Now is the Acceptable Time …2 Cor. 2: 6

For the last two days I haven’t felt compelled to write…did not want to force anything. Then I got an email that really made me smile and MADE SENSE.

There have been a lot of messages and especially news stories and broadcasts about the COVID-19 virus that really have not been that helpful. They hype and then finger pointing, and in the EMMY chasing media, often end with accusatory questions that ultimately have not vision for solutions and want to rest with their fear casting as a balanced response. No wonder people are running out and depleting the grocery store shelves of toilet paper. This is giving them the SH!#s.

Hats off to Glade Run Lutheran Services in Zelienople, PA 16063. This was how they began their COVID-19 Message.

They have had a lot of experience with dealing with service and crisis…they have been doing it since 1854! Keep up the good work.

Yes, this is a serious moment in time. We need to face it with care for each other, confidence in what we already know (wash, rinse, clean, scrub, cover…repeat, stay home when sick, etc.) and say GOD BLESS YOU. And to have trust, faith and hope…and do it with love.

Perhaps the greatest learning in this is just that; to know what we know and to practice it. God is God and in control and we are not. And if Heaven is our Home, what is there truly to fear? Let us be HELPERS.

Who doesn’t love the story of the prodigal son? Today is the day. In today’s liturgy the Saturday gospel is from Luke.

LUKE 15:1-3, 11-32 (please read it now. Let it speak to you in a new way!)

In someway we can all identify with the wandering, running younger son. We can be rash, foolish, independent minded—and shortsighted and particularly ungrateful. Bullseye!

And let’s not forget the elder brother. We can be just like him too. Begrudgingly obedient, stubborn and at time feeling entitled. Someone owes us. Checkmate!

Both attitudes are in need of adjustment and…forgiveness!

Recently someone shared with me the words of a priest spoken at a Lenten scripture study/reflection. To paraphase him, “No matter how many steps we have taken away from God, one or 28 thousand, it only takes one step back and God comes running.” Today is the day!

But I have to say, If I was, I would be drinking Corona with that nice lime slice!  Consumption of the adult beverage has dropped since the onset of the Coronavirus, Covid19.  Really?  And what is with the “run” on toilet paper?  I guess we can do a lot of crazy things when we panic.

Now don’t get me wrong, the Coronavirus is a serious situation.  I have ALWAYS been a fan of good hygiene, covering the cough and sneeze, etc. Unfortunately this does not go without saying. I keep hearing the message of common sense measures, but the message keeps spinning into a panic mode.  Panic. Fear.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus encountered a situation of panic and fear.  Jarius’ daughter was now dead. And those packed into the scene overheard Jesus say to Jarius. “Fear is useless; what is needed is trust.”  

We trust in so much more than a virus.  We trust in a Savior.  Again, don’t get me wrong.  I am not suggesting that you do nothing!  I am suggesting do what is suggested and TRUST in the one who is truly in control.   Fear is useless.  Has panic helped anything?  Has doubt ever really pointed you in the right direction? 

No, fear, panic, doubt is useless. What is needed is trust! (and for God sakes, wash your hands!)  “Fear is useless; what is needed is trust.”  (Luke 8: 50; Mark 5: 36)

Yesterday I took a skip day from the blog to concentrate on a retreat I was helping to give for the Junior Class from Kennedy Catholic. They were an awesome group of kids…fun as always…they were just beautiful. I hope it was as good for them as it was for me.

My focus for our time together was on our IDENTITY.  What defines you?  It seems identity is the theme of the day of our culture isn’t. National identity, global identity, political identity, proclaimed identity, mistaken identity…but as believers our identity is in Christ.  Are we grounded in our Christian identity? 

At the end of our time together, I told them the story of Cassie Bernall, one of the victims of the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.  Although accounts vary, the story is told that when Cassie was confronted by one of the young gunmen, she was asked, “Do you believe in God?”  Starring down the barrel of a gun, she said “YES.”  She was shot dead.

I looked into the eyes of these beautiful young people…one at a time… and asked them this question.  “What is the difference between you and Cassie?” 

“Nothing!” 

I said to them that they are made of the same stuff as Cassie.  They have the same flesh and blood.  They have the same hopes and dreams.  The same tests and difficulties. And they have the same Identity.  Christ.  Through the centuries, since the passion death and resurrection of Christ, countless others have identified with Christ and changed the world. All of them gave their lives.  Not all of them died doing it…but all of them surrendered to Him. With Christ as your Identity, you won’t escape life’s challenges, but you will journey through them with a loving power that can change your world.

So can you.

As I woke this morning, there was a silence in me.  All I wanted was to hear the voice of God and know His presence and know His direction for my life at this moment. 

I stepped into the shower and as the water started to wash over me, the words to this song came welling up inside me. “Open the eyes of my heart Lord…” Has that ever happened to you?  I pray that it has.  I’ve experienced it before and pray I do again. 

While it may not have answered my here and now, it definitely grounds it.  No matter what, in all circumstances, I want to see God.  In good and bad, In joy and sorrow, in struggle and triumph….I want to see him.  I want to praise him, despite the circumstances.

Let us lift up our eyes to Him!

This is the question that comes when the server comes to the table.  Have you decided?  When my wife and I go out, the pre-process is always the same. “what are you getting?”  “what do you think you want?”  Inevitably the responses come. “I’m not sure” or “I can’t decide” or “I was thinking of having that too.” Or the worst…. “I’ll just have what I always get.”   The arrival of the server is like Alex Trebek and Final Jeopardy! 

So, what is your choice today?  For this week, what will you choose?  Moses asked this question.  Moses in Deuteronomy 30 said “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”  God had set the table, menu and nourishment before his people.  All they needed to do was CHOOSE.

When Jesus set the table of himself as the Bread of Life, as the one whose flesh is real food and blood is real drink, many of those who followed him left.  He then set the question before his apostles, “And you, will you leave me?” Jn 6:67.   Peter responded boldly. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Don’t let someone else pick.  Don’t order the same thing as before.

So today…Choose.  Choose Life.  Choose Joy.  Choose Faith.  Choose Hope.  Choose Love.  Choose Christ.

Read   Deuteronomy 30:15-20   John 6: 24-71

I love Dr. Charles Stanley. There I said it. Me, the good catholic boy loves the great Baptist preacher. I have watched him for years, taken notes on his sermons (corrected the errors of course!! Her her) and used his themes in talks and retreats. I’ve even donated to INTOUCH ministries (don’t tell the bishop!! Hee hee).

One of the fantastic methods Stanley uses while preaching is to interject, every once in a while, the injunction: listen. As he preaches, he’ll says, “listen” it’s a verbal speed-bump saying, “here it comes. here’s the main point…“

In today’s Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent, right in the midst of the transfiguration of Jesus, the voice of the Godhead speaks. From the cloud, He is his own speed bump. He says, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. LISTEN to him.”

In the bewildering chaos that must have been the Transfiguration, Peter scrambles to capture the moment by doing something…erecting tents of all things. Like parents at a kid’s sporting event filming the moment instead of living the moment, Peter is caught up in doing something.

So, what is God trying to tell us today? If I might be so bold, here are my thoughts.

1. Before all else LISTEN. We need to listen to God. In order to listen, we need to quiet ourselves, shut out distractions and focus on him and His word. Scripture is the living word of God. It breathes the very life of God in us. Put on the air mask of God— breathe in the life of God.

