“God put Abraham to the test.”

 

Today we have a recurring guest blogger:  Fr. Arthur F. Rojas, pastor of PRESENTATION OF THE B.V.M CHURCH, PORT EWEN AND SACRED HEART CHURCH, ESOPUS. For more information on this parish, check out their website at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary & Sacred Heart Churches - Port Ewen - Esopus, NY (presentationsacredheart.org

Submission to the blog of Dcn. Thomas Tortorella for II Sunday of Lent by Rev. Fr. Arthur F. Rojas (c) All rights reserved by Rev. Fr. Arthur F. Rojas, February 21, 2024 (c)

 Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Second Sunday of Lent | USCCB

 “God put Abraham to the test.” Genesis 22:1. Thus begins the first reading today in the Ordinary Form.  If we are honest with ourselves and the sensibilities of contemporary society, the demand that God had made of Abraham to offer his sole heir, Isaac, in sacrifice to Him may seem harsh, cruel, and with no blasphemy meant or conveyed, even offensive to the point of questioning how God could be good in light of His order to the holy patriarch. However, consider the fact that our very existence, yours and mine, is due to at least God declining to intervene against it or even allowing us to live (God’s “permissive will”) in this time and wherever we find ourselves.  If God is truly Creator and the Supreme Being, apart from our sins, what and who do we have that we do not owe to Him, at least to His acquiescence?

Dear parents, if God gave your son(s) to you, then could not God ask for at least one of them – even your only one - to serve Him and His Holy Church as a priest, monk, friar, or religious brother? “But I want grandchildren, Father!”  (What does God want?  Does that matter?)  “The family name or lineage must continue!”  (What does God have in mind?)  “I want my son(s) to be ‘successful’.” (Is the priesthood or religious life for “failures”?)  “Who will take care of me when I get old or sick?”  (If you give who you value most to the Lord, do you think that He will forget you in your time of need?)  Evidently, I have heard these responses before.  Dear parents, if God gave your daughter(s) to you, then could not God ask for at least one of them – even your only one – to become a bride of Christ as a nun, religious sister, or consecrated virgin?  A few of the above responses arise plus “But she is pretty, Father.  What a waste to put her in the convent!”  (If you trust JESUS as your Savior, then why would you not trust Him with the heart, body, and soul of your daughter more than any other suitor?  If He finds your daughter lovely, how you can dispute His good taste?)   As St. Paul concludes today’s second reading in the Ordinary Form, “He Who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for us all, how will He not also give us everything else along with Him?” Romans8:32.

In St. Mark’s account of the Transfiguration (Mk9:2-10), the Gospel today in the Ordinary Form), let us suppose that St. Peter meant well by placing Jesus on par with Moses, the liberator of Israel, and Elijah, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.  But the Eternal Father spoke from Heaven, identifying Jesus and Him alone as His “beloved Son. Listen to Him!” Mark 9:7. These words from above should ground the attitudes of our parents, grandparents, and godparents to the availability and docility of our young people to seek, trust, and accept God’s plan for their lives on Earth and towards Heaven.

As someone who kept God waiting to heed His call to the sacred priesthood for years because I would not accept that what God wanted for me was and is better than what “I” want for me, even with noble aims, I was guilty of trying to neutralize the supremacy of God and His will by countering and distracting with other apparently good ideas.  But they were not His ends in His plan for the world and for my place in that plan.  Although as your pastor and spiritual father (and your brother in Christ and a fellow sinner),

I too have my challenges to follow God’s plan even today, nevertheless, may you and I exhort and support each other and especially our young people to “walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.” (cf. Psalm 116, our responsorial psalm of today).

Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the First Week of Lent | USCCB

As we journey through Lent the readings from the gospel are directing us to not only develop a closer relationship with God through prayer and fasting, but also to develop a good and loving relationship with those we encounter in our day-to-day existence.

Our Lord is telling us today that not only is wrong to physically kill anyone, but we are to refrain from being angry with those in our lives. Our Lord is placing anger towards those in our lives on the same level as killing them. Anger towards those in our lives for whatever reason is not pleasing to God.

To live out our lives as Catholic Christians, Jesus is reminding us that it’s more than regular attendance at Church and saying our prayers that count, but it’s also about forgiving everyone we may have issues with. We need to see God in each person, whether we like them or not.

As we hear in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, with the judgement of the nations, Jesus says, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40). In other words, if we are angry at someone, we are angry at the Lord.

The challenge for all of us is to be able to see our Lord in those people we meet each day. Eash person we meet is made in the image and likeness of God. Unfortunately, due to our human weakness, it’s not easy to see the image of God in other people.  The biggest challenge is close family relationships where there’s friction, either between spouses or between siblings. Our families know us very well and sometimes it seems easier to be angry at our relatives than it is to love them and forgive them. Since they know us so well, they know what buttons to press to make us angry at them. The important thing in family relations is not to hold grudges and to hold onto anger towards those that hurt us. We need to try to be reconciled with those in our family that we are separated from due to family disputes. We are called to approach everyone with love and forgiveness.

St. Theresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying, “People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.  If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.” In this way we can bring the love and forgiveness of God to   all those in our lives.

May we be as loving and forgiving of others as we expect God to be loving and forgiving of us.

Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday after Ash Wednesday | USCCB

During this season of Lent, from Ash Wednesday until Easter, we will be reflecting on our relationship with God through fasting and penance. Fasting is something we can use to take our mind off our own physical hungers and start focusing on our spiritual growth and union with God.

The two days that we as Catholics are called to fast are on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The church teaches that those between 18 years of age and 59 are to eat only one full meal during the day, and two smaller meals not equaling the main meal. Further we are to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent. This discipline, if used with proper understanding, helps us to focus not so much on the needs of our bodies, but rather on our spiritual needs of getting closer to God.

I recently saw a reflection on other ways of “fasting”. This reflection called us to “fast” from gossiping about those in our lives that we may not like. It calls us to “fast” from passing judgement on people that may be different from us and who we feel are not living what we consider a good life. It goes on to call us to “fast” from hatred towards people that may be different from us by race or nationality.

Then it went on to encourage us to replace the things we’re fasting from with things that are positive and more in line with our Christian values: we are called to say only good things about the people that we may not like. Instead of being judgmental, we are called to be understanding of those people who may be struggling living a life that we would not approve of. We are called to love those people that are different from us by race and nationality, realizing that we are all made in the image of God.

With these thoughts in mind, during this Lent let us turn our focus on the two great commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. And when we fall short of living out these commandments of love, let us turn to God in a spirit of true repentance by going to confession and asking God to forgive us for failing to see the love God has for all the people in our lives. By doing so, when Easter comes in 40 days, we can truly celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord with joy and happiness.

He has done all things well

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today, our Lord performs another healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment. Our Lord, with all the power of God, could have just spoken the words of healing to restore this man to health. Instead, Jesus felt a need to bring the man alone and to reach out to the parts of him that needed healing: his mouth and his ears. It was a very intimate time between this man and the Lord.

After the healing, Jesus had ordered the man, and everyone present, not to tell of the healing. I often wondered why the Lord didn’t want it to be known of this and other healings that he performed. After all, how can people contain such joy these healings brought. In today’s gospel, we hear, “But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.” (Mark 7:36) This was such good news; how can they be expected not to share it with others about the healing power of Jesus.  The reason could well have had to do with the political situation in Jesus' day. The Messiah expected by the Jews was a political/military as well as religious figure, so Jesus was probably unwilling to use such a title, at least without some qualifications, to avoid provoking the Roman authorities.  

In our relationship with Jesus, we too can also approach Him in the same intimate way this man received his Healing.  We can approach Jesus in various ways. We can approach Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, through confession, or in time alone in prayer with Jesus at home. These can be times when we can approach him for the help and healing we need in our lives.

Further, as followers of Jesus, we are called to share the good news of Jesus’ love for us with others in our lives. Telling others of the good news of Jesus, like those in today’s gospel, is what we are called to do as Christians.

Let us ask God to strengthen us, to give us the courage to keep acting in the hope that we may give witness by how I live.

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed

 

On Sunday, February 4th, I had the pleasure of doing a Holy Hour at the Carmelite Monastery Flemington, NJ

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of all the wonderful things the Lord was doing for everyone. He healed Peter’s Mother-in-law; then would go on to heal many other people. It must have been an exhausting and busy day for the Lord. He was fulfilling his ministry to the people that were in most need of the healing and love that of God has for them. We hear that the whole town was at the door asking the Lord for help.

Our Lord, though fully divine, was also fully human, and this must have worn him out greatly. As important as it was to fulfill His call in bringing the love of God to those in need, he also saw the need to step away and be alone with His Heavenly Father. Our Lord is giving us an example on how we are to live out our life in service to the God.

For myself, as a deacon, I can fill up my days in doing ministry, from serving at Mass to visiting the homebound or nursing home to whatever else may need to be done in service to the church. These are all important to my life in my calling as a deacon. But it won’t mean anything if I don’t make the time to be alone with God to be able to sit and listen to what God is saying to me in my life as a deacon, and, more importantly, as a man of faith.

This passage of our Lord going off to a deserted place is equally important to life here at Carmel. You can be busy doing the many things that need to be done in your duties and responsibilities here at the Monastery. But if you don’t make time to be alone with the Lord and to have him as the center of who you are, then everything else you do here at Carmel is meaningless. Making time to be alone with God is vital to your call here at Carmel.

