tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27464633029098729342024-03-19T07:09:46.754-04:00Daily HomiliesDaily reflections on Scriptures passages as found in the Roman Catholic Lectionary.Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.comBlogger4614125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-90215380330179257782024-03-19T00:00:00.245-04:002024-03-19T00:00:00.368-04:00Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Znl_dPg5y7g/UyDV-rhyBhI/AAAAAAAAQ2k/8HM-iWZXmd4/s889/Saint%2BJoseph%2BHusband%2B.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="889" height="296" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Znl_dPg5y7g/UyDV-rhyBhI/AAAAAAAAQ2k/8HM-iWZXmd4/s320/Saint%2BJoseph%2BHusband%2B.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031924.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 543</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">“Joseph, son of David,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">For it is through the Holy Spirit</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">that this child has been conceived in her.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="background-color: #d5a6bd; font-size: x-large;">J</span><span style="background-color: white;">oseph of Bethlehem was certainly delighted to find himself betrothed to the lovely Mary of Galilee. If he knew little about her, she was young, attractive, pleasant, and of a respectable family. We can only imagine his dismay when he learned she had a </span><i style="background-color: white;">past</i><span style="background-color: white;">. There was more to her than met the eye, but that would become too apparent soon enough. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">He was suddenly afraid to take Mary into his home.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">If he was the first to face this dilemma, he was not the last. Even in the fourth century, as the bishops approached Nicea, many refused to accept Mary into their relationship with the Lord. She was the mother of Jesus, they were willing to grant, but that made little difference to them. She had done her part in bearing Jesus of Nazareth, they supposed, now let her disappear into the past and be forgotten. They could not accept and would not use her title, <i>Theotokos</i> -- the Mother of God. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">And they had their reservations about Jesus. He was a good man, like many others. A saint! He had been possessed by the Son of God, but was not himself the Son of God. He too had done his part in manfully bearing God's Presence within him even to Calvary. He certainly cooperated fully and completely with God's plan of salvation for the human race. A hero! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">But not God. He was a man who'd been used by God to show his fellows the way of salvation. Act as Jesus acted and you too will be saved. An extraordinary man, a role model, an example! But not God. God had gone as far as God could go -- as God <i>should</i> ever go -- in using the man to demonstrate the way we should live. But God had neither suffered on Calvary, nor died on a cross, nor been buried in a grave. Nor would he descend into hell. Jesus might have, but not God. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We can only imagine their consternation when they were shouted down by the roar of most bishops attending the Council of Nicea, and voted into obscurity. They must have suffered disgust when they heard the spontaneous festivity of the city celebrating Mary's new title -- Mother of God! -- throughout the night. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">But there are still many who are afraid to take Mary the Mother of God into their homes -- because she still comes with a past. Her past now includes all the sins of the Church that God her Son gave her with his dying breath. Those children, despite their sins, heard and obeyed his command, "Behold your mother." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">They include <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/lady-of-guadalupe-virgin-marys-new-symbolism-for-gangs-and-commerce">drug-dealing Mexican drug dealers</a> with their images of Our Lady of Guadalupe; and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/06/vatican-fights-to-free-virgin-mary-from-mafia#:~:text=The%20association%20of%20Mary%20with,family%2C%20knows%20and%20understands%20this.">Italian mafia</a> who demand that images of Santa Maria di Polsi bow before the home of their crime boss. The Church denounces these abuses of her image, but that matters little to those who shun the company of sinners. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">To belong to Jesus we must belong to the sinful Church which loves the Lord and his Mother. We approach the altar through the narrow doors of the baptismal font and confession box. Idealists abandon their ideals and</span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> purists, </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">their purity when they enter the Church to greet its people </span><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/16?16" style="font-family: Lora;">with a holy kiss</a><span style="font-family: Lora;">. We might not like the people we meet in Church; we might hold grudges against former spouses, adulterous in-laws, and shady neighbors. But there they are, and here we are, together in Joseph's house.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Everyone has a past. If you love someone without knowing their past you love only an image of your ideal self. If we know little of Saint Joseph's past, we can admire the way he accepted Mary's and ours. True, he hesitated for a moment. But he never looked back as he fled his home and career in Bethlehem to take her and her son into Egypt. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Saint Joseph knew <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/106?6">Psalm 106</a> like everyone of his fellow Jews, and would pray with them, "We have sinned; we and our fathers have sinned." And by that prayer, he became a saint. </span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-75865565590347703272024-03-18T00:00:00.223-04:002024-03-18T00:00:00.257-04:00Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jlJ8QRUKz98/UztklaRRnzI/AAAAAAAAQ_A/b7ZyI2WsDkA/s1000/Monday+Lent+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jlJ8QRUKz98/UztklaRRnzI/AAAAAAAAQ_A/b7ZyI2WsDkA/s320/Monday+Lent+5.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031824.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 251</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe; font-size: x-large;">T</span><span style="background-color: white;">his terrifying story ended with a sigh of relief touched with humor. The enemies went away one by one. The Lord had given them permission to stone the woman, with only one proviso -- that the one who had not sinned should cast the first stone. The rest of the sinful pack could proceed in their bloody game with abandon. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Apparently none would claim innocence of sin before the rest of his brothers. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Suddenly alone in the street with the woman, the Lord sent her home. With no one to condemn her, there was no need for a trial or condemnation. Jesus had said to Nicodemus, he had not come to condemn anyone; why would he do so now? Her innocence was again presumed. As to the man with whom she'd committed the sin -- if there was such a man -- he had already escaped the <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/leviticus/20?10">sentence</a> of death, but he'd not heard the kind words of Jesus. His guilt remained. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">What do we make of the story? Interestingly, "Generative AI" offers this self-contradicting analysis of adultery in the United States: </span><br /></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">As of 2022, adultery is a criminal offense in 16 states. However, prosecution for adultery is rare because many adultery laws are considered archaic. Adultery is defined as a married person having sexual intercourse with someone other than their spouse. It can be punishable by a fine or even jail time. Adultery is a crime in most of the United States and occurs in most American marriages. However, states' anti-adultery laws are rarely enforced. Some states with anti-adultery laws include: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi. Adultery can also subject you to court-martial in the United States military.</div><p></p></blockquote><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">An </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unenforced_law" style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">unenforceable</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"> law is no law. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Apparently, police, prosecutors, and judges have assumed the same attitude, "Neither do I condemn you." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">The Catholic Church believes that adultery is a serious sin. It is a violation of the covenant between a husband and wife; it is sacrilegious because the marriage covenant reflects the Covenant of God with his people. We cannot conceive of God abandoning his Church. We attend Mass and receive the Eucharist with the assurance that the Lord gathers us into his Real Presence. So long as two or more pray together, he is with them; in fact, he called them together. Upon this rock he builds his Church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Lora;">If we had to trace the origin of much of the waywardness of American society to its origin we might point to adultery. There is the most obvious form of illicit liaisons between consenting adults; there are the more subtle forms of spouses failure to be with one another. Alcoholism comes between many couples, as do preoccupations with work, leisure, and family. </span><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">Every faithful couple struggles to maintain their awareness of their marriage, keeping it ahead of every other concern. They make decisions together; and when they must decide separately, they talk it through. They shape their lives around their needs for togetherness and separation; and no two marriages are alike because every married individual is unique. </span><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">But, as the scriptures attest, there is nothing new about adultery. It's been around forever. And the Lord continues to withhold his punishing hand as he leads us by the hand into every deeper union with him, </span></div></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-68773069741848408462024-03-17T00:00:00.126-04:002024-03-17T09:14:11.059-04:00Fifth Sunday of Lent<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RmHVLbGVPP0/UzW900cE0cI/AAAAAAAAQ-s/ptZ0qFsHHZo/s1000/Sunday+Lent+5.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RmHVLbGVPP0/UzW900cE0cI/AAAAAAAAQ-s/ptZ0qFsHHZo/w400-h400/Sunday+Lent+5.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lora;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm">Lectionary Year B Readings</a></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm">“</a>I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">‘Father, save me from this hour’?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Father, glorify your name.”</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="background-color: #9fc5e8; font-size: x-large;">J</span><span style="background-color: white;">ohn</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">the Evangelist recalls only a brief moment when Jesus suffered any human hesitation as he approached the hour of his death. The synoptic gospels -- Mathew, Mark, and Luke -- give us more detailed accounts of the Lord's Agony in the Garden. He fell to the ground at the thought of what was about to happen; he sweated blood as he realized he would be dead by this time tomorrow. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">But Saint John's Jesus reflects serene, presidential confidence from his first appearance in the Jordan River through his passion and death, and into his Easter appearances. In today's gospel, as the shadow of anxiety passes over the Lord, he immediately settles his soul with the prayer he has taught us, "Hallowed be thy name." It's virtually the same as "Glorify thy name." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">His mission and ours is to give glory to God. From the moment God spoke to Abraham, eighteen centuries before Gabriel spoke to Mary, the mission of God's people has been to glorify God's name. Other people may know something about God. The Greek philosophers, for instance, supposed there should be a supreme being; but they had no name since he never spoke to them or revealed his name to them. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Our hallowing of God’s name, in obedience to the Lord's Prayer, begins with our reverence for the word God; and continues with our straightforward, direct language. Christians have no need to swear, as Jesus taught us:</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">...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…. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Our hallowing the name of God the Father, the holy name of Jesus his son, and the Holy Spirit goes beyond not abusing the words. As God's holy people we bless God’s name when we speak of the wonders God has done for us. We are blessed in so many ways, and we must practice that attitude of gratitude. There are a billion obvious things for which we thank God from our birth – especially because of the parents who welcomed and did not abort us. To our food, shelter, security, education and opportunities And our health – such as it is. Everyone who has ever visited or stayed in a hospital knows there’s someone worse off than me. We thank God for our health, our breathing, and our being human. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">We also remember the miracles when he healed us from the hurts we’ve suffered – especially those things that have been done to us. They are manifold, ranging from unintended insults to the cruelest, most deliberate crimes. By the Grace of God, and because we obey him, we learn to let them go. No regrets, no resentments, God delivered me from that place, that hurt, those people, and I have no need to go back. Praise God for that! </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">We hallow God's name by our cheerful generosity to others. If we are not generous, if our behavior is uncivil; our attitudes, cynical; and our thoughts, self-absorbed, then we dishonor God’s name. For the world is watching, and they know we are God’s people and are told to be holy as he is holy. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">During Lent we approach the Sacrament of Penance to celebrate God’s mercy. The confession of our sins also glorifies God’s name. Like our fathers and mothers from ancient times, we remember and own their sins and ours; and that the Lord persistently, consistently, repeatedly forgives us for pretty much the same sins time after time after time. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Our life stories must become gospel stories, like the story of Jesus’s passion, death, and resurrection. If our gospels are different from his, it’s only in that they include the sins we have committed, while he is without sin.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">In today’s gospel, Jesus reminds us, “It was for this purpose that I came to this hour.” He must glorify God’s name by his passion and death. He would betray his mission if he blamed anyone for his death; he would not save us if he condemned the Jews, or the Romans, or anyone else for what happened that day; as He said,</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Every time we say “forgive us our sins,” we admit to anyone in earshot that we have sinned, and thereby we Glorify the God who stands with us in our guilt, shame, and remorse. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">That prayer is a sure sign of God’s mercy. It shows that the Holy Spirit still lives in our hearts; he still calls us together; his words still find utterance on our tongues, and God’s Holy Name is still glorified in us. </span></span></p><div><br /></div><p></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-40818241925001903402024-03-16T00:00:00.122-04:002024-03-16T00:00:00.137-04:00Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DwVubkGvtSQ/UzW4bWcm7AI/AAAAAAAAQ-c/sBJaDPLfg3g/s1000/Saturday+Lent+4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DwVubkGvtSQ/UzW4bWcm7AI/AAAAAAAAQ-c/sBJaDPLfg3g/w400-h400/Saturday+Lent+4.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031624.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"> Lectionary: 249</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">searcher of mind and heart,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">for to you I have entrusted my cause!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #d0a287; color: #6b5440; font-size: x-large;">S</span><span style="background-color: white;">everal years ago, when I was younger and more adventurous, I was riding my bicycle on a reasonably wide and very straight country road. There was ample room with a wide berm for two lanes of traffic. But as I pedaled, wearing no more protection than a t-shirt and shorts, a car full of teenagers swerved out of their lane to pass within inches of my handlebars. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">I was astonished and angry at the whole group -- I could see some turning around to look back at me as the car passed -- and I cursed them. And then I remembered there was a severe curve about a mile up the road and hoped they'd miss the turn. I went further; I said a prayer that the driver would lose control and the car would flip over. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">That's how I felt about their threat to me, and I said it aloud. All the saints and angels heard me say it in the presence of God. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">But then, as the calm of the open highway returned to my soul, I considered that there was only one person driving the car; and he or she had made the foolish, impulsive decision to terrify me. Not all the riders had wanted him to do that, though they might have said nothing in protest. They probably have parents and relatives who would be grieved at the accident, and would never know about the threat I'd suffered. I began to repent of my prayer. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">I decided to let the Lord choose and exact whatever revenge he should take for what I'd suffered. He would be my champion and defender, and the judge of all. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">When I got to that treacherous curve there was no evidence of an accident, and I was relieved. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">I've often heard that anger is a sin. I don't believe that. We witness God's wrath in the Old and New Testaments, and we often read about the anger of the prophets and saints, and the avenging angels. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">If we don't get angry enough to do something, an awful lot of things never change. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">Anger may cause me to sin, and for that I am responsible. But I might, in sheer joy, throw a hammer through a window. Elation doesn't make it right; it's just as sinful whether I was mad, sad, or glad when I threw the hammer. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">In today's first reading, we hear Jeremiah's prayer for revenge. We was not a powerful warrior. He seems like a rather smallish fellow, very lonely with his mission, and respected only as an unpopular prophet. When he was abused he felt hurt and angry and wanted revenge. What could be more natural than that? </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">And so he prayed that the Lord would judge between him and his enemies. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">God's people, following the example of Jesus, the prophets, martyrs, and saints, let the Lord be our protecting shepherd. He leads us away from danger and, when necessary drives away the wicked thief, wolf, bear, and lion. If he allows us to suffer, it is with him. And the saints call that a <i>privilege</i>. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-82424146525160522922024-03-15T00:00:00.001-04:002024-03-15T00:00:00.138-04:00Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Skkahnjd0j4/UzWxsooL32I/AAAAAAAAQ-M/EQURdozvgdg/s1000/Friday+Lent+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Skkahnjd0j4/UzWxsooL32I/AAAAAAAAQ-M/EQURdozvgdg/w400-h400/Friday+Lent+4.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031524.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 248</span></a><p></p><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">"Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">he sets himself against our doings,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Reproaches us for transgressions of the law</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">and charges us with violations of our training.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">He professes to have knowledge of God</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">and styles himself a child of the LORD.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">To us he is the censure of our thoughts;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">merely to see him is a hardship for us....</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: #6fa8dc; font-size: x-large;">W</span><span style="background-color: white;">isdom in toda</span>y's first reading describes the world's reaction against the people of God. Because they represent the Presence of God in the world, they are obnoxious. Which is to say, the world despises God, and those wh<span style="background-color: white;">o love the Lord have a peculiar relationship with the world around them. We live in this place but are not of this place. We love our home although our home hates us. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">We consider that dilemma especially within the season of Lent. Our musing begins with <i>world</i>, a word often used in the Gospel of John: <br />Most often, the world is that place which the Lord loves and has come to save. </span></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="color: #440000; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">For God so loved the <span class="search">world</span> that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the <span class="search">world</span> to condemn the <span class="search">world</span>, but in order that the <span class="search">world</span> might be saved through him. <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3?16"><span style="font-size: x-small;">John 3:16-17</span></a></span></p></div></blockquote><div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">But the world is also ignorant of God and responds with hostility. </span></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><div>‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/5?18"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(John 15:18-19)</span></a></div></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="color: #440000;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">And when he comes, he will prove the <span class="search">world</span> wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement... <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/16?8"><span style="font-size: x-small;">John 16:8</span></a></span></p><p style="color: #440000;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">...about judgement, because the ruler of this <span class="search">world</span> has been condemned. <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/16?11"><span style="font-size: x-small;">John 16:11</span></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="color: #440000;">Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the</span><span style="color: #440000;"> </span><span class="search" style="color: #440000;">world</span><span style="color: #440000;"> </span><span style="color: #440000;">will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.</span> <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/16?20"><span style="font-size: x-small;">John 16:20</span></a></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">In his most famous work, <a href="https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/models-of-the-church_avery-dulles/252239/item/4327640/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_everything_else_customer_acquisition&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=593719077582&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAloavBhBOEiwAbtAJO604jhhpRWeK4ZduSMYL7wYOLR9GxyEyQCqw96vgNXPQBRYPuS7xWhoCZjAQAvD_BwE#idiq=4327640&edition=2380124">Models of the Church</a>, Father Avery Dulles described four different ways that Christian churches typically respond to the world. He offered the study as an ecumenical way for the various denominations to understand and find agreement with each other. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">The first and fourth are extremes; the first is entirely comfortable in the world and readily recognizes and endorses its best values; the fourth is as hostile to the world as the world seems to be hostile to it. There are two types of church between them, which Father Dulles also described. The second strives to find its comfortable place in the world despite knowing there are intractable problems with that posture. The third is more suspicious of the world, knowing that the world cannot survive the judgment and wrath of God. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">As I recall from reading the book over fifty years ago, Dulles appointed the Anglican churches as those most comfortable in the world. He cited the statues of Washington and Lincoln in the Washington Cathedral. Washington attended the church though his beliefs were essentially deist; Lincoln had read and could quote the Bible, but did not often attend Christian services. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Their opposites, some fundamentalist churches loudly denounce the values of the world, and insist that their faithful never participate in worldly pleasures like athletics, the arts, dances, and card games. They should never smoke, drink, curse, or cuss; although they might quarrel and feud with abandon, especially when they suspect infidelity in their congregations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Amish and Mennonites might be those churches which maintain a bemused distance from the world without loudly condemning it. Some encourage their youth to cautiously explore the world and thereby discover the wisdom of their pious elders who have tasted its delights and found them insipid. Hopefully, the youth return to the fold and raise their children within their traditional religious communities.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">And finally, Catholics and mainline denominations -- which comprised the vast majority when Father Dulles produced his book -- live in the world but remind their faithful to practice a healthy skepticism toward its values. (As I recall, today's Evangelicals were hardly a blip on the religious radar screen in 1974, when the book was published.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Lent, I believe, is especially that time when our penitential practices must separate -- if not isolate -- us from the world around us. We might not go out to as many restaurants; we might select religious reading over entertainment; we might serve the church more actively by working the fish fries; and so forth. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">The Liturgy of the Hours offers a mature, traditional, and familiar practice of faith. It is recommended by its spiritual solidarity with hundreds of thousands who read the same prayers in many of the world's languages. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">In the end, in the apocalyptic moment when the Lord judges all the nations, we cannot expect much sympathy for our trials from the world and its peoples. They will maintain their culture of death with abhorrent practices like abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment to the end. They will continue to oppress minorities and exploit children while neglecting the elderly. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">They understand only power, and must despise both the weak and those who renounce the pursuit of power. They cannot stand a crucified god; the very notion is absurd to them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Lent calls us to restore and revive our faith in the Crucified who was raised up for our salvation. Lent reminds us that we expect this world to end in a cataclysm of failure and disappointment, as we are delivered into eternal bliss. </span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-32865912040199622692024-03-14T00:00:00.211-04:002024-03-14T00:00:00.133-04:00Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-601WiaDUb74/UzLYH3s184I/AAAAAAAAQ98/zXlmzBxV-QI/s1000/Thursday%2BLent%2B4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-601WiaDUb74/UzLYH3s184I/AAAAAAAAQ98/zXlmzBxV-QI/s320/Thursday%2BLent%2B4.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031424.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 247</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">The LORD said to Moses,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">"I see how stiff-necked this people is.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Let me alone, then,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Then I will make of you a great nation."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">"Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people....