Dominica in Albis or White Sunday 2009

Low Sunday 2009

Today is traditionally called Low Sunday because it ends the Octave of Easter, the Eight days of celebration after Easter.  Easter is the greatest feast day in the Church and each of these eight days is celebrated as Easter itself.  Of the two Sundays, today and Easter Sunday, today is the lesser, thus Low Sunday.  The newly baptized also wore their white robes all 8 days—with today being the last day.

It is also called Thomas Sunday because of the Gospel reading: St Thomas doubts Jesus’ resurrection—I must put my fingers in the nail marks and my hand in his side, though the Gospel says he saw and believed.  He didn’t touch the marks as the Renaissance painters liked to portray.

The Gospel also tells us that Jesus breathed on the disciples, giving them the Holy Spirit. In the same breath he told them to forgive sins.  I like the symbolism: he breathes on them, giving them life, just as God gave Adam and Eve life in Genesis, through his own breath.  The Holy Spirit gives us God’s life within us.  This gift of God is his love for us.  He goes beyond the justice we deserve and gives us of his bountiful mercy, this mercy motivated by his boundless love for us.  In this great love and mercy he tells the apostles to forgive everyone’s sins.  At the Last Supper these apostles became our first priests and bishops, though the office names and distinctions developed in time.  Now in this post-resurrection encounter he commands them to forgive sins.

I mention this dimension because today is most recently named Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope John Paul II, of happy memory.  He made this proclamation in collaboration with Sr Faustina Kowalska and her Divine Mercy devotions.  As we talk about these things it is important to mention that this, just as all private revelation, is approved or condemned by the Church to aid us in living our baptismal promises.  If the revelations help us to live our faith and nurture and foment our spiritual life and animate our community life, then it is good to use them.  If they do not, then we should leave them behind.  Many find the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Sr Faustina’s autobiography beneficial, and it is a approved devotion.

Sr Faustina claimed Christ spoke to her and the messages focused on God’s Mercy.  God’s Mercy is something we have always recognized, appreciated, and asked for since ancient times and in all rites of the Catholic Church.  All rites include this petition today, as well.  At the beginning of the Mass we, the Latin Rite, always maintained the Greek phrases Kyrie Eleison and Christe Eleison, translated and said in English today as Lord have Mercy and Christ have Mercy.  We recognize ourselves as sinners and ask God to have mercy on us, to heap his bountiful love on us, to forgive our sins, and to welcome us back into his family, as the Father to his Prodigal Son.

It is fitting for us to reflect on this theme at the end of the Easter Octave, after just living Holy Week where we reflected on Christ’s Passion and Death; He suffered out of Love for us and his Father.  He poured His life out for us, died, and then conquered death by His resurrection, offering eternal life to those of us who accept it.  He asks us to be open to accept his love and mercy, repent of our sins, confess our sins, receive his forgiveness through the priest, and live with Him now so we will live with him in eternal happiness after this life.

God’s loving Mercy and Forgiveness is not merited—we don’t merit it.  We only have to accept it and return his gift of love to him again, as our own gift.

Reflection on Epistle for Palm Sunday

Reflection

Phil 2, 6-11

Today’s second reading is another great one, like last Sunday’s, and they have similar themes. 

As I was sifting through the many thoughts that come to mind after reading these short verses, I think it might do us some good to reflect on Christ’s obedience.  Obedience is truly an entirely undervalued virtue today.  We like to think of ourselves as a society of law and order, of structure and authority, of liberty and not libertinism, yet it seems that the opposite is true; it can seem like the elephant in the living room. 

Our Good Lord taught us the value of obedience, valuing it even more than the ancient civilizations—and we all know the immense value they gave it, given our studies in the humanities.  Christ shows us that life-giving love that flows through the Trinity; he loves the Father and the Holy Spirit with that unreserved self-donation that makes the Father’s Will his.  This love for His Father’s Will, this obedience, brought him to his passion and death, even though experiencing physical and emotional pain and agony;

Christ’s loving obedience led him to death, though fulfillment of the Father’s will achieved victory over death and our possibility for eternal life.

Following this theme, I like these excerpts from Psalm 115 and St Ambrose:

What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things he hath rendered unto me?  I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord. 

St Ambrose gives us this advice:

Embrace him, the one you have sought; turn to him, and be enlightened; hold him fast, ask him not to go in haste, beg him not to leave you.”

These words are good for us to reflect on, as priests and future priests.  Our vocation is to be another Christ, to love God with our entire being, to make His will ours, to carry our cross with Christ and to follow him to his death, only to rise with Him into eternal life. 

 

 

Epistle, V Sunday Lent

Hebrews 5, 7-9

St Paul speaks in this part of his epistle about Christ’s priesthood.  In these few short verses he elaborates on Christ’s virtue of obedience.  Maybe it would be good for us to parallel this virtue with our lives.  Today obedience is undervalued and even derided, though we like to think that we are a society of law and order, of structure and authority, of liberty, not libertinism.  When it comes down to brass tacks, everyone in our society must obey another, everyone has a superior to whom he must respond.

