GOOD FRIDAY

3 APRIL 2026

 

          In conducting the trial against Jesus, Pontius Pilate asks the question, “What is truth?”  He knows the truth about this peasant from Nazareth.  He knows that Jesus is innocent.  But he is afraid to act on that truth.  He could care less about the charges brought by the religious leaders that Jesus had made himself the Son of God.  However, he is terrified when the crowd accuses Jesus of making himself a king.  Pilate wants to remain in Caesar’s good graces.  For that reason, Pilate hands him over to be crucified to protect his status as a provincial Roman governor.  He even has the inscription written over the cross, “the king of the Jews.”

            In Pilate’s world, Jesus is on trial.  However, the truth is that Pilate is on trial.  He does not understand what Jesus means when he tells him that his kingdom is not of this world.  The first chapter of Saint John’s Gospel tell us that Jesus was present at the creation of the world, that he emptied himself of the privileges of divinity, and that he took on human flesh.  We know from reading the Gospels that the kingdom of Jesus is not at all like the kingdom of Pontius Pilate.  His kingdom is a kingdom of peace and justice, of love and mercy, and of compassion and kindness.  That is not Pilate’s kingdom:  one of power, cruelty, and violence against enemies.

            We live in a world which makes it difficult to know truth from fiction.  We have trouble discerning truth from our own world of alternative facts, misinformation, spin, propaganda, and fake news.  Our world says that truth is subjective, that truth is relative, that we can make up our own truth, and that there is no such thing as absolute truth.  Good Friday reveals the ultimate truth to us.  Jesus Christ, true God and true human, willingly accepted the unjust sentence of death to free us from the power of sin and death.  Jesus became the ultimate suffering servant of the Prophet Isaiah to demonstrate the truth that his righteous suffering has redeemed us, and that his life of humble service is a model for all of us seeking the truth.

            At the wedding feast of Cana, Jesus worked the first of his miracles, or signs.  He changed the ordinary water of human love into the divine wine of God’s love.  In the Gospel today, a soldier pierces his side with a spear.  Blood and water poured out, prefiguring the waters of baptism and the Blood of the Eucharist.  As Eve was formed from the side of Adam, the Church is formed from the pierced side of Jesus Christ.  The Mother of God is at the cross, not wailing in agony, but standing in a grieving faith.  The dying Jesus entrusts the beloved disciple to the care of his mother.  Since that disciple is never named in Saint John’s Gospel, you and I are the beloved disciple.  We are entrusted to the care of the Mother of God.  We are strengthened by the Sacramental life of the Church to remain faithful disciples, no matter what.

            Peter is also put on trial in today’s Gospel.  He is convicted of cowardice when he protects himself three times by denying that he is a disciple.  Peter passionately regrets this failure and accepts the forgiveness of the risen Christ.  We too can be convicted of denying the truth that we are disciples of Jesus Christ when we respond to challenges to our faith with fear.  We can be convicted when we regard the crosses we encounter in our lives as failures and punishments from God.  But the Mother of God encourages us, as beloved disciples, to stand by the cross of Jesus Christ as our victory, not our defeat or humiliation.  After we pray the Intercessions, we will be invited to come forward to venerate the cross.  We bring our own crosses, our own failures, and our own denials as we reverence the cross of Jesus Christ.  By dying on the cross, Jesus Christ has won the victory over sin and death.  By carrying our crosses with him, we can share in that victory, sealed for us at Easter.

 

PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD

29 MARCH 2026

 

            In the beginning of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, people receive messages from God through dreams.  In a dream, Joseph is told that Mary, his betrothed, has conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Joseph responds by taking Mary as his wife and taking care of her and her child in Bethlehem.  The Magi are warned in a dream not to return to Herod.  They expose his lies by returning to their country by a different route.  Joseph is told in a dream that Herod wants to kill his child.  He responds by taking the child and his mother into exile in Egypt.  Finally, Joseph is told in a dream that it is safe to return to Galilee.  He obeys so that he and Mary can raise Jesus in the safety of Nazareth.           

            Today, the wife of Pontius Pilate is told in a dream that his prisoner from Nazareth is a righteous man.  She sends a message to her husband to have nothing to do with him.  But, Pilate ignores the message and condemns Jesus to death.  He pretends to have no guilt by washing his hands.  He goes against the truth, because he is afraid of the crowds and the religious leaders.

            The Lord continues to speak to us in a number of ways:  through the Word of God at Mass, through the words and examples of those who care enough for us that they speak the truth, in our everyday lives, and sometimes through dreams.  Today, the Lord invites us to listen to the central mystery of our faith by participating in the Sacred Paschal Triduum.  Lent ends on Thursday night when we begin the Triduum by celebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 6:00.  Be with us as we observe the Passion of the Lord on Friday at 1:00.  Join us for the most incredible Liturgy of the Year as we begin the Easter Vigil on Saturday night at 9:00.  Be with us on Easter Sunday for the Mass of the Resurrection at 10:00.

            Participating in these Liturgies is a powerful way of allowing the Lord to speak to us and deepen our understanding of the Paschal Mystery, the central mystery of our faith.  When we come to the Sacred Paschal Triduum, we will better understand that hatred is replaced by love, that betrayal is forgiven by mercy, that cowardice gives way to courage, and that the risen life of Jesus Christ defeats the power of death.  Unlike Pontius Pilate, we can hear and walk away with a more profound desire to live the dying and rising of Jesus Christ in our lives.

 

FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

22 MARCH 2026

 

          In the Gospel according to Saint John, Jesus works seven miracles, or “signs,” as they are called.  Each sign invites us to enter more deeply into the Mystery of Jesus Christ.  The first sign is at a wedding feast in Cana.  By changing water into wine, Jesus, the faithful bride groom, invites us, his bride the Church, to believe that he has the power to change the ordinary water of our human love into the divine goodness of God’s love.  Last Sunday, Jesus invited us to believe that he can heal our spiritual blindness, as he healed the man born blind.  Today, he reveals the greatest and last of the signs.  Lazarus is dead, with no hope of life after four days in the tomb.  Jesus does not deny the horror of death.  He even accepts the anger of both Martha and Mary, who complain that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus had been more prompt in coming.  Jesus expresses his horror of death when he becomes deeply troubled and weeps himself.

            When Jesus calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb, he invites us to believe that he can defeat the power of death.  His burial bands must be removed, because it is the same Lazarus who emerges from the tomb and will die again.  This final sign is also the reason that Jesus himself will be condemned to death.  But Jesus will emerge from his tomb without any need for his burial bands to be removed.  In being raised from the dead, Jesus is transformed.  He will never die again.  And he invites us to believe that we too can share in his resurrection and be transformed ourselves if we are willing to die with him.

            We hear this message as we begin these final two weeks of Lent.  We’ll accompany Jesus in the garden as he agonizes over his impending death and is betrayed by one of his best friends.  We will watch as he is unfairly condemned by both the Jewish authorities and Pontius Pilate.  We will walk the way of the cross and stand at the foot of the cruel instrument of death.  We will mark his three days in the tomb.  But then we will affirm the ultimate truth of this seventh sign and renew our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter.

            Faith in the resurrection does not take away the pain and horror of death as we lose our loved ones to death and face it ourselves.  However, Saint Thomas Aquinas argues that there are four ways in which our belief in the resurrection helps us.  First, our faith in the resurrection can remove the sadness occasioned by the deaths of others.  In my years of officiating at funerals, I can see the difference in grieving.  Those who grieve with faith in the resurrection do so in hope.  While those who do not believe in the resurrection grieve in a desperate and hopeless way.  Second, faith in the resurrection removes the fear of death in each one of us.  None of us looks forward to death.  None of us can predict when death will happen.  Ultimately, we can face death without fear by being willing to share in Christ’s dying on a daily basis.  Third, faith in the resurrection makes us more diligent to perform good works.  If I am willing to die to my own selfishness by performing good works, I can more readily be assured of being transformed by Christ’s resurrection when I die.  Finally, faith in the resurrection draws us away from evil.  We know that God respects our human choices, even when we choose to turn away from doing good and embracing evil actions.  God’s justice will always prevail.

            Martha and Mary are thrilled to welcome their brother back from death to take his place in their family.  They are incredibly grateful to Jesus for giving him back to them.  But just as they do not understand his delay in coming back to Judea in their greatest time of need, they will not understand the words of Jesus that he is the resurrection and the life until after he has been raised from the dead himself.  The Lord will be with us in these final two weeks of Lent as we face the reality of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ and celebrate his resurrection.

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

1 MARCH 2026

 

          Last Sunday, Saint Matthew told us that Jesus had entered the desert for forty days and forty nights immediately after he had been baptized. At his baptism, a voice from heaven said that he is God’s beloved Son.  In the desert, the devil tested him.  As God’s beloved Son, hungry after 40 days of fasting, he refused use his divinity to serve his own needs by turning stones into bread.  As God’s beloved Son, he would not throw himself off the parapet of the temple to test the love of his Father.  As God’s beloved Son, he refused to worship Satan to receive power and glory.  Instead, he would submit himself to his Father’s will and become his Suffering Servant.

            Immediately prior to today’s Scripture passage, Jesus had asked his disciples about the local gossip.  “Who do people say that I am?” They gave several answers.  When Jesus asked, “who do you say that I am?”  Peter responded, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  As the beloved Son of the living God, he is the promised Messiah.  But, his mission is not what most people had expected.  As Messiah, he would surrender his life on the cross to defeat the power of sin and death.  Peter reacted, “God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  Jesus gave the same response to Peter that he had given to the devil: “Get behind me, Satan.”  Then Jesus told his disciples that they must carry the cross, if they intend to be his disciples.  They must have been shaken.

            Today, Jesus takes his inner circle – Peter, James, and John – up a mountain, just as Moses had climbed Mount Sinai many centuries before to encounter God.  On the mountain, Jesus is transfigured.  To quote Madeleine L’Engle: “Suddenly they saw him the way he was, the way he really was all the time, although they had never seen it before, the glory which blinds the everyday eye and so becomes invisible.   This is how he was, radiant, brilliant, carrying joy like a flaming sun in his hands.  This is the way he was – is – from the beginning, and we cannot bear it.  So, he manned himself, came manifest to us; and there on the mountain they saw him, really saw his light.”  They also see Moses, the giver of the law, and Elijah, the greatest of the prophets.  Overwhelmed, Peter wants to build three tents, presumably to extend this incredible experience.  But Jesus is not just one more holy person in the line of Moses and Elijah.  He has come in his humanity and divinity to fulfill their missions.  The same voice at his baptism says from the bright cloud, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 

            The disciples will need to listen to Jesus as they follow him down the mountain on the way to Jerusalem.  In Jerusalem, they will not be able to stay awake as Jesus agonizes over what will happen to him.  The next day, Jesus will be stripped of his garments and crucified between two common criminals.  There will no bright cloud; only terrible darkness.  They will not see the truth of the transfiguration until Jesus will be raised from the dead three days later.

            We too need to listen to the Father’s beloved Son as we continue our journey with him through Lent.  We go forward together in faith into the unknown, even into suffering, trusting in the promise of the Father.  We fast, give alms, and pray to enter into a time of radical change where we allow the Trinity to transform us through our dying to self.  Like Peter, James, and John, all of us have had those transfiguring moments when we have experienced the Father’s overwhelming presence; when the path forward looks clear and secure.  But we must listen to the Father’s beloved Son, especially in the darkness and doubt and divisions of our present world and our complicated lives.  The Father will not abandon us.  The Father will lead us through the desert of Lent to the bright joy and wonder of the resurrection at Easter.

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT

22 FEBRUARY 2026

 

          Jesus has just been baptized by John in the Jordan River, where he heard the Father’s voice, “this is my beloved Son.”  Now, the Spirit leads Jesus into the desert to be tested for forty days, just as his Father had led his ancestors into the desert to be tested for forty years.  They had passed through the waters of the Red Sea.  Now, they complained that they were hungry.  They flunked the first test, because they did not believe that the Lord would provide for their physical needs.  As they continued their journey, they complained to Moses that they were better off in slavery in Egypt.  Where was God in this wilderness?  They flunked the second test.  At Mount Sinai, God gave them Covenant of love.  In Moses’ absence, they worshiped a golden calf and abandoned the God who saved them.  They flunked the third test.

            Now, the tempter tests Jesus in much the same way.  He has fasted for forty days and nights and is famished.  The devil tests him.  If you are really God’s beloved Son, then turn these stones into loaves of bread.  Jesus passes the test by saying that hungering for the Father is more important than satisfying physical hunger.  Then the devil takes him to Jerusalem stands him on the parapet of the temple, the place of God’s dwelling.  The devil tells Jesus to test whether or not he is the Son of God by throwing himself off the highest part of the temple.  He even quotes Scripture, indicating that anyone can quote Scripture to prove a point.  Jesus passes this second test by insisting that no one can put the Lord God, to the test.  Finally, the devil takes Jesus to a very high mountain, a place of communion with God.  The devil promises to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence if Jesus worships him.  Jesus says to the devil, “Get away, Satan!”  Jesus trusts the Father as his beloved Son, even if that means enduring the agony and horror of the cross.  He passes the third test and begins his public ministry.

            The Spirit has led us into the desert of Lent.  The Spirit must lead me, because I don’t choose Lent!  We have passed through the waters of baptism and have become God’s beloved sons and daughters.  Just as Jesus used his time in the desert to become more convinced that he is God’s only beloved Son, Lent invites us to be more convinced that we are God’s beloved sons and daughters.  Like the ancestors of Jesus in their journey through the desert, we have failed to act like God’s beloved sons and daughters.  The disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving can help us to better live our baptismal promises as we prepare to renew them at Easter.

            In this desert of Lent, the devil will never stop trying to test us. We fail the first test when we make the same mistake as Adam and Eve.  Instead of trusting that God truly loves us as his beloved sons and daughters, the devil wants us to believe that wealth or food or other comforts will satisfy our ultimate hungers, instead of God.  We must remember who we are, and whose we are.  We pass this test by saying, “I am God’s, and that’s enough.”  In the second test, the devil wants us to conclude that if we are faithful and do everything right, God will protect us.  God is with us and loves us as his beloved sons and daughters even when life falls apart and even when we fail.  Finally, the devil wants us to abandon our obedience to our baptismal promises.  He wants us to trade integrity for influence and to seek approval from other people instead of God.  We are the people of God with two things to do: “Worship God, and truly serve him.”

            We spend these forty days in the desert together.  The devil will intensify his testing.  In this desert, the issue is not whether the devil will test us.  The issue is that he will definitely test us and challenge the truth that we are God’s beloved sons and daughters.  We can pass these tests, because Jesus did.  We can emerge together from this desert of Lent to share the victory of Christ over sin and death at Easter, precisely because we are his beloved sons and daughters.

 

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

8 FEBRUARY 2026

 

          Saul of Tarsus came from a major education center for stoic philosophy.  In Tarsus, he studied under the great rabbi Gamaliel and was educated in pharisaic Judaism.  As Saint Paul, he does not come to the Corinthians with those high educational degrees.  Instead, he brings them the person of Jesus Christ and him crucified.  He had encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and brings his experience of the risen Christ “in weakness and fear and much trembling”. Instead of using persuasive words of wisdom in which he had been trained as Saul of Tarsus, he is guided by the Holy Spirit and power. 

            As Saint Paul presents the person of Jesus Christ to the Christian community of Corinth, the does the same to us, the Christian community of Saint Augustine in South Bend.  He tells us to embrace the person of Jesus Christ and to welcome him into our lives as a first priority.  Last Sunday, Jesus spoke to us and spelled out eight different ways for us to make him a part of our lives and be blessed.  That is what the Greek word “blessed” means – to be happy or fortunate.  In living the beatitudes, we place Jesus Christ first.  We are happy when we embrace a poverty of spirit that frees us from being burdened with too much stuff.  We can be happy even when we mourn.  We mourn when we suffer devastating losses.  In pouring out the pain of mourning, we trust that the Lord will keep his promise and console us.  We are happy when we adapt a spirit of meekness and when we hunger and thirst for righteousness (or justice).  We are happy when we show mercy, when we maintain the cleanness of our hearts, and when we act as peacemakers.  Jesus acknowledges that not everyone will embrace these beatitudes and may even take steps to insult and persecute us, as he himself was insulted and persecuted.  But even in persecution, he promises that our reward will be great in heaven.

            Today, Jesus says that living the beatitudes is not a benefit only for ourselves.  Living them affects others.  He uses two metaphors: salt and light.  In the ancient world, doctors did not warn their patients about consuming too much salt.  In the absence of any kind of refrigeration, salt preserved meat.  Throughout the Scriptures, salt symbolized the sealing and preserving of God’s Covenant to meet with the people.  Strangers were given salt as a sign of welcome. 

            We are salt for our world if we continue to witness to the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives, just as Saint Paul did to the Corinthians.  Of course, it is important to continue our ongoing education in the faith.  But it is far more important to show the presence of the Lord in living the beatitudes.  We know his presence when we hear him speak to us in his Word.  We become one with him when he feeds us with his Body and Blood.  Our divided, angry, and hateful world needs plenty of salty people.  When I was baptized as a baby many years ago, the priest placed blessed salt on my lips as a reminder of the importance of living my baptismal promises.

            We can also be light for our world.  The ancient world did not have the ease of electricity that we have.  But even the smallest dwellings had olive oil lamps burning throughout the night to guide old people like me who need a bathroom.  Even the tiniest clay pot had the potential to dispel darkness and provide guidance. 

            Each of us was given a lit candle when we were baptized.  We are light for our world if we allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine through us.  Too often, we are tempted to simply dwell in the darkness of our world and curse the darkness with our minds and lips.  The light of Christ dispels that darkness, even in the smallest amounts.  Just as this church was filled with the light of candles at the Easter Vigil, the light of Christ can definitely shine through our community.  We are salt and light, bringing a hope that is desperately needed.

 

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

1 FEBRUARY 2026

 

          The Prophet Zephaniah encourages his audience to seek various goods, especially justice and humility.  He addresses his people as the “humble of the earth who have observed his law.”  Zephaniah promises that those who practice justice and humility will be part of a remnant who will survive the day of the Lord.  These people will live the good life, marked by simplicity, humility, honesty, peace, and a meaningful relationship with the Lord.

            We celebrated that day of the Lord forty days ago at Christmas.  Today, the Incarnate Word of God who dwells in our midst spells out the various goods required of those who choose to be part of the Kingdom of God.  As Moses spoken from a mountain to announce the Covenant that the Lord had made with his chosen people, Jesus climbs another mountain and takes his seat.  In the ancient world, important messages were given by leaders who had taken the seat of their authority.  He announces nine groups of people whom he addresses as “blessed.”  The Greek word for blessed means “fortunate,” or “happy”.  These beatitudes are the beginning of his famous Sermon on the Mount.  As disciples of Jesus Christ, we have heard these beatitudes so often that we are not surprised by them.  However, we can only imagine how those who heard these beatitudes for the first time would have reacted.

            In watching the recent series, The Chosen, I saw an interesting take on how people might have reacted.  I was initially skeptical of the Series, because so many fictional additions were added to the actual words of Scripture.  Watching the series out of curiosity, I began to realize what The Chosen was doing.  Those fictional additions help to contemporize the ministry of Jesus Christ and help us to enter it more fully.  The reactions of the twelve caught my attention.  In hearing the beatitudes, the twelve found great comfort and encouragement.  They had already given up everything to follow Jesus, the Messiah.  They had mourned the loss of a former way of life.  Jesus continually was teaching them to be meek, to hunger and thirst for justice or righteousness, to be merciful, to be clean of heart, and to be peacemakers.  Jesus taught these values not only with his words, but especially with his actions.  The twelve were already seeing Jesus being persecuted by the religious leaders.  They would be horrified when that persecution would lead to his death on the cross.  They would eventually be persecuted when the Holy Spirit gave them the courage to live and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.

            We too are his disciples, and he teaches us the same lesson.  He teaches us that blessedness – or the good life – does not lie in achieving personal success, elevated status, or individual honor.  Rather, living the good life lies in being humble and just, striving to bring forth what which is good for others.

            That is the message that Saint Paul gives to the Corinthians.  He is aware of the arrogance of so many members of the community that is causing division.  He reminds them that the Lord had called them to be disciples not by human standards.  Not many of them had been powerful or of noble birth.  He encourages them to embrace the beatitudes and become humble and just.  If they have encountered success and good fortune, it is because of the Lord working in their midst.

            The Lord has called us to embrace the spirit of the beatitudes.  If we put the Lord Jesus above everything else, then we are truly blessed.  We are truly living the good life.  If we achieve success or elevated status or individual honor, it is because of the Lord working through us.  Like the original twelve, we can thank God when we see ourselves in the company of those nine groups of people.  Saint Paul hits the nail on the head.  In Christ Jesus, we have received wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.