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.