"Man is never wholly free from temptation...but with patience and true humility we become stronger than any enemy. The patience and humility required to defeat the enemy come by following Christ every day and from learning to build our life not outside of him or as if he did not exist, but in him and with him, because he is the source of true life. In contrast to this is the temptation to remove God, to order our lives and world on our own, relying solely on our own abilities. This is why in Jesus God speaks to man in an unexpected way, with a unique and concrete closeness, full of love, because God has now become incarnate and enters the world of man to take sin upon himself, to overcome evil and bring man back into the world of God" (Pope Benedict XVI).

Temptation and sin are part of the human experience, with two exceptions, Jesus, because he is God and Man, and Mary, because of God's prevenient grace in lieu of being the Mother of Jesus. Without the grace of God and our cooperation, it would be hard for us not to fall into sin because of concupiscence. Only in Jesus, who in his humanity has shown us how to confront the many arrows Satan throws at us, can we be victorious. We must never fight Satan on our own. We should always let Jesus fight him, as we stand behind Jesus.

 "Sin is that process which makes us change our hearts from good to bad, which takes us downhill, something which grows, slowly grows, then infects others and ultimately excuses itself....When we find ourselves in a sin, in a fall, yes, we must go to ask the Lord for forgiveness, it is the first step that we must take....But then ask yourselves, how did I come to fall there? How did this process start in my soul? How did it grow? Who have I infected? And how in the end did I justify myself for falling?" (Pope Francis)

The Devil is a cunning creature, who has perfected his art of tempting us and deceiving us. He starts with small enticements that seem insignificant and harmless at first. But in reality they could be the beginnings of a deeper future pitfall. One step leads to another and one misstep leads to another. He is patient. He convinces us that it is not a big deal. It is like cooking a frog. You start with the frog in a pot of room temperature water on the stove. Then gradually you increase the fire, letting the frog adjust to the heat. The frog doesn't jump out of the pot. Eventually the frog is cooked. This is the process the Devil uses with us, unless unlike the frog, we jump out of its net by the grace of God.

Homily: Second Sunday of Lent Year B

 

Reading 1: Last Sunday we heard of the covenant God made with Noah after the flood. The sign of that covenant was the rainbow.  The reason for the flood was the spread of sin. Much later after the flood, God invited Abraham to follow him. He promised him many blessings, many descendants and a new land flowing with milk and honey.

 

For many years Abraham did not see any descendants. His wife Sarah remain childless. Finally, after she was beyond the natural age of conceiving a child, God appeared to Abraham and said that Sarah would bear a son, whose name was to be Isaac. This was the beginning of God fulfilling his promises to Abraham. After the birth of Isaac God made a covenant with Abraham. The sign of the covenant was circumcision.

 

When Isaac was about twelve, God put Abraham to the test. The question in Abraham’s mind is why would God give him a son and then demand the sacrifice of his only begotten son? The question was would Abraham trust that God could still provide him descendants? Could he obey God in this matter?

 

Abraham chose to trust and to be obedient, even though he didn’t understand. But instead of the death of Isaac, God wanted Abraham to see how strong his response to the covenant was. Abraham chose God rather than self. Isaac’s life was spared.

 

There is a deeper meaning here. Though Abraham’s only beloved son was spared, God, the Father, did not spare his only begotten Son from embracing the cross. Jesus gave his life for ours on the cross, so that we could be spared eternal death and be saved. In this gift Jesus established and sealed the new covenant through the shedding of his blood.

 

Gospel: Last Sunday, we looked at the temptation that Jesus endured as the first stage of his life as our Messiah. He came to confront and overcome the pseudo power of the devil. The temptations were the first volley. Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross would be the final blow that would defeat and break the diabolic bond Satan held over humanity.

 

In preparation for this ultimate moment, Jesus prophesied to the disciples his upcoming passion and death and resurrection. Peter rejected the thought. So Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him up the mountain to pray with him. There Jesus’ experiences the glory that he emptied himself of by becoming man and the glory he would experience once more in the resurrection. This was the Father’s way of preparing Jesus for his passion. It was also to strengthen the apostles.

 

In the vision Moses represented the Law of the Old Testament and Elijah the prophets. Both of them spoke of his upcoming passion and resurrection. Just as at the baptism the Father revealed himself and the Spirit is manifested, so now the Father tells the apostles to listen to Jesus. In other words, heed the words of Jesus about his upcoming passion and death, even though they did not understand.

 

Our theophany or epiphany moments may not be as dramatic, but their purpose is the same. 1) To reveal to us the person of Jesus in a clearer light, seeing or experiencing him in a way we have never done before. 2) To remind us to listen to Jesus, even when we don’t understand. To act on his word. 3) To recognize that God desires to share his eternal glory with us, but first we must experience the mystery of the cross in our life. The cross is that which strips us of everything except God in our life.

 

Reading 2: Where God spared the son of Abraham from being sacrificed, God did not spare his own Son, Jesus, from the wood of the cross and the sacrifice of his life freely for our sake. Is this a sign of God’s condemnation of us or a sign of his love? “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

 

 God tested the commitment of Abraham to God, even if he asked for the death of his promised son. Jesus embraced the will of God to be the sacrificial lamb, a perfect offering for our sins. Abraham loved God. Jesus loved the Father. God so loved us that the gift of Jesus’ life for our salvation was not too much to ask. One can look at the crucified Savior and see nothing but what appears on the surface. Or one can look at the crucified Lord and see the depth of his love for us.  “Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends.” But greater is that love, when one lays down his life for his enemies, those who deliberately chose to sin and to separate themselves from God, not one but repeatedly even after saying they were sorry. The reality of his sacrifice must be seen in context of the repetitive cycle of our sinfulness. That is true love. 

"If in Christ we have been tempted, in him we overcame the devil. Do you think only of Christ's temptations and fait to think of his victory? See  yourself as tempted in him, and see yourself as victorious in him. He could have kept the devil from himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation" (St. Augustine).

What do we learn from Jesus in reference to temptation? Never let the devil separate you from God! In all of his temptations, Jesus never lost sight of his relationship with the Father and the Father's will for him. Jesus made doing and fulfilling the will of the Father the mark of his life. The initial temptations were to have Jesus question his identity as Son, to put the focus on self rather than the Other. The pre-crucifixion temptation focused Jesus' thinking on the pain and suffering he would endure. Jesus chose rather to focus on the will of the Father and our salvation. In each case, Jesus triumphed over temptation, because his relationship to the Father and the will of the Father was a greater good than his human needs. What would happen if we followed the same pattern, keeping our eyes on the Father and the greater good, namely eternal life with God? 

"He (Jesus) made us one with him when he chose to be tempted by Satan. We have heard in the gospel how the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Certainly Christ was tempted by the devil. In Christ you were tempted, for Christ receive his flesh from your nature, but by his own power gained life for you; he suffered temptation in your nature, but by his own power gained victory for you" (St. Augustine).

Jesus came to show us how to deal with the Tempter. First, the Son of God became man and took on our flesh. He was like us in all things but sin. Secondly, he strengthened himself through a period of prayer, reflecting on his relationship with  the Father. Thirdly, when the Tempter confronted Jesus, the doors he chose were threefold: hunger, self-exaltation and power. At each door, Jesus chose to be faithful to God's word, to exalt God and not himself; to unmasked the Tempter for who he was, a fake. Fourthly, at each future temptation, Jesus refused to be separated from the Father who loved him. Fifthly, when the ultimate temptation was to walk away from the cross, Jesus used his passion and death to be the sword of defeat for the devil. How do we deal with temptation?

"Our pilgrimage on earth cannot be exempt from trial. We progress by means of trial. No one knows himself except through trial, or receives a crown except after victory, or strives except against an enemy or temptations" (St. Augustine).

Temptations are part of the human journey since Adan and Eve. The Tempter, since then until the end, is the Devil. Having lost relationship with God through h is own p ride, this Evil spirit seeks to draw us away from our relationship with God. Temptations are the glass doors to sin, but they, of themselves, are not sin. On the other side of the door is something pictured as good. The desire for the knowledge of good and evil, the desire to be equal to God was on the other side of the door, which the Tempter suggested to Adam and Eve. On this side of the door was their relationship with God, their obedience to God. They could have ignored the cunning tempter and left the door closed, because of a higher good, namely their relationship with the all loving God. But instead of walking away, they opened the door of temptation and sinned, the consequence of which was lost relationship with God. This is what we do each time we open the door of temptation, rather than walk away.

"Prayer and converse with God is a supreme good: it is a partnership and union with God. As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, soo our spirit, when it is intent on God, is illumined by his infinite light. I do not mean the prayer of outward observance but prayer from the heart, not confined to fixed times or periods, but continuous throughout the day and night" (St. John Chrysostom).

I like when he said that prayer is a "partnership and union with God". Someone else said that prayer is heart speaking to heart. There is a difference in reciting prayers with the lips and in letting our heart speak to the heart of God. There is a special intimacy in the latter. When our day is drenched with this awareness and sharing with the love of our lives, then our union with God deepens. The heart yearns for this union and the Other becomes the all in all of our lives. Yes, this is the ideal. But just as union of love is the ideal in a marriage relationship, so union with God is the ideal of our relationship with God. And just as in marriage, one does not arrive at this ideal except after many  years of mutually striving for it, so too in our union with God. In both cases, it is the grace of God that makes the final difference.

"The journey of Lent is an exodus from slavery to freedom. These 40 days correspond to the 40 years that God's people trekked through the desert to return to their homeland. How difficult it was to leave Egypt?...Our journey back to God is blocked by our unhealthy attachments, held back by the seductive snares of sin, by the false security of money and appearances, by the paralysis of our discontents. To embark on this journey, we have to unmask these illusions" (Pope Francis).

The Israelites struggled throughout their 40 years in the the desert because many of them kept looking back to Egypt, the comforts and pleasures in spite of slavery. They were reluctant to let go their comfort zones and to trust that God had something greater and better for them, a land flowing with milk and honey. God continually confronted them over the hardness of their hearts, hardened by their sins. During our Lenten journey God wants to confront us with our comfort zones and our unwillingness to fully trust that God has something better for us. Sometimes we are satisfied with only scratching the surface and doing the minimal. Like St. Augustine, we want to return to the Lord but not now. We want to be holy, but not now. It wasn't until the Israelites were ready to trust and obey the Lord, to keep his commandments, to follow his direction that they finally entered the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. Hopefully, it will not take 40 years for us to finally be converted and be transformed as his disciples. 

Homily: First Sunday of Lent Year B 

Reading 1: A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and man. It is unbroken, unlike a contract. God, in his loving mercy, desires us to have a relationship with him, so he created us in his own image and likeness, sharing his own divine life with us. We sinned and God promised a Savior. But sin became so widespread and grievous that God flooded the earth. Only Noah and his family believed in God and trusted in God. They were saved.

God again renewed his love for man and his desire that his creation should share in his glory. He made a covenant with Noah. The sign of the covenant was the rainbow, beautiful and refreshing in its appearance. There was a progression of covenants from that time till Jesus.  After Noah, God made a covenant with Abraham and renewed it with Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.  The sign of this covenant was circumcision.

God made a covenant with Moses and the Israelites, who became his chosen people. The sign of the was the Ten Commandments. Again and again, human beings broke their covenant.  From Isaiah on not only did the prophets called the people back but forewarned them of the consequences that will occur from not heeding the word of the Lord. Through the prophets, Cod said that he would establish a final covenant with humanity.

That covenant was sealed by the blood of the Son of God on the cross. During Lent we are called to remember our covenant with God and to recommit ourselves to that covenant. What has been our response to God’s covenant with us?  Our focus for Lent is a journey to the Pascal mystery, which we will celebrate on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Gospel: What should be our response to the marvelous work of love God has shown us? Noah offered God a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Abraham believed in the promises of God even though many trials and difficulties. He remained faithful and obedient to God.

But we are reminded what breaks the covenant from our part. It is sin, which is love of self, rather than love of God. Repenting and turning away from sin is only the initial step. Jesus said to believe in the Gospel. We are called to embrace the plan of God revealed to us in his sacred word of salvation.  This involves a deeper, personal commitment of our lives to hearing the word of God with an open heart. Then we are called to act on that world, so that our following of Jesus may be more complete.

Lent is a time of purification and transformation: purification from sin and transformation in holiness. We are called to share with others God’s saving love.

Reading 2: There is an obvious connection with the first reading. As Noah was saved through the waters by living in the ark, so we are saved by Jesus’ death and resurrection. WE experience this salvation through the ark of the Church in the saving waters of baptism. Regular water washes away external dirt. The sacred waters of baptism cleansed us from the effects of the sin of Adam, Original sin, and any personal sins we may have committed.

We came into the world alienated from God. Baptism brought us back to the relationship of sons and daughters, members of the Body of Christ. In the waters of baptism God made his covenant with us, again sharing his divine life with us. We did nothing to deserve this. God was at work in us.

What is our response to God’s saving work in baptism? To live a life of righteousness as we await the full redemption and salvation, when we will be with God forever in glory. 

