Tag: Catholic

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Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

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Readings
Gospel at the Procession with Palms: Luke 19:28-40
Reading 1: Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm: Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Reading 2: Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel: Luke 22:14-23:56

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion. Can you imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples during the scene described by Luke today? People were cheering and clapping and celebrating. They treated him like a rock star! And then a few days later, just a few days later, they crucified him. They stripped him and they nailed him to a cross. They drove nails through his hands and his feet and hung him in the air until he died.

Can you imagine what his disciples were feeling as they watched Jesus dying on the cross? Do you think they were sad? I think they were profoundly sad. Were they scared? Oh yes. Scripture tells us that his closest disciples, those who would become his apostles, were in the upper room hiding – hiding! They were hiding! Yes, I think they were scared. Do you think they were angry? You bet! How could this happen? They thought he was their savior. They thought he was supposed to be their king. This wasn’t supposed to happen! Now what?

Now what?

Death has a funny way of making us feel a hurricane of emotions like sad, scared, angry. Like our Psalmist today, we want to scream and shake our fists to heaven, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”, (Ps 22:2).

When death comes, some of us move on and try as best we can to pick up the pieces of our lives. But some in our families never do move on, do they? In both cases, those who move on without processing what happened, and those who can’t seem to move on don’t understand the message of Easter.

Before we get there, though, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page and to do that, we need to go back to the beginning. In the Garden while Adam and Eve were walking, they encountered a sly and cunning serpent. Can you imagine how that conversation went? He probably told them, “Good? You’re not good! You’re human! You’re so filthy! If you want to be good, then you need to be like God and if you want to be God, then you need to eat the fruit of this tree.”

Jewish scholars tell us that evil entered the world through the first temptation. What was the first temptation? Doubting the goodness of God’s creation. You see, Adam and Even didn’t need to eat the fruit to be good. God made them so they were good just the way they were.

The Original Sin totally disrupted our ability to find God on our own. Humans caused the rift, and only a human could fix it, but no human had the power to bridge the gap between God and us. So, God chose to send His son to us, as a human. St. Paul tells us in the second reading today from Philippians, that, “…though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness…” (Phil 2:6-7).

As a human, Jesus sanctifies humanity. That’s what the incarnation is all about. But to save us – to bridge the gap between God and humanity, requires the ultimate sacrifice. St. Paul goes not to tell us that, “…found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross,” (Phil 2:8). Through his death and by his blood, we are washed clean of our sins and we become whiter than snow (Ps 51:9). And by his resurrection, he conquers death itself! Death no longer has any hold over us.

So, in both cases we discussed earlier, those who move on after death without processing what happened, and those who can’t seem to move on, both don’t understand the promise of the resurrection. All of us disciples, those of us who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, will see our friends and loved ones again! Death is not the end.

Today, the Church celebrates both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. We enter Holy Week and welcome Jesus into our lives, asking him to allow us to share in his suffering, death and Resurrection. Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday are two sides of the same coin. We rejoice as we receive Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Savior. We weep and mourn as his death confronts us with our sin. But that is not the end, because we look forward with great hope to Easter when we will celebrate the Resurrection.

Homework! As we enter Holy Week, I suggest we reflect on the following questions:

  1. Am I ready to welcome Jesus into my heart? Am I ready to surrender my life to Him during this Holy Week and welcome Him into all areas of my life as my Lord and Savior?
  2. Are we willing to follow Jesus, not just to Church but in our daily lives? Are we willing to entrust ourselves to Him even when the future is frightening or confusing, believing God has a plan? Are we willing to serve Him until that day when His plan for us on earth is fulfilled?

I think that reflecting and contemplating these questions this week will further our Lenten exercise of taking the focus off our own lives and opening us up to God’s people. Do you got it? Are you going to do it? Good! May each of us have a blessed Holy Week! The Lord be with you. And may Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

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The Woman Caught in Adultery

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Fifth Sunday of Lent Readings
First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm: Psalm 126: 1-6
Second Reading: Philippians 3:8-14
Gospel: John 8:1-11

In today’s gospel we hear that familiar story about the woman caught in adultery. They bring her to Jesus while he is in the temple and they demand to know what he thinks should be done with her. Like we briefly discussed last week, today’s Gospel presents a couple of the big kahuna of sins, like adultery. In the language of the Church, we call these mortal sins. Brief side note, why are they called mortal sins? They are mortal sins because they can destroy our relationship with the Lord and His community, like adultery, a mortal sin can shatter a family.

In 1 John 5:16-17, for example, we learn the distinction between sins. John says all sin is bad, but there are some sins that are deadly. Smaller sins or what we Catholics call venial sins wound our relationship with the Lord. Mortal sins ruin or can kill our relationship with God and with His community. To be a mortal sin, the sin must be a grave matter, aka a big kahuna sin. Second, I have to know that it’s a serious sin. Sin is not an accident. Finally, I need to freely chose to do it even though I know it’s a sin. Those are the three characteristics of mortal sins. I have a few links at the bottom of notes that give more information about sins including the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a couple of excellent YouTube videos.

Ok, back to our Gospel today. As usual, there are so many things going on – there is so much texture in this reading alone, not to mention the other two readings and the psalm, that it’s difficult to know where to begin and how much to discuss. So, think about today’s Gospel, let’s start with this: it’s a trap!

The scribes and Pharisees tried to trap Jesus. On one hand, if he in any way refutes the Law, then they could accuse him in front of the Jews as lacking authenticity. How can he be a prophet let alone the Messiah if rejects the Law of Moses – to Law of God? On the other hand, if he affirms the Law and says that indeed, she should be stoned to death, then they can hand him over to the Romans and accuse him of trying to undermine Roman authority by advocating vigilante law. You see, it was against Roman law to kill another person.

Jesus doesn’t buy it.

Instead, he squats down and begins to write in the dirt. Wouldn’t you like to have been a fly on the wall to see what he was doing? Was he just doodling? Or was he writing something? Or was he drawing images that correspond to sins? We don’t know. But instead of falling into the trap, he brilliantly says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” According to the Gospel, what happens next is that one by one, the crowd starts to dissolve. Then later, he asks her, “‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She replied, ‘No one, sir.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.’”

Now, does this mean that adultery isn’t that big a deal? No, I don’t think that’s what Jesus is saying at all. I think what he is trying to illustrate is that there is another mortal sin going on – the sin of pride. Now pride is said to be the first and most deadly of all sin. Why? Pride as a sin is the irrational belief that you are better than, superior to and more important than others. C.S. Lewis tells us that, “…it was through pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice…” (Mere Christianity, 121). So, perhaps Jesus is teaching us we can’t sin to expose sin. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

But Jesus doesn’t let the woman off the hook. First, he demonstrates God’s mercy by saying he doesn’t condemn her. If she is repentant, then she will be spared. But, he tells her to sin no more. Now this is what repentance is all about. The goal is not just to admit to ourselves, to our family and friends, and to God that we sinned. We need to try not to repeat the same sin.

That’s the point of the Catholic understanding of reconciliation. First, we go to confession to say our sins. Why? Because there is something powerful about admitting out loud that we did something wrong. We take ownership of what we did wrong. Second, we make amends, which is to say we try to make it up to God, our families and our friends. Third, and this is key, we commit to try not to repeat the same sin.

The great lure of sin is that it traps us in a never-ending cycle of sin. How many of find that we keep repeating the same sins over and over and over again? So, the goal of reconciliation is to try to commit to sin no more. Lent is wonderful time to come to terms with the things we’ve done wrong in our lives that have damaged our relationship with God, or family and our friends. In the Catholic tradition, this is an excellent time to experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation and experience the grace of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Homework! Reflecting on the Gospel today, I encourage you to consider the following two questions in this week as we make our way to Palm Sunday:

  1. Have you ever experienced the feeling that were so right and someone else was so wrong that it didn’t matter to you what you did to prove it? What does today’s Gospel tell us about that?
  2. When was the last time you experienced the healing grace of God’s mercy and forgiveness? Maybe it’s time to go to Reconciliation.

I hope that doing our homework this week will help us take the focus off ourselves and open us to God’s mercy and love. May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Resources:
• Catechism of the Catholic Church 1846-1876 on sin
• Bishop Robert Barron: “Seven Deadly Sins; Seven Lively Virtues”
• Fr. Mike Schmitz: “Mortal vs. Venial Sin”

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Fourth Sunday of Lent: The Prodigal Son

picture of a boy, back to us, with a backpack slung over his shoulder walking down a deserted street

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Readings
First Reading: Joshua 5:9A, 10-12
Psalm: Psalm 34: 2-7
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

In today’s Gospel, Luke 15:1-3 and verses 11-32, we hear that all-familiar story about the Prodigal Son. In this story, the younger son wants his share of the estate now, so he asks his father to give it to him. His father agrees and the son leaves for another country and lives an indulgent life. He’s the life of the party – until the money runs out. Of course, when it rains, it pours, so the money doesn’t just run out. No! A famine strikes. Now this poor boy has no money and no food and so he goes to work on a farm. He realizes that even the pigs live better than him, so he decides to go home. His father’s servants are treated better than this, so he hopes to live and work on this father’s place. But when his father sees him in the distance, what does he do? He runs into the field and gives him a deep bearhug! And he orders the servants to take care of son and prepare a huge party in his honor.

Now, when the older brother hears what is going on, he is ticked off! Here he’s been, the whole time, doing what he’s supposed to, working his butt off and never once has his father let him have a party! But his brother squanders his share of the wealth and he’s treated like a hero. And the father says, “My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
This is one of my favorite stories. That image of the father running into the field to meet his son who has returned home is a powerful image. Really, it’s a wonderful story that reminds us, as Bishop Robert Barron says, that the Bible is not the story of our quest for God. It’s about God’s passionate, relentless quest for us.

But there’s another dimension to this story though that I learned from Fr. Laurence Freeman, a Benedictine monk, that I think we need to pay attention to. Why is it that we become so angry when we see someone do something they shouldn’t do? Maybe it’s because we see a little bit of ourselves – or at least the something we might have done – in the person who did something wrong.

This story about these two brothers and the father is about us. It’s about both sides of our ego. One side wants to run after pleasure – think the mid-life crisis complete with new model car and partner. The other side takes the moral high ground and feels justified in condemnation.

Isn’t it also interesting how both brothers misunderstand the father’s reaction? The younger son expects his father to be angry and indignant and he’s hoping that he’ll be allowed to work as one of the slaves. The older brother is shocked that his father is so happy and welcoming.

In the symbolism of the father’s joy, a lack of self-importance, and the exuberance of his love we see our true self – our true nature which underpins all moral reasoning. Without knowledge of the essential truth of the unconditional nature of love, the ego will prevail. So how do we keep both sides of our ego in check? We pray. We experience the community of His church. Each time we pray, we are like the prodigal returning home to be embraced.

So, don’t condemn the wrongdoer once he or she has begun to change. We need to encourage rehabilitation by affirmation, forgiveness, and acceptance. Just as the father in the Gospel celebrates the return, we need to celebrate when those who do wrong in our lives come back. We need to do unto others as we would have them do us. Jesus tells us that just as he loves us, we need to love one another.

Homework! Lent is a time of simplification and strengthening our discipline where it is weak. After being nourished by the Word of God proclaimed and, in the Eucharist, please meditate on these two questions:

  1. Consider each of the three characters in the Gospel: the father, the Prodigal Son and the indignant son. Which one would you rather be?
  2. Considering how you answered the first question, how do you treat other people? Do you respond more like the Prodigal Son, the indignant son or the father?

I think by doing our homework we might identify areas in our life where we need to grow in faith, hope and love. Do you got it? Are you going to do it? Well good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Here’s a great video song from Jason Michael Carroll that captures the spirit of today’s Gospel: