Body & Blood of Christ

Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/052916.cfm.

The Jordon River plunges as it rushes from the headwaters below Mount Hermon through the Sea of Galilee, 680 feet below sea level. This body is the lowest freshwater lake on earth. It is teaming with life. It was on the Sea of Galilee that Peter, Andrew, James, and John fished. It was there that Jesus calmed the sea and walked on water.

This is in contrast to the Dead Sea, the lowest body of water on earth, a landlocked salt lake about 1400 feet below sea level. The Jordon River empties into this sea. However, there is no flow on the southern side. The Sea of Galilee takes and gives. The Dead Sea only takes.

When receiving the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, we can either be like the Sea of Galilee or the Dead Sea.

We, as Catholics, believe that Jesus is present body, blood, soul and divinity in the consecrated bread and wine. When we receive Communion, we are receiving Christ. We are in communion with Him. This spiritual food enriches us, becomes part of our spirit if we are open to it. In essence, we become what we eat.

To believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist takes faith. It has been asked by some, "It looks and taste like bread and wine. How can you say that it is really Christ?"

At the Last Supper, Matthew says, "Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to His disciples, said, 'Take and eat; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant...'" (Matthew 26:26)

In the sixth chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus often says over and over that unless we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, we will not have eternal life. The apostles says, "This is a hard saying." Jesus did not soften His statement, but  instead repeated it several times. Jesus doesn't lie to anyone.

Communion is meant to unite us, not only to Christ present in the elements of bread and wine, but also to each other. We are the Body of Christ. To welcome Christ without welcoming everyone all in the Body of Christ is to be like the Dead Sea. We receive, but we do not share.

The multiplication of the loaves and the fish in today's Gospel is a lesson in sharing. Jesus receives the gift of a few fish and five barley loves (the bread of the poor) and multiplies these to feed more than five thousand.

Christ challenges us to offer the little we have - either time, treasure, or talent - and trust that God can multiply our gift. In John's account of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, it is a young boy who gave his lunch away, risking to go hungry. Here are a few examples of children who have seen a need and responded.

When a five-year old Hannah Taylor saw a homeless man eating out of a garbage can, she set out to cure the world of homelessness. Now 20 years old, Hanna's Lady Bug Foundation has raised more than three million dollars.

Craig Kielberger was 12 when he read about child labor and the 250 million child laborers in the world. He started Free the Children, an organization of children helping children.

When Alexandra "Alex" Scott was four, she set up a lemonade stand to raise funds for a cure for cancer, which she had. Although she died at age 8, her organization Kids with Cancer has raised over 100 million dollars for research.

Today, when we approach the altar to receive Christ, let's ask ourselves, "How can I share the gifts I have received? Where is there a need that moves my heart?" Don't worry about the size of your offering. It is God who multiplies. Be like the Sea of Galilee. Be filled with Christ's life and share it.

Tend My Sheep

Scripture for the 3rd Sunday of Easter can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/041016.cfm

The disciples, who apparently have abandoned their once-enthusiastic commitment to Jesus and returned to fishing, recognize the Lord and are reinvigorated by sharing a meal with Him. Their going fishing  makes it seam like that their belief in the Resurrection  hadn't yet taken hold on their lives. They went back to fishing as if nothing had really changed in their lives. They needed to be revitalized in their belief of the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus. In today's gospel we see that Jesus gives them that revival!

We, too, like the disciples can use some revitalization. Easter Sunday was a time of renewal in Christ, our faith was strengthened and, now, here we are in the third week of Easter and starting to run out of steam.  Let's look at three moments in the Gospel: the meal, the mission, and the martyrdom becasue each of these moments speaks to us.

I would like to imagine what was being discussed at this meal on the seashore. They must have been talking about and remembering the many meals they shared with Jesus throughout His earthly life. They were probably remembering the meal on the mountainside after the multiplication of loaves, the meal at the house of Matthew with all those tax collectors, the Passover meals, and, of course, that Last Supper when Jesus gave them a way He would remain with them and then prayed for them. Now, here they were, after the Resurrection, and all that came back to them. Here was a second chance to renew their union with Christ!

At each Mass we attend, we renew our union with Christ. It reminds us of other Masses in our life: our First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Wedding, other Easter and Christmas Masses, funerals and special Masses. At each Mass we attend, Our Lord speaks to us again, teaches us again, joins us to each other again around the altar as He gives us His own Self again in the Eucharist. We need the constant renewal that the Eucharist offers. At every Mass we attend, we renew our identity as disciples, to be close to Christ and to remember  who we are because so much in our life pulls us away from Christ.

Secondly, we see that there is a mission. Jesus takes Peter aside and asks three times, "Do you love me?" in order to reverse Peter's threefold denial. In these three questions and responses between Jesus and Peter, we see the wonderful forgiveness of Jesus. This is something that Peter could not do for himself. Notice that  each time Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" and Peter answers, "I do," the Lord responds by saying "Feed my sheep." Peter would show that love not by mere words of love but by deeds of love by feeding the sheep and caring for Christ's flock.

Peter's call of love for Christ would mean caring for the whole flock. And Peter would do that for the rest of his life. We, too, are called to care for a portion of the that flock, whether it's a parish, a family, children, a spouse, an aging parent, people at work, those for whom the Lord is calling us to care for now. Like Peter, we show our love for the Lord not by what we say but by caring for others, feeding their minds, souls and bodies. Jesus is saying to Peter and to us, "Show me." That's the mission Jesus gave Peter on the seashore. At each Mass we attend we get a second chance to renew our dedication to the benefit and good of the Church.

Finally, there is the martyrdom. Jesus speaks to Peter about his death, "When you get older, another will lead you against your will." Although martyrdom is a heroic witness, there are many other ways of giving witness. In our time, we are called to speak to the value of human rights and the sacredness of life, to strengthen the family and to stand for human dignity especially in the area of sexuality, and for civility and respect for others especially polarized in society like ours. Our generation has its own call and someday, we pray, we will have our own success story to tell.

Each one of us is called to give a witness maybe not at the risk of our life but at the risk of popularity, friendships, position, leisure time or career opportunities. We don't know what awaits us in the future, but at Mass we are given a second  chance to receive grace for that witness. Jesus gave Peter grace for witness. We too receive that second chance at every Mass we attend by the grace we receive for witnessing to Him.

The final truth about Peter and the apostles is not their abandonment of the Lord but the fact that they were given a second chance and used it for the Kingdom.Let us use the second chances we have received from the Lord to bring the Kingdom of God to all those in our lives.

Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday in 2016 falls on Sunday, April 3^rd, and I wanted to share with you a bit about Divine Mercy.

Back in 1981 Pope St. John Paul published an encyclical letter entitled “Rich in Mercy,” in which he speaks of Christ as the “incarnation of mercy… the inexhaustible source of mercy.” He goes on to say that “Christ's messianic program, the program of mercy” must become “the program of His people, the program of the Church.”

Pope St. John Paul was a great promoter of Divine Mercy and a devotion to St. Faustina, the nun that is credited with giving us the Divine Mercy Chaplet. St. Faustina was born Helen Kowalska on August 25^th, 1905 in Glogowiec, Poland. She was the third of 10 children and was baptized in the parish church of Swince Warckie. From a young age, she always had a love of prayer, was diligent and obedient, and had a great love and concern for the poor.

It is said that she had visions of the suffering Christ, and as a result, felt a call to become a nun. On August 1^st, 1925, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and took the name Sr. Maria Faustina of the Most Blessed Sacrament. She lived as a member of the Congregation for 13 years residing in Cracow, Plock, and Vilinius, where she worked as a cook, gardener, and porter.

At the request of her spiritual director, Fr. Michael Sopocko, and later at the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, she started writing a diary of her spiritual experiences and the mercy she felt from our Lord Jesus Christ. From these experiences and mercy she encountered from Jesus came the Divine Mercy chaplet.

Sr. Faustina developed tuberculosis, suffering a great deal, all the while offering her suffering up for poor sinners. Sr. Faustina died in Cracow at the age of 33 on October 5^th, 1938. Her remains rest at the Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki near Cracow.

Pope St. John Paul had a special devotion to Sr. Faustina and promoted her cause for Sainthood. She was beatified on April 18^th, 1993 and then canonized on April 30^th, 2000. Divine Mercy Sunday was instituted by Pope St. John Paul in 1993 and indicated that it should be celebrated the first Sunday after Easter.

To find out more about St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, I recommend that you obtain a copy of “The Divine Mercy: Message and Devotion” booklet. In it you'll learn more about St. Faustina and the many struggles she had in her life and how her writings about the Divine Mercy were finally accepted by the Church. I also encourage you to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily.

“Eternal Father, I offer you the Body & Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”

He is Risen!

The scripture readings for Easter Sunday can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032716.cfm

Our 40 day journey from Ash Wednesday and through Lent has come to a climax today in the greatest day of all days on the Christian Calendar: Easter Sunday. The Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord! Throughout these forty days we were challenged by Holy Mother Church to turn inwardly to examine ourselves and how we are living out our Christian vocation in this world. In this examination we were challenged to turn from self-contentedness to that of a closer relationship with God and with others. How did we do? Is God now more the center of who we are? Did we remind ourselves that we are to serve God through acts of charity towards others?

In the first reading for this Easter Sunday, from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear Peter, with new found courage and wisdom, proclaiming a Risen Christ. "This man God raised (on) the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." (Acts 10:40).  Peter experienced the risen Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit had the courage to proclaim that faith to the world. We, too, are called to take what we have experienced throughout the forty days of Lent, and proclaim a Risen Christ in this world.

We, like Peter and the first apostles, are called to bring the Good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and, on the Third Day rose from the dead.

In the gospel for today, from St. John, chapter 20, we hear of the empty tomb that Mary of Magdala, Peter, and the disciple that Jesus loved found. The gospel concludes that they did not yet understand the Scripture that he (Jesus) had to rise from the dead. (John 20:9) Throughout these last forty days of Lent, we learned, through scripture, of the mission of love that Christ came into the world to die for our sins, and to bring us into a closer relationship with the Father. It is through this relationship with God the Father, through the love of Jesus Christ, that we can have that peace and contentment in dealing with all our lives difficulties. And we are to bring this Good News of the Risen Lord to others in our lives. We are to be, like Peter, witnesses chosen by God to those we are called to serve. Further, we are to continue to study scripture on a regular basis in order to grow closer to our Creator, and to those around us.

The Lord is truly risen, alleluia!!

Feast of Saint Joseph, Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary

Today the church celebrates the solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Joseph is what you may call the "strong and silent type." There is not one word attributed to St. Joseph in scripture. We see him being open to the will of God in his life. He was loving and considerate of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When he found out she was pregnant and, as a result, thought wrongly that Mary was unfaithful to him in their relationship, he went about to separate from her quietly. Scripture tells us,  "Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly." (Matthew 1:19) That's the love that he had for our Blessed Mother.

Yet, always being open to the will of God, he was told in a dream about what REALLY happened, "...the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.'" (Matthew 1:20) Joseph responded to the Will of God and took Mary as his wife, and raised Jesus as his son. Without question, he accepted the Will of God. He loved and took care of Mary and raised Jesus as his own Son.

It was in this environment of love and care that Jesus was raised. I can imagine that, all throughout His childhood, that Joseph was always there, caring for Him and for Mary. Joseph provided for the Holy Family as a father should. Working hard as a carpenter, providing food, clothing and shelter for the Holy Family. Always being there for their needs. Yet no word is attributed to Joseph in scripture. But his actions speak louder than words.

We, like St. Joseph, are called to live out our lives in complete acceptance to the Will of God, even when what happens is not what we were expecting. Let's place our trust in God, as Joseph did, in all that happens in our lives. Let us always be open to what God expects of us. Let us always be open to his Holy Will in the different ways he communicates with us, whether through scripture or through those around us.

Do Not Sin Anymore

The Scripture readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/031316-fifth-sunday-lent.cfm.

This story of the woman caught in the act of adultery did not originate in the Gospel of John, but rather was associated with Luke's gospel. This gospel is not really about the sinfulness and immorality of  adultery, but rather the Pharisees attempting to undermine Jesus' credibility with a question in order to trap him. The Pharisees didn't really care one way or other about the woman. They wanted to trap Jesus in order to get him out of their lives. To them he was a threat to their way of life and their authority. In this story we see Jesus' relationship with the law and his rapport with his own religious officials. Jesus is wonderful in maneuvering around these tests that the Pharisees put to him. Further he shows his deep compassionate care for the woman who has been used almost as a "set up" by the scribes and Pharisees in order to trap him.

Some scripture scholars theorize that when Jesus bent over to write on the ground that he was writing the sins of those who were condemning the woman. Jesus, as God, knew their sinfulness and knew their reasoning for bringing her before him. Probably one of the people there ready to throw the stone was the man she was accused of committing this sin with. Yet the guilt was placed all on her.

Jesus, always ready to respond fairly and justly, simply responds, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) One by one they drop their stones and walk away. Then Jesus looks lovingly at her, and after finding out that no one has condemned her, he says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.” (John 8:11)

Jesus speaks to each one of us in this encounter with this woman. We are to turn away from things that prevent us from developing a closer relationship with God. Jesus is encouraging each one of us to "sin no more." But Jesus also know that there will be times when we can fall short of what he expects of us. We then can turn back to him, receive forgiveness in the sacrament of confession, and then start fresh.

Jesus was often under fire from his critics because they didn't understand the heart of his message. No matter what our faults or sins, God's willingness to forgive is guaranteed. Those who truly follow Christ can be recognized by their willingness to extend the same forgiveness he gave.

The Prodigal Son

The readings for the 4th Sunday of Lent can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/030616-fourth-sunday-lent.cfm

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of my favorite parables about the love and forgiveness of God towards all of us. It's also the perfect parable to reflect on in Lent as we journey towards Good Friday and Easter Sunday morning. This parable can be called, also, the Parable of the Older Brother, or the Parable of the Loving & Forgiving Father. Who do you relate to in the story?

We see first the prodigal son who is wasteful and self centered. He demands his inheritance from his father, goes off to a distant country and loses it all. This unnamed "distant country" is more than just a place. It is really a way of living, or a condition of the heart. The "distant country" for many of us could be leaving behind the Church and the Gospel & Christian way of life to lead a life that is not pleasing to God. A "distant country" where we do what we want without the rules and standards of the Church telling us how to live.

We are tempted, or lured, to a place where "sin" is made to look like fun. But as we find out, sin isn't fun for long. Sin is fun until a person becomes addicted to drugs. Sin is fun until drinking harms or hurts another or ourselves. Sin is fun until greed, arrogance or deception distort and bend our life out of shape and leave us isolated from God and from others. We become morally ruined. This is the "distant country" that we all have known in one way or other.

When the prodigal son comes to his senses, we have the moment of recognition: "I have sinned." It is a moment when he no longer blamed his father for being too indulgent, when he no longer blames society for being too immoral, when he no longer blamed his employer for being unfair, when he no longer blamed his own immaturity for being unwise, when he no longer blamed his genetic makeup or birth order for making him rebellious. "I have sinned!" It is in this moment that he can have a different future and a life of peace and hope for the rest of his life.

How often do we remain in our destructive, sinful patterns of living, only to blame anyone and everything else. It is through the grace that comes from God that we can say, and mean, "I have sinned." It is that child in us that we blame others. Blaming our parents for how we turned out, our family for not being supportive of us in all our needs. The boss for not recognizing the good work we do!  The list can go on and on of the people who we can blame for who we are and the choices we make.

It is a moral awakening and spiritual maturity to be able to say, "I have sinned." We are to take responsibility for our lives, our sinfulness and turn to God and say, "I have sinned." The path to Easter  for the prodigal son  and for us lies in the crucial importance and maturity to be able to say, "I have sinned."

The second path for us is the path of the older brother. How many times have we felt that people who repent shouldn't just be able to come back so easily? We feel they should suffer somehow. They should agonize, be humiliated, know pain, pay for what they have done and earn their return.

Because of the love of God, they don't have to suffer, agonize, know pain for what they have done. None of us have to. Because Someone HAS suffered, been humiliated, agonized, known pain and earned our return and that is Jesus Christ. By His wounds, we are healed. Because of Jesus Christ, we can come back home. The prodigal son came back, but now, he has a lot of work to do to restore trust in the family, to make up for lost time, to repair relationships within the family, and to rebuild what he damaged by his leaving. He will need the support, help and love of the family, including his older brother.

This is the path to Easter of the Older Brother, helping those who are coming back.

Finally, there is the father willing to take a repentant son back and seeking to bring reconciliation to his family. In our second reading from St. Paul we are called to a ministry of reconciliation, of "bridge building." There are many people out there who are great at polarization and have made a science of it. The work of bridge building  between divided people is the work of all Christians. The path of the father for all of us is to be bridge builders.

This parable in the middle of Lent speaks to each one of us, whether we're a "prodigal son," "older son," or "embracing father." Through the prodigal son, we learn to say, "I have sinned." Through the older son, we learn that we are to reach out to those who are turning back to God and His church, not resent them for returning and admitting their sinfulness. The forgiving father calls us to build bridges between those who are returning to God, and those who have never left.

Which of these three do you most relate to? The prodigal son, the older son, or the forgiving father? Each one of them shows us towards a path of closer relationship to God and to one another!.