"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me."

In his need, Jesus turns to the psalms which he has learned and prayed regularly since a child. As he began his painful crucifixion by praying to the Father for others, he now continues to turn to the Father to pray for strength to endure till the end.

Choosing Psalm 22, he utters this cry of anguish, not in despair but in trust of the Father. For in faith he knows that death will not be the ultimate victor, but life will reign through death. While the bystanders may have interpreted Jesus’ cry as a cry against God, the Father heard the recommitment of the son to embrace the Father’s will even in his anguish and horrific suffering.  In verse 25, Jesus prayed: “For he has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch, (He) did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.”

 

In invoking this psalm, Jesus is quoting a Scripture which says the cry of the one who is apparently forsaken by God is actually heard by God the Father, that the Father doesn’t turn his back on the one who is afflicted, and instead, hears his prayer and answers the prayer. At the end of his prayer, Jesus said in the words of the psalm: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; All the families of nations will bow low before him. All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD” (vs 28, 30) 

In the next few days, pray this psalm with Jesus.

 

Homily Fifth Sunday of Lent Year C

 

Reading 1: Through the prophet Isaiah God recalls how he delivered the people from bondage in Egypt by parting the waters for them to cross. At the same time he made the waters return, enveloping the pursuing Egyptian charioteers. Then God says: “Remember not the things of the past; see I am about to do something new.” In other words, learn from the past but don’t live in the past like your ancestors who wanted to return to their life in Egypt.

 

This message is addressed to the people who again have found themselves exiled from the Promised Land. They too had rebelled and presumed on the mercy of God while they broke the covenant. As a consequence they were conquered by their enemies and sent to exile for a period of time—a time of chastisement and purification.

 

Now, that time is about to end and they would return to the Promised Land. This is the something new God was about to do for them. He would provide what they would need to return. He would make a way and provide for their sustenance. Once they saw this the people would praise God for his mercy.

 

Reading 2: Paul picks up this theme of remembering not the past but live in the present moment, opened to the new thing God is doing. He says: “I consider everything as a lost (that is the past), because of the greater good of knowing Christ.” All he wanted to do was to be open to the gifts of mercy God had for him in Christ Jesus, who was his righteousness and salvation.

 

Paul wanted to embrace the cross in his own life, sharing in the suffering of Jesus in order to be open to the resurrected life offered by Jesus. In all this, Paul kept the prize of eternal life before him. What would happen to us if we did this? What would happen to us if we kept our eyes on the goal and make decisions and actions based on this?

 

Gospel: All of us have a past. Some of us may have a past that was not good. Look at Paul who persecuted the followers of Jesus. Paul concurred with the stoning of Stephen. Paul was zealot for the Law, like the scribes and Pharisees in today’s Gospel. They were more concerned with others’ past than their own. In so doing, they kept people enslaved to that past.

 

But Jesus reminds us today again: “Remember not the past; embrace the grace of the present moment as you move towards the eternal life God has for you.

 

The scribes of Pharisees were sticklers for the Law. Externally that was their motive. According to the Law of Moses a person caught in the act of adultery was to be stoned to death. The justice of the Law demanded this. What they had not done was bring the male partner of the woman for the same judgment. Internally, they were using the woman caught in adultery to try to trap Jesus.

 

Jesus’ response initially seem strange. He said nothing, only bent down and wrote in the dirt. Jesus was showing them mercy in spite of their sinful hearts. When they persisted, Jesus levels the playing field by saying: “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.” He didn’t look at them for a response for he knew their sinfulness hidden beneath their self-righteousness. Recognizing that Jesus had now trapped them, they left one by one.

 

At the same time, Jesus didn’t justify the woman’s past misdeeds, but offered her the same mercy and forgiveness he offered her accusers. By being publicly humiliated, exposed and shamed the woman needed to know God’s mercy and forgiveness. All Jesus said was: “Go and sin no more.”

 

Our sin is our past. Mercy and forgiveness are the graces of the present moment. This is the new thing God is doing for us. The prize is before us. Go and sin no more.

 Fifth Sunday of Lent Gospel Reflections C

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. 

· How often do we come to Jesus to listen and to be taught?

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. 

· Their hearts were not right. They were not interested in doing what is right but in discrediting Jesus. Do we sometimes act of wrong motives?  Do we sometimes seem more righteous than others?

If they were so righteous, why did they not bring the man who was                  guilty of the same sin?

Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

· Even knowing their real motive, Jesus was extending a hand of mercy to them. Even when others are wrong and we know it, are we judgmental or merciful like Jesus? Do we condemn or give them a way out?

·       Jesus reminded them and us that we are all sinners and who are we to         judge the other? In another passage, Jesus says that we should take             the beam out of our own eye before we point to the splinter in the               other.

Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. 

· What was Jesus doing? Some interpret Jesus’ action by saying that he was writing their sins in the dirt. Others say that he was giving them a chance to save face and not condemn themselves as they were condemning the woman.

·      Beginning with the elders, was this because they realized they had

·      more sins?

So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” 

· Jesus knew the scriptures. God desires not the death of the sinner but that the person repents and lives. If we choose to die in sin, that is our choice.

· Jesus doesn’t condemn us for our sins but offers us the grace of repentance. He called sin, sin, but he extended forgiveness and mercy to the sinner.

· Do we reflect on our sinfulness? Do we remain in sin? Do we repent and heed the word of Jesus: “Go, and from now on do not sin any more?”

