I have just posted the sixth talk of the Seven Words of Jesus from the Cross: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." If you would want to view this or any of the other five talks as part of your Holy Week prayer experience, send me your email address and which ones you would like me to send you the links to. Hope you enjoy them. Blessed Holy Week.

"The core message of Jesus is that real joy and peace can never be reached while bypassing suffering and death, but only by going right through them. We could say: 'We really have no choice.' Indeed, who escapes suffering and death? Yet there is still a choice. We can deny the reality of life, or we can face it. When we face it not in despair, but with the eyes of Jesus, we discover that where we least expect it, something is hidden that holds a promise stronger than death itself. Jesus lived his life with the trust that God’s love is stronger than death and that death, therefore, does not have the last word. He invites us to face the painful reality of our existence with the same trust." Henri Nouwen

This is one of the characteristics that distinguishes a faithful Christian from a nominal one. This ability to embrace the sufferings of life, knowing that Jesus has shown us the way. This ability to be able to look death in the eye, knowing that God's promise is greater than the seeming hopeless of death.  This ability to trust in God and to entrust our lives into his hands, so that our sharing in his divine life might be eternal. Our faith is not without foundation. It is rooted in the person of Jesus, the Lord, who is the resurrection and the life.

 Recently, Pope Francis made this statement: "The true Catholic, the true Christian is one who receives Jesus within, which changes your heart...When one finds Jesus and feels the fire, like Paul, he must preach Jesus, must talk about Jesus, must help people, must do good things."

This is true, but Jesus desires not only to initially change our hearts, but to permanently change our whole being, so that we can be the light of the world we are called to be. This transformation is a process that only ends in eternity. When we think that we have reached the next step, Jesus shows us the more that still needs to be done within us. For the closer we come to the Lord, the further we feel from perfection. While Jesus is transforming us from "glory to glory", we are called to let our lives proclaim the truth of his grace within us. He transforms, we testify.

  I invite you to participate in the Lenten series on the Last Words of Jesus from the cross that I will give on Apr 4. This week we will reflect on the seventh word from the cross: "It is finished." If you missed the first six and would want to view them, just send me your email address.

 April 4, 2023 6:30pm Central
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 "Jesus came to share his identity with you and to tell you that you are the Beloved Sons and Daughters of God. Just for a moment try to enter this enormous mystery that you, like Jesus, are the beloved daughter or the beloved son of God. This is the truth. Furthermore, your belovedness preceded your birth. You were the beloved before your father, mother, brother, sister, or church loved you or hurt you. You are the beloved because you belong to God from all eternity.

"St. Ignatius believed that our deepest desires are God-given. To long for intimacy with God or others, or to thirst for wisdom, justice, or peace is to encounter God in a very real, utterly human way. It’s good to pray with these desires, but it’s not always easy to pray this way. As we get in touch with our deepest desires, we realize they’re unfulfilled. We feel empty. But in the emptiness is an invitation.

"St. Augustine intuited that God leaves desires unfulfilled for a time so that our longing stretches the capacity of our soul to receive more than we can imagine now. So let’s not rush too quickly from this spot, but enjoy the expectation of the unimaginable fulfillment of our longings that God desires for us." Fr. Kevin O'Brien SJ 

It is in this context that we see why Jesus urges us to persevere in our prayer to the Father. It is not that God does not hear our prayer. But he has something greater and more important to give us, but our capacity to receive it is limited. He calls us to move from what we long for to what he longs for us. This in reality will be greater and better than what we had hoped or desired. 

 With the fifth Sunday of Lent we began the liturgical period called Passion Tide. It is the Church's way of reminding us of entering as fully as possible into the mystery of Jesus' suffering and dying on the cross for our salvation. One way is to take one of the Gospel accounts of the Passion of Jesus and slowly pray over the verses. See yourself in each scene. Try to get in touch with what Jesus was experiencing.  He does not expect us to suffer what he suffered, but that we will better understand and appreciate the depth of his love for us and the price he paid for our salvation. Watching the movie "The Passion of Christ" is not the same as being participant as an actor. Ask Our Lady to allow you to walk with her as she journeyed with Jesus on the way to Calvary.

 From the cross Jesus in his agony cries out "I thirst". Yes, this was a result of the physical reality of not eating or drinking anything from the night before. But it is more from the dehydration resulting from the lost of so much blood over the past few hours. His lips were swollen, his mouth dry and his throat parched. He cries out "I thirst" for he thirsts for our salvation, the reason he is dying on the cross. 

St. Teresa of Calcutta summed up the words “I thirst” in her own reflection of Jesus’ thoughts from the Cross. “I thirst for you. I thirst to love and to be loved by you – that is how precious you are to me. Come to me, and fill your heart and heal your wounds. If you feel unimportant in the eyes of the world, that matters not at all. For me, there is no one any more important in the entire world than you. I thirst for you. Come to me. Thirst for me. Give me your life – and I will prove to you how important you are to my heart.”

What will our response be?

 I have just completed the fifth talk on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. If you were not able to view it, I will be glad to send the link to it and the first four talks. Just send me your email address and which ones you would want to receive. Thanks for your interest.

 Why did Mahatma Gandhi say, "If it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian?" He became interested  in Christianity through reading of the scriptures. He was impressed by Jesus. "One Sunday he decided that he would visit a Christian Church. Before he could enter, he was stopped. He was told he was not welcome, nor would he be permitted to attend this particular church as it was for high-caste Indians and whites only. He was neither high caste, nor was he white. Because of this rejection, he turned his back on Christianity."

We, who are called by virtue of Baptism and Confirmation to be witnesses of Jesus Christ, sometimes give a contrary witness. We say we are Christians, but sometimes we live as those who are not.  Our faith is Jesus is to be both professed and lived. "They will know that you are my disciples by the love you have for one another." Is our love for some, like the quotation above, or is our love for all those loved by Jesus? Are we witnesses of his mercy and forgiveness? Or do we harbor grudges and non-forgiveness. We need to continually recall the words of St. Paul: "Whatever you do in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Or as Jesus tells us: "Let you light be seen so that others may give glory to God."  Be the witness that will lead people to the truth, which is Jesus, their Savior.

Homily: Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A

Reading 1: Ezekiel was prophesying that God will raise the dead to life. This can be seen as a preparation for the raising of Lazarus by Jesus. It also could be one of the biblical foundation of the belief of the resurrection of the dead at the end of time.

Ezekiel reflects on the power and promise of God, so as to remind the people in exile who the Lord truly is. The people in exile considered themselves forgotten and forsaken by the God of the covenant. They felt like dead and buried in graves. The prophet reminds them that God will raise them up from their graves and return them to the Promised Land. He will restore them by giving them a new spirit.

In exile they doubted the power and promise of God. But when he makes it possible to return to Israel, they will know that it was the Lord who again has accomplished the impossible for his people. Do we sometimes feel forgotten and forsaken by the Lord?

A deeper meaning of the prophetic word of Ezekiel is found in the Gospel message: the raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus. It is a sign that Jesus is the Lord of life.

Gospel: Jesus has given a teaching that he is the Lord of life. He has given a teaching that the dead shall rise from the graves. Now, he validates his teaching by raising Lazarus from the dead, knowing at the same time it will be the final push for the religious leaders to seek his death.

First, Jesus says that the illness and the death of Lazarus will end in the glory of God. Second, his delay has a purpose. He could have healed Lazarus, but there will be greater glory for God, when Lazarus is raised from the dead after four days. It will increase the level of belief in the disciples.

Third, Jesus challenges Martha to come to a greater level of faith in him, not as a friend, but as the resurrection and the life. That belief in Jesus will enable a person to live after physical death. Her response: “I believe you are the Son of God, the promised one.” Fourth, the humanity of Jesus is manifested. He wept because he saw the suffering that Martha and Mary were experiencing at the death of their brother.

Fifth, though Martha said she believed, she did not fully grasped what Jesus had revealed to her. For she protested, when Jesus asked for the stone to be rolled away. Sixth, not only is the resurrection for the glory of God, not only is it to deepen the faith of the disciples, not only will Martha and Mary believe, but the crowd of mourners also came to believe.

We have seen greater and more frequent miracles of grace. Every time our sins are forgiven, every time we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus, we see and experience the power of the Lord. Is our faith in Jesus stronger?

Second Reading: Paul makes a distinction between the flesh and the spirit. For him those who are in the flesh are those living a life of sin. Whereas, those in the spirit are those who are living in the life of grace and in the life of Christ. Those in sin cannot and do not please God and do not at that point belong to God. But those who are living in the spirit have the life of Christ in them because through baptism and through reconciliation they have died to a sinful way of life, so as to live a life of righteousness.

Again, the connection to the first reading and the Gospel. We have been raised from the grave of sin by the Spirit who gives us a share of the divine life of God through his indwelling presence.

 An unknown author had this beautiful reflection on what God is doing to us entitled, That's God. Here is some of what he says: "Have you ever been just sitting there and all of a sudden you feel like doing something nice for someone you care for? That's God! He talks to you through the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been down and out and nobody seems to be around for you to talk to? That's God! He wants you to talk to Him. Have you ever received something wonderful that you didn't even ask for? That's God! He knows the desire of your heart."

Our God loves us beyond our understanding, imagination, expectation or deserve. He loves us because he is love and all he does flows from love, no matter our state of being. His love doesn't depend upon us. It is pure gift. We know that in faith, even though we may sometimes question his love. His love is manifested in many ways. But one that is most striking is found in today's Reading from the prophet Isaiah: "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you." Why? That's God!

 Fifth Sunday of Lent Gospel A

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. 

· There was a close relationship between Jesus and this family. He would often stay with them when he went to Jerusalem. They lived outside of the city in a village in the Mt of Olives.

So the sisters sent word to him saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 

· Jesus was referring to the fact that though he would die that would not be his end. He will be restored to life only to physically die at a later time.

· Both the Father and the Son will be glorified through Lazarus death and restoration to life by Jesus.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. 

· If Jesus loved them, why did he delay? Could it be that the greater miracle would not be in healing him but in restoring him to life? They would be grateful if he was healed, but their greater joy will be to have him fully restored to life after dying.

· Do we sometimes question God’s love for us when different situations happen in our life?

Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.” 

· Jesus knew that their faith would be shaken at his own death. By seeing the resurrection of Lazarus, could Jesus have been hoping to shore up the faith of the disciples?

· Thomas’ statement doesn’t play out when Jesus is arrested. He and the others flee rather than “die with him.” Do his statement and future actions reflect us in reality?

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 

· What do you think Martha meant? It seems from her later statements that she was not expecting Jesus to raise Lazarus back to life. Could it be she was asking him to comfort her and her sister?

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” 

· Like some other Jews, Martha believed in a future resurrection of the dead.

· Even though she said she believed, when Jesus will tell the people to remove the stone from the grave, she objects. She believed in Jesus, but still did not expect what he was about to do.

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

· It is almost like she is reprimanding Jesus for not coming sooner. She may have been questioning his love for them. She was not aware of what was about to happen because he loved them.

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” 

· They may have been reflecting Mary’s sentiments.

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” 

· Do you think they expected to see Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead after four days?

So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. 

· Put yourself in the shoes of Mary and Martha, what do you think they experienced? Do the same with Lazarus and the disciples?

So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

· In John’s Gospel this is the final sign Jesus performs prior to his death. Though some believed, this sign will be the final straw in the Sanhedrin’s decision to get rid of Jesus. In restoring Lazarus to life, Jesus will forfeit his own life.

· Of all the miracles we have witnessed in our life, what is our faith level in the person of Jesus?

· What application do we make in our life as a result of our reflections on this passage?

 I invite you to participate in the Lenten series on the Last Words of Jesus that I will give on: Mar 22, 30 and Apr 4 This week we will reflect on the fifth word from the cross: "I thirst." If you missed the first four and would want to view them, just send me your email address.

 March 22, 2023 6:30pm Central
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 What voice do we listen to? There are many voices that seek our attention. Some are up building and encouraging and others are negative and destructive.  Some of the negative voices are a continuation of past voices we have heard many times over. "You are a failure." "You are not love." "You are not wanted." "You are useless." But the voice that speaks the truth, we tend to reject or deny. That voice, which is the voice of God, says, "I love you. I love you for I created you in my own image and likeness. I love you for I redeemed you and adopted you as my own. I love you and I want you to share my life eternally." Because this voice is not as loud as the others, we tend to ignore it. Yet, God persists in speaking the truth to our hearts. Which voice do we want to listen to? One that leads to becoming my full self, or the one that keeps me in bondage and darkness?

 As we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we are drawn to reflect on how he lived in relationship to God. The Scriptures call him a just man, righteous before the Lord. He leads by example, not by words. He was a man of faith and trust in the word of God, without understanding. As a righteous man, he sought to divorce Mary quietly. But as a man of obedience, at the word of the angel, he took Mary into his home. He husbanded her in love and providential care. He was the legal but foster father of the child she conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, along with Mary, formed the child Jesus in his early years. He was humble, chaste, docile to the Spirit, always in the background. His many virtues stand as a witness to us how we are to live out our relationship with God. St. Joseph, pray for us.

 Information: If you were not able to view the teachings on the Last Words of Jesus, (I have done four so far), and if you want to watch them, let me know. Send me your email and what teachings 1-4. I will send you the link to view them on Zoom.  The next teaching will be on Wednesday March 22 at 6:30 pm cdt. Thanks for your interest.

