards await the fullness of the resurrection and the Easter season where a different growth occurs.

Prayer:

God has created me to do Him some definite service: He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission—I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told of it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good. I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I but keep His commandments. Therefore I will trust in God.

Fifth Sunday of Lent (A)

Ez 37:12-14
Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
Rm 8:8-11
Jn 11:1-45 or Jn 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

Lent is not about suffering and sacrifice. It's a corridor to new life. Good Friday is not about evil and pain and death. It's the door that Jesus opens to invite us into that new life.

Yes, suffering is part of the Lenten journey (and it can be experienced at any time of the year). Yes, Lent includes the sacrifices of fasting and abstinence, alms-giving and extra time in church. But these are just tools for the trip.

God uses our sufferings (if we let him) to help us grow in compassion, persistence, and ministry. We use our sacrifices to help us learn discipline (which is discipleship) so that we can purify our will and grow stronger in holiness. But the trip is not the destination.

Lent is all about reaching the resurrection: renewed faith, a new life free of old sins, reconciled relationships, and living in the Spirit of God more than ever before.

Which day is more important to your faith: Good Friday or Easter Sunday? That horrid day on Calvary was absolutely necessary for Easter, but we are living in the resurrection! Catholics are an Easter people. This means that nothing bad can ever happen to us that will not be transformed into blessings if Jesus is the Lord of our lives.

He proved himself to be the Resurrection and the Life we need by displaying his power over life and death. Now he wants to prove it again — to you and those who are watching you.

Reflect & Discuss:

1. We can personalize the first reading by understanding that God will open our graves (whatever is dead inside of us) and will place his Spirit of Life within us. How does the Holy Spirit help us discover healing and hope amidst our daily sufferings and dyings?

2. In the scripture from Romans, we are reminded again of the Holy Spirit within us. Since the Spirit is alive in you, what affect does this have on your Lenten preparations for Easter? What is being purified, strengthened, and renewed?

3. In the Gospel, Jesus proves his power over death just before he enters Jerusalem and heads toward Calvary. How does this prove to you that your own sufferings and sacrifices will not lead to permanent disaster?

Question for the Journey:

What needs to be resurrected in your life? What will you do this week to accept the death of what has ended so that you can prepare for the new life that Jesus is preparing for you?

*********************************************

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

Some years ago in a homily, I told of standing at the bedside of a priest-friend who was dying, and wrestling with one of the questions that naturally arise at such a moment: What really awaits us after death?

One of my parishioners wondered if I doubted the resurrection of the body. I reassured him that I did believe in life after death, but was simply being honest about what I felt as my friend was dying.

Today's Gospel of the raising of Lazarus is the last of the three stories we use to prepare candidates (catechumens) for Baptism at Easter and it's the most dramatic. Jesus calls Lazarus from the tomb, still tightly wrapped in his burial bands. "Untie him," Jesus commands, "and let him go free."

We speak of "being buried" in the waters of Baptism. Scripture scholar Raymond Brown suggests that Lazarus represents the ultimate challenge for those who are baptized in Christ: the encounter with death itself.

As I stood at the bedside of my dying colleague, I saw a look of peace on his face. Though he could not speak, he was testifying that he had faced the test and was ready to meet the Lord.

May each of us hear the voice of Jesus in our final moments of life, inviting us to come forth, and be set free.

Scripture:

•I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; (Ezekiel 37:14a)

•I wait with longing for the LORD, my soul waits for his word. (Psalm 130:5)

•…the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you. (Romans 8:11)

•She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” (John 11:27)

Reflection:

•Who do you trust?

•How does the Spirit act in your life?

•Is Jesus the center of your life?

You, Lord, were within me, while I was outside. It was there that I sought you. I rushed headlong upon these things of beauty that you had made. You were with me, but I was not with you. They kept me far from you, those fair things which, if they were not in you, would not exist at all! You called, you cried out, you shattered my deafness: you flashed, you shone, you scattered my blindness: you breathed perfume, and I drew in my breath and I pant for you: I tasted, and I am hungry and thirsty: you touched me an I burned for your peace.

Fourth Sunday of Lent (A)

1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Eph 5:8-14
Jn 9:1-41 or Jn 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

Conversion to Christ is a process. The blind man in today's Gospel reading exemplifies this journey into faith. Notice that at first he did not run to Jesus. Jesus came to him. The man responded by waiting to see what would happen and then by obeying Jesus.

Conversion begins when Jesus seeks us out and we make ourselves available to his touch. He then opens our eyes to the truth, but we don't immediately understand.

When the man's neighbors asked about his cure, he did not yet understand who Jesus was; he thought of him as just a man. Then, under the pressure of listening to the Pharisees argue about who Jesus was, he had to give it more thought. He concluded that Jesus must be a prophet, which for the Jews was a highly esteemed, holy vocation.

Next, as the Pharisees treated him more roughly and raised the possibility of expelling him from the synagogue if he claimed that Jesus was the Christ, he had to wonder if what they feared might be true. Their reasons for hating Jesus became the eye-openers that cured his spiritual blindness.

Finally, Jesus sought him out again, this time to minister to him in response to the mistreatment he had suffered from the Pharisees. In this act of caring, the man could see who Jesus really was. Conversion — the purification of our spiritual vision — takes place in the fire of our sufferings as we recognize the love and concern that God has for us.

Reflect & Discuss:

1. In the first reading, God makes it clear that he sees what we cannot see when we're focused on external evidence. Think of a time when you looked deeper or beyond the obvious. How did that change you?

2. In Ephesians 5, we read that we have become light in the Lord. Name some of the good fruits that come from the ability to see what Jesus is doing in your life.

3. The Gospel reading illustrates that those who think they can see the truth very often are blind, and those who acknowledge their blindness become able to see clearly. Why does this happen? Has it happened to you?

Question for the Journey:

Think of an area of your life where there is confusion from a lack of understanding. Perhaps you're having a hard time seeing the good in someone. Maybe you're worried about the future. What will you do this week that will help you see it from God's perspective?

************************************************

Three great stories in the Gospel of John have, for centuries, served as Scriptural instructions for those preparing for Baptism. Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, and this is the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

Last week we heard the story of the Samaritan woman; next week that of Lazarus. Today, the "man born blind" takes center stage. In Catholic parishes today, candidates for Baptism stand before us, perhaps picturing themselves as the man in the story.

For the early Church, "illumination" was a theme of Baptism. Saint Augustine suggested that the man born blind stood for the whole human race, needing to see the light of Christ. The late Scripture scholar Father Raymond Brown notes that the man undergoes testing or questioning by various individuals after he is "enlightened." His witness develops until he finally encounters Jesus a second time and professes his faith. It's symbolic of how our faith grows through choices we make in life.

Father Brown also notes how those around the man are affected by his initial encounter with Jesus. Some come to faith; others are hardened in their rejection of Jesus. No one remains indifferent, it seems.

How do we witness to Jesus? Can people detect the light of Christ shining in us? If not, perhaps part of our Lenten activity might involve a self-scrutiny, and some steps toward enlightenment.

Scripture:

•“…Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)

•Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side (Psalm 23:4)

•“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5:14b)

•He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” (John 9:36,7)

Reflection:

•Where do you find Jesus? What are you doing this Lent to find Jesus?

•Lent calls for prayer, fasting and giving alms (sacrificing). How does this bring you closer to Jesus?

•Through your Lenten activities have you changed your routine and have you found Jesus in any ways not possible before?

•How does the blind man find Jesus?

For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. (St. Francis of Assisi)