The Sunday Gospel For Men

Sunday, April 2nd, 2023 - Passion Sunday

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”’” The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.” While they were eating, 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 it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him in reply, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.” He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open. He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again. Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners. Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand.” While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people. His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him.” Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and he kissed him. Jesus answered him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?” At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me. But all this has come to pass that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome. The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward who stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.’” The high priest rose and addressed him, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!” Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy for us, Christ: who is it that struck you?” Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about!” As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.” Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man!” A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away.” At that he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly. When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? Look to it yourself.” Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself. The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, “It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood.” After consultation, they used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of a man with a price on his head, a price set by some of the Israelites, and they paid it out for the potter’s field just as the Lord had commanded me. Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed. Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over. While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.” The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. The governor said to them in reply, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They answered, “Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Let him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him. As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha—which means Place of the Skull—, they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way. From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.
Here all kneel and pause for a short time.
And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb. The next day, the one following the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, ‘After three days I will be raised up.’ Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last imposture would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours; go, secure it as best you can.” So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.
Matthew 26:14-27:66
 
Passion Sunday
Our Lord’s preparation of his disciples for his Passion is theologically rich. He gives them his body, blood, soul, and divinity in the first Eucharist. He warns them of the trial that he and they are about to undergo. He indicates to Judas—in a final warning—that he knows what Judas is about. He then takes out his three closest disciples to watch and pray with him. And yet, what happens?
Jesus’s three closest apostles—Peter, James, and John—do not stay vigilant in prayer but fall asleep. Judas follows through—to his own eventual sorrow and despair—with his planned betrayal. Although Peter had been adamant that his faith would never be shaken, when the time comes, Peter puts up an ill-thought-out fight and then denies the Lord. The others flee or look on from a distance, and only John (as we learn from John’s Gospel) stays with him at the cross.
After reading this account, you might be tempted to despair. If the apostles who spent three years in the company of God himself were such failures, why should we even bother? But rather than be tempted to quit, we should hear the words of this Gospel reading with joy and assurance for three reasons. First, even Jesus’s apostles needed a Savior, and their failure in no way prevented him from being faithful to the end. Second, though we are not reading about it here, we know that their own failure did not prevent them from returning to him post-resurrection. Or, more accurately, their failure did not prevent him from returning to them. And third, not only did he return to his apostles, but he also promised them the Holy Spirit so that they would be strengthened.
And that’s where you and I are. You may not have heard the Sermon on the Mount with your literal ears, but you have been united to its preacher in your baptism, confirmation, and, most amazingly, the Eucharist. In a way, you and I are in a better position than his apostles, for we have the Holy Spirit right now. And that Spirit gives you the power to think about ways in which you may have abandoned or denied the Lord this Lent. Perhaps it was a resolution to stay awake with him more in prayer—just as Peter, James, and John were called to do—but you gave way to sleep or distraction. Maybe it has been a sin that you vowed to put behind you, but you have done it again. Maybe it was a failure to speak the truth when you had the opportunity to publicly witness to your faith—you may not have spoken your denial aloud, but your silence implied consent to it.
Whatever the case, the Gospel reading of the Passion speaks eloquently of the possibility of failure but also gives comfort to us. This week, we should not let Lenten failures discourage us; we should confess our sins and seek to stay awake with him more by turning our hearts to him throughout the day. We should seek his Holy Spirit so that we would be more and more like him; we should not deviate from the path to the cross, instead we should pick it up and journey right alongside our Lord just as Simon the Cyrenian was called to do, and we should always be about the Father’s will.
In your prayer today, meditate on the Lord’s patience with his apostles and with you (past, present, and future). Ask that he gives you the courage to act on the Holy Spirit’s promptings right now.

Sunday, March 26th, 2023 - The Raising of Lazarus

The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
John 11:3–7, 17, 20–27, 33b–45
 
The Raising of Lazarus
Today, we celebrate the third and final scrutiny in preparation for the baptism of the elect at the Easter Vigil. In the exorcism for today, the priest asks God to “snatch us from the realm of death” and to free the elect from “the death-dealing power of the spirit of evil” (RCIA, 175). We are only saved from the evil of death when we are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection (see Romans 6:4-6)
In today’s Gospel, we see a display of God’s power over death. Lazarus was only a sign of what was to come for us—that is, when we die, we won’t stay dead. Lazarus’s resuscitation has given each member hope that God can reach into death, our greatest enemy, and defeat it.
Ultimately, Christ’s death and resurrection secured humanity’s hope that death would not have the final word for us. What Christ did for us on Calvary and in the tomb is still being worked out with each generation. It will come to completion when the world is brought to its apex in the second coming of Christ and the final judgment.
Each person, you and I, have to prepare for this final coming by hosting the life, death, and resurrection of Christ in his own body and soul. Christ has to be alive in us so that the evil one will not pull us into eternal death. We secure this life of Christ through trusting and believing in all that he has revealed and taught in scripture, participating in the celebration of the Eucharist, and emulating the saints. May we consistently repeat the words of Martha, “Lord, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
Christ’s voice reached into Lazarus’s dead body and awoke it. We can only hope that we are hearing this same voice while we are still alive. We must choose Christ now. Jesus is crying out into all our souls with the same message that awakened Lazarus: “[C]ome out!” Come out of darkness, ignorance, and sin; come into his light and life.
In your time of silent prayer today, ask that all baptized men and women and all who are preparing for baptism might “triumph over the bitter fate of death” (RCIA, 174) by choosing Christ this day and every day to come.
 

Sunday, March 19th, 2023 - The Man Born Blind

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam”—which means Sent. So he went and washed, and came back able to see. His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out. When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
John 9:1, 6–9, 13–17, 34–38
 
The Man Born Blind
Today the Church celebrates the second scrutiny. The scrutinies are exorcisms of the men and women who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. In today’s exorcism, the priest asks that the elect might be enlightened—like the man in today’s Gospel—and freed from the slavery of the father of lies.
Today’s Gospel story gives us great hope. Notice what Jesus did for the man born blind: “he found him.” This means Christ goes looking for us. The act of coming to the Lord begins with God searching for us. The whole story of Christ’s life is one of God seeking us out because we have alienated ourselves from his love and rejected the love of fellow humans.
God meant it when he said, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). From the very foundations of creation, the enemy of man has been isolation from love. Adam and Eve began the process of leaving the presence of God when they chose to sin in the Garden of Eden, and we have been predictable heirs to this behavior ever since. We also have a habit of throwing one another out of our lives. Loneliness is a deep suffering in this life. It is something like a foretaste of hell. We were made to see the truth and live in communion with God.
This communion with God is the way of faith, hope, and love. As the darkness of sin closes our eyes to the love of God, grace moves to find us. This movement of grace is a great mystery, as it may find us early in life as a response to our baptism or may even find us late in life on our deathbed. But there is no doubt that grace and God’s own life and love are moving within human experiences to open our eyes to his will for us.
The Church, and its ministries, try to make us more capable of relating to God. It does this through the sacraments, catechesis, acts of charity, and its mission. The Church continues Christ’s work in and throughout time. God wants to welcome us, give us sight, and restore our communion with him and one another. He gives us the strength to answer the question Jesus asks the man born blind: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
Today, pray for those preparing to enter the Church at Easter. Pray that God may gently lead the elect to Christ, the light of the world. Finally, tell the Lord in answer to His question with conviction, I do believe, Lord.

Sunday, March 12th, 2023 - The Woman at the Well

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him. When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
John 4:5–15, 19b–26, 39a, 40–42
 
The Woman at the Well
Over the next three Sundays, we will celebrate the three scrutinies in preparation for the Baptism of the catechumens who are to be admitted to the Sacraments of Christian Initiation at the Easter Vigil. The Gospel readings on these Sundays will be the same Gospel readings that have been associated with the scrutinies since at least the seventh century: The Woman at the Well, The Man Born Blind, and The Raising of Lazarus.
In today’s Gospel, we see that Christ waits for us when we are in our deepest need. He is there, ready to respond when we announce our most urgent thirst. This need—this thirst—is not for realities that are temporal. No, our deepest thirst is for God himself.
The setting of this Gospel reading is at a well, which has many allusions to marriage in the Old Testament (see Genesis 29). The woman at the well in John’s Gospel is a Samaritan, a non-Jew. She represents the hunger of humanity to find rest in loving and being loved by God. Here, at the well, God reveals himself as the one who wants to marry the world. All thirsts will end in heaven, but they begin to be quenched  even here on earth as we enter more deeply into a vulnerable and realistic relationship with God.
We enter into conversation with God just like this woman at the well. We tell him everything, and he tells us everything about us and himself. Thus, he reveals the meaning and purpose of each our lives. Such a purpose is certainly not one of wandering in thirst from well to well. This would be a purposeless life—a futile life. We were not created to simply seek temporary relief from meaninglessness or pain and suffering. God is always offering us eternal rest as we establish communion with him in prayer and worship.
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” Jesus has revealed himself to be “the truth” (John 14:6), and he is present to us through the sacraments and in the scriptures as the living Spirit. In the above passage from today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is saying that the Father is seeking people to worship Christ. Yes, the Father is actively seeking out all men to worship him in spirit and truth—literally, in Christ. This is how we fulfill the Father’s desire: we share the good news, we give testimony that Christ is the Savior, we are witnesses to the fact that Christ is the one in whom all our thirsts are satisfied.
In your prayer today, bring your pains to Jesus. Tell him everything. He is waiting for you. Allow his love and grace to gush into your souls and fill you with right worship in spirit and truth.

Sunday, March 5th, 2023 - Heaven on Earth

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
Matthew 17:1-9
 
Heaven on Earth
The Transfiguration is a foretaste of heavenly glory. In this event, Jesus is taken up into the heavens and clothed in a dazzling white garment. When Jesus is in this exalted state, he dialogues with Moses and Elijah. The former represents the law—for it was to Moses that God revealed his law (see Exodus 31:18). The latter, Elijah, represents the prophets—for this prophet was taken up into the celestial body by a fiery chariot in a whirlwind (see 2 Kings 2:11). More than the law and the prophets, the operation of the Trinity is manifest at the Transfiguration. Concerning this event, St. Thomas Aquinas says, “the whole Trinity appears—the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Holy Spirit in the bright cloud.”1 Thus, when Jesus was taken up into the heavens, and an unearthly splendor filled that place, the Trinity, the law, and the prophets were all made manifest.
Although we do not see Jesus shining like the sun, we can experience a foretaste of heaven while we are still here on earth. Today, we will reflect on two of these foretastes of heaven. The first is in our relationship with God and the second is in his sacred liturgy. 
At the end of time, there will be a new heaven and a new earth; the holy city—the new Jerusalem—will come out of heaven from God (see Revelation 20:1-2). We cannot be in heaven—the New Jerusalem—until the end. However, the vital essence of heaven is that we are with God. Every good deed, every act of asceticism, every scriptural reading, every encounter with God, all of these are a kind of foreshadowing of heaven because all of these deepen our relationship with God. 
When we do these good deeds, we should happily think of the heavenly kingdom, the end of time, and our death. Thinking about heaven is deeply related to thinking about death. Centuries ago, it was common for people to meditate on the four last things: heaven, hell, death, and judgment. Our Christian ancestors did not want death to befall them quickly because they wanted the time to prepare themselves spiritually before their individual judgment. They were ready to embrace suffering in reparation for their sins—even the sufferings that accompany death. The saints embraced any suffering as an opportunity to share in the cross of Christ so that they, and others, might come to the glory of heaven. All of their asceticisms and good deeds were foretastes of heaven as they formed the saints’ relationship with God. 
The second type of heavenly foretaste is the sacred liturgy, the Holy  Mass. In the liturgy, we partake in the sacrificial action of eternity. Every sign and symbol at the Mass and in the church should point us to think about the heavenly reality. The union of the signs of the earthly liturgy and the heavenly liturgy was well illustrated in a report that was brought to Vladimir I, Grand prince of Kiev, by his emissaries returning from Mass in the Great Church of Constantinople. Vladimir’s emissaries recounted this Mass saying: 
We know not whether we were in heaven or on earth. For on earth, there is no such splendor or such beauty, and we are at a loss how to describe it. We know only that God dwells among men, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of the other nations. For we cannot forget that beauty.2
Hopefully, you have the same experience at Mass and see that the action you are participating in is a heavenly reality.
In your holy hour today, reflect on these earthly foretastes of heaven. Do you see how your good deeds point to heaven and how the Mass touches the heavenly reality? Allow the grace of these moments to change your life so that you can spend eternity with God in heaven.
 
 
 
 
1Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, 3, 45, 4 ad 2
 2Samuel H Cross and Olgerd P. Scherbowtz-Wetzor, eds. and trans., The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text (Cambridge, Mass.: Mediaeval Academy of America, 1953) in Alexander Rentel, “Byzantine and Slavic Orthodoxy” in The Oxford History of Christian Worship, eds. Ceoffrey Wainwright and Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000). Also see: René Marichal, Premiers Chrétiens de Russie: Introducion, choix et traduction des textes, Chrétiens de tous les temps 16 (Paris: Cref, 1966) 52-53, in Marcel Metzger, The History of the Liturgy The Major Stages, trans. Madeleine Beaumont, (Collegeville, Liturgical Press, 1997), 86.

Sunday, February 26th, 2023 - Temptations

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.
Matthew 4:1-11
 
Temptations 
 As we heard in today’s Gospel, Satan attacks Christ using his identity, saying, “If you are the Son of God….” Satan hopes to provoke Jesus into defending himself and performing a miracle, thus submitting to Satan’s prompt. But Christ does not give in to the devil. He cannot be moved by temptations or outside forces; he acts only out of his own freedom.
Satan knows that we are different, so he often successfully takes the same approach with us that failed with Christ. He tempts us with our identity. To one, he says, “You know God is mad at you, so why not drink tonight?” To another, he says, “You are not loved by God. How could you be? Think about your sins.” To a third, he says, “You will never become holy; you are always making mistakes, weak and filled with faults.”
Satan always tries to make us believe that we are broken and repulsive to God or that God has already abandoned us. The two most common satanic lies are: “There is something wrong with me” and “I am alone.” When we buy into these lies, we usually sink deeper into sin. At times sin fills the man with a defeatist attitude. He thinks, “Well, since I already started drinking I might as well keep going,” or, “Since I already started looking at pornography I might as well keep doing it.”
But God moves you toward freedom no matter the depth of sin you have entered. Once you begin sinning, you are not condemned to stay there. Grace is offered for you to stop at the 2nd drink; nothing is inevitable or determined in our behavior. God knows that he can reach you and he keeps trying. Even the next day, when you awaken with regret—and a headache—God is there, not to condemn you but to refresh you with his life.
The world of condemnation and rejection belongs to Satan. He wants to take us to that world, but we do not have to go. We can always move toward the resurrection, toward the light and freedom. Do not start going down the road to self-condemnation. Always reach out for grace. Remember, as  Fr. Jacques Philippe says in his book Interior Freedom:
The person God wants to touch and to transform with his love is not the person we would have liked to be or ought to be. It is the person we are. God doesn’t love ideal persons, he loves actual real persons” (Interior Freedom 32).
In your Sunday holy hour, recall the times that the devil has tempted you using your identity. Did he pull you toward pride or fear? Then take comfort and know that you are not alone. You are not wounded beyond the gaze of Christ’s love. 

Sunday, February 19th, 2023 - Perfection

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:38-48
 
Perfection
“Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That is a daunting command. Too often, we understand that command through the lens of our contemporary anxiety-ridden culture. We interpret that saying of Christ to mean that we cannot make mistakes, that we cannot fall into error. All must be perfect, without blemish, without weakness, because in perfection we find our identity. The counselors’ offices are filled with men bearing such anxiety. 
Christ is not commanding the perfect execution of all human action; he is commanding something more vexing. He is commanding that we act like God in loving all. We are to love those who do not love us. We are, in other words, to will the good of those who will our harm. In this way, we are to be perfect.
God’s love is available for the sinner and the saint. The entire scripture is a testimony to God’s love seeking out and penetrating the hearts of “sinners,” of bad people. To leave the bad people without love would be to leave them without God, for God is love. He wants us to participate in his love and join him in converting bad people into good—enemies into friends. 
We are not to act like God out of our own willpower. It is too puny—too wounded. We are to act like God out of our willpower infused with God’s love. This infusion happens through prayerful communion with God and through faith, hope, and love.
Forgiving those who have harmed us means being configured to Christ upon the cross, who says, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). To forgive someone is to incorporate the wound they inflicted upon you into your love for them. In other words, the wounds do not sever your communion with another but instead become the occasion for your love to deepen. Forgiveness is always a miracle. Forgiveness is always divine, always unexpected, and scandalous to modern rules and values. 
Our culture and society today teaches us to “cancel” the enemy, to shun and exile him to the margins of influence and commerce. However, in Christ, the enemy is always our future brother. There is no clearer evidence that one has allowed Christ to inhabit one’s will and heart than forgiving one who has harmed us. 
Such forgiveness does not have to happen all at once. It usually proceeds in degrees, as the victim slowly relates all the pain to God in prayer and, over time, becomes enabled to set his heart free from the prison of hate, revenge, and anger. Such freedom does not have to occur in the perpetrator’s presence. God can free us from the chains of unforgiveness even after the perpetrator has left our presence or died. Forgiveness is a gift God gives victims; if they are open to it, this gift frees perpetrators. This is perfection: forgive as you have been forgiven. 
Today, ask the Lord to give you the grace of perfection—the grace to forgive and to love. 

Sunday, February 12th, 2023 - Free From Within

Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one."
Matthew 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a, 37
 
Free from Within
In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges his disciples to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees—he invites them to be more than mere “rule followers.” Although he respects rules, more importantly, he invites us to internalize the truth of the moral rules and live this truth as our own. To remain a rule follower under fear or compulsion is not the glory of the disciple. Such a life does not flow from a love of truth and holiness. It is true that one who follows rules keeps order within the sphere of behavior. However, Christ is looking for inner freedom and integrity. In the fullness of the Christian life, lust will not become promiscuity because a man does not desire it, anger will not become violence and envy will not birth theft because these disordered desires have been deflated by one’s participation in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
Our moral behavior flows from somewhere deep within our heart and soul, not simply from a superficial rebellious streak. Our lust, our anger, and our murderous ways need to be healed from within. We need to be set free from interior influences, from desires gone astray, from unchecked and unreasoned impulsive behavior. Jesus wants us to know that our acts are ours and that part of being saved by him is becoming aware of what is within us and giving it to Christ for inner healing, as he is the Divine Physician. This type of living is part of the abundant life that Christ promises. 
A man who simply follows rules does preserve public order, as no violence occurs and no theft is perpetrated, but the man who is refraining from such behavior still wants to steal and still wants illicit sexual behavior. Christ wants to set us free from within. 
As one’s prayer life, worship life, and ascetical life deepen in Christ then progressively, developmentally, in time, and patiently a man undergoes a startling renewal. His desire for sin diminishes. He begins to anticipate that if he follows the promptings of sin he will end up, not in a place of fulfillment, but of boredom and meaninglessness. 
With the light of Christ flooding our minds we actually begin to foresee the fruitlessness and irrationality of choosing sin. And so, by the power of being in communion with Christ, a man comes to say ‘no’ to sin. He says no not simply because such behavior is against a commandment or religious rule, but because he knows that such behavior undermines his very dignity and his communion with God. This is freedom indeed. And such freedom is attained by stopping the evil thought or desire at its first appearance in the mind. If we welcome it and think about it, desire then awakens to push us toward that which we know is evil. In the power of the Spirit, when the first thought to sin arises simply turn and ask our loving God to empty its attraction and reveal its true nature to us—a nature always at odds with our lasting happiness.  
In your holy hour, today and in the coming days, ask the Lord to heal you from within so that your righteousness might surpass that of the Pharisees. Ask the Lord to free you from every inclination to sin and to orient your heart and soul toward worship of the true God, today and every day moving forward.

Sunday, February 5th, 2023 - Public Witness

Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."
Matthew 5:13-16
 
Public Witness
Christianity, being a Christian, involves public action. The apostles declared fidelity to Christ before crowds, governments, towns, and cities. Jesus himself died before men in public, attesting to his great love for mankind and his Father in Heaven, by the power of the Spirit. 
During the course of human history, many have tried to make Christianity a private devotion. Even in our own time we have seen a subtle shift in language from respecting freedom of religion toward claiming to respect the freedom to worship. True freedom of religion is not only the freedom to go into a building and worship. It also implies that one is free to fill the public square with the speech and behavior that flows from worship, as long as it does not interfere with the common good.  Religion is not free if it is only given sanction to inform one’s private emotions or thoughts. 
The good news is supposed to set men free, not simply make the worshipper feel loved. Such experiences of being loved by God and loving God in return are essential to the human experience of faith. But such reciprocal love between an individual and God must also bear public fruit. 
Sometimes it is difficult to give testimony about God’s love and his laws in public, and so we shrink from such occasions in the name of respecting others’ privacy. If we do this too often, however, we lose the very vocabulary of salvation and become mute before others when they approach us looking for relief from our time’s superficial philosophies, therapies, and self-help pursuits.  
We need to be bold in articulating what we believe and why we love God. We have to affirm that such love has a right to be spoken and acted upon in public, or we may find ourselves confined to church buildings and banned from public testimony. We are called to let our light shine. We are called to be the light of the world, not simply the light of the sanctuary. We may be tempted to ‘go along to get along,’ but such compromise is not prudent. It is simply self-preservation, or tepid conviction. All the apostles except one died a martyr’s death. Their light attracted the attention of those who prefer the dark. But through their public commitment to Christ the church spread and the good news reached even those in the dark. 
In your holy hour today, reflect on how you can bring the fruits of your life devoted to prayer, asceticism, and fraternity into the public eye. Ask that the light of these graces might shine before others “that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Sunday, January 29th, 2023 - The Beatitudes

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
Matthew 5:1–12a
 
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the poor in spirit. What does this mean exactly? Think of the opposite of being poor in spirit—which is being prideful. When someone is prideful, they are “puffed up” and “full of themselves” (see 1 Corinthians 13:4–5). The antithesis of pride is humility. Therefore, you are a blessed man if you humbly acknowledge that God is God, and you are not. 
Blessed are they who mourn. How is it that the sorrowful are the happy ones? Isn’t this a clear contradiction? No, even though it may seem to be. Those who mourn are blessed since they mourn over the right things. In other words, they place their joy in eternal things and not in the things of this world. Precisely in their earthly mourning, they experience a hopeful joy for eternity. Even though they are bound to encounter sorrow in this valley of tears, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, is their comforter. 
Blessed are the meek. What is meekness? It’s certainly not a word you hear every day. Meekness is not weakness; rather, it is the controlling of the emotion of anger through right reason and love. Moses is an example of meekness. He was said to be the meekest man in the world (see Numbers 12:3) because he only had righteous anger (see Exodus 32). However, he eventually became embittered and spoke words that were rash when he was tested at the waters of Meribah (see Numbers 20:10–11, Psalms 106:33). Sadly, this prohibited him from inheriting the promised land (see Deuteronomy 32:51–52). Moses’s punishment serves as a kind of warning for us: if we want to enter into heaven, the true promised land, then we must learn to control our anger (see Ephesians 4:26–31). 
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Our Lord also says many times elsewhere: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34; compare 5:30, 36, 6:38, 9:4, 17:3–4). This should be our greatest source of motivation. 
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. In one sense, this means: “the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you” (Matthew 7:2). But as St. John Chrysostom says, “The reward here seems at first to be only an equal return; but indeed it is much more; for human mercy and divine mercy are not to be put on an equality.”1 You receive far more mercy from God than you could ever show others. 
Blessed are the clean of heart… Blessed are the peacemakers. Remember well that you were made a child of God in your baptism. Cherish this new identity and this new dignity that was bestowed on you by God the Father. If we remain pure and persevere to the end, then, by God’s grace, “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). 
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. This is to say: “You are blessed when you stand up for what is right—no matter the earthly consequences.”
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. In this last beatitude, Jesus returns to the first. Just as he promised the kingdom of heaven to the poor in spirit, now he promises the kingdom to those who are persecuted. 
In your silent prayer today, reflect on one or two of these Beatitudes and write them down. Ask the Lord to lead you in your prayer and consider what action He may be asking of you.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1Quote by St. John Chrysostom found in Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew, ed. John Henry Newman, vol. 1 (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1841), 152.