Reflection for the St. Lucy's Religious Education Program

This past Wednesday, May 31st, 2017, I was asked to give a short reflection during a Holy Hour for the teachers of the St. Lucy's Religious Education program. Following is the reflection. This reflection can be applied to all who are responsible for the teaching of our children in the Catholic Faith.

Why do we do what we do with the students in our religious education program? Why do we come, week in and week out, giving up our Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings to come and teach those entrusted to our care? Why is sharing our faith in God so important that we sacrifice so much time and energy to share our faith with these young people, who at times don’t really want to be in the classroom learning about this Jesus Christ? Why is it so important to do so?

It’s because that this Jesus, who died 2000 years ago on the cross, and rose again on Easter Sunday morning has had a profound effect on each one of us. Our relationship with Jesus is so important to us, we feel compelled to share it with others.

Towards the end of the Gospel of St. Mark we read, “Jesus said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.’” Then in the Acts of the Apostles we read, “...you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” So here we are, on Bronxwood Avenue in the Bronx, far from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, carrying out this command of Jesus to be his witnesses!

The Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and the church on that first Pentecost. Then the world was on fire with the saving power of God. These men, who were afraid to leave the upper room after the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday, became bold witnesses of the fact that this crucified Jesus is now alive. Peter, in Acts, says, “God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Each week, all of us in the St. Lucy’s religious education program, are called to share this good news with those who come to our classes. We are called to share with our students that Jesus died for each one of us and that he is Lord and Messiah. We are called to plant the seed of faith in Jesus Christ with all those we encounter.

Let us always proclaim the gospel with love and devotion to all we come into contact with here at St. Lucy’s.

Blessed Elia of Saint Clement, Virgin

For further information on Blessed Elia of Saint Clement go to http://ocarm.org/en/content/liturgy/bl-elia-st-clement-ocd-virgin-m

For the psalms and readings from the Office of Readings, go to http://universalis.com/USA.NewYork/readings.htm

Today on the Carmelite calendar is the Optional Memorial of Blessed Elia of Saint Clement. Born in Bari, Italy, on January 17th, 1901 to deeply Christian parents. At her baptism she was given the name Theodora, which means gift of God. It was on April 8th, 1920, then the feast of St. Albert, the author of the Carmelite Rule, she entered the Carmel of St. Joseph in Bari. She received the Carmelite habit on November 14th of the same year, the Feast of St. John of the Cross. On December 8th, 1924, she wrote in her own blood her act of total and definitive offering to the Lord with the vow to embrace the "most perfect." She died on Christmas Day 1927. It was on December 19th, 2005, that Pope Benedict XVI signed the Decree of Beatification. She was proclaimed Blessed in Bari Cathedral on March 8th, 2006.

In the first reading from the Office of Readings for today, St. John tells us, "My dear people, let us love one another since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God." (1 John 4:7) Blessed Elia lived out these words of St. John. She loved God and she loved those around her. In her writings, Blessed Elia says, "My life is love: this sweet nectar surrounds me, this merciful love penetrates me, purifies me, renews me and I feel it consuming me. The cry of my heart is: 'Love of my God, my soul searches for You alone. My soul, suffer and be quiet; love and hope..."

Blessed Elia knew and experienced the love of God within her soul. She lived her whole life in service of God and those around her. She goes on to say, "Souls, I will search for way to caste you into the sea of Merciful Love: souls of sinners, but above all souls of priests and religious." She wanted all people to experience the love of God.

Let us follow the example of Blessed Elia of St. Clement in loving God above all things and loving those in our lives. Let us, as St. John tells us, "Let us love one another since love comes from God."

Joaquina Vedruna de Mas

Today, May 22nd, the Carmelite Order commemorates the optional memorial of St. Joaquina Vedruna de Mas. She was born in Barcelona in the year 1783. She married Theodore de Mas in 1799. They had 9 children before she became widowed in 1816. Then in 1826 she was prompted by God's Spirit to found the Congregation of Carmelite Sisters of Charity, which spread throughout Catalonia, establishing houses for the care of the sick and educating of children, especially the poor. She was greatly drawn to contemplating the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Her spiritual life was marked by prayer, mortification, detachment, humility and love. She died in Vich in 1854.

In her writings she spoke of being "on fire with love of God!" She goes on to speak of how we are to "preach love, proclaim love, and yet more love, until we had set the whole world on fire." This love of God and others was central to her life as a follower of Jesus Christ. She was teaching what our Lord taught, when He was asked what was the greatest commandment.

From the gospel of St. Matthew we read, "'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'
Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" (Matthew 22:36-40 NIV).

St. Joaquina goes on to teach that we are to have no "undue attachments in our hearts for created things: they must burn with love alone, love more fervent; for love never says 'enough,' never rest until it is completely on fire." Here she is teaching us that God must be at the center of all we do. Nothing is more important than the love we are to have for God. If something distracts us from love and service to God, we are to remove it from our lives. 

St. Joaquina concludes with saying, "The more we love God, the more we shall long to love him. And when we have Jesus in our hearts, we shall have everything else in him and with him." She is teaching that in all we do in love, whether at work, in our families, or in our everyday life, we are to have the love of God at the very center of all we do.

Wouldn't this be a better world if all would follow this advise? Let us all set the world on fire for love of God!

The Road to Emmaus

The Scripture Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Easter can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/043017.cfmhttp://usccb.org/bible/readings/043017.cfm.

We may say, "What a privilege for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus to meet Jesus, to listen to him explaining the Scriptures, and to share the Eucharist with Him." Wouldn't our hearts burn within us too? Wouldn't we have to invite this special guest into our homes? The good news is that we share that same experience each time we celebrate the Eucharist.

Although the disciples knew Jesus personally, and although they had the privilege of walking with and listening to him on the way to Emmaus, they did not recognize him until he broke bread with them. The story teaches us that it is in the Eucharist that we truly come to recognize the Lord.

I often wonder why the disciples did not recognize Jesus on the road? Probably because they had preconceived notions about the Messiah that prevented them from understanding that Jesus had to die that we might live. Thus, they were saddened and greatly disappointed.

The disciples had been told about the necessity of these events many times, but they had not believed, they did not understand. Their own ideas blocked their vision.

Jesus' gradual revelation of himself allows them to learn certain lessons about who He is and about trusting God's promises. Remember: Jesus never forces us to believe but rather gently invites us to believe!

While we do not know the specific passages Jesus used, we do know that he opened the Scriptures to the disciples with a view of showing them how the Old Testament pointed to Him as its fullfillment.

We know that Jesus walked with them through the entirety of the revelation that gave witness to who He was and why He had come. He opened the Scriptures to them.

When they first met Jesus on the road to Emmaus, they had little faith. They had heard about the Empty Tomb, yet they had not believed. The supernatural working of God to raise Jesus from the dead was outside of their understanding. They had never fully considered who Jesus was.

We need to be careful not to make the same mistake. These two disciples on the road to Emmaus knew something had happened, but it was beyond their level of faith to see things as they truly were.

Knowing about Jesus and knowing Him are two different things. Many people today know who Jesus is, but their eyes have yet been opened.

We have all traveled the road to Emmaus at some time as we had our hopes dashed. But what a difference the presence of Christ makes in our lives. Our eyes are opened to a new way of looking at realty by he Word of God. We recognize the real presence of Christ each time we come to the Eucharist. Christ is not just present, but transforms us, renews us, recreates us just as he restored hope and joy once again to the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

He appeared first to Mary Magdalene

Saturday within the Octave of Easter

The Scripture Readings for today can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/042217.cfm.

In this Resurrection gospel of Christ first appearing to Mary Magdalene we can learn a lot about ourselves and how we are to approach our encounter with Christ.

Mary was met with disbelieve when she went to the disciples with the news of Christ being alive. After he appeared to Mary, he appeared to two others, who in turn went to the disciples.  They, too, were met with disbelief. It wasn't until the disciples encountered the risen Christ that they came to believe that Christ has indeed risen from the dead.

Then Christ gave them the command to "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15) We, too, are given the command to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. But do we follow out this command of Jesus? We encounter the Risen Jesus every time we go to Church and receive him in the Eucharist. But then we leave him at the doors of the church to wait for us to return to Eucharist the following Sunday.

We are called to go into the world where we live to share the good news that Christ has indeed risen from the dead and we are called to live a life of love of God and love of neighbor.

All too often, though, when we get home from Church on Sunday, we get into the regular routine of our lives and problems. Instead of making Christ part of our family life, He's left out of it.

Then on Monday morning, when we return to work, do we share the positive experience we had at Church, or do we talk about the baseball or football game that occurred on Sunday afternoon? We are quick to idolize those sports hero that we see in those sports, but yet we ignore the One that should be most important in our lives: Jesus Christ!

Too often we are afraid of being criticized for our faith in Christ. We should be proud to acknowledge that Christ is the center of our lives and how we live. We are called to live a life of love towards God and those around us. This is how we are to proclaim the Gospel to every Creature!