"I am not saying there is an easy solution to our ambivalent relationship with God. Solitude is not a solution. It is a direction. The direction is pointed to by the prophet Elijah, who did not find Yahweh in the mighty wind, the earthquake, the fire, but in the still, small voice; this direction, too, is indicated by Jesus, who chose solitude as the place to be with his Father. Every time we enter into solitude we withdraw from our windy, earthquaking, fiery lives and open ourselves to the great encounter. The first thing we often discover in solitude is our own restlessness, our drivenness, and compulsiveness, our urge to act quickly, to make an impact, and to have influence; and often we find it very hard to withstand the temptation to return as quickly as possible to the world of “relevance.” But when we persevere with the help of a gentle discipline, we slowly come to hear the still, small voice and to feel the gentle breeze, and so come to know the Lord of our heart, soul, and mind, the Lord who makes us see who we really are." Henri Nouwen

In our busy lives solitude seems almost impossible, but it need not be. If something is a priority for us, we make it happen. Our relationship with God is a priority. At the same time, solitude is good for our mental and physical well being. It is a time to unwind and be still in the presence of the Lord, even though initially it may be for a short time. Our focus is being in the presence of the Lord, waiting upon him, whether he speaks or not. It is making God our focus. It is like trying to play a piano. It does not come easy. But with practice, we get better at it. So with spending time in solitude.

 One of the ploys of the Evil One is divisions. He wants to separate us from God and from one another. The tools of division could be self-righteousness, pride, non forgiveness, jealousy, prejudice, etc. But the end remains the same. We can see this in our personal lives, in our families, in our church, in our community, in our world. On the other hand, God calls for unity and harmony, peace and forgiveness, love and mercy, blessings not curses. We may not always agree with one another. There may two sides to every issue. But who is right and who is wrong is not the issue, as long as we remain one in Christ. Let nothing separate us from the Lord.

  I invite you to participate in the Lenten series on the Last Words of Jesus that I will give on: Mar 22, 30 and Apr 4 This week we will reflect on the fifth word from the cross: "I thirst." If you missed the first four and would want to view them, just send me your email address.

 March 22, 2023 6:30pm Central
Join Zoom Meeting
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Homily Fourth Sunday of Lent Year A

Reading 1: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearances, but the Lord looks into the heart.” The heart of Saul the King, chosen by God to lead the people of Israel, had become alienated from God. He was not obedient to the commands of God, but sought to take things in his own hand.

Because Samuel was a prophet of God, he sought to do the will of God and not his own; he sought to listen to the inner voice of God and not his normal human instincts. God sends Samuel to anoint a new king from the sons of Jesse, who resided in Bethlehem. The Messiah, Jesus, was from the house of David and was born in Bethlehem, the city of David. God chooses the least one among the sons of Jesse, fulfilling what Paul reminds us of: God chooses the least and foolish and the less likely to be in his plan of salvation, so that the boasting is in the Lord and not in the person. Isaiah the prophet said: God’s ways are not our ways; our thoughts not his thoughts.”

The story of Samuel’s insight is the story of Michelangelo. He tooked a flowed slab of marble, rejected by other artists, and produced the striking statue of David the Shepherd boy. Like Samuel, we are to ask for the light of God’s wisdom in the decision we make daily in life, even decisions that are unpopular or unacceptable to others.

Gospel: A man is born blind by natural situations not because of sin. Jesus has the insight of the Father. He sees the potential of the man that people only pitied and looked down on. He was living in physical darkness, but there was a potential inner light within him. His physical sight comes from a new birth, symbolize by his washing in the pool. 

His new insight develops. First he acknowledges that he is the same man but new and different. He identifies Jesus first as the man who healed him. Then he comes to proclaim Jesus as a prophet. Finally, he says that Jesus is from God. He has new insight, seeing things not from appearance but from God’s perspective. He acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah.

But there is another scenario going on. One, his parents out of fear refuse to embrace the light, which would lead them to the truth. Instead, they chose to remain in their comfort zone. They did not respond to God’s grace, given them through their sons’ healing.

The other group are the religious leaders, who, because of the hardness of their heart, their self-righteousness, their elitist pride, refuse to allow the signs of healing, the testimony of the healed to bring them from darkness into the light. Their sin was in the refusal to seek what God may be saying in this and other works of Jesus. They chose their own comfort zone rather than the truth of God’s revelation and insight.

Where do we choose the darkness of our comfort zone rather than the light of the freedom offered by Jesus?

Reading 2: When we judge from outward appearances or from a biased viewpoint, we are living in the darkness. When we seek to see people as Christ sees them, then we are children of the light. All areas of sin are deeds of darkness; all areas of virtue and love are deeds of light.

In Baptism we were delivered from the darkness of sin and given to live in the light of grace. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation the same occurs. As a result, we are to live as children of light, which produces fruit of goodness, righteousness and truth.

Lent is a time to put aside deeds of darkness, so that the light and life of Christ can motivate our lives and actions. Does God’s light shine in and through us? Can people see the life of Christ in us?

 "When you have laid aside mortality and been clothed in immortality, then you will see God according to your merits. God raises up your flesh to immortality along with  your soul, and then, once made immortal, you will see the immortal One, if you believe in him now." (St Theophilus of Antioch)

Now, we see God in faith. But when we die, we will see him as he is, in all his glory. If we die in him, seeing him will be the fulfillment of our existence. This was why we were created: to see him, to share in his glory eternally. On the other hand, if we die alienated from him because of  willful, personal sin, we will not be to bear seeing him. Like Adam and Eve, after they sinned, we will want to hide from him, not bearing to see his love and glory, and knowing that we are unfulfilled. The eyes of faith allows us to see him. Without faith, the brightness of his glory blinds us. God desires us to see him. It is our choices that will determine whether we will or not. 

 Fourth Sunday of Lent  Gospel A

As he passed by he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 

● There was a common understanding at the time that serious sickness, such as blindness, was due to punishment for sin, either one’s own sins and the sins of one’s parents.

Jesus answered, "Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, "Go wash  in the Pool of Siloam" (which means Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back able to see. 

● As the light of the world Jesus heals the blind man first to physical sight.

● The washing in the Pool of Siloam is seen as a foreshadowing of the Sacrament of Baptism which frees us from the darkness of sin and brings us into the life of God.

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, "Isn't this the one who used to sit and beg?" Some said, "It is," but others said, "No, he just looks like him." He said, "I am." So they said to him, "(So) how were your eyes opened?" He replied, "The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went there and washed and was able to see." And they said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I don't know." 

● The man first acknowledges Jesus simply as “the man” who performed a miracle.  Last Sunday’s Gospel Jesus evangelized a Samaritan woman. She began her spiritual journey with the negative comment about Jesus being a Jewish man.

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay  and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see."  So some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath." (But) others said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division among them. 

● Keeping the Sabbath was more important to the leaders than the healing of one born blind.

So they said to the blind man again, "What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." 

● Notice the progression: first he acknowledges Jesus as a man who performs miracles; now he states that he is a prophet (one who speaks the word of God).

Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?" His parents answered and said, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for him self."  His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, "He is of age; question him." 

● Are there times we keep silent or try to avoid speaking the truth for fear of what others may say or do?

So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give God the praise!  We know that this man is a sinner." He replied, "If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see." So they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"  He answered them, "I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?" They ridiculed him and said, "You are that man's disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from." The man answered and said to them, "This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.  It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything." They answered and said to him, "You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?" Then they threw him out. 

● He next testifies that Jesus was one come from God with miraculous powers.

● Notice the process: The blind man’s sight is restored, but the leaders become progressively more blind to the truth of who Jesus truly is. The man’s journey began as a blind man in darkness, but leads him to a man of great spiritual insight.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered and said, "Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Jesus said to him, "You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he." He said, "I do believe, Lord," and he worshiped him. 

● As the light of the world, Jesus enlightens the man so that he sees spiritually enough to profess belief in him as the Messiah.  The journey of faith is complete. He has been evangelized.

Then Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind." Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not also blind, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, 'We see,' so your sin remains.”

● The leaders claimed they see, but in reality they were spiritually blind to the truth of who Jesus was. In fact, they refuse to see. Is that true of us sometimes?

● What have I learned from this passage? How does Jesus desire to bring me into a new level of understanding: leading me from darkness into a deeper understanding in faith concerning who he is?

● How do our unrepentant sins keep us in darkness? Does Jesus want to give us the same spiritual insight as he gave the man born blind?  What holds us back?

● What has our spiritual journey been like?

 The famed psychiatrist  Dr. Karl Menninger once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day. 

Amazing but true! But why? Is it because we do not believe that we are loved, that someone could love us enough to freely and totally forgive us. As we falsely feel we need to earn love, so we falsely feel we have to make up for our misdeeds before we accept forgiveness. This is the lie that the Evil One sows in our hearts. God's forgiveness of us is not because of us, but because of who God is. He is love and he chooses out of love and mercy to forgive us. When we forgive others, we are responding to our call to love. The gift we have received is to be be given as a gift. As God forgives us when we do not deserve mercy, so we are to forgive others, even though in our eyes they do not deserve it. Forgiveness is not a matter of justice but mercy. It enables us to remain true to our self.

