February 25, 2024: 2nd Sunday of Lent

As we continue our Lenten journey, we open ourselves to great visions that give us totally different perspectives on Who God is, and Who we are in relationship to Him.

Abraham showed His willingness to sacrifice His own son, and then God intervened at the last second, providing a ram.  Once Abraham sacrificed the ram, God declared that he would have numerous descendants who would be a blessing to the earth.

This story is an archetype of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us upon the Cross.  Lest His death be seen as a morbid dead-end, Christ gave three of the Apostles, and ultimately us, a glimpse of the fullness of His glory.  He connected it with the Law of Moses and the words of the prophets that point to Him as the fulfillment of God's plan, since Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus.  And lest we want to hold on to this vision and avoid the suffering of the Way of the Cross, after St. Peter spoke, God shined a bright light and commanded the apostles to listen to Jesus, the beloved Son.

And then they were commanded to wait before telling this vision, because God had more work to do in them to reveal the full understanding of His plan for salvation.

We are encouraged by these glorious visions because we know that God has done so much to save us, even offering His own Son, and demonstrates His power over death through the Resurrection, to which the Transfiguration points.

Truly we can count on God through these glimpses of the fullness of His presence.

As we seek to fully the Way of the Cross, we, too, can join the number of Abraham's descendants who are a blessing to the world, as God's glorious vision works in us.

February 22, 2024: Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

God has given His people a Church founded on the rock of St. Peter and the other apostles, who handed on the teachings of Christ, a succession that has continued through the ages.

We ground our faith on the teachings they've handed on, and we participate in the work to advance His Kingdom.  As we have acknowledged Christ, so we are called to make Him known to others.

February 18, 2024: 1st Sunday of Lent

In the stark environment of the desert, Jesus faced temptations, and He became more aware of His identity.

By obediently abiding in the Word of God, He experienced what it means to truly be the Son of God, ready to follow God's will.  And God was present to help Him, as the Gospel according to St. Mark, like the others, notes that angels ministered to Him.

In our journey through the desert of Lent, we come to a better understanding of who we are.

Indeed, we are people loved by God, Who sought us out when we went astray.  His saving action stretched back to Noah, when God made a way to save Noah for his righteousness and the animals. Now, in Christ, the waters of baptism are sanctified and cleanse us.

We can now set our sights on what is above, turning away from the sin that entangles us and enter more deeply into relationship with God, showing ourselves more and more to be His beloved daughters and sons, in the way that Christ showed us by His obedience in the desert, to overcome the disobedience shown by GOd's people when they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land.  Furthermore, God is ready to help us become Who He has created and called us to be.

February 14, 2024: Ash Wednesday

Once again, as we set ourselves toward the Sacred Paschal Triduum, we hear the call to repentance.

We are urged to act promptly, aware of our failings, and our need for God's grace.  Indeed, God loves us greatly, and provides an opportunity for us to repent and be renewed in His grace--now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation, as St. Paul proclaims.

We continue in the way of repentance by engaging in spiritual practices for the sake of growing closer in relationship with God.

We do so as a response to God's great love for us, inspired to share it with others by living in a way that is renewed in God's grace.

February 11, 2024: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In Old Testament times, the Law dictated that sick people had to remain distant from the rest of the community.  So physical illness was compounded by the social reality of isolation.

Then we see the great power of Christ on display in the Gospel reading in more ways than one.  The man with the disease surely had great faith to approach Jesus when he was supposed to be distant from others, yet recognized Jesus had the potential power to heal Him.  Jesus, with compassion, heals the man and he can rejoin the community.  He does so with a renewed purpose in life, telling the Good News about the One Who can heal and restore us fully like no one else.

St. Paul calls us to live our lives ultimately for the glory of God.  St. Paul offered himself as a humble example of someone seeking to live faithfully, and he could serve as an example for others to imitate.

Beyond physical ailments, Christ, through His Paschal Mystery, has fully healed us from the effects of sin that keep us from God and from being part of the community that worships Him.  When we are aware of how Christ has healed us, we surely are filled, by faith, with zeal to respond by living our lives devoted to God, doing so as part of One Body that makes Him known in the world.

So as we head into Lent, let us praise Christ for healing us, in the spirit of the man who was healed, and share the testimony of that healing by our lives.

February 4, 2024: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Because of the presence of sin in this fallen world, it appears like our lives have no purpose, which is the crux of Job's lament, as featured in the first reading.

Then Christ came to proclaim the Good News that we can be free from sin.  Furthermore, He gives us a great purpose for life:  He heals us so we can serve others in the spirit of love He has shown us, as shown in how Simon's mother-in-law responded to Christ's healing by serving others.

We go far and wide, aware of how our lives are so driven now by the power of the Gospel, as St. Paul was so aware.  As disciples today, in response to our encounters with God in prayer, we proclaim the Good News by our lives.

It's notable to recognize how Bishop Barron has so marvelously proclaimed the Gospel message through his Sunday sermons, which have now reached the 1000-mark with his latest homily.

February 2, 2024: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Mary, Blessed Mother, and St. Joseph went to the Temple in Jerusalem to present Jesus to the Lord.  And it was the event when Jesus presented Himself as Lord to the world.

With deep faith keeping them in tune with God, Saints Simeon and Anne drew close to Jesus and praised God for revealing Himself in the Infant, and for the Light He brings.

Indeed, Jesus is the Light of the World, and purifies our hearts so that we may enter into God's presence.  Constantly keeping close to Him, we can continually draw from His Light and shine its brilliance into the world by our lives.

Merry Candlemas!