Anyway, St Paul is telling us, in his florid language, that when Christ was alive, and even though he is God, he responded in perfect obedience to the Father.  He did not like what he knew he was to suffer, he knew that it would be dangerous to his health, he would suffer and die, and he even prayed with loud cries and tears.  In the end, he knew that the Father wanted him to endure all of that and he did willingly.  He learned the difficulty of obedience, just as we experience it, though he knew that the Father would hear his prayer and save him from death.  We also should have this as our final and basic prayer.  We ask for many things, we lament our sufferings, we even lament our inconveniences found in seminary life, but we continue forward in obedience to our superiors and ask the Father that we unite our obedience with Christ’s and that we be saved from death, though Christ, who has become our source of eternal salvation.

Tuesday of 4th week of Lent

I didn't take the time to put any accent marks, so please forgive me.

John 5, 1-16

Desde mi ninez, siempre me ha gustado esta lectura.  Me fascina el idea de la piscina de agua movida por el dedo de un angel.  Hay muchas pistas que tomar en esta cita del evangelio: 38 anos de enfermedad y los 38 anos que los israelitas anduvieron perdidos en el desierto despues de su rebelion; Jesus escandaliza la gente por curar el cojo en el Sabado; Jesus desaparece en la muchedumbre y los judios lo persiguieron; etc.

Me gustaria reflexionar algo sobre las palabras del cojo y como pueden ser aplicadas a nuestras vidas, tambien.  Jesus lo pregunta como pregunta a nosotros: ¿Quieres curarte?

Segun mi parecer, el cojo responde: Si, pero No. El responde con estas palabras:

Señor, no tengo a nadie que me meta en la piscina cuando se agita el agua; y mientras yo voy, otro baja antes que yo.

Esta respuesta suena parecida a la de San Agustin: Dios, hazme casto, pero no ahora.

Andamos nosotros por la cuaresma, quiza prestando atencion en mantener un sacrificio y preparandonos para la semana santa y la Pascua.  Quiza nuestro sacrificio requiere esfuerzo, pero me pregunto a mi mismo: me llevara a mi meta?  Cual es mi meta?  La quiero lograr?  O es mi trabajillo durante esta cuaresma una distraccion o despiste de lo que de verdad requiere mis esfuerzos.   Estamos a la mitad de la cuaresma.  Hay tiempo para renovar nuestros esfuerzos, o para reorganizarnos y aprovechar mejor este tiempo y lograr nuestra meta, que seria, segun la santa Teres de Jesus, la union con el senor.

Aunque el cojo respondio al Senor: si quiero, pero no quiero buscar como; Jesus lo presento la posibilidad de la curacion; nada mas necesitaba responder si o no.  Quiza tengamos esta misma oportunidad ahora durante estas semanas de cuaresma que quedan.  Renovemos nuestros esfuerzos para lograr una union con el Senor; que vivamos con el la Semana Santa, y que gocemos con el en su resureccion.

IV Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday

Laetare Sunday 2009

IV Sunday Lent

 Today marks Lent’s mid-point, called Laetare Sunday, and is the reason why in many churches the priest opts for rose vestments rather than violet.  The rose is intended to be a lighter violet, rather than what can sometimes be seen as pink.  The lighter violet, or rose, is a special sign of joy intended to encourage us on our penitential path through Lent, to Holy Week, and eventually Easter, Resurrection Sunday.

 In the readings today, St Paul and St John remind us of our need for faith and good works, which are traditionally two important themes for Lent.

 St. John tells us in his Gospel that Jesus tells Nicodemus that to have eternal life we must believe in him.  Jesus, and faith in him, are our means to our salvation and to eternal happiness with him in heaven. 

When I was 3 years in a protestant middle school, we heard repeatedly during our Wednesday church services that we needed to accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour, or we would go to Hell.  We were also taught that once we were saved, we were always saved.  I was confused, wondering what the Catholic method of salvation is and was afraid to ask.  My siblings and I decided to “accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour,” just in case.  We wanted to have our bases covered!

 Now I look back and laugh a bit at my naïveté, though I also wonder how I didn’t grasp that we Catholics uphold the same idea of faith in Christ our Saviour as an essential element of our salvation, beginning first at baptism, which Our Lord, Himself, says in the gospel is necessary for salvation.  The once saved, always saved idea doesn’t work—even St Paul says in his epistles that he works out his salvation in fear and trembling every day. 

 St James’ epistle adverts us, though, that our faith without good works is dead.  Our Lord tells us in today’s Gospel reading the same thing, essentially.  If we profess belief in Christ, then we claim to live in the light, not in darkness.  As Christians, 0ur works are good (or should be), they evidence our faith, and we are not ashamed to live so that our works can be seen by all.  It is good to remember that we do our works for God, so humility encourages us to work silently, though in the light, not fearing that these works be known by others.

 

It is important for us to remember that our faith is a gift from God, which we return to him as ours.  Likewise, the salvation he offers us is his free gift to us, which we can accept or reject, as we please.  St Paul’s epistle today reminds us that we are created good and for good works.  By our own free will we can choose evil and can choose to do evil.  