“Lent is the time to rediscover the direction of life.  Because in life’s journey, as in every journey, what really matters is not to lose sight of the goal…What is the path? Is it the search for health, which many today say comes first but which eventually passes?  Could it be possessions and wellbeing?...The Lord is the goal of our journey in this world.  The direction must lead to him” (Pope Francis) 

As we begin our Lenten journey this Ash Wednesday, we are called to reflect on where we are now in relationship to God and where do we want to be, not only by Easter, but ultimately at the end of our earthly life. As we look back, we can see how often we have strayed from our goal, eternal life with God. We can see the lies we accepted and the fool’s gold we went after. Lent is a time to refocus, to redirect, to reignite our desire to be with God. The stronger this desire is the more focused and determined our efforts will be to move forward towards the Lord. We know that we have been on this same journey in past Lents, what will make a difference? Our desire to reach the goal. Our desire to truly be converted and remain focus on the Lord. And if we slip, to get back on the path rather than give up.

First Sunday of Lent: Gospel B

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. 

· The same Spirit that descended upon Jesus after his Baptism now moves Jesus internally to go into the desert to prepare for his forthcoming mission.

· The forty days of prayer and fasting is reminiscent of Israel’s forty years in the desert before entering the Promised Land.

· Why do you think that the first experience of Jesus after his “desert training” was facing temptation? If Jesus, True Man and True God, is our model, then he shows us how we are to deal with temptation in our own lives.

· Mark’s account doesn’t go into detail about the temptations Jesus endured. Read Luke 4: 1-13.

· What is the basic temptation that Jesus will face? Not to fulfill the Father’s call in his life as Messiah through death on the cross.

· What is our basic temptation? Not to fulfill the call of God in our life as his son or daughter to be with him eternally.

· In his humanity Jesus experiences the grace of the Spirit and the onslaught of the Evil One.

· Where the first Adam failed when tempted, the second Adam remained faithful to the Father.

· How often have we failed to heed the move of the Holy Spirit and yielded instead to the lie of the evil spirit?

He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. 

· Recall how God sent his angel to provide nourishment to Elijah on his journey in the desert.  (1 Kings 19:5-7)

After John had been arrested, Jesus came 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." 

· John’s ministry was a preparation for Jesus’.  Recall the words of John: “He must increase and I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30)

· What does the “kingdom of God” mean to me? Where is God the Lord in my life and where is he not?

· As we begin this Lenten season we are reminded:

a) that we are being led by the Spirit during this forty-day journey to Easter;

b) that we are to pray and fast like Jesus to prepare for the purification to come;

c) that we are to come to a deeper repentance of our sins;

d) that we are to come to a deeper commitment to live as the Gospel calls us.

As we begin this Lent, what grace do you want to ask of God?

“In Lent, may we be increasingly concerned with “speaking words of comfort, strength, consolation and encouragement, and not words that demean, sadden, anger or show scorn” (Fratelli Tutti, 223). In order to give hope to others, it is sometimes enough simply to be kind, to be “willing to set everything else aside in order to show interest, to give the gift of a smile, to speak a word of encouragement, to listen amid general indifference” (Pope Francis).

The old adage is true: a little honey goes a long way. It is amazing what that smile or word of encouragement, quality time with another person can do for others.  There are many divine appointments God has for us just to be a sign of hope to another person when they are desperately in need of it. Sometimes we are attentive to these moments of grace and other times we are not. Lent is one of those special divine appointments of life that we have to make a difference in the lives of other people by small acts of kindness, empathy, love, reaching out, etc. These are like bursts of light in what is otherwise darkness. These bursts of light not only impact the other, but softens our heart as well. Be a light of hope in the midst of any darkness of despair. 

“In these times of trouble, when everything seems fragile and uncertain, it may appear challenging to speak of hope. Yet Lent is precisely the season of hope, when we turn back to God who patiently continues to care for his creation which we have often mistreated (cf. Laudato Si’, 32-33; 43-44). Saint Paul urges us to place our hope in reconciliation: “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). By receiving forgiveness in the sacrament that lies at the heart of our process of conversion, we in turn can spread forgiveness to others. Having received forgiveness ourselves, we can offer it through our willingness to enter into attentive dialogue with others and to give comfort to those experiencing sorrow and pain. God’s forgiveness, offered also through our words and actions, enables us to experience an Easter of fraternity” (Pope Francis).

When we sin, we have the hope of God’s forgiveness. God never withholds his merciful forgiving grace. But that grace, to be most fruitful, requires that we are truly repentant and truly desire to turn away from our sinful actions and remain in union with God. There is also the legitimate expectation, that having been forgiven for our sins which are against God, we will extend the same forgiveness towards others, whose offenses are infinitely less towards us. But how often there is a disconnect between receiving forgiveness and giving forgiveness? Lent is a time to address that from our hearts. So that the next time we go to God for forgiveness he doesn’t have to bring up this disconnect in our life to our shame.  “To whom much is given, much is expected.” 

A lot of times we look upon Lent as a negative time. We hear the call to repent and turn away from sin. But do we hear also the positive aspect of these forty days? Believe in the Gospel. Lent is a both/and time of grace. To believe in the good news of our salvation is not only an assent of the mind but a commitment of the heart to a way of life.

A good practice to begin and continue to accomplish this is daily to spend time reading, reflecting and putting into practice what we read in the Word of God. Let's say we read the passage that says "dismiss all anxieties". How do we apply this in our lives so that it becomes a norm for us? Once that happens (and it may take a while), the Word of God has taken root in our lives and a transformation has occurred. 

A goal of Lent is that by Easter we have become a new creation. Something old in us has died and something new has occurred. Hopefully, this new way of living has become and will be permanent. That is the positive grace of Lent.

The third prong of Lent is almsgiving. The Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2462 states: almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God." Most people think of almsgiving as giving money to those in need. But it also includes what we have referred to as stewardship: time, talent and money. 

Lent is a special time for us to become more conscious of those who are less fortunate than us. Besides giving extra during Lent to a worthy charity, do we share some time carrying for others in need? Do we look into our clothes closet and donate what we are no longer wearing to those who have less? Do we call someone who is alone to see how they are doing? Do we provide a meal for some one who is elderly and alone? There will be many such grace moments that God will provide us during Lent to stir our generosity to action. As we pray during Lent, ask God to help us to be more attentive to what he wants us to do, sharing our blessings with others. We don't have to look for extraordinary things in far away places. The opportunities are all around us. "What you do to the least, you did to me."

Homily Sixth Sunday Year B

 

Reading 1: In those days, leprosy was a highly contagious disease. Because of lack of medical knowledge, they did not know how a person got leprosy, nor how it is communicated. So to protect the community, it was decided to isolate the leper from all contact with others. It is like COVID 19. Lepers had to warn others of their disease and remain in isolation. Today, leprosy is treatable and under control.

 

But what are we doing with spiritual leprosy, sin? The spread of aids, the use of heavy drugs, the easy access to pornography, the promiscuous life of pre-marital and extra marital sex, the quick money from fraud—these and others are the spiritual leprosy that can destroy us. Where leprosy today is contained and curable, the spiritual leprosy is destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world.

 

Leprosy made a person ritually unclean. Sin makes us unclean. It separates us or dampens our relationship with God. It is amazing how we are more concern about physical disease such as cancer and COVID 19 than about the spiritual cancer of sin. We rightfully go to great lengths to eradicate cancer, so that we can extend our human life for a few more months or years. But what do we do to eradicate the spiritual cancer of sin, so that we can live eternally with God?

 

We are going to enter into the grace season of Lent this week. Will we respond to Jesus’ invitation to repent, namely, to turn away from sin and turn more radically to God?

 

Gospel: The leper acts contrary to the restrictions of the first reading. He didn’t stay at a distance, crying unclean. He came in direct contact with Jesus. Can you imagine the reaction of all those around?  Jesus was moved with compassion. Jesus saw beyond the leprosy to the person himself. He saw the faith of the person. The leper knew he had no right to demand healing. “If you will, you can…” There was no doubt about Jesus’ healing power. But it was Jesus’ choice to heal him or not.

 

 

In his turn, Jesus tells the man that he has come to heal and set free those under the bondages of sin. Then Jesus does the unimaginable thing, he touched the leper. In the eyes of the Law, Jesus made himself ritually unclean. But in this gesture, Jesus was taking upon himself our sinfulness. As St Paul said: “He became sin for us.”

 

What is our spiritual leprosy which spiritually disfigures us in our relationship with Jesus and others? Just as the man came to Jesus with expectant faith, asking for a healing, so we need to recognize that Jesus wants to free us from the spiritual leprosy of our sins. But we must come to him.

 

There is another point in the Gospel. The man is told not to witness to others what Jesus did. Jesus had not yet died and risen. Lest that people should focus on part of Jesus mission and not the full reason for his coming, the man is admonished to focus on being certified free of leprosy by the high priest so that he can enter fully back into the community.

 

But the man did witness freely concerning the miracle. While the man was able to rejoin the community, Jesus had to isolate himself, the reversible in life styles.

 

Reading 2: “Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it for the glory of God.” In another place, Paul said: “Whatever you do in speech or in action, do it for the love of God, giving thanks to the Father through Jesus Christ.” The ordinary is changed by intention into something extraordinary. Everyday actions and common experiences are made grace moments, bringing us into the presence of God. Holiness consists, not in extraordinary sacrifices, but by living in the present moment, consciously seeking to please God in response for his love and blessings already received.

 

Paul says that the focus is not himself but others. In doing what he says he does he indicates that he is following the example of Christ. What if we made a conscious intention and be attentive to live this way? Would our life be different?

The second focus of Lent is fasting.  There are two specific days we are to fast (one main meal and two light meals) and abstain from meat. Those are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Then all Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence. But there is another, more important, type of fasting we are urged to do. That is fast from the sins that separate us from God or dampen our relationship. In many ways this is a harder fast. Yet, it is because of our sins that Jesus gave his life for our life. How better can we enter into the spirit of the Lenten season than to consciously uproot sin and its effects from our lives. We may not be able to rid ourselves of all sin (the ideal), but we can eliminate one or two sins which have been part of our lives for a long time. What will our life look like at Easter and afterwards? Isn’t this the intent of Jesus’ invitation: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel”? Without a “metanoia” experience (turn away from sin and turn to the Lord), Lent will only be another forty days rather than a graced forty days.

Sixth Sunday of Year: Gospel Reflections B

A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." 

· In the Old Testament we find two instances where lepers were cured: Numbers 12:10-15 and 2 Kings 5:1-14.

· Leprosy was very contagious. Because of this the Mosaic Law stated that lepers were both physically and ritually impure. Therefore, they were not allowed to be in contact with others less they too would become affected and made ritually unclean.

· The man sought to be made clean or healed so that he could live a normal life and worship with others.

Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. 

· Normally, there is revulsion at the sight of a leper. But Jesus feels a deep compassion for the man.

· How often have we experienced the compassion of God over some area of sin or affliction in our lives?

· Technically, according to the Mosaic Law, when Jesus touched the leper he himself became ritually unclean.  But Jesus knew that the reason for the Law was preventive medicine and had nothing to do with one’s relationship with God.

· In a symbolic way in touching the leper Jesus became “sin” for us. He took on our sins.

Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.  Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” 

· Jesus healed not for his sake but to manifest the love and plan of God.

· The only command Jesus gave him was that he be obedient to the Mosaic law—namely be certified as healed—so that he could once more be part of the community.

· The reason why Mark has Jesus tell the man not to publicize the healing is that in Mark’s theology to fully understand who Jesus really is one must wait for his death and resurrection. Jesus is more than a healer. He is the Messiah. But this revelation will not become clear until Jesus completes his mission on the cross.

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. 

· What does this event say to you about your relationship to Jesus? What is the “leprosy” –the area of sin--in your life that Jesus wants to free you from?

· What is preventing you from coming to Jesus with confidence and trust in his love for you and in his power to restore you?

· The man wanted to be made clean. Do we want to be freed from the bondage of sin?

 

As we prepare to enter the grace-season of Lent, one of the areas we are called to focus on is our prayer life. What is God asking us to do in this area of our relationship with  Him? It is not to say more prayers, but to spend more quality time, when we do pray. It is not to say only our rote prayers, but to be silent in his presence, so we can be more attentive to that inner, still voice of God. 

We are invited by St. Paul to pray unceasingly. This means to give thanks and praise to God and to express our love frequently during the day, which will enable us to be in his presence consciously in the midst of our duties. In this way, our Lent may become a different of a retreat with the Lord, while continuing our responsibilities. In prayer, our heart is in communion with God's heart. And the beauty of this journey is that it will continue after Easter.

Ash Wednesday is a little over a week away. It is not too soon to begin to think about what does God want  you to do during the season of Lent to prepare to celebrate more spiritually the pascal mystery. Lent is not a cookie cutter from one year to the next. It is a new grace moment that God gives us so that we can die and rise with Christ in a new way this Easter. The traditional three prong focus of the Church is prayer, fasting and almsgiving. How does God want you to experience these during the penitential season of Lent? What is your prayer time before the Lord look like now and what is he asking of you? Does fasting involve only food and drink or does it also involve areas of sin in our lives? What specific almsgiving does God have in mind for you this Lent? As you go before the Lord, be attentive to the "new" insight or awareness he may wish to give you. 

How many people call themselves followers of Jesus Christ, but are such in name only, not in commitment to the way of his disciple? They are looking for the emotional highs of their initial encounter with Jesus to continue, but are unwilling to embrace their daily cross. They are like the seed  in the parable. They are choked and stifled from bearing the fruit of a disciple, because they are unwilling to get rid of the baggage of sin within them. They disdain the discipline of the Lord, because they think they deserve better. The grace Jesus gives us is free. But to enable that grace of  his love to bear the fullest effect, death to all that  is not of God must happen. Even his grace enables us to so die to all that is part of the false self. Is not too early to begin to prepare for the season of Lent, a season to enter once more into the pascal mystery of death and resurrection.

I believe that what God wants us to experience and enjoy is right there before us. But we are too focus on something in the future or in the distance. We struggle with impatience. We want things to happen in our timing. I am reminded of a story that applies. A man came across a cocoon. He couldn't wait to see the full-fledge butterfly to be. So he chose to hasten the process. He decided to blow hot air to hasten the process. The more he blew hot air on the cocoon, it gradually began to open u p. Finally, the expected butterfly appeared. But it was deformed and quickly died. 

The man's impatience to see the birth of the butterfly caused the death of it. The expected beauty held in his hand was forced to develop in his time not in nature's. Learning to be patient with ourselves, with others and with situations beyond our control is a discipline that we need to develop. Otherwise, we could destroy the treasure before us.

 

Homily: Fifth Sunday Year B

 

Reading 1: We can possibly relate to Job’s negative attitude about life in general and his life in particular.  Life feels like a drudgery, with long periods of misery, of restlessness, of feeling hopeless and helpless. Basically, a life without much happiness. Job has lost everything, both material possessions and personal relationships. He is afflicted with multiple sores and scabs on his body which causes him much pain. Basically, Job wants to die. Have we every felt like this at times? Today, people would try to medicate themselves with drugs, alcohol and pleasure.

 

But the real issue with Job’s disposition is he feels totally innocent. He blames God for his situation. He wants God to justify why he has caused Job to so suffer all these calamities. In spite of his distressful life, there is a pride and an arrogance in Job. He is right and God is wrong. God owes him a justification.

 

God responds but doesn’t answer him directly. In his confrontation with God, Job experiences the truth. He is not god. He will never fathom the mind of God. All he could do was to surrender himself to God’s plan for him, in order to experience true happiness again.

 

Life is not a drudgery but a mystery. We are not the beginning and end of life, nor the center of life. God is. Difficulties are part of the human journey because of the sin of Adam and Eve.  In the midst of our present situation in the world, with the pandemic, with the bleak economy news locally, with the turmoil in the world, we have a choice. We can despair like Job or hope in the Lord. The choice is to be overwhelmed by the darkness or expect the light of a new dawn.

 

Gospel: An encounter with Jesus brings about a choice: to believe and follow him temporarily or permanently or to walk away and remain the same. Simon, Andrew, James and John were encountered by Jesus. As a result, they left their former way of life to follow Jesus, not always perfectly, but willing to be discipled and formed.

 

Simon’s mother-in-law was encountered by Jesus, who healed her. She, in turn, served his needs. Many of the sick were touched by Jesus. What was their response? Some may have become disciples. Others went their way to be different or to be the same. We don’t know. Jesus encountered the evil spirits. They acknowledged who he was, but remained in their state of eternal alienation.

 

Have we had a personal encounter with Jesus that has made a difference in our life? What has happened to us as a result? Have we become disciples and followers, so that we can grow in our relationship with him? Have we been convicted by the message of the Gospel, namely, the cross of Jesus, by which we have been saved?

 

The foundation of Jesus life and ministry was grounded in his relationship with the Father. He knows, in his humanity, the importance of spending time in prayer with the Father in the midst of ministry. It was in these moments that Jesus came to discover the Father’s will for him in any present moment of life. He was not about his ministry but the Father’s ministry. Is this what moves us in our lives?

 

Reading 2: Paul’s life after his conversion to the person of Jesus Christ was anything but pleasant and comfortable. He was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, shipwrecked, felt abandoned, even to the point of despair.  But for Paul what or who made the difference was the person of Jesus Christ and his gospel of salvation. Once Paul came into the light of salvation, he felt compelled to preach Jesus and him crucified and risen. He went so far as to say: “Woe is me, if I do not proclaim the Good News, whether convenient or inconvenient.” 

 

Because of Jesus and the freedom of faith in Jesus, Paul willingly gave his total self to reaching out to all, so that at least some would be saved. Once his personal encounter with Jesus changed his life, Paul could not and would not be the same. “I live now, not I, but Christ Jesus in me…In him, I move and live and have my being…I want nothing but to be conformed to his passion, so I can share in his resurrection.” Has our encounter with Jesus affected our lives in a meaningful way?

 "Obedience to God is like 'the center thread that comes down' that supports a spider's beautiful web hanging on a hedge. Descending from the top by this thread it produces, the spider constructs a web that a perfect and taut at every corner. Once the spider's work is finished, this center thread used to construct the web is not removed but remains in place. In fact, the center thread is what holds together all of the spider's weaving; without it everything collapses. If one of the lateral threads breaks (I tested this once), the spider rushes to quickly repair his web, but if that center thread from on high is broken, then the spider moves on because nothing more can be done." (Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa).

Without obedience to God a person enters into serious sin. One's relationship with God, like the center thread of the web, is severed. This was the stark lesson Adam and Eve experienced, when they chose to disobey God to yield to their cravings to be like God. This is the same lesson we unfortunately learned, when we disobey God in a serious matter. While the spider moves on, God remains with us, calling us back to embrace what is truly good for us, his will. When we do so, a new relationship begins.

Fifth Sunday of the Year: Gospel B 

On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

· This is in Capernaum. In fact, excavations in that town have identified this house which has a Church built on top of the site.

Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

· This is one of two indications in the scriptures that Simon was married.

· This is the first woman that Mark mentions in his Gospel.

· It is not common for a visiting male to go into the private quarters of a family nor is it common for a visiting male to touch the hand of a woman.

· Nothing is too small for Jesus to deal with. Do we bring everything to Jesus or do we think that he is not interested in small things? The issue is that Jesus is interested in everything about us. To bring everything to Jesus is to indicate our total surrender of ourselves to him.

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. 

· The reason they waited till after sunset was that they waited for the end of the Sabbath. Remember very little was permitted on the Sabbath that indicated work.

 The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

· Mark focus on the exorcisim of demons is in line with the mission of Jesus: to confront and overthrow the strongholds of Satin.

· One of Mark’s themes will be Jesus not allowing people or spirits to tell others about him. The reason for this is that the full understanding of Jesus as Messiah will not be understood until his death and resurrection. We will see this throughout Mark’s Gospel.

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. 

· Why do you think Jesus prayed? He was busy and popular but he took time regularly to pray. Does his example say anything to us?

· How important is prayer in our daily life? How much time do we give to the Lord in prayer each day?

Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. 

· Jesus had a clear vision of his mission and did not allow anything to distract him, including what others wanted or thought. How clear is God’s vision for us and how committed are we to following that vision no matter the results?   

"As long as we belong to this world, we will remain subject to its competitive ways and expect to be rewarded for all the good we do. But when we belong to God, who loves us without conditions, we can live as he does. The great conversion called for by Jesus is to move from belonging to the world to belonging to God" (Henri Nouwen).

To whom do we truly belong? In fact, we belong to God, who created us, redeemed us and adopted us as his sons and daughters. But if we look at our thoughts and actions, we seem to belong more to the world than to God. Jesus came to set us free and to invite us on a new journey of being in the world but not of the world. It is a journey of a relationship with God as the center of our lives and not of the world as the center of our lives. While we have to spend our lives in the world, doing the things we need to do to survive, we are called to learn to live in the world with God as our focus. Not an easy task. But one that will set us free to see and do things from a different motivation, as a son or daughter of God. Bon voyage!  

 Who among us do not have many of anxieties and burdens? Everyday brings its own struggles and concerns. That's part of our human experience. How are we to deal with them? In 1 Cor 7:32, Paul tells us: "I should like you to be free of anxieties." In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul further instructs us: "Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God."  In Matthew 11:28, Jesus tells us: "Come to me, all you who labor and have been burdened, and I will refresh you."

Do these verses give us a plan of action? We can not resolve for the most part our anxieties, neither by medication or stimulants. These are merely temporary fixes for a moment. Instead, we are called to bring our anxieties and worries to the Lord, to surrender our hanging on to them to the Lord. He alone is the Lord of all things. He alone knows what we need to be able to keep our eyes on him, while going through a particular difficulty. We have tried to handle these anxieties and burdens our way. What will happen if we would try to deal with them according to God's plan? They will not necessary go away. But the weight of their burden upon us will be different. For we are not alone in facing the situation.