Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Read through Christian eyes, the words of the prophet Isaiah in today’s readings are immensely powerful. Through Isaiah, the Lord says that the Word is sent like rain and snow, not returning to the heavens until they have fundamentally changed not only the earth but also its harvest, and thereby, the people who eat its produce. Creation is different because of a raindrop. And in a real way, creation is sustained by it. So too, Isaiah tells us, is the Word of God. From the Gospel of John, we know that Jesus is the Word made flesh. This means that God’s Word does not return to the Father before he nourishes the world.
Monday of the First Week of Lent
I believe that as Christians we are called to find Christ and His message in all things- even in every day experiences. Recently I went to see the Disney movie Frozen. The animation was visually beautiful and the musical score was fabulous including the Oscar winning song “Let It Go”. But what struck me most about the movie was the story line and how it spoke about what love really means- particularly the love that Christ calls us to live. One character in the movie professes love and devotion, but acts in a completely different way. Another character shows love through acts of kindness to a stranger. Finally, one character shows immense love as she gives of herself completely in love for another. And because of this love there is redemption and healing. In today’s reading, Jesus calls us to go beyond words to love through our actions. In loving others, not only are we able to minister to their needs, but we demonstrate our love for Christ whose presence is in every person we encounter. When we act in love, not only do we profess our devotion to the Lord, but we can also be instrumental in allowing His healing and redemptive love to become a part of this troubled world. It is Christ’s love within us that allows us to share what we can with others, so we should not hold onto this love, but “Let It Go.”
First Sunday of Lent
Lent did not begin well for me. I decided that I would abstain from meat all the fourty days Lent. So on Monday before Lent I decided that my fat Tuesday would indeed be fat. Since Monday was my day off, I decided to cook the most sumptuous lamb shank. In fact, my fat Tuesday began in earnest on Monday night as I dug into my delightful culinary creation. I am not sure what went wrong but by Tuesday morning I was sicker than a sick dog. My fat Tuesday was anything but fat. I spent most of fat Tuesday in bed. In fact, fat Tuesday seemed like Ash Wednesday. I think that for my sins God struck me a day earlier than everybody else.
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
So there I was, walking around a bookstore that I used to work for. I just had a thrilling time poking around their Catholic section (yes, bookstores are thrilling for me). I found a couple of gems that I was excited about, but based on their covers, titles, and authors were far from subtle about being Catholic books. At this point I didn't have a care in the world as I meandered around the bookstore with my little pile of theological goodies. Then as I approached the checkout counter I saw an old manager of mine. My carefree attitude dissipated and before I knew what I was doing, I had all the books tucked under one arm, covers facing inward so he couldn't see them. I just experienced one of the first collisions between my old self and new self and I'm pretty sure my old self won. This experience has stuck with me for over a year and a half now, and I'm constantly struck by how much I struggled with encountering someone who only knew me prior to my conversion, or in other words Before Christ. Not only did that experience stick with me, but it came back to me today as I read the Gospel.
Friday after Ash Wednesday
My husband Joel and I have a cookbook titled "The Joyful Fast." It is a holdover from the days when we attended an Eastern Rite Catholic parish, which has different fasting rules than the ones we use in our Western Roman Catholic tradition (for more about this, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches#.22Rite.22). I am always struck by the cookbook's title: how can fasting, indeed how can Lent itself, be joyful? The reflection we do on our sins throughout this season makes the tone seem somber and gloomy.
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Basically that means that in order to be healthy I have to avoid gluten in my diet. There’s no medication or treatment or even “cure” for the disease; but, thankfully, if I completely cut gluten out of my diet I can be healthy and avoid the short and long-term consequences of the disease. This news was both good and bad for me. The good news was that I learned the reason for having become severely anemic and feeling increasingly nauseated every time I ate. The bad news for me was that it meant giving up eating so many foods that I had eaten all my life and thoroughly enjoyed. It was harder than I thought to give up all the good breads, pastries, pastas, pretzels, etc. that I took for granted and ate regularly until then. On the other hand, I had become quite sick and was relieved to learn that I could feel better again and regain my energy by changing my eating habits.
Ash Wednesday
Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2) These words from St. Paul’s intone a sense of urgency to the people of Corinth. An even greater urgency can be found in the first reading from the prophet Joel, “Even now, say the Lord, return to me with your whole heart. (Joel 2:12) This urgency is recognized by many of us today as we turn out in large numbers to attend Ash Wednesday services. It is ironic then that this sign of the cross in ash on our foreheads marks us so outwardly when the readings strongly push for inward conversion.
Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
It’s the day before Lent, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday, otherwise known as the last day of Mardi Gras, which used to be known as Carnival. In today’s world, we tend to either denounce Mardi Gras as indulgence in debauchery or indulge in Mardi Gras as debauchery. I feel as if we have forgotten the religious significance of Carnival and thus have lost some of the Lent’s beauty. Mardi Gras is now often seen as a last gasp indulgence in the hours before the penitence of Lent. While it surely contained some of these elements, Carnival, historically, was a celebration and affirmation of the world, in the hours before renouncing the world. These are not quite the same thing. We certainly renounce evil things. At the same time, we also renounce good things that impede our growth in holiness. Carnival, Mardi Gras, and Fat Tuesday, at their best can help us appreciate the very goodness of things and also their imperfection. Thus, they can help us better understand the beauty of sacrifice. Today’s readings help prepare us for that beauty.
Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel relates the story of Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man. Jesus is approached by the rich young man who has lived an upright life from his youth, obeying the commandments. Yet obviously this young man knew there was something missing—the passage says he “ran up, knelt down before him” and asked Jesus what he had to do in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and ‘then come, follow me’. The passage says ‘his face fell and he went away sad’; despite all his efforts to live by the commandments and abide by the letter of the law, it seems he did not have enough faith to let go of the security of his material possessions and follow Jesus.
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the challenges we face when we read scripture is interpreting it for contemporary times. For example, today’s gospel reading has two very black and white scenarios. First, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. … You cannot serve God and mammon.” Jesus simply does not leave room for anything in between. Again, after his teaching about not worrying about what to eat, drink and wear, Jesus says, “All these things the pagans seek.” And then, contrasting the pagans with the disciples, he says to his disciples, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” In the Jewish world view, there were only two kinds of people – the Israelites and the Pagans. As far as the Israelites were concerned, there were no in-betweens.
Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Two words you rarely hear in the same sentence are “Jesus” and “indignant.” Yet there they are, right next to each other in today's gospel (Mk 10:14). Now, I can be indignant sometimes and that usually means I need a nap or I know that I'm wrong; but Jesus getting indignant is a different story. I have a sneaking suspicion that he has a little more justification than general grumpiness or pride. In today's gospel, this indignation stems from the direct actions of his disciples as they rebuked people, presumably parents, for bringing children to Christ. Beyond that though, I think he expected them to know better because of what they were just taught in the previous passage.
Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
One of my ethics professors always walked into class on the first day and said, "Let me sum up the entire semester for you right now: Never Lie."
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sin. It’s something with which we all struggle. It’s a reality in all of our lives. The important question we must ask is not – do I have sin, but what do I do about my sins? In today’s gospel Jesus tells is telling us “Yes, I know sin is real in your life, now do something about it!” He is calling us to not only recognize our sinfulness but to cut that sinful action out of our lives.
Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
I used to think I understood what it meant when someone told me they loved me. It meant they cared for me and would take care of me. It is a good thing to have people care about us. Yet for me this did not translate as unconditional love. This love is best captured in scripture as agape.
Tuesday of the Seventh week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings are…awkward. They are awkward for a very specific reason: the state of the American Catholic Church. Right now things don’t seem very bad but come the next election, we will once again remember just how divided our Church has become. We argue at our dinner tables and water coolers, maybe even in the church parking lot or vestibule. We yell and say mean things, all in the name of whatever person or party we think best aligns with Church teaching. There is a little solace when we realize that obviously the early Christians and even the Disciples had their own disagreements and conflicts. But this consolation quickly passes when we hear the challenge of today’s readings.
Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
God is all powerful, all merciful, and all loving, but unfortunately I still find myself like the man in today’s gospel asking Jesus to help my unbelief. Just recently I was reminded of my need to turn to the Lord and trust Him in the midst of a frightening situation. This last October my daughter and son-in-law shared the wonderful news that they were expecting our first grandchild this summer. We were thrilled! A month or so after this announcement, my daughter experienced some complications and an ultrasound was done. After the test, the doctor came in and told my daughter and her husband that there was a large bleed surrounding the baby and it was not likely that the baby would survive. They were told that the baby may live a few more weeks, but most likely would be lost by 20 weeks into the pregnancy. Needless to say, we were all devastated by the news.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
I am going to ask you to put your hands up as I ask you a few questions. How many of you think that you are perfect? How many of you think you are holy? This question is for couples? How many of you think that your spouse or partner is holy? This is for children. How many of you think that your parents are holy? Are they perfect? And here is the last question. What makes somebody holy? What do I expect to see in a holy person?
Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle
Today is the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. I know, we Catholics are not only crazy enough to bless our cars, houses, and pets, but we also have a feast day for a chair! We are an interesting breed aren't we?
Obviously, this is not the feast day of a wooden object with four legs and cushion, or even a rocking chair for that matter. We know this because in the Biblical sense, the chair or seat of someone is their position of authority, governance, or power. Hence Christ tells the people “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach but they do not practice” (Mt 23:2-3 RSV). Thus, today is the feast day of Peter's position, his seat of authority, which really means that this is a feast day that celebrates the promises of God as well as, the call for power and authority to be transformed by Christ. That transformation is what I want to focus on today, (despite my temptations to write exclusively about the significance of the giving of the keys).
Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Last year at this time, we had a pope who had resigned, and we were debating and waiting, wondering who the new pope would be. It would be an understatement to say that Pope Benedict XVI's retirement was a surprise; it would be still more an understatement to say that Pope Francis's papacy has been a series of surprises - from paying his own bill at his hotel to his off-the-cuff remarks in interviews. Yet, commenters on both popes have noted that their actions are things that make sense. It makes sense that someone in his mid-80s might retire from an exhausting head-of-state jet-setting life, and that a cardinal who has always refrained from living in fancy houses would continue to refrain from doing so.
Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
I kind of sympathize with Peter in today’s gospel reading (Mark 8: 27-33) when Jesus rebukes him for rejecting his prediction of his suffering to come. Jesus uses strong words, “Get behind me Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Well, yes, Peter is human and so are you and I. I think I get that Peter didn’t understand or want to believe what Jesus was explaining to him and the other disciples. He probably had it in his mind that Jesus was the political liberator that was popularly expected of the awaited Messiah at that time.