Thoughts on Easter

 

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

John 20:1–9

Friends, our Easter Gospel contains St. John’s magnificent account of the Resurrection. There are three key lessons that follow from the disquieting fact of the Resurrection. First, this world is not all there is. The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows as definitively as possible that God is up to something greater than we had imagined.We don’t have to live as though death were our master and as though nihilism were the only coherent point of view. We can, in fact, begin to see this world as a place of gestation toward something higher, more permanent, more splendid. Second, the tyrants know that their time is up. Remember that the cross was Rome’s way of asserting its authority. But when Jesus was raised from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit, the first Christians knew that Caesar’s days were, in point of fact, numbered. The faculty lounge interpretation of the Resurrection as a subjective event or a mere symbol is exactly what the tyrants of the world want, for it poses no real threat to them. Third, the path of salvation has been opened to everyone. Jesus went all the way down, journeying into pain, despair, alienation, even godforsakenness. He went as far as you can go away from the Father. Why? In order to reach all those who had wandered from God. In light of the Resurrection, the first Christians came to know that, even as we run as fast as we can away from the Father, we are running into the arms of the Son. Let us not domesticate these still-stunning lessons of the Resurrection. Rather, let us allow them to unnerve us, change us, and set us on fire.  Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on Holy Saturday

 

Behold your Mother

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34) It is Holy Saturday and Jesus lays lifeless in a garden tomb. Today is a perfect time to ponder his life - as I'm sure the disciples and apostles in Jerusalem were doing. And what better place to start than by reflecting on the woman who gave him life. Twice in the Gospel of Luke, we hear that Mary pondered what was happening in her heart. The first was when the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem bringing news from the angels. The second was when Jesus left his parents and was found waiting for them in ‘his Father’s house,’ the temple of God.  Luke, who knew Mary and heard her stories before writing his Gospel, gives us this detail to help us understand the heart of Mary. It’s a heart that receives, a heart that reflects, a heart that ponders. Imagine what her heart was going through Good Friday? She followed Jesus the entire way to his cross, never leaving his side. Not once did she call out, “Jesus, my Son, get off the cross!” Not once did she beg through teary eyes, “Jesus, for my sake, honor your mother! Make this stop!” No, she pondered and she walked and she suffered and she gave him her eyes. She offered him her strength. She lifted him up. We know Jesus was perfect in everything and never sinned. So, we know he honored his mother. We see this at Cana when he responds to Mary’s concern for the wedding party. “Woman, my hour has not yet come.” And yet, despite this, he listened to Mary’s request and performed his first miracle. Imagine the pain Mary would have caused Jesus if she asked him to get off the cross? Peter didn’t understand why Jesus had to die and we remember the chastisement given to Peter. What if Mary had asked the same? Would Jesus have honored her? How would he have reconciled her request with his mission - with the Commandments? The good news is Mary didn’t. She was silent just like her son, following him to the cross. Thank God for Mary. She gave us life twice. In her yes to his conception and in her yes to his death. “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” And because of her receptivity to the word of God, a sword pierces her soul. St. Paul tells us about this sword in Ephesians. He says it is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” It is this spirit that overshadows Mary in Nazareth and this spirit that penetrates her very soul at Calvary. In her restraint, Mary embodies the Holy Spirit and is prepared for her task - to mother the Church. “Woman, behold your son. Son behold your mother.” Mary stands beside those who face the cross - beside the Church - as our Mother. We can be sure that on Holy Saturday, just as Mary pondered her son’s conception, his life and his death, she was pondering this gift she was given on Calvary. She was bringing us into her heart too. Let us then turn to Our Mother Mary today. Let’s ask her to open her pondering heart and tell us stories of her son who is our brother Jesus. He is coming tomorrow. Reflection from Catholic Ventures

Thoughts on Good Friday

 

Good Friday is the most somber day in the Church, as Christians observe the Crucifixion of Jesus and his death on Calvary. Today, Catholics fast in mourning to accompany our Lord in his suffering on the cross. On this solemn Friday, tradition calls for a day of prayer and reflection. 

Today is the only day of the year when the Church does not celebrate Mass and tabernacles are empty of the Eucharist throughout the world. The faithful adore and contemplate the cross, and many pray the Stations of the Cross.