When you next attend Mass and receive Him in Holy Communion, ask Him for the strength to share your faith in Him with others. This way this world will be a little bit better by the loving example of who you are as you share the news that Christ has indeed risen from the dead.

 

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at  http://usccb.org/bible/readings/040917.cfm

Today we start the most important week of the church year: Holy Week. During this week we journey with Jesus as he goes from the joy of being proclaimed “King of the Jews” on Palm Sunday to His suffering and death on His Holy Cross.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem just days before being betrayed, we hear the crowds cry out, "Hosanna to the Son of David;blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in thehighest” and "This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth inGalilee."

Then we see, within a few days to a week after this, the betrayal of Judas, the agony in the Garden, and the arrest of Jesus. This all came about due to the jealousy of the scribes and Pharisees, the greed of Judas, and sinfulness of those around Jesus that led him to his death on the Cross.

The gospel of St. Matthew, from the beginning, was told and retold because it contains the very heart of the Christian message: the saving activity of Jesus carried out through his suffering, death, and resurrection.

In this gospel we hear of Jesus sharing a final Passover meal with his disciples wherein he institutes the Eucharist; the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is betrayed and handed over to his enemies; the trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin; the trial before Pilate; crucifixion and death; the guarding of the tomb.

Jesus is rejected by the very people he came to save. He is betrayed and denied by two of his own handpicked apostles. He is killed as an insurrectionist, but he is really a king. His saving power is activated through his death.

Through our reading of the Passion, we can identify with Peter’s denial, with Judas’ betrayal, with the disciples’ flight, with Pilate’s cowardice, with the leaders’ cynicism or with the crowd’s mindless frenzy. We all have a place in the Passion story.

But throughout the reading of this gospel, with all this betrayal towards Christ, we are reminded that Christ loves us. Despite what all these people did to Him, Jesus died for all of them. His love, His truth, His forgiveness. His grace is the foundations on which we can rely. Despite our failures, in Him we can have a new strong life.

As you approach the Eucharist at Mass today, place your cares and love into the hands of Jesus. Thank Jesus for dying for you on that Good Friday 2,000 years ago, and for rising again on Easter Sunday morning.

Lazarus, come out!

Fifth Sunday of Lent

The readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/040217.cfm,

What do people on their deathbeds wish they had done - or not done? Like Lazarus, we will die. Unlike Lazarus, we probably won't get a second chance at living. Father Nelson Medina, of Bogata, Columbia, once listed the top 20 regrets he heard from people who were dying. None were, "I wish I'd spent more time at my office." Many were what we would call matters of conscience. I know a mother facing death who wished she had played more with her children - and not only when they were small. Father Medina couched this in terms of "I thought I always had to be useful more than joyful."

This 5th Sunday in Lent, so near to the feast of Easter, still leaves us time to consider regrets, and how to reverse them while we have a chance. Then we will be ready to celebrate with joy.

Ezekiel didn't need to be a prophet to know that the Israelites were filled with regrets. It's as though they were already dead: they have no hope. They had wasted their time on nothing. They hadn't kept their promises. They had ignored their Maker.

In our 2nd reading from St. Paul, he reminds us that Baptism can strengthen us to live without regrets - if we remember to count on the Holy Spirit for help.

We learn in today's gospel that Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were very good friends of Jesus. They were special to our Lord. Further, they didn't ignore Jesus, a regret that people whisper as  they are dying. They neglected to pray, they hurt people rather than befriending them, they didn't offer encouragement and uplift, but weighed others down with complaints or even vulgarity and rudeness. The family of Lazarus isn't like that.

Yet they don't "get" Jesus really. His teaching, his miracles, his example of forgiveness and healing: None of this has been enough for even his friends to acknowledge him as the one who unties, the one who raises up, the one who loves to the full capacity of the heart!

And the end is coming. "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" (John 11:40). This is Jesus' regret - that he hasn't gotten through to his dear friends and that he, like Lazarus, will be called to face death. His will not be a "natural" death from illness, but from the forces of darkness and sin.

What perturbs Jesus and troubles Jesus is the very thing that can free us from regret, now and at the hour of our death. He can let us go. He can raise us up. If you have sensed any regrets as we heard and saw the witness of Ezekial, Paul, Martha, Mary, Lazarus, and Jesus, now is a good time to hear your friend Jesus call you to "come out." Come away from regret and move towards the celebration of rising. The time is at hand.

Jesus told his friends that their faith in him would lead them to see the glory of God. They saw a glimpse. In the Holy Eucharist, we see the reality. This sacrament raises us to eternal life and gives us strength to live this life without regret, trusting in the power of the one who raised Lazarus from the dead.