Sunday is
Confirmation. Some 70 young people, on the verge of adulthood, will process
down the aisle of St Joseph Church and be sealed with the gift of the Holy
Spirit. This past Thursday night we had practice. It went well; a little longer
than I’d like, but it went well.
During the practice I
got to play bishop, closest I’ve ever come to that role. While stepping in for
the Most Reverend, I had a very moving experience. As the candidates came
forward, their sponsor spoke their chosen name for the sacrament. As Emily came
forward, her grandfather spoke the name she had chosen: Louise. As I pretended
to confer the sacrament and spoke that name while tracing the sign of the cross
on her forehead, my voice cracked.
Why? I knew Louise.
The Louise Emily honors is her late grandmother. Louise was a great woman of
faith family and love. I’m sure the Daughter of Charity, St. Louise de
Marillac, wouldn’t mind talking a back seat to the St. Louise that Emily chose.
As the practice came to an end, I couldn’t help but think of all the saints’ names chosen by the candidates. Albert, Pio, Margaret, Thomas, Mary, Philip,Luigi, Christian…and the litany goes on. Most of these names are attached to relatives…like Louise…moms, dads, grandparents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins…all chosen as names to be joined and marked to each of these young people as their faith journey takes a new turn. They, like us, are surrounded by earthly and heavenly witnesses…Saints. Some canonized…others familiar, recognized and remembered.
St. Paul wrote to the
Church at Corinth as clearly as I saw it at this past Thursday’s practice. We are called to be saints. “Paul,
called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother
Sos’thenes, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified
in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place
call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” -1 Cor
1: 1 -3
As this Second Sunday of Easter dawns upon us, and as these young people are marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit and His gifts, may we embrace this call. We are called to be saints. No higher calling here…to reflect the crucified and risen Christ. Veni Sante Spiritus!
A
little over forty-days ago, we began a journey.
From the head to the heart…just like Jesus. Think back. On the first
Sunday of Lent, led by the Holy Spirit Jesus goes into the desert to pray.
Satan joins him, and tried his best. But
Jesus answers his every temptation and his every question (Luke 4). Now fast
forward, there is Satan again, entering Judas and leading him to thirty pieces
of silver (Luke 22). The desert was a place of great trial as was the betrayal.
Right
in the middle of Luke’s Gospel, the devil makes his presence known as Jesus is
casting out demons. The devil does it
through confusion and deceit. The crowd witnessing the messiah’s handiwork, now
questioned where the casting of demons originated…heaven or hell? (Luke
11:14f). Again, nice try Satan. Just
before this, Jesus told us not only who we were, but who we belonged to…Our
Father.
During this season of Lent, we have
been journeying with Jesus. We have had
our battles with Satan haven’t we? What
does the devil try to do? He tempts us, he fools us, he confuses us, he trips
us up, he separates us and attempts to divides us. The Father of lies, the one who comes to
steal, and destroy.
In the fullness of time, God sent a
savior. God sent a messiah. God sent one
who looked like us, shared our nature, but at the same time was Himself
God. Why did he come? To forgive us? Yes. To save us? Yes. To heal our falleness? Yes. But deep, down…why did God come? Because He loves us. The Eternal, Immortal, all-knowing and
all-powerful God is in Love with us. He
is love itself. He came to reconcile us
to Himself, because of His Divine desire for unity with His creation…the
creation that is in His Image and Likeness.
Being the Father of Lies, the one who
comes to steal, and destroy, I don’t think Satan saw that coming. When Satan heard the crowds on Palm Sunday, he
knew he needed to make his move. He needed to stir up the chief priests sense
of insecurity in their precious position. He had to induce Judas to his rationalized
betrayal. He had to make people
doubt. He had to make apostles sleep in
the Garden. He had to make Peter first
draw a sword and then draw his tongue three times. He had to make Pilate take
the road of least resistance. He had to
move the crowd to seek a murderer instead of a Savior and leave the truth dragging
up the path to be Golgatha. Satan had a
busy week.
“It is finished.” When Satan heard Jesus utter
those three last words from the cross, He felt victorious. The last thing to fall at the
foot of the cross were tears. And I am sure Satan danced on those tears.
So how did God respond to Satan’s dance on those tears? As Jesus
lay in the tomb, the words of Psalm 42 came to life “ My tears have been my
food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Yes, where is your God? In the resurrection we hear that question. Where is
your God? He is not here… Nails could not stop him. The grave could not hold
him. Death could not grip him. What was “finished” on the cross was his
mission. Jesus was obedient and surrendered to the Father…and now, the Father,
in the power of the Spirit raises Him from the cross, grave and our former
enemy, Death itself.
At Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus wept. I’m convinced, that at His resurrection, Jesus laughed! Tears became Joy. Darkness became Light. Separation became restoration. Satan’s Fake news (lol) was overwritten by the GOOD NEWS! HE IS NOT HERE. HE IS RISEN. ALLELUIA.
“It
is finished.” With those three words,
the Savior pronounces his work done. His
ministry complete. His sacrifice
offered. And he dies upon the altar of
the cross.
We
are blessed. We know something that those
at the foot of the cross could not have dreamed or imagined. We know that this is not the end, but merely
the beginning. We know the “end of the
story,” as Paul Harvey use to say. We
know that death will not have the last word.
However,
like Jesus, we must surrender just the same. As our Lenten journey comes to its
finish, we much surrender to silence.
The lifeless body was silent. No more words of comfort. No more forgiveness and healing. No
restoration. No water to wine. No sight to the blind or bread for the hungry
crowd…there is no crowd to feed. Just like the wrappings that bound Lazarus are
quiet on the ground, the dead Jesus is wrapped in silence.
Surrendering
to the silence, let us sit with silence with the lifeless body of Jesus in the
tomb. Look at him. Keep vigil with him. Speak to him.
Whisper words of gratitude or sorrow or praise or adoration. Let us once again, lament our continued
pride, sin and selfishness that keep us separated from him – and each
other.
Surrender
to the silence.
“Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your
bed, and be still” Psalm 4:4
I have to admit it. I have always been a “Judas Sympathizer”. I said sympathizer not fan. Let me explain. The other day at work, a discussion arose about the Life of Jesus series on the History Channel. (And get this! No one fought about religion and no Christians were fired for discussing God in the workplace!!) The focus of the conversation was the sympathetic portrayal of Judas. “He caused this”… “He betrayed Him.”… “Well, Peter denied even knowing Jesus.” … “But that wouldn’t have happened without Judas’ betrayal.” I always felt we never really knew the full Judas story.
As the conversation continued focus shifted to the High Priests and Sanhedrin. They were the villains. Then it moved to the Roman occupiers. Pontius Pilate saw that he was innocent, but took the easy way out. He is the one responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion. Another concluded, “Well, we are all responsible for it by our sins.”
All of a sudden, someone said, “Ultimately, there is only one person responsible for the death of Jesus.” We looked on and what continued stopped the conversation. “Jesus. He was responsible. He gave himself into all of their hands. He surrendered himself to Cross for us…even them.” TRUTH surrendered to sin and death.
The Surrender of Sacrifice is the reality of Christ’s ultimate acts as Messiah. The work of the Messiah began with the first surrender. The Incarnation. When the Second Person of the Triune God, left his place in Heaven to become flesh and dwell among us, he surrendered his majesty. Not His freedom, not his relationship to Father or Holy Spirit, not even his authority…but he surrendered his place. He humbled himself, as St. Paul tells us in the letter to the Philippians, and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. THINK OF THAT. God created us in HIS IMAGE and LIKENESS…and in order to save us…is born IN OUR IMAGE and LIKENESS. Pilate will say rightly to the crowd, when he points to a scourged and beaten Jesus “Behold the man”. (John 19).
Judas, Peter, Chief Priests, Herod, Pilate, the Crowd…they had no power over Jesus. It was as Savior He said yes to the path to the cross. The surrender to sacrifice was his choice and his alone. Two beautiful words…surrender and sacrifice. Surrender means to give in or give up. Used most often in the context of war or conflict, surrender has both a negative and positive connotation. The negative of course is loss. The one who surrenders loses. The positive meaning is that the conflict is over. But there is a deeper reality for the one who surrenders. The one who surrenders gives in or gives up because there is a knowledge or belief that what lies ahead is better. The one to which he surrenders has a duty or obligation to do something different on their behalf. No longer at war, peace begins…and it begins with the one who surrenders.
Jesus does not surrender to Judas, Peter, the Chief Priests, Herod, Pilate, or the Crowd. Jesus surrenders to the FATHER. And it may look like it is just Jesus nailed and bloodied on that wooden crossbeam on Calvary, but it is not. In Jesus, the innocent victim is Judas, Peter, Chief Priests, Herod, Pilate, the Crowd and you and me. Again, as Paul tells us, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21
And finally, sacrifice. Things aren’t always what they seem. Think about it. If you are a parent, think about the things you have done for your children. Didn’t you sacrifice (or aren’t you sacrificing for them right now) for them? Why? Because there is something better for them in the future. And you want to be part of that. You want to help make that happen. Maybe it is day care, work schedule, school tuition, cellphone, a car insurance, health insurance, a friend on vacation, new clothes for them and not you…you know what you sacrifice…and you would do it again, right? Yes.
Sacrifice is a beautiful word. It means TO MAKE HOLY. At the Cross, the Father Son and Holy Spirit are united in such an explicit and implicit moment of sacrifice – FOR US and FOR OUR SALVATION. The Father spares nothing for us. He sacrifices HIS Son. The Son surrenders to the Father, because He knows the Father can be trusted and the future he offers is real. And this whole loving drama happens within the communion of love between them in the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Good Friday – the surrender of sacrifice, for us and for our salvation.
Let us surrender to this gift and offer a sacrifice of praise through our lives.
Tonight we begin the
great Triduum…the three solemn days that lead up to the culmination of our Lenten
Journey and our eternal goal, new life in Christ. For Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday
(without the Easter Vigil), the focus of this three part reflection will be surrender. Each of these days calls us to surrender, just
as Jesus did.
Holy Thursday – The Surrender of Service
It is interesting that
this night in which the Church gathers to commemorate the institution of the Holy
Eucharist, its focus is not on the Altar until after the liturgy. The Gospel from John gives witness to the
meaning of both the Eucharistic celebration and the Priestly ministry of all of
God’s people. Service.
Giving back, Community
Service, volunteering etc are all words whose meaning the culture has obliterated. No longer is it really selfless. It comes from guilt or with strings or for self-image
or import. This is not service. This is self-inflating engagement. This is not what the Christ of Holy Thursday
is all about.
Moving from the first
position to the last is a sacrifice of place/status. Jesus, son of God, creator of the Universe,
moves to the spot of the floor, to serve.
Jesus reaches out to his closes friends, those who have walked with
him. Those who knew him best. I believe that Judas was there. It says that, “The devil
had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.” But it does not indicate that he left the meal. I believe that Jesus washed the feet even of his
betrayer. Why? The only one whose feet we know he washed were
Peter’s…his denier! Are betrayal and denial
that far apart? Thus the Surrender of Service…even
and especially to those undeserving or unworthy of it.
Our service as followers
of Christ must be the same. It must be a
surrendering of our place…of our status, or comfort, or even our selfish desire
a positive self-image, remittance of guilt or for gratitude. Like Jesus, we must strip those things, tie
them to our waste and pour ourselves like water over the feet of the
world. We are called and empowered in
Him to bring Love to the despised, Joy to the sad, Peace to the afflicted, Patience
to the troubled, kindness to the hurt, generosity to those in need, Belief to
the doubting, gentleness to the abused and Focus to the lost. (Gal 5:22).
Surrender is not
giving up. It is giving in to a power
greater than you that has a promise of a future full of something more. (Jer 29:11)
This past Sunday was our final Confirmation class. I’m sure for the confirmandi there was a little sense of joy, but for me, I was a bit sad. They are great kids. I love being with them and learning from them…as much as I try to offer to relate to them as much of what the Church want to give them…a life full of faith. I know I will see them at the Confirmation practice
and when the Sacrament is conferred two weeks from now…but alas, this session was a short one, as we were going to be part of the Palm Sunday procession. I’ll miss them.
As we waited in a gathering area of St. Joe’s, I got a few “Hi Mr. Bird” greetings from some former students. There was Matt. I can’t believe he’s back from his first year in college and he is even taller. And then Sophia..I can’t believe it. How can she look prettier? And there’s Contessa. If ever parents named their child appropriately it was her’s. She exudes grace and confidence. Glad to see them there at mass.
In a few weeks, this next group of young people, now with palms in hand, will be prayed over and anointed with the Chrism oil. This oil will be blessed during this Holy Week. Not just any oil…the three oils of the Church, the Chrism oil, the Catechumen oil and the oil of the Infirmed are all from the olive. Each are given perfumed to give it a distinct scent and aroma, but its unitive basis is the oil from the olive. And it’s purpose is to convey grace.
Olive trees and the bitter fruit and oil from with it is derived, were even more abundant at the time of Jesus that they are now. But as abundant as it was, olives were not eaten in Jesus’ day since pickling and salting olives was unknown. But the olive played an extremely important role in the economy.
It was used for lighting, cooking, medicine, and the moisturizing of skin. The oil was used to anoint kings, prophets, priests, and Temple articles. Messiah means “anointed one.”
Jesus, on the night before He died went to the Garden of Gethsemane (which means oil press). It is no coincidence or subtle irony that Jesus goes to the mount of olives (a place of the dead) and prays at the oil press. Could any image or setting be more appropriate? Think about it…Jesus in his humanity is being squeeze, crushed, pressed by the weight of his salvific mission. He is praying among the dead — who await life. He presses his very soul his very heart into his prayer to his Heavenly Father. “Let this pass—but not as I will—as you will.”
The dead will know life soon, from this messiah being pressed out and poured over them. Did he not say “give and it shall be given to you, pressed down and overflowing will they pour into the fold of your garments. For the measure with which you measure will be measured back to you” (Luke6:38). He is the measure.
Moreover, the abundance of olives speaks not only to the availability of the fruit, but to its importance to its users. Messiah comes to raise up, to heal and restore what was lost.
My prayer for these beautiful vibrant enthusiastic young people who will be confirmed with the sacred chrism is that they may know they are marked by
the Holy Spirit for both a particular and communal purpose: To live abundantly in His grace and proclaim the freeing power of the Good News… that they have been sealed with gifts promised by the risen Christ poured out in his blood on the cross, raised in the love of the Father and the Holy Spirit and that nothing can strip that from them…no heavy oil press and not even a cross or tomb.
Initial Footage from the destructive fire that consumed Notre Dame struck me to my core. France, for centuries was known as the mother of the Church when Rome was in its decline. For centuries it “held” together the Petrine tradition until St Catherine of Siena rightfully called the pope to retire to the home of the Chair of Peter. But France and Paris in particular was the center of theological scholarship. Imagine, St Thomas Aquinas was at the university of Paris while Notre Dame was being completed in the 12th century.
As I reflected in this inferno, it seemed to resonate with my feelings about what is going on in our Church today. It seems like it is on fire…and nothing seems to be putting those flames out. Sexual sin and abuse, evil cover-ups, betrayals of trust and blatant lack of moral courage have nearly broken our morale and spirit.
But then there is the Cross. That picture of the Cross in the midst of the smoke and subsidizing flames of Notre Dame. Still standing aloft in the midst of all the rubble and destruction is the cross. That stumbling block and obsurdity St. Paul wrote about. (1 Cor 1:23).
As we walk this Holy Week there is no way to bypass the Cross. There is no way to pass go and collect $200. We need to make the trek and ascend the wood and be nailed to the cross beams. There is no escaping the cross.
Thank God! For without it, we would just be cinder and ash.
NOTE: Our last Sunday Retreat. We are finally here –Palm Sunday–the last Sunday of Lent, Passion Sunday, the beginning of our Holiest Week of the Year. From the Vigil of the Passion (8:01pm – gotta love Goggle) until the Great Easter Vigil (8:08pm) we have be blessed with 168 hours and 11 minutes. While we have duties, obligations, appointments and assignments (the stuff of life!) let’s try to lift our consciousness and focus on the transformative significance of this week. Let us keep vigil with Christ. Let us enter deeply into His passionate love story. We are, after all, His focus. He is our lover…and we His beloved. Let us pray for one another.
Today’s
Liturgy of Palm Sunday gives us two proclamations of the Gospel according to
Luke. Like bookends, Chapter 18 and
Chapter 22 should smack us in the face.
Jesus faces the same fickle world as we…but it seems His is on steroid. He enters Jerusalem as an ersatz triumphant King
and seemingly dies a blasphemous reject.
Tucked
within both passages proclaimed by the Church today is the naming of a simple
place: The Mount of Olives. Had I not mentioned it, you might not even give
notice. Mentioned only twice in the Old Testament, it is here where David goes
to weep…and weep bitterly. He weeps over
the death of his son Ab′salom. Significant?
I think so.
While from a human
perspective, the story of David and his reengage son is a study in conflict,
you would think he would have wanted him dead.
It seemed Ab’salom wanted that end for his dad. But when word came of his death, David was
mortally grieved. While rebellious, could Ab’solom be a symbol of our sinful
rebelliousness that Jesus carried to the cross?
And like David’s weeping, was not the Divine passion on display in the
heavens and in the quaking of the earth as the Son of God hung dead on the
cross? I think so…and all of this at the Mount of
Olives.
The second Old
Testament reference to this place is in Zechariah 14:1. The previous chapter relates the shepherd
being struck and the sheep being scattered.
What follows this first verse in Chapter 14 is the unfolding of the future
conquering universal kingship of the messiah.
Significant? I think so.
Each of the
remaining New Testament references to the Mount of Olives are all connected to
Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem and His ultimate ascent to His Throne –
the cross. That is with the exception of
John’s Gospel! Remember last week? Last
week’s Gospel from John began with Jesus just having emerged from none other
than the Mount of Olives. Then He
encounters the great drama on display between the accusatory scribes and Pharisees
and the adulterous woman.
What is so special
about this place? Historically we know
that this was a cemetery some five or six centuries before the birth of
Jesus. We know that is was also a sloped
hillside with abundant olive groves. These
trees rich with the precious bitter and savory fruit, whose precious oil is
used for some of the most expensive purposes—like anointing kings, and the
bodies of the dead are present right there. But its seems that in the New
Testament references, what makes the Mount of Olives important is that this is
a place where Jesus goes to pray.
Why did Jesus
come? What was His mission, his purpose,
His very reason to be God-with-us? Jesus came to forgive and to save. In the singular encounter with the woman
caught in the act of adultery, we see it in one humble gesture and dialogue. Jesus
came to the lost, to forgive and offer more.
Salvation is so much more than forgiveness. It is true transformation and abundant
living.
And from where did
He come? Jesus reveals this salvific
gift from the center of a Divine relationship.
It emerges on the scene from Mount Olive, a place of prayer. The prayer that happened there was expressive
of the deep communion of the Son with the Father in the power of the
Spirit.
Prayer would be
the precursor to His ministry. Prayer
would be the sustainer of His way. When
bread and fish were multiplied and an earlier crowd wanted to make Him King,
Jesus retired to pray. Knowing he was to be put to the test, He went
to His special place, the Mount of Olives, to pray. He even prayed for a pass. But only if His
Father willed it. Prayer would be His
strengthen and connection, even when He could not long feel it. Even when His closest friends gave into
sleep, the Mount of Olives would be like the eye of the storm.
