https://player.vimeo.com/video/206306839
Learn about the Passion of Jesus at http://www.passionofchrist.us
Tuesday, 1st Week of Lent
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Category Archives: Inspiration
Friday after Ash Wednesday
https://player.vimeo.com/video/206298023
For more about the Passion narratives from the gospels, see commentary by Fr. Donald Senior at http://www.passionofchrist.us
Ash Wednesday
Want to know more about the Passion of Jesus, a mystery that helps us know the mysteries of our lives? Follow the commentaries of Donald Senior, CP.
6th Sunday b: Healing the Leper
For this week’s homily, please play the video below:
4th Sunday b: Deliver Us From Evil
For this weeks homily please play the video below:
Ecumenism
I attended a beautiful Methodist funeral this week at a funeral home in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. I prayed and sang with the members of the family and their friends. Some years ago, before the Second Vatican Council, I would have been told “In no way is it permitted for the faithful to take part in any way in non-Catholic services.” (Canon 1258)
We have come a long way in our relations with other Christian churches and other religions. In the days of St. Francis de Sales in the 16th century, Christian churches were fighting each other over religion. Francis de Sales as the bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, chose to approach religious differences through dialogue and not arms. His approach anticipated the Vatican Council decrees on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratia) and Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate) which told Catholics to respect the religious beliefs of others and dialogue with them.
Dialogue means listening to the other and offering what you know in return. It’s an on-going process that ultimately, I think, has its roots in the created world we live in, which we know little by little. The word “respect”is a beautiful word, meaning “looking again,” Francis de Sales based his spirituality on respect for the variety of creation. We’re “living plants” in the garden of the world. We need to keep “looking again.”
And while we respect others, we need to “look again” at our own tradition to appreciate it and see it “ever ancient, ever new.”
We’re ending the Church Unity Octave on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the Apostle, January 25th. St Francis de Sales, St. Paul the Apostle, St. Paul of the Cross, pray for us.
The Touch of God
In Mark’s Gospel we encounter many examples of Jesus’s physical touch and its magnificent power. In Mark 1:29-30 we read :
“ On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told Him about her. He approached, grasped her hand and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.”
Jesus grasped the woman’s hand. The miracle of healing happened.
Later on, Jesus touches even the “untouchable” in order to heal him:
“ A leper came to Him and kneeling down begged Him and said, ‘ If You wish, You can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, He stretched out His hand, touched the leper, and said to him, ‘I do will it. Be made clean.’ The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.” (Mk 1 :40-42)
Perhaps Jesus touched this leper not only to heal him but to show him the great love that had moved Him “ to pity”. Of course, just His will, His word, is enough to “touch” us in the most powerful way. Jesus tells the paralytic who was lowered through the roof:
“ ‘I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.’ He rose, picked up his mat at once and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, ‘ We have never seen anything like this.’” (Mk 2: 11b-12)
It seems there was no physical contact there, but even the people in the place were “touched” to the point of glorifying God.
Two thousand years later, our Lord still touches us physically through the Eucharist. He also touches us with His Voice through the Scriptures. That is (as I have said before) why going to Mass is the greatest thing that we can do.
I believe though, that the healing touch of Jesus also takes place through every one of us. We can be His hands and voice. Every one of us is acquainted with the urge we sometimes get in the company of a distressed, suffering human being– to embrace them, or touch their arm, or their hands. Sometimes this is inappropriate, or we are too far away. Then the voice of the Powerful One can actually speak through us. Just knowing that someone cares can do so much to alleviate our pain. I thank my Lord for this blessed mystery.
This weekend at Long Island Jewish Hospital, I was offering my love and my final goodbye to Marie De Angelis, a fellow parishioner and leader of our St. Vincent de Paul group. She was a true champion of God, a powerhouse of mercy and love. After twenty years of fighting ALS, and truly doing “great works” in spite of her disability, our Lord was finally ready to take her in His arms into Eternity.
I knelt before the Hospice bed, and told her how I felt about her, how grateful I was. In spite of her discomfort and fever she was lucid. She understood all I said. There was this smile on her face. But I also held her hand lightly. I felt her faint grasp. The healing touch of Jesus was there. I don’t know how much good I did, but her presence was a light for me, a salve for my aching heart, my sense of helplessness . She gave me strength and faith, even the joy of God’s love filling my eyes with tears. I left the hospital feeling blessed. We are the Body of Christ. We are here for each other.
Orlando Hernandez
The Most Common Occurrence
by Howard Hain
Christ lives in the Eucharistic Prayer.
He listens carefully.
The Father listens too.
We listen with Them.
The Holy Spirit speaks.
He speaks a great silence.
He listens to the listeners.
We collectively hear.
God.
Three Persons.
His Entire People.
All Creation.
The Sound of One Breathing.
The Sound of Life.
Communion.
—
Amen.
(Jan/4/18)
Still Life with Nativity
by Howard Hain
Can’t keep it neat
Bunched-up cloth
Shifting sand
An avalanche of gifts
Those toward the outside move the most
The trough is fixed in place
“The world turns, the Cross stands still” *
Manger, manger, what happened to you?
Sprouted roots
Began life as a tree
…..A table
……….A sawhorse
……………A wagon wheel
Dusty bumpy road
Excitement of a coming feast
Not quite yet
To and fro
Which place is home?
Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem
The land of Cana
A wedding toast
Now a wooden throne
Plenty of wine to go around
“The world turns, the Cross stands still” *
Manger, manger, what happened to you?
Sprouted roots
Began life as a tree
* this line is a loose paraphrase of the Carthusian motto: “Stat Crux Dum Volvitur Orbis” (The Cross Stands Firm, While The World Turns)
Beholding Him
This particular Gospel (Jn 1: 29-34) makes me think about the wonder and power of an encounter with the Living God, especially when it is so tangible or physical:
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because He existed before me.’ I did not know Him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that He might be made known to Israel.” John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon Him. I did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, He is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God.”
The Baptist must have said these last words in such a state of joy. He certainly appreciated and needed a moment like this, after waiting and working for so long. All of us do. We who feel compelled to tell the world that God is real, loving, and present, need always to return to the source of this Light in order to find the strength to persist in what often seems like a hopeless task.
This passage makes me think of the blessed power of the Eucharist. Here we come as close as possible to the experience of the Baptist when he “saw Jesus coming up to him.” Through the light of God’s given faith we “see” the Holy Spirit of God hovering over our Beloved Jesus, when the priest prays: “ May this same Holy Spirit graciously sanctify these offerings that they may become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
This incredible infusion of grace can go a long way in enabling us to live the Christian example to the world, even as we endure so many challenges and sorrows that come our way.
One important lesson that we could learn is to approach all of this with humility. We will not save the world. It is too big a task. Perhaps a little contribution to Love is all we can give. I look at all the divine examples in this Gospel. Our Omnipotent Lord is compared to a lamb, a Suffering Servant coming as a sheep to the shearers. The Giver of Life, the Spirit of God, manifests Himself, not as a powerful Roman eagle, but as a gentle dove, like the doves that were the most that the poor could afford as sacrifices for the temple. This is the God of the impoverished and the powerless. In the Eucharist the Powerful One comes to us as a humble, little, thin wafer, tp give us the strength to do the little things that together add up to the salvation of the world.
Just in case anyone reading this has not been to Mass in a while, come join us at the humble feast, even if the church is half-empty. Rather than just seeing, you might get the chance to behold. You just might be surprised to find our Savior, Jesus, walking right up to you! That’s what happened to me.
Orlando Hernandez
The Victor's Place 