Tag Archives: Christianity

Holy Week and the Gift of Self

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Dear Folks,
Now, we begin Holy Week.
The essence of the Gospel is the gift of self. During Holy Week we recall two events of infinite power: the Last Supper and the Cross.
In the Last Supper Jesus gives Himself sacramentally, and on the Cross Jesus gives Himself in practice.
Consider a couple getting married. In the wedding celebration, they give themselves to each other sacramentally, and in their living out married life, they give themselves to each other in practice. In the sacramental celebration, the couple consecrates their future together, infusing it with God’s grace so that it will have sacred meaning. Without the sacrament, there is just a couple of people living together. Without the intention of living out their marriage in practice, the wedding is just a party.
When the bread and wine are presented, the priest places them on the altar saying, “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you, fruit of the earth and work of human hands. It will become for us the bread of life.” And “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink.” This is a symbol of what we have done with what God has given us. When the basket is brought forward, it is a symbol of all that we give to God from what he has given to us, and includes the donations online, donations of time and talent, and anything else we give. (Diocesan best practices call for bringing forward an empty basket because occasionally people have gotten sticky fingers. It does not destroy the symbolic value). In doing this, we place ourselves on the altar to be consecrated along with the bread and wine. We become ever more the Body of Christ, a body offered forever to the Father, incorporated into the one sacrifice offered once for all but eternally effective.
On Palm Sunday, we read the passion from the Gospel of the year, this year being Luke. He emphasizes the mercy Jesus shows even in His agony. Holy Thursday we read the washing of the feet at the Last Supper. This emphasizes that Eucharist is bound to service. The authenticity of our praying the Mass is inextricable from our dedication to giving ourselves in service to others. On Good Friday, we read the passion from the Gospel of John. This Gospel emphasizes that Jesus gave Himself freely, every step of the way. He is in charge from beginning to end. When we hear how completely, lovingly, compassionately, and freely Jesus gave Himself, let us consider how He calls us to give ourselves as gift. That sets our course for the rest of the year.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Life Where There Was Only Death

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Dear Folks,
Today, the fifth Sunday of Lent, where there was once only death, there is now life.
Those reading the cycle C readings will hear the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 

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, and those reading the cycle A readings will hear the raising of Lazarus (John 11). Both are about bringing life where there is only death. Sin brings death, and Jesus brings eternal life. The woman caught in adultery was facing certain death as a result of her own sin. Jesus saves her and challenges her to “go and sin no more.” Jesus tells Martha He is the resurrection, and it is not just in the future.
We see in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” And in John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
When we talk about knowing Jesus, we remember that in the Bible knowing is a more powerful thing than having a tidbit of knowledge. It is a matter of having a lifegiving relationship. Consider these texts:
Genesis 4:1 “Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived and bore a son Cain…”
Psalm 1:6 “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Psalm 95:10 “For forty years I abhorred that generation, and I said, ‘Their heart goes astray; this people does not know my ways.’” Matthew 25:12 “But the master will say, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’”
To understand “know” as “have a life-giving relationship with” these texts make sense.
To have a life-giving relationship with Jesus is to give ourselves in love as He gave Himself in love. John 15:13 “No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
To love is to live for someone beyond ourselves, that puts the focus outside of ourselves. The word “ecstasy” literally means “to stand outside.” The more focused we are on good beyond ourselves, the more we are living the love of God. Our lives are no longer about
us, but about Him. Whatever else happens, that is abundant life (John 10:10).
To live for our own desires is to close in on ourselves, to be dying. Our desires will not satisfy us permanently, and the fight against mortality is always lost if we live according to the wisdom of the world.
When we have a life-giving relationship with God and are living for eternity, we are already living eternal life. The joy that comes with our relationship with Jesus and being about something greater than the world is just the tiniest taste of the reality of heaven.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Weaving Together Our Picture of Reality

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Dear Folks,

We all take in bits of information and weave them into a story that makes sense to us. Sometimes we can take the same set of information and come up with different narratives, and that

can make all the difference. I notice Democrats and Republicans can look at the same event and come up with wildly different narratives about what happened. It would be funny if it weren’t so serious.

At some of the Masses this Sunday, we are doing the cycle C readings, including the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). Where we are doing scrutinies, we are using the cycle A readings with

the story of the man born blind (John 9). I suggest it would be a good exercise to look at those stories and ask, at each point what narrative is each character believing about what is happening?

Stepping back, there are different narratives about fundamental reality.

One is the atheist materialist view. The universe is self-existing, though it seems to be made entirely of contingent beings. The ultimate reality is impersonal, and personhood and consciousness are blips in the interplay of matter and energy. Love, in this view, is just a byproduct of the drive for chromosomes to replicate themselves. Moral right and wrong do not exist, and the only value is making me feel good. When I die, I will cease to exist, and it will not matter what I believed or what I did.

The Christian view is that the ultimate reality is love in the deepest sense. The Father is eternally giving Himself in love to the Son, who is eternally receiving and returning that love to the Father, and the Holy Spirit is the love that passes between them. God is not one contingent being among many, but Being Himself, the source of all being. Love is by nature fruitful, and so God, though not needing anyone or anything, created the universe out of pure love. We were made to receive and give ourselves in love, and hence are made in the image and likeness of God. There is goodness, which is what serves giving ourselves in love, and there is evil, which is counterfeiting giving ourselves in love or refusing the invite all together. The things of the world pass away, but that which is love lasts forever.

One might object that that many atheists do much good and many Christians are less than moral. This, I suggest, is because we do not always act consistently with our professed beliefs.

There is one more narrative that I find interesting, and that is the Boltzmann brain theory. Ludwig Boltzmann was a physicist, who proposed that if a universe produced a self-aware brain, it

was more likely to produce one brain that hallucinated experiences than produce many brains that have real experiences. That means I am the only one who really exists, and you are all a figment of my imagination. There was once a Dilbert comic strip about this. I reject this theory, fun though it is, because it makes life trivial, and goes against my deep sense that life, the universe and everything have deep meaning. I reject the atheist, materialist view for similar reasons. We have a deep sense that personhood, consciousness, and love mean more than blips in the motion of matter and energy as the mindless universe unfolds. That’s my story and I’m

sticking to it.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

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

Wake Up Call!

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Dear Folks,
There was an article in March 4, 2025 “Crisis” magazine, “Catholics are Rapidly Losing Ground.” (Scan QR code to read) It gives nasty, nasty statistics on how we are losing members, such as, “for every 100 people who join the Catholic Church, 840 leave. So when you rejoice seeing folks become Catholic at Easter (which you should), remember that more than 8 people have left by the back door for each one who’s come in the front. No other religion has nearly as bad of a join/leave ratio.”
If this is not a wakeup call, what would a wakeup call look like?
I suggest there is one basic cause: Catholics have believed that the Catholic faith is much less than what it is. For example, Brant Pitre’s book “The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ” tells of being in a Catholic college and being taught things about the Bible that undermined its credibility and almost cost him his faith. However, he still (thanks be to God) continued, and when he was studying for his doctorate, he learned that those theories lacked evidence and were just being passed around uncritically. He found there was more basis for trusting the Gospels than he had been led to believe. Our Catholic faith is greater than we think it is.
It will not help to complain about what someone else (the Pope, the bishops, etc.) should be doing or should have done. Correct or not, that won’t move us forward. During this Lent, I challenge everyone to ask God, “How are you calling me to respond to this moment in history?” and then pray for the grace to answer the call.
The early Church started with a tiny group of people, almost no resources, and surrounded by a fiercely hostile culture. They grew like a grease fire. The mightiest empire in the world was helpless to stop them. According to my reading of Acts of the Apostles (a great book), they basically did four things: They told the Gospel story. They worked together as community. They worshipped God. They helped people in need. Does anyone believe we have no room to grow in any of these areas? Can we each ask: How can I learn more about the Christian story? How can I learn better to articulate
it? There are so many resources, everyone can do something.
How can I help connect the faith community? How can I better invite and welcome strangers, and how can I better connect with my fellow parishioners? How can I be better at reconciling conflict in our midst (this alone, I suggest, would greatly enhance the strength of the faith community)?
How can I better worship God? How can I broaden my prayer life? How can I discover that the Mass is so much more than I was taught, and I can worship so much more deeply than I realized?
How can I better help those in need?
If we answer this moment (I think things will get worse before it gets better) the Church can get much better. We serve a mighty, mighty God, who calls us to greatness.
Blessed Lent,
Fr. Jim 

Self Awareness

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Dear Folks,

This Sunday we continue Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:39-45). Jesus gives His famous “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own (6:41)?” Jesus touches on the very human reality that it is easier to see others’ faults than our own, and we tend to underestimate how serious our faults are compared to others. This is a tendency for which we must compensate to avoid constant frustration and anger.

Living alone and living with other people, I noticed that my mess was easier to deal with than other people’s messes. Language that sounds fine to me when it’s coming out of my mouth can sound offensive when someone else says it.

There are some books that can help us reflect. “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman tells us we prefer a quicker and easier style of thinking that tends to believe that what I see is all there is. In the book “I Never Thought of It That Way” by Monica Guzman she asks a question worth asking on a regular basis: “What am I missing?” “Think Again” by Adam Grant talks about the need to unlearn and relearn.

In the Gilbert and Sullivan play “Princess Ida” we meet a character, King Gama, who introduces himself singing, “If you give me your attention, I will tell you what I am. I’m a genuine philanthropist all other kinds are sham. Each little fault of temper and each social

defect in my erring fellow creatures I endeavor to correct…” He goes on to explain how he tells everyone just what is wrong with them. Then he goes, “I love my fellow creatures I do all the good I can, and yet everybody says I’m such a disagreeable man, and I can’t think why.” If we want to be an effective voice in the world, we don’t want to be like him.

Our faith has many treasures that would benefit the world, but we must be able to share them in a compelling way. For example, Thomas Jefferson thought it was self-evident that we were all created equal, but in the ancient world that was un-thought of outside the Judeo Christian tradition. Christianity was instrumental in bringing such notions to the western world. There is much more to be done in the areas of care for the poor and the outcast,

human sexuality, the meaning of being human, of being man or woman, of marriage and family, of the sanctity of life and other areas. If we can propose a vision and show by our actions that we mean it, there is hope of shifting the conversation. There will always be those voices that try to silence us by claiming we are trying to force our religion on others, even when we are simply proclaiming our vision as they are proclaiming their vision. We seek to participate in dialog in such a way that reasonable people may reject their narrative and actually hear what we have to say.

It begins with serious, deep, honest, and humble self-examination.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

What Do You Mean by “Love”?

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Dear Folks,

This is hard. If Christianity is easy for you, you’re doing it wrong. We are called to help others, and we do not ask if they are worthy of help, but rather we ask what is the most helpful.

We must never forget that having good intentions does not guarantee good actions. We may intend to do good but ultimately do harm instead. Deciding to love our neighbors, including the people we most dislike, is just the first step.

We need union with God to transform us into people who can overcome our sinfulness to love God and others. We know that in Christianity love is not a feeling, but a decision to seek the good of the other. This means understanding what is truly good. We are not the best measure of what is good for us. An alcoholic may believe that the most loving thing for someone to do is give him an endless supply of liquor, but that would not serve his flourishing. His perception is distorted by his addiction. We, because of our sinfulness, have a distorted notion of good, and so we need God’s teaching to help us understand true human flourishing. This connects everything. The Christian understanding of the human person, marriage, sexuality, family, the meaning of work, the meaning of human dignity and human rights, and other issues all connect to the command to love one another. That is why love requires we continue to learn more about our faith.

A number of issues can make loving one another very difficult and controversial. Forgiveness is not an optional part of Christianity, but in the words of C. S. Lewis, “Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive.” Forgiveness is a form of healing, and that takes time.

We must have boundaries, or we will not be able to help for long. Many learn this the hard way. That will often mean refusing to enable bad behavior, even though that can get us accused of being hateful. Loving enough to tell the truth can have the same response. If people are enjoying regular sin, it is not loving to say that sin is not sin.

Self (and other) defense, just war, and law enforcement sometimes require force and even violence. We surround these issues with strict requirements, but there continues to be challenges.

We have the challenge of stewarding limited resources. If I think of a billion people in need, and I give each one of them a billionth of my resources (if it were even possible), that would not be terribly helpful. How do we best respond?

Liturgy needs to be done in a way that best presents the mysteries at work, and not necessarily the way people prefer or are used to.

We need as much of God’s help as we can get to respond to this call.

Blessings,

Fr. Jim

Calling Sinners to Action

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Dear Folks,
Our readings this Sunday show two people getting called by God (see Isaiah 6 and Luke 5). We think Isaiah was a priest, and we know Peter was a fisherman. They encountered God and His call while at work and gets their attention in a way that they would be sensitive to. Both have an experience of the divine, and it makes them powerfully aware of their shortcomings. God reassures them so they can answer the call. Notice especially they are not promised reward but given a task.
In fact, they both suffered much for their service. According to the ancient stories, Isaiah was put in a hollow tree and was sawed in half. St. Peter was crucified upside down. He said that he wasn’t worthy to die the way that Jesus died, and so the soldiers (who I presume thought they were funny) did it that way. They certainly knew that answering God’s call didn’t lead to an easy path, but I suspect they didn’t know how hard it was going to be. God strengthened them on their journeys so that they could be faithful even to their extreme endings.
I would suggest that God is testing our Church now, and our future as Church will pivot around our response to His call. Are we accepting the challenge to be coworkers in mission. We may get frustrated with the Church sometimes (I speak from experience), but rather than focus on what the Pope, various bishops and various priests should be doing (or not doing), we can focus on what we can do to further the mission in our little corner. There will always be things going on that we don’t like, that we think should be done differently. Coworkers in mission focus on how the Church can best respond to Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations, and how we can help make that happen.
We seek to grow in holiness not just for our sake, but so that God’s light might shine more brightly through us (Mat 5:13-15). If we want a better world, the first step is always to fall more deeply in love with Jesus.
Next, we consider how we tell the Gospel story. If you take a look at this Sunday’s second reading from 1 Corinthians 15 St. Paul relates the basic message of Jesus (called “the kerygma”). How would you sum up the Christian message? Christopher West says it’s “God wants to marry you.” Another way would be, Jesus brought perfect love into the world, and by the power of that love He can conquer evil in us.
How do we work together as community? Are we inviting and welcoming? How well and how lovingly do we resolve conflict in our midst? Does it show that Jesus is at work here?
How do we worship? Do our presence and our participation show that we are doing the most important work of our week? If we are focused on giving ourselves completely to God in worship it will show. How do we help those in need? Do we amaze the surrounding community with our love in action? Jesus invites us to come and fish for His people. How do we answer?
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

The Torah and the Gospel

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Dear Folks,
Our first reading this Sunday is from Nehemiah and describes when the Israelites came back from exile and had to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the temple. In the wreckage of the temple, they found a copy of the law. When the Bible talks about the law, it’s talking about the Torah. A rabbi told me that translating “Torah” as “law” does not really convey the meaning. He said that sin is missing the target and Torah is hitting the target. The Torah
is the first five books of the Bible (also called the Pentateuch) and is a central reference point in the Bible. Whenever it speaks of God’s precepts, statutes, and decrees, this is what they mean. When Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple in obedience to the Law of
the Lord (Luke 2:22-38), it is this law, which Mary and Joseph faithfully followed. When Jesus disputes with the Pharisees over picking grain on the Sabbath, they are arguing about the proper interpretation of the Torah (which is suspect is a longstanding rabbinic tradition). In the Old Testament, one was considered righteous (in right relationship with God) if one followed the Torah.
Psalm 1 (quite short) and Psalm 119 (somewhat longer, the longest chapter in the Bible) are hymns to the Torah. They both teach that the Torah is the way to blessedness in a way that Jesus invokes when He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” This blessedness is the fullness of life to which God calls us.
For Christians, Jesus is the new Torah. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is modeled after the presentation of the Law of Moses Compare with Exodus 20: up on a mountain, starting with the Ten Commandment
(pocket sized version) then longer elaboration. Jesus goes up a mountain, gives the Beatitudes (pocket sized version) and then elaborates on them. St. Paul will argue that righteousness comes not from following the Law of Moses, but from faithfulness to Jesus.
We come to the fullness of life and right relationship with God through a love relationship with Jesus. This includes learning Jesus’ teaching, which is not just the four Gospels (John 21:25), but I would claim that the whole of the Catholic faith is the truth about Jesus (explanation and defense of that position is for another day). It would include spending time with Jesus, sharing ourselves. It would include encountering Him in the sacraments. It would include putting our lives into His hands, continually inviting Him to transform us however He wants and sending us to serve Him however He wants. This gives us the fullness of freedom (John 8:32), the fullness of life (John 10:10), and the fullness of joy (John
15:11; 16:22; 17:13).
Blessings,
Fr. Jim

The Bride and the Lamb

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Dear Folks,
This year most of the Gospel readings on Sunday will be from Luke, but today we slip into John to talk about the wedding of Cana. The Bible regularly uses the image of marriage for
God’s relationship with His people. We can see for instance Isaiah 62:4-5; book of Hosea, book Song of Songs, Psalm 45; Ephesians 5:29-32; Luke 5:33-35; John 3:29; Revelation 19:6-9, and Revelation 21:9-14. At the wedding at Cana, we see Mary coming to Jesus with
the problem of running out of wine. If you read Brant Pitre’s excellent book “Jesus the Bridegroom” he will explain that the responsibility for providing the wine falls to the bridegroom, so Jesus is being revealed as the bridegroom. John the Baptist will make this point in John 3:29, and then in the wedding of the bride (the Church) and the Lamb (Rev. 19:6-9; Rev. 21:9-14).
Someone once said, “If you treated your friends the way you treat God, would you have any friends?” We could ask if you treat your spouse the way you treat God, how good a marriage would you have?
I’ve recommended John Gottman’s book “Seven Principles for making Marriage Work” before. He has empirical data to back up his ideas, and they are very interesting. I wonder how some of them could be applied to our relationship with God.
Enhance your love maps. Your love map is what you know about your partner, their likes, dislikes, favorite food, favorite TV show, etc. Are we curious to know more about how God has revealed Himself and interacted with His people. This would include stories from the Bible and the lives of saints, how God calls us to worship, and what He teaches. It starts with being curious.
Nurture your fondness and admiration. What do you appreciate about your spouse? How did you first fall in love? What were good times and what attracted you to each other in the early days? How did we first come to know God? What have we found good about
Him? What have been good experiences of His work in your life?
Turn toward each other instead of away. Gottman uses the example: if your beloved calls you to the window to see a cardinal (I presume the bird) in the back yard, do you come and look, or do you roll your eyes and move on? Those experiences make a difference. How do you connect in little ways with God throughout the day? Do we let Him have a bit of attention and interest in little ways? How do we connect Him to our world?
Let your partner influence you. Have you let your partner change the way you do something, look at something, approach something? How has our relationship with God changed the way we do things?
Build shared meaning. Take the two separate life stories and weave them into one story. What is your life story? God’s story, the story of salvation, the Bible story and the story of the Church is one big tapestry. How do we see ourselves woven into it? Love relationships can be nurtured. God loves with infinite love, and we have a lot of room to grow. How might we let God have more of ourselves?
Blessings,
Fr. Jim