Fifth Sunday of Easter - 2025

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He  ...will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Rev. 21:1-5 ... + ... John, in his gospel account of the events that would take us into the passion and death of Jesus, during the Last Supper, describes this chilling scene, Jesus handing Judas a piece of bread. “So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. AND IT WAS NIGHT.” John 13:30 Night, with its absence of light, is John’s way of describing the human condition without God’s presence and guiding light.  In Genesis 1 we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And seeing that the light was good, God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” Jesus said in John, "As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4 Having a living, active faith in Jesus is often described as walking in the “Light of Christ”. I am the light of the world Jesus tells us. But there are times in our faith journey when a dark shadow overtakes us, and we find ourselves floundering in the darkness of confusion and error. St. Ignatius talks about such times in his Spiritual Exercises. He points out that when we deliberately choose to sin, we bring such darkness upon ourselves; intentionally cutting ourselves off from God’s grace. But there are other times when it is God who hides his light from us. He does this so that we will intensify our search for his truth, thus gaining an even deeper faith and a more secure walk with him. Ignatius directs how we should respond in these times of darkness. First, realize that true peace of heart is not constructed from the things of this world nor the people with whom we interact. True peace comes directly from God and him alone. God wants us to learn how to distinguish between these two realities. People and things are imperfect at the best of times and they can also be the cause of the worst of times. When we make the things of this world the source of our peace and happiness, we are building our house on sand. “When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”. These are Jesus’ words in his parable in Matthew 7. (We can really appreciate the imagery of this parable today by just by looking at the pictures in the weather reports.) “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.…” The rock is Faith, faith built on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Yet so many today have little or no connection to this rock nor do they build their life on it. Today’s second reading tells us that heaven is not on earth. God’s plan is for a new heaven and a new earth, this earth is only for a time. So, where and on what are you building that place in which your heart will dwell?

Fourth Sunday of Easter - 2025

Most of us modern urban dwellers like know very little about raising sheep – their natural behavior etc. But in Jesus’ time it would be quite different, most people would be familiar with sheep and shepherds and the way shepherding worked. So it would be a natural image for Jesus to use as a comparison to himself – the good shepherd. Flocks of sheep belonged to different owners but the grazing pastures were common ground, land for many different shepherds to use, all out grazing together. But this had an important benefit, safety for all the sheep – many eyes overseeing their protection. One practice the shepherds used was at night to herd all the sheep into one common gated shelter to protect them from dangers of the night. But how to sort out the shepherd’s sheep from all the others in the enclosure - sheep all look the same? No problem, the sheep were all imprinted on only their shepherds voice and no other. In the morning each shepherd would stand at the gate and with his distinct voice he would call out to the sheep and only his sheep would come out and follow him. This was a perfect way, commonly known, for Jesus to teach how important it was for them to imprint on his voice, the message of the gospel. God’s plan for salvation for the world was not to kill off unbelievers so only true believers remained. The plan was to imprint the message of the gospel on the hearts of people and then gather them together and lead them home to the Father. Is there any better way to characterize this age we live in today, the age of mass communication, endless number of voices calling out to us to follow them just turn on the TV and see right away all the many voices. The question put before us in today’s liturgy of the word, who’s voice am I hearing and following? Jesus wants us to understand there is only one voice that is proclaiming the truth of eternal life – his voice.

Third Sunday of Easter - 2025

Office of Reading Second Reading                        From the first apology in defense of the Christians                                           by Saint Justin, martyr AD. 100 - AD 165 The Celebration of the Eucharist No one may share the eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ. We do not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food that our flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus by the power of his own words contained in the prayer of thanksgiving. The apostles, in their recollections, which are called gospels, handed down to us what Jesus commanded them to do. They tell us that he took bread, gave thanks and said: Do this in memory of me. This is my body. In the same way he took the cup, he gave thanks and said: This is my blood. The Lord gave this command to them alone. Ever since then we have constantly reminded one another of these things. The rich among us help the poor and we are always united. For all that we receive we praise the Creator of the universe through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. On Sunday we have a common assembly of all our members, whether they live in the city or the outlying districts. The recollections of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as there is time. When the reader has finished, the president of the assembly speaks to us; he urges everyone to imitate the examples of virtue we have heard in the readings. Then we all stand up together and pray. On the conclusion of our prayer, bread and wine and water are brought forward. The president offers prayers and gives thanks to the best of his ability, and the people give assent by saying, “Amen.” The eucharist is distributed, everyone present communicates, and the deacons take it to those who are absent. The wealthy, if they wish, may make a contribution, and they themselves decide the amount. The collection is placed in the custody of the president, who uses it to help the orphans and widows and all who for any reason are in distress, whether because they are sick, in prison, or away from home. In a word, he takes care of all who are in need. We hold our common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the week, the day on which God put darkness and chaos to flight and created the world, and because on that same day our savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead. For he was crucified on Friday and on Sunday he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them the things that we have passed on for your consideration.

