What do you trust in? Jer. 17:5-10
Where do we place our trust ?
In Ourselves? Someone else?
In Money, power, popularity?
Jeremiah says “cursed is the man who places his trust in anything other than God.”
They are like a bush in the desert.
Dead and bearing no fruit.
But those who Trust in the Lord
Are like a tree beside flowing water.
Unafraid of the heat of day
Bearing fruit and thriving even in drought.
Before you start you day and go out to face the world
Always say, Jesus, I trust in you!
Religion is not a burden. Mt. 23:1-12
The Pharisees were the religious guides and had lost their way.
They put burdens on other people’s shoulders.
Telling them what they should do and not do.
What one could eat and not eat.
What was clean and unclean.
All these things were burdens they put on other people’s shoulders that they themselves could not practice.
The practice of religion is not meant to be a burden of things we must carry or a list of things we must do.
Rather merely humble oneself before the Lord
And God will do the rest.
Can you drink the chalice? Mt. 20:17-28
Everyone wants the consolation of our Faith.
Everyone wants healing and forgiveness and their prayers answered.
Everyone wants to reign with Christ forever in Heaven.
But how many want to drink the cup of His suffering?
This is what Jesus asked James and John in the Gospel.
And drink of the cup they did.
James was the first Apostle to be martyred
As he was beheaded by Herod.
And John was exiled on Patmos.
Do we want to drink of the cup or would we rather pass it by?
How close to the cross do we want to stand?
Only If we die with the Lord we shall live with the Lord.
Only If we endure with the Lord, we shall reign with the Lord.
The Greatest Sinners Dan. 9:4-10
Daniel finds himself exiled in Babylon and imprisoned
And he cries out to the Lord not for Freedom but for Forgiveness.
He prays that he has “sinned, been wicked and done evil.
Rebelled and departed from God’s commandments and laws.”
This is the great prophet Daniel saying this.
St. Francis of Assisi also thought he was the greatest sinner.
Why is it that the greatest saints and prophets thought that they were the greatest sinners?
Because the closer they drew to the Light, the more clearly they could see the state of their souls.
Where does that leave us?
The Transfiguration. Mk. 9:2-10
Jesus had a human nature and a divine nature.
His human nature hid His divine nature from His disciples.
So on the mountain He revealed His Divine nature to His disciples.
And when He did, He shone like the sun in all His glory.
Lent is a time of laying aside our human nature,
And letting the Divine Nature of God shine through us.
Our human nature often hides the divine nature of God dwelling within us.
Through the years our sins of greed, lust and anger;
The grudges we hold and the gossip we spread;
The division we sow and the lies we tell;
All cover up the glory of God dwelling within us.
And so We put ashes on us remind us how our sins cover up the Light within us.
Everyday We get up in the morning and chase after beauty, youth, riches, power and pleasure.
And so we put ashes on our head to remind us that all we chase after will one day become dust and ashes.
And not only the things we chase after,
But that our own human nature will one day turn to dust and ashes.
There is a Transfiguration that awaits us.
A glory within us to be revealed.
But it will only come after we have died to ourselves and live for God.
As St. Paul said,
“I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live but Christ Who lives in me.”
And When we die to ourselves and let Christ live in us.
Then we too will shine like the sun!
St. Bonaventure wrote a heartfelt prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows, invoking her intercession while also pledging to stand with the Virgin Mother in her grief.
O most holy virgin, mother of our Lord Jesus Christ: by the overwhelming grief you experienced when you witnessed the martyrdom, the crucifixion, and the death of your divine Son, look upon me with eyes of compassion and awaken in my heart a similar compassion for those sufferings, as well as a sincere detestation of my sins, in order that, being disengaged from all undue affections for the passing joys of this earth, I may long for the eternal Jerusalem, and that henceforth all my thoughts and all my actions may be directed toward this one most desirable object.
Honor, glory, and love to our divine Lord Jesus, and to the holy and immaculate mother of God.
Amen.
Feast of St. Polycarp
Polycarp!
Now there’s a name you don’t hear too often.
But has been remembered in the Halls of the Kingdom of Heaven.
His is a name and a life though that will never be forgotten.
For he was a disciple of St. John the Apostle,
Who ordained him as Bishop of Smyrna.
And who was later burned at the stake and stabbed to death for the Faith.
And one of the three chief Apostolic Fathers,
Along with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.
He once said,
“Hear me declare with boldness, I am a Christian!”
Perhaps if we are unashamed and just as bold about being a Christian,
Our name too will be remembered forever,
In the Kingdom of Heaven.
No matter how common of uncommon it may be.
Thursday 1st Week of Lent
The Chair of St. Peter
There are many different kinds of chairs.
There are desk chairs and dining room chairs and lounge chairs and poolside chairs.
Where a person sits says a lot about them and what they do.
Today we celebrate the chair of St. Peter. That chair symbolizes the who St. Peter was and what he did.
Peter is the man of Faith who professes that Jesus is the Christ.
Peter is the Rock on which the church is built.
Peter is the keeper of the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Peter is the shepherd who feeds the sheep.
Peter was the first to enter the Empty Tomb and believe
There is no other like Him in the Scriptures.
And The Pope continues this unique role of Peter in the Church.
For while there are many different chairs there is only one Chair of St. Peter
The Prayer of King David. Ps. 51
After King David committed adultery and killed Bathsheba’s husband Uriah he repented.
He prayed that God would wipe out his offense.
And wash him from his guilt.
And give him a new heart and a new spirit
And not cast him away from His presence.
For rather than slaughtering bulls and goats to offer for his sins,
David knew that what God wanted from him was a humble and contrite heart.
When we sin, We may not sin as seriously as King David,
But hopefully our hearts will be as humble and contrite as David’s when we do.
The Lord’s Prayer. Mt. 6:7-15
Jesus tells us not to babble like the pagans who think that their many words will be heard.
So when we pray the Lord’s Prayer,
Do not Babble!
Pray the prayer slowly.
Meditate upon the words.
Put them into practice.
Seek first the Kingdom of God
Desire to do God’s Will and not your own.
Forgive as you want others to forgive you.
Then your Heavenly Father who knows what you need even before you ask,
Will know that you are praying from your heart and not from you r lips
Be Holy! Lev. 19:1-2,11-18
At every Mass we cry out
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of Hosts.
This is why the Lord told Moses and He also tells us to
‘BeHoly as the Lord your God is Holy”
So what does it mean to be holy?
It means not to steal or lie or gossip.
Do not be dishonest and to act justly.
Do not slander or stand by idly while you neighbor is in need.
Do not bear hatred for others and take no revenge.
And never hold a grudge.
This is the way of the world
And it is not found in Heaven.
And if we want to enter Heaven then we must not do these things
And be Holy as God is Holy.
Repent! Mk. 1:12-15
Everyone talks about how God is Love.
And God is!
But sometimes they use it as an excuse to do whatever they want.
And what they do is not loving in the end.
It is selfish.
No one however seems to quote Jesus saying,
“Repent!”
But He did!
And why did He tell us to repent?
Just look around.
Division, anger, war, violence, lust, greed, injustice are everywhere.
God may be love but we are not!
This is why Jesus tells us that we must Repent!
We may say to ourselves,
“Why do I have to repent? I am not that bad.”
But Are we really as good as we think we are?
Sin blinds us.
We do not always see what we do and do not always hear what we say.
Lent is a time of honestly asking ourselves
“What have we done and what have we failed to do?”
The Kingdom of God is at hand
And there is no room for selfishness of any kind.
No room for greed or lust or jealousy or pride.
For Only those who repent of these things can enter the Kingdom of God.