1. Only after listening can we DO SOMETHING. Peter just has his order out of sync. Listening to God will, at minimum do two things in our lives.  First, it will tell us something about God and about us. Second, it will call us to action. We will find, in our time with God who he is. How God is father, provider, protector, savior, healer, redeemer, forgiver…Love itself. And we will see how we both need all that he is and how even at our best, we are not who he is.  God is God and we are not. We need him.  This graced awareness will call us to action. That action will be to reverse course: repent, avoid sin, stop doing something, change behavior or attitude. Or it will compel us to build or tear down a wall that divides. It will push us to action: to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the sick, give freedom to prisoners. It will compel us to be Good News. As Christ was transfigured, we will become transformers.

But only if we listen…TO HIM. Matthew 17: 1 -9

Friday is traditionally a day of penitence and reflection. Psalm 51 sets a mood for both. I would like to suggest diving deep into this Psalm today and to reflect with gratitude on a particular reality. On Ash Wednesday, we were reminded that “we were dust and to dust we would return”. But even with this truth, God loves dust! God in his incarnate Son, sacrificed his Glory for dust. Dust has worth! If dust has such worth in the eyes of God, who are we to diminish it!

Today, let us seek God’s forgiveness for our weakness, our failings, our stumbling, our lack of intentional faith…for taking our dust for granted…and at the same time give God thanks for all the blessings with which we have been blessed. Mercy and Grace!

Where do we need forgiveness, right now? Who do we need to forgive, right now? Have the courage to give and receive, right now!

PS 51:3-4, 5-6, 18-19

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.

For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

I received a text yesterday from a former student.  “I thought you might enjoy reading the following article.  Thank you for all the love, support and prayers that you have sent my way over the years.  It has helped get me where I am today.”  Attached was a cover story from a professional journal about his career trajectory.  I was truly humbled.

Interestingly, I had spent the bulk of the day with members of the board of the Sisters of St. Joseph Mission and Ministry Foundation for planning.  What brought each of us to the table were the incredibly selfless, generous, dedicated and God/neighbor loving Sisters of St. Joseph.  It got me thinking of them each by name…Sr.Ann Louis, Sr. Rose Irma, Sr. Mary Sarah, Sr. Michelle,  Sr. Mary Alice, Sr. Mary Rite, Sr. Marilyn, Sr. Mary Rose, Sr. Theresa, Sr. James Francis, Sr. Bernadine, Sr. Catherine, Sr. Clare Marie, Sr. Margaret, Sr. Rachelle…  each in their own way and with their own gifts fulfilled the mission of Christ to His Glory and the love of the neighbor.  As a board, we seek to support them as they age, and their numbers diminish and to continue the work of ministry they now pass on to us.  It is the purest form of tradition…to pass on.

Today, I ask you to pray with a sense of gratitude…for these sisters, and for anyone else who has passed on to you something of such great value that you might both treasure it….and Pass it on.

I Cor 11: 23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

It only happens once a year.  This day is the only day of the year that is an actual command. MARCH FOURTH (FORTH)!! 

Its only been one weeks since Ash Wednesday, and if you are anything like me, you have either not picked something to “give up” or “do” for LENT or you have messed it up already.  Well today is the day to March forth.  March forth. March forth.  Going forward means looking forward and avoiding the temptation of looking back…life is not lived in the rear view mirror.

In Luke 9:62 Jesus puts it bluntly.  “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  But haven’t we all, at one time or another, put our hand to the plow and looked back?

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of gathering, praying and eating with a group of women who are in recovery.  They are living together, working their program and transitioning back to life.  They are March(ing) forth.  They are a great example of life in the nitty-gritty.  You can’t escape the past, but you don’t have to live in it either.  With confidence and God’s grace we all can march forth. 

Our past is tempting…because we know it.  Even if it was crappy.  Even the Hebrews in the desert longed to go back to Egypt because marching forth in the desert was challenging and unknown…even though they had been delivered from SLAVERY!! 

Our Lenten journey is to remind us of who we are and whose we are.  We are slaves no longer.  We are free.  We are children of the Most High God. 

March Forth.

Another great anthem to lead us forward! (May your past be the sound of your feet on the ground!)