Fourth Sunday of Easter - Good Shepherd Sunday - 2024

FROM THE OFFICE OF READINGS From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope (c. 540 - 604) Christ the Good Shepherd: I am the good shepherd. I know my own – by which I mean, I love them – and my own know me. In plain words: those who love me are willing to follow me, for anyone who does not love the truth has not yet come to know it. My dear brethren, you have heard the test we pastors have to undergo. Turn now to consider how these words of our Lord imply a test for yourselves also. Ask yourselves whether you belong to his flock, whether you know him, whether the light of his truth shines in your minds. I assure you that it is not by faith that you will come to know him, but by love; not by mere conviction, but by action. John the evangelist is my authority for this statement. He tells us that anyone who claims to know God without keeping his commandments is a liar. Consequently, the Lord immediately adds: As the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. Clearly he means that laying down his life for his sheep gives evidence of his knowledge of the Father and the Father’s knowledge of him. In other words, by the love with which he dies for his sheep he shows how greatly he loves his Father.  Again he says: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them; they follow me, and I give them eternal life. Shortly before this he had declared: If anyone enters the sheepfold through me he shall be saved; he shall go freely in and out and shall find good pasture.  1.       He will enter into a life of faith; 2.       from faith he will go out to vision, 3.       from belief to contemplation, and will graze in the good pastures of everlasting life.  So our Lord’s sheep will finally reach their grazing ground where all who follow him in simplicity of heart will feed on the green pastures of eternity. These pastures are the spiritual joys of heaven. There the elect look upon the face of God with unclouded vision and feast at the banquet of life for ever more.  Beloved brothers, let us set out for these pastures where we shall keep joyful festival with so many of our fellow citizens. May the thought of their happiness urge us on! Let us stir up our hearts, rekindle our faith, and long eagerly for what heaven has in store for us. To love thus is to be already on our way. No matter what obstacles we encounter, we must not allow them to turn us aside from the joy of that heavenly feast. Anyone who is determined to reach his destination is not deterred by the roughness of the road that leads to it. Nor must we allow the charm of success to seduce us, or we shall be like a foolish traveler who is so distracted by the pleasant meadows through which he is passing that he forgets where he is going. +  +  +  +  +  + "No matter what obstacles we encounter, we must not allow them to turn us aside from the joy of that heavenly feast." Throughout the long history of the Church many obstacles have beset the faithful as we now face our own trials brought on by this pandemic of Covid-19. May we be encouraged by the image this Sunday reveals to us, the image of us in the arms of the Good Shepherd.

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Third Sunday of Easter - 2024

From Easter onward we now become evangelists. In order to evangelize, one must "know" and "understand" the Message they are proclaiming. Here, knowing flows directly from a personal experience of the Message encountered in prayer. Understanding of the Message is rooted in the heart as one is deeply moved when they here it and their life is transformed by what they hear. It is good and necessary to study scripture from an academic perspective, drawing on the rich resource of knowledge handed on through knowledgeable and dedicated scholars. But when one is taught by the Spirit in prayer, not only do they know about the Lord, they "know the Lord" as one whom they have met personally, spiritually, in one's heart. There is a beautiful and inspiring example of this in the gospel story of the two disciples encountering the risen Lord on the Road to Emmaus.     They know Jesus as the holy man of God from Galilee. They have heard him teach, saw his works of power and are deeply impressed. They number themselves among his followers. Their expectation about Jesus, like the others, has been crushed by his Crucifixion. They even have heard reports that he may still be alive. Yet, it is not until they encounter him personally, that their faith becomes a true work of grace, not a product of man's doing. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” Only Grace can set our hearts burning within us, when the Spirit opens the scriptures. "...... Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures ......" It is from this experience of grace that the true evangelist springs forth. What do I hear? In the account of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, there is a particular sequence of events that serves as a helpful model for our prayer experience. 1. They are reviewing the events leading up to Jesus' Crucifixion. Likewise we have a passage of scripture chosen that we are pondering for our prayer time. So we: ... retell the event in our own words, as if recounting it to someone else. ... who do I see, who stands out to me, who draws my attention, why? ... what are they doing, what are they saying, is it anything like what I would do? ... what impresses me, what repulses me, what puzzles me about the event? ... of the dialogue, describe what I hear in my own words ... what do I agree with, what do I disagree with? 2. Jesus enters into their discussion, things change. ... here I invite the Lord to enter my prayer, to speak to me, to guide and direct the course of what will follow in this prayer. ... now I speak to the Lord ... I redirect, what I have been considering, to the Lord, telling him how I see things, what moves me, what stumps me about this text. 3. Now Jesus speaks, they listen! ... am I listening or am I still trying to figure things out? (Be quiet myself!) ... what new thoughts are emerging ... no mater how unusual? ... back to quiet, to listening. 4. "Were not our hearts ..." ... rather than answers, I look to my heart ... what is moving, changing the way I feel? ... what is uplifting, encouraging, inspiring, drawing me to it? ... do I feel encouraged to meet what challenges me? 5. They urged Jesus, "stay with us ..." ... when a certain text stands out, we should stay with it, returning to the text as often as it continues to speak to us; even if we have been following a set outline of texts. 6. “They recounted what has happened … and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” When Grace is at work, the positive feelings remain with us, continuing to speak to our hearts, especially in times and places when Grace is near, especially during the Eucharist or when we are engaged in our chosen devotions. Should it happen that we are in a faith sharing setting, as we share what has been told to us, we see how others are moved by what we say.

Second Sunday of Easter - 2024

The Church celebrates Easter Sunday day for a whole week. For the liturgy of the Word, the Gospel texts are taken from all four gospel writers and their accounts of resurrection of Jesus. Following the close of this day, the Easter season will continue for fifty days – ending with the celebration of the Ascension and Pentecost. As a preparation for Pentecost, the first reading of the liturgy of the word will be taken from the book of the Acts of Apostles and continue reading through the whole book. Acts of Apostles is the second part of Luke’s gospel. It takes us through the unfolding history of the first generation of the Church. This is our story – it is who we are – where we came from – how we got here and why we have gathered in this way to celebrate the sacred mysteries. There are also a couple other things that make this weekend special. It is Divine Mercy Sunday, established by pope John Paul ll on this day in the year 2000. And on this very Sunday, Pope John XXlll and Pope John Paul ll were canonized, Saints of the Church. I find all this quite significant for us at this time in the history of the Church. It is not uncommon to hear it suggested that the Church is in decline and no longer relevant; that perhaps the Church might even disappear, breaking into fragmented pieces, replaced by rational thought and technology. Added to this, we are in the throws of a world wide pandemic. At a time when people need the support of the Church more than ever, churches are closed or severally limited in their contact with their people. It is because we are surrounded by such a cloud of doubt and uncertainty that this time in Church is so important for us, and why we must make reading the Acts of the Apostles a central part of our personal faith life, just as the Church makes it so in the liturgy of the Word. When we turn to Acts and the story of Pentecost, we quickly see that our Church was not made simply by the design of a group of people, a work of human enterprise. It comes from God and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ followers were not great revolutionaries, rather they were a group of frightened and confused and very ordinary people. They also practiced their faith in a hostile environment, oppression by the Romans and the rejection of their fellow Jews. Then comes Pentecost Day and all is changed in a dramatic moment. On that very First Day, Pentecost Day, Acts shows us clearly, that the Church comes under attack. The joyful and exuberant faith of these Spirit-filled people is written off as nothing more than a product of too much alcohol, they are a bunch of drunks. From that first day up to today, the Church is constantly attacked and discredited. This is our constant history. Acts also shows us how the members of this new Church will be, “a-work-in-progress”, made up of frail humans being, sinners now saved, learning and growing under the constant presence of the Holy Spirit. So here we are today, the latest additions to this long history. I strongly encourage you to take up your scriptures and read and study the book of the Acts of the Apostles. May these Easter days be as powerful days of healing and building of your faith as they were for that first generation of believers, we celebrate through these Easter days.

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Easter Week - 2024

EASTER WEEK Med. 07 - 12.	They praised in unison your conquering hand, O Lord, for wisdom open mouths that were mute and gave eloquence to the tongues of infants, alleluia.
HOLY WEEK / EASTER MEDITATIONS Meditation 01 Meditation 05 Meditation 09 Meditation 02 Meditation 06 Meditation 10 Meditation 03 Meditation 07 Meditation 11 Meditation 04 Meditation 08 Meditation 12

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Holy Saturday - 2024

Office of Readings for Holy Saturday - Second Reading From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday The Lord Descends into Hell Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear. He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden. See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree. I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you. Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.

Holy Week - 2024

We enter now the most important time in our liturgical year. Each moment, each event that now unfolds is of critical importance. Our hope of salvation is now in the hands of two combatants, Jesus and Satan. One might ask the question, what are they fighting over? The answer is they are in mortal struggle for your soul. This suggests that you were there. Hidden in the mystery of time and eternity is the fact that throughout the passion and on the day of the Cross you were there in the mind and heart of Jesus. By the vicious cruelty of the cross Satan is trying to rip you out the hands of Jesus so he can destroy you in hell. But how can this be since these events took place over two thousand years age? In the spiritual world this is understood as the mystery of time and eternity, which is so wonderfully explained in Psalm 139. (Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be. vs. 16) You were there on the cross with Jesus. From each cruel and vicious blow that struct Jesus you were protected  by the body of Jesus covering you, standing in for you. Satan's last weapon, death, also failed, defeated by the glorious resurrection of Jesus, and you rising with him. This mystery is realized in the flesh on the day of your baptism. . .  HOLY WEEK / EASTER MEDITATIONS Meditation 01 Meditation 05 Meditation 09 Meditation 02 Meditation 06 Meditation 10 Meditation 03 Meditation 07 Meditation 11 Meditation 04 Meditation 08 Meditation 12 There is a suggested meditation list beginning with Holy Week Monday.  Mon # 1 Tue # 2 Wed # 3 Thu # 4 Fri # 5 Sat # 6 Sun # 7 Mon # 8 Tue # 9 Wed # 10 Thu # 11 Fri # 12 .

Fifth Sunday of Lent - 2024

Jesus' HOUR  As we prepare to enter Holy Week there are two important words that will focus our attention: HOUR and GLORIFY. Sometimes the word "hour" refers simply and literally to a short period of chronological time (a 60-minute period during the day). But in John's gospel, "Jesus' hour" refers more broadly and metaphorically to the climactic event of Jesus' death and resurrection, which it also refers to as his "glorification". (Jo.12:23; 17:1) As you see these words occurring throughout the course of John's gospel, you realize how important they are to understanding the message of the gospel. Jesus understood well why he was sent, "... it is for this HOUR that I have come". We must understand how we too are connected to these words; that Jesus' HOUR continues through time, for it is the final HOUR in the story of creation. It is now our hour in time. To be a true Christian, one must be drawn into the effects of this HOUR, for it is our destiny as well. We must share in the passion of the Cross by the "Christ-like" acceptance of the crosses in our lives. We must undergo the death of all desire for what is sin, the product of evil, until it no longer has influence over us. Finally, we say with Jesus, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit and we enter into our glorification. We may be able to identify with suffering in its many manifestation. So too, we can appreciate the struggle that is required to conquer the inordinate passions that would subdue us. We will all face our own death, our final hour on earth. But how do we understand glorification? It is not uncommon to hear the expression, "glorious", used to describe something one beholds with their eyes, i.e. a theatrical production, a celebration, such as a wedding or an Easter liturgy, sunset and sunrise, the vista of a natural landscape. By glorious we mean something of breathtaking beauty, fulfilled to perfection, eclipsing all our superlatives. Jesus' disciples beheld such a vision in the transfiguration of Jesus. ( He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Mtt. 17:2) St. Paul beheld the glorious risen Jesus, which began his conversion. In Acts he describes it in his own words:  “But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ... “And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. Acts 22:6 Paul tells that the glorious brightness of the light caused him to be temporally blinded so that he had to led by the hand into Damascus. This glorification, seen in Jesus, is the glorification God has planned every soul that comes into His presence. It is natural humanity transfigured into a new state, the state of grace. St. Catherine of Siena was given a vision of a soul glorified. The Soul in the State of Grace- Catherine of Siena was permitted by God to see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace. It was so beautiful that she could not look on it; the brightness of that soul dazzled her. Blessed Raymond, her confessor, asked her to describe to him, as far as she was able, the beauty of the soul she had seen. St. Catherine thought of the sweet light of that morning, and of the beautiful colours of the rainbow, but that soul was far more beautiful. She remembered the dazzling beams of the noonday sun, but the light which beamed from that soul was far brighter. She thought of the pure whiteness of the lily and of the fresh snow, but that is only an earthly whiteness. The soul she had seen was bright with the whiteness of Heaven, such as there is not to be found on earth. ” My father,” she answered. “I cannot find anything in this world that can give you the smallest idea of what I have seen. Oh, if you could but see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace, you would sacrifice your life a thousand times for its salvation. I asked the angel who was with me what had made that soul so beautiful, and he answered me, “It is the image and likeness of God in that soul, and the Divine Grace which made it so beautiful.” (Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena ) The goal of the prayer of meditation/contemplation is to connect us consciously with the process of glorification that has begun in us, through our state of grace. This way of prayer opens a vista for us to see into our souls. We experience on a human level what is happening to us on a mystical level. The ways we perceive this experience can vary, from a sense of peace coming over our heart, to visions and revelations, such as describe by the saints and the spiritual writers, (like Catherine of Siena). It is important that we realize our glorification has already begun in us by the state of grace of our souls. People may not be blinded by our outward appearance as we walk around, but there is an evidence that is perceptible to everyone. It is the fruit of our lives, the works of holiness and charity that we display by our actions. All the trees may look alike. You can tell the good ones by their fruit. (Mtt. 7:16) The following are the references for Jesus' Hour in John's gospel. Jesus, to his mother, at the Wedding at Cana: 2:4 – “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus, to the Jews (using the word "kairos"): 7:6 – Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.” The Evangelist/Narrator: 7:30 – Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. 8:20 – He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. Jesus, to his disciples, before raising Lazarus from the dead: 11:9 – “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.” Jesus, to his disciples, after Andrew and Philip tell him that some Greeks wanted to see him: 12:23 – “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” 12:27 – “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.” The Evangelist/narrator, beginning the "Book of Signs"; introducing the Washing of the Feet:13:1 – Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus, to his disciples, in the Last Supper Discourses: 16:2 – “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.” 16:4 – “But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.” 16:21 – “When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.” 16:25 [Jesus, to his disciples] – “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father.” 16:32 – “The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.” Jesus, praying to his Father, at the end of the Last Supper Discourses: 17:1 – After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.” Jesus, just before his dies on the cross: 19:27 – Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. ++++++++++++++++++ Jesus' HOUR  Commentary by Dr. Brant Pitre * * * LINK * * *

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Fourth Sunday of Lent - 2024

But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God. The media platforms and devices we have today are quite brilliant, not only in their technological make up but in the literal light they display. People actually use cellphones as flashlights some times. But more importantly is the message they beam out at us about what media calls truth. All too often the message is a dark shadow of falsehood enveloping us in all manner of deception and error, all be it quite appealing. In our time we see increasing numbers of people, especially the young with cellphones in hand, walking away from religion and the Church and Jesus the true Light preferring, in the words of Jesus, the darkness. If the situation we are in today is the spread of darkness then what is to be the solution? Here is a homespun image. When the power goes out in our home we find ourselves in the dark. So we look for things that give out light. We light candles, turn on battery devices for example. If we notice our neighbour is in total darkness we go and share with them some of our lights. As the neighbourhood digs up more of these light sources the brighter things begin to look until the major problem is finally solved. Lent is a time to deal with what may be causing the absence light in us, we as individuals, we as the Church. Just as darkness is the absence of light so spiritual darkness is the absence of truth.   For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.   The true devotion of Lent invites everyone to come into the Light, so that the motive of their hearts may be exposed and where necessary the light of truth may expel any shadow of darkness that may have intruded. St. Ignatius is an outstanding teacher of how to shine the light of discernment on our lives. It is called the Prayer of Examen. Here is a link.  The Examen .