Tuesday 2nd Week of Lent

 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. 

Wednesday 2nd Week of Lent

 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. 

Monday 2nd Week of Lent

 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?

2nd Sunday of Lent

 

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!

Saturday 1st Week of Lent

 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.

Friday 1st. Week of Lent

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