Category Archives: Lent

To Comfort and Afflict

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Dear Folks,

For the next three weeks we have a particular challenge: One Mass with scrutinies will have the cycle A readings (which this week includes the story of the woman at the well in John 4), and the other Masses will have the cycle C readings (which this week includes Luke 13:1-9). It is worth comparing the two. The woman at the well was a Samaritan, and Jesus broke barriers just talking to her. He does not shy away from how her life is a mess, but He doesn’t berate her for it. He gives her respect and concern that she wasn’t used to getting, and that gave her space to change, and she would reconnect with the community that had previously shunned her. By contrast, the text in Luke shows Jesus warning some

fellow Israelites that if they don’t repent, they face destruction.

It has been said that a prophet has two tasks: to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. This is summed up in Luke with the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). The two men were a study in contrast. The Pharisee was presented as having objectively better behavior, but he was convinced he was good enough. Other people needed to improve, but he was convinced he didn’t. The tax collector, by contrast, was not

so virtuous, but knew he needed work. That made all the difference. Until we see pearly gate posts passing our shoulders, we are a work in progress.

It’s okay to be where we are at; it’s not okay to stay where we are at.

During this Lent, what if we asked:

What does God want me to learn?

If God could get every response He wants from me, what would that look like?

What if being a member of the Church means more than I thought?

What if praying the Mass means more than I thought?

When someone talks about a crisis in the Church, how quick am I to say what someone else should be doing differently and how quick am I to ask what I should be doing differently?

If Lent is not working out the way I planned, might God have some different plans?

What might they be?

If God is calling me to change my life in some way, small or large, how ready am I to say “yes” to Him?

Can I accept that how I and people like me respond during Lent can make a difference in the kind of future that our Church will have?

For what it’s worth, I recently came to understand something that had been obvious, but I didn’t see it. Now I see things differently (don’t bother to ask; I won’t tell). I suggest that God is always working on teaching us something and leading us somewhere.

Blessed Lent,

Fr. Jim

Battle of All Time

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Dear Folks,

The First Sunday of Lent we deal with Jesus in the desert getting tempted. It is worth noting that our first reading is about offering one’s gift to God. Let’s look at temptation as interfering with our giving ourselves to God as gift.

The first temptation, “If you are the Son of God command these stones become bread.” He was so hungry. It would have been so easy. No one would have known. The test was being able to say no to basic appetites. If we can’t say no to our appetites, they will rule us. Think of His ministry. How many times would He have been hungry, thirsty, tired, or stressed? Being completely faithful to His

mission, His gift to the Father would mean saying no to those desires. If, every time I feel a bit hungry I immediately grab something to eat. If, every time I eat, to keep eating until I’m full, how do I know this desire doesn’t rule me? Why would I expect that I would be able to refuse my stomach? If I can’t say no to it, what is really my god? Did Jesus experience sexual temptation? Our faith tells us He was fully human, so how could we believe He did not? That would certainly have interfered with the course He was on. Of course, there is meant to be great joy in giving oneself as gift in a full, free, faithful, and fruitful relationship. Things like pornography and hookup culture are ways of seeking the thrill without giving ourselves as gift. How much destruction has the pursuit of these appetites caused in our world? How this Lent should I practice saying no to my appetites?

“I shall give you all this power and glory…if you worship me.” Matthew’s Gospel makes this the last temptation, and I figure that it is to emphasize it because of his emphasis on right worship and Jesus as Davidic King. Luke puts it second. But imagine simply being handed over power and glory without having to work or suffer for it. This is the temptation to have power without giving the gift. Jesus would work incredibly hard and suffer incredibly much so that He could transform people and the world by the power of the Pascal mystery. Imagine Him just saying “Scribes and Pharisees, you’ve done a bad job. I’m putting you in prison.” That would have been so much easier than what He dealt with, but it would have only made superficial change. As a pastor, I know that anything I do with just my formal authority is going to be superficial and can be undone just as easily. If I’m going to make profound and lasting change, It requires informal authority, which cannot be given, only earned. It requires more work, enduring more frustration, and being more patient. I long ago learned that if we want to do good, we will need to work harder than we thought for longer than we expected to achieve less than we hoped. The prize belongs to those who do not then give up. We see those who try to force change by coercion. That does not require them giving themselves as gift. We are called to make change with service, witness and sacrifice. We see in our Gospels that is what Jesus did, and he had to face much frustration, and it required everything from Him. How might we give ourselves as gift for the work of the Kingdom.

“Throw yourself down from here” (the parapet of the temple). Luke portrays this as the final temptation, emphasizing that Jesus was facing the full pain of the human condition. The desire to be protected from harm is primal, and Jesus knew He was going to have to face horrific suffering. How do we avoid pain? Do we shy away from painful conversations that we need to face? Do we use drugs or alcohol to numb ourselves? Do we keep ourselves distracted to hide from the pain in our hearts? Do we refuse to leave our comfort zones for the sake of doing God’s work? How might we be called to face things we don’t want to face, but need to?

Have a fruitful Lent,

Fr. Jim

Into the Desert

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Dear Folks,

On the first Sunday of Lent, we encounter Jesus in the desert for forty days. This echoes the story of Moses and the Israelites in the desert for forty years before they entered the

promise land.

We also remember that after the golden calf incident, Moses was fasting for forty days on Mount Sinai while God was renewing the covenant. Hosea uses the image of an adulterous wife to teach about Israel’s relationship with God. Hosea takes her out into the desert to help her remember their love (Hosea 2:16). Elijah had a good meal and then fasted for forty days while walking in the desert (1 Kings 19). He sorted through the noise and heard God’s

whispering to him. This pulled him out of his despair and renewed his sense of purpose.

During Lent we are to find a bit of desert, clearing out some of the usual stimuli and the usual pursuits to hear the quite call of God. The world works hard to addict us to its stimuli so that we never have a chance to think, to step back, to question our direction.

In Daniel Goleman’s book “Emotional Intelligence” he mentions one of the components of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. This was the first time I realized that selfawareness is something that some people have more of, and some people have less of. I

think we humans have a dangerous tendency to presume we are completely self-aware and how can we not be? I suspect a lot of it has to do with being distracted by other things. We are constantly bombarded by messages and stimuli; we have so many tasks nibbling at our ankles, and we are constantly drawn toward our desires. Looking to things outside ourselves, we lose track of what is happening inside.

If we live in a house that regularly has certain odors, we soon stop smelling them. When we go out, we can lose the habituation, and returning we become more aware. Whatever we do this Lent, let us step away from what we usually do, and refresh our perception, so

we can go back and see things in a new light.

Fasting and abstaining remind us that we can say no to our desires by God’s grace when we choose to. We can easily get in such a deep habit of saying yes, we lose the ability to say no, and this makes us less free (see John 8:31-34). Too much attachment to the things of this world can make us lose our desire for the presence of God.

If we do Lent well, we can come out of it seeing things (including ourselves) more clearly, more free to choose things that really matter over lesser things, renewed in our sense of purpose, more keenly desiring the presence of God, and bolder in serving Him.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Transfiguration: Why We Should Pay Attention

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Dear Folks,

This Sunday we read about the Transfiguration. The Second Sunday of Lent always gives us the Transfiguration, so that leads to the question why is it so important for Lent? In fact, what do we do with the Transfiguration besides “Wow! Isn’t that cool?” Of course, it is really cool, but if we look closer, it gets even more interesting. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have some differences, but they all have the Transfiguration, and they also have Jesus’ three predictions of the Passion. There is the first prediction that “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised (Luke 9:22).” Then Jesus tells us that to be His disciple, we must be willing to take up our cross and follow Him, and that if we try to save our lives we will lose them, and if we lose our lives for Him we will find them. Then Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain and they see a glimpse of His glory. When they come down the mountain, Jesus exorcises a boy with a demon, and then there is a second prediction of the passion. The fact that all three Synoptic Gospels follow this pattern gets my attention.

Notice that:

This glimpse of His glory shows them there is more to Him than they realized (What does it take to get people’s attention?). He is not just another prophet.

Only Peter, James, and John were given this gift. God has no problem giving certain gifts to some people and not to others. Even for Peter, James, and John, there was only a glimpse, and then back to work.

Jesus showing a glimpse of His glory is wrapped in discussion of the cross (also, in Luke we see Moses and Elijah discussing the “exodus” that he is to experience in Jerusalem [Luke 9:31], a reference to His crucifixion).

The presence of Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, says that what is going on is the culmination of all the history of Israel, and all they had been taught and all they had hoped for until now.

So, what now? There can be a tendency to treat our practice of the faith as one task among many, and it can feel like it. This reminds us that more is happening than meets the eye. Christianity is either everything to us, or it is nothing.

Some gifts, some consolations, are given to some and not to others. If you haven’t had a mystical experience, it does not mean you are a failure in your spirituality. The call is to be faithful.

A little bit of consolation sometimes has to go a long way. The times when our faith feels dead, but we strive to be faithful anyway, are often the most meritorious and fruitful.

Jesus is the fulfillment of all truly human desires. Those desires that do not point to Jesus (greed, cruelty, lust, sloth, etc.) are distortions of our humanity, and though they promise happiness, will leave us empty.

