Ash Wednesday and Lent

Rend your hearts, 
not your garments...
(Joel 2: 13)

Today we begin a new season of the church year. We pray for and with one another as we enter into this time of preparation for Easter. Lent makes no sense without Easter. Easter is given its meaning by the reality of Lent: all is not well. The good news is that God WANTS all to be well, and will do anything to help us.

Lent is the time for us to look inward, to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to and honest with God. And in recognizing our need for God's help, the most difficult part may well be in accepting it.

In the Gospel today (Mt 6: 1-6, 16-18), Jesus is talking about prayer, fasting and almsgiving, or charity. Christians are called to practice these disciplines throughout our lives, but especially during Lent. But Jesus doesn't sound very supportive of them: go hide and pray, pretend you're happy when your stomach's growling and your head hurts, don't worry about getting your name on the donor wall. Jesus does say to DO these things, but make them a part of your ordinary, everyday life- not for show, recognition or even a tax write-off, but as the normal course of living as the people of God.

Have you ever driven out on a rural road and passed a farm where the field is on fire? The farmer is burning the stubble of the old crop down. There are at least two good reasons to do this: 1) it gets the leftover stuff out of the way so that when plowing time arrives, the process is easier and 2) the ashes from that stubble nourish the soil and replenish the nutrients that had been taken by the previous crop. Isn't this a bold action? What if a wind comes up and the fire gets out of control? The farmer surely knows what he or she is doing, and yet there is that element of vulnerability required in order to let that first spark find a place to land.

And so today we wear the ashes, reminded of our humble origins, our fragility, and our connectedness with all creation. The cross on our foreheads reminds us that death can lead to new life; that Jesus Christ is not only our savior whose name we bear, but also our model of how to live a healthy, holy life. We are marked as a community of faith, a holy people, those saved by Christ's death and resurrection and yet continually in need of conversion.

To prepare for the new fire of the Easter Vigil, to truly proclaim Christ as the light of the world and our lives, we have been given the gift of this season of Lent. May we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to be thankful for the blessings in our lives and to ask God's Spirit to transform us and bring us every closer to Gd so that in these ashes, we may find renewal.

Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, February 19, 2012:

Isaiah 43: 18-19, 21-22, 24b-25
Psalm 41: 2-5, 13-14
2 Corinthians 1: 18-22
Mark 2: 1-12

What are the main images for you in today's Gospel? Are you struck by the tenacity of the man's friends? By a sense of claustrophobia when yet another body enters the house- and through the roof, no less?! Exasperated by the sour mood of the Scribes? Wondering how the paralytic man was feeling during this whole time? Imagining the silence in the crowded room when they man DID get up and walk away?

What a full and rich story for us!

Recall and believe the words in Isaiah: Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!  As you reflect on yet another healing story, consider what there might be in your life that keeps you "paralyzed", unable to move on. Ask God to heal whatever it is in your past that keeps you 'stuck', and look to this coming season of Lent as the opportunity to believe both that your sins are forgiven and that you are healed!

The topic for the Catechumenate this week is Eucharist.

Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, February 12, 2012:

Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46
Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 11
1 Corinthians 10: 31 - 11: 1
Mark 1: 40-45

In the time of the Old Testament, physical imperfections were viewed as a indication of a lack of full holiness. And those who had physical limitations or noticeable illnesses were commanded to live apart from the community, so as not to 'pollute' or make the others impure. Notice what Jesus does to the leper: he touches the man. He reaches out to overcome the debilitating alienation and restores the man to his place in community. The healing may be physical, it was certainly spiritual and relational, too.

• Is there a relationship in your life that is in need of healing? 
• Is it your will that it be healed? 
• Who or what groups do we treat as outcasts today?

The topic for this Sunday's Catechumenate is the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
The final Mystagogia meeting will be at 10:45am in Room 214 of the CARE Center.

Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time,
February 5, 2012:

Job 7: 1-4, 6-7
Psalm 147: 1-6
1 Corinthians 9: 16-19, 22-23
Mark 1: 29-39

• Have there been times when you can identify with Job's mood in the first reading? What were the circumstances? How did you respond?
• In the Gospel, we witness Jesus curing and healing many who were sick. Do you carry any wounds? Invite Jesus to help you see the way to healing.

The topic for this Sunday's Catechumenate is Reconciliation.

Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

Here are the readings for the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time,
January 22, 2012:

Jonah 3: 1-5, 10
Psalm 25: 4-9
1 Corinthians 7: 29-31
Mark 1: 14-20

What, didn't Jesus call these guys in LAST week's Gospel?! True, John's Gospel account last week, happening at an earlier time (before John the Baptist's arrest) describes some initial encounters with Jesus. The immediacy of the apostles' dropping everything in Mark's account makes more sense if we realize that this WASN'T  their first meeting with him. And to complicate matters further, the Gospels were not written as a history book, detailing in tight chronology exactly what happened when and where. The evangelists were concerned with telling the story of who Jesus was and what he did, and crafting the telling of that truth within a context that made sense to their audience.

We see here in the Gospel- as in the first reading for the people of Ninevah- an invitation that requires decisive action. Repent! Follow Me! (and Get Ready! for good measure in the second reading)  It brings a whole new level of meaning to the old phrase, "he who hesitates is lost", doesn't it?

• Is there some decision you've been delaying, some action you've been putting off?
• Why? What are the consequences of saying 'yes'? Of saying 'no' or 'later'?
• How or in what/who do you find confidence for significant decisions?

 The topic for the Catechumenate this Sunday is "Ecumenism" (We are in the midst of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
Mystagogia will meet this Sunday at 10:45am in the small chapel off the courtyard.
Inquiry is Tuesday evening, January 24.

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time- Year B

Here are the readings for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time,
January 15, 2012:

1 Samuel 3: 3b-10, 19
Psalm 40: 2, 4, 7-10
1 Corinthians 6: 13-15a, 17-20
John 1: 35-42

• When did you first hear about Jesus, and from whom? Can you even remember, or has the sense of God always been a part of your life?
• When faced with big decisions, by what process do you discern your choice? Do you look for guidance from others, do you go off by yourself to mull things over? Make lists? Pray?
• What helps you listen to God's will? 

The Catechumenate Session for Adults will meet this Sunday as usual, and the topic is Sacraments of Vocation. The Catechumenate Session for Youth will also meet as usual this Sunday, and the topic is Faithful Living.

January 8: Epiphany of the Lord

Here are the readings for the Epiphany of the Lord,
January 8, 2012:

Isaiah 60: 1-6
Psalm 72: 1-2, 7-8, 10-13
Ephesians 3: 2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2: 1-12

I can offer no better reflection than the one at the Catholic Moral Theology Blog for this feast. Please, take a few minutes and read the entry. Blessings of the Christmas Season!