Understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father

 

The Scripture readings for this blog can be found at Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent | USCCB

As we get closer to Holy Week and the Passion and Death of Jesus on Good Friday, we hear in today’s gospel how the Jews were still having problems accepting and believing that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the Messiah. A few verses earlier in this 10^th chapter of St. John, the Jews ask Jesus, “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” All throughout the gospel of St. John, Jesus was very clear and plain about being the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

But the Jews were having a hard time wrapping their mind around the fact that Jesus was not only Messiah, but also God. They truly thought Jesus was blaspheming. As a result, they were ready to stone him to death. They said, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.”

All throughout the gospels, we hear of the works that Jesus performed: the healings, the miracles, and then the eventual resurrection from the dead after being so brutally killed on the cross. We have the grace by what we read in the gospels to know and believe that Jesus is really indeed the Messiah, True God and True Man.

The obstacle for the Jews at the time was that they saw only the physical body of Jesus and were unable to look beyond his body to see that Jesus was also true God. He showed them through the works that he did that he was indeed the Messiah and God, but they allowed their minds to be blocked by the fact that they only saw Jesus, the Man.

If there are times when we ourselves have doubts that Jesus is indeed true God and true man let us move beyond these doubts and ask the Lord for the gift of faith to know Jesus Christ as he truly is: Messiah and God. Let us pray to Jesus, “Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.”

Never before has anyone spoken like this one.

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of the confusion of who Jesus really was. Was he a prophet? Was he the Messiah? There seemed to be much confusion as to who Jesus really was.

All throughout the gospel of St. John, we see that Jesus very clearly shows that he is indeed the Messiah. Starting with the first chapter of St. John, we hear John the Baptist point to Jesus and say, “Behold the Lamb of God”. As a result, some of John’s followers became followers of Jesus.

Also, in the gospel of John, we hear the familiar story of the Wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine. As a result of this, his disciples began to believe in Him. There’s also the cleansing of the temple in chapter two, the healing of the son of the royal official in chapter 4, the healing of blind and crippled man on the sabbath in chapter 5. Further, we have Jesus give the bread of life discourse in chapter 6 where he clearly points out that He indeed is God and is the “bread of life” and that whoever eats this bread will live forever, and that the bread that He will give is his flesh for the life of the world. There are many parts of John’s gospel pointing to Jesus as the one who is the Messiah.

But as it turns out, these things were causing division among the people and the leaders were anxious to put Jesus to death. They felt threatened by Jesus.

In light of these different ways of understanding Jesus in the gospel of St. John, we can ask ourselves: who do we believe and know Jesus to be? For us Catholic Christians, we know and believe that he is more than just a prophet. We have come to know and believe that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. He is True God and True Man. The guards in today’s gospel were given the job of arresting Jesus because of all the misunderstandings of who He was and what He taught. But they came back empty handed because the words of Jesus moved them, and they started to wonder who this Jesus really was. They said to the priests and Pharisees, “Never before has anyone spoken likethis one.” They were moved to possibly wonder if indeed Jesus is the Messiah.

In light of our belief that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of the living God, let us constantly turn to Him through the regular reading of holy scripture and by the regular reception of Holy Communion. Let us not be confused about who He is. Let us at every Holy Mass we attend, as the priest holds up the Host and says, “Behold the Lamb of God…”, let us say, “My Lord and My God.”

You shall love the Lord your God…and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

 

The Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the Third Week of Lent | USCCB

Our Lord in today’s gospel was able to get straight to the point when asked by the scribe what is the first of all the commandments. Our Lord starts out simple enough: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Jesus is referring to the first three commandments of loving God: we are not to have other strange gods before Him, we are not to take his name in vain, and we are to keep holy the sabbath.

This part of the response from Jesus reminds me of what many of us may have learned when we were taught the Baltimore Catechism: “Why did God make you?” The answer “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him n this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” This is clear and to the point. God made us because He loves us, and He expects us to love Him fully in response and to be with Him always in heaven.

The second part of Jesus’ response is, I think, is a little harder to do: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This part of Jesus’ response refers to the rest of the 10 Commandments. Honoring our parents, and showing respect for others by not stealing, lusting after them or their belongings and not wanting to kill them. In other words, we are to show them love and respect, even when at times it seems difficult to do so. Sometimes even being angry at someone is just as bad as wanting to kill them. We are called, through the 10 commandments, to look at others as God sees them: as people made in His image. Human relationships are always a challenge when we attempt to love the people in our lives that are not so easy to love. But that is what Jesus is calling us to do. To love our neighbor as ourselves. This includes not only those who may live near us, but all those in our extended family that may be difficult to get along with. We are to look at them as those created in the image of God, and attempt to have the love for them that God has for them.

As we continue towards Holy Week and Easter, let us strive to always try to improve our love of God with our whole heart, soul, and mind. And to love our neighbors as ourselves. And when we fall short of these things in relationship with God and with others, let us use the sacrament of confession to get back on track in loving God and loving neighbor.

Lord Jesus, help us to love God with all our hearts, all our souls, all our hearts and all our minds, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.

Here comes that master dreamer

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Second Week of Lent | USCCB

Our readings for today focus on problems in relationships, both in the family and at the workplace. We hear of envy, jealousy, and murder.

In our first reading from Genesis, we hear of the envy and jealousy within the family of Israel. We hear of the love Israel has for Joseph because he was the child of his old age. The brothers hated Joseph for this and felt jealous because of the father’s favoritism towards him.  Further, they hated him even more for the dreams he told them that he had. In one of these dreams, Joseph said he had a vision of the family bringing in the harvest. In the dream, all his brothers bowed down before Joseph. They truly resented hearing this and hated him even more. Due to their hatred of Joseph, they conspired to try to kill him, but eventually decided to sell Joseph into slavery and Joseph was brought to Egypt.  Later in Genesis the brothers came to Egypt during a time of famine in search of food. It was there in Egypt, where Joseph rose to an important position with Pharaoh, that they were able to receive reconciliation and forgiveness. 

In the parable from today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us of the jealousy and envy of the tenant farmers towards the owner. They are not satisfied with the arrangement they have with the owner, but rather envies what he has and resorts to killing even the owner’s son just so they can inherit the land upon the owner’s death. The chief priests and Pharisees realize that Jesus is talking about them in this parable and, as a result, feels threatened by Jesus and wants to put him to death.

Feelings of envy, jealousy and hatred can lead us away from our relationship with God. We may not go to the extreme of killing those we are envious or jealous of, but it takes away our peace and it hurts our relationships with those in our lives. In all our relationships, whether it’s within our family, or at the workplace, or wherever you come into contact with people on a regular basis, in all situations, we are to have the love and respect for those that God has placed in our lives.

As we continue our journey through Lent, let us remember to turn away from hatred, jealousy, and envy, and pray for those people in our lives. Let us ask God for the grace to have patience and love for all those in our lives, even for those that we seem to have trouble loving as God would have us love.

 

Be reconciled with your brother…

The scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday of the First Week of Lent | USCCB

As we conclude the first week of Lent, our readings are reminding us of our duties and responsibilities towards God and towards our neighbor.

In our first reading, Ezekiel is reminding us to turn away from sin and remain focused on following the commandments of God. The reading from Ezekiel starts with the reminder, “If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statues and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” (Ezekiel 18:21) Throughout the old and new testaments, God has given us many ways to know how we can turn from sin and to turn to Him. From the 10 Commandments given to Moses in the old testament to the teachings of Jesus with the Sermon on the Mount in the gospels, we are called to live a life centered on God. We are to turn away from sinfulness and selfishness, and start living in relationship with God, while loving and serving our neighbors.

In our gospel for today, our Lord is reminding us that the commandment of “Thou shalt not kill” is more than just not doing the actual killing of someone. Being angry with our brother falls under this commandment. Our Lord teaches us that “…whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement.” (Matthew 5:22) Jesus goes on to teach us that we should try to resolve our issues with the people in our lives with the love and respect that we have towards God. If we can’t show love, respect and forgiveness towards our neighbor, how can we be show love and respect to God?

There is always that difficulty of forgiving people due to various reasons. We may not like the person we’re supposed to forgive, or there’s some sort of personality conflict between us and the people we should forgive.  St. Teresa of Calcutta says it beautifully: “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 do as the Lord says in the gospel, before approaching the altar, “go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” This will be pleasing to God.

Finally, when we fall short of being forgiving or loving towards those in our life, let us then turn to God in the sacrament of penance. Through the healing power of confession, we will gain the strength to be loving and forgiving with those in our lives that we may find most difficult to forgive.

Lord God, help us to not only to know, love and serve you with our whole mind, heart and soul, but help us also to love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.

Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high!

 

The scripture readings for today can be found at Friday after Ash Wednesday | USCCB

The focus on today’s readings for mass is on the importance of fasting. Fasting is an important part of many different faith traditions. In the Jewish faith, on Yom Kipper, also known as the Day of Atonement, Jews are expected to fast all day, and be in intense prayer with God in order to review their lives over the previous year, and to repent of their sinfulness. For Muslims, Ramadan is a month of fasting and prayer to review their relationship with God and to repent of their sinfulness. For us Catholics, during Lent we fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Further, Lent is a time when we review our relationship with God and how we have lived out our call to be Christians since last Easter.

In the first reading for today, we hear from Isaiah the prophet, and we are learning that there is more to fasting than to just not eating food. The prophet points out that people, as they are fasting, are working, and carrying out their selfish pursuits. At the end of their fasts, they start quarreling and fighting with each other. Isaiah goes on to say that this is not what God wants! The type of fasting God is looking for is treating others with respect, helping those in need, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked.

Further, during this time of Lent we need to focus on our relationships with others and how we treat those around us, whether it is with our spouses, with our children, or our extended family and friends. If we are not treating them with the love and respect that God expects us to have towards them, all the fasting that we do will not bring us into a better relationship with God. Fighting with our spouses, children or friends is not pleasing to God. Further, gossip is something that we need to avoid. Gossip attacks the reputations of those we are talking about and shows a lack of love and respect towards the people we are talking about.

During the next forty days of Lent, let us turn to God with true repentance in our hearts and to turn to others in our lives that need our love and support.  Isaiah encourages us to not only fast but to do those works of charity towards those in our lives that need our help most. Then, as the prophet Isaiah says, “Your vindications shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”

We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.

 

The scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Ash Wednesday | USCCB

Today we begin our 40-day journey of Lent. These 40 days will lead us to Holy Week where we will relive the Lord’s Supper, and His passion and death on the Holy Cross on Good Friday, and then His glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday Morning. These are the holiest days on the Christian calendar. We are meant to focus on our relationship with God and attempt to grow ever closer to Him through prayer, fasting, and good works.

In our gospel for today, our Lord outlines how we are to do this. Doing righteous deeds or giving alms so that others can see how good we are is not the way we are to live our lives as Christians. We need to do these things out of love of God, not for any praise that we may get. Doing righteous deeds, giving alms, and fasting are all good things. But the focus must be and should be on doing them out of love for God and love of our neighbor. We are not to do them in order for people to say how good we are. Instead, we are to do these things for the greater glory and praise of God.

St. Paul tells us in his 2^nd letter to the Corinthians that we are to be ambassadors for Christ. What Paul is referring to here is that, as Christians, we are to live in a way that reflects our faith in Jesus Christ. In all we do, whether it’s praying, fasting or works of mercy, we do it for Christ. And by doing these things for the love of God, we are helping others see that God is present in our lives. We are not doing it for our own praise, but to get closer to God in our relationship with Him, and to bring others into relationship with Christ.

Further, during these 40 days of Lent, as we strive to get closer to God by how we live, we should consider turning to God in the Sacrament of Penance. We are all sinners and fall short of how we should be in the eyes of God. Through the regular use of confession, especially during Lent, we can see how we fall short in our living out our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. It is through the sacrament of confession that we can and do receive God’s forgiveness. With His forgiveness we can become closer to God, receive the healing and forgiveness that can only come from God, and thus become better ambassadors for Christ.

As we start our journey towards Holy Week and Easter, let us, along with the psalmist, say to God, “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense."