Feb. 18, 2018

1st Sunday of Lent B Genesis 9: 8-15; 1 Peter 3: 18-22; Mark 1: 12-15 We begin another Lent with hope in our hearts. Hope that we will be closer to the Lord after these forty days and realize His constant love and presence in our lives. On Ash Wednesday we were marked with blessed ashes. These are a physical reminder of our mortality and approaching death, which the Lord has established. Also they remind each of us of our responsibility to live our lives in the way of the Gospel. How are we doing? How am I doing? I need these days. The first reading is about God establishing a covenant with Noah and his sons after the devastating flood. The Gospel shares Mark’s version of Jesus being tempted in the desert. They are a reminder of the constant battles in my life. The floodwaters and deserts that make me feel isolated and helpless. I need this season to remind me that I am never alone. The Holy Spirit is always with me. The enormous gift of receiving Jesus in the Eucharist changes my life and brings me constant joy…all I have to do is to say yes. The first reading from Genesis draws a close to the great flood with God speaking very comforting words to Noah. After spending almost a year on his enormous boat, Noah is so grateful to be standing on dry land. In the previous chapter, Noah offers a substantial sacrifice to the Lord: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” (Genesis 8:20) God knows that the thought stays in Noah’s mind that maybe God might use a ‘flood’ again. God uses language that Noah understands, covenant, to give Noah assurance that this will never happen again. The ‘bow in the clouds’ to us the rainbow is a sign of God’s word, God’s covenant. I enjoy seeing a rainbow. Once I witnessed a double rainbow over a church that I ministered at on weekends. I really was in awe. I was too slow to capture it on my cell phone, but it is totally ingrained in my memory. It filled me with an enormous grasp of God’s presence, His care and being totally safe and loved. We must remember the ‘signs’ that God gives us that remind us of His absolute love and care. Psalm 25 echoes God’s presence in my endless search: “Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.” This is labeled as a Psalm of David…Confident Prayer for Forgiveness and Guidance. It is beautiful…read the twenty-five verses. We hear these verses today: “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths, Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. Remember that Your compassion O Lord, and Your love are from of old. In Your kindness, remember me, because of Your goodness, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord, thus He shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and He teaches the humble His way.” Do I know that God always cares for me? Lent tells me so. Mark’s Gospel does not have the account of the Birth of Jesus. It starts with these words, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” and then it starts with the Preaching of John the Baptist, followed by the Baptism of Jesus then todays’ account of the Temptation of Jesus. From the second verse all the scenes take place in the wilderness and are linked by references to the Holy Spirit. Why is this? Mark expects his listeners to remember the forty years’ that the Hebrew people were tested in their desert sojourn. He expects them to remember Moses’ forty days on the mountain being prepared to receive the Ten Commandments of God’s covenant. He also expects them to remember Elijah’s trip to Mt. Horeb after he ran away from Jezebel who was intent on killing Him. In 1 Kings 19: 9, Elijah encounters God outside a cave and He gives him a new mission. He was to reestablish the covenant and restore the pure faith of the people. These images all reappear at the Transfiguration. It is the Spirit who ‘drives’ or forces’ or ‘casts out’ Jesus into the wilderness. Mark’s account of the temptation of Jesus is much shorter than either Matthew’s or Luke’s. This may be because he does not have access to the others sources. Dr. Bonnie Bowman Thurston, a scriptural expert on Mark’s gospel says it may be because “Mark understands all of Jesus’ public ministry to be filled with temptation, but especially the temptation to be Messiah in a way that fulfills human expectations rather than divine plan.” So Mark is telling us point blank who Jesus is for us: Jesus’ identity is the one who shares our struggles and temptations with us. I’m not alone. The Holy Spirit is always with me. Jesus has endured all the horribleness of life that I have witnessed and experienced. Then Mark gives a brief statement that outlines his entire gospel. It is concise but it is packed. Jesus has come to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Sunday Homily Helps explains this: “This statement of Jesus consists of three major emphases: time, a new reality, and action. The first emphasis is that God’s special time (kairos in Greek) has been fulfilled. That means that we have now entered sacred time, which is calculated by the will of God and not linear, hours, minutes, and seconds. In God’s sacred time, there also exists a new and alternative reality called the kingdom of God. This is God’s divine presence manifested in the words and actions of Jesus. This new alternative reality demands a radical response characterized by change (repentance) and