Have a great summer everyone! As you probably remember, I am in the process of studying to become a Canon Lawyer for the diocese. So Tuesday I will leave for Washington, D.C. to study at the Catholic University of America. I hope you all have a blessed summer and I will see you when I get back. If I get the chance I'll put some stuff on the blog about my studies in D.C.
God Bless,
Fr Jake
As a priest there are many interesting things I get to do, saying Mass, hearing confessions, visiting Marian, coaching the golf team, etc. But, one of my favorites is teaching at St. Matt's school. Every Thursday at 8:00 I get to teach the 7th grade. One of the things I do is to help them prepare for confirmation. I really enjoy this work of preparing people for confirmation because every year I get the chance to reflect on my own confirmation, which is a sacrament that we probably don't spend much time thinking about.
But maybe today, Pentecost, is a good day for all of us to reflect a bit upon the great gift of the Holy Spirit that we received at our own confirmation. If you think about it, the sacrament of confirmation is for us the event of Pentecost in our own lives. Those of us who are confirmed already have received the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit. While the Holy Spirit may not have come upon us in the form of tongues of fire, without question, the Spirit certainly came upon us.
And just as an aside, if there are any adults here who for whatever reason were not confirmed, you might be interested to know that every year there is an adult confirmation here at the Cathedral, I would greatly recommend that you contact the rectory about being confirmed next year if you haven't received this important sacrament. And confirmation is an important sacrament, it is Pentecost in the life of every believer since the time of Jesus. So, if we reflect a bit on the event of Pentecost we will gain an insight into the gift of the Holy Spirit we received at confirmation.
First, notice the state of the Apostles at the time before the coming of the Holy Spirit. In the gospel we hear that they were locked in the upper room out of fear. In this part of John's gospel, Mary Magdalene had already told the disciples that Jesus was alive, but they hadn't seen him for themselves. I don't know about you, but this gives me comfort: it is ok to have some fears, doubts, and anxieties about the faith, it happened to the Apostles! What is it that takes away fear? Jesus says: Receive the Holy Spirit. My friends, we received the same Holy Spirit on the day of our confirmation. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives that will confirm our faith, make it strong, give us the courage to believe in Christ. The first movement of the Spirit is to take away our fears and to firm up our faith. But, the Holy Spirit is not simply inward looking, the Spirit looks to take us out into the world.
After the Spirit comes upon the Apostles they go out and proclaim the Good News. The gift of the Holy Spirit is so powerful that it cannot stay bottled up inside one person. When we receive the gift of the Spirit, when the Holy Spirit dwells within us, it drives us to share this gift with others. Notice it says that those who received the gift of the Holy Spirit were able to speak in tongues. You might ask: why doesn't that happen anymore? It does: the Church can speak in all the tongues and languages of the earth because there are those who have received the Holy Spirit in all countries, everywhere across the world. You too are called to speak in tongues, because there are people in the world who will only listen to you, maybe not simply by what you say, but also by what you do. There are people out there who are starving for Christ and will find him through you. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, because without the Holy Spirit there would be no Church, and there would be no mass. It is the Spirit that brings us together today, it is the Spirit that breathed into the authors of the Sacred Scripture we read together at Mass, it is by the Power of the Holy Spirit that bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ, it is the Spirit that fills us here at Holy Mass, but it is also the Spirit that accompanies us when we leave this Mass. Just like those first disciples, when we leave this Holy Mass we are empowered by God to carry forth the Good News to the entire world.
5th Sunday of Easter 2012:
Our seminarian Matt received a care package the other day from a school in the diocese. Inside this package there were some handmade cards from the school children. One of these cards had a line dividing the front in two. On one half of the card there was a beautiful grape vine that was lush and green with leaves and large clusters of grapes. The other side was not so good, it was drawn with a gray marker, there was no green, no leaves, and no grapes. There was a caption on both sides. On the left side it said: with God and prayerJ. The right side says without God and following the devilL. What wisdom from this little kid!
Did you ever stop to think about the Christian message? In the popular presentation of the faith emphasis is always placed on difficult truths of the faith, and there are many: Christianity is a life of sacrifice, suffering, and difficulty at times. We would never deny this! Christianity is a life of imitation of Jesus, who sacrificed himself for the good of the world. Christians therefore must deny themselves, take up the cross and follow after Christ. If anyone tries to sell another kind of Christianity, beware! There can be no Christianity without the Cross. But if we simply acknowledge the difficulties of Christianity we might forget why we carry these crosses in the first place. Jesus says today in the gospel: whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. This is the simple truth of Christianity: without Christ we can do nothing, without him there is no joy, no hope, no blessedness. Without Christ we are dead branches, there is no fruit without Christ. But with him there is joy, love, peace, communion. Sure, Christianity includes sacrifice, self-denial, suffering, and the cross. But, as St. Paul said, we must consider these things as nothing when we behold the glory that awaits. Truly, following God means life and fruitfulness, not following God and being with the devil means death and barrenness.
St. John tells us what this looks like in the 2nd reading: Children let us love not in word and speech, but in deed and truth. Wow, that really tells it like it is: if we want to be at peace, if we want to have joy and fruitfulness, if we want a life of Christian happiness, the path is one of love, not simply in what we say, but in how we live.
Now this might be a bit daunting: this gets us back to that cross: if it were easy to love in deed and in truth we wouldn't need this command would we? But, it can be difficult to love, to lay our lives down for others, to sacrifice and to overcome temptation. We know our sins make us miserable, we know that following God makes us healthy and happy; but, how do we overcome those sins?
Think again about the vine analogy. Jesus is the vine we are the branches. When we stay connected with Jesus his life flows through us, and when his life flows through us so does his strength and goodness. When the love of Christ flows through us we become loving, when the goodness of Christ flows through us we become good and holy. If we are not attached to Christ we wither and die, but attached to him we grow and thrive. This happens for me no more powerfully than in this Holy Eucharist. When we receive Communion the life of Christ flows into us. We are no more fully united to Jesus than here at this altar. Here we are in the presence of Christ, we are in the presence of the vine and we find in him life, goodness, truth, strength, and joy. Christianity includes sacrifice, suffering, and self-denial, but there is no other way to peace, joy, life, and fruitfulness. Indeed there are only 2 choices: being with God, which gives us life and joy; not following God and being with the devil which causes us pain, sadness, barrenness and leads to emptiness and death. When considered in this way, there is only one choice: whoever remains in me and I in you will bear much fruit, because without me, Jesus says, you can do nothing.
3rd Sunday of Easter 2012:
We continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. The resurrection is vital to our faith, vital to Christianity. It should be vital to each of us personally. Because in the person of Christ raised from the dead we see our hope for eternal life, we see the source of our joy, and the inspiration for following the commandments. If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then our faith is in vain, St. Paul said so long ago. But, our faith is not in vain, Jesus is raised from the dead. St. Peter says it so well today in our first reading: the author of life was put to death, but God raised him from the dead, of this we are witnesses.
These 50 days of Easter is a time to reflect on the resurrection, a gift to us from the Church as a way to bolster our faith. Perhaps when we reflect on this good news we are bit like those first disciples? Jesus makes his presence known to them and what is their reaction: they are startled and terrified! Jesus says: Peace be with you, and the response is terror. I can almost hear Jesus: gee thanks you guys, I rise from the dead and it terrifies you? Yes, and for several reasons. First, the resurrection is hard to believe, usually when people die, they stay dead. To see Jesus walking and talking would be terrifying because this is not what usually happens. Also, they might be afraid because their record is shaky: they had just betrayed and abandoned Jesus. Third, they might have been terrified because of the implications of Jesus resurrection: if Jesus is raised from the dead, then he is truly who he said he was, and if he is truly who he said he was then they had to listen to him, they had to be like him, they had to lay their lives down the way that he laid his down for them. No wonder the disciples were terrified. But, what takes away their fear? They had an experience of the risen Jesus, they saw him face to face, they touched his body, they saw that the resurrection was not just some spiritual ideal, not just an idea about Jesus; rather, the resurrection was a plain and simple fact: Jesus is truly risen from the dead.
We might be filled with those same terrors when we reflect on the resurrection this Easter season. The resurrection is hard to believe: do we really believe that this man, Jesus, died, was buried, but rose on the third day. Can we believe this, do we believe this? These questions might fill us with doubt, terror.
We might be ashamed of all our sins and weaknesses. When we think about the risen Christ, his holiness and purity, if we think that Jesus is with us at all times, we might be afraid and ashamed: who am I to be in the presence of Christ.
We too might be afraid of the implications, if Jesus is truly raised, if he really is who he said he was, if he is not just some ancient character in an old book, but if he is truly raised doesn't that change everything. Wouldn't we have to change our lives if Jesus is really and truly raised from the dead? Maybe there is something we are holding on to that we don't want to let go of, maybe we would rather not be Christ's disciples… But, if, like those early disciples, we have an experience of the risen Jesus our fears and anxieties will disappear, we will gladly follow Jesus because we will see in him the truth of our existence.
Just like those first disciples we draw near to Christ in his body and blood. Right here on this altar we see Jesus, maybe not in the same form as those apostles, but no less Christ. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, because it is Jesus. No wonder the priest says before communion: the peace of the Lord be with you always. Reflecting on the resurrection may fill us with some doubts and terrors, but if we follow God's commands and draw close to Christ in the holy Eucharist we will see Jesus, we will know him, and he will fill us with his peace.
Today is the most important day of the year, because today we remember the most important day in the history of the world. Today we remember the most important event in human history. Today we celebrate the feast of Easter. We recall that day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. By his rising from the dead, Christ destroys sin and death forever. He liberates us from our captivity. He gives to each of us the promise of everlasting life. In the resurrection we see the great victory of Christ our hero.
The resurrection is the most important event in human history, but it should also be the most important event in our lives as individuals, because the resurrection is the center of our faith and our source of meaning. Everything that the Catholic Church teaches is held together by the resurrection. We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, this is shown most clearly when he rises from the dead. In the resurrection of Christ we see the promise of eternal life for each of us, because if Jesus is raised from the dead then we believe that he will raise us as well. All the doctrines of the Church become easy to believe if we first believe in the resurrection.
And, second, if we believe in the resurrection of Christ this event will lend new meaning to our lives. It is a certain fact that we experience much pain and suffering in this life. We experience physical and emotional pain, we experience sickness, we experience grief, sadness, loneliness, and worst of all we experience death. However, in the heart of each human person there is a subtle rebellion against these experiences. Somewhere deep down we fight against pain, sadness, loneliness, and death. Deep within the human person is an unsettling feeling that this isn't right: we are not supposed to suffer, we are not supposed to die. If we believe that human existence is nothing more than pure chance, then our existence is quite absurd. If death is simply a part of life, then our dissatisfaction with suffering and death simply leads to a kind of meaninglessness, because our lives are empty. This is the sad state of affairs for those who do not believe in Christ. But, for those of us who do believe in the resurrection, we see everything differently don't we? When Jesus rises from the dead, he changes everything. No longer does suffering, pain, hardship, and death have the last word. These things had plenty to say on Good Friday, when Christ suffered and died. But, he silenced them forever by rising today. So when we suffer, when we grieve, when we are lonely, or in pain we look to that empty tomb and see in the resurrection of Christ an end to pain, suffering, and death.
But, the resurrection of Jesus cannot remain simply an historical event, because a merely historical event will not give us meaning and direction. Rather, our faith in the resurrection must come from an experience with the risen Christ. Look at St. Peter for example. Just 3 days ago he denied our Lord 3 times, but today we read about him preaching the truth to thousands: what changed? He experienced Christ risen from the dead. What about us? Can we see Jesus? The empty tomb is Good News. The empty tomb means that Jesus is no longer bound by time and space. The empty tomb means that Jesus is available and present to all believers. We might not see Jesus the way St. Peter saw him, but we can indeed meet Jesus in our lives because he is no longer in that tomb, he is risen.
We see this most clearly when we come here to this altar, when we celebrate this holy Eucharist we see the Risen Christ. Now it is true that we see him in another mode, we don't see him exactly as those early disciples did, but it is no less real, no less true. Jesus Christ, the one risen from the dead, comes to us each and every time we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. It is this experience of the risen Christ that fills us with joy, that fills us with Easter faith. Christ is truly risen: alleluia, alleluia.
5th Sunday of Lent 2012:
Today we hear of the raising of Lazarus. We see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel: Jesus is opening the graves of the dead and calling Lazarus to come out. This reading is one of the more popular readings for funeral masses. Whenever I die, this is the reading I want read at the funeral. This story has an amazing way of capturing the human experience with death. We can all sympathize with the sisters: Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died. This captures well the pain and anguish that we go through when we encounter the death of someone we love: God why did you let this happen? But, Martha follows it with a wonderful statement of faith: I know my brother will rise on the last day. This is a perfect summary of our faith in Christ. We know that Christ has power over death. We know that through his own death and resurrection, Christ has set us free. We know that all those who believe in him will never die. This is our faith. So while we might question why God would allow suffering and death, our faith fills us with hope, not only for our deceased loved ones, but for ourselves as well. And who cannot help but be moved by hearing about our Savior weeping with the family. I find this to be a powerful consolation in difficult times. Christ is right there with us. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but he is not distant or aloof. Rather, Christ is right beside us in good times and in bad times.
So for all these reasons, this gospel makes a wonderful reading at funerals. But, today we read this in a different context. Today we will celebrate the 3rd rite of scrutiny for our elect. I find it interesting that the Church has given us this reading for those about to be baptized. First, it is important to see in Jesus the one who has power over death. All of the catechumen should see in Jesus our savior, the one who can give us eternal life. Surely, this is an important reason as to why they are coming to baptism. But, I want us to think a bit about Lazarus. We see that Lazarus dies, is called out by Jesus, and then lives again. I cannot help but see this as a symbol for baptism. Even since the time of St. Paul, baptism is seen as a little death. If we have died with Christ, we shall live with Christ. Just as Lazarus was buried in the tomb, our catechumens will be buried in the tomb of baptism. Then, when they are washed free of their sins, Christ will call them forward from the tomb. He will order the burial clothes of their old way of life removed, and Jesus will set these catechumens free to live a new kind of life.
Of course, those of us who are baptized already should see ourselves as having died to our former way of life. We have been freed by our Savior. We are dead to sin, and alive in Christ.
4th Sunday of Lent 2012:
Laetare Sunday is one of the 2 Sundays during the Church year where we don pink, or if you prefer Rose, colored vestments. We do so as a way to mark the fact that while we are still in Lent, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The word Laetare comes from the entrance antiphon from today's Mass: Rejoice Jerusalem. So even though we are in the midst of a penitential season, a season that began with the somber reminder that we are dust and to dust we shall return, the Church is reminding us to be joyful. Remember that joy is not the same thing as bubbly enthusiasm. Rather, joy is the peace of heart that comes from a relationship with Christ our Savior. Joy comes from faith in the gospel of Christ.
So, in a way, Laetare Sunday is meant to be a bit of a pick-me-up. I don't know about you, but I'm sort of getting tired of Lent by this time. I wish I could have some sweets! I miss singing the A word during Mass. I'm about ready to be done with all this Penance. This Laetare Sunday is the Church's way of saying that Lent can be long and hard, but that we practice penance as a way to prepare ourselves to celebrate the joys of Easter. It is a time to purify our intentions, to regroup and refocus our penance for the final push to Easter. If we have lost our enthusiasm for Penance today is a day to regain it.
What a beautiful reading the Church gives us to renew our enthusiasm for Christ, only most famous passage in the Bible: John 3:16 God so loved the world. And one of my personal favorites: John 3:17 Jesus did not come to condemn but to save. These two passages form, in many ways, the very heart of the gospel. God loves the world and he sent Jesus here to save the world, to save each one of us. This is truly a remarkable statement, especially to people who may think that God is aloof and distant; rather, God loves us and sent Jesus to save us. Hopefully this moves our hearts with love for God. To hear the Good News of salvation should move us to want to accept it. To hear about God's love for us should move us to love him in return.
But there is one important feature to today's gospel we cannot neglect. Sure, John 3:16 and John 3:17 form the heart of the gospel, namely God's love, but listen again to how this love makes itself known: Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the son of man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Love is manifested in the cross. God so loved the world that he sent Jesus not to condemn but to save, but this love comes to us precisely in the suffering and death of Jesus.
This gets me back to the season of Lent. Lent is a time of struggle, a time of purification, a time of penance. Lent is a time of sacrifice, of self-denial, of almsgiving. Lent is a time to enter into the sufferings of Christ. And, it is precisely through our suffering, our penance and self-denial, that we enter into the suffering of Christ, and in this way we are prepared to enter into the great Joy of Christ at Easter.
In our own lives we live out the paschal mystery, namely that God loves the world, he sends Jesus to save us, Jesus shows this love on the Cross, which leads to the resurrection, which fills the world with Joy. Love leads to joy, but it gets there by way of the cross. Hopefully our lives are motivated by love for God, and don't we want to share forever in the joys of the resurrection in the kingdom of God? But we too get there through suffering, we too get there through the cross. Our love for God will lead to the joy of Easter, but only by going through this season of Lent, which is how a season of penance is lived as a season of Joy. We are getting close to Easter, no wonder the church reminds us to rejoice.
Today we hear the 10 commandments. Hopefully we all have these commandments memorized. They provide a guide in the moral life. I know that most of us make use of the sacrament of Confession during the season of Lent. The 10 commandments give a wonderful examination of conscience and a way to prepare for the reception of God's mercy.
But, these 10 commandments are often misunderstood. I think we all know what the commandments ask, but do we understand why? The commands are easy to teach: you shall do this, and you shall not do this and this… But, they can be hard to follow. Often times these 10 commandments can become a burden, they can seem oppressive. For some people it might be sufficient to simply know about the commands in order to fulfill them. But, for many of us we need a better explanation. I know when I was a kid I would ask my parents for something: Mom, can I go to the neighbor's house? She would say, "no." I would say, "Why?" She would say, "because I said so." Now, I always listened to my Mom, but I was never satisfied with that answer, I always wanted a fuller explanation. The same is true of these commands, why should we follow them?
Listen again to the first line: I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt. The people have a special relationship with God, which began with his intervention in their lives. Here is what God says a chapter earlier in Exodus: Exodus 19:4-6 You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagle wings and brought you here to myself. 5 Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. So, the Lord had done amazing things for them and he chose them to be his special possession if they do what? Follow the commandments. The commandments do not drop out of heaven. Rather, the commandments always come in context: God first chooses Israel, he frees them from slavery, he leads them through the desert, and he initiates a special permanent relationship with them by covenant. The commandments then serve as a guide for the people: if you want to be my people, if you want to love me in return for everything I have done for you, follow these guides. If we ever ask the question "why" when it comes to the 10 commandments, the answer is Love. God first loves us, following the commands is the way we love God in return.
The whole moral life is a life of love. It begins with God's love and ends with us loving God. This is why Paul preached the way he did, he says: we proclaim Christ crucified. That's because on the cross we see love as he gives himself to us. This is why the cross is at the absolute center of Christianity, this is why the cross should be at the center of our lives. Because the Cross, and the great love that it shows, is the source of Christianity and the inspiration needed to follow the commands. If we see the moral life and its commands as arbitrary rules imposed on us from above, they will always be a burden. But if we see them as a way to return a tremendous love, they become a joy.
I think that many of us probably find ourselves somewhere in between. The laws are not a terrible burden, but they are not quite a joy either. Perhaps, like the Temple at the time of Jesus, we are in need of some cleansing. Our hearts need to be purified so that we can love Christ more fully. Jesus is waiting for our invitation. If we let him, Christ will come into our hearts and cleanse them the way he did in the temple. Jesus knows us very well, as St John says, Jesus did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well. He knows our hearts, he knows our struggles and our temptations, but if we open our hearts to him, he will lead us down the pathway of love.
2nd Sunday Lent 2012:
If God is for us, who can be against us. Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos. This was the motto of my seminary, the Pontifical College Josephinum. So over my years there I had many opportunities to reflect on these words: If God is for us, who can be against. Truly, God is for us. Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that God is out to get us, that he is waiting to condemn us. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God is for us, and the cross is the proof.
Our readings today help us to understand more fully the great mystery of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Today's transfiguration story shows forth the glory of Christ, the son of God. In the presence of his disciples he is changed, he shines forth in his glory appearing with Elijah and Moses, God's heavenly prophets. The voice of the Father can be heard: this is my beloved Son. This passage of Mark's gospel helps to set the stage for what is to follow: this is Christ, the son of God, the beloved. And, it is precisely this son who will be persecuted, it is this son who will be arrested, mocked, scourged, tortured, and crucified. The son of God, who today is arrayed in glory, will soon be covered in sweat and blood. The son of God who today shines forth on the mountain top will be buried in a tomb. We should see a great tension in all of this: there is a huge disparity between who Christ is and the death he suffers. He is the source of life, and he was put to death.
Yet, this is how we know that God is for us. Jesus is his only beloved Son, but just like Abraham, he does not withhold his son, but rather is willing to sacrifice him. Abraham showed his love for God in his offering of Isaac, and God shows his love for us in the sacrifice of Christ. This is why Paul can say what he does: if God is for us, who can be against us. God does not look to condemn us; rather, he sent his son to save us. The cross shows the lengths that God is willing to go in order to bring us salvation. So, if we ever wonder if God can forgive our sins, look at the Cross. Perhaps we think that there isn't enough mercy for us, look at the Cross. Because today as we ponder the transfiguration of Jesus we get a glimpse into who Christ is: the beloved son of God. And we remember that it is precisely this son who was given for us. God's love and mercy is more amazing than we can possible imagine, for he sent his son Jesus to suffer and die so that we might live.
As we contemplate this great love, aren't we moved to respond? How do we love God in return for such a great love? Listen again to the voice of the Father: this is my beloved Son, listen to him. Listen to Jesus. Do we hear his voice? Are we attentive to the ways Christ speaks to us? It is certainly true that we have many "Transfiguration" type moments in our lives. I'm sure we can remember some time when God seemed to break through and reveal himself to us. Those are great times to listen to Christ.
But we do not stay on that mountain, we cannot build those booths, tempting as it may be. Rather, we come down the mountain, we return to our normal lives, with Jesus walking beside us in more hidden ways. But that doesn't mean that Jesus stops speaking to us. Jesus speaks to us through Holy Scripture, through the voice of the Magisterium of the Church, he speaks to us in our hearts and minds in our prayer. Here at this Mass Jesus speaks to us in the liturgy of the Word, and he comes to us in His Blessed Sacrament. As we draw closer to the Cross of Christ during this season of Lent, we listen to the voice of Christ. His message is always the same: God loves you, and wants to bring you salvation, life, hope, and peace. For truly, if God is for us, who can be against us.
1st Sunday of Lent:
Today in the gospel we hear the rallying cry of the whole season of Lent: repent and believe in the gospel. Today we hear the very first words from the mouth of Jesus. These are the first words he speaks as he begins his ministry in Mark's gospel. So I cannot help but believe that they must have formed the heart of his message. In a sense these words are the core of the Christian message. Repent and believe.
I don't think it is accidental that these two commands are given together: repent and believe. I don't think it is possible to do one without the other. First, repent is certainly on our minds during the season of Lent. While it is important to move away from sin all year long, Lent seems like a perfect opportunity to do some real soul-searching. I truly believe that God pours grace upon his church in the season of Lent like no other time of year. It is truly a season of conversion, of repentance. I find it inspiring that the whole church is doing the same thing. Right now all of us are supposed to be looking into our hearts and acknowledging our faults. This can be a painful and humbling thing to do, but I take comfort in the fact that we are all doing it together. And, what do we find when we search our hearts and examine our consciences? We find that we are all sinners. Sorry, but we are all weak and we are all fragile, we all commit sin, we all have need for repentance. If you searched your heart and conscience and found no sin you either need to look harder, or you are a canonizable saint. Although one thing the saints seem to have in common is that they all recognized themselves as sinners. For example, St. John Vianney, who is the patron saint of priests, was renowned for his holiness and simplicity of life. He was also known to spend 14 hours per day hearing confessions. Another priest once asked him why he was so popular: why are you such a great confessor? St. John Vianney said if he was a great confessor it was only because he was a great sinner. We are all sinners. So, we recognize that we are sinners, now what? Repentance means that we need to turn away from our sins, but this is easier said than done. Haven't I just been saying that we are all sinners; we are all weak and frail. Don't you think if we could move away from sin on our own, we would do it?
This is where the second part of Jesus' message comes in. Repent, yes, but believe in the gospel. And what is the gospel: God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son so that all those who believe in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. Or as our reading from St. Peter's letter today puts it: Christ suffered for sins so that he might lead you to God. Jesus came to help us, to heal us. He knows we are sinners, he knows we are weak and frail. But, Jesus was not sent to condemn the world, Jesus came to save the world. But, he never takes away our freedom. Salvation is certainly a free gift from Christ, but he gives it to those who look for it.
So, repentance and faith go hand in hand. By repentance we realize we need a savior. In faith, we recognize that Christ is that savior. By faith we realize that sin is an obstacle to our relationship with Christ, by repentance we identify these obstacles and seek their removal. Repentance without faith seems hopeless, but faith without repentance seems empty. The two must always go together in our lives because they came together from Christ. 2000 years ago Jesus preached the good news and today as we come forward to receive Christ in this Holy Eucharist on this first Sunday of Lent he tells us the same thing: repent and believe in the gospel.
