March 25: The Annunciation of the Lord

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Our readings from St. John’s Gospel these last weeks of Lent picture Jesus teaching and working wonders in Jerusalem during the Jewish feasts. We’re coming to the Passover feast when he died and rose again. John’s Gospel emphasizes the divine nature of Jesus.

The ancient feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, March 25th, seems to interrupt the lenten story, but does it?

The feast of the Annunciation of the Lord reminds us that Jesus Christ was human as well as divine. God willed his Son become flesh in Mary’s womb and live a human life and die a human death. This feast celebrates the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.

The Letter to the Hebrews on this feast says that in coming into the world Jesus Christ said “ a body you prepared for me…behold, I come to do your will, O God.’

For nine months, the Word of God, was silent and unknown in the womb of Mary. For almost thirty years, the Word of God was known as Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son. For most of his life, subject to Mary and Joseph, Jesus belonged to an ordinary Jewish community, with all that went with it. He lived a human life. He shared ordinary human experiences, simple or complicated as they are. The Son of God was human all his life.

The Feast of the Annunciation originated in the early church in Jerusalem. That church was influenced by the rich symbolism of Jewish tradition. March 25, for example, the date chosen for this feast, is the time of the spring equinox, when light begins to conquer darkness. The Jews associated March 25 with their Exodus from Egypt, when they were released from the powers of darkness and brought into a land of light. March 25 was when God created the world and Adam and Eve. It was a time of their fall and their banishment from the garden.The Christian church in Jersalem saw March 25th in the same perspective.

The day Mary accepted the invitation of the angel was the day Word was made flesh for the recreation of the world. A new Adam became flesh in her womb. Nine months from March 25, December 25th, she gave birth to her Son. Influenced by that same way of thinking some Christians then believed that Jesus died on this date and descended to the nether world where, as the New Adam, he brought life to the dead.

We tend today to think about time in a linear way, but the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord reminds us there are other ways of thinking about time. The rich symbolism of this feast sees the whole of God’s plan unfolding in this great day of the year.

A beautiful way to think.

Tuesday, 5th Week of Lent

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Lent 1


Readings
In our gospel today (John 8:21-39) Jesus speaks again in the temple area during the Feast of Tabernacles to those opposing him. The time is short; the Light guiding the world has appeared, but he “is going away” and those who reject him will die in their sins.

Are we detached observers listening to this gospel, watching others challenged long ago? We’re challenged now to answer the question: Who is Jesus Christ?

He is “I AM,” a divine title his enemies find blasphemous, but believers find true. In Hebrew it means “He who is always there.” Later in John’s gospel, Thomas bows before Jesus and says “My Lord and my God,” as he recognizes that the One lifted up on the cross is indeed “I AM.”

Our graphic above presents the Cross as a place of healing. In our first reading for today Moses places a serpent on a pole to heal the people on their desert journey.We reverence the One lifted up on the Cross.. He is “I AM,” true God, sent by the Father, “who so loved the world that he sent his only Son.” He was lifted up on a Cross and will always be there as a sign God is with us in our woundedness, our suffering and death..

In an early letter to Bishop Count Peter Garangi, who worked to establish the Passionists as a new congregation in the church, St. Paul of the Cross emphasized the importance of the mystery of the passion and death of Jesus as a revelation of God.

“So many believers live in forgetfulness of how much our Divine Savior did and suffered; they sleep in a swamp of evil. We need zealous workers to awaken them from their sleep in darkness and the shadow of death by the trumpet of God’s word and by meditating on the Passion of Jesus Christ, so that God be glorified by many who will be converted and pray and lead a holy life.” (Letter 266)

Do we live in forgetfulness?

Lord Jesus Christ,
Draw me to your cross
And show me your wounds, your bitter death, your triumph over the tomb.
God with us, always there,
God who shares our humanity,
God who loves us so much
help me keep you in mind,
save me from forgetfulness.

Monday, 5th Week of Lent

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Lent 1


Readings


On the Feast of Tabernacles, according to John’s Gospel. Jesus claims to be the light of the world and living water, two symbols of this feast. His enemies fiercely dispute his claims. “As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just…” Jesus says. (John 5:30)

In our reading about Susanna, adultery is not the only issue to be judged. Gender injustice is also on the table. Jewish religious law said if a woman were caught in the act of adultery and two men witnessed it, she could be stoned to death or strangled. The system obviously led to abuse; two witnesses paid by a vengeful husband might give false testimony and have her stoned to death. The story of Suzannah tells us two men could also plot a rape. The woman becomes a victim and the man avoids blame.

Two old men, judges with lots of power, think they can do anything they want. Abuse of power, combined with lust, is still behind many of our sexual crimes today. It’s found in the workplace, in politics, in the celebrity and sports world, and also unfortunately in the world of religion. 

Suzannah refuses to give in to their advances, and she finds a champion in Daniel who faces up to the powerful men. Her story calls for standing up for truth and fighting against abuse of power wherever we find it.  

Lord,
let me judge others fairly with your eyes, your heart and your mind.
Help me work for a world that is right and just.
Give me the grace to know myself.

5th Sunday of Lent a: Lazarus

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For this week’s homily please watch the video below.

Saturday, 4th Week of Lent

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Lent 1


Readings
The lenten readings from John’s gospel for today and the next week of lent (chapters 7-10) describe Jesus‘ activity in Jerusalem during the eight- day Feast of Tabernacles, the popular autumn feast that brought many visitors to Jerusalem to celebrate the grape harvest and pray for rain. Water was brought into the temple courtyard from the Pool of Siloam and lighted torches were ablaze during the celebration.

Arriving late for the feast, Jesus taught in the temple area and revealed who he was, using the images of water and light. His cure of the blind man, in the 9th chapter of the gospel, is a sign of the light he bestows on a blind world.

Yet, some don’t see. Those hearing him are divided; some want him arrested, some believe, some question his Galilean origins and his upbringing as a carpenter’s son. How can he be the Messiah, a teacher in Israel?

From Nazareth to Jerusalem Jesus met unbelief. Why didn’t all see and believe? People doubted him then; they  doubt him now. Even his disciples are slow to believe. “How slow you are to believe…”Jesus says to the two on the way to Emmaus.

But the Word continues to teach in our world and instruct disciples weak in faith. His mission is not ended. That’s why it’s important to stress the great miracles that dominate John’s narrative: the meeting with the Samaritan woman that brings her to faith, the cure of the paralyzed man at Bethseda, the cure of the man born blind, the raising of Lazarus. They tell us of God’s pursuit of humanity, despite its blindness and deafness.

Saints like Paul of the Cross knew that. However fierce the opposition, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, brings light and life.

“All the works of God are now attacked by the devil, now by human beings. I now have both at once. Don’t be dismayed when contrary factions and rejections arise, no matter how great they are. Be encouraged by the example of St. Teresa who said that the more she was involved in enterprises for the glory of God, the more difficulties she experienced.” (Letter 1180)

The Lord is my light and my salvation,
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life,
Of whom should I be afraid?

Friday, 4th Week of Lent

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Lent 1


Readings
Jesus went from Galilee up to Jerusalem for another Jewish feast, the feast of Tabernacles and “the Jews were trying to kill him” , says John’s Gospel, our reading for today. (John 7, 1-39) Tabernacles was a popular Autumn feast, one of three Jewish feasts drawing crowds of visitors to the city. The celebration of this feast provides the background for chapters 7:1-10:21 of John’s Gospel.

As a pious Jew, Jesus came to Jerusalem regularly to celebrate the Jewish feasts, John’s Gospel recalls. He did not come as an anonymous pilgrim. During the feasts he was recognized for the miracles he performed; he taught in the temple and disputed with the Jewish leaders, who opposed him. There were frequent attempts on his life from “the Jews”, John’ s term for those who finally put him to death.

The “inhabitants of the city” notice him, John notes. Who are they?

They’re not the leaders who will later put him to death. They’re the ordinary people who watch the leaders, who know what’s happening in the city, who follow the trends and pass the gossip. They watch Jesus with curiosity as he enters the temple area and begins to teach.

“Do our leaders now believe he’s the Messiah?” “How can he be, because he’s from Galilee and no one will know where the Messiah is from?” They go back and forth– they’re the undecided who wait to see who wins before they take sides.

Jesus cried out against them, because they think they know what’s going on but know nothing. They are not like the crowds in Capernaum that lined up around the door of Peter’s house when Jesus began his ministry. They stay at a distance and watch.

When we think about those responsible for the death of Jesus, we shouldn’t leave out “the inhabitants of the city.” Terrible things happen because  the undecided choose to stay on the sidelines and watch.

The reading from the Book of Wisdom for today talks about people like that–the people who wait and see. “Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.” (Wisdom 2,12-24)

Prayer helps us to see what is real, the spiritual masters teach. To see what is real we have to put aside the ordinary ways we see and judge and act. The way we think often blinds us to the truth. Then, we have to act. Whether we’re learned theologians, practiced priests, informed church-goers, or “inhabitants of Jerusalem” we need to humble ourselves before God.

We are the inhabitants of the city,

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Saint Joseph: March 19th

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St. Joseph – by Bro. Paul Morgan,CP


Readings

“Each year Jesus’ parents went up to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, and when he was twelve years old they went up according to festival custom.” Luke 2,41

At twelve, Jesus entered a new stage in life – his “Bar Mitzvah,” when he took on the responsibilities of the law, which later he summarized as: “Love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart…Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Who led him to that new stage? It had to be Joseph and Mary. Matthew’s Gospel gives Joseph a major role in Jesus’ birth. He provides Jesus with a genealogy going back to Abraham. He’s told by the angel not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife; he shouldn’t divorce her as Jewish law called for, and he should name the child, Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins.”

After the visit of the Magi, Joseph was directed to take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Then, the angel tells him to return to Israel with them after Herod’s death. Finally, he makes a home in Nazareth in Galilee, where his family would be safer away from Herod’s heir, Archelaus, who ruled in Judea.

Clearly, according to Matthew’s gospel, Joseph is an important figure in the birth and early life of Jesus Christ. Then, he silently disappears from the gospels. There’s no record of his role at Nazareth or his death.

The gospel calls Joseph an “upright” man. He was upright because, like his neighbors at Nazareth, he observed all the Jewish laws. But not from lip service. Joseph firmly believed in his heart in the God of Israel, who loved all things great and small, yes, even Nazareth and a humble carpenter.

An inward man, Joseph saw in the simple, ordinary world about him more than others saw. His neighbor casting seed on the family field he loved – wasn’t God’s passionate love for the land of Israel like that? Even as he built a village house or a table, his thoughts sometimes turned to another world: was not God building a kingdom for his people?

An inward man, Joseph saw beyond the fields and mountains and the small town of Nazareth, but he said little about his inmost dreams to others. A quiet man, he kept his own counsel.

Jesus, the Son of God, was known through his earthly life as Jesus, the son of Joseph, “the carpenter’s son.” As children do, he naturally would acquire some of Joseph’s traits, perhaps the way he walked and spoke.

From Joseph, Jesus first learned about the people of the village, their sorrows and their joys. He saw his love for Mary and the people of his village. Jesus learned from him how to use a carpenter’s tools and worked at his side. The rabbis said: A father who does not teach his son a trade teaches him to steal.

The two were constant companions at the synagogue in Nazareth. Together they celebrated regularly the great Jewish feasts, listened to the Scriptures, and journeyed as pilgrims to Jerusalem.

Jesus must have seen in Joseph a simple, holy man who trusted God with all his heart. Someone like Joseph, so unassuming, so steady, so quietly attentive to God, was like a treasure hidden in a field. He could go unrecognized.

Later, would Jesus remember lessons and tell stories he learned earlier at Nazareth from Joseph, the carpenter?

The opening prayer for today’s feast describes Joseph’s spirituality. He intercedes for the church that it may be aware of “the unfolding mysteries of human salvation.” Joseph was there when “the unfolding mysteries of salvation” began. Joseph listened to angels and prophets and followed them.

In the first reading for his feast God promises King David he would have an God-given heir. Joseph, a son of David, saw that promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans presents Abraham as the father of many nations. Joseph saw that promise also fulfilled in Jesus. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,” the angel says to Joseph. He was not afraid, but believed in the “unfolding mysteries of salvation.”

Two Passionist brothers remembered St. Joseph in a painting and a sculpture, which I’ve added to this blog: Brother Paul Morgan and Brother Michael Stomber.

St. Joseph and the Boy Jesus by Brother Michael Stomber, CP

Wednesday, 4th Week of Lent

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Lent 1


READINGS
In today’s reading from John’s gospel, the cure of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda sparks criticism of Jesus by Jerusalem’s leaders who accuse him of working on the Sabbath. The proscription of work on the Sabbath was questioned before by Jewish leaders. After all, God maintained creation on the Sabbath, babies were born, people died, God passed judgment on that day.

But the leaders now make a greater charge– Jesus claimed to be God’s Son, saying he continued his Father’s work; he had power over life and death; he will judge the living and the dead – divine powers.  Jesus claimed to be God’s unique Son, true God, true man.

“Who do you say I am?” is a question Jesus raised then and he asks us now. That’s a question our readings from John’s gospel asks through the remainder of this week and into Holy Week.

 John’s gospel, read from now on till after Easter at Mass, reminds us that God gives the gift of faith. The man waiting for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda, the man born blind, Nicodemus in the dark, Lazarus in the tomb are signs of the helplessness of humanity that waits for the life-giving Word of God. God alone makes the weak strong and those who have nothing live, and the blind see.

God gives his gifts abundantly. Waters from the temple flow through the world, yesterday’s reading from Ezechiel says. The number of believers is not to be small. Let’s not think it will be small. “Go to all nations,” Jesus says.

Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent was an important day for the early church in Rome which met today at the church of St. Paul Outside the Walls with its catechumens preparing for baptism at Easter. A cross was traced on their foreheads. They were given the Apostles’ Creed and told to memorize it and reflect on it as a summary of faith. They were also given the Our Father to be prayed as their basic prayer.

Today’s a good day to pray our Creed and reflect on the Our Father. Why don’t we trace the cross on our forehead and pray the Our Father slowly today?

Lord Jesus,
I believe you are God’s Son,
true God from true God,
I believe you have come to save us.

For Morning and Evening Prayers today.

Tuesday, 4th Week of Lent

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Lent 1


READINGS
Jesus healed a paralyzed man at the pool at Bethesda, John’s gospel says, on a Sabbath day, on a feast. (John 5,1-18)

The paralyzed man is so different than the official in our previous story who came from Capernaum to Cana looking for a cure for his son. The official was obviously an important man who knew how to get things done. He came to get Jesus to heal his son. He’s resourceful.

The paralytic at Bethesda, on the other hand, is utterly resourceless. For 38 years he’s come to a healing pool– archeologists identify its location near the present church of St. Anne in Jerusalem– and he can’t find a way into the water when it’s stirring. Paralyzed, too slow, he can’t even get anybody to help him. He doesn’t approach Jesus; Jesus approaches him, asking: “Do you want to be well?”

Instead of lowering him into the water, Jesus cures the paralyzed man directly and tells him to take up the mat he was lying on and walk. The man has no idea who cured him until Jesus tells him later in the temple area. He’s slow in more ways than one.

“God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in this world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God,” St. Paul tells the Corinthians.

Here’s one of the weak, the lowly, the nobodies God chooses, and he wont be the last. The mystics saw weakness differently that most do. It’s a time God acts, St. Paul of the Cross says:

“Be of good heart, my good friend, for the time has come for you to be cured. Night will be as illumined as day. As his night, so is his day. A great difference takes place in the Presence of God; rejoice in this Divine Presence. Have nothing, my dear one; allow yourself to be deprived of all pleasure. Do not look your sufferings in the face, but accept them with resignation and satisfaction in the higher part of your soul as if they were jewels, and so they truly are. Ah! let your loving soul be freed from all that is created and pay no attention to suffering or to enjoyment, but give your attention to your beloved Good. (Letter 41)

Lord Jesus,
like the paralytic I wait for you,
not knowing when or how you will come.
But I wait, O Lord,
however long you may be.