Easter Sunday

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ has risen! Alleluia!

When Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome discovered the rolled back stone from the entrance of Jesus’ tomb and they encountered a young man dressed in white sitting where Jesus’ body was supposed to be, they were “utterly amazed.” When Simon Peter and the other disciple arrived at the empty tomb, they both saw the rolled up burial cloths without Jesus in them. St. John tells us that the other disciple saw and believed. However, neither Simon Peter nor the unnamed disciple grasped the magnitude of what really happened. Even though Jesus told the disciples many times that he would die and rise from the dead, they did not comprehend what he was saying. How could they?

Can any of us really imagine Resurrection? Nowhere in scripture do we have a description of how the resurrection occurred. No one saw it happen. It was then and it is today a great mystery. Our only physical evidence is a rolled back stone, an empty tomb and some accounts of Jesus appearing to a very select group of people. The Resurrection of Jesus was nothing like the very public raising of Lazarus from the dead. While Lazarus was restored to life, he was still very human and he would eventually die again.

After his Resurrection Jesus was different, he entered into a new and glorious life with God the Father. St. Paul tells us in his Letter to the Romans 6: 9 - 10, “We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God.”

It was only after they actually saw and spoke to Jesus several times that the disciples came to believe in his resurrection. We accept and believe in the Resurrection based on faith. And, by that faith, we are blessed. When Jesus showed himself to Thomas, he told him, all the disciples and he tells us, “"Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Our belief in the Resurrection is the core of our Christian faith. It is the foundation of our lives as Christians. God the Father, speaking through the Prophet Isaiah tells us, “See, I am laying a stone in Zion, a stone that has been tested, A precious cornerstone as a sure foundation; he who puts his faith in it shall not be shaken.(Isaiah 28: 16). And the Resurrection is the ultimate sign of God’s love for us. God sent Jesus to us to free us “from the law of sin and death” so that we can enter into eternal life with Him.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ has risen! Alleluia!

Lord God, this is the day that you have made!

Raising Jesus from the dead,

and raising us with him,

you have fashioned for yourself a new people,

washed in the waters of baptism,

sealed with the gift of the Spirit,

and invited to the banquet of the Lamb!

Prepare our hearts, Lord,

to celebrate this Easter festival with great joy.

We ask this through your Son,

our Passover and our Peace,

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Legend of the Dogwood Tree

When Christ was on earth,

the dogwood grew to a

towering size with lovely hue.

Its branches were strong and interwoven.

And for Christ's cross

its timbers were chosen.

Being distressed at the use of this wood,

Christ made a promise

which still holds good:

"Not ever again shall the dogwood grow

to be large enough for such a tree,

And so slender and twisted

it shall always be

with cross-shaped Blossoms for all to see.

The petals shall have bloodstains

marked in brown and in the

blossom's center a thorny crown.

All who see it will think of Me,

nailed to a cross from the dogwood tree.

Protected and cherished this tree shall be

A reflection to all of my agony."

It is Finished

So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.

Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, "Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews." Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that he said, 'I am the King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, "Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be," in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled (that says): "They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots." This is what the soldiers did.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I thirst." There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished."

And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

From The Gospel of John

Honor Thy Beginning

Beginnings can be delicate or explosive. They can start almost invisibly or arrive with a big bang. Beginnings hold the promise of new lessons to be learned, new territory to be explored, and old lessons to be recalled, practiced, and appreciated. Beginnings hold ambiguity, promise, fear, and hope.

Don’t let the lessons, the experiences of the past, dampen your enthusiasm for beginnings. Just because it’s been hard doesn’t mean it will always be that difficult. Don’t let the heartbreaks of the past cause you to become cynical, close you off to life’s magic and promise. Open yourself wide to all that the universe has to say.

Let yourself begin anew. Pack your bags. Choose carefully what you bring, because packing is an important ritual. Take along some humility and the lessons of the past. Toss in some curiosity and excitement about what you haven’t yet learned. Say your good-byes to those you’re leaving behind. Don’t worry who you will meet or where you will go. The way has been prepared. The people you are to meet will be expecting you. A new journey has begun. Let it be magical. Let it unfold. Let it be a new beginning as you prepare to meet the Christ child anew.

Thinking Clearly

Sometimes it's just a matter of thinking clearly. Like the small businessman whose clothing store was threatened with extinction when a national chain store moved in and acquired all the properties on his block. This one particular businessman refused to sell. “All right then, we'll build all around you and put you out of business,” the new competitors said.

Surely -- you might think -- here is a case for warranted anger. If a hothead ever had an excuse, this was it.

The day came when the small merchant found himself hemmed in with a new department store stretching out on both sides of and above his little retail shop. The competitors now opened shop. Their banners unfurled, “Grand Opening!”

The merchant in the old store, the little store surrounded by the big bully, had a banner of his own. His banner reached across the entire width of his little store. It read, “Main Entrance.”

And just when others thought he wouldn’t survive … he thrived.

Pray

God has created us to love and to be loved,

and this is the beginning of prayer –
to know that God loves me,
that I have been created for greater things.

We must become holy, not because we want to feel holy,
but because Christ must be able to live his life fully in us.”

You can pray while you work.
Work doesn’t stop prayer and prayer doesn’t stop work.
It requires only that small raising of the mind to Him.

If we really want to pray, we must first learn to listen:
for in the silence of the heart God speaks.

~ Saint Teresa of Calcutta

His Blood Upon the Rose

I see His blood upon the rose

And in the stars the glory of his eyes,

His body gleams amid eternal snows,

His tears fall from the skies.

I see his face in every flower;

The thunder and the singing of the birds

Are but his voice—and carven by his power

Rocks are his written words.

All pathways by his feet are worn,

His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,

His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,

His cross is every tree.

Joseph Mary Plunkett (1887–1916)

Prayer of Abandonment

 

Help Me Find a Way

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace:
wherever I encounter anger and hatred, help me find a way to bring love;
wherever I find injury, help me find a way to bring pardon and healing;
wherever I find doubt, help me find a way to bring faith;
wherever I encounter despair, help me find a way to show hope;
wherever I encounter darkness, help me find a way to bring light;
wherever I find sadness, help me find a way to bring Your Joy.
And, Lord, help me to realize that sometimes I find these within myself!

My Creator, help me find a way:
not so much to being consoled, as to being compassionate with others,
not so much to being understood, as to listen and to understand others,
not so much to being loved myself, but rather than to love those I encounter.
For it is in giving of our own gifts and talents, that we receive,
it is in forgiving the hurts we receive from others, that we are forgiven ourselves,
and it is in giving up our old life that we are born to a new life both here on earth and eternally with You.
Lord, Help me find a way.

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

Every day when mass is celebrated, just before the Eucharistic Prayer, Catholics throughout the world sing or recite the Sanctus: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” When we sing or recite this great hymn of praise, we unite our hearts, minds and souls with all the angels, saints and the whole Church in a prayer of thanksgiving.

The Sanctus presents us with two very different images of God. In the first two sentences, we acclaim God the Father who is awesome and powerful, holy and glorious. In the second two sentences, we remember that in love and humility this awesome and powerful God came to us in human form and offered himself, God the Son, as a sacrifice, dying to take away all our sin. Whenever we repeat the Sanctus, we should remember Passion Sunday and Good Friday and that the voices that cried out “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest,” are the same voices that turned against Jesus just a few days later shouting, "Crucify him."

Hosanna is a Hebrew word that means, “Save, we ask.” The people who greeted Jesus on the road into Jerusalem spreading their cloaks, waving branches and crying out, “Hosanna in the highest,” were expecting a king, a liberator, or a conquering hero. They wanted Jesus to save them from the Romans. They were not looking for a Savior, who was meek and humble “spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces” (Isaiah 53: 3). They did not expect a suffering, servant king. It was not until after the Crucifixion and Resurrection that the disciples and other followers of Jesus understood that through his willingness to die on the cross, Jesus Christ entered into that fullness of glory we sing about in the Sanctus. “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

Lord God,

as we enter this Holy Week,

let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus.

Empty us of our pride and selfishness;

draw us close to his cross,

that as we celebrate his passion and resurrection,

our lives may become models of self-sacrificing love.

We ask this through Christ, our liberator from sin,

who lives with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Prayer for the Sick

All praise and glory are yours, Lord our God.
For you have called us to serve you and one another in love.

Bless our sick today so that they may bear their illness in union with Jesus' sufferings and restore them quickly to health.

Bless those who have grown old in your service and give them courage and strength in their faith.
Lead us all to eternal glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your Son, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
Amen.

Mother of Perpetual Help pray for us!

Face of God

In 1987, a newspaper photographer was sent to Ecuador to cover a devastating earthquake that devastated much of the country. In the midst of such catastrophic suffering, he witnessed a simple scene of compassion that moved him deeply. The photographer wrote:

The line was long but moving briskly, and in that line, at the very end, stood a young girl about 12 years of age. She waited patiently as those at the front of that long line received a little rice, some canned goods, or a little fruit. Slowly but surely she was getting closer to the front of the line, closer to the food. From time to time, she would glance across the street. She did not notice the growing concern on the face of those distributing the food. The food was running out. Their anxiety was beginning to show, but she did not seem to notice. Her attention seemed always to focus on three figures under the trees across the street.

At long last she stepped forward to get her food. But the only thing left was the lonely banana. Quietly she took the precious gift and ran across the street where three small children waited --- perhaps her sisters and a brother. Very deliberately she peeled the banana and very carefully divided the banana into three equal parts. Placing the precious food into the eager hands of the three younger ones --- one for you, one for you, one for you. She then sat down and licked the inside of that banana peel.

In that moment, I swear I saw the face of God.

Feast of St Joseph

Anything done out of love is important, however small it might appear. God has come to us, even though we are miserable creatures, and he has told us that he loves us: ‘My delight is to be among the sons of men.’ Our Lord tells us that everything is valuable — those actions which from a human point of view we regard as extraordinary and those which seem unimportant. Nothing is wasted. No man is worthless to God. All of us are called to share the kingdom of heaven — each with his own vocation: in his home, his work, his civic duties and the exercise of his rights.

St Joseph's life is a good example of this: it was simple, ordinary and normal, made up of years of the same work, of days — just one day after another — which were monotonous from a human point of view. I have often thought about this, meditating on St Joseph's life; it is one of the reasons for having a special devotion to him.

~ St. Josemaria Escriva

Fragrance Prayer

Dear Jesus,

help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go.

Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love.

Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly

that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine.

Shine through me and be so in me that every soul

I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul.

Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus.

Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine,

so to shine as to be a light to others.

Amen.

Attributed to Cardinal John Henry Newman
Prayed daily by Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Feast of Saint Patrick

Patrick’s Loricum or Breastplate has the famous Celtic prayer, centered on Christ:

Christ be with me, Christ surround me,
Christ be in my speaking, Christ be in my thinking,
Christ be in my sleeping, Christ be in my waking,
Christ be in my watching, Christ be in my hoping,
Christ be in my life, Christ be on my lips,
Christ be in my soul, Christ be in my heart,
Christ be in my sufficing, Christ be in my slumber,
Christ be in my ever-living soul,
Christ be my eternity.

Patrick prayed for the Irish people on the mountain in Mayo which bears his name (Cruach Padraig). 

Here’s a prayer for you on his feast day:

May you recognize in your life the presence,
power and light of Christ in your soul.

May you realize that you are never alone,
for He is always with you;
that your soul, in its brightness,
connects you with the Lord and with the rhythm of the universe.

May you always realize that the shape of your personality is unique,
that you have a special destiny behind the facade of your ordinary daily life.

May you be able to see yourself with the same delight and expectation
with which God sees you in every moment.

And may the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and the rain fall soft upon your fields.

And, until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand

St Patrick

Self-Care

5th Sunday of Lent

There are so many important messages in today’s readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent that I could write a treatise and still not cover everything. So, I will focus on just one line in today’s gospel, John 12:23, “"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Up to this point in St. John’s gospel, Jesus repeatedly told his mother, his disciples and other followers, “My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4) or “my time has not yet been fulfilled" (John 7:8). The signs of glorification were there at Jesus’ baptism and at the Transfiguration but now, these signs are about to become a very tangible reality.

This is the hour that the Children of Israel had been waiting many millennia for, but they didn’t recognize it. This is the hour the disciples had been waiting three years for but they didn’t understand it. This is the hour Jesus had been waiting his whole life for and it troubled and distressed him but he endured it for us. This is the hour when Jesus “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). This is the hour when our salvation was secured by Jesus’ acceptance of death. Like the grain the wheat that dies to produce much fruit, Jesus had to die so that all of us can have eternal life.

Our observance of Lent is a progression through the ministry of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion, death and resurrection. During Lent, we re-read and re-live the great events of salvation history in the "today" of our Church’s liturgy (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1095). We engage in “spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works)” (CCC 1438). We do all these things to prepare ourselves spiritually for the glory of the Resurrection so that we will recognize and understand the enormity of the event.

Father in heaven,

The love of your Son led him 

to accept the suffering of the cross

that we might glory in new life.

Change our selfishness into self-giving.

Help us to embrace the world you have given us,

that we may transform the darkness of its pain 

into the life and joy of Easter.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Better Prayer

One man, too inebriated to drive, was walking home along railroad tracks when his foot suddenly became stuck. He pulled and tugged, but could not free it from the tracks.

Then he heard a noise and turned around to see an oncoming train. In a panic, he prayed. "Dear God, please get my foot out of these tracks and I'll stop drinking."

Nothing happened.

With the speeding train closer, he tried again. "Oh, Lord, get my foot out of these tracks and I'll stop drinking AND I'll quit cheating on my wife!"

Still nothing, and now the train was just seconds away.

He tried one last time. "Lord, if you get my foot out of the tracks, I'll quit drinking, cheating, AND I'll become a minister!"

Suddenly his foot shot out of the tracks and he dove out of the way of the passing train. Dusting himself off, he looked toward Heaven and said, "Never mind, Lord, I got it out myself."

Does that kind of prayer sound familiar? How often are prayers, even when one is not in a state of emergency, concerned only about physical needs -- health and safety?

Mahatma Gandhi claimed to have never made even a minor decision without prayer. Gandhi was known best as an Indian nationalist and spiritual leader, but he was also a man of rare courage. He developed the practice of nonviolent disobedience that eventually forced Great Britain to grant India's independence.

He spoke often about spirituality and prayer. He told about traveling to South Africa to oppose a law there directed expressly against Indians. His ship was met by a hostile mob and he was advised to stay on board. They had come, he was told, with the express intention of lynching him. Gandhi said of the incident: "I went ashore nevertheless. I was stoned and kicked and beaten a good deal; but I had not prayed for safety, but for the courage to face the mob, and that courage came and did not fail me."

Gandhi preferred courage over safety. If accomplishing his goals put him in the way of danger, then he wanted to face that danger bravely. His prayer was to receive enough courage to do what needed to be done, not to live his life free from harm.

Rabbi Harold Kushner speaks about such prayer. He reminds us that "people who pray for courage, for strength to bear the unbearable, for the grace to remember what they have left instead of what they have lost, very often find their prayers answered. Their prayers helped them tap hidden reserves of faith and courage that were not available to them before."

Like you, I know what it is to be afraid. I'm afraid of accidental injury, dismemberment or death. I've been afraid of a pending medical diagnosis. There must be a million different faces to the fears of life.

I'm tempted at these times to hope for, and pray for, a way to avoid the danger ahead. I want to be safe, secure and healthy. But none of us is always safe, secure or healthy. So, I, too, have come to see that the better prayer is for courage to face whatever life may bring. And in some place deep inside me, I am not only convinced that the courage will come and not fail me, but that it will be enough. Always enough.

