THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT

12 MARCH 2023

 

          Old Testament prophets used the analogy of marriage to describe God’s Covenant with his chosen people.  God is the faithful bridegroom.  Israel is his bride.  Time and time again, the people called to be his bride were unfaithful to their bridegroom.  God would punish the people for their infidelity.  But, God would always forgive them and take them back again.

            In John’s Gospel, Jesus has revealed himself as the faithful bridegroom at Cana in Galilee.  By changing water into wine, he demonstrated his power to transform the ordinary lives of his followers into the fine wine of his divinity.  In today’s Gospel, the bridegroom looks for a bride who will receive the love he wants to pour out.  He chooses a very unlikely person.  He walks into a village of Samaria in the bright light of noon and approaches a Samarian woman, the enemy of his people, at Jacob’s well.  A prominent member of his Jewish religious elders had come to him in the darkness of night. Nicodemus did not want anyone to know of his interest in this rabbi from Nazareth.  Grooms would meet their potential brides at a well.  Moses had met his bride, Zipporah at a well.  At this well, Jacob had met his bride Rachel, and his son, Isaac had met his bride, Rebekah.  At this well, Jesus expresses his thirst for the faith of this unnamed woman who is on the lowest level of society’s totem pole.

            In their conversation, the woman recognizes Jesus as a very kind Jewish man who should not be talking to a Samaritan woman in public.  Then he begins to scrutinize her.  Over the years, the Samaritans had been influenced by their foreign conquerors.  They had worshipped at least five false gods, and their current god is incapable of satisfying.  He names the infidelity of the Samaritans and invites the woman to repent in their name.  She recognizes him as a prophet, as one who speaks the truth.  He is the seventh bridegroom, the perfect fit. 

Then the woman questions him about the central argument between Samaritans and Jews. He defends Jerusalem as the proper place to worship.  But he also tells the woman that authentic worship will occur in Spirit and truth, just as he had told Nicodemus to be born again of water and the spirit.  She recognizes him as the Messiah, the loving bridegroom, and leaves her water jar at the well.  She becomes the first evangelist and goes into town to tell everyone about the faithful bridegroom who has come to pour into them the living water of eternal life as his bride.

            We have in our assembly a group of people who have known the Lord’s thirst for their faith.  The Elect have been opening themselves to receive his thirst for their faith for over a year.  They now thirst for the waters of baptism which will pour out on them the promise of eternal life.  They will emerge from the waters of the font at the Easter Vigil with all their sins forgiven.  They will be incorporated as one with Jesus Christ, the faithful bridegroom.  Confirmed by the Holy Spirit and fed with the Body and Blood of Christ, they will worship in Spirit and truth with us.  Today, we will pray the first Scrutiny over them.  This Scrutiny invites them to look at what false gods they may have embraced.  Having named them, they can set them aside to continue their conversion – their turning to the Lord.

            As our Elect go through this first Scrutiny, we become more aware of the ways in which we are like those disciples who return from the town with food for Jesus.  We too have failed to share with the Lord our hunger for doing the Father’s will.  The Bridegroom invites us to set aside those idols of our own making.  In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Lord invites us to name those idols that get in the way of authentic worship of God.  We can join the Elect in renewing our baptismal promises after they are baptized.

 

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

5 MARCH 2023

 

          God has a way of breaking through the ordinary moments of our lives in extraordinary ways.  Abram and his wife Sarah live in Ur, which is in modern day Turkey.  One day, Abram hears a mysterious voice calling him to leave his father’s house and his comfortable surroundings to travel to a land that God will show him.  He and Sarah respond and settle in the land we now know as the “Holy Land.”  After many years, God will finally keep his promise and give to the elderly barren couple a son, whom they name Isaac.  God will change his name from Abram (“My father is exalted”) to Abraham (“Father of a host of nations”).  Because of Abraham’s habit of faithfulness, he will become the father of many nations.  That promise and its fulfillment can be seen in the third Covenant in our center aisle.

            2,000 years later, God breaks through the ordinary moments of the lives of three men who have been following Jesus of Nazareth.  On the top of a mountain, the Father reveals the truth about their teacher.  In a dazzling vision, the Father reveals to Peter, James, and John that Jesus is truly God’s Son, with whom he is well pleased.  Through the presence of Moses (who mediated the Covenant on Mount Sinai) and Elijah (who revived the Covenant on that same mountain), these three men realize that Jesus will fulfill all the messianic expectations of the Scripture.  In this private epiphany, an exalted Jesus stands on a high mountain with his garments glistening.  He is flanked by two of the greatest figures from the past.  All is light.  Peter wants to build three tents and extend this moment.  All three recognize him as the Son of God. 

            Despite Peter’s plea to remain on that mountain, they follow Jesus and continue their journey toward Jerusalem.  They try to obey the command to listen to him.  However, they will find that command very difficult when they reach another mountain.  On Mount Calvary, in a public spectacle, a humiliated Jesus will have his clothes torn from him and divided.  He will be lifted on a cross.  He will be flanked by two common criminals.  All will be darkness.

            As we journey together through Lent, the Scriptures invite us to reflect on the ways that God has broken through the ordinary moments of our lives in extraordinary ways.  Perhaps that happened at the birth of a child, or on the day that you were married.  Maybe it happened when you had spent time in prayer and received an unexpected insight or a profound sense of peace.  It happened to me on the day I was ordained a deacon fifty years ago this month.  My family had moved away from our Diocese, and I was at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati.  I had gone through a difficult time of discernment, trying to figure out what the Lord wanted me to do.  Without a physical connection with this Diocese, I asked to be ordained with my classmates at the Cathedral in Cincinnati.  After the Archbishop laid hands on me and after being vested by a priest who had been my mentor, I had an overwhelming sense of joy and peace that lasted almost a week (and I wasn’t even on drugs).  Now I understand that experience as God breaking through an ordinary moment of my life in an extraordinary way and confirming my vocation.

            It is relatively easy to recognize Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in these mountaintop moments.  All is light.  But like those three disciples, we walk through difficult times when we are humiliated and stripped of so much of what we have been clinging to.  Life is sometimes very dark.  I’ve certainly had my share of those in these past fifty years.  It is the same Son of God present in both situations.  Through our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we turn more completely to the one who promises that the cross and death will not be the end for us.  In our Lenten disciplines, the Lord teaches us that if we die with him, we will rise with him.

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

26 FEBRUARY 2023

 

          When the people of Israel were freed from their captivity in Egypt, God claimed them as his own chosen people.  In their forty-year journey through the Sinai Desert, God tried to teach them how to behave as his beloved children.  But like our first parents in the Book of Genesis, they could not bring themselves to trust in God’s unconditional love.  When they were hungry, they complained to Moses and blamed him for leading them out of Egypt.  Time and time again, they questioned whether they could trust God to save them.  When Moses spent forty days conversing with God on Mount Sinai, they formed a golden calf and worshipped it.

            When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, his Father claimed him as his own from the heavens, “this is my beloved Son.”  When the Spirit leads him into the desert for forty days, the devil challenges him to prove that he really is the Son of God.  Famished after fasting for forty days, Jesus refuses to use his status as the Son of God to turn stones into loaves of bread.  He knows that his mission is to save other people, not himself.  Then the devil tempts him to throw himself from the parapet of the Temple to see whether his Father will save him.  Jesus refuses to test whether his Father is trustworthy.  When the devil offers him instant power and success, he tells him to get away.  He refuses a shortcut.  He will remain faithful as Suffering Servant, giving his life entirely for world’s salvation.

            The Spirit has led us into this forty-day desert of Lent.  Through the waters of Baptism, we have become God’s beloved sons and daughters.  This forty-day journey prepares our Elect to become his beloved sons and daughters when they are baptized at the Easter Vigil.  Like the ancient Israelites, we fall into the same trap as our first parents in the Garden of Eden.  We have often fallen to the devil’s temptation and tried to claim for ourselves those qualities that belong only to God.  In this Lenten desert, the Lord invites us to reclaim our trust that God alone can save us.  After forty days, we can more fully celebrate the central mystery of our faith:  the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at the Sacred Paschal Triduum.

            The disciplines of Lent provide a unique structure for a more intimate encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ.  When we fast, we begin to understand how often we have tried to satisfy our hunger for meaning by filling ourselves with food, drink, privilege, or anything else that cannot truly satisfy us.  When we fast, we become more aware that only God can satisfy our deepest hungers.  When we pray, we realize that time spent in prayer is not a waste of time.  We become more aware that any of our accomplishments are because of God’s grace.  When we fail, it is God’s mercy that saves us.  With fasting and prayer, we become more aware of the sufferings of so many in our world.  We are more willing to share a portion of what God has given us in almsgiving to the poor and vulnerable.

            In his forty-day time of testing in the desert, Jesus faces the ravages of the devil’s temptations as a fully human person.  He remains faithful to his vocation as God’s only begotten Son.  Odds are pretty good that we will not be so victorious in resisting the devil’s temptations in these next forty days.  I am an expert in finding excuses to break my fast.  I often cut corners and find something more “productive” to do than pray.  I can find other uses of our money other than almsgiving.  That is why it is so important for us to journey through this Lent together.  We gather at Sunday Mass, the Tuesday night Lenten Series, and Stations of the Cross, as well as the community building fish fry offerings on Friday night.  Instead of trying to prove how strong we are in keeping our Lenten promises, we gather as the Lord’s beloved sons and daughters to understand more completely why we need the salvation won for us in the Paschal Mystery.

 

SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

SOLEMNITY OF THE DEDICATION OF OUR NEW CHURCH

10 FEBRUARY 2023

 

          King Solomon had built the temple in Jerusalem as the central location of the Lord’s presence dwelling in the midst of his people.  Centuries later, the Prophet Ezekiel announced that the Lord was no longer present in that temple because of the sins of his people.  They had ignored his repeated warnings and had wandered away from the Covenant.  They had abandoned the care they should have given to the poor.  In offering sacrifices to gods which did not exist, they were guilty of idolatry.  When the Babylonians destroyed the temple and took his people into exile, Ezekiel blamed this catastrophe on their sinful behavior.

            Now, from exile in Babylon, Ezekiel is given a vision of a new temple to be rebuilt when his people are released from their captivity.  Joining them in their journey from the east, the Lord will enter the newly built temple with glory and power.  From the inner court of that temple, Ezekiel hears a voice: “Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the children of Israel forever.”

            We see this prophecy fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  When he enters the second temple that was being magnificently restored by Herod the Great, he says that this temple will not endure.  Through the mystery of the Incarnation, which we celebrated at Christmas, he is the new temple, God dwelling among us in human flesh.  After his death and resurrection, which we will celebrate at Easter, there will be no need of a physical temple on Mount Zion.  Saint Matthew makes that clear when he reports that the curtain in the temple is torn in two when Jesus dies on the cross. He will be present to his disciples until the end of time.

            Saint Peter recognizes this truth about Jesus in today’s Gospel.  He confesses him as the Christ, the Son of the living God.  In response to Peter’s profession of faith, Jesus establishes his Church on the rock of Peter’s faith.  He promises that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it.  We see the image of Peter holding the keys of the kingdom behind the ambo.

            Today, we celebrate the sixth anniversary of the dedication of our church building.  We express our gratitude for this magnificent structure.  It was built through the generosity of so many who sacrificed to allow its construction through material stones.  In this sacred space, the Lord is truly present when we celebrate the Sacraments, and uniquely present in the celebration of the Eucharist.  At all times, the Lord Jesus is truly present in the Tabernacle. Through the intercession of Saint Pius X our patron, one of the successors of Saint Peter, we gather here to celebrate baptisms, funeral liturgies, and the many ways the Lord is truly present in our lives. 

            The first Letter of Saint Peter reminds us that we who gather in this building are living stones being formed into a beautiful structure by the Lord.  That is why this coming Season of Lent is so important to us.  Like the people of Ezekiel’s time, we diminish the Lord’s work of building us as living stones into a beautiful structure when we fail to live our baptismal promises and when we wander away from the New Covenant.  Lent invites us to acknowledge what the people of Ezekiel’s time refused to admit.  We are sinners in need of conversion.  Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in these forty days, we open ourselves more completely to the Lord’s mercy and allow him to continue to form us into who we are.  We are the Body of Christ, living stones, privileged to gather and worship in this beautiful temple built by sacrificial love.  We allow the Lord to continue to form us and give his mercy when we fail.

 

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12 FEBRUARY 2023

 

          Saint Matthew wrote his Gospel for Jewish Christians.  They would have understood why Jesus climbed the mountain.  Moses had given his law on a mountain. Jesus is the new Moses who gives the new law.  Two Sundays ago, we heard the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes.  Last Sunday, Jesus told us that we could be salt and light in our dark and divided world if we live those beatitudes.  Today, he speaks of the relationship between his new law of love and the Law of Moses.

            He insists that he has come not to abolish the law or the prophets.  He has come to fulfill them.  In fulfilling them, he sets a much higher standard for his disciples.  The Law of Moses forbids murder.  Jesus goes to the root causes of murder – unhinged anger and resentment.  The Law of Moses forbids adultery.  Jesus goes to the root cause of adultery – lust.  The Law of Moses allows divorce.  Jesus sees the unfair treatment of women who have no rights when her husband decides to divorce her.  The Law of Moses demands that people swear by an oath to tell the truth.  Jesus insists that we tell the truth in all circumstances.

            Jesus commands a sacrificial love from us who are his disciples. We call ourselves a “stewardship parish,” because living stewardship as a way of life provides a framework for living the new Law of Love. Faithful stewards set aside significant amounts of time to thank the Lord for all that he has given us. Faithful stewards set aside significant amounts of time to give themselves in humble service.  Faithful stewards set aside a sacrificial amount of the treasure to provide financial support for the broader community.

            We renewed our stewardship of prayer just before Advent.  We will renew our stewardship of service during the Easter Season.  Today, we renew our stewardship of sacrificial giving.  Please take time to pray over your commitment to sacrificial giving.  We have done that as a parish.  Drawing closer to paying off our debt, we have decided to increase our parish tithe from 8½ % to 9%.  Please listen to Deacon Harry Verhiley, as he tells how his family has come to embrace this third leg of stewardship.

 

 

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

29 JANUARY 2023

 

          We have been hearing from the Gospel of Saint Matthew for the last few Sundays.  Jesus has established his headquarters in Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  As he walks along the shore, he proclaims that the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived in him.  He invites his listeners to repent and be part of that Kingdom.  Last Sunday, he called two sets of brothers – Andrew and Simon and James and John.  They left their fishing boats and followed him.

            Today, he takes these two sets of brothers and others who have made a commitment to become his disciples to a mountain near the Sea.  Just as Moses had given the law on a mountain, Jesus gives his new law in the Sermon on the Mount.  He begins his sermon with words that must have comforted his disciples, who had given up everything to follow him.  He tells them that they are “blessed,” a Greek word that means “happy.”  They may not have any possessions or have any power, but they are blessed.  They may not always feel the emotion of happiness.  But they are grounded in a fortunate situation in being part of the Kingdom of Heaven already.  As members of that kingdom, they will be blessed in the future because of their intimate encounter with him as the Messiah.  When they will be persecuted, as he will be persecuted, they will know the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven as their reward. 

            Because this is the living Word of God, Jesus speaks it to us today.  For us in our world, these beatitudes can be both challenging and difficult.  Let’s be honest with one another.  We count our blessings when we are safe and healthy, productive and successful, financially secure, and usually married with children.  And we rightly give thanks to God for all these blessings.  But we need to hear these beatitudes from the God who does not operate in the ways we would imagine.  Throughout the Old Testament, God regularly proclaims a preference for the poor and oppressed, along with a special care for the widow and orphan.  God did not enter human existence as a triumphant king.  He came as a vulnerable infant born in poverty.  As the disciples would eventually understand, he will not offer salvation through an amazing visible victory.  He will destroy death by entering into death himself.  God’s ways are not our ways.

            It is from this perspective that he challenges us with his beatitudes.  As disciples, we are truly blessed (or happy) when we understand that wealth and possessions will not ultimately save us.  We are happy when we mourn the wickedness of the world, and when we get our feelings out in mourning the loss of a loved one.  We are happy when we are meek, relying on God and not our strength to set things right.  We are happy when we long for God’s saving action in the same way we hunger for food and thirst for drink.  We are happy when we offer mercy to others, as God has offered mercy to us.  We are happy when we are peacemakers, when we make genuine efforts to bring harmony with God and other people.  Even if we are persecuted and rejected for our faithfulness to the Son of God, we will be happy for our reward in the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven at the end of our lives.

            Jesus promises us that we will experience true happiness if we embrace these beatitudes and work to make them an integral part of our lives.  Like the first disciples, we realize that the happiness that Jesus promises is not an emotional state.  It is the state of being part of the Kingdom of Heaven in our midst.  Like those earliest disciples, we encounter him in Word and Sacrament.  Like them, we trust that the Kingdom will be fully realized at the end.  Like them, we can make a difference in our world by showing others what it looks like to be truly blessed, truly happy people.

 

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

22 JANUARY 2023

 

          The prophet Isaiah speaks to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah dwelling in darkness.  The Assyrians are about to annihilate the northern kingdom of Israel.  They already carry the yoke of slavery.  The pole of domination is heavy on their shoulders.  The rod of their occupiers leaves them little hope.  Those in Judah fear that the same fate awaits them.  But Isaiah gives them hope.  Through the leadership of Gideon, God had delivered their ancestors from the Midianites.  Now, God will deliver them.  Those who walk in darkness will see a great light.  They will experience abundant joy and will make merry at God’s saving hand. 

Saint Matthew sees this prophecy fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  We celebrated that bright light at Christmas.  Now, Jesus begins his public ministry in Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, revealing that great light through his miracles.  The religious leaders in Jerusalem consider Galilee to be an area of darkness.  Those in the fishing industry do not take the ritual steps of purification.  They handle the bodies of dead fish all the time without taking time off and purifying themselves.  They also intermingle with the Greek pagans in their territory. 

It is here in this darkness that Jesus, the light of the world, announces that the kingdom of heaven has arrived.  He insists that those who want to be part of the kingdom must repent, must change their ways.  As he walks along, he invites two brothers, Peter and Andrew, to be part of that kingdom.  Then he invites two other brothers, James and John.  Both sets of brothers respond and follow him immediately.  Normally, those interested in being disciples choose the rabbi they want to follow.  Jesus is the one who chooses them.

In choosing these fishermen, he will teach them how to use their skills to do what he is doing – catching other human beings to be formed into disciples.  The Lord has already chosen us to be part of the kingdom of heaven when we were baptized.  He continues to call us to make immediate choices at various times in our lives.  When we weaken or break our connection with the kingdom through our sins, he calls us again through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Many parishioners made immediate choices when they participated in a Christ Renews His Parish retreat.  He is calling us during this parish Year of Encounter to encounter him more profoundly, especially in the Eucharist.  He is calling us to recognize his presence in those around us, especially in those whom we might find difficult or challenging.

We also live in a very dark world, filled with deep divisions, profound distrust, racial hatred, and wars.  We need to trust that we can reflect his light in this dark world, just as Saint Paul encouraged the members of the Christian community of Corinth to embrace this mission.  At the heart of this mission is the cross of Jesus Christ.  That cross invites disciples to die to a desire for power, control, wealth, and all kinds of allurements drawing us away from Christ.

Saint Paul speaks to us, the members of the Christian community of Saint Pius.  We face the same temptations that the Corinthians did.  Just as they were divided by their attraction to certain human leaders, we too can be divided from each other.  Instead of finding our common identity in our baptism into Jesus Christ, we can further the divisions of our time by identifying too much with human ministers.  Some prefer Pope Benedict.  Others lean toward Pope Francis.  Some identify with a certain website or an individual on a You Tube video.  In our parish, some identify with Fr. Augustine.  Others with the crazy pastor.  All of us ministers are fragile humans with different strengths and weaknesses.  As Saint Paul himself admits, we are all sinners.  The Lord is calling all of us to the mission of fishing for people.  We can do that only when we know our common identity is in Christ, despite our differences of opinion and personal preferences.