Good Friday

Good Friday 2018:

Jesus, Remember me.  For me, the words of this song open up the deep and hidden meaning of Lent.  We don’t go through our 40 days in the desert, we don’t go through this passion on Good Friday because we think the outcome is in doubt.  We proclaim the resurrection of Christ every day of our lives.  We don’t pretend that Jesus dies again today.  But, we celebrate Good Friday, we remember Jesus’ passion again this year and every year because the process of remembering allows these events to mold and shape our lives.  It’s true that Jesus does not die again each year on Good Friday.  But, it’s also true that remembering Jesus’ death every year on Good Friday gives each one of us a new chance to enter into the powerful mystery of the death of the Son of God.  The yearly remembrance of these mysteries is for our benefit, so that these mysteries can change our lives, change our hearts.

As I mentioned last night, the song Jesus remember me is great for two reasons.  First, the words themselves are the words of one of the most powerful prayers ever recorded in the bible.  The good thief says these words to Jesus and Jesus responds, “today you will be with me in paradise.”  Today we remember Christ’s passion, we remember his death.  One amazing way to enter into this mystery is by making the words of the good thief our own words: Jesus remember me.  We too are dying from our sins and from our crimes, take us with you into paradise.  There is no better day to bring our prayers before the Lord: Today Christ lifts all our prayers with him onto the cross and offers them to the Father along with his life.  So, we pray with boldness: Jesus, remember me.

Second, the song Jesus remember me does a great job of putting us into the story.  Remember, we are not on the sidelines.  The story of the bible is our story, after all.  Walk up to Christ, hanging on the cross.  See the love he has for each and every one of us.  Be there when Jesus takes his last breath and hands over the Holy Spirit to us, his people.  Don’t let the story of Christ’s passion be a history lesson.  Be there and experience it first-hand.

Jesus, remember me is a great song.  Let it live in your hearts today.  It’s a powerful prayer that brings salvation to the singer.  It’s a powerful prayer that allows us to enter the very mysteries we celebrate.  Let these words live in your hearts today as we celebrate the Lord’s Passion on this Good Friday: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday 2018:

Every year when we celebrate these three amazing days of the Triduum, I like to think about these three days as a single continuous event.  I like to see the connection between tonight’s Last Supper Mass, tomorrow’s Passion, and Saturday’s Easter Vigil.  These three days, these three events are like facets in the face of a jewel.  All three allow us to peer into the central mystery.  This mystery is the love of God poured out for us in the death and resurrection of Christ.  This is the mystery of mercy.  And this mystery is celebrated for three straight days, it is renewed at this mass, and at every Mass. 

So, for the next three days, we enter into a powerful kind of remembering.  A couple of weeks back it struck me that remembering is the key to the triduum.  Every year in Lent, we sing Jesus remember me at the end of every mass.  So, not to count, but that means I’ve sung it probably 100+ times if you think about how many times we repeat it.  And you know what?  That song never gets old.  That’s because those words are more than just some song.  Those words are a powerful prayer, and a deep reminder of a profound truth.

First, powerful prayer.  “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  These are the words of the good thief.  He was crucified next to Christ.  He was literally dying because of his crimes and sins.  And yet, he utters these few words to Christ, spoken with deep faith: Jesus, remember me.  Christ says: today you will be with me in paradise.  Amazing!  These words literally saved the eternal life of the good thief.  I heard it said one time that this life-long criminal ended his life with one last theft, by his faith he was able to steal heaven.  It’s an amusing line.  But, it reiterates the power of these words we sing every day.  Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.  We have been speaking these words since Ash Wednesday, and now that we enter the Sacred Triduum, it seems like they become more urgent.  Jesus, tonight as you celebrate the Eucharist for your apostles, as you wash their feet, remember me.  Ok, the music might not fight quite as good.  One thing I love about that song is that it encourages each of us to see ourselves in the story.  Don’t stay on the sidelines of the drama of salvation.  Become an active member of the story: Jesus, wash my feet.  Jesus remember me.  So, first it’s a prayer that puts us into the story.

Second, it’s a reminder of a profound truth.  This is the power of memory.  The power of Christ’s memory brought the good thief to paradise.  So, this prayer asks Christ to remember us as well.  But, even more, it reminds us of the importance of remembering these events every year.  From a certain surface level understanding, we might scoff at our yearly observances of the paschal mystery.  We all recognize that the Last Supper took place 2000+ years ago.  The cynic might say: that’s simply an old event.  But, this negates the great power of memory.  For Catholics, memory does not simply transport our minds back to past events.  Rather, memory brings these past events into our dynamic present.  This is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.  So, when we gather tonight to celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s supper, it’s not a history lesson.  Rather, it gives each of us a chance to enter into this great event, not in the past, but in the present.  So, maybe we can add another verse: Jesus remember me, as I remember you.

So, tonight we peer into the mystery of the mercy of God and see Jesus kneeling down to wash the feet of his disciples, Jesus celebrates the first Eucharist with his apostles, then he commissions them, go and do likewise.  Our remembrance of this Last Supper is a powerful entrance into these events again.  Tonight, Jesus Christ kneels down to wash the feet of his disciples, 12 parishioners will come forward to participate in the foot-washing ceremony.  Tonight, Jesus Christ will break the bread and feed us with his body and blood right here at this altar.  At this mass, and at every mass, we will learn of the deep mercy, love and compassion of Christ.  We will remember it in such a way that it becomes real and concrete here and now in our own lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

My friends, I would deeply encourage each one of you to spend some time exercising this powerful function of memory.  We do this every year because the process of memory is powerful and it can change our hearts and our lives.  Pray that the Holy Spirit will make these events a lasting part of your life.  Tonight, hear Jesus saying to each one of us: I have given you an example, go and do likewise.  Remember the example of Christ.  Allow it to shape you lives.  Make these days a time of prayer.  Especially, continue to pray these three days: Jesus remember me, as I remember you.

The days are coming...

5^th Sunday of Lent year B 2018:

Well, my friends, we are entering into the very last part of Lent now.  These last two weeks are often referred to as “passiontide”.  These two weeks are an intense time of reflection upon the death of Christ so that we can fully grasp and appreciate his glorious resurrection.

You notice that our readings are really drawing our attention to what is coming up in the near future.  The first reading we hear “the days are coming when I will make a new covenant.”  We know that the new covenant is the promise of love and salvation from God that is sealed with the blood of the new Lamb, Jesus Christ.  When we look at the cross, when we reflect on Christ’s saving passion, we see the promise of the Father’s love.  This is how much God loves us: he loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for all of us.  Indeed, the days are coming when we will celebrate this blessed passion.  But, we also call our attention to the days when Christ will come again, when this New Covenant is fulfilled with eternal life.

Jesus calls our attention to his upcoming hour as well: the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.  Interesting to think about the passion of Christ as the moment of his glory.  In some ways it’s quite ironic.  The moment that he looks the weakest, the most abandoned, the farthest from human glory is his moment on the cross.  But, the moment when he shows his divine power, the moment where he is most in communion with God’s will for our salvation, the moment he receives the greatest glory is the moment he offers his life for the salvation of the world.  It’s amazing how big the difference is between these two perspectives on the same event.  Jesus Christ dies on the cross.  From a human perspective, it was a great defeat.  From the divine perspective, it is a great triumph.  Same event, two very different impressions.

So, this is why I think it is so important for us to spend the next two weeks reflecting intensely upon the passion of Christ.  Because we have all heard this story so many times, we forget just how amazing a story this really is.  Jesus suffered, he died.  He did it for us.  Because of this sacrifice, he has opened the door for our salvation. 

I would like to recommend two beautiful devotions that you could try these two weeks to help you reflect upon the passion of Christ.  First, there are the stations of the cross.  This afternoon we will pray the stations throughout the neighborhood.  We also have the stations at 1:00 and 6:30 on Friday.  But, you can pray these anytime either by stopping in here at church, or by praying these at home.  I still remember that as a child we used to pray the stations in our living room as a family.  Each child took a turn reading the reflections on the stations.  I really like the stations devotion.  I find that reflecting on these 14 events in the life of Christ really helps me to understand all that Christ did to save us. 

The other devotion that I would recommend is the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary.  The more I pray the rosary, the more I find it an amazing prayer.  The five sorrowful mysteries encompass the suffering of Christ, but I also think that all human suffering can be found in these mysteries.  The agony of the garden represents all emotional and spiritual turmoil.  The scourging of the pillar represents all suffering we receive from others.  The crowing of thorns represents all pain as a result of sarcasm and mockery.  The carrying of the cross represents chronic and long-term suffering, daily struggles.  The crucifixion represents all suffering associated with death.  It seems like all human suffering fits in there somewhere.  So, when you pray the sorrowful mysteries you can find a place to unite your own sufferings to that of Christ.

Reflecting on the passion of Christ is a wonderful spiritual exercise.  He called it his hour of glory.  Therefore, it is a very fruitful place to spend some time.  Make time these next two weeks to reflect on the passion.  Use the stations or the sorrowful mysteries as a way to enter into the very sufferings of Christ.  We heard today: son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.  How much more for us?  We too will learn obedience to God’s will through our own sufferings and by reflecting on the sufferings of Christ.

The light of the world

4^th Sunday of Lent Year B 2018:

Now, you might be wondering why I am wearing rose colored vestments this week.  This is known as Laetare Sunday, which comes from the opening antiphon, it means: rejoice.  Just like in Advent when we wear rose vestments on the third Sunday of Advent, the rose is a reminder of the joy that awaits us at the end of this penitential season.  I think this is an important point.  I mean, I hope you have had a great season of Lent.  I hope it has been a time for growth in your spiritual life because of your practices of self-denial.  But, there is a point to this whole thing, right?  Lent is not an annual season of self-flagellation.  Rather, it’s a chance to grow and renew our lives so that we can celebrate the feast of our redemption with great joy.  So, even though this is a season of self-denial, it is a season of joy.

In fact, all of Christian life should be filled with joy.  Why?  God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, so that we might have life.  There is a reason why this one of the most famous lines in the whole Bible.  It is so filled with love and hope that it makes us joyful: God loves us.  Anytime we think about Jesus, we should always remember that he is the proof of God’s love. 

So, even during this season of Lent, even during these days in our “desert” we are filled with joy.  Why?  Because God loves us.  But, I would like to call your attention to the rest of the reading.  I mean, it can be easy for us to pay attention to the beginning of this passage and to miss the rest of it.  But, I find it really interesting, and a great help as to understand what we are doing during the season of Lent.

St. John puts things in terms of light and dark.  These are powerful metaphors.  And we have all experienced them before.  We know what it means to be in the light and to be in the dark.  I remember going on a youth trip one time where we stopped off at a cave down in Kentucky somewhere.  During part of the tour, when we were well underground, the tour guide said: “ok, now we will give you a chance to experience pure darkness.”  They turned out the lights.  And, I’m telling you, unless you’ve had this kind of experience, you don’t know what it means to have pure darkness.  Whether my eyes were opened or closed, it made no difference.  There was absolutely no light.  After about 4 tenths of a second of pure darkness, I was getting freaked out.  Luckily they didn’t leave the lights off for too long.

This is the kind of darkness that John is talking about when describing humanity after sin.  The fall of our first parents removed us from God’s presence.  This fall led humanity out of the light and into the darkness.  The darkness is a place without hope, a place without joy.  The dark is full of fear, anxiety, hopelessness.   But, God did not leave us in the darkness.  He sent Christ to be the light of the world.  And yet, some people prefer to remain in the darkness.

Why would anyone want to stay in the darkness?  The light is always way better than the darkness.  I couldn’t get out of that cave fast enough.  But, imagine if you lived in that cave your whole life?  The outside might seem scary.  That bright sun might seem like too much.  The same is true of Christ.  Having gotten so used to sin, holiness can seem scary.  It might seem scary to try to follow Christ, to give up the comfort of our darkness, our sins and our selfishness.  St. John’s words are still true today: some have preferred the darkness. 

This is why Lent is so great.  It’s a chance for us to venture out into the light.  It is a time for us to consciously and specifically look at the darkness in our lives.  I’m sure each one of us is guilty of preferring the darkness to the light at times in our lives.  But, the light is always way better than the darkness.  So, let’s look to Christ, the light of the world.  He came to lead us out of darkness and into God’s wonderful light.