· When was the last time you went to confession?

 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

St. John Chrysostom writes that Jesus cried with a loud voice to teach us that he did not die of necessity, but of his own free will, uttering so strong a voice at the very moment when he was about to come to the end of his life, that he voluntarily sacrificed his life for his sheep, and not through the will and malice of his enemies: “I lay down my life for my sheep.”

Jesus has been on the cross for some time now. Though Jesus is sinless, the weight of sin and its emptiness overwhelms him. He experiences the depth of separation which sin causes between a person and God. This sense of abandonment was perhaps the greatest pain that Jesus endured for our sake. Even though in fact and in faith, the Son of God could never be separated from the Father, becoming sin for us has its toll on Jesus. God did not forsake the first Adam even though he sinned, nor did God forsake Cain, nor the Chosen People when they broke the Covenant. God has never forsaken his people because of their sin. Would he forsake his sinless Son even though he has taken on the sin of humanity? If God did not forsake the first Adam will he forsake the second Adam? It is not abandonment but love. The Father loved the Son and the Son loved the Father. It is also out of love for us that God allowed Jesus to experience the darkness of sin. And yet, we still sin.

" My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

The darkness of the hour matched the darkness of Jesus spirit.  Not only did darkness come over the whole land, Jesus himself experienced a sense of inner darkness. This inner darkness may have begun when Jesus agonized the Garden.  The prophet Amos prophesied centuries before: "Day of doom, says the Lord God, when there shall be sunset at noon, and earth shall be overshadowed under the full light." Now, He felt alone with the weight of sin upon him. Lifting up his blood filled eyes, Jesus looked to the heavens. From the depth of his bowels and with a quivering body, laced with pain, he cried: My God, My God.

This is the height of his agony. He is feeling the full weight of the sins of the world that he has come to take away. He senses the effect of sin, not his, but of everyone who had or will sin. It is a deep, interior sense of abandonment, as when a person is separated from God because of sin. We can never fully understand this moment nor why Jesus had to experienced this moment. But we can make the decision never to separate ourselves from God. And if we do, never to remain in alienation, but to be reconciled through Jesus' suffering and death. Jesus, I am sorry for causing you so much pain.

 "Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother."

What must have gone through Mary’s mind during those hours of Jesus’ crucifixion? When she brought forth the Messiah and held him in her arms, did she imagined this future scene? As that beautiful song inquires: “Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?... Did you know that this child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you?” As Jesus was crucified in the flesh, Mary experienced a crucifixion in the depth of her spirit.

When Simeon prophesied at Jesus' presentation in the Temple, that a sword would pierce her heart, did she in any way understand it would be the sword of sorrow as she shared in Jesus’ suffering and death? Mary would never have wanted her Son to suffer and to die in this way; yet, she trusted in God’s plan. Under his cross she was called in a new and dramatic way to embrace the will of the Father as Jesus embraced the Father’s will in total obedience and surrender.  Mary’s “yes” at the Annunciation comes to full flower at the foot of the cross. “The reality of what happened to her son changes the way Mary understood the promises of God about Jesus and about the promised Messiah.”  Without Jesus there is no salvation. Without Mary there is no Jesus. Both fulfilled the will of God for our salvation.

 "Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother."

Another deeper meaning is embedded in these words of Jesus.  Mary was given to be the spiritual mother of all those saved by Jesus. Thus, she is called the Mother of the Church. Under the cross she, by God’s divine plan, became the mother of those who believe in Jesus, sharing in his Divine life. As a mother, she formed Jesus from infancy to adulthood. As our mother Mary desires to form us as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, leading us to him and instructing us to do whatever he tells us.

 

Here is what St. John Paul II said: “After entrusting John to Mary with the words “Woman, behold your son!”, Jesus, from the Cross, turns to his beloved disciple, saying to him, “Behold, your mother!” (Jn 19:26-27). With these words, he reveals to Mary the height of her motherhood: as mother of the Savior, she is also the mother of the redeemed, of all the members of the Mystical Body of her Son. In silence the Virgin accepts the elevation to this highest degree of her motherhood of grace, having already given a response of faith with her “yes” at the Annunciation. Jesus not only urges John to care for Mary with special love, but he entrusts her to him so that he may recognize her as his own mother”.  How blessed is the eternal plan of God!

Homily Fourth Sunday of Lent Year C

Reading 1: What was the reproach of Egypt?  It was the rebellious heart of the people of God. For 40 years many of them grumbled and turned their hearts against God. Many of them died in the desert without seeing the promised Land.

 

Now the people have entered the land of plenty. They began their journey in Egypt with the celebration of the Feast of Passover, the Feast of their deliverance from physical bondage. They left Egypt. Now in the Promised Land, they celebrate the Feast of the Passover. They have been delivered from the bondage of a heart hardened against God. They finally come to a place of trust in God. They ate from the produce o the land. No longer did God had to provide manna for their survival.

 

The central message was that God delivered them, led them, purified them, provided for them and now fulfilled his promise to them.

 

As we look over our past journey since the time of our baptism when we were delivered from the bondage of Satan from Original Sin, what has God done for us? How often has he fed us with the Eucharist, the true bread from heaven? How often has he forgiven our sins when we turned away from him? How often has he provided for our many needs?  We come together today in this assembly to celebrate our Passover from death to life through the sacrifice of Jesus, our reconciler and redeemer. We come to give thanks, to renew our covenant with God, to hear his Word and to be nourished for the week ahead with the Bread of Life.

