Saturday, March 30, 2013

Easter- The Resurrection of the Lord!

Here is the text of Pope Francis' homily for the Easter Vigil:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. In the Gospel of this radiant night of the Easter Vigil, we first meet the women who go the tomb of Jesus with spices to anoint his body (cf. Lk 24:1-3). They go to perform an act of compassion, a traditional act of affection and love for a dear departed person, just as we would. They had followed Jesus, they had listened to his words, they had felt understood by him in their dignity and they had accompanied him to the very end, to Calvary and to the moment when he was taken down from the cross. We can imagine their feelings as they make their way to the tomb: a certain sadness, sorrow that Jesus had left them, he had died, his life had come to an end. Life would now go on as before. Yet the women continued to feel love, the love for Jesus which now led them to his tomb. But at this point, something completely new and unexpected happens, something which upsets their hearts and their plans, something which will upset their whole life: they see the stone removed from before the tomb, they draw near and they do not find the Lord’s body. It is an event which leaves them perplexed, hesitant, full of questions: “What happened?”, “What is the meaning of all this?” (cf. Lk 24:4). Doesn’t the same thing also happen to us when something completely new occurs in our everyday life? We stop short, we don’t understand, we don’t know what to do. Newness often makes us fearful, including the newness which God brings us, the newness which God asks of us. We are like the Apostles in the Gospel: often we would prefer to hold on to our own security, to stand in front of a tomb, to think about someone who has died, someone who ultimately lives on only as a memory, like the great historical figures from the past. We are afraid of God’s surprises; we are afraid of God’s surprises! He always surprises us!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us not be closed to the newness that God wants to bring into our lives! Are we often weary, disheartened and sad? Do we feel weighed down by our sins? Do we think that we won’t be able to cope? Let us not close our hearts, let us not lose confidence, let us never give up: there are no situations which God cannot change, there is no sin which he cannot forgive if only we open ourselves to him.

2. But let us return to the Gospel, to the women, and take one step further. They find the tomb empty, the body of Jesus is not there, something new has happened, but all this still doesn’t tell them anything certain: it raises questions; it leaves them confused, without offering an answer. And suddenly there are two men in dazzling clothes who say: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; but has risen” (Lk 24:5-6). What was a simple act, done surely out of love – going to the tomb – has now turned into an event, a truly life-changing event. Nothing remains as it was before, not only in the lives of those women, but also in our own lives and in the history of mankind. Jesus is not dead, he has risen, he is alive! He does not simply return to life; rather, he is life itself, because he is the Son of God, the living God (cf. Num 14:21-28; Deut 5:26; Josh 3:10). Jesus no longer belongs to the past, but lives in the present and is projected towards the future; he is the everlasting “today” of God. This is how the newness of God appears to the women, the disciples and all of us: as victory over sin, evil and death, over everything that crushes life and makes it seem less human. And this is a message meant for me and for you, dear sister, dear brother. How often does Love have to tell us: Why do you look for the living among the dead? Our daily problems and worries can wrap us up in ourselves, in sadness and bitterness… and that is where death is. That is not the place to look for the One who is alive!

Let the risen Jesus enter your life, welcome him as a friend, with trust: he is life! If up till now you have kept him at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. If following him seems difficult, don’t be afraid, trust him, be confident that he is close to you, he is with you and he will give you the peace you are looking for and the strength to live as he would have you do.

3. There is one last little element that I would like to emphasize in the Gospel for this Easter Vigil. The women encounter the newness of God. Jesus has risen, he is alive! But faced with empty tomb and the two men in brilliant clothes, their first reaction is one of fear: “they were terrified and bowed their faced to the ground”, Saint Luke tells us – they didn’t even have courage to look. But when they hear the message of the Resurrection, they accept it in faith. And the two men in dazzling clothes tell them something of crucial importance: “Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee… And they remembered his words” (Lk 24:6,8). They are asked to remember their encounter with Jesus, to remember his words, his actions, his life; and it is precisely this loving remembrance of their experience with the Master that enables the women to master their fear and to bring the message of the Resurrection to the Apostles and all the others (cf. Lk 24:9). To remember what God has done and continues to do for me, for us, to remember the road we have traveled; this is what opens our hearts to hope for the future. May we learn to remember everything that God has done in our lives.

On this radiant night, let us invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary, who treasured all these events in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19,51) and ask the Lord to give us a share in his Resurrection. May he open us to the newness that transforms. May he make us men and women capable of remembering all that he has done in our own lives and in the history of our world. May he help us to feel his presence as the one who is alive and at work in our midst. And may he teach us each day not to look among the dead for the Living One. Amen.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A Reflection for Holy Week

 

Words from Pope Francis during his first general audience today....  it is well worth the time to read and reflect on it...


With Palm Sunday we began this week - the center of the whole liturgical year - in which we accompany Jesus in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

But what does it mean for us to live Holy Week? What does it means to follow Jesus on His way to the Cross on Calvary and the Resurrection? In His earthly mission, Jesus walked the streets of the Holy Land; He called twelve simple people to remain with Him, to share His journey and continue His mission; He chose them among the people full of faith in the promises of God. He spoke to everyone, without distinction, to the great and the lowly; to the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and the weak; He brought the mercy and forgiveness of God to all; He healed, comforted, understood, gave hope, He led all to the presence of God, who is interested in every man and woman, like a good father and a good mother is interested in each child.
 

God did not wait for us to go to Him, but He moved towards us, without calculation, without measures. This is how God is: He is always the first, He moves towards us. Jesus lived the daily realities of most ordinary people: He was moved by the crowd that seemed like a flock without a shepherd, and He cried in front of the suffering of Martha and Mary on the death of their brother Lazarus; He called a tax collector to be His disciple and also suffered the betrayal of a friend. In Christ, God has given us the assurance that He is with us, in our midst. "Foxes", Jesus said, "have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head" (Mt 8:20). Jesus did not have a home because His house is the people -- that is, us; His mission is to open all God’s doors, to be the loving presence of God. 

In Holy Week we live the highest point of this journey, this loving plan that runs throughout the entire history of the relationship between God and humanity. Jesus enters Jerusalem to take the final step, in which His whole existence is summarized: He gives Himself totally, He keeps nothing for Himself, not even His life. At the Last Supper, with His friends, He shares the bread and distributes the chalice "for us." The Son of God is offered to us, He consigns His Body and his Blood into our hands to be with us always, to dwell among us. And on the Mount of Olives, as in the trial before Pilate, He puts up no resistance, He gifts Himself: He is the Suffering Servant foretold by Isaiah, who stripped himself unto death (cf. Is 53:12). 

Jesus does not live this love that leads to sacrifice passively or as a fatal destiny; certainly He does not hide His deep human commotion in the face of a violent death, but He entrusts Himself with full confidence to the Father. Jesus voluntarily consigned Himself to death to respond to the love of God the Father, in perfect union with His will, to demonstrate His love for us. On the Cross, Jesus "loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20). Each of us can say, "He loved me and gave Himself for me." Everyone can say that "for me"!

What does this mean for us? It means that this is my, your, our path. Living Holy Week following Jesus not only with the emotions of the heart; living Holy Week following Jesus means learning how to go beyond ourselves - as I said on Sunday - to reach out to others, to go to the outskirts of existence, to be the first to move towards our brothers and sisters, especially those who are most distant, those who are forgotten, those who are most in need of understanding, consolation and help. There is so much need to bring the living presence of Jesus, merciful and full of love!

Living Holy Week means increasingly entering into God's logic, the logic of the Cross, which is not first of all that of pain and death, but of love and of self-giving that brings life. It means entering into the logic of the Gospel. Following, accompanying Christ, remaining with Him requires a "stepping outside," a stepping beyond. Stepping outside of ourselves, of a tired and routine way of living the faith, of the temptation to withdraw into pre-established patterns that end up closing our horizon to the creative action of God. God stepped outside of Himself to come among us, He pitched His tent among us to bring the mercy of God that saves and gives hope. Even if we want to follow Him and stay with Him, we must not be content to remain in the enclosure of the ninety-nine sheep, we have to "step outside", to search for the lost sheep together with Him, the one furthest away. Remember well: stepping outside of ourselves, like Jesus, like God has stepped outside of Himself in Jesus and Jesus stepped outside of Himself for all of us. 

Some might say to me, "But, Father, I have no time", "I have so many things to do", "it is difficult", "what can I do with my little strength?", with my sin, with so many things? Often we settle for a few prayers, a distracted and inconsistent presence at Sunday Mass, a random act of charity, but we lack this courage to "step outside" to bring Christ. We are a bit like St. Peter. As soon as Jesus speaks of the Passion, Death and Resurrection, of self-giving, of love for all, the Apostle takes him aside and rebukes him. What Jesus says upsets his plans, seems unacceptable, undermines the sense of security that he had built up, his idea of ​​the Messiah. And Jesus looks at the disciples and addresses Peter with perhaps one of the strongest words of the Gospel: "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do"(Mk 8:33).

God always thinks with mercy: do not forget this. God always thinks with mercy: our merciful Father. God thinks like a father who awaits the return of his child and goes to meet him, sees him coming when he is still far away ... What does this mean? That each and every day he went out to see if his son was coming home. This is our merciful Father. It is the sign that he was waiting for him from the terrace of his house; God thinks like the Samaritan that does not approach the victim to commiserate with him, or look the other way, but to rescue him without asking for anything in return, without asking if he was Jew, if he was pagan, a Samaritan, rich or poor: he does not ask anything – he does not ask these things, he asks for nothing. He goes to his aid: This is how God thinks. God thinks like the shepherd who gives his life to defend and save his sheep. 

Holy Week is a time of grace which the Lord gifts us to open the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes - what a pity, so many parishes are closed! - in our parishes, movements, associations, and to "step outside" towards others, to draw close to them so we can bring the light and joy of our faith. Always step outside yourself! And with the love and tenderness of God, with respect and patience, knowing that we put our hands, our feet, our hearts, but then it is God who guides them and makes all our actions fruitful. 

May you all live these days well, following the Lord with courage, and carrying within ourselves a ray of His love for all those whom we meet.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

Here are the readings for Palm/Passion Sunday , March 24, 2013:

Processional Gospel: Luke 19: 28-40

Isaiah 50: 4-7
Psalm 22: 8-9, 17-20, 23-24
Philippians 2: 6-11
Luke 22: 14- 23: 56

Soap operas have nothing on our Story this week.

Even within this one Sunday liturgy -one that begins with an extra Gospel- we move abruptly from Jesus' jubilant ride into Jerusalem, being hailed by the crowds as their king and leader ... to the long, solemn recollection of his suffering and sacrificial death, declared "king" only in mockery. (The "INRI" at the top of a crucifix stands for "Jesus (they didn't have "J"s) of Nazareth, King (Rex) of the Jews" (again, no J's))

As you enter into the holiest week of the year, I invite you to LIVE this week-- decide how to set it apart from any other time (limited internet or TV time? adding prayer time? driving without the radio?, take Friday off work if you can) and enter fully into the services of the Triduum, reflecting on the images and actions and prayers that teach us more about who God is for us in Jesus Christ... and how we are called to live as the Body of Christ.

At St. Andrew's, the main services of the Sacred Triduum are:
  • Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, 7:30pm
  • Good Friday Commemoration of the Lord's Passion, 3:00pm
  • Easter Vigil- the premier liturgy of the church year, 8:30pm Saturday
Leave your watch at home--  time really is irrelevant -- in the Year of Faith, let yourself relish the truth of the Good News of God's tender mercy, deep compassion, and limitless power to overcome all that keeps us bound and lifeless!

Please pray for Richard, Emily, Lori, Natalie, Emily and Alaina, our Elect who are preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation. And pray as well for Lisa and Kevin, already one with us in Christian baptism, who will be united fully with us through a Profession of Faith, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist.  We praise God for this new life in our Church!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year A)


Here are the readings for the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year A), March 17, 2013:

Ezekiel 37: 12-14
Psalm 130: 1-8
Romans 8: 8-11
John 11: 1-45


"We've got a new Pope, Ms. Cathy!!!!!", one of my young friends declared loudly in the hallway today! There was such excitement in his voice, an excitement echoed by so many Catholics around the world, in recognition of a fresh start, a new beginning-- with all the unknown possibilities this presents.

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Easter comes at the time when the Earth brings forth new life: glorious displays of flowers, leaves sprouting on trees, migrating birds and animals returning. The readings for this week speak in a more low-key fashion about new beginnings.

Ezekiel reports the Lord's promise of a new day, a fresh start:
O my people, I will open your graves
and have you rise from them ...
I will put my spirit in you that you may live ...
And the Gospel gives us the long and moving story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. We find in this account not only the strength of God to overcome death, but the compassion of God who weeps with us and for us.

  • In what ways do you feel like Lazarus, what feels dead in you, how are you bound and unable to free yourself?
  • What do you think life was like for Lazarus after that miraculous day?
  • How will the celebration of Easter this year mean a new beginning for you?
We will celebrate the Third Scrutiny with the Presentation of the Lord's Prayer at the 11:30AM Mass this Sunday.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year A)

Here are the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year A), March 10, 2013:

1 Samuel 16: 1B, 6-7, 10-13A
Psalm 23: 1-6
Ephesians 5: 8-14
John 9: 1-41
  • What are your spiritual 'blindspots'?
  • In what ways do you need Christ to enlighten you?
The Second Scrutiny for Elect will be celebrated at the 5:30pm Mass this Sunday, March 10.


Friday, March 1, 2013

Third Sunday in Lent (Year A)

Here are the readings for the Third Sunday in Lent (Year A), March 3, 2013:
Exodus 17: 3-7
Psalm 95: 1-2, 6-9
Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8
John 4: 5-42

Are you wondering why we are not doing the 'normal' readings for Year C? Whenever a parish has adults (and children over age 7) preparing for the Easter Sacraments - the Sacraments of Initiation- we take the 3rd, 4th. and 5th Sundays in Lent to focus on the foundational symbols of baptism, and the Gospels in the A cycle of readings are particularly suited to that focus.

We believe baptism gives us new life, a fresh start- like the spring bulbs emerging from the barren ground, watered by the rain. We believe that only in God can our ultimate desires be met, our deepest thirsts quenched. We trust that those places deep within ourselves that are parched, dry and weary can truly be revived by the One who promises living water.
  • In what way are you parched?
  • For what new growth are you hopeful?
  • How are you isolated from others, or cause others to feel outcast? How might that be addressed?

    The First Scrutiny for our Elect (Lori, Evelyn, Emily, Richard, Alaina and Natalie) will be at the 9:30am Mass this Sunday, followed by a regular session.