believing in this good news. All of this is the Gospel of God in a nutshell.” Lent is a time for me to face those kinds of challenges and trials that drag me down and away from God. It’s a time to look at the grudges, angers or resentments that exist far too much. It is my own spiritual time in the desert where I come face-to-face with my troubles and imperfections…AND most importantly, Jesus walks with me arm in arm on my journey. I am not alone. I have nothing to fear. I am loved. So I reflect on: • When have I experienced a rainbow of hope after a stormy time in my life? Who was there to help? Did I experience God’s presence somehow? • Can I think of a few ways that I can be repentant to reorient my life to live the Gospel this Lent? • Do I ask God for the grace in receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation to forgive myself since You always do? • Can I ask for greater confidence in Your mercy and love Lord? Why not? It’s there! • Lord help me to let go of the negatives and embrace Your grace that is constantly raining down upon me. Sacred Space 2018 states: “What spirit drives me in the things I do? Is my heart a home for the Spirit? Could the Holy Spirit be inviting me to take more quiet space? In the Bible, the ‘wilderness’ is a place of revelations and of intimacy with God. I need to put secondary things aside to meet God. God is found in emptiness as well as in fullness. I can find Him in the emptiness of sickness, old age, disappointment, failure, and solitude. As Lent begins, I might promise God that I will be faithful to the quiet space and time that Sacred Space offers me. I want the kingdom of God to come near me. I want to believe more deeply in the good news.”

February 11, 2018

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46; 1 Corinthians 10: 31 - 11: 1; Mark 1: 40-45 Lent begins in three days. How am I preparing to celebrate Lent this year? The leper in today’s Gospel was in need of healing. Do I feel that I am in need of healing? Do I feel good the way that I am? How am I doing with the close relationships in my life? How am I doing with my relationship with God? The leper was humble because he acknowledged his own need. He also realized that he had a deep need to share his contact with God. He did so in such a way that Mark tells us, “The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places’ and people kept coming to Him from everywhere.” Do I share my faith story? Do I feel it is important to share how God has loved me and touched me? Or do I feel that giving up something for Lent is sufficient for my spiritual development? The healing of the leper, Lent and God constantly in my life caring for me are all related. For some, Lent is a matter of giving things up. ‘I’m going to give up ice cream…and chocolates…and sweets, including desserts. I’m going to give up beer. I going to give up TV. I’m going to give up computer games. For others Lent is a time where people concentrate on doing things. I’m going to go to as many weekday masses during Lent that I can. I going to skip lunch one day and send that money to the poor. I’m going to make sure I pray the Rosary every day. I’m going to concentrate on the Divine Mercy devotion. These are all good practices. But I have to remember that whether I am giving something up or doing something extra, one point is important. The point is: why am I doing what I am doing? One of the great spiritual masters was St. Benedict who lived in the sixth century. His “Rule” is followed by most of the monks and religious communities for both men and women. Many see that some sort of adherence to his advice help them to follow Christ more closely. I specifically like St. Benedict’s quote: “Nothing is to be preferred to the love of Christ.” Do I live my life accordingly? I try but I slip often. Lent is a time I try to get back in focus. St. Benedict adds these words in his chapter On the Observance of Lent, about adding specific practices. “We will add to the usual measure of our service something by way of praise prayer and abstinence from food or drink, so that each of us will have something above the assigned measure to offer God of his or her own will.” He adds these important words, “…with joy of the Holy Spirit.” We are not meant to be sad people. One holy person from way back said that, ‘a sad saint is a sorry saint.’ Each of us is meant to be the best person we can be. How can I love without a smile on my face? How important this is…I repeat again, How can I love without a smile on my face? And I am called to love always. Lent is not a time for sadness but a time to look forward in anticipation of the glories of Easter. This joy is deep within each person. It is the joy of knowing that I am loved by God always. What I do or what I give up is not the important part of Lent. I can’t really make too much of them. The importance of these practices is that I am being more aware that I am loved every moment and at all times by God who is, as I say, ‘crazy in love wth me just the way that I am now.’ True joy comes from believing deep down that ‘Christ has died and Christ has risen’ and that each person will rise with Him and in Him but only if we enter into His passion and death. This is what Lent is about. As one young child said, ‘Christ suffered and died and that made us sad, so He rose on Easter to make us happy and to live that way.’ I certainly can’t improve on these words. Easter IS the ULTIMATE meaning of our lives. Mark shares these words of Jesus on the conditions of being His disciple, Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for My sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain he whole world and forfeit their live? What could one give in exchange for their life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38) Easter is so important that the early Christian community set aside forty days to prepare for its celebration. This is what Lent is all about. It is me getting in touch with myself to see where true happiness and fulfillment lies with God who is ‘crazy in love with me right now just the way that I am.’ So these daily little practices are to be reminders of God. Each day and every day we face distractions to God’s love: wars, violence, evils, lust, careless hurting and disregard for God, His people and His creation. The world is distracting us from God’s values and life’s meaning. So these practices in themselves are not really important but they challenge us to get out of the mad rush and listen to our hearts and the constant call of God and His love in us. Fr. Basil Pennington in Seeking His Mind, 40 meetings with Christ says, “Ultimately we all want life—unending life, and happiness—complete happiness, in that life. We will find this only in and through the paschal mystery, through our entering into the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. We all know this in faith. But all too often our faith is like the good seed that fell among the thorns. It gets choked up by the cares and concerns of our journey through this world. Lent is a time to cut back those thorns a bit, to let some things go, to introduce something that will help us grow, be it manure or the divine light that comes from prayer, Scripture and meditation.” So I reflect on: • Can I add some time each day in quiet? In Scripture reading? Can I spend time just looking at the crucifix and being with the Lord and listening sandwiched between my thankfulness? • Can I do all this in preparation to eagerly celebrating the mystery of Christ’s love this Easter? • The leper experienced Jesus’ compassion, when have I experienced this in my life? • Where can I bring my healing touch…my healing eyes…my healing ears…my healing words this Lenten season? • God has raised up countless saints who have imitated the selfless love of Christ in working with the sick, the diseased and the poor, chief among them the recently canonized saints, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and St. Damien, the leper Priest. Their charity was not for their own benefit, but that others may be saved. Am I using my time, talent, and treasure where it can do the greatest good? Do I use all God has given me to lift up the last, the lowest and the least around me? Sacred Space 2018 states: “The leper wonders if he is worthy of Jesus’ help. He knows Jesus has the power to do anything—but will that power be directed to an outcast leper? We know God loves and heals. But do I expect that, today, God’s love and healing are meant for me? Finally, the leper is so thankful that he can’t stop telling people. How do I express my gratitude? Do I freely talk about the ways in which God touches my life?”

February 4, 2018

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time B Job 7: 1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23; Mark 1: 29-39 With Lent beginning in 10 days, it is a good time for me to start to get in the ‘groove again’ as far as my relationship with God. It seems that after the rush of Christmas and for myself the return from a wonderful Holy Land pilgrimage, I need to settle down, put myself and my life back on track. I like regular patterns, I like to have a regular routine for prayer and spiritual reading coupled with a time to be still before the Lord. I’ve been slipping, time to ‘return to the Lord!’ The Lord has never ‘been away’ but I have been ‘wandering’ to say the least. Today’s readings are wonderful in making me stop and prepare so that I am journeying with the Lord, in the Lord’s way. From the very opening chapter of the Book of Job, we can see how deeply that God cares for Job’ The story begins: “One day, the Lord said to Satan, “Whence do you come?…From roaming the earth and patrolling it…the Lord said, Have you noticed my servant Job , and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil? Satan responds that it is only because God surrounded Job and his family with property, livestock, riches , etc. God then allows Satan to deprive Job and tempt him. ’Behold, all that he has is in you power; only do not lay a hand upon his person. So Satan went forth from the presence of God.’ Job suffers a sudden and complete reversal of fortune: losing his property, and children. He also experiences a repulsive disease but Job will not complain against God. How often the question comes from others and myself, ‘Why is God doing this? Why is God allowing such suffering for one family? Why do all these horrid things happen to the poor and homeless? Maybe God just doesn’t care? AND why am I hurting so much? POOR ME! Back to the story, Job imagines that God must have turned against him for ‘no reason whatsoever.’ His friends feel that Job must haves sinned because he suffers so much. Job disagrees, but don’t we feel this way too. I remember my saintly mother telling me when I stumbled and hurt myself, ‘God must be punishing you.’ God doesn’t do this, I do it to myself, I’m really a complete klutz. Job feels that he will never see happiness again…Not True! In the final chapter many gifts come to him. Franciscan Media comments, “This wiser Job will see the most fruitful way to live is to serve God at every moment, accepting life for what it is—a gift one could never presume to earn from God.” He has begun to understand the mystery of suffering. I’ve heard it said and hopefully I’ve put this in my past, life is not fair…why me. This leads to blaming others but it never changes our situation. The questions are: Where is hope in my life? Do I trust that God loves me? Can I surrender to His plan for me? The Corinthians were asking some questions of Paul. They wanted to know why they couldn’t use the meat that was sacrificed to idols. They had this ‘new freedom’ in accepting Jesus, so why would this be harmful. Paul said they must choose for the good of others. Do my actions show what I want or do I realize people watch me, are influenced by me? Do I realize that I never operate in a vacuum? Paul uses himself as an example saying that he shares the gospel free of charge. Thus slaves, the poor, Jews, Gentiles do not feel obligated to pay. The gospel is living what Jesus taught. Paul puts it this way, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”. The Gospel is from Mark’s first chapter. Starting in verse 16, we see a typical day in the public life of Jesus. He calls disciples (1: 16-20), teaches and preaches (1: 21-22, 38-39, He exorcised demons (1: 23-26; 32-34), healed (1:29-31, 32, 34), and withdrew for prayer (1:35). So Jesus both speaks and does, He teaches and exorcises. Mark is very concerned about response of the onlookers and the spreading fame of Jesus. Today we hear that Jesus is teaching, but seldom do we hear exactly what Jesus taught. He apparently did not make references to sources outside of Himself. He spoke differently than the scribes. They would have constantly brought up references to their teaching—-this prophet said this… this king said this—Moses brought out… Jesus was His Own Authority. The Latin translations use the word ‘auctoritas’ meaning that Jesus has the right to teach as He does. In the same synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit. Sometimes we think that these were people who were ‘possessed’. In reality they were understood to be the power of evil. Much of Jesus’ healing involves the power of evil versus the power of God. Jesus as the mediator of God’s power consistently defeats the power of evil. Jesus expels demons and charges them not to tell who He is … this is known as the Messianic Secret—Jesus wants the people to decide about Him for themselves and because He does not want to be known as a worker of wonders and performer of miracles, a magician. So Jesus had a very full day. BUT Jesus is not done. What is of utmost importance — a time of solitary prayer. He wanted to be alone. Mark said that Jesus had to be ‘pursued’… the word implies ‘hunted’ until He was ‘found’. These words Mark uses have negative implications…those who ‘had to be hunted or sought out do so to kill Him or to distract Him from His true mission. Notice that Peter is the spokesperson … shall we say, the voice of temptation. Jesus wanted and needed the remoteness of His prayer place. Jesus seeks prayer, relationship with God. The source of His teaching authority and power springs from this total dependence upon God. So many reflections come up: • How can I be led from my calling by well meaning people…or misguided ones? • How many have I turned away from God’s call? • How many have I judged for ‘wasting time’ alone rather than being engaged in an active ministry? • How do I pray to experience that God is with me? • Do I give God a chance when I pray, or do I have to do all the talking? • If I were to come before Jesus, what would I ask Him to heal? • Jesus heals everyone who asks for His healing. Do I ask? Am I afraid? Do I feel it comes with conditions I don’t want? Living the Word reflects on the gospel, “We need not rise early in the morning to pray as Jesus did. Some of us are night people. But we do need to make time for prayer. Even a short amount of times goes a long way. There we find that God is present in our midst. There we can discover true freedom, as Job, Paul, and Jesus did. To pray is to speak to God and listen for God’s voice in order to breathe as one with God, according to St. Francis de Sales. So take a deep breath. There is God. Exhale. Release anxiety, hopelessness, or a feeling of pressure. Repeat. Breathe deeply and be centered in the One who is the source of our freedom, who gives us hope, and empowered us to respond to every situation we meet in our lives.” Sacred Space 2018 states: “Jesus does His tour preaching and casting out devils. And we’re given to understand that these two are practically the same thing—and that, were it not for the devils (who here want to find their voice!), even disease and sickness would disappear. Jesus is going into battle, head to head, with the kingdom of evil. When I feel powerless before outside events, and before wayward tendencies in my own heart, I ask Jesus, the strong one, to come to my side.”