At the same time, we can choose to turn from evil and turn toward God.  An important aid for us to turn toward God, to strengthen our faith, and to make our good work more fruitful is to take advantage of the sacrament of confession, an important tool for a fruitful Lent and a great moment of freeing ourselves from our burden of sin and starting anew our relationship with God and the Church community.

 St. Paul starts this second reading telling us that God is rich in mercy because of his great love for us, even when we are in sin.  This assurance should console us and encourage us as we contemplate eternity, place our faith in Jesus as Savior, live our baptismal promises and the sacraments, and fill our life full of good works and virtue. 

 By being God’s adopted sons and daughters in baptism, we can respond to Cain’s question to God: “Yes, we are our brother’s keeper.  We are here to help each other here on Earth to have our needs met as best we can, and especially to help each other reach heaven, or at least purgatory.”

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Homily for VII Sunday and Sunday before Ash Wednesday

February 22, 2009

Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

When this Gospel was written, infirmities were mostly considered a punishment for sin, whether it be personal, ancestral, or collective.  In this case, it seems that the paralyzed man was considered guilty of some terrible personal sin.

When I was in the Holy Land, and particularly in Capernaum, where this healing occurred, I was surprised that the ancient houses, such as the one in this reading, were very small.  The reading says that Jesus was essentially mobbed; it was impossible to get near him.  This meant that they weren’t visiting in the American style—with lots of space between each other and comfortably seated.  The people must have been packed into that house, which wasn’t even the size of the adoration chapel, one pressed up against the other like the Mexico City Metro.  The saying “hanging out the windows” may be an accurate image for us here.

The fellows who carried the man and his litter had faith.  They knew Jesus could help him; they were so confident that they hoisted him up onto the roof and pulled apart the thatching so that he could be lowered into the center of that house.  If I understand correctly how thatching works, that is a particular feat which also requires a good amount of work to repair.  Anyway, the point is these fellows’ faith.  If the paralytic didn’t have full faith, then he surely gained it, thanks to his litter bearers. 

As an aside, we might do well to reflect on our own faith and the testimony our faith gives to others, even if it may not seem so noticeable.

The scribes, or teachers of the faith, who were sitting there with Jesus were surely having an interesting conversation.  The scribes were probably quizzing him, trying to stump him, while he responded perfectly to each question, stumping them in turn.  I sometimes wonder if they were talking about faith, and then Jesus’ response to them was tangibly presented to them with this concrete example, accompanied with his words:

“Which is easier, to say to the paralytic,
'Your sins are forgiven,'
or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk?'”

Jesus continues his teaching to the scribes and others gathered around him by saying:

“But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth"
"I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home."

I try to imagine myself there listening to those words and seeing the man rise and carry his litter.

At the same time I reflect on the image of the litter, similar to Christ and his cross.  We can see ourselves in this man, carrying his humanity, prone to sin, but called by Christ to perfect union with him, with God.  We are called to unite ourselves with God, to be as Christ taught us through his own life.  St. Paul tells us that Christ became like us so that we could become like him, yet our fallen human nature, thanks to original sin, impedes us.  For this reason Christ came to restore our union with God and we take advantage of this reunion that is offered us every time we seek the sacrament of reconciliation, which is more traditionally called confession or penance. 

Christ proved to the scribes and those gathered in that house, and even to all of us throughout the ages, that he can heal both the body and the soul. He has the power to cure and to forgive sins. 

Now as we approach Ash Wednesday it might be good for us to reflect on what type of sacrifice we will offer God in reparation and also ask God if there is anything in particular to which we should pay special attention.  Sacrifices may be as simple as giving up chocolate (which can be a substantial sacrifice for some), beer, fast food, teasing people too much, road rage, and things like that.  On the other hand it might be good for us to think of this penance in a positive light.  I can take that daily three dollars for that coffee and give it to Padua Place to help support those priests and bishops who are living out their last years after a lifetime of service.  I can visit that family member in the nursing home once a week.  I can befriend and try to help that cranky co-worker to see what it is that gives him his bad attitude.  I can attend daily Mass as often as I can and offer that time with God for my family, my ancestors who may be in purgatory, for those who hate and attack Christ and His Bride, Holy Mother Church, and so forth. 

Christ offers us a great opportunity during this Lent.  He offers us a renewed emphasis on his love for us and our need to repent and return to Him.  He offers us forgiveness for our sins.  Last Sunday our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, reminded us that our sins are what puts us, as individuals, at a distance from God and it is the sacrament of confession that brings the two of us back together, me and God.

The pope reminds us that if our sins are not humbly confessed, trusting in Divine Mercy, then they will finally bring about the death of our soul.  For those of us who may not have been to confession for a couple of years, or even for 10, 20, or even more, maybe this will be enough of a penance and good work to offer for our traditional Lenten sacrifice. 

For all of us: Let’s take time during Lent to reflect on God’s goodness and mercy, examine our consciences, and approach Our Lord in the sacrament of confession in humility, trusting in his love and mercy.  Even though it is a good and holy thing to frequent confession every two weeks or once a month, the minimum should be once a year, and Lent is probably the best time to release to Our Lord that burden of sins.  Let us rejoice to hear Christ say to us, via the priest, “your sins are forgiven.  Take up your mat and walk home.”