May I have the Courage

Friendship is

. . . is you.
. . . is love.
. . . is shared.
. . . is forgiving.
. . . is understanding.
. . . is shared secrets.
. . . heals many hurts.
. . . is not judgmental.
. . . is shared laughter.
. . . is slow and steady.
. . . can be angry at times.
. . . is dependable and true.
. . . is meant to be savored.
. . . is more precious than silver or gold.
. . . is not perfect, much like we are not perfect.
. . . does not hold grudges or demand perfection.
. . . makes all the wrong things in life, right somehow.
. . . is meant to be gulped like lemonade on a hot summer day.
. . . is always there, through times of trial, happy times and hard times.
. . . just happens, but once discovered, needs to be tended like a beautiful garden.
. . . is a road to be traveled slowly, remembering the sights and sounds.
. . . is strength when you are too weak to notice its there.
. . . is a cherished moment of mutual understanding.
. . . reaches into your heart and grabs a firm hold.
. . . is a refreshing rain on a hot day.
. . . is sunshine through the clouds.
. . . cannot be forced or induced.
. . . is relaxed and comfortable.
. . . is a shoulder to lean on.
. . . is an ear to whine to.
. . . gets better with age.
. . . is shared tears.
. . . is shared pain.
. . . is shared joy.
. . . is shared.
. . . is love.
. . . is you.

Courage

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.

~ Raymond Linquist

Coeur is the French word for "heart." When we act with courage, we act from our hearts, not our heads alone. We boldly do what feels right.

We may be scared if we're going against the grain, but we have confidence and faith supporting our actions.

Being courageous does not require going into battle, We do not have to be saving someone's life. It takes a lot of courage just to be honest with ourselves and others, to decide to change behaviors, and to leave destructive relationships.

Today I will pray for courage.

I Asked the Lord to Bless You

 

Listen

Most of us are better talkers than listeners. When someone is talking we often aren't listening; we're thinking of what we're going to say in reply. Or maybe we have nothing to say in reply, but we just aren't interested in what is being said. Our eyes glaze over. It is the highest compliment to give someone our full attention. So it is with God.

We give God our deepest respect by listening attentively. And when we still our mind and truly listen, we are apt to get surprising results. We may not hear a thing. But if we devote ample time to God, in silence, we become open to a more peaceful, productive day. And we may see something on a billboard, or pick up something in the lyrics of a song. That supplies an unexpected solution for a problem. Then we'll know we've heard.

Today I will take time to give God my full attention.

4th Sunday of Lent

Today, the fourth Sunday of Lent, is Laetare Sunday; marking the halfway point of the Lenten Season. Laetare means “to be joyful” or rejoice. The vestments for today are rose colored instead of violet and we rejoice because we are the recipients of God's love.

We all know the children’s song “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.” Yes, Jesus loves us and in today’s Gospel Jesus tells us about the vastness of God’s love for us in what are the most quoted verses in the New Testament, John 3:16-17. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

One scripture scholar writes that these two verses contain the “very essence of the gospel.” God loves us. God loves not just you and me, God loves the world. St. Augustine said: “God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love.” Jesus did not have to convince God to love us, God loved us first.

Our problem is accepting the enormity of this love. God loves us unconditionally, understanding our inadequacies, limitations and sinfulness. God does not condemn us; God forgives us out of love. Given the immensity of God’s love, we have every reason to rejoice. So, on this the fourth Sunday of Lent, REJOICE! And, during the week give yourself a gift. Spend a few moments basking in the love of God.

Father of peace,

we are joyful in your Word,

your Son Jesus Christ, 

who reconciles us to you.

Let us hasten toward Easter 

with the eagerness of faith and love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen

An Irish Prayer

 

Open Arms of Home

A young man returned from military duty in the Middle East. For several months, he had served in a place of great danger, in very unfamiliar and uncomfortable surroundings. When he talked about his joy upon being home, he talked of the simplest things. His recliner fit like a glove, and his bed was nothing short of luxurious comfort. He played ball with his son for an hour, and enjoyed his favorite meal across the table from his wife. The touch of her hand, he said, was beyond description. The greatest comfort he'd ever known wasn't anything elaborate. The greatest comfort was simply being home. It was the comfort of having familiar surroundings after a very dangerous journey.

The disciples and the close-knit circle around Jesus thought they had lost Jesus. They had called him Messiah, and life had been wonderful when Jesus was around. Suddenly, there was the cross, and it was all over. The grave sealed their hopes, and the comfort was shattered.

Then came the cry - "He's alive!" - and Jesus was in their midst. He came with open hands, standing among them, fixing their breakfast, walking with them, encouraging them, thrilling them, leaving them with the smiles of a man come home from war.

Wherever you've been, the Lord's Supper is an opportunity to come home. The battle might have been difficult, and you might not have won every fight. But here is forgiveness, and grace ... and the open arms of home.

A New Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the people I cannot change,
which is pretty much everyone,
since I’m clearly not you, God.
At least not the last time I checked.

And while you’re at it, God,
please give me the courage
to change what I need to change about myself,
which is frankly a lot, since, once again,

I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.
It’s better for me to focus on changing myself
than to worry about changing other people,
who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying,
I can’t change anyway.

Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up
whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter
than everyone else in the room,
that no one knows what they’re talking about except me,
or that I alone have all the answers.

Basically, God,
grant me the wisdom
to remember that I’m

not you.

Amen

Fr. James Martin, SJ

Temptation

“Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.” James 1:12

The old word for addiction was temptation.

“My temptation is quiet.” (William Butler Yeats)

“I can resist everything except temptation.” (Oscar Wilde)

“Lead us not into temptation.” (Jesus)

Moving Beyond Ourselves

Love immediately challenges me to break the fixation I have with myself. ~ John Powell, S.J.

Self-absorption can become habitual, and it's a seductive pastime. "How do I look?" "Was my response articulate?" "Is my wit impressive?" It's all too easy to block out the presence of others except for the purpose of comparison to ourselves. And blocking out their presence robs us of the many lessons they've come to teach us.

The ego is fragile only in proportion to the amount of undue attention we give it. And assuredly we cripple it by the focus we mistakenly believe nurtures its growth. Far better for the health of our ego to love and encourage the well being of a friend's ego.

The more we move beyond ourselves, the greater will be our personal peace and security. Happiness is the natural by-product of favoring another with loving attention.

From “Worthy of Love” by Karen Casey

Companions

“It is possible to travel alone. But the good traveler knows that the journey is human life and human life needs company. “Companion” means, the one who eats the same bread. Happy are they who feel they are always on the road and that every person they meet is their chosen companion. The good traveler cares for his weary companions. He grieves when they lose heart. He takes them where he finds them. He listens to them. Intelligently, gently, above all, lovingly, he encourages them to go on and recover their joy on the journey."

- Dom Helde

3rd Sunday of Lent

Our Old Testament readings for the past two Sundays have focused on the covenants God first made with Noah and then with Abraham. Today we have the story of another covenant, a covenant given to Moses and passed on to all of us in the Ten Commandments. These Commandments define how we should conduct our relationship with God (Commandments 1-4) and our relationships with each other (Commandments 5-10). The Ten Commandments are summed up by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40; “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Given the importance Jesus placed on God’s Commandments, today’s Gospel from John 2:13-25, should come as no surprise to us. Jesus gets angry when he encounters people desecrating the Temple, God’s House. The merchants and money changers were abusing their relationship with God by treating God’s House like a common market place and abusing their relationships with the people who came to God’s house for worship through extortion. Their lack of reverence for God and lack of respect for the people of God violated the two great Commandments and the teaching of all the prophets and Jesus.

A good Lenten exercise for this week could be to reflect on the Ten Commandments and our relationship with God and our relationships with other people. Are we irreverent towards God? Do we recognize the sacredness of God’s house? Are we respectful of other people? Do we treat others the way we want to be treated? Today’s Responsorial Psalm from Psalm 19:8-10, reminds us of how remarkable God’s Commandments are: “The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The statutes of the LORD are true, all of them just….”

Holy God, we often turn our hearts

into houses of pride and greed

rather than into homes of love and goodness

where you can feel at home.

Destroy the temple of sin in us,

drive away all sin from our hearts,

and make us living stones of a community

in which can live and reign

your Son Jesus Christ,

our Lord for ever and ever.

Amen.