We pray God will give us the grace to take up the crosses of our own lives with joy and unite our suffering to that of our Savior. As we meditate on Christ’s Passion today, we are also reminded of the vital need to continue proclaiming Christ in the culture. May Jesus and the power of his cross give us the courage to share the message of our redemption with all those in our lives who need to hear it. 

God bless you,

Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on death

 

Making Our Deaths Fruitful

What I appreciate as I read Scripture is that Jesus saw death, and his own death in particular, as more than a way of getting from one place to another. He saw his death as potentially fruitful in itself, and of enormous benefit to his disciples. Death was not an ending for him but a passage to something much greater. When Jesus was anticipating his own death he kept repeating the same theme to his disciples: “My death is good for you, because my death will bear many fruits beyond my death. When I die I will not leave you alone, but I will send you my Spirit, the Paraclete, the Counselor. And my Spirit will reveal to you who I am, what I am teaching you. My Spirit will lead you into the truth and will allow you to have a relationship with me that was not possible before my death. My Spirit will help you to form community and grow in strength.” Jesus sees that the real fruits of his life will mature after his death. That is why he adds, “It is good for you that I go.” If that is true, then the real question for me as I consider my own death is not: how much can I still accomplish before I die, or will I be a burden to others? No, the real question is: how can I live so that my death will be fruitful for others? In other words, how can my death be a gift for my loved ones so that they can reap the fruits of my life after I have died? This question can be answered only if I am first willing to admit Jesus’ vision of death, as a valid possibility for me. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on Palm Sunday

 Palm Sunday begins Holy Week, that most solemn week of our Church’s year when we contemplate the passion and death of our Lord that leads to His glorious Resurrection. The idea of being on pilgrimage this week occurs to me. In the Middle Ages pilgrimages were common. You probably remember having to read some of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, still unfinished at his death in 1400. The word that Chaucer uses for pilgrims is palmers. “And palmers . . ./ from every shires ende/ Of Engelond, to Caunterbury” they go. The word palmer was used because those pilgrims who ventured (3,000 miles!) all the way from England to Jerusalem, the greatest of pilgrimages, brought back a palm frond as their prized souvenir. On Palm Sunday you receive your blessed palms. So, this Holy Week be a “palmer,” be a pilgrim.   

During Holy Week it is important to try to be with Jesus.  In

your prayer imagine those last few days, beginning with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the crowds waving palms.  Try to see in your imagination our Lord enduring the terrible pain and suffering, both mental and physical.  He endures such suffering to save us from our sins and to assure that we, like the Good Thief, can be happy with Him forever in Paradise.  This suffering leading to salvation is the Father’s will, and Jesus always follows His Father’s will perfectly. 

So, this week try to make a pilgrimage journeying with Jesus as He enters Jerusalem, as He makes plans for the Passover supper, as He gives the Apostles the Eucharist and instructs them the last time.  Then walk with Him to Gethsemane and see His suffering begin.  Stay with Him that longnight of His arrest.  Call to mind the many agonizing events of Good Friday, perhaps praying the Stations of the Cross and the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.  Then wait at the tomb and mourn quietly with the Church on Holy Saturday.  But do not allow your pilgrimage of Holy Week to sadden or discourage you.  After all, we know the rest of the story!  May your Holy Week pilgrimage make ever more clear God’s tremendous love for us, and

what He was willing to do to save us.  As St. John Henry Newman wrote of God’s love in his Meditations on Christian Doctrine, “He [God] preferred to regain me rather than to create new worlds.”  (March 7, 1848)   

 

Don Saunders, S.J.  

Thoughts on blessings

 

Live Under the Blessing

Jesus suffered and died for our sake. He suffered and died, not in despair, not as the rejected one, but as the Beloved Child of God. From the moment he heard the voice that said, “You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests,” he lived his life and suffered his pain under the Blessing of the Father. He knew that even when everyone would run away from him, his Father would never leave him alone.  For us, the greatest temptation is to lose touch with the Blessing. We are Beloved Sons and Daughters of God. When we live our suffering under the Blessing, even the greatest pain, yes, even death, will lead us deeper into the forgiving and lifegiving heart of God. But when we think we are not loved, when we reflect on ourselves as living under a curse, when we say or think: “I am not good,” our suffering will lead us to despair and our death cannot give life. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on forgiveness

 