</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #9fc5e8; font-size: x-large;">M</span><span style="background-color: white;">oses's conversation with the Lord about the people they are leading through the wilderness is a study in frustration. They go back and forth between them. One complains while the other condoles; and then the other threatens to give it up while the other reassures. </span><i style="background-color: white;">These people</i><span style="background-color: white;"> are not easy to deal with!</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">But let me digress for a moment: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">As I read the wonderful selections of the patristics each morning in our liturgical Office of Readings, I find that the great bishops of the early church often failed to connect </span><i style="font-family: Lora;">these people</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;"> -- the Old Testament grumblers, complainers, and traitors -- with the New Testament church. In other words, they left the implication that the Jews were sinfully ignorant of God's mercy, but we Christians </span><i style="font-family: Lora;">get it</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We don't. Our magisterium -- that spiritual church that is securely guided by the Holy Spirit -- gets it but we don't. We are still the sinful children of our Old and New Testament ancestors. <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/4?22">Salvation is from the Jews</a> and Christians who think they are superior to Jews of the new or old covenant are in mortal danger. Enough said! (for the moment.) <br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">Jesus is the new Moses who, like his ancestor, intercedes continually before the Father for his sinful Church. As we hear the LORD's complaint in today's selection from Exodus we should tremble with fear for our Church, our nation, and ourselves. Can anyone do atonement for our sins? Can the crucifixion and death of one man close the breach that has opened through the walls of our holy city; can it purify the streets, shops, and homes of this bewildered center of the earth?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">In today's gospel we watch the Lord stand strong before his opponents. He argues reasonably against their irrational opposition. He is insists that they have the credible testimony of first, John the Baptist; second, the works of God which he has done and they have seen; and finally, the scriptures. These <i>witnesses</i> acknowledge the authority of Jesus. </span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">"But you do not want to come to me to have life." </span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">We have no excuse for our refusal to trust him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">As we approach Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter we recognize our failure even to observe the practices of Lent. Many of our good intentions have been compromised; some of them never got off the ground! Nor has the world paused to admire our Lenten observance. They noticed the hilarity of <i>Mardi Gras</i>; they might have taken part in it. But Lent is a wash; it's not on the calendar. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">And so we begin again, two weeks before Holy Thursday, to walk with the Lord as he atones for our sins, the sins of our ancestors, and the appalling criminality of the human race. Can one man's prayer be heard before the just anger of God; can one man's death atone for so much?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yes, if he is the Son of God. We hope and pray and believe that he is. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-10928346801421136912024-03-13T00:00:00.214-04:002024-03-13T11:31:45.561-04:00Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent <p><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031324.cfm"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HV0ZVVP1K6o/UzLPCBO8yhI/AAAAAAAAQ9s/bG-f1ThrD9M/s1000/Wednesday%2BLent%2B4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HV0ZVVP1K6o/UzLPCBO8yhI/AAAAAAAAQ9s/bG-f1ThrD9M/w400-h400/Wednesday%2BLent%2B4.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031324.cfm">Lectionary: 246</a></span><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">"My Father is at work until now, so I am at work."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">because he not only broke the sabbath</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #a2c4c9; font-size: x-large;">S</span>aint John Henry Newman was probably influenced by Darwin's doctrine of evolution when he showed how </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">the doctrines of the church survive through innumerable obstacles and heretical challenges. In a sense, they survived because they fit our experience of the Lord and his Gospel.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Today's gospel suggests that it was Jesus's opponents who first recognized his equality with God the Father. The evangelists, both those who wrote and those who preached, would work with that principle as they announced the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord to the world. The teaching didn't fit Greek notions of a supreme being, but the Lord's relationship as the Only Begotten Son of God was too solidly anchored in every writing of the New Testament to be denied. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">In today's gospel from John 5, Jesus describes his work as identical to the Father's. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">When he speaks of the authority to judge he has received from the Father, we should remember the two judgment seats as described in John 19. First there is the </span><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/19/13" style="font-family: Lora;">seat</a><span style="font-family: Lora;"> on which Pilate placed him while the mobs shouted for his crucifixion. Although he is our divine judge and savior, in that moment the mobs judged him while Pilate washed his hands of the whole business. And then there was the cross, which was a throne of pain. Although the Lord is both innocent and helpless, those who </span><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3?19" style="font-family: Lora;">prefer the darkness</a><span style="font-family: Lora;"> condemn him and thereby bring condemnation on themselves. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">When we speak of doctrines like Trinity and Incarnation our conversation can become pretentious and erudite. Such notions seem like grand ideas for late night, college dorm conversations but irrelevant in the "real world." It helps to remember we're speaking of existential matters like condemnation and death. Our beliefs would be more palatable to God's enemies if we didn't insist on the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the Eucharist. But they would not be worth dying for either. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Jesus calls us to be obedient children of God because he is the Obedient Son of God; he invites us to serve because he came not to be served but to serve. Our life begins not in the distant past when our mothers bore us, but in this moment as we serve the Living God. He summons us to worship God within the same House of the Holy Spirit which unites the Father and the Son in mutual love. </span></p></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-39694701383182199972024-03-12T00:00:00.247-04:002024-03-12T00:00:00.147-04:00Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZLyZF-2ID5Gtl3A-w6TksTS-E70dg8BDxbSxuU2An9R6-AF8Hz2of_9caShHvTvDeNQlkMONqo8ZEA_cY2Yjiy-LpLBcBq1IJaBDGpuHZrMSvq7Cg3h-0ScvADM48HgsewBoe8K0MmN1/s600/Tuesday+Lent+4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZLyZF-2ID5Gtl3A-w6TksTS-E70dg8BDxbSxuU2An9R6-AF8Hz2of_9caShHvTvDeNQlkMONqo8ZEA_cY2Yjiy-LpLBcBq1IJaBDGpuHZrMSvq7Cg3h-0ScvADM48HgsewBoe8K0MmN1/w266-h400/Tuesday+Lent+4.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031224.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 245</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">"Look, you are well; do not sin any more,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">so that nothing worse may happen to you."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The man went and told the Jews</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">that Jesus was the one who had made him well.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">because he did this on a sabbath.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #20124d; color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;">It's</span><span style="background-color: white;"> hard to like this character in the Gospel of John. Despite his sitting by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years waiting for a cure, he answered indifferently when the Lord asked, "Do you want to be well?" </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">After he was cured, he was accosted by Jews who challenged his new freedom, "</span>"It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." But he answered indifferently, "The man who made me well told me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">He used the Lord's miraculous words to deflect attention from his own decision to obey the Lord and walk. He gave a witness of sorts, as he told the Jews he'd been cured by Jesus, -- he spoke the holy name -- but apparently wants no part in the story. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">He would not speak boldly of himself, his decision to walk upright and freely, and of the <i>power</i> he'd been given. We first heard of that power in the prologue, </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">...those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. (John 1:12-13)</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">In John 9 we meet another disabled man, a blind man, apparently an adult son living with his parents. When the same opponents of Jesus disbelieve his story of the Lord's mercy, he challenges their authority to teach. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">Despite his blindness, he clearly </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">sees</span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">the Lordship of Christ; and is not afraid to stand with Jesus against the opposition.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">In the first chapter of John, when two of the Baptist's disciples follow Jesus and ask him, "Where do you live?" He replies, "Come and see." </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">But they will see more than the house where he lived with Mary. They will see their lives transformed and their freedom unexpectedly restored. I say </span><i style="font-family: Lora;">unexpected</i><span style="font-family: Lora;"> because they never knew they were shackled until he set them free. And then, because they have witnessed great things in their life, they will give </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">witness</span><span style="font-family: Lora; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">to the great things God has done for them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">One of those disciples is unnamed in chapter one, but given a name in the closing chapters, "the one whom Jesus loved." </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">He is us, and we are those beloved disciples who give testimony to the Lord about the wonderful things he has done for us. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">As we see in John 5, not everyone accepts the invitation. They might speak of Jesus but they don't see themselves in his gospel. They might parrot the evangelists, but they will not enjoy evangelical freedom. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">Like the crippled old man, they disappear without a trace.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Lent again challenges us to rise to the freedom which we are given. We might find ourselves <i>free from,</i> but if we don't exercise our <i>freedom to </i>speak the truth in the face of opposition, we are useless in God's sight. We risk the dreadful curse of Revelation 3:16 </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">"So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."</span></p></blockquote><p><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #363936; font-size: 20px;"><br /></span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-51354146074855468422024-03-11T00:00:00.176-04:002024-03-11T00:00:00.143-04:00Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WfAgK9sHZ-0/Uy93IkncK6I/AAAAAAAAQ9I/KVW3Za6Ue9o/s1000/Monday+Lent+4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WfAgK9sHZ-0/Uy93IkncK6I/AAAAAAAAQ9I/KVW3Za6Ue9o/s320/Monday+Lent+4.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031124.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 244</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #ff8800; color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">O</span><span style="background-color: white;">ur weekday gospel readings throughout the rest of Lent will be taken from the Gospel of Saint John. This document has always had a particularly high place in the liturgy of the Church. It describes a Savior who is clearly human and transparently </span><span style="background-color: white;">divine. He knows who he is and what he is about. With great confidence Saint John's <i>Jesus</i> approaches Jerusalem; he is presider, priest, master of ceremonies, and sacrificial lamb on the altar of his cross. As he says, "No one takes my life from me. Freely I lay it down, and freely I take it up again."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">In today's gospel we're given direct instruction as to how we should conduct ourselves during Lent, "...the man believed in what Jesus said to him." </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">We do not require a sign of the Lord; we have heard his word. We have seen enough to know he comes from God and is returning to God. When he speaks we set our doubts, hesitation, reluctance, and fear aside. As Thomas said, "Let us go to die with him."</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The prophet Isaiah also inspires confidence as we hear the LORD's words, </span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Lo, I am about to create new heavens</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">and a new earth;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The things of the past shall not be remembered</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">or come to mind.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">in what I create....<span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></div></blockquote><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The new heaven and earth begin with the Resurrection of Jesus. Easter morning is resplendent with the Glory of God. We have the memory of his Transfiguration to sustain us through the apparently grim days of Lent, the hopeless darkness of Good Friday, and the silence of Holy Saturday. We will watch and wait and expect something new, unforeseen, and unimaginable. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Isaiah speaks repeatedly of the new things that are to come to pass: </span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Isaiah 42.9:<br />See, the former things have come to pass,<br /> and <span style="color: red;">new</span> <span style="color: red;">things</span> I now declare;<br />before they spring forth,<br /> I tell you of them.</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Isaiah 43.19:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">I am about to do a <span style="color: red;">new thing</span>;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"> now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">I will make a way in the wilderness</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"> and rivers in the desert.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Isaiah 48.6:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">You have heard; now see all this;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"> and will you not declare it?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">From this time forward I make you hear <span style="color: red;">new things</span>,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"> hidden things that you have not known.</span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">In fact, the same Hebrew prophet coined our favorite expression:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">How beautiful upon the mountains<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">who brings <span style="color: red;">good news</span>,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">who announces salvation,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> Isaiah 52.7:</span><br style="font-family: Lora;" /><span style="font-family: Lora;"></span></div></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">because the Lord has anointed me;<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">he has sent me to bring <span style="color: red;">good news</span> to the oppressed,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">to bind up the broken-hearted,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">to proclaim liberty to the captives,<br /></span><span style="font-family: Lora;">and release to the prisoners;</span></div></blockquote><span style="font-family: Lora;"> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Isaiah 61.1</span><br style="font-family: Lora;" /><p> <span style="font-family: Lora;">As we read the daily news we see nothing new. The same old wars, violence, poverty, crime, corruption -- and they call it </span><i style="font-family: Lora;">news</i><span style="font-family: Lora;">? There is more sickness and death. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">But our hearts, minds, and lives are undergoing renewal during this season of Lent. The Lord has told us, and because he said so, we believe. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We have only to watch, wait, and expect. </span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-28640438429265019912024-03-10T00:00:00.006-05:002024-03-10T00:00:00.234-05:00Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQ_-9k9GTd13_lXnxmvomPa84n6QW5kEBqvsI_kH4Ku7Jn-hyRVZyFL0OnRc_1QCxGJXSbiyjsfNG5tBjYBm8vrzE0kUIV5gpCE_PzkrU_cgA5SROiQyn9BzfCJieSXk0TsNHjhWNaxDTQ3ZsVJx-o8rh2lc2TncoqoHfPKqz4dzMFt7SoXXU-q0Vxg_Q/s2011/53551334530_4c6764df8c_k.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="2011" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQ_-9k9GTd13_lXnxmvomPa84n6QW5kEBqvsI_kH4Ku7Jn-hyRVZyFL0OnRc_1QCxGJXSbiyjsfNG5tBjYBm8vrzE0kUIV5gpCE_PzkrU_cgA5SROiQyn9BzfCJieSXk0TsNHjhWNaxDTQ3ZsVJx-o8rh2lc2TncoqoHfPKqz4dzMFt7SoXXU-q0Vxg_Q/w400-h305/53551334530_4c6764df8c_k.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 32</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">For by grace you have been saved through faith, </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">it is not from works, so no one may boast.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">that God has prepared in advance,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">that we should live in them.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #d07a0a; color: white; font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="background-color: white;">f you get a good cue stick and spend many hours studying and learning the different uses of the cue, break cue, and jump cue; and an instructor helps you eliminate the bad habits and learn better methods of topspin, backspin, side spin, and throw; along with </span><i style="background-color: white;">masse</i><span style="background-color: white;">, carom, stun, and roll; and the different ways to break the rack; </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">and how to execute safeties,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">and you spend many days practicing alone, and more evenings competing against superior players, you might be finally ready someday to <i>play</i> the game of pool. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Because it all comes down to that graceful, playful contact of the felt tip as you direct spinning velocity into the white ball. Nor does the accomplished player complain of their many hours spent in learning the craft; although their study, research, and practice never cease. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The following of Christ is something like that. Saint Paul insists that </span></span><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">we are saved <i>by grace</i>, and</span></span><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"> not by our effort. </span><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">He will go on to say, "W</span><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">ork out your salvation with fear and trembling." </span></span><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">But it's not work at all, </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">"</span><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work." </span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">And you'll know you're getting it right when you "</span><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Do everything without grumbling or questioning, </span><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">that you may be blameless and innocent."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">We study the lives of the saints to learn how they practiced faith until they acquired that spirit which renders the work as no work at all. Saint Maximilian Kolbe, after suffering tuberculosis for many years, and surviving sanitariums, was the last to die in a group of Poles whom the Nazis selected to die of starvation. In the days and weeks that he waited for death he heard confessions, consoled the grieving, the sick, and the dying, led his fellow prisoners in song, and praised God continually. And said never a word against his captors. Who finally gave up as he still hung on after several weeks, and injected him with carbolic acid. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">He made the impossible look easy, which is typical of saints. "With love the impossible is easy; without love, even the simplest chores are impossible. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">We are rounding the horn of Laetare Sunday. Our weekday gospels are directing our attention into the depths of Saint John's gospel of which it's been said, "A mouse may wade across it; an elephant may drown in it." As we've grown accustomed to our Lenten prayers and fasting, and perhaps our charitable works, we're learning to relax in our prayers as the light of dawn penetrates the dark watery depths of our souls. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Today's gospel urges us to see the Son of Man lifted up before our eyes; we will see our salvation coming as we gaze upon him. This is not work; this is grace. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Despite our Lenten sacrifices no one can claim to deserve this grace or mercy. In fact we pray that we <u>don't</u> get what we deserve, for we've heard of God's wrath in today's account from the Second Book of Chronicles. We pray that the LORD will spare us in the Name of Jesus who <i>loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.</i> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/5?2">(Ephesians 5:2)</a></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></span></p><p></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-16238779200405890972024-03-09T00:00:00.186-05:002024-03-09T00:00:00.142-05:00Saturday of the Third Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZV-deFmp1NE/Uy2lqoqxO4I/AAAAAAAAQ8g/M4WXSvBxCSw/s1000/Saturday+Lent+3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZV-deFmp1NE/Uy2lqoqxO4I/AAAAAAAAQ8g/M4WXSvBxCSw/s320/Saturday+Lent+3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030924.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 242</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">...for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #c27ba0; font-size: x-large;">I</span><span style="background-color: white;"> am certainly not an anthropologist, nor have I traveled widely. In fact, my experience is pretty limited. But I'd say that everyone recognizes vanity, and nearly everyone admires true humility. Anyone can recognize the truth of Jesus's parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">Vanity fools no one but itself with its pretense of humility. In fact, we call false humility <i>pretentiousness</i>. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">That universally recognized virtue, however, at its best, is only a shadow of the humility of God. "Look at the humility of God!" Saint Francis said, as he spoke to his friars. The Saint of Assisi was universally recognized and acclaimed for his humility. He must have heard himself praised for that so often he grew sick of it. He lived in one of those <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age"><i>gilded</i> eras</a> when the wealthy make a show of their privileges, pleasures, power, and security. Everyone can see they are emperors with no clothes, but they see only one another in their contest of mutual admiration. Francis, though he was widely known and admired, made no claim to any privilege or entitlement, saw himself through God's eye, and was grateful for every little thing. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">"Look at the humility of God!" il Poverello said as he remembered Bethlehem, pondered the Eucharist, and contemplated Calvary. A lamb among goats sent him into tears; it reminded him of Jesus among his enemies. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">People might reply, "Sure, but Jesus was God nonetheless, even on the cross, and he didn't have to feel the pain." He felt more than the pain, if that's humanly possible. He felt the hatred and contempt of those who tormented him; and the betrayal of those who had claimed to love him. He felt the utter isolation of one abandoned by God and despised by his people. He felt the failure and futility of his mission. As his tormentors scourged him and mocked his helplessness, every reason to expect deliverance or redemption disappeared. There was no hope. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">On that black day, the Lord knew, as many Jews knew in Nazi concentration camps, that no help was coming. The world didn't care. No one would lift a finger. His last, despairing cry echoed off a leaden sky. Without hope there can be no pretense of righteousness or authority. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Nor would it pass. His pain and humiliation would stop only in the silence of death when one can sense neither thought nor feeling for there is no one to sense anything. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">T.S. Eliot had a clue, </span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Whisper of running streams, and winter lightning.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The wild thyme unseen and the wild strawberry,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The laughter in the garden, echoed ecstasy</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Not lost, but requiring, pointing to the agony</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Of death and birth.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span> </span><span> </span><i>T. S. Eliot, East Coker</i></span></div></blockquote><p> </p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-30588964151453060652024-03-08T00:00:00.243-05:002024-03-08T11:20:03.083-05:00Friday of the Third Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZV-deFmp1NE/Uy2lqoqxO4I/AAAAAAAAQ8g/M4WXSvBxCSw/s1000/Saturday+Lent+3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZV-deFmp1NE/Uy2lqoqxO4I/AAAAAAAAQ8g/M4WXSvBxCSw/s320/Saturday+Lent+3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030924.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 242</span></a><div><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #363936; font-size: 20px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">you have collapsed through your guilt.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">Take with you words,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">and return to the LORD;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">and receive what is good, that we may render</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #363936;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.</span></span><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe; font-size: x-large;">A</span><span style="background-color: white;">s we travel with Jesus to Jerusalem and Calvary, he does penance with us. Like King David, his ancestor and author of <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ps/51?2">Psalm 51</a>, Jesus practices the virtue. He takes upon himself our guilt and shame and leads us in that "Way" which Saint Paul first persecuted and then preached. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">It is a practice of grief and relief, sorrow and joy, and regret and gratitude for the sins of our past and the grace of our life in Christ. It is an embrace of that foolish waywardness we share with humankind. The Lord walks the distance with us for <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/2?11">"He is not ashamed to call us his sisters and brothers</a> as we do penance with him. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">A highly individualistic society teaches its children to isolate themselves from one another. I am sometimes called to celebrate a mass for small children and I watch them scrunch into the pews, sitting shoulder to shoulder. When one squirms they all squirm. They like and need to feel their bodies all bunched together. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">But at some point our children become ashamed of their bodies and start to isolate and distance themselves. I watch the friars -- adult American men -- assemble in chapel for Morning Prayer. No two to a pew; if there's only two in the chapel, we're on opposite sides. No unseemly relationships here! </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">But we remember how Jesus waded into, and disappeared in, a crowd. He was baptized by John the Baptist, as Saint Mark tells the story, apparently without anyone's noticing his presence. When an angry mob moved to hurl him over a cliff, he faded into the crowd and walked away. Saint John says he went up to Jerusalem and heard them asking one another, "<a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/7?10">Do you think he'll come?</a>" He felt no compulsive need to stand out or stand apart, but he quietly goes with us as we practice penance. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Penance teaches us that no one is saved alone. Those who isolate themselves from the Church, thinking they don't need our companionship, wander into the wilderness and are lost. I think of it like the Hebrews as they escaped Egypt. Some might have said, "I know where this is going!" and moved ahead of Moses toward Palestine. Others wanted to go back to the old, assured way of bondage in Egypt. They missed their fleshpots.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Both groups were lost because they separated themselves from God's chosen people. There is no better Way to live because we do it as one people, as God's holy people. <br /><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">We need one another; and Christians in particular need their fellow Christians. It does matter if you go to Church; you've not found a better way. There is no better way than the Way of the Lord. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">And so we embrace one another, bear with one another, <span style="font-size: x-small;">(<a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/colossians/3?13=">Colossians 3:13</a> & <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/4?2">Ephesians 4:2</a>), </span>carry one another, and pray for one another. </span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">And yet I do write a new commandment to you, which holds true in him and among you, for the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/2?8">(1 John 2:8-12)</a></span></span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-30449902288625419932024-03-07T00:00:00.186-05:002024-03-07T00:00:00.137-05:00Thursday of the Third Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LiBhV2YW5I0/UyxG1BOnNLI/AAAAAAAAQ8A/87aHbO94eLU/s1000/Thursday%2BLent%2B3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LiBhV2YW5I0/UyxG1BOnNLI/AAAAAAAAQ8A/87aHbO94eLU/w400-h400/Thursday%2BLent%2B3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030724.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"> Lectionary: 240</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">This is what I commanded my people:</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Listen to my voice;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">then I will be your God and you shall be my people.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Walk in all the ways that I command you,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">so that you may prosper.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">"</span><span style="background-color: #783f04; color: #f9cb9c; font-size: x-large;">L</span><span style="background-color: white;">isten to my voice!" is a clear, straightforward command. It would be impossible to ignore but throw up absurd obstacles like, "Maybe you don't exist." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">The real question is, "Do you believe in Truth? Is there any such thing? Is it important? Do you love the Truth? How much are you willing to pay, or sacrifice, for the Truth? </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Does Truth speak to you? Or does it remain aloof and silent, saying nothing, never presenting or promoting itself?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Scientists seek the truth as if it speaks reluctantly. They continually suspect their own beliefs and assumptions. They look for hidden assumptions, both true and false, as they critique their own and the work of their colleagues. But sometimes their intuitions suspect something else; that perhaps the truth may be found if they pay attention to a hunch. And they wonder, "Did that come like a gift from the truth?"</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Pontius Pilate hit the nail on the head when he sneered, "What is truth?" He had his own answer, that there is no such thing. Or if it does it does not speak; and neither commands nor deserves respect. The Roman felt with all his superiors and colleagues that he could ignore the truth, and dispose of the Ambassador of Truth who stood before him. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Yes, Truth speaks to us, sometimes loudly, insistently, and persistently. It comes with angry revolutionists -- called "terrorists" -- who react to the violence of poverty with more violence. It comes in the form of droughts, fires, and massive hurricanes; and the resulting mass migrations of millions of people. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">It comes to us from out of the past, by way of our Catholic tradition; and it speaks to us with a prophetic voice today. And in language we understand. And so we either retreat to pusillanimous stupidity and say, "I'm not sure that God exists," or we listen and obey. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Jeremiah says of today's disbelief in the first reading:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.</span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Disbelief in God will never be an excuse for not listening to God. It risks the loss of God's mercy. For the Truth does not wait forever. </span></p><p><br /></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-12268544148928665812024-03-06T00:00:00.148-05:002024-03-06T00:00:00.251-05:00Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hCdLadUm7dY/UyukRMsWLrI/AAAAAAAAQ7w/V2M5TKwov_4/s1000/Wednesday%2BLent%2B3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hCdLadUm7dY/UyukRMsWLrI/AAAAAAAAQ7w/V2M5TKwov_4/w400-h400/Wednesday%2BLent%2B3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030624.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 239</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">will pass from the law,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">until all things have taken place."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>"<span style="font-size: x-large;">Da</span> capo!" </i>a conductor might say to his orchestra. "from the top," meaning, "Start over!" or, "Let's try again from the beginning." They might do this because the . musicians got it right and must lock that sound into place. Or because there are still some rough, unfamiliar places that need smoothing out. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">We'd sometimes like to start our life <i>da capo</i>, all over again. But no river can be crossed twice. Time passes, that moment is past and this moment is now, and we're in a different place. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">The quarrel of conservatives and liberals concerns where we're going, and whether we can or should return to our beginnings. Can we start over? Can we try again to get it right? Should we restore the past as we remember it, or should we attempt an ideal possibility? </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">Why can't we just forgive and forget the troubles of the past and begin as if nothing ever happened?</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">When the Spirit of God moves us, we can forgive; but we forgive because we do not forget. Should we forget, there is nothing to forgive. But nothing is really forgotten. It happened; it remains there in the past, in God's eternal presence, and it's there between us.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Lord Jesus did not come to reform but to fulfill, and fulfillment begins where we are, not where we might have been in someone's ideal past. Nor does fulfillment go where it <i>should</i> go for no one really knows what the Kingdom of God must take us. The Spirit of God works within the present situation, and improvement follows. But our descendants will wonder why we didn't do a better job of it. They will not remember the obstacles that were overcome with such effort and sacrifice. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">We can admit with the psalmist that "we have sinned, we and our fathers have sinned" but we cannot judge our ancestors; and we pray that, from their place in eternity, they do not judge us. Rather, we pray that God will guide in this moment, and give us occasional tastes of the fullness which is surely coming. </span></span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-47197409539021936732024-03-05T00:00:00.300-05:002024-03-05T00:00:00.442-05:00Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhow-Q-HO0yfmwqlAzJqapSxR6I-SVBkc7t6m0WWy9b8rE86aWiXHiTNgZMzIUVrg5YIf1gAIqhElfg7nvIBRS-KarybTdOcml7V6BdSIziqWCnvr0fTOez5IVO1e1gxhaBb20uhXH6cahW/s1600/Lent+Tuesday+3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhow-Q-HO0yfmwqlAzJqapSxR6I-SVBkc7t6m0WWy9b8rE86aWiXHiTNgZMzIUVrg5YIf1gAIqhElfg7nvIBRS-KarybTdOcml7V6BdSIziqWCnvr0fTOez5IVO1e1gxhaBb20uhXH6cahW/w266-h400/Lent+Tuesday+3.jpg" width="266" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030524.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 238</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Do not take away your mercy from us,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">To whom you promised to multiply their offspring</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">like the stars of heaven,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">or the sand on the shore of the sea.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">brought low everywhere in the world this day</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">because of our sins.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">"<i><span style="background-color: black; color: #9fc5e8; font-size: x-large;">S</span>omewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good</i>," Liesl sang with her young lover. If her logic is built on an unsound foundation, it's a nice sentiment. We often hear that God, or karma, or luck rewards good deeds, and punishes bad deeds. So our good fortune is a reward for past behavior, and our good deeds should pay off someday. There's even a mythical scorecard of good and bad deeds kept somewhere in eternity, heaven, or the North Pole.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">But our religious tradition gives us another story. God has a fondness for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Almost four millennia after the Patriarch, you'd think he may have forgotten that; especially given the persistent infidelity of those peoples, both physical and spiritual. Haven't his innumerable descendants forgotten it by now? But his word is everlasting, and continues to raise up a faithful people to make known his holiness -- even <i>from these very stones, </i>if that's what it takes. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Because God is merciful we can be <i>reduced beyond any other nation, and brought low everywhere in the world because of our sins</i>. There is no reason that should not happen. If prosperity, security, and comfort do not spawn in us a grateful awareness of God's sovereign right to our love and worship, then perhaps the memory of former blessings with the recollection of ancient promises can bring us around. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We might say that we once knew a God who favored our ancestors because they loved and worshiped the Lord through the worst of times. Because we too face hardship with little hope of relief, we might also turn to the Lord of our Forebears and seek his mercy. Is it possible that, despite our gimcrack technological wizardry, they knew some things we should never have forgotten? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Many people today study their genetic history, finding their roots in foreign lands; and some of them research these ancient stories, often beginning with their own parents and grandparents. They find faith amid hardship. They learn how their kin of recent centuries suffered segregation because of their nationality. They knew violence, insanity, sickness, and poverty and were sustained only by an unsophisticated faith in God. Their ancestors prayed to patron saints and guardian angels even as they contributed hard-earned pennies to build monumental churches, cathedrals, and basilicas. They took pride in these sanctuaries rather than in their own homes, automobiles, or horse drawn carriages. They knew the worth of a dollar and the majesty of their religion. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Meeting our ancestors we remember their sins and their faith, and we return with them to the Lord. </span></p><p><br /></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-79608349898941338522024-03-04T00:00:00.210-05:002024-03-04T00:00:00.238-05:00Monday of the Third Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdU_9DJB2neo1WgyRQFeKC333huOc3sXQSEcoyJMO7i2Gmf-F4ixO9M9pqeQbfxQyRoDQP8VOc7QAqrb5Uo4pXjyjxd3S4393Uqh3rgppJ5SPPvhyphenhyphen5F5wimEvXerofWL8w2gz2g3cn00G/s1600/Monday+Lent+3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1427" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggdU_9DJB2neo1WgyRQFeKC333huOc3sXQSEcoyJMO7i2Gmf-F4ixO9M9pqeQbfxQyRoDQP8VOc7QAqrb5Uo4pXjyjxd3S4393Uqh3rgppJ5SPPvhyphenhyphen5F5wimEvXerofWL8w2gz2g3cn00G/s320/Monday+Lent+3.jpg" width="285" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030424.cfm"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 237</span></a><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Athirst is my soul for the living God.<br />When shall I go and behold the face of God?<br />As the hind longs for the running waters,<br />so my soul longs for you, O God.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #0b5394; color: white; font-size: x-large;">T</span>oday's responsorial psalm calls our attention to the baptismal signs in the story of Naaman the Leper. He was reluctant to obey the prophet's instruction that he should bathe in the Jordan River. First, he expected the man to come rushing out of his hovel and greet the foreign dignitary with every form of obsequious gesture. And then he expected some mystic rites and magical words to wave away his skin disease. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">When the prophet didn't bother to come out of his hut, but sent word that he should wade into the muddy Jordan River, the great commander of armies refused. He had to think about it first, and about all the trouble he and his soldiers had gone to in their trip from Assyria. So he finally went down, washed, and was healed. How about that? </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Our sacraments are like that, especially since we conduct them in familiar languages. (By the way, Rome permitted Americans to celebrate baptisms, weddings, and graveside services in the vernacular several years before the great changes of the Second Vatican Council.) </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Our sacramental signs are common materials like the muddy Jordan river: water, bread, wine, and olive oil. They're accompanied by routine gestures like blessings with the sign of the cross, and familiar words of prayer. The presiders ordinarily dress in liturgical vestments, but the <i>priestly people</i> wear clothes to fit the occasion and the season. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">As Saint Paul said, "We walk by faith and not by sight." We pay attention to the Word -- the readings and prayers -- and we sense God's presence as we celebrate our sacraments. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The story of Naaman recalls our baptism and the challenge faith represents in a distracted world. Rabbi Heschel, reflecting on his Jewish faith, wrote,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"> </span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">Most of all, man is in need of a sense of the unconditional. Otherwise, he will perish. "Without relating himself to the unconditional," Kierkegaard says, "man cannot in the deepest sense be said to live... that is it may be said he continues to live, but spiritlessly." </span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">Kierkegaard... felt that man's gravest danger lurked in the loss of his sense of the unconditional, the absolute. We conduct our lives according to conditionals, compromises, and concessions, all relatives.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">In faith an individual commits everything to the Absoluteness of God. But the Absolute is cruel; it demands all. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(Abraham Joshua Heschel, A Passion for Truth, Jewish Lights Publishing, 1995, page 112)</i></span></span></div></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">As we participate in the fasting, almsgiving, and prayers of Lent, we sharpen our attentiveness. We want to hone that ability to recognize God's absolute presence -- Your Presence! -- in our daily life; in a foreign river as well as the strange ideas of a slave girl. No one truly lives if they cannot sense God's spirit. They may be powerful people, like the Syrian general, but their life is more the Egyptian pharaoh's -- foolish, without purpose or direction. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">We know that You are with us, attentive, concerned, and caring. You never forget us although we often forget you. You do not hide yourself although we'd sometimes like to hide from you. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">We practice</span><i style="font-family: Lora;"> </i><span style="font-family: Lora;">gratitude</span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> -- <i>Eucharist </i>-- for your loving kindness as you turn us away from sin and back to mercy.</span></div></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-42464331601656366402024-03-03T00:00:00.267-05:002024-03-03T00:00:00.136-05:00Third Sunday of Lent Year B <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ew8KGPTWAfWqDhBy3iEY0LuWWYKhkn9eD75o8V3y8ClE9U6BhfGac6PmAP-Y9Hw3AWtmU8ARjNopfef0MwoIZ5VPCoI5DkvCxoo8lYjobhDHIALF2m7bRfWGMNWAD5aMhuGBDOhvBiICC_cNiY_UlJgbOpctY_bYGY_8CJR-s2tSVzGjGUiiOMbHRVCR/s4080/52706628570_70085791aa_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ew8KGPTWAfWqDhBy3iEY0LuWWYKhkn9eD75o8V3y8ClE9U6BhfGac6PmAP-Y9Hw3AWtmU8ARjNopfef0MwoIZ5VPCoI5DkvCxoo8lYjobhDHIALF2m7bRfWGMNWAD5aMhuGBDOhvBiICC_cNiY_UlJgbOpctY_bYGY_8CJR-s2tSVzGjGUiiOMbHRVCR/w301-h400/52706628570_70085791aa_o.jpg" width="301" /></span></a></div><p></p><div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324-YearB.cfm" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 29</span></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">“Take these out of here, </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px;" /><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Zeal for your house will consume me.</em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><span style="background-color: #ffa400; font-size: x-large;">V</span><span style="background-color: white;">isit any shrine in the United States, or in the world, and you'll find a gift shop. Whether it's Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu, consumers want souvenirs, tourists bring money, and the shrines are desperate for cash. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">The young and idealistic might complain about these shops full of kitsch, made in Hong Kong, China, or Taiwan, but they </span><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">have to pay overhead and salaries; and they often support a local monastery or worthy cause; and not many visitors give large donations without receiving something in return. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">The temple in Jerusalem, visited and invaded by the Lord, was no different. Jewish pilgrims, coming from Spain, Italy, North Africa, or India brought <i>funny money</i> from all these places and it had to be exchanged for local currency which local merchants could use to pay their bills. If the ancient economy was like ours today, the tourist/pilgrim industry was not lucrative; only a few well placed individuals might get wealthy in the business. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Jesus's disruption, although his opponents remembered what he did rather than what he said, was a prophetic act. Prophets are known for complaining loudly. But sometimes they write essays, songs, poetry, or </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">manifestos; or they paint pictures and posters, or they build sculptures. And sometimes they silently act out their message. Jeremiah strutted through Jerusalem wearing nothing more than a loin cloth -- ancient BVDs -- to show how naked and helpless the city was without God's help. When Ezekiel's wife died he refused to wear mourning clothes; he said the day was coming when people would be dropping like flies and there'd be no time for the rites and rituals of grief. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">When Jesus invaded the temple, opened the cages and upturned the tables, he was predicting the temple's destruction, which arrived less than forty years later. He warned unfaithful Jerusalem that, regardless of their wealth or security, they could not survive a Roman siege </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">without God's protection</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">. And why should it survive since they'd made the Holy City and the House of the Lord into dens of thieves. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">They had failed to practice the holiness God demands of his people. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Our first reading today present the Ten Commandments, the "holiness code" of God's people. We must be a people unlike any other, for we are holy before the Lord regardless of whether we act like it or the nations know it. Our way of life must be different. First of all, we worship God alone, and cannot be bothered with idols of money, success, security, pleasure, or comfort. Our hearts are focused on the Lord, and are not divided by other concerns.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Secondly, we respect human dignity and human life. We must not, and dare not, manipulate, coerce, or force people to do anything which violates their freedom or integrity. There is no expendable human life. We will not engineer a superior race with birth control, abortion, artificial insemination, or surrogate mothering. We will not remold our bodies or sabotage our sexuality to fit the latest fashions. We cannot use our sexuality to sell merchandise.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">As God gives us children, boys and girls, we accept them, and teach them our ways of holiness. Should we fail to do so, the Lord's passion and death will have been in vain, and the Earth with all its human creatures and its godlike beauty will disappear in worthless futility. The universe has no need of us, and no use for us; only God thinks human beings are worth salvaging. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">But that cannot happen; first. because God will not quit on us; and second, because the Lord will punish us if that's what it takes to turn our minds back to him. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Lent is a protest engineered by God against a world that is spinning off into empty, useless futility. It is our resistance to a world which would take us down with it. Our fasting, prayer, and almsgiving -- our entire way of life -- challenges the world to remember there is only one God; and God alone is worthy of our sacrifice. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;">Should we fail to practice Lent, we invite the same horror that fell on Jerusalem in 70 AD, when <i>not one stone was left upon another.</i> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936; font-family: Lora; letter-spacing: 0.3px;"><br /></span></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-21228545139328804522024-03-02T00:00:00.087-05:002024-03-02T00:00:00.275-05:00Saturday of the Second Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qq7Yw8DM_kk/UyRzOppPhLI/AAAAAAAAQ4M/VnvMvjj6mZg/s1000/Saturday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qq7Yw8DM_kk/UyRzOppPhLI/AAAAAAAAQ4M/VnvMvjj6mZg/s320/Saturday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030224.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 235</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Who does not persist in anger forever,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">but delights rather in clemency....</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">T</span>he parable of the Prodigal Son ends with a celebration. We're not told if the elder son relented and welcomed his brother home, nor are we told whether the younger son had actually been changed by his sojourn among the pigs. He will certainly have a household to remind him of the experience; they might forgive but they'll never forget. In any case, the Father welcomed his son with joy and it flowed out into the world as relatives, friends, and neighbors joined the unscheduled festivity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We too "have to rejoice" as we consider "the God who removes guilt and pardons sin." </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">He does not persist in anger forever,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">but delights rather in clemency.... </span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We are so glad that the Lord includes us among the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; our prehistoric patriarchs to whom God first spoke. He will... </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">...show faithfulness to Jacob,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">and grace to Abraham,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">As you have sworn to our fathers</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">from days of old. </span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Perhaps we sit on the bank with our Blessed Mother and delight in watching the Lord of Heaven and Earth hurl our sins into the sea like a little boy throwing rocks in a lake. "How far can you throw them?" she asks. "Can you make them skip? Jesus, can you make them skip like your Abba?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"> </span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-14850807868979007412024-03-01T00:00:00.416-05:002024-03-01T00:00:00.142-05:00Friday of the Second Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D4GxYH50LvA/UyRoIuzMEtI/AAAAAAAAQ38/3fOwI3hOj8Q/s1000/Friday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D4GxYH50LvA/UyRoIuzMEtI/AAAAAAAAQ38/3fOwI3hOj8Q/w400-h400/Friday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030124.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 234</span></a><p></p><p><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">The stone that the builders rejected<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />has become the cornerstone;<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />by the Lord has this been done,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />and it is wonderful in our eyes?</span></em></p><p><em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></em></p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #274e13; color: #f1c232; font-size: x-large;">G</span>oogle AI tells me that the Lord's <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=how+often+is+the+stumbling+stone+cited+in+scripture&rlz=1CAACGA_enUS1092&oq=how+often+is+the+stumbling+stone+cited+in+scripture&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigAdIBCTE2MDIxajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">stumbling stone</a> is cited 15 times in twelve verses of the New Testament, and the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=how+often+is+the+stone+rejected+cited+in+scripture&rlz=1CAACGA_enUS1092&oq=how+often+is+the+stone+rejected+cited+in+scripture&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigATIHCAQQIRifBdIBCTEyOTk5ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">rejected stone</a> of <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/11?22">Psalm 118</a>, five times. It was clearly a key for Christians to unlock the mystery of Jesus and discover their own place in the Roman-occupied world. Asked who they were, they could say they were neither Jew nor Gentile; they were a stumbling stone for both groups. </span><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">Like the Lord with his authority to heal, guide, and demand respect in a world that <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/18?4">"neither respects God nor fears any man,"</a> Christians are also a stumbling stone. We have much to say to those who would build a more technological, efficient, and powerful world which exploits the Earth and wastes human lives. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">Recently a friend explained to me how young people selectively breed more of their own kind and arrange a more stratified brave new world. Lawyers marry lawyers, doctors marry doctors; pro athletes marry pro athletes. They breed superior children who become lawyers, doctors, and athletes, whose children go on to </span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">further </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">refine their selections. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">It sounds like </span><i style="font-family: Lora;">eugenics.</i><span style="font-family: Lora;"> Once again, with birth control, sperm banks, genetic testing, and abortion, we're designing a purer race of superior human beings who will govern the rest of humankind. The plan may not be as intentional, efficient, or brutal as the Nazi exterminations and American racist policies; but the direction is the same. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">Catholics object. Planners <i>en route</i> </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">to Huxley's Brave New World</span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> stumble over our Church and our faith in God. We object to manipulative, controlled breeding of human beings. Although humans have deliberately bred pets and livestock for many centuries, we have always objected to the practice among human beings. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">We might point out the <i>Romeo and Julia principle</i>; that is, that young people of differing social strata, races, and religions often fall in love and elope. Society's governors cannot control that impulse </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">with chemistry and surgery</span><span style="font-family: Lora;">. Attempts to do so, like Shakespeare's play, end in tragedy. Only the authority of God, which is both merciful and stern, can guide our impulsive sexuality. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">As this brave new world was dawning </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">in 1968</span><span style="font-family: Lora;">, the encyclical </span><i style="font-family: Lora;">Humanae Vitae</i><span style="font-family: Lora;"> of Pope Paul VI raised objections to artificial means of birth control. The Holy Father taught that a man and woman who do not intend a lifelong, faithful, procreative, and unitive partnership of equals cannot contract a marriage, regardless of what they think or feel, or what the state says. An infant has a right to a mother and father who conceive and bear children, and live together in a covenant of mutual love and support. That child might ordinarily expect brothers and sisters of the same parents. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">The teaching in the halcyon days of American dominance seemed like a huge, unwarranted imposition by an outdated, patriarchal organization. It</span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> was assaulted five years later by the Supreme Court of the United States with their infamous Roe v Wade ruling. When they rejected nature's way of bearing children, they cleared the road for artificial insemination, surrogate motherhood, gay marriage, and transsexual surgery. The prehistoric discovery that sex leads to conception has been reversed as women alone must decide if, when, and how they create children, and what kind of children they want. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">The Roman Catholic Church, practically alone among Christian denominations, has become a stumbling stone to the emerging brave new world, and is widely rejected, even by the children who were granted life. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">We cannot know how this story will play out. We only know that we must speak the truth to an intransigent society. We must take up the cross of fidelity and follow in the footsteps of Our Savior. </span></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-35827215511942435032024-02-29T00:00:00.158-05:002024-02-29T00:00:00.344-05:00Thursday of the Second Week of Lent <p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yVcnRXWfjOA/UyMt7dsUOBI/AAAAAAAAQ3M/9n-YFtXzMKE/s1000/Thursday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yVcnRXWfjOA/UyMt7dsUOBI/AAAAAAAAQ3M/9n-YFtXzMKE/w400-h400/Thursday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022924.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 233</span></a><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">More tortuous than all else is the human heart,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">beyond remedy; who can understand it?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I, the LORD, alone probe the mind</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">and test the heart,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">To reward everyone according to his ways,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">according to the merit of his deeds.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; font-size: x-large;">"Why</span><span style="background-color: white;"> did I do that? Why did I say that? What was I thinking?" we ask ourselves. Or we're challenged by someone else, "What were you thinking?" And we have no answer. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Stupid</i> does not answer the question. I'm not stupid. It wasn't that. It was greed, lust, fear, sloth.... It was uglier than <i>stupid</i>. Envy, jealousy, anger, gluttony, pride.... The list goes on and is seemingly endless. Who can understand the human heart? As Jeremiah says, " </span></span>More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy...."</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">If we're blessed we turn to the Lord and ask him to show it to us. Lord, what was I thinking? What did I expect? </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span><span style="background-color: white;">Knowledge of God comes through revelation; we would have only vague ideas of God without his speaking to us. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">We actually </span><i>know</i><span style="background-color: white;"> God through his coming to us and walking with us. We know God by his mercy. That much is revealed to his elect. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora;">But how do we know ourselves? Given the bias of what I want to believe about myself, and the needs, suppositions, and surmises of others who tell me who I am -- I am at sea. I need the Lord to speak to my heart and tell me <i>why I did that, </i>and<i> who I am in his sight.</i></span></p><span style="font-family: Lora;">It's not pretty. It might be as mild as foolish; but it's probably worse. Self-knowledge comes as a mercy, and with a gentle sound.</span><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">The Lord is compassionate and gracious,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"> slow to anger, abounding in love.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">He will not always accuse,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"> nor will he harbor his anger forever;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">He does not treat us as our sins deserve</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"> or repay us according to our iniquities.<span> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20103&version=NIV">Psalm 103</a> (NIV)</span></span></div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></p></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-36658957143512186192024-02-28T00:00:00.167-05:002024-02-28T00:00:00.251-05:00Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MojgaibjyQZ9Ike3bDRHHGPVm_zBvVJOfCIUVzR9j_1lAScidEh9REZ2HCy8bdNRWz-RscZHSUn8xghqn1h9UbTx2j3JwJLYoPVhUlHCCQSw-cO4VUV8ZqUUeEJXEANy4aYIF4rSLwWm/s800/Wednesday+Lent+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MojgaibjyQZ9Ike3bDRHHGPVm_zBvVJOfCIUVzR9j_1lAScidEh9REZ2HCy8bdNRWz-RscZHSUn8xghqn1h9UbTx2j3JwJLYoPVhUlHCCQSw-cO4VUV8ZqUUeEJXEANy4aYIF4rSLwWm/w400-h300/Wednesday+Lent+2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022824.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 232</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Jesus said in reply, </span><span style="background-color: white;">"You do not know what you are asking. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">They said to him, "We can."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">He replied, </span><span style="background-color: white;">"My chalice you will indeed drink, </span><span style="background-color: white;">but to sit at my right and at my left, </span><span style="background-color: white;">this is not mine to give....</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe; font-size: x-large;">R</span><span style="background-color: white;">ecently I spent much time with a mortally ill friar, and I listened to his deciding over many days to let it go. He was drinking deeply of the Lord's chalice of suffering, and I wondered how willing I might be when that day comes. As sympathetic friends asked about him, I reminded them of the same choice. Given the American way of dying, which involves a cycle of repeated, frequent trips to the emergency room, most of us will face that decision. And we'll also make it for family members as they linger on death's threshold. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">But, as the Lord speaks of death, we realize it's also a metaphor for how we live. And those innumerable choices made over the course of life are far more important than any advanced directive. Am I willing to die to myself; that is, to my opinions and beliefs, my preferences and desires, and my needs, both apparent and real? Am I willing to let others go first, to receive better treatment than I get, and enjoy the fruit of my labor? Am I willing to suffer their indifference? </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">The real death doesn't come in a hospital, hospice, or nursing home. Death comes when I disappear and the Lord appears in my place. Or in what I mistakenly thought was my place. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: Lora;">The clueless disciples in today's gospel are practically comical in their efforts to secure powerful positions in the Lord's kingdom. They think of <i>kingdom</i> and <i>power</i> in the same breath. But the day will come when they see the Lord seated on his throne between two "revolutionaries, one on his right and the other on his left." And they will ask, "What were we thinking?" In the meanwhile, they cannot imagine how they must follow the Lord. <br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: Lora;">Deep in the season of Lent, with four weeks yet to go, we ask the Lord to show us how we must die to ourselves. We pray for that ready willingness to follow him to Jerusalem, Calvary, and Easter. The disciplines of Lent are a simple test, and they often prove more difficult than we expected. It's not because fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are so hard; it's because we don't want to die.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-19171466841634857602024-02-27T00:00:00.230-05:002024-02-27T00:00:00.139-05:00Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5L1Z3qCqVt8/UyJbak6SWII/AAAAAAAAQ28/RPQCbY0IOqI/s1000/Tuesday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5L1Z3qCqVt8/UyJbak6SWII/AAAAAAAAQ28/RPQCbY0IOqI/w400-h400/Tuesday%2BLent%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022724.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 231</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Come now, let us set things right,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">says the LORD:</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Though your sins be like scarlet,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">they may become white as snow;</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Though they be crimson red,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">they may become white as wool.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">If you are willing, and obey....</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #ead1dc; color: #351c75; font-size: x-large;">C</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363936;">an human beings be worthy of God's merciful protection and generous blessings? Can we hope that the Lord might say, at least to some of us, "Come share your masters joy?" Or, "</span></span><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world?" </span></p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">Are these nothing more than empty promises of fervid religious fantasies? The optimism of the few humans who enjoy their unearned, undeserved privilege and expect the same favored treatment in an imaginary afterlife? </span></p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">A glance at the current news is discouraging. Some people explain our senseless violence with Darwinian theory; a survival of the fittest gone insane. Others insist it began with the childish disobedience of a gullible pair in a prehistoric Eden. Neither premise offers much to hope for, and we find little of infinite worth in the daily news. We'd rather forget most of what we read. </span></p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">And yet, <i>a thing of beauty is a joy forever</i>, as the young poet John Keats said. Those who are willing do find things of infinite worth even in our daily life, things that go unnoticed and unremarked by intrepid recorders of current events. And sleeping children are surely worthy of protection, nourishment, and opportunity. Even their grumpiness upon waking is darling and deserving. </span></p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">Lent promises new opportunity to those who are willing to obey the Lord and set things right. Although our crimes are scarlet they may become brilliant white; our behavior, which has been deplorable, may delight the angels who behold God's face. </span></p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">Lent begins with me, with my willingness to turn away from my sinful habits and attitudes, and the systemic sins of my culture to study the ways of God. If I hesitate, supposing that someone else should make the first move, I'll be left behind when they do. </span></p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">Doctors, counselors, spiritual directors, and pastors understand that change begins when I realize<i> the problem is me. </i>So long as I suppose it's someone else; or suppose that "I am what I am and I cannot change," nothing will change; and the descent into hell will only continue. Neither abundant blessings nor ominous threats nor punishing catastrophes can make me change my attitude, practice, or habits. Nor will a half-hearted, go-along-to-get-along, compromise suffice. Nor will a temporary adjustment with an expectation of reverting as soon as Lent is over, satisfy a jealous God. </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">But if you refuse and resist,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">the sword shall consume you:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;">for the mouth of the LORD has spoken! <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/1?20"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Isaiah 16:20)</span></a></span></div></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. </span><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/4?12" style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hebrews 4:12-13</span></a></div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;"></span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-88301606944873417682024-02-26T00:00:00.136-05:002024-02-26T00:00:00.134-05:00Monday of the Second Week in Lent <p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OqGaZjhsiLrfsIJHZTrj7EnxIkQyMDWBmIeSq7GYh72-ZmqGysTjVDAW3sPABu4hKoIIaoO885iqK25KTP3S5qgeSZzYeSK_CleCblKJPsWZ7f37reZtaIg3GiJMfjzON3l99OijtL1Nz0mQIxhiufkYZLH3qwGy3018xpBRSd8SzKU2GeyM8ougxoca/s2048/53524782520_02d469bd71_k.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OqGaZjhsiLrfsIJHZTrj7EnxIkQyMDWBmIeSq7GYh72-ZmqGysTjVDAW3sPABu4hKoIIaoO885iqK25KTP3S5qgeSZzYeSK_CleCblKJPsWZ7f37reZtaIg3GiJMfjzON3l99OijtL1Nz0mQIxhiufkYZLH3qwGy3018xpBRSd8SzKU2GeyM8ougxoca/w400-h300/53524782520_02d469bd71_k.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Firemen conduct a controlled burn<br />on the MSF prairie. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022624.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 230</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">"Stop judging and you will not be judged.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Forgive and you will be forgiven.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Give and gifts will be given to you....</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: black;">W</span></span><span style="background-color: white;">e judge others because we have to. Some people are dangerous; some people, for reasons of their own, do evil. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">I suppose we all do evil occasionally; or we have in the past. In retrospect, we wonder what we were thinking; and we remember with remorse, shame, and grief. But we might also wonder how we might have done differently, remembering the circumstances. "I should not have been there in the first place, in that <i>near occasion of sin</i>." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">And so we judge ourselves and we judge others. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Contemplative prayer teaches us to go easy with the judgments. We needn't be cruel to ourselves, our loved one, strangers, or enemies. We cannot know what drives them anymore than we always know our own motives. And consequences are often unintended. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">As Daniel said, </span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">our fathers, and all the people of the land.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Justice, O Lord, is on your side....</span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Faith insists that God is just; that Justice is on God's side. The Gospel insists there is such a thing as justice. Some people doubt that. They suppose there is only power, "Might makes it right. I do it because I can!" Given control of the military, the police, the courts, and the laws, the powerful can do whatever they want. Except that God is just. They cannot control God. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Judgment often comes as consequences follow; and then <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/37?12=">Justice laughs</a> at the wicked. "I told you so!" they might say. "Ha Ha Ha Hallelujah!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">The just rejoice in knowing God is just; that he punishes the wicked even as he disciplines his people. And so we approach the Sacrament of Penance with a willingness to see, acknowledge, and name our wicked </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">thoughts,</span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">intentions, words, and deeds. We are ready to turn back to the Lord again and say, </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">"</span><span style="font-family: Lora;">Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’</span><span style="font-family: Lora;">" <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/15?21"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Luke 15:18-19</span></a></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-27795680074788639012024-02-25T00:00:00.354-05:002024-02-25T00:00:00.130-05:00Second Sunday of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfn3WQWAa2sDfCTlUG9ji598e1gxEiehOVFYxZXDwJo5fHdI6KRrINkEREQcA5m6DsPmww-XmHyy8VM5LmbZVSvUpuLITgBYRjOyhs6v9e-YFIdmPb2UoMZcEzhwdbQAV7DiKw0Ypphqth/s1000/Sunday+Lent+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfn3WQWAa2sDfCTlUG9ji598e1gxEiehOVFYxZXDwJo5fHdI6KRrINkEREQcA5m6DsPmww-XmHyy8VM5LmbZVSvUpuLITgBYRjOyhs6v9e-YFIdmPb2UoMZcEzhwdbQAV7DiKw0Ypphqth/w400-h400/Sunday+Lent+2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022524.cfm"><span style="color: black; font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 26</span></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;">Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; </span><span style="background-color: white;">from the cloud came a voice,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">"This is my beloved Son. Listen to him."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone </span><span style="background-color: white;">but Jesus alone with them.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span><span style="background-color: #f1c232; color: #783f04; font-size: x-large;">IN</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Lora;"> today’s gospel, we hear a Voice from heaven declare, “This is my beloved son; listen to him!” When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, a voice also came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">But there is no indication that the Baptist or anyone else heard the voice. As Saint Mark tells the story, God spoke only to "you," to Jesus. He was known only to God, and is otherwise alone and unrecognized among the crowds who came to be baptized. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Other gospels, of course, give us a different story: Saint Luke will tell us Jesus and John are related on Mary's side; Saint Matthew describes John's knowing Jesus and whether he should baptize his superior. And in the Fourth Gospel, the Baptist pointed directly to him and shouted, "Behold, the Lamb of God...." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">But Saint Mark's Jesus is shrouded in anonymity and mystery. We cannot know how he felt about the incident. He said nothing to anyone. And he seems to have arrived without a plan for, "Immediately the Spirit drove him into the desert."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">That is why the Voice which Peter, James, and the disciple John heard on a high mountain shocked the disciples. It might have sounded familiar to Jesus but the fishermen were dumbfounded. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">As we hear the story told on this Second Sunday of Lent, the Church points our attention to the unique relationship of Jesus and God. He alone is "my beloved son." The word beloved immediately sends us back to another mountain in the distant past where God spoke to Abraham, </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">"Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">and go to the land of Moriah.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">There you shall offer him up as a holocaust</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">on a height that I will point out to you."</span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">But, not many years after hearing that astounding voice, Saint Peter obviously knows the only begotten Son of God. At the risk of his own life, he declares in front of friends and enemies, </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” </span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">This knowledge comes by revelation to Peter, the disciples, and to us, the Church. “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">In a popular movie several years ago, George Burns, playing the role of God, said that "Jesus was my son. Buddha was my son. Muhammad, Moses, you, the man who said there was no room at the inn was my son." </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Excuse me for being Catholic and complaining about the great comedian, but that was rank heresy and a direct attack on our faith. And yet many people ate it up, and many Catholics believe it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We are called to be a people peculiarly his own and our most peculiar characteristic is our complete and absolute faith in Jesus Christ. We believe he is the only beloved Son of God; he is the Word made flesh; he is the Word who was with God and the Word who is God. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">His death alone saves us from ourselves and our sins; the sacrifice of his life alone must teach us the mercy and justice which God demands of us. There is no salvation without him; there can be no hope for those who deny him. As we hear in the Gospel of Saint John,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">The Lord calls us, a people peculiarly his own, during the Season of Lent to prepare us for the judgment day of Good Friday and the great revelation of Easter. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We take the season seriously because we know we cannot save ourselves, our nation, or our planet. Now is the time to beg God for salvation, deliverance, and mercy. During an election year, as the United States faces a critical test of our democracy; and as we watch antichrists rising to power in many nations, we hear the Voice of God tell us in no uncertain language, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." And we hear Jesus, the Crucified Messiah reassure us, </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">I am the LORD, there is no other,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">there is no God besides me.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">It is I who arm you, though you do not know me,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">so that all may know, from the rising of the sun</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">to its setting, that there is none besides me.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">I am the LORD, there is no other.</span></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><p></p><p><span style="color: #363936; font-family: Lora;"></span></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2746463302909872934.post-53752527009746023352024-02-24T00:00:00.223-05:002024-02-24T00:00:00.128-05:00Saturday of the First Week of Lent <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-buWEkrNmtx8/UxtMtrkQCuI/AAAAAAAAQ0o/NZ6NV-ngcEM/s1000/Saturday%2BLent%2BI.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-buWEkrNmtx8/UxtMtrkQCuI/AAAAAAAAQ0o/NZ6NV-ngcEM/s320/Saturday%2BLent%2BI.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022424.cfm"><span style="font-family: Lora;">Lectionary: 229</span></a><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">...you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;<br />and provided you keep all his commandments,<br />he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made,<br />and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he promised."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><span style="background-color: #666666; color: #00bbff; font-size: x-large;">In</span> today's gospel, Jesus spells out and hammers home how we are to be<i> a people peculiarly his own</i>. Unlike "tax collectors and pagans" who love those who love them and greet only their own kind, we should have an open, hospitable heart for everyone. And our kind is anyone. </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">This manner copies his way of meeting people. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">If he had opponents because of his teaching and his witness to the Kingdom of God, he had no enemies. Or, he made no enemies; he condemned no one. They made themselves his enemies by their refusal to accept the Good News that he announced. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;">As he said to Nicodemus, </span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Lora;"><div style="text-align: left;">For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/3?17"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(John 3:17-18)</span></a></div></span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Today, this peculiar way of life is like walking a tightrope in a hurricane. There's an obvious reason for the polarization of our society; it sells. The public wants trouble. As a nation we're at war with no one. Our economy is good; jobs are available; inflation is under control; and yet we're screaming at each other. Because it sells products.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">How many times have we seen both houses of Congress split evenly with 50 senators in either camp, and a similar division in the House? </span><span style="font-family: Lora;">Why does American society split so evenly into two opposing parties? It sells.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">Newt Gingrich (House Speaker 1995-1999) and other politicians discovered that loudly expressing extremist statements generated more cash than saner, irenic policies. Making enemies entertained the public, making peace disappointed them. If most Americans stood in the middle they were not so willing to pay for the privilege as their more savage compatriots. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">A peculiar people like Jesus's disciples is not driven by consumerism and its rabid sale of goods and services. We listen, consider, discuss, and seek agreement. We stop and think before we buy anything. We prefer a quieter way of life, less exciting, less entertaining, less expensive, and more productive. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">That's something else I noticed on my way to mental health: I don't need excitement. Nor do I thrive with it. I have met people who felt uneasy when their lives were <i>normal</i>. They were working productively, paying the bills, keeping a regular schedule, without any unusual stressors at home, in the office, or among their friends. They complained, "This can't last long." Clearly, they were not used to it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">A peculiar people like Jesus's disciples prays routinely, with a regular, daily schedule. It helps us maintain that mental balance. We may miss the excitement but we don't need it. And we're more open to hearing controversial statements and seeing upsetting things without being drawn into them. We can pray for people without meddling in their lives. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Lora;">We walk the tightrope of prayer; which is to say, "First things first; we worship God." It is right and just that we should do so. And that, in today's world, is <i>very peculiar.</i></span></p><p><br /></p>Fr Ken Bartsch, OFM Convhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09353992638651871015noreply@blogger.com1