 The first sin was one of pride, a desire to be other than one is. How often pride is the root of our sins! It is the tool the Evil One uses again and again to alienate us from God. Am I too proud to ask another for help? Am I too proud to do something which is below my expectations? The Assyrian Naaman, in today's first reading almost missed the miracle of healing because of his pride. He was told to do something simple. He wanted the prophet Elisha to do something extraordinary. The people in Nazareth, out of pride, could not accept Jesus to be a prophet from God, because they knew him. Their pride prevented them from experiencing the miracles which Jesus preformed elsewhere. The psalms tell us that God hear the prayer of a humble and contrite heart. Ask God for the grace to be humble and contrite so that your prayers may be heard, so that God can do the mighty work in you, which  he wishes. 

 The season of Lent comes at the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. It is a time of something dying and new life appearing. During Lent the branches of trees are barren. With the beginning of Spring we begin to see new life blossoming.  Lent is a time of dying and rising, of letting go what is dead and rotten within us, so that something new and alive can come forth. What is to die is sin. What is to arise is a deeper sharing in the new life of Jesus. If sin is not the thing we are dealing with during this season of grace, then nothing new will come forth in our life. That is why at the beginning of and throughout Lent we hear the prophetic call: Repent and turn back to God. What progress have we made so far in these past two weeks? What progress do we hope to make in the next four weeks?

'Christ pas gained for us not only new dignity in our life on earth, but above all the new dignity of the children of God, called to share eternal life with him. Lent invites s to overcome the temptation of seeing the realities of this world as definitive and to recognize that our homeland is in heaven." Pope John Paul II

What is our focus? Is it to survive each day or is it live each day as a gift from God? Is our focus our earthly existence or our heavenly calling? Are we more children of the world of darkness than children of God, living in light? The answers to these important questions will give us an indication of our present relationship with God. For if the Commandments of God are more important to us than the laws or expectations of others, then our heart is rooted in the reality that will have lasting, positive effects. Like Paul, we should never lose sight of our true destiny, "life on high with Christ Jesus." Like Paul, we should urge ourselves on the race for the imperishable crown God has for us. In Lent, we strip off the excessive baggage that hinders us from finishing the race well.

 I invite you to participate in the Lenten series on the Last Words of Jesus that I will give on: Mar  9, 16, 22, 30 and Apr 4 This week we will reflect on the third word from the cross: "Woman, behold your son." If you missed the first two and would want to view them, just send me your email address.

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Homily Third Sunday of Lent Year A

Reading 1: On the First Sunday of Lent we read that God put Adam and Eve to the test to see if they would accept the fact they were creatures called to put their trust in and obey the will of God. If so, they would live eternally with him. They failed the test but succumbed to the temptation of the Devil, believing in his lies. On the Second Sunday of Lent we heard that Abraham believed in God, trusting in his promises and followed.

Today, we heard of the test God put the Israelites through after showing them his wondrous power, by delivering them from the bondage in Egypt. Instead of trusting in the providential care of God, they grumbled and complained. They couldn’t believe God could provide them food and water in the desert. They said: “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” God in his mercy provided them the water they craved. How do we test the Lord, rather than obey his will? The Israelites continued to test the Lord throughout their desert sojourn.

Gospel: The word of God taps into the theme of water. This was not a chance encounter between Jesus and the woman. It was a divine appointment. Jesus sees that within this Samaritan woman was a thirst for the truth, for the more. She longs for the Savior to deliver her from her bondage of drudgery and emptiness. 

Jesus plants the seed by offering her life-giving water. But before she is ready to receive this gift, she needs to recognize her sate of sin and verbalize her longing. Jesus reveals to her that he is the one she is longing for. The grace of conversion had its effect. Recognizing the mercy and forgiveness of God in the words of Jesus, she went to share with the very people who shunned her for her life style the good news of freedom.

Many came to Jesus at first one the word of the woman, but then came to believe because of their personal encounter with Jesus.

Jesus desires to encounter us through his life-giving word, so that we can be set free from whatever holds us in bondage and receive the life-giving water, the gift of the Holy Spirit. He gives us further his Body and Blood, so that we can share with him the new life now and forever.

Reading 2: Paul reminds us that Jesus died for us, when we were sinners. Through his death and resurrection, which we personally experienced in the waters of Baptism. This was our initial encounter. We believe that we have been justified by faith. God further loved us by pouring out his Spirit upon us, so that we can grow in our relationship with God, as we share his divine life. God demonstrates his love for us, not only by creating us in his own image and likeness, but by his Son giving his life for our life, by sustaining us in his life through the gift of the Holy Spirit, whose temple we are.

 Famed psychiatrist, Dr. Karl Menninger once gave a lecture on mental health, after which someone from the audience asked him what he would suggest that a person do in the event of a suspected impending nervous breakdown. Everyone thought that Dr. Menninger would advice as a preventive measure a visit to a psychiatrist. Instead, he replied: "Lock up our house, go to the other side of the railroad tracks and find people in need. Then do something to help. Immerse yourselves in the the lives of others."

This is the message of Jesus in today's Gospel. If we are going to be his disciples, we need to focus not on our needs but the needs of others. Be a  servant disciple. Worrying about our needs only could be narcissistic. Taking care of another in the name of Jesus could be life giving. both to the person and to self. We are not called to be a door mat for others to abuse but a bridge for others to experience the love of the Lord.

 Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?"—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—

· The reason why she comes at noon is probably to avoid the other women of the town who would taunt her for her life style of having five different men.

· Jesus was thirsty physically and thirsty for her spiritual refreshment.

· Her response is typical for the time. Jews and Samaritans did not speak to one another, let alone a Jewish man and a Samaritan woman. Jews believed that the Samaritans were half breeds, having intermarried with the pagans. The Samaritans did not recognize anything other than the first five books of the Scriptures. 

Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink, 'you would have asked him  and he would have given you living water."

· Two things: the gift God wants to give you—namely new life through the Holy Spirit; the person is the Messiah who is talking to you.

The woman said to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?"

· The woman is still combative and on her guard. She doesn’t trust him. 

Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

· Jesus is not defensive but gentle and persisting. He knows that there is a deeper thirst within her than just for regular water. 

The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."

· Jesus has connected with that longing within her.  

Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true."

· Jesus sees she is ready to hear the message of truth, ready to be evangelized. But first, must prepare her heart further.  With Word of Knowledge, a gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus reveals to her something he would never have known about this woman. He does so to open her heart further.

· She has been living with five different men and the one she is with is no different.

The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem."

· The woman, without stating it, is remorseful. She is ready to turn away from her past sinfulness and be open to the new life being offered her.

· Because of the Word of Knowledge, she accepts the fact that Jesus was a prophet, speaking God’s word to her.

· She doesn’t understand why Jews and Samaritans worship differently the same God.

Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand;  we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth."

· Even the worship of the Jews will be surpassed by the true worship of God that Jesus will inaugurate with his death and resurrection.  

· To worship God in Spirit and truth is to offer the true and everlasting worship to the Father which is Jesus’ gift of himself in the Spirit.

The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything."

· It was almost as if she had one last question to assure herself of what she is hearing.  She is looking for salvation through the Messiah’s coming.

Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one speaking with you."

· Jesus has never publicly acknowledge to others before. He accepted Peter’s profession that he was the Messiah, yet he never said it himself.  This is all she needed to hear. She is convicted.

At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?" They went out of the town and came to him.

· Having been evangelized to the truth, the woman returns to town, without her water bucket for that is her past. She is a new person who has been set free and given a new chance. 

· She witnesses to the people of the town and invites them to see for themselves if this is not the Messiah.

Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Could someone have brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'In four months the harvest will be here'? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work." 

· The will of the Father was the salvation of souls. This is the real hunger and thirst of Jesus, to bring people back to the truth of the Father’s love in obedience. This will be in time the life of the disciples as well after the resurrection.

Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I have done." When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word,  and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world."

· The faith of the people in Jesus began with the witness of the woman. But, having had contact with Jesus, hearing his message, they believed on his word now, rather than the testimony of the woman.

Have you ever felt guilty when you experienced God's most generous gifts in abundance, while others have much less? Rather than feel guilty, we should give thanks to God for his outpouring love upon us. He blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. To whom much is given, much is expected. Jesus chastised the man whose barns were full and who just big bigger barns. Jesus blessed the widow who gave from her meager means so others could be blessed. Almsgiving is one of the ways we can prepare ourselves for the remembrance of the great gift God has given us, salvation. Almsgiving is  our sign of gratitude and our sign of being a good steward of what has been given to us. It is not God who needs, rather it is others. God provides for us to share.

 In today's Gospel, we are told to be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. God shows us mercy through forgiveness, when we sin, even before we repent. God's forgiveness is a choice that he makes out of love. His forgiveness is given to us freely. It is total. Once he forgives, he lets go. He forgets, as he puts our sins away from him, as far as the east is from the west. Like God, our forgiveness is a choice to do what God calls me to do, not from a feeling that the Devil stirs in him not to forgive. This choice flows from our love of God.  For us forgiveness is difficult, because our focus is on ourselves, not on our relationship with God. Thus, forgiveness is a process for us, dependent on the grace of God to persevere in remaining a forgiving person. But if want to be forgiven, we need to forgive.