God Forgives You

This morning I meditated on God’s eagerness to forgive me, revealed in these words: “As far as the East is from the West, so far does God remove my sin” (Psalms 103:12). In the midst of all my distractions, I was touched by God’s desire to forgive me again and again. If I return to God with a repentant heart after I have sinned, God is always there to embrace me and let me start afresh. “The Lord is full of compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.” It is hard for me to forgive someone who has really offended me, especially when it happens more than once. I begin to doubt the sincerity of the one who asks forgiveness for a second, third, or fourth time. But God does not keep count. God just waits for our return, without resentment or desire for revenge. God wants us home. “The love of the Lord is everlasting.” Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on solitude

 

Open Yourself to the Great Encounter

I am not saying there is an easy solution to our ambivalent relationship with God. Solitude is not a solution. It is a direction. The direction is pointed to by the prophet Elijah, who did not find Yahweh in the mighty wind, the earthquake, the fire, but in the still, small voice; this direction, too, is indicated by Jesus, who chose solitude as the place to be with his Father. Every time we enter into solitude we withdraw from our windy, earthquaking, fiery lives and open ourselves to the great encounter. The first thing we often discover in solitude is our own restlessness, our drivenness, and compulsiveness, our urge to act quickly, to make an impact, and to have influence; and often we find it very hard to withstand the temptation to return as quickly as possible to the world of “relevance.” But when we persevere with the help of a gentle discipline, we slowly come to hear the still, small voice and to feel the gentle breeze, and so come to know the Lord of our heart, soul, and mind, the Lord who makes us see who we really are. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on Passion Week

 Jn. 12: 20 – 33 5^th Sunday of Lent (B) 

Unless the grain of wheat die 17 March 2024 

 

Only two weeks of Lent remain: this week, traditionally called Passion Week, and next week, Holy Week. Since Lent is meant to prepare us for Easter, we should consider

finishing Lent well these last two weeks.   

Today’s Gospel can teach us how to finish Lent well. The Gospel reminds us of what might be

called the "essence of Lent" in two of the best-known teachings of

Jesus:  

“. . . unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it

remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it

produces much fruit.”  (Jn. 12: 24)·

                   

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in

this world will preserve it for

eternal life.”  (Jn. 12: 25) 

These two verses expound a paradox at the very center

of our Faith, a paradox that comprises the essence of Lent. Our English word paradox comes from the Greek paradoxos, meaning “unbelievable.” It is a seemingly contradictory or even absurd statement that is somehow true. The well-known Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi also reminds us of common paradoxes of our Faith: in giving we receive; in pardoning we are pardoned; in dying we are born to eternal life. Our Lord’s paradox of the grain of wheat is the essence of Lent because it speaks of sacrifice and death. 

In the thinking of the World, sacrifice is unpopular.  Much more frequently we are told not to “give up,” but to “fulfill, enrich, develop,” “get more, enjoy more.” And "enjoy now; don't wait." 

Personal sacrifice always means dying to self. We act

against our natural human desires, which have been warped by Original Sin and driven by concupiscence. We know we must strive to act "agere contra," to act against our lower, more natural

desires.   

So, sacrifice is a type of death: a death to our desires and selfishness; a death to our cupidity, sensuality, and sloth; a death to what, on the surface, might seem to be our worldly fulfillment. In this death of self-sacrifice, we live the paradox:  the grain dies, but produces much fruit; our life of grasping greed, seeking pleasure, and realizing self-fulfillment, is sacrificed; our eternal life in heaven is preserved. 

We are entering the home stretch of Lent, and we will finish Lent well by striving to live the

paradox: 

·                    dying to self through some sacrifice  

·                    giving up something – perhaps some time we spend on pleasure, and use that time for prayer  

·                    serving someone else’s need (almsgiving, acts of charity,

kindness, cheerfulness) 

We live the paradox the more we imitate Christ and follow Him closely. During these last two weeks of Lent, Passion Week and Holy Week, we strive to follow the Lord in suffering.  Then, we can truly celebrate Easter more joyfully, knowing that one day we will follow Him in glory. 