St. Theresa of Avila is quoted as saying, “Prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” Let’s make the time to be alone with Him who loves us and to enjoy that intimate time of sharing with the Lord.

The Conversion of St. Paul

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle | USCCB

Today we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul from persecutor of the Church to belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It was a very dramatic conversion. There was the bright light, and then Paul, falling to the ground and is blinded, then hears, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Then, when he asks, "Who are you, sir?" The Lord replies, "I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting." (Acts 22:7-8) Paul is then led to Damascus and, after speaking with Annanias, is baptized. He dramatically went from persecutor of Christians to being one of the greatest defenders of the faith.

If we look more deeply into this story of St. Paul's conversion, we will see there's more to it than just the conversion of St. Paul. There's also Annanias. Earlier in Acts 9:13, when the Lord instructs Ananias to go to St. Paul and to baptize him, Ananias is afraid. “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem." Ananias is rightly scared, but I also imagined that he may have been thinking, "Lord, I'm not going to him!!! He's killing us who believe in you and doesn't deserve your mercy and forgiveness." In a sense, Ananias has a conversion! He came to believe that Jesus has come for all people, even those people that we feel don't deserve it. God, as we see in Paul and Ananias, is able to bring salvation and conversion to all people. God is able to work through even those people that we, as God fearing people, may believe don't deserve God's mercy. 

As we meditate on the conversion of St. Paul, let us also pray for those people we know that may be away from God. People that we may think don't deserve God's love and forgiveness. Pray that they, like Paul, may come to know the love and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us also pray for ourselves to convert from being judgmental of those who may not believe as we do to understanding that God's salvation is for EVERYONE!

ST. FRANCIS - PRO-LIFE and PRO CREATION

We have a guest blogger today. Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, OFS) is a lector and EM at St. Pancras Church in Glendale, NY, a singer in the choir at St. Margaret's Church in Middle Village, NY, a professed Secular Franciscan & Formation Director at St. Adalbert's Secular Franciscan fraternity in Elmhurst, NY & an itinerant speech/language therapist who works with preschool children with delayed language development. In addition to her ministries & work she seeks to promote the GOSPEL & the GOSPEL OF LIFE, especially in writing & frequently on FACEBOOK.

As we commemorate Sanctity of Life month, the annual MARCH FOR LIFE and DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE UNBORN on January 22, the anniversary of the Supreme Court's infamous Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand and that, thank the LORD, was FINALLY overturned by the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, using what we know about St. Francis and his total embrace of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST, Divine Revelation and the teaching of the Catholic Church,  let us use our spiritual creative imagination to consider how St. Francis would respond to the issues of abortion and the sanctity of all human life.

St. Francis was not a politician, and I think his experience with the military and government would not cause him to be inclined to run for political office or become a card-carrying member of any political party (options not available to him in his day but available in our present age) or to rely on government as the ultimate authority or key provider of resources. But St. Francis would be TOTALLY PRO-LIFE AND PRO CREATION. St. Francis looked to GOD as Creator and Author of Life and our Heavenly Father, and, therefore, every aspect of GOD'S Creation as his (and our) brothers and sisters. Thus, every unborn baby, as well as every elderly person and every animal are our brothers and sisters. St. Francis would be totally sad and appalled at the fact that unborn babies are being slaughtered in their mothers' wombs at ANY stage of pregnancy and especially even 

throughout pregnancy, as he would be at the abuse of elderly people, people with disabilities, sick people, and the abuse of animals.

What would St. Francis do in response, and how would he model what we should do as Secular Franciscans?

First of all PRAY: pleading for the lives of the unborn, for the women in crisis pregnancies, and for the conversion of all hearts from the culture of death to the GOSPEL OF LIFE! 

Second, without seeking any power or advantage for himself, St. Francis would seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and meet with people of various parties to appeal for the lives of the unborn and their mothers as he appealed to the Sultan and negotiate (without moral compromise) the way he negotiated with the wolf and the residents of Gubbio.

Third, St. Francis and St. Clare would find ways to provide a safe haven and provide for the physical/health, material, psychological, social and spiritual needs of women in crisis pregnancies, their babies--before, during and after birth--and their families, and even help them seek reconciliation with GOD and their families. I can imagine the Poor Clares and women in the Third Order getting actively involved in this ministry, using their own resources and begging alms to provide a model for wonderful organizations like GOOD COUNSEL HOMES and THE BRIDGE TO LIFE today.

Finally, St. Francis would preach--by both example and words--about the love of GOD for every one of His creatures, especially the most vulnerable, and about how every life is valuable, precious, sacred, and worthy of protection and loving care, from conception through natural death, because they (we) are created by GOD.