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Prayer for the Election of a Pope O God, eternal shepherd, who govern your flock with unfailing care, grant in your boundless fatherly love a pastor for your Church who will please you by his holiness and to us show watchful care. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. Excerpt from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010 ICEL. All rights reserved.

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Second Sunday of Easter - 2025

Today, Second Sunday of Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday – established by Pope John Paul II, April 30, 2000, which was the 2nd Sunday of Easter that year and the day of the Canonization of Sister Faustyna KowalskaI, who is the source of the Divine Mercy devotion. Now, I suspect most everyone has a go at the board game Monopoly. On some moves you can pick up special cards you can use when needed. One such is the “get out jail free” card. If a move lands you in jail you just use the card and you’re out. I think it characterizes well the way some people think of God’s Mercy. Since God loves us, He forgives us, and our sins are wiped away. All we do is say thanks. In today’s gospel we see Jesus commissioning his disciples to go and preach forgiveness. In Luke’s account, the commission is stated this way: “. . . repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in Jesus’ name to all the nations.” There are two dynamics happening here, Mercy is given, but given to those who repent. It’s the repentance part that some people seem to overlook. Today’s second reading comes into play here. It is the beginning of the Book of Revelation which will be the source of the Second Readings for the rest of these Easter Sundays. John is told by the Lord to write to the seven Churches of Asia Minor: The Lord says to John,  "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." Rev.1:11 These are people who have heard the gospel, repented, embraced the faith and were formed into churches – not unlike us gathered today. But some of these churches and their people have a problem – something has gone wrong with their repentance. "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands:  "I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false. I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary." Wow, this is one commendable church to be sure. The message continues, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first.” Only a couple of the seven Churches escape the Lord’s rebuke. Notice how they are called back to repentance – that which is our part in God’s Mercy – not just on the day of our baptism but all through our Christian life. Easter is a time for celebrating God’s Mercy and a time to examine the quality of our response to that Mercy. Might the Lord be saying something similar to us today, “I have this against you- “ And what might that be? So let us look again at the Cross of Jesus and see what mercy cost him, the mercy that He gives us so freely. How am I doing? Have I grown mediocre in my faith? What needs to revive in the practice of my faith? What is the quality of my love? Then He will say to those on His left, ‘I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Mtt. 25:41 Let us use these days of Easter to truly examine and put to the test the quality of our love.

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Easter Sunday - 2025

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."

An Easter Homily One of my favorite Easter hymns is The Strife is O’er – The strife is o'er, the battle done; + Now is the Victor's triumph won; + O let the song of praise be sung! Alleluia! So what exactly is this battle that the hymn is referring to? – the hymn continues . . . Death's mightiest powers have done their worst, + And Jesus has His foes dispersed; + Let shouts of praise and joy outburst. Alleluia! The battle is as St. Paul describes it in his letter to the Ephesians, ch. 6:12  For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. – against Satan and his army of fallen angels. Vs.  4. He closed the yawning gates of hell; + The bars from heaven's high portals fell. + Let songs of praise His triumph tell. Alleluia! In the Apostle Creed we say, Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried: he descended into hell and on the third day rose again . . . . Jesus came from the Father to break down the gates of hell that, as the hymn says, “. . . bared us from entering the portals of heaven because of our sins. This event is the subject of many classic paintings – a favorite of mine is by Gustave Dore entitled THE VALLEY OF TEARS, 1883, showing Jesus in the bowels of the earth coming to call sinners. See the panel below  Justice demanded that sinners receive the same fate as the fallen angels – but mercy over road justice and armed with the authority of mercy from the Father Jesus delivers souls of sinners from the penalty of death. Jesus did not die because he miscalculated the danger he was in visiting Jerusalem at that time. He knew well what awaited him and the price he would pay for taking on Satan. If we have any hope beyond the grave, it is found in these mysteries. St. Paul lays it out crystal clear in 1 Cor. 15: “16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all people.

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Second reading Office of Readings  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.

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Holy Week - 2025

These meditations from previous posts focus on Jesus' battle with Satan and His Victory on the Cross. Palm Sunday begins with Meditation 01, and continues through each day of Holy Week and the Easter Season.

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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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Fifth Sunday of Lent - 2025

Once again, we have in this Sunday’s gospel another image of the face of mercy. “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” Jesus has gathered people around himself and is teaching them. His teaching is having a deep and positive impression on people, and the scribes and Pharisees feel threatened and are jealous of Jesus popularity. As a teacher, Jesus is not changing the words of the written law; to do this would be an evil punishable by death. What he does is draw out of the “words” of the law a deeper understanding of the full truth of God’s revelation. In the case of this gospel’s text, it is written that the evil of adultery must be purged from their midst by killing the sinner. But can the “finger of God” compose an intervention that offers another solution, a higher solution - repentance and forgiveness? Deuteronomy 22:22 ..If a man is discovered lying with a woman who is married to another, they both shall die, the man who was lying with the woman as well as the woman. Thus shall you purge the evil from Israel. If there is a young woman, a virgin who is betrothed, and a man comes upon her in the city and lies with her, you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the young woman because she did not cry out though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. The scribes and Pharisees believe they have a foolproof plan to discredit Jesus in the eyes of his listeners. They bring forward witnesses to the very act of adultery and the woman involved. No mention of the man is given, (perhaps he fled or something else more contrived). They drag her out and stand her right in front of Jesus, for all to see. What will become of Jesus’ message of compassion now? At first Jesus says nothing but stoops down and writes with his finger in the dust of the ground. We are not told what he is writing, but it has intrigued readers ever since and many theories have been speculated. Jesus does not respond, so they press him for an answer. It is at this point that an extraordinary thing happens. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sinbe the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. One by one the accusers walk away, silenced. What just happened to them? The text only gives us the words of Jesus reply, nothing more. But something happened on a deep and hidden level. Their consciences were pierced, cut opened and convicted by the sword of Jesus voice. They hear the voice of God who knows each one’s heart. None of them is innocent before God. Now they know that only God, free of sin, can condemn. Now the woman stands alone before Jesus, and hears the voice of God incarnate, the VOICE of MERCY. Neither do I condemn you; I give you, not condemnation and death, but the opportunity of repentance. “Go, and from now on do not sin.”

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Fourth Sunday of Lent - 2025

The Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year C, gives us the beautiful parable of the "Prodigal Son". Prodigality is a word that indicates over the top expressions of one's favour; extravagant and lavished. It is the father's prodigality of forgiving love that inspires the title of this parable. It might also be known as, The Parable of “The Wayward Son” or “The Parable of the Prodigal Father” or the Parable of the “Indignant Elder Brother”.          Let us look at the three central figures of Jesus’ parable.          First, the Younger Son – clearly, he has no appreciation or understanding of his father’s love for him. He is in love with himself.   "Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.          A famine breaks out – he is in desperate condition – finally decides to return home – hoping he might get a servant’s job and thus save himself - he fashions a job application he thinks his father might accept and heads home. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."          In theological terms we might call this “Imperfect Contrition”. “I’m sorry so I can save myself”.          Second, we look at the father – perhaps he has been going every day to the edge of his property, in hopes of seeing his son’s return – and this day he does see him – a retched, miserable mess – coming up the road.          With extreme Prodigality he lavishes his son with unconditional love – the day no doubt that the son realizes his father’s true love for him.          Now we look at the older son – a son to make a father proud – but he too does not understand that the father loves him. For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.          He fails to understand what his inheritance is all about – that it too has been given to him by a loving father.          And he fails to see the younger son as his brother; But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!         Might we not see a similarity with some of today’s older, faithful, practicing Catholics, complaining about Pope Francis and his Year of Mercy – his insistence on our need to extend forgiveness to the wayward in today’s Church? Then the father said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.' "          So here are three models to whom we might compare ourselves – who am I most like? Brant Pitre's Video on the Other Brother's Resentment. * * * VIEW * * *

Third Sunday of Lent - 2025

+ And he told them this parable:  “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard,  and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also,  and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;  it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

In the world of politics, the landscape is often divided into two, under the banners of liberal and conservative - the left and the right. The left is often described as being too loose and accommodating in its principles, while the right is held as too rigid and unbending.   This dividing line can also find its way into religion, creating opposing positions on theological interpretations of beliefs and practices. Pope Francis has been considered by some to be too liberal leaning, and they point to his emphasis on mercy and his creation of a special Jubilee Year devoted to God's Mercy. What about God's Justice, they will ask. Are not sinners to face the consequences of their sins? Is there not a hell, or was the Year of Mercy just a "get-out-of-jail-free" year? Scripture makes it clear that the wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23). But Jesus confronting the self-righteousness of the Pharisees, who condemn him for the way he deals with sinners, points to the prophet Ezekiel that God does not desire the death of sinners rather their conversion. (Ez. 18:23) Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mtt. 9:13) Clearly, it would be to our pearl to ignore the call to holiness we hear in the gospel. But our hope rests not in our self-righteous, rather it is in God's Mercy, that continues to lift us out of our failures, giving us again and again the opportunity for conversion. In today's gospel, Jesus uses a parable to give us insight into the workings of God's justice and mercy. In the parable there is a fig tree that has failed to produce any fruit for the past three years. "Cut it down", is the correct (the just) action to take. Three barren years is more than sufficient evidence that it has no value. But it is given a fourth year, and in that year positive efforts will be employed to give it a chance to revive.  Its purpose for existence remains the same, to bear fruit - in our case, the fruits of a holy life - the measure of our judgement. The additional year and the intervention of cultivation, add-ons from outside are given - in our case the gift of grace, sanctify grace, the grace of Mercy, continually given to the very last hour of the very last year, the fourth year. Pope Francis is showing us that we are in the "fourth year", the Year of Mercy, the time remaining for us. Can we see any signs of fruit?

"I tell all of you with certainty, since you did it for one of
the least important of these brothers and sisters of mine,
you did it for me." Mtt. 25:40