April 27, 2014

Second Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:42-47; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20: 19-31
To my knowledge, I have never met a person who said their goal in this life was hell. I have met people who have said that they do not think that hell exists because God just wouldn’t be that mean. I have also met people who say that they hope to sneak into the back door of heaven without God even noticing them; at times I’ve hoped for that myself. So many want to go to heaven, but their negative side which comes from the devil, somehow gets into them that they feel they are not worthy enough or holy enough. Unfortunately on this Divine Mercy Sunday it seems hard for people to realize that God is a God of Love and God is God of Mercy. This really means that God knows everything and He knows everything about me and each person and how hard each one tries and how really much each person needs Him. But this is hard to get into my thick head; the readings and the feast help me with this today.
I read in Sunday Homily Helps put out by the Franciscans an interesting ‘Attention-Getter’ as they call it: Pope John II was concerned about the confessors at St. Peter’s Basilica. He was hearing from others that the priests who heard confession from the many pilgrims could be pretty rough on the penitents. He called them together and reminded them that their duty is about the act of mercy. ‘Confession is an act of honesty and courage,’ he said, ‘an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.’ He wanted confessors who would reflect that mercy.” The article continued with an interesting fact that today, Mercy Sunday, Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II will be canonized by Pope Francis as saints. Now after today only 82 popes have been named ‘saints’. Fifty- two of the first 54 popes were declared saints and in the last 1800 years 26 were canonized. So what makes a saint, the readings tell us today as well as realizing the deep truth that saints have reflected the mercy and love of Christ in their lives.
In the Our Father, I ask God for forgiveness “as I forgive those who trespass against me...” I am asked to be merciful and forgiving each day of my life; and to be a leader in this so that others can see God in me. How am I doing? What do I need from God today so that I can live His mercy and forgiveness?
So often I have thought, it would have been nice to live in the time of Jesus and listened to Him. I come away always thinking that I would have followed Him; well the vast majority of people did not. The ones that followed and the first community of believers lived a common life as the Acts of the Apostles describes it in the first reading. They knew the presence of Jesus because they saw Him in each other. This drew them closer in love for each other and service to the community and all those who were hurting. They celebrated the Eucharist each day and listened to the apostles’ teaching. Their faith was deepened by this fellowship and the witness of their lives touched those around them. They saw and believed.
Today’s Gospel account of Thomas helps me so much because I am like him, so often I don’t see and this leads to many doubts and wonders and unanswered questions. Thomas lived with Jesus and traveled just about everywhere He went. He heard Jesus and saw so many of His miracles. The problem was that after Good Friday, he couldn’t see Jesus anymore. I quote Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday readings, “He lost sight of Jesus after his dreams for a triumphant victory were dashed in the nightmare of an unexpected arrest, trial, and execution. The Jesus he knew was gone. The Jesus he’d put his faith and hopes in had vanished. Jesus his Lord had been erased. So Thomas needed to see Him again, see the wounds in His body, and see the life that death couldn’t destroy. Then he could get His Lord back. And by rediscovering his Lord and God, Thomas would also regain himself as disciple. Jesus didn’t seem to have a problem with meeting Thomas where he was. Ask for what you need. Jesus wants to bring us peace!”
Now it was up to Thomas and the others and now it is up to me and the others. The encyclical Lumen Gentium reminded each Catholic that ‘Christ is the Light of the Nation: We cannot be the Church without reflecting the Christ who is our Light. Men and women need to see Christ though our living actions and not just by our words.’ As Jesus has done, so must I do: as Jesus showed total love and caring, so must I show total love and caring and not just when I feel up to it. As Jesus was aware of those who needed healing and forgiveness I must be an instrument of Jesus’ healing and forgiveness. As Jesus was merciful, so am I called to the same depth of mercy Jesus lived. Fr Ronald Rolheiser in Forgotten Among the Lilies writes: “If we are truly members of Christ’s body then when we forgive sins, the person is forgiven. Likewise it means that if we love someone and hold them in our life, that person, regardless of his or her actions, is not cut off from the body of Christ. If you continue to love somebody, they are bound...bound to the body of Christ, sustained in salvation.” Jesus gave the apostles power and authority and He gives each Christian the same power and authority “to forgive and bind in the love of God.” So I reflect on:

• Easter’s empty tomb is the ultimate sign of hope, am I a hope-giver? Why do I shy away from this?
  
• When I fail to see my life as a gift from God and let myself be beaten down by life, I need the Lord. I need to go face to face in front of the Lord as Thomas did. Why don’t I do this?
  
• Is part of my doubt tied up in how I feel about myself? Am I harder on myself that I am on other people? Do I realize that me being hard on me does not compute with the love God had for me?
  

Sacred Space 2014 reflects on Jesus’ words”

“Jesus repeats His greeting, ’Peace be with you.’ As Jesus wishes the same blessing for me, I consider what might come between me and the blessing Jesus offers.

Fear caused the disciples to lock the doors. This security did not, however, bring them peace. Closing people out leads them to be seen as a threat and seems at odds with Jesus’ way.”

April 20, 2014

Bulletin

Easter Sunday - the Resurrection of the Lord

Acts 10: 34, 37-43; Colossians 3: 1-4; John 20:1-9
Easter Sunday ... the most beautiful day of all ... Jesus came to show the Father’s love and to prove that God’s love is more powerful than my sins and each person’s sins. As today’s Psalm Response from Psalm 118 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”
Now how do I view this day: as just another celebratory day...as a day of rest...as a day to be grateful...as a day to be open to all God’s love and gifts...as another busy day...as a day to get all dressed up...as a day to gather with family and friends...as a day of faith?
Easter can be such a powerful day in my life just as was recounted in the lives of the first witnesses or it can be a day that just begins and ends. The joy of the first followers of Jesus echoes throughout the readings of this season but those responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion and death were no doubt celebrating too: this troublemaker is gone, forgotten, never to be heard from again. They continued to live their normal routine, nothing had changed. For the believers, their lives would never be the same.
Is my life changed with each celebration of Easter? Am I more aware of God’s personal love for me? Do I see signs of God’s life and love all around me? Jesus daily pointed out God’s signs though His words and His wonders, am I too caught up in my world that I miss God’s world?
I accidentally stumbled upon a Renewal of Baptismal promises from Ireland. These made me stop and think and reflect on the precious gift I have been given. I share this now:

“Priest: My dear sisters and brothers, we were once in darkness, but in His great love for us, God has called us out of darkness into the wonderful light of His Son. WE must live as children of the light. The effects of the light are seen in goodness, right living and truth.

Now that we have completed our Lenten exercises, and the light of Easter has dawned for us, let us renew our belief in the light of Christ, and commit ourselves to follow it more faithfully. This, after all, is what we promised at baptism when this precious light was first kindled in our hearts. Our Response is: I DO.

Do you believe in God the Father, source of all light, and in His love for you?

Do you reject the many false gods the world offers for your adoration?

Do you reject Satan, the prince of darkness?

Do you reject the works of darkness, namely sin?

Do you reject the false lights by which Satan seeks to lure you from the path of the Gospel: greed for material things, lust for pleasure, craving for power and popularity?

Do you believe in Christ, the light of the world?

Do you believe that Christ has entrusted His light to us, and that He now depends on us to let the light of goodness shine in the world today?

Do you believe that by rising from the dead Christ has overcome the darkness of death, and that we can do the same if we have faith in Him?

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, consoling us in times of sorrow, strengthening us in times of difficulty, and binding us together in the love of Christ?

Do you believe in the Church, the community of believers in the light, brothers and sisters in the Lord?

Do you believe that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is also our Mother and the Mother of the entire Christian community?

And now, my sisters and brothers, I say to you in the name of Christ: Hold up your heads. Never be ashamed of this light. Then Christ will not be ashamed of you before His Father in heaven.

May the Lord bless you and keep you faithful.
{The priest now blesses the people with holy water, inviting them to pray silently for the grace to be faithful to Christ. As far as possible, he should go all around the church in order to ensure that everybody is sprinkled. If need be, let him get some help}.
Let us pray:
God of love and mercy, through the resurrection of Your Son, You have kindled in our hearts the hope of eternal life. Guard this hope with your grace, and bring it to fulfillment in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this through Christ our Lord.”
The Resurrection tells each person something about Jesus. It also tells each person something about God whom we encounter in the person of Jesus. It was God’s plan that the redemption of the world happened exactly in this way. The God that Jesus taught that God is a God who is love, a love that is more powerful than my sins and the sins of every person living and deceased. This love did not end with Jesus death, because Jesus did not end. This love triumphed over death and it is a love that seeks to share itself with me and everyone so that each one can triumph over sin and death. This is the message of Easter...this is the reason for the day...I can’t sit and be idle I must live and share and love and spread this close relationship with God.
So I reflect on:

• In what way could I serve as a sign of God’s love?
  
• As Christians there is no such thing as death in the sense of final extinction. Our dead are not dead. They share the life o the risen Christ. They are alive. And that’s how we should think of them. Do I spend time and see the love lessons of Jesus that they taught me and then live them?
  
• “What is the connection between Jesus’ resurrection, and hope and trust in God? How do I renew my hope and trust in God amid the pressures and tensions of everyday life? How can I support others as they strive to renew their hope and trust in God and in the kingdom?
  

And Sacred Space 2014 adds:
“Mary was the first to announce the Resurrection, the first to receive the encouragement and hope that the risen Jesus offers. I take some time with Mary, asking her to guide me. I pray that I may notice and take heart as I see signs of resurrection in my life.

Even at this marvelous moment, those who had been closest to Jesus did not understand the scriptures. I ask God to help me this Easter that I may recognize the call to new life in myself.”

April 13, 2014

Bulletin 

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord A

Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2: 6-11; Matthew 26:14 -- 27:66
In walking my dog these past few mornings, I’ve been noticing the occasional palm trees that dot the neighborhood. Some of the branches have fallen to the ground after the long cold winter and the thought has come to me of the Jesus Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem. I wonder if I would have been one of those celebrating His arrival and still more would I understand why He came to die horrendously and not be crowned as the Messiah King? It is interesting that Jericho is known as the city of Palms and I remember my recent trip to the Holy Land and noticing all these palm trees. According to John’s Passion, the disciples bore palm branches at the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Also the palm in Christian liturgy and art has become the symbol of the martyr.
It is also interesting to note that the passion narrative appears in all four Gospels. Not only this, but scripture scholars believe that the Passion narratives were the first portions of the Gospels to reach their final shape, form and unity. It is also very probable that the first proclamation of the Gospel consisted in the recitation of the passion with no further material about the words and actions of Jesus. Paul also never expanded his teaching to the life and teachings of Jesus, he just stayed with Jesus Christ crucified.
All this is looking back at the historical event but I am here living in the now, what will help me to ‘get into’ the Passion and its meaning. It is interesting for me as I celebrate Palm Sunday that there is no mention of the ‘palm entry’ in today’s passion that is located in Matthew 21: 1-11 so my reflection has to come from the readings before me.
And Jesus said, “This night all of you will have your faith in Me shaken...Remain here and keep watch with Me...Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak...” God is talking to me, am I listening, and am I responding? What am I to do?
I go back to the first reading from Isaiah. The predictions in this portion are addressed to the people who are in need of encouragement. (I need encouragement constantly in my spiritual journey.) The years the Israelites have spent in exile away from their homeland has done a number on them. They are convinced that they will not leave Babylon, but Isaiah is telling them that God will bring them home. The ‘Servant’ God sends will rekindle the faith of the people because God has a plan for them. There has been much writing on this ‘servant of God’-- is it the ‘ideal Israel’, will it be a Servant King, will it be the Messiah, will it be Israel personified by an individual, is it Jesus? I’m thinking that in looking at the ‘servant motif’ that this explains what I am to do because the servant in Isaiah is focused on doing the will of God. The people have grown spiritually tired in exile; they must overcome their doubts and trust that God is leading them to a brighter future. Isn’t that part of the role God has given to each person? Each one is created in the image and likeness of God and we are to be grateful and to BE this image to those God places in each person’s life.
Paul continues this theme of humility and obedience by reminding the Philippi community that they are to have the same attitude that Jesus did. Actually this passage was an early Christian hymn describing what Jesus did to complete God’s plan.
Living the Word sums this up beautifully: “What Paul seems to be saying is that we should seek to possess the kind of ‘know how’ that Jesus displayed in choosing a life of humility over a life of self glorification. The radical humility that Jesus shows in His taking the form of a slave, in His willingness to follow the divine will even to the cross, is one that we are called to imitate in our own lives. It is by our imitation of the pattern of living that Jesus has set that we acquire the ‘know how’ to face even life’s daily challenges. When we hear Matthew’s account of the passion of Jesus, we are called not just to admiration of the love Jesus shows, but imitation of it. We may or may not be called to make the kind of supreme sacrifice that Jesus made, but we are all called to make our own Jesus’ prayer to His Father, ‘not as I will, but as you will’[ (Matthew 3:39) In this way, we learn what it means to live as adopted sons and daughters of God.”
So I study the words that stood out for me in Matthew’s Passion narrative. They tell me that like every Christian follower, I am called to be Jesus; I am called through God’s gifts and the Spirit’s grace to act, to be, to love. And this is a ‘noble job’ if you will. Alice Camile says “In the hour of great humiliation noble character has a chance to shine.” Now I certainly don’t compare myself to the great noble figures and acts: Mahatma Gandhi on the Salt March in India, Viktor Frankl in the Nazi concentration camps, Martin Luther King Jr. in a Birmingham jail, Nelson Mandela imprisoned on Robben Island and Mother Teresa tending to the dying on Calcutta’s backstreets.
But every time I get out of myself and see a need and respond, my faith in the teaching and love of Jesus is not shaken, but a comfort; I am watching and praying for the grace that I need to be Jesus; and I’m not following the ‘fleshly’ me to ‘relax’ don’t go out of your way, let them take care of themselves...I am being Jesus and I am grateful.
So I reflect on:

• In my daily life, how I might I continue the same attitude that Jesus had in obedience to the Father and in His suffering and death?
  
• How often do I pray, ‘Not as I will, but as You will.” Am I afraid to include this as a daily prayer?
  
• What can I do to die to sinfulness right here and now? What must I do in my relationships with others to truly demonstrate my sorrow for sin?
  
• What frightens me more: the thought of spending eternity in hell or the thought of not being included in Gods’ kingdom? So what do I have to do?
  

Sacred Space 2014 says: “I think of the characters in the gospel story and see where I can recognize myself among them. Some profess their faith; some do as they are asked; some do simply what others do; some disappear in the moment of crisis.”

April 6, 2014

Bulletin 

5^th Sunday of Lent A

Ezekiel 37: 12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45
The readings today present the theme of a new creation in a way that birth, life, death and living forever with God in heaven, should be the complete cycle of every person’s life in Christ. Do I view it this way, usually I don’t, but that is the total meaning of life. How can I open myself today to the message in each of the readings?
The 37^th chapter of Ezekiel starts off with the prophet’s vision of the ‘Dry Bones.’ Now Ezekiel was a priest and he received God’s call to be a prophet as one of the exiles deported by King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. He task was to prepare his countrymen in Babylon for the final destruction of Jerusalem which they never believed would happen. Now Ezekiel felt that these exiles where the hope of a ‘resurrected’ Israel. So he starts in today’s reading to give them a vision of the ‘new Israel’ under the rule of God. This 37^th chapter expresses his firm belief in the coming restoration: Israel rising to new life from the ‘graveyard’ of Babylon and this total fulfillment will come in the New Testament with the Messiah Jesus.
This was God’s plan, the people had to learn to abandon their own ways and put God first. They didn’t; they chose to ignore their prophets (Jeremiah and Ezekiel). As a result, the kingdom collapsed and the people went into a dark despair; they had lost hope, there was no change for them; they were like the ‘Dry Bones’ in the graveyard. Ezekiel says that God will open the graves and bring them back to life. God did this in creation, by breathing life into clay and this was repeated with Jesus gave the Spirit when He breathed on the apostles. This is a wonderful commentary on what God is constantly doing to each person who allows God to be active in their life: God gives life...the Spirit gives grace to help people ‘come alive’ with God...the sharing of the Spirit gives purpose and meaning to each person who is living the plan of God.
This is what Paul is explaining to the Romans that each is a ‘new creation’. The Holy Spirit dwells with each believer so that the things of the world (Paul calls these ‘fleshly’) no longer have power over people. If the Spirit could raise Jesus so will the Spirit raise each person because of God’s mercy and this makes each a part of God’s plan...if I allow this to happen, if each person allows this to happen.
Verna A. Holyhead in Building on Rock, Welcoming the Word in Year A explains, “Paul assures the Roman community that those who have no interest in things that are of God, or in how their lives are related to God, are confined in a limiting understanding of their humanity; Their mind-set is hostile to God, and so not life-giving. Those who are baptized should live in the Spirit-centered mind-set, for the Spirit dwells in them.” So I have to ask myself daily: Am I putting obstacles to the Spirit...’Am I living my life in union with God or the way that I want because I come first and not God?
Now how does God view me? John describes His care, love, devotion for each person...’I no longer call you slaves, but friends.’ In the story of Lazarus, we see Jesus’ interaction and love for ‘His friend’. Jesus describes God not as a disinterested, or far-away or not caring but one of love. John uses these words: “Master, the one you love is ill. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus...our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him...I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?’...when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, He became perturbed and deeply troubled and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Sir, come and see.’ And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how He loved him’....Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’” There is absolutely no question about Jesus’ love...and that love is always present. So do I thank Jesus for this love...do I go to Him in love...Do I let Him love me? I need to ask myself this each day and then have time to just be with the Lord.

There is still a deeper message in these readings. Sunday Homily Helps gives this beautiful summation of the Gospel: “Resurrection and life. The theological part of the story takes place in vv 17-37. Jesus goes to Lazarus and finds him officially dead (four days). Jesus then engages in conversation with both Martha and Mary over the issue of death and resurrection. The two sisters repeat traditional Jewish belief in the resurrection of the body on the final day. Jesus attempts to get them to understand that He Himself is the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in Jesus will have access to that resurrection and life right now. It is a present reality—not something coming at the end of time. Neither sister grasps the real meaning of what Jesus tell them.

The weeping of Jesus is perhaps as much from frustration at not being understood as it is from sadness. This is not a sentimental moment for Jesus. He is worked up as He goes to the door of the tomb and demands the stone’s removal. He literally yells at Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Lazarus emerges from the tomb, still bound in his burial wrappings. He needs to be untied. Jesus has given Lazarus back his old life.

But that is not the real point of the story. The real point is that Jesus can give life because He Himself is the fullness of life. He is the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Him will never die, but will share in His resurrection life.” Do I believe this...this is from God. So I reflect on:

• There are people around me who are ‘entombed’ in hopelessness, who are ‘entangled’ in despair, who are buried in the conviction that they don’t’ matter. Do I ever feel it is to these that I am sent?
  
• The call to realize that God has given me unique gifts to serve others, in spite of my own pressing needs...this is the story of resurrection...am I aware of this meaning?
  
• What are the signs that I am awakening from sin?
  
• Whatever the age or circumstance, God will continue to advance His kingdom through those who trust in Him despite the difficulties. Do I believe this? Do I live this?
  

A thought from Sacred Space 2014:

‘’A thick and shapeless tree-trunk would never belief that it could become a statue, admired as a miracle of sculpture, and would never submit itself to the chisel of the sculptor, who sees by her genius what she can make of it’ (St. Ignatius). I ask for the grace to let myself be shaped by my loving Creator.”