Jesus tells us that our righteousness is to surpass that of the Scribes and Pharisees. What does he mean? Many of them did good things for the wrong reason. Jesus called them self-righteous. Their focus was themselves. Our righteousness is in Christ, not in ourselves. He sets the pattern for us how to live in relationship with God. The way of the Lord is love, expressed in mercy and forgiveness. It is our choice to forgive. We do it, not from human reasons or feelings, but because the Lord, our righteousness, commands us to forgive.  Our attitude is, if the Lord wants this, then I will do it, even if I do not feel like doing it. This is the path to authentic holiness. I am not the center of my existence. God is.

 Someone said that  salvation is the moment God's search for us is met with our search for God. God desires our salvation and has made it possible for us to be saved through the sacrifice of his Son. We have been saved. But that grace of salvation becomes personally effective when we search for God in our need for salvation.  At that moment, God reveals his desire for us. He desires us to be  united to him in love. That is one of the effects of salvation. For he gives us a share in  his own divine life. But like the initial grace of salvation, we must hunger and thirst for this union with God before this gift can reach fulfillment. Lent is a time to remove the roadblocks within us to the fullness of salvation. 

Homily: Second Sunday of Lent Year A

Reading 1: God has appeared to Abraham several times already. In those appearances God told Abraham that he would bless him with many descendants, many blessings, and a new land to call his own.

Abraham was a nomad, going from place to place with his herds, seeking grazing lands and fresh water. Abraham and Sara were barren and getting up in age. So the first blessing sounded great, many descendants. Life for Abraham was difficult. Promise of many blessings was comforting. To have a land of his own that he could settle in sounded inviting.

What did Abraham have to do in return? Trust the Lord, especially when things didn’t happen as quickly as he would have liked. He had to first leave the security of his family and the security of the life he was accustomed to and place his security in the Lord.

If God would reveal some promise to us would we be willing to put our trust and security in him? But he has revealed a promise—eternal life with him, where the blessings are beyond our imagination and expectations.

Gospel: Jesus had invited the three disciples among others to follow him. The same basic call Abraham received, they too had to leave their comfort zone and embrace the life of a disciple and be formed by Jesus. He was preparing them for what was to come.

Jesus had shortly before this revealed that he was to suffer greatly at the hands of others, be crucified as a criminal but rise again in three days. This they did not want to hear. So Jesus invited the three to come aside with him for a time of prayer.

As part of their formation they experienced a glimpse of the promised life that Jesus had spoken of. In his transfiguration Jesus experiences the glory that was his as the Son of God. This glory would again be present when he would rise from the dead and would again be seated at the right hand of the Father. He revealed his glory to the three disciples because of the upcoming hardship he had spoken of. He does this to strengthen them.

This was just a passing experience, even though Peter wanted to remain there forever. They would eventually share in his glory, if they listened to him and put their trust in him. They would share in his glory, when they too shared in his passion and death by dying to sin and living more fully in him.

Reading 2: Jesus has saved us and called us to a life of holiness, which comes not from our works but from the grace of God. He saved us through his death and resurrection. He destroyed the death that comes from sin. He has given us a share in his own divine life through baptism and renewed and strengthened s in the Eucharist. The promise is immortality with him in eternal peace and joy.

Do we put our trust in God? God told Abraham to leave the security of his surroundings and trust in him. He tells us that we are to bear our share of hardship with the strength that comes from God. What is this hardship? Turning away from sin and surrendering our life to God. Can we trust that God will be sufficient for us or do we have to cling to the security of the pleasure of sin or the darkness of sin? Yes, it is the security and comfort of sin that God is asking us to walk away from and to follow him, trusting that he will provide for our needs and ultimate desires.

 The heart is thought to be the center of the person, the place of emotions, desires, and intentions. There's we will find the desire for renewal and a “clean heart.” It’s our desire for a new start, to “clean up our act” and to have good intentions and desires. Falling short and making mistakes is part of being human, so we can sometimes feel like failures. The really good news here, however, is that with God’s help a new start is possible. We can shine again with God’s love and start afresh. The secret is to join our desire for renewal with the overwhelming love God has for us, letting it seep in and clearing a space in our hearts.  Brendan McManus SJ

It is the grace of God that motivates and sustains us in our desire to have a heart renewed according to the will of God for us. Our human tendency is to fail and to seek the easier path of ease and comfort. That is the broad road Jesus talks about. Seeking a clean heart, allowing the word of God to break down the hardness of our hearts is to follow the narrow road that leads to a fuller life in Christ. God desires to renew our hearts. He waits for our submission to his plan, our trust in his love and mercy, the willingness to embrace in faith what looks impossible. It begins with "yes" to God in the moment.