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Fifth Sunday of Lent

Scripture:

Jeremiah 31:34-34
Hebrews 5:7-9
John 12:20-33

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading from John (12:20-33), when Philip and Andrew tell Jesus that there are "some Greeks" who want to see Him, He does not respond to their request. Instead, He says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." What does it mean to be "glorified?" This is what Jesus says: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life." Jesus is glorified by His sacrifice.

Later on, another reference is made to glorification. Jesus admits he is troubled by the thought of His coming death. But He asks, "Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." And then, the Father responds. A voice comes from heaven, saying, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again." God is glorified through the sacrifice of the Son, and the sacrifice is vindicated by the Resurrection!

This is what our faith tells us. And yet, we can fall into the temptation to seek glory according to how the world defines it. We want others to take notice of what we do. We seek the applause. We yearn for the exaltation of self. Maybe we’re trying to prove our worth to others and even to ourselves. But our worth does not lie in worldly fame and recognition. It lies in God’s love for us! And so Jesus tells us that unless we can die to self, we will not be able to bear "much fruit." We are called, then, to forsake the world’s understanding of glory, and take on the Gospel’s understanding of it. We’re called to give thanks to our loving God. We’re called to love and sacrifice for the sake of others. We’re called to be like Philip and Andrew, and bring others to Christ.

For it is in Christ that the prophecy we hear from Jeremiah (31:31-34) in our first reading is fulfilled. Through Jeremiah, God promises His people a new covenant: "I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. … All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more." God reveals Himself in a most direct way in Jesus Christ. God gives us a way to know Him and to know His love for us. As Jesus was "lifted up" on the Cross to free us from the power of sin, and was "lifted up" in the Resurrection, to give us the promise of everlasting happiness, God shows us how much we are loved. Christ, in the words of our second reading from Hebrews (5:7-9), is "the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him."

So, if we are to seek any kind of glory, it is the real glory of everlasting life in God. We attain that glory, neither by pushing others to the margins, nor by domination or violence, nor by promoting ourselves to the exclusion of everyone and everything else. We attain the glory promised by God not by any means of our own, but by humbly sharing what God has given us – love in Jesus Christ.

 

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P. is the director of St. Paul of the Cross Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan. 

Scripture:

Jeremiah 11:18-20
John 740-53

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel guards were sent to arrest Jesus.  They came back empty handed.  "So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’   The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." (John 7:46)  They were spellbound by the word of Jesus. We are very blessed by the gift of faith to be able to hear these very words of Jesus in the Gospels.  When the bystanders saw how Jesus cured the paralytic by a word they exclaimed: "What a word!"     We also can be mesmerized by his voice in the Sacred Scriptures.   God’s word does not just give information but effects what it says.  "And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light." ( Genesis 1:3) When we see the sun rise we are experiencing a concrete realization of his word.  

When we are at prayer the Sacred Scriptures should never be far from us. Things happen when we experience his voice. St Paul of the Cross, that great man of prayer, used to take his Bible out into the woods of Monte Argentario, and ponder for hours trying to perceive those riveting words of Christ!  It is no surprise that Adam after his sin ran and hid from the voice (khol) of God in the garden. "Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account." (Hebrews 4:12)   

Sin deafens us to the word.  St. Augustine asks God to shatter his deafness.  May God grant us his grace to hear his beautiful word that we might experience its hypnotic effect as it did to those guards in today’s Gospel so long ago!

 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:
Exodus 32:7-14
John 5:31-47

Reflection:
"Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them… Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people… So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people." Ex 32:10,12b,14

Anger is a dangerous thing. We can do things we would never think of doing when we are mad about something. We have lots of cats in our neighborhood and many of them have adopted our yard as their kitty litter box. I personally like cats, but I’m not interested in cleaning up after the neighbor ones. I get especially irritated when I am digging in a flower bed and am met with a very unpleasant odor and a gloveful of something that isn’t dirt!

One day I was in my kitchen, and noticed one of the cats in the flower bed. I rapped on the window and told the cat to take his business elsewhere. He didn’t move a muscle. He stared at me defiantly asking, "So, what are you going to do about it?" Well, I showed him – I pounded on the window at which he jumped and ran, but at which also the window broke into several pieces. It wasn’t fun telling my husband how the window broke, let alone having to pay  $100 to get it fixed!!!

Too bad Moses wasn’t here to calm me down before I did the damage! Breaking a window is nothing compared to wiping out your people, but I’m sure you see my point. Anger left unchecked is not a good thing. And how incredible that God would allow us to stand in the gap for someone! Just as Moses talked God down so to speak, we can pray for others who may be in danger of God’s judgement. Don’t ever underestimate the power of your prayers!!!

Keep praying for your kids and grandkids and neighbors (and neighbor cats), and if you have a prayer left, say one for me to learn to let the Lord calm me down before I do another stupid thing.

 

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. Janice also leads women’s retreats. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.jcarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].

Scripture:

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
John 5:1-16

Reflection:

A common image in both of the readings for today is water.  In the first reading Ezekiel has a dream in which he follows the stream that flows from the south side of the Temple altar across the Temple threshold out to the East.  The further away he gets from the Temple, the broader and deeper the stream becomes until it is so deep and wide that Ezekiel cannot cross from one side to the other.  That Temple water nourishes all kinds of life within it and along its banks and refreshes everything it touches, even the sea at the place they meet. 

In the Gospel, John recounts an encounter between a paralyzed man and Jesus at the pool of Bethesda.  The water in this pool had some of the life-giving powers of the water from the Temple described by Ezekiel.  Whenever the water in the pool was "stirred up," the first person into the pool was cured of whatever malady he or she suffered.  Jesus approaches a paralyzed man who had been trying to be first into the pool for some 38 years, but had never quite made it.  Jesus asks him, "Do you want to be well?"  The man responds by telling Jesus of his inability to get to the pool in time.  Jesus tells him to take up his mat and be well.  And, he was!  Jesus himself becomes the source of healing and nourishment.  Encouraged by today’s Word of God to us, we pray that we can trust in and welcome the refreshing, life-giving, love of God that comes into our lives through Jesus.

 

Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director the Development Office for Holy Cross Province  and is stationed at Immaculate Conception Community  in Chicago.

Scripture:

2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
Ephesians 2:4-10
John 3:14-21

Reflection:

"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." John 3:16

Today’s gospel has the oft-quoted verse John 3:16. It’s the first verse we had our son memorize when he was a very little boy. It’s a great verse! I was praying about what to write when I came across the following in He Chose the Nails, a book by one of my favorite authors, Max Lucado:

"… oh, how wide God’s love reaches. Aren’t you glad the verse does not read: ‘For God so loved the rich…’? Or, ‘For God so loved the famous…’? Or, ‘For God so loved the thin…’? It doesn’t. Nor does it state ‘For God so loved the Europeans or Africans…’ ‘the sober or successful…’ ‘the young or the old…’ No, when we read John 3:16, we simply (and happily) read, ‘For God so loved the world.’ How wide is God’s love? Wide enough for the whole world."

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, thus we all need a savior. Salvation is meant for everyone, but don’t we often think differently? How about Judas? How about Idi Amin, or Hitler? How about the guy who murdered your aunt, or the man who raped your daughter? How about the father who abused you or the husband who cheated on you and ran off with your best friend? Surely, they won’t get to heaven will they? God hopes so.

Can we hope so too? Certainly not at first, but definitely over time with God’s help and the prayers of others. So, let’s all pray for those who have committed horrible crimes, and for us to forgive anyone we need to forgive. Let’s see the world transformed by the power of forgiveness. And let’s pray for every person in the world that they will all accept God’s amazing free gift of salvation and be welcomed one day into heaven as His beloved son or daughter.

 

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. Janice also leads women’s retreats. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother 6. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.jcarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected]

Feast of St. Joseph

Scripture:
2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16
Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22
Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a, or Luke 2:41-51a

Reflection:
"Behold a faithful and prudent steward whom the Lord set over his household." (Luke 12:42. Entrance Antiphon)

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A little over a month ago, I was standing in front of the Cathedral dedicated to St. Joseph in Beijing, China. I was surprised to learn that the Chinese Catholic community had a long standing devotion to St. Joseph. I also came across another Cathedral dedicated to St. Joseph and a newly ordained Bishop by the name of Joseph. All of this renewed my hope for the Catholic Church in China.

The Opening Prayer (Collect) for today’s Mass states: "Grant, we pray, almighty God, that by St. Joseph’s intercession your Church may constantly watch over the unfolding mysteries of human salvation, whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care." We are well aware that St. Joseph’s role at the beginning of our human salvation was critical, vital and so important that without his willingness to cooperate with God’s plan for Mary, his Spouse, the Incarnation would not have unfolded as it did. There is no doubt that our Catholic faith and our Catholic Church had mysterious beginnings. And from what I have seen from my travels around the world, we continue to grow in mysterious ways.

No matter where we are in the world, whether we live here in the United States or live in China, Vietnam, Indonesia or any of the many places I’ve visited over the last five years, the growth of the Church is complete mystery. By all human measures, we should not exist. We are too radical for some and we are too conservatives for others. Some governments are overtly antagonistic toward the Church and some are covertly so, hiding behind false understandings of personal and community rights. We have also experienced the human frailty of human failure. Some of our leaders have made wrong and bad decisions, covered up for the wrongdoing of others and treated the faithful unjustly. Good and faithful people have been deeply hurt by all of this.

And yet the Church continues to grow. I am more and more convinced that St. Joseph has had a vital role in bridging the follies of a human institution into the divine reality of the Sacramental Church. How else can we explain the great devotion that the people of China have for St. Joseph? Why is that that Chinese Catholics have risked their lives and families to gather for prayer and Mass, even when there was a strong persecution taking place against them? Why is it that young men and women still yearned to enter into the convents and seminaries to do the Lord’s work? God’s grace is beyond human comprehension.

On this feast of St. Joseph, then, let us deepen our devotion to him. Let us steep ourselves into the spirit of St. Joseph and allow ourselves to be guided by courage, prudence and love. Truly, St. Joseph is a faithful and prudent steward.

 

Fr. Clemente Barron, C.P. is a member of the General Council of the Passionist Congregation and is stationed in Rome. 

Feast of St. Patrick 

Scripture:

Hosea 6:1-6
Luke 18:9-14

Reflection:

During the Lenten season we are given the opportunity to open our lives and hearts to Christ’s coming at Easter. It becomes a time for purification of the heart; a self evaluation on how you are measuring up in your spiritual life and your relationship to God. Hopefully, every year we are making strides in that area, but there is always room for improvement.

As the Gospel shows us today, the humble tax collector who asked only for God’s mercy went away justified as opposed to the self-righteous Pharisee. Why is that? It would seem at first glance that the Pharisee is doing everything right; sacrificing all that he needs to do to obtain eternal glory. It seems as if he needs to do nothing more because he is keeping all of the earthly laws in mind.  On the contrary, in the first reading and psalm for today, we are reminded that God is not pleased with burnt offerings or sacrifice but have a contrite heart and full of humility. As we continue to read the Gospel, it is the tax collector who humbles himself before the Lord. He is not examining what others are doing and reporting their missteps back to God, but rather exhibiting remorse for his own sins. He recognizes that he is not doing everything that he can to be pleasing to God and asks for mercy. Throughout this season as we have heard through the Scriptures, the prophets and psalmist constantly ask for mercy and cleanliness of heart.  It is through those words that the relationship with God is opened to whatever His will may be for us.

We have been given this time to meditate on how we can open our lives to God’s presence and will. Today we are being urged by all the readings to return to the Lord with an open and honest heart. We are called to examine what is happening in our lives, humble ourselves before his presence and open our hearts to the improvements that He wants us to make.

 

Kim Garcia is the Pastoral Associate at Holy Name Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Hosea 14:2-10
Mark 12:28-34

Reflection:

A memory of college that still makes me laugh happened when my Humanities class was assigned to read Moby Dick. Spring was just starting and so the days of warmer, gentle weather enveloped us weary students with relief after the relentless winter spent in rural Illinois.

I was plodding through the novel on a balmy Saturday afternoon, trying to get myself through what seemed like endlessly long and impossible nautical passages. Looking for diversion, I went to my friend’s dorm room only to find Moby Dick stretched across her face as she snored beneath its pages.  I collapsed in laughter and lay down on her roommate’s bed to catch a few winks myself.

About a week later, having only made it through a couple chapters, she asked me to give her the "gist" of the novel. Hmmm. "Well, let’s see, there is this whale…"

Which brings me to today’s Gospel. If one were inclined to say, "Just give me the gist of the heart of Christianity," Jesus himself distills centuries of complicated biblical history and spiritual evolution to this:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
And secondly:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

It is a "simple" message and a call that takes a lifetime to embrace.  For me, there are endless false starts and do-overs. But with immeasurable compassion, this abundantly patient Lover of humanity calls out to us, asking only that we use fully the precious gifts He gave us to return that love, and to share love generously with our struggling neighbors as well.

As we continue in our Lenten journey, perhaps we can ask ourselves today who we feel distant from, including God, and whether it is possible to open our heart as God has so graciously opened His heart to us? Can we set aside all the noise, distractions and judgments so that we may love, with abandon, our God, our neighbor, our self?

 

Nancy Nickel is director of communications at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago, Illinois.