-Fr. Don Saunders, SJ

Thoughts on patience

 

Patience

The mother of expectation is patience. The French author Simone Weil writes in her notebooks: “Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.” Without patience our expectation degenerates into wishful thinking. Patience comes from the word patior, which means “to suffer.” The first thing that Jesus promises is suffering: “I tell you . . . you will be weeping and wailing . . . and you will be sorrowful.” But he calls these birth pains. And so, what seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems an obstacle becomes a door; what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone. Jesus changes our history from a random series of sad incidents and accidents into a constant opportunity for a change of heart. To wait patiently, therefore, means to allow our weeping and wailing to become the purifying preparation by which we are made ready to receive the joy that is promised to us. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on Laetare Sunday

 4th Sunday of Lent (B) John 3: 14 - 21 

On the fourth Sunday of Lent, the usual austerity of the season is being interrupted:

This Sunday is called Laetare Sunday (Rejoice Sunday): rose vestments (a lightening of the penitential purple) may be worn; altar flowers are permitted; joyous music is appropriate.

Soon, there will be other interruptions of Lent:

· St. Patrick’s Day (next Sunday): a great feast and celebration for many

· St. Joseph’s Day (March 19): a solemnity with Gloria and Creed; another great feast for many

These days when the Church celebrates even in the midst of the penitential season of Lent might remind us of those frequent ups and downs of our lives; particularly the ups and downs, the victories and defeats of our Lenten devotion.

Today particularly, Laetare Sunday, is meant to be a time of joy amidst the “sorrows” of Lent (the austerity, penance, mortification). The name itself, laetare means “rejoice.” But why should we rejoice?

· We are already more than halfway through Lent, and there are already many signs of spring.

· We are only three weeks from Easter, the feast of our greatest joy and greatest hope.

· We rejoice because we are reminded to keep a proper perspective.

During Lent we spend time thinking about – praying about – our sinfulness, how we have turned from God.

We are very much focused on the “negative” as we strive to repent.

But Laetare Sunday and today’s Gospel remind us that not all is heavy, somber, and weighted down with sin and suffering in this Vale of Tears.

Today's Gospel is the very essence of the Good News of our salvation: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son . . .” Remembering the essence of the Gospel is gaining proper perspective, which is of the greatest importance. Our lives, something like the season of Lent, can sometimes seem dark, heavy, somber, weighted down with great pain and terrible suffering. There is no life so charmed that these experiences are unknown.

But, our lives, like Lent, also have those times of Laetare Sunday, and great feasts of St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day. Not all is suffering; not all is rejoicing. Proper perspective and the truth teach us there are times for both.

Remembering the truth of the Gospel, the truth of our Holy Catholic Faith, we keep the proper perspective:

Even in suffering, Our Lord is with us and knows exactly what we do suffer. And even in suffering we believe there will be a glorious end – like the glorious end of the Passion that burst forth into the world on Easter.

Think of that most basic question, “Why should I believe?” We should believe “Because God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)

So, even as Lent continues for three more weeks, on Laetare Sunday, and on St. Patrick’s Day and St. Joseph’s Day, remember that there is always reason to rejoice! There is always reason to give thanks to God. And having that attitude is what it means to keep the proper perspective of the True Faith.

Don Saunders, S.J. 

Thoughts on passion

 

From Action to Surrender

It is important for me to realize that Jesus fulfills his mission not by what he does, but by what is done to him. Just as with everyone else, most of my life is determined by what is done to me and thus is passion. And because most of my life is passion, things being done to me, only small parts of my life are determined by what I think, say, or do. I am inclined to protest against this and to want all to be action originated by me. But the truth is that my passion is a much greater part of my life than my action. Not to recognize this is self-deception and not to embrace my passion with love is self-rejection. It is good news to know that Jesus is handed over to passion, and through his passion accomplishes his divine task on earth. It is good news for a world passionately searching for wholeness. Jesus’ words to Peter remind me that Jesus’ transition from action to passion must also be ours if we want to follow his way. He says, “When you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go” (John 21:18). Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on pruning

 

Pruning

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, to make it bear even more” (John 15:1–2).  These words open a new perspective on suffering for me. Pruning helps trees to bear more fruit. Even when I bear fruit, even when I do things for God’s kingdom, even when people express gratitude for coming to know Jesus through me, I need a lot more pruning. Many unnecessary branches and twigs prevent the vine from bearing all the fruit it can. They have to be clipped off. This is a painful process, all the more so because I do not know that they are unnecessary. They often seem beautiful, charming, and very alive. But they need to be cut away so that more fruit can grow. It helps me to think about painful rejections, moments of loneliness, feelings of inner darkness and despair, and lack of support and human affection as God’s pruning. I am aware that I might have settled too soon for the few fruits that I can recognize in my life. I might say, “Well, I am doing some good here and there, and I should be grateful for and content with the little good I do.” But that might be false modesty and even a form of spiritual laziness. God calls me to more. God wants to prune me. A pruned vine does not look beautiful, but during harvest time it produces much fruit. The great challenge is to continue to recognize God’s pruning hand in my life. Then I can avoid resentment and depression and become even more grateful that I am called upon to bear even more fruit than I thought I could. Suffering then becomes a way of purification and allows me to rejoice in its fruits with deep gratitude and without pride. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on Easter

 The Spring of Living Water

In the midst of Lent I am made aware that Easter is coming again: the days are becoming longer, the snow is withdrawing, the sun is bringing new warmth, and a bird is singing. Yesterday, during the night prayers, a cat was crying! Indeed, spring announces itself. And today, O Lord, I heard you speak to the Samaritan woman. You said, “Anyone who drinks from the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again; the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life.” What words! They are worth many hours, days, and weeks of reflection. I will carry them with me in my preparation for Easter. The water that you give turns into a spring. Therefore, I do not have to be stingy with your gift, O Lord. I can freely let the water come from my center and let anyone who desires drink from it. Perhaps I will even see this spring in myself when others come to it to quench their thirst.

Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on obedience

 

Listen to God

Everything we know about Jesus indicates that he was concerned with only one thing: to do the will of his Father. Nothing in the Gospels is as impressive as Jesus’ single-minded obedience to his Father. From his first recorded words in the Temple, “Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?” (Luke 2:49), to his last words on the cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46), Jesus’ only concern was to do the will of his Father. He says, “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19). . . . Jesus is the obedient one. The center of his life is this obedient relationship with the Father. This may be hard for us to understand because the word obedience has so many negative connotations in our society. It makes us think of authority figures who impose their wills against our desires. It makes us remember unhappy childhood events or hard tasks performed under threats of punishment. But none of this applies to Jesus’ obedience. His obedience means a total, fearless listening to his loving Father. Between the Father and the Son there is only love. Henri Nouwen

Thoughts on the examination of conscience

 3rd Sunday of Lent 

Today’s Gospel, the Cleansing of the Temple, is a good Lenten reminder of what we all need to do.  Jesus tells the Jews, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” St. John comments, “But He was speaking about the temple of His body.”  Similarly, St. Paul has taught us that we are “temples of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor. 3: 16)  We need to consider what cleansing we need to do in the weeks of Lent remaining. 

Lent is meant to be a type of “spiritual spring cleaning,” and spring begins in slightly more than two weeks.  To “cleanse our temples” we need to begin with a thorough examination of conscience and a good Confession, which is still part of our Easter Duty, if we find that we are conscious of serious sin.  Often we confess the same sins; perhaps this is necessary. However, perhaps there are many sins of which we are unaware.  How might we discover those sins? 

The Internet is both a blessing and a curse. But there are many very good Catholic examinations of conscience guides available on the Internet.  Recently I Googled "Catholic examination of conscience" and received 4,640,000 results in 0.60 seconds!  The first on the list was from the US Bishops’ Conference; the second from EWTN. Both good.  I was very impressed by the third listed; it was excellent, orthodox, and thorough, from a website called www.beginning catholic.com. Quite a number of questions followed each of the Ten Commandments. 

One of the traditional ways of examining our conscience to prepare for Confession is to consider the Commandments (as we hear in the First Reading of this Sunday, Exodus 20): 

1. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before Me. (prayer; performance of religious duties; idols of pleasure and materialism?) 

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. (including promises and resolutions made to God, and blaming God for my failures) 

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. (Other than Mass, how do I keep Sunday “holy”?) 

4. Honor your father and your mother. (This concerns parents’ duty to children as well as children’s duty to parents) 

5. You shall not kill. (which includes hatred, anger, jealousy, being an occasion of sin for others) 

6. and 9. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. (all sins of impurity) 

7. and 10. You shall not steal. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. (any envy, dishonesty, deception, fraud) 

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (lies, gossip, slander, detraction) 

Another way of examining our conscience is to consider the Seven Deadly (or Capital) Sins, the basic roots of all sin:  Wrath (anger); Avarice (greed); Sloth (laziness); Pride; Lust; Envy; Gluttony (anything in excess that can cause harm) 

This Lent may Our Lord give us the graces necessary to continue, or to begin, the "spiritual spring cleaning" of our temple, our immortal soul. 



May He give us the graces necessary to make a good Confession. 

Don Saunders, S.J.