 

Gospel: In the Gospel, who is the father? God. Who are the two sons? Each of us. For like the sons we are sinners. What does the father seek to do? He is a reconciler. He reconciles the younger son to himself through unconditional love, mercy and forgiveness. He seeks to reconcile the elder son to himself by unconditional love and truth. The younger brother is still his brother, in spite of his sins. He needs forgiveness and acceptance, not condemnation and rejection.

 

Like the younger son, we have separated ourselves from the father and from the family. We have taken our inheritance, our relationship with God and squandered it for a life of sin. We are no different from Adam and Eve nor from all other sinners who have lived. We do not deserve anything but what we have become. Like the younger son, we are not even good enough to eat the food of the pigs.

Like the younger son we have many times returned to the father, ashamed and riddle with guilt and shame and full of self-condemnation.

 

Unknowing to us, the   Father has been waiting for us, not to punish or reject us      or to treat us as a slave. He is waiting for us to embrace and restore us to our rightful identity. What we failed to realize is that when we were baptized we became adopted sons and daughters of God. Nothing can delete that reality, even Hell itself.  It is because of this given identity that moves the father to embrace, kiss and restore his son with joyful celebration.

 

At the same time, we have been like the elder son, resentful and angry, condemning and judging others. We think that we are better and more deserving than others. Our sin is not physical but mental separation. The father reminds him that he is loved unconditionally. He calls him to do learn to do the same.

 

All of us are sinners before God. All of us are in need of mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation. Both the younger son and the elder one were focused on themselves. That was their sin. What is in it for me? The father was focused on them and not himself. Jesus through his death on the cross focused on us and not himself. The Father, who accepted Jesus’ death for our sake, focused on us.

 

Reading 2: Who is the central figure in this reading? Jesus. Whoever is in Christ is a new creation. Are we in Christ? Are we seeking to life in and with Jesus as the Lord of our lives? What is the old and what is the new? The old is our sinfulness. The new is our life in Christ.

 

We have been reconciled in Christ and through Christ. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection our sins have been forgiven and we have been restored and reconciled as a son or daughter of God. We must choose to be reconciled, to remain reconciled and to be ambassadors of reconciliation. This means that as God has forgiven our sins, so we must forgive others. As Jesus has said: The gift you have been given is the gift that is to be given to others. 

 "Woman, behold  your son. Son, behold your mother."

There is another insight into this moment in Jesus’ life in relation to his earthly mother. To complete the total gift of himself to the Father, Jesus heeded his own words to the disciples. He let go even the most natural human relationship--that between a mother and her son. “Whoever loves father or mother, son or daughter, more than me is not worthy of me.” Jesus was speaking of the separation of affections, not that we are not to love those closest to us, but that not even these can be first in our lives. As comforting as Mary’s presence is, even this Jesus forsakes to fully experience the separation and emptiness sin brings about. There was no denial of this bond with his mother, but the acknowledgement that the greatest bond is between him and God. There was a higher love in his life, a love that has motivated his whole life—his love for his Father.

 

Another deeper meaning is embedded in the words of Jesus.  Mary was given to be the spiritual mother of all those saved by Jesus. Thus, she is called the Mother of the Church. Under the cross she, by God’s divine plan, became the mother of those who believe in Jesus, sharing in his Divine life. As a mother, she formed Jesus from infancy to adulthood. As our mother Mary desires to form us as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, leading us to him and instructing us to do whatever he tells us. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your Mother.

Act of Consecration

to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Basilica of Saint Peter

25 March 2022

          O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, in this time of trial we turn to you.  As our Mother, you love us and know us: no concern of our hearts is hidden from you.  Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your peaceful presence!  You never cease to guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

          Yet we have strayed from that path of peace.  We have forgotten the lesson learned from the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two world wars.  We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of nations.  We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.  We grew sick with greed, we thought only of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in our selfish needs and concerns.  We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and to stockpile weapons.  We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and stewards of our common home.  We have ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters.  We grew indifferent to everyone and everything except ourselves.  Now with shame we cry out: Forgive us, Lord!

          Holy Mother, amid the misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of iniquity that is evil and war, you remind us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life.  He has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for all humanity.  By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our history, you are there to guide us with tender love.

          We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart.  We are your beloved children.  In every age you make yourself known to us, calling us to conversion.  At this dark hour, help us and grant us your comfort.  Say to us once more: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”  You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times.  In you we place our trust.  We are confident that, especially in moments of trial, you will not be deaf to our supplication and will come to our aid.

          That is what you did at Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with Jesus and he worked the first of his signs.  To preserve the joy of the wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3).  Now, O Mother, repeat those words and that prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has fled, fraternity has faded.  We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the gift of peace.  We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness.  How greatly we need your maternal help!

          Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.

Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.

Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.

Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.

Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.

Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.

Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.

Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.

Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.

          O Mother, may your sorrowful plea stir our hardened hearts.  May the tears you shed for us make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew.  Amid the thunder of weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace.  May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs.  May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land.  May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.

          Holy Mother of God, as you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said: “Behold your son” (Jn 19:26).  In this way he entrusted each of us to you.  To the disciple, and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your Mother” (v. 27).  Mother Mary, we now desire to welcome you into our lives and our history.  At this hour, a weary and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross, needing to entrust itself to you and, through you, to consecrate itself to Christ.  The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.

          Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.  Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love.  Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world.  The “Fiat” that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace.  We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more.  To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

          Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days.  Our Lady of the “Fiat”, on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God.  May you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts.  In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion.  You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace.  Amen. 

 Fourth Sunday of Lent Gospel Reflections C

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable: “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. 

· The Son was basically saying I can’t wait until you die. I want my inheritance, which is not mine by right yet, now. The love of the father is beyond measure.

After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. 

· How often have we done the same with our inheritance as a son or daughter of God through our personal sins?

When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ 

· He recognized that he did not deserve to be treated as a son because of what he had done. Because of his sins he lost sight of his true identity, even though the father was still father.

So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. 

· The foolishness of the father is evident. First, he allowed his son to disrespect him by giving him the inheritance as if he was dead. Second, he runs to the son and embrace him when he should have waited for the son to crawl back to him and beg him to restore him.

His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’

· The foolish father does not wait for the son to ask his forgiveness. Calling him father again was enough. The foolish father restores him as son and lavishes his blessings and gifts upon him.

· How often has God done the same and more for us? Even if our repentance is imperfect, even if we may sin again, God forgives and restores us to our dignity as sons and daughters because of his great love and mercy.

Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ 

· Have we been self-righteous at times in the past? Have we complained that we are not treated by God like others are?

He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’”

· How do we apply this parable to our life? When have we been the father, the younger son or the elder son?

· What is the grace God is offering us at this moment?

"Woman, behold your son. Son behold your mother."

Jesus, the only son of Mary, knows that when he dies, Mary, as a widow, will have no immediate family member to care and to provide for her in her material needs. The law required the firstborn son to take care of his parents, and Jesus was obeying the law of God up until the end. In his great love for his mother, Jesus would not commit his soul to his Father without seeing to the care of his mother. Thus, Jesus entrusts her to John and John to her. Jesus, in a sense, utters his last will and testament concerning the providential care of his mother.

 

The Church proclaims Mary, ever Virgin. She was a virgin prior to conception, during and after the birth of Jesus. Why would Jesus entrust her to someone not blood-related, unless she had no other living blood relations?  

Jesus was doing the Father's will, offering his life as a sacrifice for our sins. At the same time, he was doing the Father's will, providing for his mother.  We are called to do the Father's will in our relationships especially with those closest to us.

The third word of Jesus from the cross: "Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother."

What tortured thoughts and feeling passed through Mary’s mind as she saw her son in such agony. After his last word to the repentant thief, sometime has past. Now Mary sees him struggling to take his next breath, suffering to do so in order to speak his next words. Little did she know they would be for her.

 

Mary’s emotional anguish mirrored Jesus’ physical anguish, and his compassion moved him outside his pain to do something for her. Even while he hangs dying, Jesus concerns himself not with his own needs but those of his mother.

Father Cantalamessa has said: “When Jesus said, ‘Behold, your mother’ and ‘Behold, your son’, Jesus made Mary John’s mother and John Mary’s son. He didn’t just proclaim Mary’s new maternity, he instituted it. It doesn’t, therefore come from Mary but from God’s Word; it is not founded on merit but on grace.”  Take some time today to stand with Mary and John at the cross and reflect on these words.

"This day you shall be with me in paradise." When Mary heard these words, what did she feel? Was it a sense of gratitude that her son’s suffering had already born fruit in one who became a disciple at the very end? In the midst of her own suffering, did she feel a sense of joy of the man’s mother at knowing that her son will be with Jesus in paradise?  That his tragic life and end really was a new beginning ? At the same time, did Mary have a sense of sorrow that the other thief continued to revile her son rather than accept the grace of the moment?

During this Lenten season, Mary, our Mother, is interceding for each of us to acknowledge our own sinfulness and need for the forgiving mercy of Jesus. He died on the cross so that we may  have eternal life not eternal death. It is our choice to choose life or to choose death each day with each decision we make.

  

One of the thieves on the cross believed there was something more than this life, even for one who had done wrong most of his life. Rather than die with anger and hate on his heart, like his companion in crime, he chose to ask for mercy and forgiveness, with the hope of being with Jesus after death. What the good thief realized was that God came to meet him in his deepest suffering and offered him, not only freedom through repentance, but the promise of paradise. Could he be considered the first martyr of the new Kingdom of God Jesus came to established? One of the saints stated that the cross of the good thief became for him a ladder to paradise.

Jesus’ promise to the good thief gives us great hope: it tells us that God’s grace is always greater than the prayer which sought it. The Lord always grants more, he is so generous, he always gives more than what he has been asked: you ask him to remember you, and he brings you into his kingdom! God wants to fulfill more than our limited hopes and desires, he wants to fulfill the purpose for which we were created, to share his divine life forever in glory. Pray for the grace to be open to the more God desires for you.

 

Homily Third Sunday of Lent Year C

 

Reading 1: The background to our reading. Moses had killed an Egyptian and has fled the wrath of Pharaoh. Now, God appears to him to reveal his plan. God first reminds Moses of God’s sacredness and Moses’ sinfulness. “This is holy ground.... remove your sandals.” He then reveals to Moses that he is the same God that his ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshipped. In response, Moses hides his face. This is in contrast to later on in Moses’ relationship with God when God invites Moses into his presence to see his glory.