It is from the
Mount of Olives that Jesus hands Himself over (tradere – to hand over, surrender)
for us and for our salvation…for the forgiveness of our sins and for the restoration
of our eternal relationship. He really
hands Himself over, not to the Temple Guards and the Sanhedrin, but to the will
of His Heavenly Father.
So here we
stand. We are now six weeks into this
journey and we are with Jesus at the Mount of Olives. Is there anything that we have in common with
Him? I think so. When was the last time you panicked or felt
like changing plans or direction? Or thought
there has to be an easier way or that God loved you so much He really wouldn’t
want you to go through anything difficult?
Well, look to your brother-Savior Jesus.
He’s been there, and then some, but He kept His focus on the Father and
His will, and His heart aligned with the Holy Spirit.
So here we are. Let’s walk with Him this week. With our hands bound, our heads low, our backs bruised, faces like flint, but with eyes, ears and hearts attuned to the Father’s voice and the Spirit’s prompting. Holy Week, significant to our spiritual lives? I think so.
It was a month ago. Hard to believe how fast time flies. Just one month ago I was stuck on the side of the road, one mile from my exit, with a flat tire. Yes, I had a spare — one of those donuts — mind you, the only type of donut unconsumed in my car. However, I had thrown out my shoulder two weeks previous and it was not healed. There was no way I could loosen the lug nuts. So I called my stepson Tyler.
Tyler, among many of his gifts and talents, is an exceptional wrecker driver. He pulls out jack-knifed semi-trackers, cleans up pile-ups and answers calls at all hours. He is a go-to-guy. He came, he hooked, he towed!
Yesterday I sent Ty a text, just to thank him again for the roadside rescue — and to remind him that if ever the circumstances were reversed, I would be there for him. Our faith life and its journey will find us in many different lanes and roads. Some will be the left lane—faster smoother and with no slow drivers in our way. Most times it’s the center lane—steady, speeding up, braking, looking in the rear view, avoiding obstacles ahead, trying to figure out directions and wondering if this is the correct exit!
Then there are those days—hopefully few—when your lane isn’t a lane at all. It is a berm, a small patch of asphalt and gravel where you are stuck and flat. We’ve all been haven’t we? But here is the important question: Who rescued you? Who came and hooked you up to themself and got you from point A so you could eventually get to your point B? Who was your Tyler? Because who ever that was — a friend, spouse, pastor, coworker, stranger, child, parent—they were part of the Sacramental Grace of God that makes visibly present Christ on this Journey.
Who has been Christ for you? For whom are you Christ?
As
I was writing Sunday, I got a text from Joe who was mid-travel. What a story he had to share…
JOE’S TEXTJim – Missed and earlier flight out of LAX – so in lieu of waiting at the airport I found the Church of the Visitation just to the north, went to confession and awaiting mass – they let me put my briefcase in the sacristy and want to take me to the airport after mass.
Such
service, such attention, such care…isn’t this what the Family of the Church
should be? It is awesome and incredible
when you experience it in such simple yet beautiful gestures. Ah…this is the measure with which we should
measure!
But
it gets better!
JOE’S TEXTOne of the ushers stopped me from getting an Uber and took me to the airport. Many blessings today!
Grace upon grace. Our Catholic theology and spirituality teaches that the Grace of God builds upon nature…even our flawed human nature. St. Paul reminds us, “But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” Romans 5: 20. We have a choice…choose to accept sin and stay stuck…or choose grace and grow. Hello Grace!
Hey Church of the Visitation – great job Sunday team! You brought your game. You put the Hyatt to shame. WHOO WHOO. Seriously, with eyes wide open, with ears attentive, with hearts disposed do we serve God by serving the one directly in front of us.
Here is Joe’s final share for that Sunday.
Joe’s TEXT Fr. Tim McGowan gave me the following prayer, which I loaded into my Notes with my prayer list.