Whatever cross we are called to carry, it leads to glory. Whatever glory we long for, it is found in the cross.

May remembering God’s glory give us strength as we shoulder whatever crosses we are called to carry.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Facing Temptation in the Desert

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Dear Folks,

The journey of Lent has begun. As we look at our Sunday readings (and we shall be using cycle A readings for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays), I’m suggesting focusing on how they show encounters with Jesus. Everything we do as Church can be summed up into two things: We encounter Jesus and we share Jesus. If we are doing something that does not serve encountering Jesus and sharing Jesus, why should we do them?

This week we see Jesus tempted in the desert. One might first think the encounter was Satan encountering Jesus, but I’m thinking in terms of Jesus encountering Jesus. In His humanity, Jesus faces His strengths and weaknesses, His doubts and fears, His hopes and dreams. He tests Himself. I heard of one Army sergeant who said that they never know how the soldiers with do in battle until they actually get there. Some, including some of the really big, tough guys drop their rifle and run, while sometimes the little mousy guy will step up and do the job. The courage of many Ukrainian people has been amazing and inspiring. Those of us who have never been there cannot say how we would do. When we are tested, we learn that perhaps how we imagined ourselves to be is not quite how we are.

I like to look at how the four Gospels compare, and when they are different, I get curious why. The Gospel of John does not include the temptation in the desert. John emphasizes Jesus’ divinity, and generally shows Jesus in control of the situation. John does not include the agony in the garden, and the only suggestion of Jesus’ struggle is “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father save me from this hour?’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour (John 12:27).” Even when He is being arrested, it is clear that Jesus is in charge (see John 18). Mark is she shortest of the Gospels and will often give briefer accounts of events. Matthew has the dialog with Satan as well, but there is a twist. Matthew and Luke both begin with the temptation to command the stones to become bread (of course, Jesus could have commanded them to become prime rib if He wanted to). When we are really hungry, that is generally first and foremost in our minds. They switch the order of the other two temptations, and that makes me ask why? Matthew has the dialog culminate with the offer to worship Satan, while Luke has the last temptation be to fling Himself from the parapet of the temple. I’m thinking the last temptation would have been seen as the greatest and most important. Matthew, the most Jewish of the Gospels, would see the greatest issue as right worship, beginning with worshipping God, and Him alone. If we don’t get our worship in order, the rest of our lives will not be in order. Luke, however, culminates with the temptation to fling Himself from the parapet of the temple and have the angels catch Him. This is a temptation to be protected from the suffering of life, in particular the suffering of the cross. Luke emphasizes that Jesus shares in our condition. He delivers the sermon on the plain at people’s level, not from the mountaintop. Might this be why Luke is the one Gospel that doesn’t mention Jesus walking on water? I don’t know, but I wonder.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention Jesus telling us that we must be willing to pick up our cross and follow Him (Matt 16: 24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23) right after the first prediction of the passion. Only Luke mentions that we must do it “daily.”

During Lent, we test ourselves in different ways. Let us consider Jesus walking closely with us in this testing, and sharing our journey. May we encounter Jesus personally in these Lenten exercises.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Basic Housecleaning for the Soul

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Dear Folks,
We never outgrow reviewing the basics. This week we read the Ten Commandments (Exodus
20, see also Deuteronomy 5). Pope Saint John Paul said that the Ten Commandments formed
a foundation, and the Beatitudes were a structure to be built on that foundation, reaching
higher and higher with no limit. To have a sound structure, we must regularly attend to the
foundation.
We begin: “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of
slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in
the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the
earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.” The first principle is Who is
God and who is not. We want to be in charge and do things our way. From the beginning,
there has been temptation to do things our way rather than God’s way (see Genesis 3 about the
Fruit Incident, and Genesis 11 about the Tower of Babel). It forbids carving idols, not because
God hates sculpture (He doesn’t: see Exodus 25:17-22; Numbers 21:4-9), but because of the
danger of thinking they could possess God. This goes back to who is in charge. This was a
problem with the Temple as well. There was a sense that God was uniquely located in the
temple (see Psalm 18:7), and some people thought that as long as the temple was in Jerusalem
God would take care of them no matter what they did. Jeremiah said, “Do not put your trust
in these deceptive words ‘The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the
Lord!’ (Jeremiah 7:4).” If they didn’t do things God’s way, there would still be
consequences. Imagine thinking that a St. Christopher medal would protect me so I don’t
have to drive carefully: it isn’t going to work.
Do not take the name of the Lord in vain. Nowadays, cancel culture has sometimes raised
language policing to ridiculous levels, but it is true that how we talk matters. Our talk should
always contribute toward reverence for God. Keeping holy the sabbath day means that we
break from the usual routine to focus especially on God. Of course, central to that is
worshipping at the Eucharistic Liturgy. When people need to get tasks done and not doing
them would cause hardship, we remember it is supposed to liberate, not strangulate. Sometimes people must work on Sundays, but still, it is important to find some way to break the
usual pattern so it is not just another day.
Honoring Father and Mother is a particular case of respecting authority. That is part of the
recognition that our understanding and our perspective is limited. It also means putting what
we think and what we want in second place. In our society, that is a radical idea.
Do not kill. This means respecting all life, from conception to natural death. It includes
standing up for the lives of others and helping those who cannot sustain themselves. This also
means respecting each person’s dignity. This is a huge job. Where people are viewed as
objects or commodities, standing up for life is a battle. We have a lot of work to do.
Do not commit adultery. God made marriage, sexuality, and family core to what it is to be
human, and they are sacred beyond words. Revering how God made us is an enormous part
of protecting human dignity. We have a lot of work to do, and it begins with learning more
about theology of the body. You shall not steal. The right to property is a part of human
dignity, and we are called to honor that. You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor. This would include passing on rumors and memes that are harmful and that we
don’t know are true (but we want them to be because they match our prejudices). Even
recognizing that much would be a great step forward for our society.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife (or husband) and you shall not covet your
neighbor’s stuff, two distinct but related commandments. If it is sinful to do something, it is
also wrong to enjoy fantasizing about doing it. There is a part of our brain that doesn’t
distinguish between fantasy and reality (which is why we are sad when a fictional character
we like dies in a story). It may seem harmless because it is in our heads, but that is the most
crucial territory of all. When we entertain ourselves by fantasy about doing bad things, it
rewires our brains to believe, bit by bit, that it is not so bad, that it is good and friendly, and
then, even if we do not act it out, it means our hearts are less and less in doing what is right.
Much housecleaning to do.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Jesus heals a leper. He can heal sin.

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Dear Folks,
Today Jesus heals lepers. I’m always in favor of physical healing, but I would suggest that
when Jesus heals, He is also teaching something deeper. We do not look at someone
suffering and conclude they are being punished by God. Jesus closed that door (John
9:3). However, leprosy does teach us some things about the effects of sin.
Our foundational teaching about sin is the infamous Fruit Incident in Genesis 3. After
sinning, they were alienated from their own selves/their bodies (v. 7), from God (v. 8), from
one another (v. 12) and from nature/the earth/work (vv. 16-19). A leper experiences similar
alienations. Their bodies became their enemies. They were not able to enter the temple or
the synagogue, and so were cut off from much of the practice of their religion. They could
not be with their families, friends or community. They could not engage in any trade to
earn a living and couldn’t even draw water from a well. When Jesus healed a leper, He not
only cured the disease, He restored their lives. They could reenter the Temple and the
synagogue. They could reconnect with friends and family, with the community. They
could earn a living again. Their bodies became home again and not a prison.
When people go to heaven, God glorifies their bodies (1Corinthians 15:35-49; Philippians
3:21). People of every tribe and tongue and nation will be gathered around the divine throne
(Revelation 7:9). There will be a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). We shall
know God face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2). The challenge now is to live like
people longing for that future.
In a couple of days, we start Lent. It is a time for examining ourselves and repenting of our
sins. Through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, we shall have a chance to see ourselves in a
clearer way. We seek to know our sinfulness so that we can better repent and follow Jesus
more faithfully. It is a time to grow in our desire to become more like what God made us to
be. It would be good to consider the four areas of healing:
• Relationship with God: Do we treat God at least as well as our best
friend? Where do we need to grow in trust? Is He welcome in every aspect of
our lives?
• With others: Where do our relationships need healing? Is there something we can
do? Are there situations where the other person will not try, and we just need to
keep ourselves as safe as we can, pray for them, and avoid giving into hate?
• With nature and labor: Balance between work and rest? Care for the
environment? How are we focused on leaving the world better than it would have
been without us?
• With ourselves: Are we growing in chastity? Are there times we look upon others
as objects rather than beloved children of God? Do we treat our bodies with at
least the care and respect we give our smart phone or our car? Do we engage in
destructive self-talk? When we fail or make a mistake, do we spend time and
energy berating ourselves, or do we learn from it and strategize how to do better?
Obviously, these questions are not a complete list, but just a few examples. What might
God be calling us to become in the four aspects of ourselves? How can we better receive
God’s gift of Himself, and better give ourselves as gift to Him?
Blessings,
Fr. Jim