Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion

Today’s liturgical celebration is called Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. With this liturgy we begin our recounting of the most monumental events in human history, the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a celebration marked by sharp contrasts. For the past five weeks we followed Jesus on his journey towards Jerusalem. Today we join the crowds who spread their cloaks on the road and scatter cut branches before Jesus as he enters the city. We wave our palm branches and sing “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is the he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest” (Matt. 21:9). Our commemoration of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem is full of hope and joy.

The tone of the celebration changes as we move into the Liturgy of the Word. Hearing from St. Matthew once again, we listen to the betrayal and desertion of Jesus by his disciples and followers. We follow Jesus from the Passover table to Gethsemane, from Gethsemane to Caiaphas the high priest, from Caiaphas to Pilate, the governor and from Pilate to Golgotha. The joyful crowd is gone now, replaced by an angry mob shouting, “Let him be crucified!” And we, like the mob, shout, “Let him be crucified! Crucify him!

How many times have we betrayed or abandoned Jesus? How many times has our “faith been shaken” by events or the cruel and unfair actions of other people? How many times have we cried out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me”? During this next week, Holy Week, we all have an opportunity to unite our hearts, our sadness and our suffering with Jesus. We can renew our commitment to service in the washing of feet and celebrate the last supper on Holy Thursday. We can walk with Jesus towards his crucifixion and death by participating in the Station of the Cross and the Good Friday Liturgy. Finally, we can celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, renewing our baptismal promises, our faith and our spirit of hope and joy.

God our Father,

in the passion and death of Jesus, your Son,

you make us aware

of how deeply you love us.

Make us also conscious of how evil sin is

and help us to keep believing in your love

when we have to bear the cross of suffering.

For after the cross follows the resurrection,

for Jesus and for us.

Give us this firm faith

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Presence

"Where shall I look for enlightenment?"

"Here?"

"When will it happen?"
"It is happening right now."

"Then why don't I experience it?"
"Because you do not look."

"What shall I look for?"
"Nothing. Just look."

"At what?"
"Anything your eyes light upon."

"Must I look in a special kind of way."
"No. The ordinary way will do."

"But, don't I always look in the ordinary way?"
"No."

"Why ever not?"
"Because to look you must be here. You are mostly somewhere else."


Fr Anthony de Mello, SJ​

What Goes Around Comes Around

One day a man saw a old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.

He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough.

Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things ht could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, "And think of me."

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger.

Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it. With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard. She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson."

5th Sunday of Lent

Today's gospel, John 11:1-45, is one of the most significant passages in all scripture. St. John's story about Jesus raising Lazarus demonstrates Jesus’ power over death. It sets the stage for Jesus' own death and resurrection. And it offers all of us who believe in Jesus the consolation that even when we die, our spirits will live forever.

Like the stories about the woman at the well and the man born blind, this encounter between Jesus and Lazarus was a transforming moment for Lazarus, for the disciples, and for many people who witnessed the miracle. Jesus told the disciples as they prepared to go to Bethany, "Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him" (John 1:14-15). As I reflected on this story, it occurred to me that we have no idea how Lazarus felt about being brought back to life. He never said a word that was recorded. But the miracle clearly had a profound impact on other people. St. John tells us that “many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in [Jesus]” (John 11:45). In fact, Lazarus became almost as much of a celebrity as Jesus. Large crowds gathered “not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead” (John 12:9). And Lazarus became as much of a threat to the Pharisees as Jesus so “the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him” (John 12:10-11).

Although most of the attention in this story is on Lazarus, it is the interaction between Jesus and Martha that is the challenge for us. Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). He then asked, “Do you believe this?" Martha’s answer was confident and strong, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world” (John 11:27). Just as Jesus directed this question to Martha, he directs the question to all of us. “Do you believe this”? Do you believe that I AM the resurrection and the life? For the disciples and many others, faith came as they witnessed the miracle of Lazarus or they experienced the miracle of sight, or of healing. For us belief in the Resurrection is an act of absolute faith. It transcends time, history and the limitations of our physical world and our physical selves. It is the great mystery of Christianity.

As we complete the final days of Lent and prepare ourselves to enter into Holy Week, Let us join with Martha and the Communion of Saints declaring, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

Merciful God,

you showed your glory to us all

by sending your Son

to conquer the powers of death

and call us forth into life.

Break the bonds which bind us,

that we may believe and proclaim Christ,

the source of life,

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

God for ever and ever.

AMEN

Love is Always Open Arms

“Love is always open arms.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

There is a story about a boy who left home and dishonored his father by spending a large amount of money on fast and reckless living. When the boy's money ran out, he was faced with the prospect of returning home to face his father, knowing the father had every reason to be disappointed in him. Filled with fear and shame he approached his home, his mind racing with words of apology. Before the boy could say a word, his father rushed to him with open arms and hugged his lost son in joy and love.

Have we done this? Have we found it in our hearts to accept what a loved one does, even if we would have wanted something different?

Love like this is the highest kind of love. It finds joy in others no matter what, because it recognizes the freedom of those we love, and doesn't chain them to our own wants. It is the same kind of love God has for us.

Are my arms open today​?

3rd Sunday of Lent

On the first Sunday of Lent, we followed Jesus into the dessert so we could confront our weaknesses, identify and then turn away from the things that separate us from God (selfishness, greed, materialism, desire for power) and rebuild our relationship with God. Last Sunday, the second Sunday of Lent, we followed Jesus up a mountain with Peter, James and John. There on the mountaintop we witnessed his transfiguration and glorification. We prayed that the light of His transfigured face might shine on us so that we could become transforming lights to one another. Then we followed Jesus down the mountain back into our world where he continued his ministry. Today and for the next two Sundays, we leave the Gospel of Matthew and move to St. John's Gospel where we witness three encounters between Jesus and people whose lives he transformed by the light of his presence and the truth of his word, a Samaritan woman, a man blind from birth and Lazarus.

St. John’s description of Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob is one of the greatest stories of conversion and evangelization in all of scripture. Like most of the people Jesus ministered to, the Samaritan woman was a dubious candidate. She was a Samaritan, a people despised by the Jews. She was a woman, rabbis and observant Jewish men were to avoid speaking to or even looking at women in public. And her morals were questionable, making her an outcast among outcasts. Yet Jesus reached out to her with mercy and love, challenged her and turned her life around. She, in turn, was so astounded that she wanted to share her amazing experience with all the people in her town. On the strength of her personal testimony, “Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him.” This woman became one of the first evangelists. In his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI said, “the sure sign that a person has been evangelized is that they in turn become evangelizers: This is exactly what happened in the case of the Samaritan woman.”

The mercy and love Jesus offered to the Samaritan woman; he offers to us. Jesus invites us to drink the water that will become in us "a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). He invites us to eat the food of faith, food that enables us "to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work"(John 4:34). Then, Jesus, the Messiah, who lives in us and through us actually expects us "to finish his work" here in Peachtree City. Like the Samaritan woman, we are called to be evangelizers. We are called to share the mercy and love offered to us to others so together we can build the kingdom right here.

Creative and forgiving Father

you let people experience your mercy

when they encounter your Son, Jesus Christ.

Let Jesus, your living Word,

speak to us from heart to heart.

Give us an unquenchable thirst

for the things that matter:

for faith and for meaning in our lives,

for hope in a better world

filled with your justice and peace,

for a spirit of committed love

that knows how to share itself.

Generously give us all these things

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

2nd Sunday of Lent

Last week our Gospel recounted Jesus’ encounter with the devil and his temptations in the desert. The temptations occurred at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. This week we fast forward to the story of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-9. 

To put the story in context, it is important to know that several days before the Transfiguration Jesus told his disciples “He must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Matt. 16:21). Upon hearing this Peter rebuked Jesus and Jesus dismissed him just as he did the devil in the desert because like the devil, Peter was attempting to divert him from his God-determined path. A few days later Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain where his appearance changed in their presence. His “clothes became dazzling white.” Moses and Elijah appeared and had a conversation with him. The three disciples heard the voice of God say: "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." For Jesus the Transfiguration was affirmation that his mission was valid. For the disciples, it was an overwhelming event they would not understand until after the Resurrection. 

In his Lenten Message for 2023 Our Holy Father Francis said: “During this liturgical season, the Lord takes us with him to a place apart. While our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our usual places and our often repetitive and sometimes boring routines, during Lent we are invited to ascend “a high mountain” in the company of Jesus and to live a particular experience of spiritual discipline – ascesis – as God’s holy people.” The Holy Father reminds us that, “Lenten penance is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross. This is precisely what Peter and the other disciples needed to do. 

To deepen our knowledge of the Master, to fully understand and embrace the mystery of his salvation, accomplished in total selfgiving inspired by love, we must allow ourselves to be taken aside by him and to detach ourselves from mediocrity and vanity. We need to set out on the journey, an uphill path that, like a mountain trek, requires effort, sacrifice and concentration. “ Jesus received strength and courage to carry his cross from God his Father during his Transfiguration. The power of the transfiguration is available to us as well just as it was available to Peter, James and John. If we have confidence in God’s love for us, if we truly desire to fulfil God’s will in all aspects of our lives, if we trust God with childlike confidence and if we remember to give God glory for all that God has done for us, then we will have the strength to carry our own crosses. Not only will we have the strength to deal with our problems, our lives can be transformed. And, through the love of God that shines in us, we can transform the lives of others. 

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

it is wonderful for us to be here 

in the presence of your beloved Son. 

Let his radiant face give us light and peace. 

Do not allow sin to disfigure us further

 nor divide our communities. 

May the light of his transfigured face 

shine on all of us and give us courage, 

that we too may become lights to one another, 

until we may enter your everlasting light. 

We ask you this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen