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?

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“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?

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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?

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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?

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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)

Third Sunday of Lent (A)

Ex 17:3-7
Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
Rm 5:1-2, 5-8
Jn 4:5-42 or Jn 4:5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

What are you thirsty for? Thirst is what happens when we lack something vital. Water is essential for our physical survival, and our bodies signal us when it's time to drink fluids to stay healthy.

Likewise, water is necessary for our spiritual survival, albeit a different sort of water – the LIVING water, the baptismal water that purifies us for eternal life, the holy water that enables us to have abundant life in Christ now.

The Holy Spirit is the Giver of Life. One of the biblical symbols that represents the presence of God's Spirit is life-giving water. Therefore, we can surmise that Jesus wanted to give the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Samaritan woman. Why? It would still be a while before the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost.

She needed the truth; the Holy Spirit IS Truth, and Jesus wanted to give her whatever she needed to repent and receive salvation and then share this new life with the people around her.

We only get thirsty when we haven't had enough to drink. Spiritual thirst comes in many forms: loneliness, despair, frustration, self-indulgence – any feeling or behavior that's caused by lacking something we need or want.

And why would we lack anything spiritually? Because, like the woman at the well, we are sinners and need to healing from God as he pours his love into us in all sufficiency.

Reflect & Discuss:

1. In the first reading, why did a physical thirst turn into a sin? How does this still happen today?

2. In Romans 5, grace and hope are mentioned as gifts we receive when we have been “justified by faith” (i.e., when we've repented of our sins and sought forgiveness through Jesus). How do grace and hope quench our thirsts? How do they help us resist sin? How is this a result of God's love being poured into our hearts?

3. The woman at the well eagerly received what Jesus said. Even though he confronted her about her sins, she drank it all in and then, without shame, excitedly told others about her encounter with the Messiah. What need was filled by the truth? What does this teach about how we can help others hear the truth?

Question for the Journey:

What sin or unhealthy habit do you need to overcome so that he is free to quench your thirsts? What will you do this week to hand it over to Christ?

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Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, and this is the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Third Sunday of Lent.

For my hometown of Cincinnati, the Ohio River is an ever-present reality: the river brings commerce, recreation, drinking water. It also brings destructive floods.

Water is a powerful sign; that's why it's used in Baptism, symbolizing our entry into the life and death of Jesus.

Our Lenten readings today relate to Baptism. We hear a story from Exodus, where the people complain because they have run out of water. God, through Moses, responds with a life-giving stream of water. From John's Gospel we have the drama of Jesus and the woman at the well. The early Church used this story in its Lenten liturgy.

The woman at the well represents a believer who reluctantly comes to faith. She needs Jesus, his insights into her life, and his promise of "living water," to slowly win her over.

But isn't that the way it is for most of us? We need time to be convinced; we face contradictions and faulty choices in our lives. Nevertheless we thirst for what God offers us. And, in the end, when we've tasted new life in Christ, we just have to tell others about it. Believers become apostles.

Our Lenten journey may find us thirsty for living water. Let's listen closely to the Lord's invitation.

Scripture:

•Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock? (Exodus 17:3b)
•Harden not your hearts (Psalm 95:8a)

•For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)

•Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.” (John 4:34)

Reflection:

•Does every person have a spiritual hunger/thirst that needs to be filled? Does everyone have a longing to know God’s love that must be satisfied?

•If thirst for God’s love is not filled, then is it possible to turn to sinful pursuits in an attempt to fill this hunger?

•Is the food that Jesus speaks of, the spiritual food of doing God’s will?

•Is dying on the cross for unbelievers the ultimate spiritual act?

•Is the spiritual search the need to give and receive eternal love?


It is love which must determine man’s actions, love which must give unity to what is divided. Love is the synthesis of contemplation and action, the meeting point between heaven and earth, between God and man. I have known the satisfaction of unrestrained action and the joy of the contemplative life in the desert, and I repeat again St. Augustine’s words: “Love and do as you will.” Do not worry what you ought to do. Worry about loving. Do not interrogate heaven repeatedly and uselessly saying, “What course of action should I pursue?” Concentrate on loving instead.

Prayer for Church Leaders

Lord Jesus Christ, You gave Saint Peter his name to signify that he was the rock upon which You would build Your Church. I ask him to pray for our pope, bishops, priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters, ministers, and laity who are in positions of Church leadership.

Help them to grow in holiness, shepherding their flocks in humility and generosity as You did. Teach us to be rocks of faith like Saint Peter. Give us a strong love and a compassionate heart. Protect us from the temptations of legalism, power and status. Anoint us to be servants of Your love, in everything we do.

Saint Peter, pray for us. Amen.

Chair of Peter the Apostle

This feast commemorates Christ’s choosing Peter to sit in his place as the servant-authority of the whole Church (see June 29).

After the “lost weekend” of pain, doubt and self-torment, Peter hears the Good News. Angels at the tomb say to Magdalene, “The Lord has risen! Go, tell his disciples and Peter.” John relates that when he and Peter ran to the tomb, the younger outraced the older, then waited for him. Peter entered, saw the wrappings on the ground, the headpiece rolled up in a place by itself. John saw and believed. But he adds a reminder: “..[T]hey did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (John 20:9). They went home. There the slowly exploding, impossible idea became reality. Jesus appeared to them as they waited fearfully behind locked doors. “Peace be with you,” he said (John 20:21b), and they rejoiced.

The Pentecost event completed Peter’s experience of the risen Christ. “...[T]hey were all filled with the holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4a) and began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them.

Only then can Peter fulfill the task Jesus had given him: “... [O]nce you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). He at once becomes the spokesman for the Twelve about their experience of the Holy Spirit—before the civil authorities who wished to quash their preaching, before the council of Jerusalem, for the community in the problem of Ananias and Sapphira. He is the first to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. The healing power of Jesus in him is well attested: the raising of Tabitha from the dead, the cure of the crippled beggar. People carry the sick into the streets so that when Peter passed his shadow might fall on them.

Even a saint experiences difficulty in Christian living. When Peter stopped eating with Gentile converts because he did not want to wound the sensibilities of Jewish Christians, Paul says, “...I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.... [T]hey were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel...” (Galatians 2:11b, 14a).

At the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus says to Peter, “Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). What Jesus said indicated the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God. On Vatican Hill, in Rome, during the reign of Nero, Peter did glorify his Lord with a martyr’s death, probably in the company of many Christians.

Comment:

Like the committee chair, this chair refers to the occupant, not the furniture. Its first occupant stumbled a bit, denying Jesus three times and hesitating to welcome gentiles into the new Church. Some of its later occupants have also stumbled a bit, sometimes even failed scandalously. As individuals, we may sometimes think a particular pope has let us down. Still, the office endures as a sign of the long tradition we cherish and as a focus for the universal Church.

Quote:

Peter described our Christian calling in the opening of his First Letter, “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...” (1 Peter 1:3a).

Second Sunday of Lent (A)

Gn 12:1-4a
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
2 Tm 1:8b-10
Mt 17:1-9

Atop Mount Tabor, the pure light of Christ was revealed, as seen in next Sunday's Gospel reading. The Father said, "This is my beloved Son; LISTEN TO HIM." The transfiguration is repeated every time we listen to him and allow our faith to be enlightened. However, now it is WE who are transfigured.

During Lent, as we repent of our sinfulness, we let his light consume the darkness within us. Then, the people around us will see Jesus when they look at us. We will shine with him.

By Christ's transfiguration, we are transformed into OUR true identity. What is our true identity? It's our innermost being, which was created in the image of God!

Jesus left his mountaintop experience to enter into his ministry of suffering. When we are transfigured by the light of Christ, we leave our mountaintops to reveal him to the world. Although there is, as the reading from Timothy points out, hardship in sharing the gospel, we are comforted by the fact that after every Calvary there is always an Easter.

First, we have to spend time on the mountain. We need to stay there long enough to pray and receive "the strength that comes from God." Up there, we are prepared, we are encouraged, and we are restored, so that we can deal with the hardships in the valley.

Listen. Can you hear what God's saying about you? It's the same words he spoke about Jesus on Mount Tabor: "This is my beloved child; listen to him/her." Some folks will listen, some will not, but our ability to shine with the love of Jesus is not based on how many will listen to us. We are transfigured because Jesus saved us and has called us to a holy life.

Reflect & Discuss:

1. As you read the passage from Genesis, how does it feel to think that others could "find a blessing in you"? How does Jesus bless others through you?

2. Timothy reminds us of our holiness. Recall a time when you were enlightened by a new understanding of the faith. How did that change your behavior? How did this make you shine like Jesus?

3. In the Gospel story, because the Father was so pleased with his Son, he affirmed him publicly. How do you know when the Father is pleased with you?

Question for the Journey:

Name one area of your life that you would like Jesus to transfigure. What will you do this week to expose it to Jesus' healing light?

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Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, and this is the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Second Sunday of Lent.

One of the most dramatic scenes in Catholic liturgy comes at the Easter Vigil when adults are baptized, come up out of the water, dripping wet, and after leaving to change re-enter the church in their white baptismal robes.

Now, in my parish, the baptismal moment at the Easter Vigil is a lot less dramatic, but I always like to look at the faces of the newly baptized. There's always a special glow seemingly inside as well as out as these new Christians experience the transformation that comes to them.

Only later, I suspect, do they begin to realize all the implications of that change. Perhaps that's why our liturgy gives us today's first reading, the story of the call of Abraham, to leave his homeland and his family, and set out for a promised land. Abraham's response transformed his whole life. He began a long journey perhaps leading him at times to wonder if he was on the right path.

In Baptism we, too, say yes to God, a choice that transforms our lives, setting us on a journey of faith that continues to this day. As we "journey" through this Lent, let’s recall our baptismal commitment and let it reflect in our words and deeds and even in our faces at times.

Scripture:

•“…All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” (Genesis 12:3b)

•Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield. (Psalm 33:20)

•…through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:10)

•…Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; (Matthew 17:1,2)

•…they saw no one else but Jesus alone. (Matthew 17:8b)

Reflection:

•Why does Jesus bring the disciples to the mountaintop to see Him transformed?

•What is the disciples’ experience of Jesus before and after the transfiguration?

•How does the transfiguration prefigure the crucifixion of Jesus?

•How do you experience Jesus in the transfiguration?

Christ’s humility, which is love, brought him to descend toward the lowly, not because the lowly had some special value, but to look for the one who was lost in order to help raise himself up. Let us therefore avoid indulging ourselves with dreams of grandeur, but rather enter willingly into humble thoughts. The Holy Spirit brings us to understand all these things, and this can break the chains that bind us. The spirit is freedom, and we are still held captive by many bonds that freeze in us the spontaneity of the gift of love. We ask Our Lord to free us a little more from all forms of slavery, so that the gift of ourselves, the gift of love for God and for others, may, according to Christ and his example, develop in us more freely, more spontaneously, and more generously.

First Sunday of Lent (A)

Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
Rm 5:12-19 or 5:12, 17-19
Mt 4:1-11

How do you deal with temptation? That's the personal challenge given to us by the Word of God on the first Sunday of Lent. And so we begin our journey with Jesus, traveling to the holiest place we can reach at this point in our lives.

This Lent is like no other Lent. Last year, you had different needs, different areas of growth, different levels of insight and understanding. Much has happened since then, and all of it is a preparation for what the Lord is going to do in your life now.

What victory do you need this year? What needs to be resurrected? To get there, your path will lead through the cross, into the tomb, and out into God's light where his love provides healing and new life.

During Lent – and every time we make sacrifices and connect our sufferings to the Passion of Christ – we follow Jesus to the cross and to resurrection. This requires accepting and embracing our own crosses, for the Calvary Road is the only way to reach the victorious new life that we yearn to experience.

If we want Easter to be more than just a holiday of pretty eggs, chocolate bunnies and big dinners, we have to make Lent more than just 40 days of enduring an annoying, obligatory sacrifice, eating meatless pizza on Fridays, and going to an occasional extra event at church. If we want to experience the power of resurrection, we have to experience the power of mourning and repenting from our sinfulness. In other words, we have to experience the powerlessness of death – the death of our selfishness, the death of our worldliness, the death of our behaviors that are not Christ-like.

Reflect & Discuss:

1. In the story from Genesis, what did Adam and Eve need to die to (let go of, put aside, reject) in order to resist the Original Sin? Why didn't they?

2. In the reading from Romans, we hear about the abundant grace and the gift of justification that Jesus provided to each of us when he died on the cross. How does this grace and justification give us life? In other words, how does God help us to resist sin?

3. Looking at the Gospel passage, what did Jesus have to die to in the desert so that he could say no to temptation?

Question for the Journey:

Name one thing you can do this week to die to self. How does that make it easier to resist sin? For example, think of good deed you can do that's the opposite of what your selfishness wants you to do.

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Do you recall comedian Flip Wilson's famous phrase: "The devil made me do it!"? That line hits home because human beings often make excuses when we give in to temptation. But in reality, no one "makes" us sin we choose it, just as we freely choose to do good.

Today's Scriptures present Adam and Eve, faced with a choice for good or evil: They choose to reject God and give in to the temptation to "be like God"—in the words of the serpent-tempter.

Another temptation scene comes in the Gospel. This time, Jesus, facing the choice to accomplish his ministry in selfish, power-hungry ways, rejects the temptation and affirms his true identity as God's Son.

Our Christian identity is a choice we affirmed (or which was affirmed for us) at our Baptism. But we must re-affirm that choice again and again in the face of temptation.

It's fitting that the temptation scene in the Gospel is set in the desert. In the Bible, the desert is often a place of testing, of choices. The season of Lent is like a "spiritual desert" where we hope to rediscover our identification with Christ, leading to a renewal of Baptism at Easter. Let our choices this Lent be directed by the example of Jesus in the face of temptation.

Scripture:

•But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.” (Genesis 3:4b,5)

•For if by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many. (Romans 5:15)

•Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:1-3a)

Reflection:

•How are you tempted?

•The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice (greed), gluttony and lust. Is anyone injured by these “deadly sins?”

•How are these sins different from the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes?

•Do these sins deaden the spirit to receive the gifts of God’s love?

For each person the movement away from the threat of enslavement to the capital sins will involve growth in some basic virtues: humility that recognizes God as the basic healer; patience with one’s own gradual but steady journey towards holiness; and compassion for the weakness of others. Although the complex reality that is sin cannot easily be fit into seven specific categories, the survival of capital sins as a spiritual theme points to the presence of patterns of evil that threaten to dissipate life in any age.

Lent- 2008

Today was the celebration of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent - the next 40 days will be our test as Christians to accept what has come to pass and to transcend all that God
has put on us.

God did not take David away to test our faith, our strength, our love. He took David away because it was his time. Our time will come too, maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will come. Our test now is acceptance, not to question but to give in and to grow in our faith and our love.

It will be hard as we go through this period of Lent without David, it was hard when we went through Christmas and the New Year and it will be hard when Easter comes but acceptance is something we have to pray for.

I thank God for the blessing of David in our lives, though brief, I thank God for the memories and the countless blessings we will receive through our brother's ministering.

Thank you God for the gift of David.

God bless and have a blessed Lenten season all.

Ash Wednesday

Today's Readings:

Joel 2:12-18
Ps 51:3-6, 12-14, 17
2 Cor 5:20 -- 6:2
Matt 6:1-6, 16-18
http://www.usccb.org/nab/020608.shtml

How healing will your Lent be this year?

What victory do you need? What needs to be resurrected?

For Easter to be more than just a day of colored eggs, chocolates and big dinners, Lent needs to be more than just 40 days of obligatory sacri-fices like meatless pizza on Fridays. To experience the power of resurrection, we have to experience the power of mourning and repentance. We have to experience the powerlessness of death: the death of our selfishness, the death of our worldliness, the death of our behaviors that are not Christ-like.

In today's first reading, God beckons: "Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning." Fasting is powerful only if it improves our self-discipline so that we can resist sin and grow in holiness. We're hypocrites, like Jesus describes in the Gospel reading, if fasting produces no inner changes.

What are you doing for Lent that will promote your spiritual growth? Here's a suggestion: Identify one fault — just one — and choose an activity or an abstinence for the duration of Lent that will help you overcome it.

God is beckoning: "Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning."

Both the reading from Joel and Psalm 51 remind us that God is merciful toward those who recognize their sinfulness and regret it so much that they're truly motivated to change. Dealing with our need to change can feel overwhelming and shameful, but if we keep our eyes on God's mercy, we feel helped, healed, and resurrected.

By identifying and working on just one sinful tendency (especially one that's been difficult to overcome), choosing one selfish behavior or one fear or one flaw or one unloving habit as our Lenten project, we can give it to Jesus, nail it to his cross, and hear him offer it up to God as he cries out, "Father forgive them ....!" It will die with Jesus, and we'll be resurrected to a new life, a new level of holiness with Jesus.

Today as we receive and wear our ashes, let us do it fully awake and aware of our sinfulness, with the goal of overcoming a significant sin by Easter. Why do we keep the black smudges on our foreheads all day? Not to win the approval or acceptance or admiration of others. It's a sign that we know we need to change! But if we have even a tiny bit of a desire to be noticed, we should do as Jesus said: "When you fast, see to it that you ... wash your face" so that no one but God will know what you are doing.

Wishing everyone a blessed and fruitful season of Lent. May we journey this season sincerely so as to celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus with much joy in the coming Easter!

My Hero, My Brother

Good evening all,

Today is 2 months since that dreadful day when David collapsed in Bangkok....time is going so slowly and the pain has not eased. Since that day we have heard countless good things about my dearest brother and it has calmed the tempest in my heart somewhat but it still feels as if my
broken heart will never heal.

I would like to share a story that has helped me to marvel at this man who has touched so many people and still continue to do so daily...

I visited my brother's grave a couple of weeks ago with a dear friend of mind and we shared our quiet reflection at her mother's grave and then David's grave, as we were leaving CCK, we chanced upon someone who was reading the papers under a tree and she said that this man was someone I should meet.

We approached him and we were introduced and I explained to him that I needed to have my brother's tombstone constructed in a couple of months time. He has his own company and he constructed my friend's mother's beautiful tombstone. As we were talking he asked me who my brother was and I told him Fr David and he said he knew him! It was so amazing....he said this priest was so nice and he was the one they always called when they needed a priest to say the funeral rites at the grave and he would never say no. He was also at my brother's funeral and he said he had never seen so many people attend a funeral at the cemetery before. Needless to say, we will be using him to construct David's tombstone....

I really don't know how long this pain will cease to be and today my little one James asked me why God was so cruel to take Uncle David away...I have asked myself that too sometimes but then my faith in our Lord brings me back to what's real and inevitable, I answered my son in a way that I have had so many people tell me..God needed him more than we did and we had to let him go.

Rest in peace dear David and ease this pain in our hearts.

Love always,
Dad, Mummy, Michael, Robert and Christine

“To give my life to God is not to deprive myself of anything. In fact I have received much more than I’ve ever wanted in my life”

- Rev. Father David Thexeira

Reflections...

It seems unreal, everything that has happened and yet it is real. Life goes on, people are caught up in their daily routine and we must move on.....it is not easy.

Yesterday, we celebrated a memorial mass at Holy Trinity with Fr Timothy Yeo who was David's best buddy from St Bernadette days. It was good to have this final passage so to speak, we will have to come to terms with our loss sooner or later, but it is hard to come to terms with this because our brother was larger than life.

He kept us from going adrift, he was our anchor and he was the one who was supposed to look after us, all of us, he was our Saviour. So much burden on one person.....it's ok brother dearest, you rest now, it's our turn.

The following is another article that David wrote for 'Dovetail', it gives meaning to our suffering...so appropriate..thank you my dearest David you keep answering my prayers everyday..read and enjoy.

"Humanity is called to joy and a happy life, but everyday we experience many forms of pain, and illness is the most common expression of human suffering."

In the face of it all we spontaneously wonder: Why do we suffer? Can physical or moral pain be a positive experience?

Suffering cannot be transformed by external grace, but from within and often this internal rocess varies. Christ does not answer us directly or in the abstract. In order to hear His saving answer, the one who suffers needs to gradually also share in Christ's sufferings.

The answer that comes through this sharing is a call, "Follow me! Come! Take part through your suffering in this work of saving the world, a salvation achieved through my suffering, through my Cross!"

This is why when faced with the enigma of suffering, as Christians we can proclaim, "Your will be done, Lord" and repeat with Jesus, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (Matt 26:39)

Seen in this way, illness and the darker moments of life acquire a profound dimension, even one of Hope. We are never alone with our suffering. Christ, who gives meaning to Life is always with us. With Christ everything has meaning. Without Him, nothing can be fully explained, not even the legitimate pleasures God has joined to the various moments of human life.

With these thoughts, I wish to inspire in each of you, the sentiments that enable us to undergo our present trials, seeing them as an opportunity to discover God among the shadows and doubts and to glimpse the broad horizons that can only be seen from the height of our daily crosses.

May the Lords peace be yours always, Fr David.

He was always with David when he collapsed in Bangkok, when he was at death's door for 11 days, when he took that fateful flight back home in the air ambulance and when he passed away,
he was not alone, He was with him...we can take comfort in that.

God bless everyone of you and please continue to lift our David in prayer.