February 22, 2015: First Sunday of Lent

The origins of Lent go back to the early days of the Church when catechumens preparing for baptism would enter a more focused retreat period for 40 days before Easter when they were baptized.  That definitely sets the context for the readings today, which focus on how God established a Covenant with Noah, which was intended to be universal, for all people, and provided the means of salvation for all.

We experience the effects of that salvific Covenant in baptism, when we call upon God to be merciful to us, and cleanse us inwardly to live righteously before Him.

And we are strengthened by the graces He bestows on us in baptism to live for Him in the struggles between good and evil in our lives, just as Jesus relied on the strength of the Spirit which led Him in the desert for 40 days.  It is this Holy Spirit that helps us live righteously as God works to bring about His Kingdom through us, which even now is at hand.

February 18, 2015: Ash Wednesday

The liturgy for the first day of Lent makes aware of how we are sinful before a Holy God, and the pressing need to embrace God's free gifts of grace and mercy by which He restores us to right relationship with Him.

Joel uses urgent language in calling for a fast and an assembly, having everyone come, young and old, bride and bridegroom, as they plead for God to be merciful.

St. Paul writes the Corinthians to embrace God's grace because "now is a very acceptable time...now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2 NABRE).  As we see in Joel, God responds when His people turn from sin to Him once again.

Truly Lent is about our efforts in having a right relationship with God, which we foster through practices like prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, which, in the Gospel reading, a selection from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, we do from our heart for God alone.

February 15, 2015: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The First Reading from Leviticus brings us face to face with the harsh reality of illness in our world, not only physical, but spiritual, too, as lepers were considered to be under God's curse.

That's what makes Jesus's presence so powerful, because in His coming to our world, He thoroughly heals us of all our ills, even by bringing our soul into a state of salvation.

Now we live doing all for His glory, as St. Paul writes in the 2nd reading, imitating Christ, the One who has saved us through and through.

February 8, 2015: 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time

In the First Reading, Job presents a bleak picture of life, saying it's hopeless and full of restlessness.

In this state of despair, God comes to our world in Jesus to bring us healing.  It is a power that is unmistakable, for as the Gospel reading from Mark records, "The whole town was gathered at the door" (Mark 1:33 NAB), of the house where Peter's mother-in-law lay ill before Jesus cured her, so all their sick could be healed.  His healing powers further demonstrate the power of the Gospel to bring us healing through salvation.

God raises us from despair to a new purpose in life, to preach the Gospel, which St. Paul, as he writes in the 2nd reading, saw as his one purpose.

February 1, 2015: 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Moses tells the people of Israel in the First Reading that God will send them a prophet, who shall speak the very words of God.

From our lens today, we see that this prophet is Christ Himself.  In the Gospel reading, the people are amazed at how Jesus teaches with authority.  He then furthermore backs it up in His encounter with a demon-possessed man.  The demon recognizes Jesus as Divine, and then Jesus commands the demon to depart the man.

Jesus has the authority, by having the power of God, shown both in word and in deeds of bringing healing to those possessed by the forces of evil.

So God is truly looking upon us.  And so we look to God, being open to the words He speaks--even Jesus, the very Word Made Flesh--and keep focused on pleasing Him in these last days as His reign comes.

January 25, 2015: 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

God has come to our world, and as everything changes as a result, we must change ourselves, too.

In the 2nd reading, a passage that at first I thought seemed rather puzzling, St. Paul writes that those engaged in certain activities should act as if they do them no longer.  It's not that St. Paul says the things we're doing are bad per se, but that the end of the world calls us to stop and really think about the way we live our lives, with the goal of changing how we live to be ready for God to be All in All.

The Gospel and First Reading speak to the important change that must take place in our lives in repentance.  Jonah tells the Ninevites that God's wrath is on its way, so they must repent.  Jesus says the Kingdom of God is at hand, in Him, the One who brings fulfillment to the relationship God has had with His people throughout the centuries before.  So we must repent, turning our lives to embrace Him more fully.  This is exactly what the disciples do when Jesus calls them.

This Sunday also marks the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, one who powerfully exemplifies repentance, as he turned from being against Jesus to proclaiming Him boldly.  It marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which calls us to turn from our separate ways to embrace our oneness as God's Church.

January 18, 2015: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the first reading, God calls Samuel, though it takes time, and the assistance of Eli the priest, for him to discern God's call.

In the Gospel reading, John the Baptist and Andrew both take note of Jesus, the Messiah, and upon announcing so, new people come to follow Him:  Two of John's disciples turn to follow Jesus, and then Andrew introduces Peter to Jesus.

St. Paul says our bodies belong to God, who has already done a great work in bringing us to Himself.  To the God who had made Himself fully present to us, as the first reading from 1 Samuel says God made His presence known, we offer up our whole beings in service to His call to follow Him, doing His work and delighting to do His will with all we are.