 

The purpose for this present revelation is to reveal God’ plan for his Chosen people who are in bondage. “I will deliver my people from their bondage in Egypt and lead them to the land I promised Abraham and his descendants.”

 

Moses initially protested that the people would not believe him. But God reveals to Moses to tell them I AM sent you. This identity of God will be the foundation of the people’s new relationship with God. Later, it will become the distinguishing factor separating the Jews from the pagans.

 

When Jesus applied the term I AM to himself, the leaders sought to stone him for, in their minds, he was equating himself with God, which was blasphemy.

 

Reading 2: Paul picks up on the journey of Israel in the desert. He reminded his Christian readers of how God provided many blessings for his people. But in spite of these signs and wonders, the people still sinned. They grumbled and complain; they were disobedient; they fashioned a god to worship; they doubted God. As a result, Paul says, all who refused to trust in the Lord, died in the desert before seeing the Promised Land.

 

To us and his Christian readers, Paul says to take note. These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not remain in the state of sin of rebellion and disobedience and thus not see the face of God in eternity. In other words, learn from the past. Do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

 

Gospel: Our reading tells us what we must do. Repent! Turn away from sin and live a life pleasing and in union with God! Jesus uses the remembered events. He says suffering at the hands of others is not a punishment by God; suffering at a result of a natural calamity is not a punishment by God.

 

But seeing these things, we are called to repent of our sins, so that, whether we suffer at the hands of others or from some natural or accidental cause, we will not be separated from God.

 

The third illustration of the barren fig tree shows us what will happen as a result of our own unrepentant misdeeds. If we do not repent, turn to the Lord and bear the fruit of union with him, a day will come when we will be cut down like the tree and thrown into the everlasting fire. The scriptures are clear. God does not want the death of the sinner, but that he repents, reforms and turns back to God.

 

We have been called by God. We have experienced the compassion and mercy of God in abundant ways. We do not know the day or the hour of God’s visitation. All of this is not said to put fear into our hearts but to help us to respond to the grace God offers us.

 

The question is: are we bearing the fruit of God’s mercy and love? What does that look like? It is a life in union with God; a life of love and mercy; a life of obedience and surrender to the will of God; a life that will allow us to take off our shoes of sin; a life of looking at the face of God and sharing in his glory.

"Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Listen to the words of Pope Francis as he reflects on this scene. "Whereas all the others treat Jesus with disdain – 'If you are the Christ, the Messiah King, save yourself by coming down from the cross!' – the thief who went astray in his life but now repents, clings to the crucified Jesus and begs him: 'Remember me, when you come into your kingdom' (Lk 23:42). Jesus promises him: 'Today you will be with me in paradise' (v. 43), in his kingdom. Jesus speaks only a word of forgiveness, not of condemnation; whenever anyone finds the courage to ask for this forgiveness, the Lord does not let such a petition go unheard. Today we can all think of our own history, our own journey. Each of us has his or her own history: we think of our mistakes, our sins, our good times and our bleak times. We would do well, each one of us, on this day, to think about our own personal history, to look at Jesus and to keep telling him, sincerely and quietly: “Remember me, Lord, now that you are in your kingdom! Jesus, remember me, because I want to be good, but I just don’t have the strength: I am a sinner, I am a sinner. But remember me, Jesus! You can remember me because you are at the centre, you are truly in your kingdom!” How beautiful this is! Let us all do this today, each one of us in his or her own heart, again and again. “Remember me, Lord, you who are at the center, you who are in your kingdom”.

 

One thief asked to be taken off the cross. The other humbly asked to be taken up with Jesus. One thief continued to be obstinate, while the other is converted by Jesus’ prayer of forgiveness.  A dying repentant man asked a dying innocent Man for eternal life. Was he the first to experience salvation, to enter into glory with Jesus? Without hearing Jesus’ teachings, he was acting on the message of the Lord. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open to you. Without knowing it, he was responding to the grace of God that God offers each of us. Recall what we read in Revelations 3:20-21: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.”

The first fruit of Jesus’ prayer of forgiveness came forth in the words of this criminal crucified with Jesus. Recognizing and admitting his own sinfulness, he expressed a plea of repentance, the surest door to the heart of Jesus. He publicly testified to Jesus’ innocence and professed his faith in Jesus’ identity as Lord, without understanding the full meaning. The grace of God can effect something marvelous in the one who repents. Pray the repentant man's prayer from  your heart. "Lord, remember me when you come into  your kingdom." 

Third Sunday of Lent Gospel C

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” 

· Luke’s Gospel is the only account of these two events. Innocent people die daily as a result of human violence and natural events. Do these events say anything to us about the need to always be in right relationship with God? We know not the day or the hour or the event.

· During this season of Lent, have we responded to the grace of repentance given to us by God?

· What are the areas of sin we need to be repentant of and be reconciled back to God for?

· Have we taken advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’” 

· Is our life spiritually barren like the fig tree after all these many years of God’s grace?

· Can we presume on God’s patience with us?  Do I have any guarantee how much time is still allotted to me in life? Why do I delay in responding to God’s invitation of love?

· How can this Lent be a new beginning of spiritual fruitfulness in our life?

 

"One the criminals said to Jesus: 'Remember me when you come into your kingdom.' This day you shall be with me in Paradise". Jesus replied: 'This day you will be with me in Paradise."

Along side of Jesus also being crucified were two criminals. There are some similarities between the two men.  Both are suffering the pain of crucifixion. Both are guilty of crime ("We are receiving the due reward of our deeds," v. 41). Both see Jesus, the sign over his head ("King of the Jews," v. 38); they hear the words from his mouth ("Father forgive them," v. 34). And both of these thieves want desperately to be saved from death.

 

However, the good thief observed Jesus from the time they started carrying their crosses to the place of execution. He saw that Jesus did not curse those who nailed him to the cross beams. He noticed the abuse of the hostile crowd.  He saw through his peripheral vision the words that the soldiers on Pilate’s command had nailed to Jesus’ cross: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. He witnessed that the first words from Jesus was a prayer for the forgiveness of his enemies. Something about the demeanor of Jesus moved him to rebuke his fellow criminal and profess Jesus innocent. Instead of responding in self-pity and unrepentance, he chose to repent and ask forgiveness from Jesus. Reflect on this scene to understand where he is coming from and what was going on in his heart.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

A valiant knight was once grievously insulted, and in his anger he swore to be revenged.  Very early one morning he set out to punish his enemy with the sword.  Now there was a chapel by the wayside, into which he entered, and glanced at the pictures upon the walls.  There were three pictures.  The first represented our Lord in his garments of mockery, and beneath was inscribed: "He reviled not, though He was reviled." The second one depicted the scourging with the words: "He threatened not, although He suffered." The third finally was the crucifixion with these words beneath: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The sight of these three pictures of the Passion touched the knight's heart. He knelt down and prayed, and his desire for vengeance melted away before the rays of the heavenly love of Jesus, like ice before the sun's rays.

A little boy had disobeyed his mother. She didn't know it yet, but his conscience began to bother him, and he was sneaking up to his room when she saw him. "Where are you going, Frank?" she asked. "To my room to talk to God," was his reply. "Is it something you can't tell me?" she asked. Frank explained, "Yes, it is. You'll just scold me and punish me, while God will forgive and forget all about it."

No reflection needed. The stories tell it all. As he has forgiven us, so are we to forgive others.

  

 "Father, forgive them." 

Pope Francis shares these words: “If we listen attentively we can imagine him saying further: ‘Father, I give you the pain of my sacrifice for their forgiveness. I choose to give my life as an offering to you so that your life may once more be evident in them. Without your mercy, Father, there is no hope for them. But your mercy is freeing, healing and life-giving. Wash them clean in your mercy and love. Set them free to be your adopted sons and daughters once more. As often as they sin and are repentant, let your mercy flow upon them from the blood and water from my pierced side.’" 

Jesus chose to forgive them and all who have sinned, including me. He chose not to let the poison of non-forgiveness touch his heart. Instead, he chose to speak a message of mercy from the cross. However, there is a condition, not to his forgiveness but to the sinner, to receive his forgiveness and freedom. That condition is repentance: turning away from the sin and turning back to God. A hardened heart needs to become opened to the grace of God's mercy. Jesus forgave from the cross even before anyone asked, giving them and us the door to mercy. But we must open it. When we forgive as Jesus tells us, we provide the other a similar door of mercy. Whether they open it or not, is not our call. Whether we did what God told us to do, is our decision.

"Father, forgive them." At that moment, what those who judged and condemned him needed was not judgment and condemnation, but love and mercy, so that they could repent and return to the Lord. Jesus, out of mercy, chose to forgive them, less his heart become hardened like theirs. How often have we hardened our heart against another for something much less severe? If Jesus could forgive those who crucified him, can we not forgive those who have sinned against us. Bring their face into focus so that you can see them clearly. With the grace of this moment pray the prayer Jesus prayed on the cross.

Forgiveness has the word “give” in it. Forgiveness is not “getting” even. It is giving away the right to get even. This is an act of mercy. But there is still the matter of justice. For a wrong has occurred, an injury has taken place. Justice requires something to be done.

When we sin, it is always grievous, since sin is an abominable offense against God. In justice, Jesus paid the price for our sins through the gift of his life in our stead. Because of the Son’s love for the Father and his love for us, he asks the Father to show love and mercy through the act of forgiveness. Justice and mercy met in the gift of Jesus’ life for our life. Justice is what we deserve, our due. Mercy is what we desire, not our due. Jesus became our justice while extending mercy to us. 

Homily Second Sunday of Lent Year C

 

Reading 1: This is the second of several covenants God makes with individuals and peoples. The first was with Noah after the flood and the sign was the rainbow. The second was with Abraham and the sign was circumcision. The third was with Moses and the sign was the Ten Commandments of the Law. The final covenant is that which Jesus made for us and the sign is his sacrifice on the cross.

 

There is a progression in these covenants. The covenant with Noah was made by God and Noah was to be obedient to God. In the second with Abraham, which we heard today, God made three promises: many descendants, new land and many blessings. The sealing of the covenant with sacrifice and blood was done on God’s part. In this he prefigured that he himself would not break the covenant. Instead, he himself will give his life blood for us.

 

Abraham put his faith in God. The terrifying darkness is a symbol of sin: Abraham’s and all of humanity. The flaming torch is Jesus, the light of the world, taking upon himself our sins.

 

We may at times question God’s mysterious plan, but in the end we are called to act in faith, trusting that God’s promise will be fulfilled in his timing and place.

 

Reading 2: We are called to imitate Paul and those like him who conduct their lives according to the Gospel mandates. This is in contrast to those who are enemies of the cross by remaining in sin and leading others into sin. Instead of keeping their covenant, made in baptism they turned back to sin. Their end is destruction, unless they repent.

 

Paul tells us that we have been save by Jesus Christ as a sign of his infinite mercy. He looked upon our misery and broke the bonds holding us away from God. Now, we await the fullness of our salvation, when Jesus will come in glory to judge the living and the dead.

 

In his mercy he will change our lowly body that has been torn apart, bruised and wounded by sin. He will transform our body conforming it to his glorified body. There will be no more suffering, pain, or crying out. Through his mercy our glorified body will be glorified with him before the Father. Meanwhile, what must we do?  We must stand firm in the Lord, repent of sin, forgive and secure forgiveness, love as he calls us to love and be merciful as he is merciful to us.

 

Gospel: Jesus has just revealed to the Apostles his true mission as the Christ, namely to suffer, die for our sins and then rise from the dead. Unlike Abraham, the Apostles did not put their faith in Jesus.

 

In his humanity, Jesus is strengthened for his ultimate sacrifice by the event of the transfiguration. The Father allows Jesus prior to his passion to be reaffirmed by the Father. Being transfigured, experiencing the glory of the Father was the Father’s affirmation. So are Moses and Elijah who testify to him that he is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.

 

But the Father wanted also to assure the Apostles and confirm Jesus’ identity and his prediction of his upcoming passion and death. The Father’s message is simple. Listen to him. He is my chosen Son.

 

We are called to grow in our willingness to listen to Jesus and to act on his word, even though we don’t understand it fully. We are called like Abraham to put our faith in him who promises eternal life and union with him. We are called to conform our lives, as Paul tells us in Romans 12:2. “Do not conform your lives to this generation. But be transformed by the renewal of your minds, choosing the will of God, what is good, pleasing and perfect.”

  

 Second Sunday of Lent Gospel C

Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. 

· Jesus, in his humanity, saw the need to go aside and pray even when people were demanding more of his ministry. How much time do we set aside each day for prayer?

       • Jesus has just revealed to the twelve that the Son of Man will have to suffer and die and rise from the dead. They didn’t want to hear this.

       • To give the three an affirmation of what he said and who he was, he allows them to share in this theophany from the Father.

While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. 

              In prayer Jesus is strengthened for his impending death on the cross for our salvation. When                have we been strengthened in prayer during a difficult moment of our life?

              The presence of Moses and Elijah is to remind the Apostles that Jesus is the fulfillment of the         Law and the Prophets.

Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,  “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying.

     Peter was caught up in the glory of the moment but made no connection with the death of             Jesus. How often we want to experience the glory and joy but not see them connected to the              journey of the cross in our life? We fail to remember what Paul tells us: there is no Easter              without Good Friday.

 

While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” 

           The word of the Father is to direct Peter and the others back to the word of Jesus concerning              the cross. The Father who identified Jesus at his baptism as the beloved Son does so once              more, not for Jesus’ sake, but for his Apostles.

           How well do we listen to Jesus in the scriptures, in prayer, in the inspirations of the moment?

           Can we discern the voice of the Lord from other voices?

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen. 

          Have you ever had an experience so profound that you could not share it with others, because             you had not fully processed it yet?

          Reflect on the experience of the Transfiguration. What does it say to you at this point in your life?

 Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Jesus’ first word from the cross is a word of mercy and love. These first words which Jesus prayed from the cross were not the words the assembled crowd of priests, Pharisees, curiosity seekers and soldiers expected to hear. According to different recorded accounts of other crucifixions, the person either cursed the day he was born, cursed the executioners and those who were spectators or proclaim innocence.  But Jesus is different. Jesus doesn’t ask for pardon for he is sinless. Instead, he gives pardon, even though those who were responsible for his death did not ask pardon, thinking they did what was righteous. He excuses those who were the perpetrators and those out of duty carried out the sentence of death. Jesus doesn’t attest to his innocence but attests to the ignorance of those bent on his destruction.

 

St. Aelrad once said: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. They are great sinners, yes, but they have little judgment; therefore, Father, forgive them. They are nailing me to the cross, but they do not know who it is that they are nailing to the cross: if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory; therefore, Father, forgive them. They think it is a lawbreaker, an impostor claiming to be God, a seducer of the people. I have hidden my face from them, and they do not recognize my glory; therefore, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

 During this season of Lent I will reflect on the Seven Last Words of Jesus from the cross. 

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Jesus’ first words from this pulpit of the cross were to his Father. The crowd before Pilate cried crucify him; Jesus cries forgiveness.   Forgiveness is one of the most important teachings Jesus gave both by words and actions to his disciples. How often did he preach on the need for forgiveness! Now, he chose to preach through personal, active testimony.  In His humanity, Christ teaches the most powerful lesson on forgiveness – by forgiving. In asking the Father to forgive them, Jesus himself has already extended His forgiveness to His executioners and detractors. The beauty of Jesus’ forgiveness is that he does so without waiting for their repentance. At the same time, his forgiveness is limited by their repentance or non-repentance. It is a grace prior to the response. He prays in confidence because he knows that he and the Father are one. His prayer underscores the truth that God is rich in mercy.

In the readings for Mass today, the theme is fasting. Jesus in the Gospel said there would be time for his followers to fast, when he is gone. St. Paul said: "Now is the acceptable time." In the first reading God through the prophet Isaiah sets the perimeters of what God expects our fast to look like. Basically, it is fasting from sinful actions and choosing that which will reflect mercy and love. It is easy for us to lose our temper and to say harsh, unloving words to another person. Fast from this action and choose to speak the words Jesus would want us to say, even in correction. It is easy for us to join in gossip. Choose to walk away or to change the subject. It is easy for us to think ill of another. Instead, St. Paul says to take captive our thoughts and see the other as a child of God, like yourself. The examples could go on and on. The main thing is to become more conscious of those thoughts, words and actions in our daily life which are not pleasing to God and then choose to make this part of your fast before the Lord. Then your fasting will be pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.

 As we enter into this season of Lent, prayer is an important factor in our journey to the Pascal Mysteries. How often we are told in the Gospels that Jesus went aside to spend time in prayer with the Father! Jesus, in his humanity and because of his desire to do the will of the Father in love, sought the Father's will for him in that present moment. Lent is a special grace time for us to spend some quality, quiet time with the Father to seek his will. It is not his audible voice that we seek, but an openness to his will for the day. By being still and silent, we are saying to God that we are his and dependent upon him. We want to please him by doing everything in love for him. In the listening we are training our hearts to hear the gentle move of the Spirit in our day. It may come in a phone call from someone who needs to just talk. It may be an unexpected opportunity to serve another in need. Out of the blue someone's name pops up in our mind which may be God nudging us to reach out to that person. 

Homily First Sunday of Lent Year C

 

Reading 1: Why were the people required to bring a tithe of their crops as a gift of sacrifice to God each year? God did not need their crops for everything is his. It was a sacrifice of thanksgiving, acknowledging their dependency on God.  For when he brought and offered his sacrifice, he was to recall all that God had generously done for his ancestors and for him over the years.

 

Tracing his ancestry to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Israelite would recall how God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt and let them to a land flowing with milk and honey.

 

Why have we come today and each Sunday? We come to worship the Lord and to give our tithe. God doesn’t need our tithe or our worship. But we need God; we need to be in relationship with God. We come to remember and make present the mystery of our salvation from sin’s eternal effects. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we have been set free and restored in our friendship with God, lost through the sin of Adam and Eve. We come each Sunday to give thanks to God for the gift of salvation and a share in his Divine life. We come to give thanks to God for his many blessings of this past week.  We come to hear the Word of God for us this week, not only to say “Thanks be to God”, but to put it into practice. We come to be renewed and strengthened in the Divine Life God gave us in Baptism through eating of his Body and Blood. As we say in the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer: It is right and just that we do all this on this day.

 

Gospel: The Word of God became man in order to restore us to our lost relationship with God.  He was to do this by offering the perfect sacrifice, himself through his suffering and death by crucifixion. He embraced this mission through a public sign of baptism, symbolically plunging himself in the will of the Father. The Father affirmed his willingness to be the sacrificial lamb and affirmed him publicly by saying “You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” And the Spirit anointed Jesus for the mission ahead.

 

His mission was two-fold. Reconciling humanity and defeating the Devil, breaking his stronghold over humanity. Led by the Spirit, Jesus prepared himself for this mission by a period of prayer and fasting. Soon he will “be baptized in the fire of temptation.” Afterwards, he confronts the Father of lies, the deceiver who led Adam and Eve away from God. The Devil was curious to know who this person was, who was called the Beloved Son of God. He was successful in tempting Adam and Eve, now he tempts this person.

 

Each of the temptations copies the tactics he used with Adam and Eve. They were the son and daughter of God, sharing his divine life, the same divine life that the Devil lost with his prideful rebellion against God.  As he attacked their identity, so seeks to attack Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. He does not know that Jesus is true God and true Man. Through suggestion, delight and consent, he tempted Adam and Eve. He uses the same with Jesus. If you are the Son of God, satisfy your need to eat after your long fast. If you are the Son of God show your power for others to see. If you are the Son of God, worship me and I will give you the riches of the world. In other words, do what I tell you to do.

 

Jesus, in his humanity led by the Spirit, kept his eyes on the Father who called him the Beloved Son. His obedience was to the Father who loved him, not to the Father of lies, who wants to destroy him. Jesus used the Word of God, which Paul calls, the sword of the Spirit, to confront each temptation. Jesus could have easily turned the stones into bread and to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple, but he chose to trust and depend on the Father. But when Satan tried to claim himself as God, Jesus had enough of him and told him to be gone.

 

In all this Jesus is our model. We have the gift of the Holy Spirit; we are temples of the Holy Spirit. When we are tempted, remember who you are and whose you are. Keep your eyes on the Father who loves you and be nourished by the Word of God.  Remember he who is in us is greater than he who is outside.

 

Reading 2: Paul gives us another way to respond to God’s gift of salvation. Having heard the word of faith, the Good News of our salvation, we need to embrace the grace God gives us. Though Jesus has saved all, not all will be saved, because of their lack of response to the grace of God. What is the initial response? “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  

 

In other words, you will receive the grace of salvation. But this initial response must continue till death. I you acknowledge Jesus as Lord of your life and you live with him, following his ways and commands, then your embrace of salvation will be complete in Christ. As Jesus embrace the mission of the Father by doing the will of the Father even to the death on the cross, so we are called to do the will of the Father.