first sunday of lent

Posted on by Cassie

Every year on the First Sunday of Lent we focus on the story of Jesus being tempted by the Devil in the Desert after His Baptism by Saint John.  This year we use St. Luke as our guide to what took place during the 40 days of fasting in the desert.

The account of Jesus’ temptations demonstrates that he overcame the three great vices: love of pleasure, love of possessions, and love of glory.  His refusal to be mastered by any of these vices shows us that Jesus is a great moral teacher.  He is for each of us an example of discipline and dedication to Gods’ will.

Alone in the desert, where no human could observe and where only God could see Him, Jesus showed Himself to be the obedient Son of God.  Throughout His life, even to the cross, Jesus showed Himself to be God’s humble servant.

In Baptism we become children of God, and we become His Holy Temple.  Lent is for us a time when we respond to the personal invitation of God to come back to Him with all our hearts.  We can use Lent to rediscover how much we are loved by God and share that love with each other.

Lent can be seen as the time when we cleanse ourselves as God’s Temple.  It is not unlike spring cleaning.  Despite our best intentions, and the best things we do, there can be our own life things  that are not of God-things that must be cleaned out.  In a sense, it is like the difference between everyday vacuuming and those times when we move the sofa and vacuum.  During Lent we “move the sofa” in our lives.  It is not just a question of dirt and sin, it is a question of realizing our thoughts and, by fasting and more intense prayer and more intense works of mercy, we begin to see things differently.  We begin to take another look at our lives.

What we do during Lent is not simply getting rid of the sinfulness in us.  It is also opening our hearts and minds to a fresh, deeper, fuller awareness of God within us and around us, and to His holy will.

As we begin our Lenten Retreat the Church takes us into the desert so we can learn from Jesus how to overcome the temptations of this world.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

eighth sunday in ordinary time

Posted on by Cassie

Jesus continues to teach what it means to be His disciples and live according to the love of God’s mercy.  He now gives some pointers for incorporating the love He speaks of into our lives.

This love must have no boundaries.  “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”  Anything less than this is unworthy of a disciple of Christ because “even the sinners love those who love them.”  To extend our love this far requires us to show mercy.  “Forgive and you will be forgiven.”  Our refusal to forgive will not only prevent us from loving our enemies but will also prevent us from receiving the mercy God wants to extend to us.

To love and forgive all people demands that we see something of the sacredness in every other person.  Judging others will always obstruct that view, a point Jesus makes using some humor.  “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?”  Recognizing the absurdity of this situation requires humility.  This is the ability to see ourselves as we truly are, in all our ridiculous glory.  Humility will inevitably lead us to compassionate action.  By incorporating these loving actions and attitudes into our lives, we become like the house built on a strong foundation.  Our behavior reveals whether we really are disciples of Jesus.  Those who put Jesus’ teaching into practice build their life on Him as a foundation.  With Him as our foundation, we will withstand every storm and stand the test of eternity.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

seventh sunday in ordinary time

Posted on by Cassie

After the conquest of the ten northern tribes by Assyria in 722 B.C., and then the fall of southern Kingdom in 587 B.C. to the Babylonians, the twelve tribes had never been reunited.  However, the common promise of the prophets was the prediction that the Messiah would reunite the twelve tribes.  Jesus’ choosing of the twelve made the claim that He was reuniting the twelve tribes around Himself.  The common expectation of the day is that the prophecy of the regathering of the twelve tribes would then be followed by the  destruction and judgement of the nations, the Enemies of Israel.  Jesus turns this expectation on its head when He commands that we judge not, lest we be judged.

What is striking in the Sermon on the Plain is that He makes the focus not the need to rise up and defeat the enemies of Israel, but the need to love Israel’s enemies.  How can the Jews forgive the Romans, and love them?  The point is profound: if you want to be the chosen people you have a high standard to live by  – God’s! “For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners love those who love them.”  To be the people of God they must imitate God:  “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  The people of God will defeat the nations not through violence but by witness to the love of God to such degree that they too will come to worship the God of love.  The generosity and compassion of God is the source and motivation for the ethical deeds of the  new disciple of Jesus.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell