Greetings on this the Monday of the Third Week of Lent Readings: 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab; PS 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4; Lk 4:24-30 Notes: In our first reading and the gospel portion they share a common theme.
Just trust the Lord.
What the Lord asks of us is simple really:
to act justly.
to trust the Lord.
Naaman got it, after some prompting.
First reading But his servants came up and reasoned with him. “My father,” they said, “if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said.” So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
Responsorial Psalm Athirst is my soul for the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?
We really do thirst for the Lord and to be in relationship with him. Trust he feels the same way.
Verse Before Gospel I hope in the LORD, I trust in his word; with him there is kindness and plenteous redemption.
Gospel Portion Jesus uses the example of two foreigners trusting the Lord.
Elijah’s widow.
Elisha’s military commander.
His purpose is to call out all of us who know something about him but really refuse to actually know him.
How do we know we are distant from the Lord?
Easily aroused to anger is a big sign of distance.
The idea of foreigners being close to the Lord instead of who ‘own’ the Lord enrages.
Yikes!
Do we sometimes do the same?
When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
How do you feel when the Lord helps your enemy, your foreigner?
Greetings on this the Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent Readings: Jer 18:18-20; PS 31:5-6, 14, 15-16; Mt 20:17-28 Notes: It is always difficult to restrain oneself when under attack.
Especially when you know who is contriving and what they intend. It is most difficult indeed!
Who wants to live in Ukraine today given the plot against them?!
Jesus too had the problem of Jeremiah and Ukraine. His answer is to be a servant leader.
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
First reading “Come,” they said, “let us devise a plot against Jeremiah, for instruction will not perish from the priests, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. Come, let us destroy him by his own tongue. Let us pay careful attention to his every word.”
Jeremiah is stunned by the response to his intersessions on behalf of the people. Even as they conspire to kill him, he reminds the Lord how he prayed for them. This is a truly remarkable man. But still he wants justice for himself, even if this request is instinctive not intentional.
Heed me, O LORD, and listen to what my adversaries say. Must good be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take my life? Remember that I stood before you to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them.
The Lord will be his justice. It is instructive to understand that Jeremiah is exposing his pain that the Lord may answer however the Lord sees fit to answer (“in the time of your anger“).
But you, LORD, know all their planning for my death. Do not forgive their crime, and their sin do not blot out from your sight! Let them stumble before you, in the time of your anger act against them.
Responsorial Psalm Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. But my trust is in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” In your hands is my destiny; rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
Death is our ultimate enemy. Death is defeated in Christ and we can count on our redemption. All other enemies are abstractions or derivations of death. Let God be our Vengeance. Let God be our salvation.
Verse before the Gospel I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Gospel Portion The Third Prediction of the Passion.
The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and had some ideas of how to be victorious and enjoy the fruits of success on the battle.
Jesus kindly reset the expectation.
Leadership is sacrifice in the face of oppression.
The Lord, Our God, sacrifices himself for the liberation of all people.
Defend your homeland.
Expel the aggressor.
Leave vengeance to God.
Repentance is always possible, until the last breath.
Greetings on this the Monday of the Second Week in Lent Readings: Dn 9:4b-10; PS 79:8, 9, 11 and 13; Lk 6:36-38 Notes: The misappropriation of the gospel message is a foundation of evil intent.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10608443/Bill-Barr-compares-working-Trump-cronies-wrestling-alligator.html The news anchor turned up the heat, attempting to corner Barr into a straight answer multiple times. ‘But I’m talking about you, you’ve had firsthand account. You saw it up close,’ he said. Barr answered that elections were a ‘binary choice.’ ‘And unfortunately sometimes it’s choosing the lesser of two evils. I believe that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is dangerous for the United States,’ he claimed.
I call his claim: “Virtue By Proxy“. Or to use medical terms: Munchausen syndrome by proxy which is when someone falsely claims that another person has physical or psychological signs or symptoms of illness, or causes injury or disease in another person with the intention of deceiving others.
Pittiful warping of Catholic obligations! This is classic moralistic and the moralism disease in society today. Instead:
Gospel = the good news of Jesus Christ, in person, in faith and in the moral/ethical domains.
Natural Law dictates the basic and personal characteristics are foundational to any supernatural or spiritual Law. They cannot be suspended in favor of an ethereal understanding of moral good.
What one does is far more important than what one says. “Virtue by Proxy” (my term) is an attempt to color others as non-virtuous while maintaining a “virtue status” by way of a standard you do not hold to yourself. As I mentioned in yesterday’s homily, justice is NOT an absolute standard. It is a relation. Justice is the reduction/elimination of hurt/harm done TO another and the application of blessing UPON the other.
Catholics are rightly rejecting this Barr expressed moralistic perspective in favor of candidates, by their own life, offer a moral example. Justice is how you treat people.
The principles are (1) double effect, in which a single action has two foreseen effects—one “good” and intended, the other “evil” and tolerated, such as the removal of the fetus in an ectopic pregnancy to save the life of the mother; (2) tolerance, in which we judge, following the Gospel principle of the wheat and the tares, that certain evils must be endured for the time being lest a greater evil ensue from our efforts to weed out the malefactors, such as tolerating legal abortion even if we disagree that this should be the case; (3) compromise, in which we in some way actively participate in actions or sinful social structures that have a clear morally evil component, such as purchasing goods made under exploitative labor conditions in foreign sweatshops; and (4) the lesser of two evils, such as counseling the use of clean needles among drug addicts.
First reading Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments!
Responsorial Psalm Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Verse Before Gospel Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.
Gospel Portion Gospel portion today is a call to be merciful.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Bill Barr has a public voice of enormous proportions. He violates Catholic teaching at every turn.
I do not judge him, I judge his teaching.
I do not condemn him, I condemn his teaching.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them.” Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere (LK 9:4-6).
Greetings on this the Thursday of the First Week in Lent Readings: Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25; PS 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8; Mt 7:7-12 Notes: Governing v Domination.
In a somewhat healthy society, there will always be nuance problems with the temptation of dominating others. We are given to have good governance in the natural order. We are instructed to pray for those with authority so they may make right decisions. The USA suffers from this problem.
In an unhealthy society, there is domination. But in the end, it takes the people to free people. It takes courage to free an entire people. It takes faith, hope and charity and its origin in the Lord. Russia suffers from the urge to dominate and Ukraine the victim.
Modern Diplomacy website
Even if you now remain silent, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another source [divine intervention]; but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows—perhaps it was for a time like this that you became queen?” https://bible.usccb.org/bible/esther/4?14
This deliverance is commemorated by the inauguration of the Jewish festival of Purim on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar (mid-February through mid-March). The book confronts the modern reader with important themes, the evils of genocide and racism. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/esther/0
First reading Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, had recourse to the LORD. President Volodymyr Zelensky has the same recourse.
Prayer:
Save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Verse before the Gospel A clean heart create for me, O God; give me back the joy of your salvation.
Gospel Portion Jesus said to his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Domination by war is the key problem of Ukraine.
Domination by intimidation is the key problem of USA.
We cannot fail to mention them together.
In the first instance, resist!
In the second instance, sackcloth and ashes for our obstinance.
Even if you now remain silent, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another source [divine intervention]; but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows—perhaps it was for a time like this that you became queen?”
Prayer:
We Ask, Lord, for right judgment on War and Immigration. We Seek, Lord, your Sabbath peace for all persons. We Knock, Lord, at the door of Justice that mercy may flourish. Amen.
Greetings on this the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings: Sir 27:4-7; Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Lk 6:39-45 Notes: Prayer and sympathy for the People of Ukraine this day.
This very day we are in the Test of the Just.
How do we take on the mismatch of works, fruits and faith?
If we are to measure anything we are to measure the fruits of our words and works.
A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is a rotten fruit from a rotted tree. Many Catholics in America are excusing him and making excuses for him. How can this be?
First reading
When you shell corn in a traditional way the corn is first dried. Then scrapping the corn cob on cob you slowly remove the kernels until all the kernels are collected in the basket and what remains in your hand is the husk and the cob.
Duress is often the revealer of the character of a person. For good or ill when one speaks a window is opened to the soul. This is good news! Sometimes we have convinced ourselves of our rightness that it is only in hearing our own voice, and our own dishonesty that we begin the healing from sin which is the ‘missing of the mark’.
So do one’s faults when one speaks.
Agricultural is primary. Without food we die. Jesus choses to illustrate the work of agriculture as an example of what good works are. They bring and sustain life. Good works is hard work. Multi-step work. Consistent work. So we can eat. Every day work.
Likewise the tree example. Here Jesus takes the longer path of good work. Trees must be tended to and trimmed, watered, fertilized and otherwise kept healthy so that years from now it may mature and become fruitful. This is a longer term good work that, although consistently applied bring about the course of good in due time.
Husking and Shelling – every day good work.
Trimming and Harvesting – every year good work.
Always the good work of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm Lord, it is good to give thanks to you. The responsorial psalm uses the same type of immediate and long term work reference.
Palm trees grow quickly, prolifically and must be attended often.
Lebanon Cedars grow slowly and become massive in size.
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
Second reading Jesus speaks and his deeds are true and real.
Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
This is the critical and central point. Jesus has won victory over death.
We, humanity, at times, wish to keep death as supreme. The one who overcome death wants us to overcome our desire to cause death.
Alleluia Verse Shine like lights in the world as you hold on to the word of life.
Gospel Portion A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
Pope Francis made a bold visit to the Russian consulate. The Seat of Peter did not use word salad to express “thoughts and prayers” which is the modern day and a tired hypocrisy. Rather he came off his seat and walked the walk of Jesus. He advocating for peace in the person. He did not come in chariot and procession. He came, metaphorically, on a donkey.
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
Let us be clear:
Jesus is NOT saying become HOLIER THAN SOMEONE ELSE before you work together!
NO, no and no!
Jesus is saying have the humility to recognize your OWN sinfulness as a compassion (co-journey) out of sinfulness and into holiness. Pope Francis upon election: “And now, let us start this journey, bishop and people, bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which leads all the Churches in charity, a journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us.”
The pope stares at me in silence. I ask him if this is a question that I am allowed to ask…. He nods that it is, and he tells me: “I do not know what might be the most fitting description…. I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”
People on the point of giving up on life need the most important thing: to be seen and to be heard. Even this past week in ministry this was the case. Despondency yields to hope as a person is known and can know. End of life is a difficult time. Some want to rush it. Others want to deny it. The medicine of the Church is to embrace the victory of the cross over death. [disguised example].
People who are in grief need the most important thing: to be seen and to be heard. Even this past week in ministry this was the case. Grief yields to hope as a person is known and can know. When a widow demanded there be no scripture reading I countered with a suggestion: eleven words. Let me say eleven words.
And Jesus wept. So they said, “See how he loved him.” (Jn 11:35-36).
The Divine weeps. Because he chooses to weep for us. He allows us to touch him with our grief, despondency, and our sin. Or have you never seen a crucifix?
Weep, like Jesus. See, like even the hypocrites did that day, See how he loves them!
Pray for Ukraine. Pray for Russia and Putin. Pray for NATO and America and Biden.
Be an advocate for truth. Call your favorite TV personality who is embedded in this Putin Lie. I am amazed anyone would continue to listen to the lies of a Tucker Carlson. He engages in the hypocrisy Jesus decries. He uses tangents, misappropriation and maligning of facts and techniques of a demagogue. He has your ear?
Rather: Weep, like Jesus. Ukrainians are begging to be seen and to be heard.
Suppression of Catholic pastoral care of refugee children by the Governor. The electioneering stunt of Ron DeSantis intends to leave the neediest children defenseless by denying certification to the legendary protective ministries.
Attached is a statement by the General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters defending the humanitarian work with immigrants of Catholic Charities USA. I hope you can use it.
General Council of Adrian Dominican Sisters Stands by Gospel Work of Catholic Charities USA
This contains the remaining photos from the trip not already posted. No comments provided and just a visualization of the second of the two part trip.
How well the gospel message tomorrow says it so succinctly. How very challenging is the hidden reality that we hate as enemy because we judge superficially.
Stop judging and you will not be judged (Lk 6:37a).
This is a text widget, which allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. You can use them to display text, links, images, HTML, or a combination of these. Edit them in the Widget section of the Customizer.
