Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent: Ezekiel Sees Water

God sent Abraham to what was to become the Holy Land, where his grandson Jacob’s descendants, children of Jacob’s twelve sons, became slaves for four hundred years, until God directed Moses to lead his people back to the Promised Land. God preserved his Chosen People in order to reveal to all the nations his power and mercy, but the Nation of Israel offered him impure worship and neglected the needy, so God punished the nation with exile into Assyria, and then Babylon. It was in Babylon that God chose the Levitical priest Ezekiel to be his prophet. Exercising the office of prophet, Ezekiel told the people they must return to pure worship and to care for the needy, so that God could demonstrate his power and mercy through his pure and generous nation.
In today’s selection from the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet speaks of living water and a deadly sea. The living water flows from the Jerusalem Temple, and it flows into the Dead Sea, which, due to its lack of an outlet to the oceans, has poisonous levels of salinity. The living waters flowing into the Dead Sea give life to those who drink from them, while those who remain in the sea itself die.
Christ is the new Temple, and from him flows the sacramental mercy that gives life to those dead in sin. If we move away from sin and towards the sacramental Blood and Water flowing from his side on the Cross, we will live. Christ’s life itself flowed from his dramatic encounters in the Temple towards the Cross of his death, fulfilling and perfecting the prophecies of Ezekiel. Christ is the river flowing from the Temple into death, that the dead might have life. From the Cross he descended into death, rising again to pave the way for all those baptized into his passion and death.
So, let us stop poisoning ourselves with the deadly waters of the world and instead drink the truth and sacraments of Jesus Christ. The waters of Christ, flowing in the Church, will never fail us, and no force on Earth or under the Earth can disturb them.
“There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High. God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed…”

Pope Benedict Teaches Us About Saint Joseph

Fourth Sunday of Lent: Feeding the Multitude

Our Lord asked much of his apostles. He asked them to leave behind their former lives, even their work and families, to follow him. He would later leave them the great task of healing the sick, expelling demons, teaching the truth and administering salvation to the whole world.
Our Lord asked much also of all his followers. Christians must not commit lust even in our hearts, couples must never divorce, we must love even our enemies and strangers, those who are able must sell their belongings and care for the poor. Christians must find ways to live in the world without becoming part of the world.
There are times when, with the enthusiasm of the young, we say ‘yes’ to all Christ commands and offers. But then, not long after, we fall, failing in our Christian duties. Many baptized Christians today have simply abandoned the Faith because they find its demands too hard to fulfill. We speak now of a “post-Christian” Europe, for example. There are in our day large numbers of priests who’ve abandoned the sacred ministry, religious who’ve left their convents, couples who’ve left their spouses, all because they realized that they were unable to fulfill the demands of the Faith.
Why did the crowds follow Christ up that mountain in today’s Gospel account? Who wouldn’t follow a man with the power to heal the sick and distribute free food to everyone? Men who promise free health and wealth are made kings in our world. But Christ was offering them something more. He was offering them the grace to follow him in virtue and the reward of eternal salvation.
Whoever chooses to follow Christ in virtue has the promise of divine assistance, and even divine mercy when we fail. The miraculous feeding of the multitudes was not the beginning of a new social welfare program, but a sign of Christ’s power to assist us in our efforts to follow him into Heaven.
The road to Heaven is uphill and hard, and, indeed, too much for us. But although Christ will neither force us up the hill nor carry us up, he will feed us his truth and himself along the way, helping us back on our feet when we falter. Our best effort is only a few loaves and fishes, but when we give him all we have, Christ gives us all he has, and then we can do anything together. The road to heaven is too much for us, but with Christ, we can make it.
The trouble many Christians and fallen-away Christians have is that we try to be Christian without Christ, or with only Christ but giving nothing themselves. But we must give God all we have, all our loaves and fishes, and he will turn our lives into miracles for the sake of the Kingdom.

De Dannan: "Barn Dances", at Dublin Philharmonic

Friday in the Third Week of Lent: Marriage, Separation and Reconcilliation

The Book of the Prophet Hosea describes the prophet’s happy wedding to his wife, then her infidelity to him and their resulting separation, and finally their happy reunification.
The ups and downs of the prophet’s marriage describes the up and downs of God’s marriage to his nation Israel. They were happy together after God liberated the nation from Egyptian slavery, but then came many years of infidelity on the part of God’s chosen people.
Specifically, the people were guilty of three kinds of infidelity to God: domestic, foreign and sexual. The nation relied upon her own military strategies rather than upon the strength of God, upon foreign alliances rather than upon her exclusive covenant with God and upon the fertility demons (e.g. Ba’al) rather than upon the generosity of God.
Therefore, God was preparing to separate himself from his people, an action symbolized by the names Hosea gave his three children, indicating that God would punish (Jezreel), without pity (Lo’ruhama), his unfaithful bride, whom he would no longer even acknowledge as his spouse (Lo’ammi).
But just as in the prophet’s marriage to Gomer, God’s marriage to Israel had hope. God impored, “Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt.” Marriage is for life, so when a spouse is unfaithful, falling into the arms of another, that spouse cannot stand up in virtue, but only collapse. To again stand upright requires reconciliation.
The nation was told to return to God with words, powerful words indeed, words worth remembering for our own use. The nation was to say to God, "Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls. Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; We shall say no more, 'Our god,' to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion."
God promised his nation, this “daughter of Israel”, “I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them. I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.”
Please read the Book of Hosea during these remaining days of Lent.

Organizing Against Evil

A good response to a great evil is developing in the parish where I was first assigned as a priest ten years ago. Abortion provider Planned Parenthood of Middle and East Tennessee has opened a new satellite health center in Johnson City, Tenn. at 409 E. Unaka Ave. It is open to patients on Mondays 9:30 am – 3 pm. Planned Parenthood seeks to counsel and lead women to abortions. Organizing to oppose this facility is now taking place. If you would like to help in some way email: sheilamb [at] live [dot] com.

Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent: Hear it, Do It, Teach It

"Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” The Book of Deuteronomy, the last book of the Law, describes the relationship God established between himself and his nation Israel. The nation would listen to and obey the Law of God, and God would give the nation prosperous land and religious freedom.
Moses told the nation to learn and observe the Law carefully, adding, “…for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations…” So, we see that the covenantal relationship between God and Israel was not meant to be a secret, but a demonstration of God’s presence among the people of his chosen nation.
But Moses also warned the nation not to neglect the Law with the passing of time, saying, “…take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children."
Jesus Christ fulfills the Law, perfecting its statutes and bringing its promises to fruition. Christians must study the Old Testament books so that we have a clear and full understanding of our Savior, whose very identity is revealed in the sacred texts of the Law and Prophets.
There is one way and only one way to gain a clear and full understanding of the Old Testament, and that is to pick up a copy of the Bible and read it. A passive approach to learning what the sacred texts say simply will not work. This is why Moses said, “…take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children's children.” Reading and discussing the Old Testament with your children and grandchildren is an excellent way to engage their interest in the revealed word of God, and will serve as an example to them to do the same one day for their children and grandchildren. God reveals himself and his commandments in the Old Testament, so let us faithfully learn and teach these commandments to others. As Christ himself put it, “…whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent: Lord Have Mercy

As he was about to be burned to death, Azariah prayed: "For your name's sake, O Lord, do not…make void your covenant.” God gave his Chosen People his proper name to be preserved with great care as God preserved his people with great care. So great was their care for the name of the Lord that they kept it only in their hearts, never daring to utter it aloud lest they do so with unclean lips. We Christians maintain this reverence for God’s proper name, and add to it our reverence for the Body of Christ. Just as Israel would not say God’s proper name with sinful lips, we are not to approach Holy Communion until we have confessed our mortal sins against the Ten Commandments to a priest and received sacramental absolution. God entrusts himself to the care of his people, and his people entrust ourselves to the care of our God.
But if God allowed Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael to die a torturous death in Babylon, Azariah argued, would not God be breaking the covenant of mutual care?
Azariah pleaded, “Do not take away your mercy from us, for the sake of Abraham…, Isaac…and Israel…, to whom you promised to multiply their offspring…” Before God promised Moses that the Nation of Israel would dwell in a land of true peace and lasting prosperity, 400 years earlier he promised the common ancestor of the tribes of Israel that he would have many descendants. But by the time of the Babylonian Exile ten of Israel’s tribes were already lost, and the remnant was under grave threat, with three of these descendants of the Patriarch Israel standing in a furnace. How, Azariah asked, could God keep his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob if so many of their descendants were being wiped out?
Azariah continued, “For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation, brought low everywhere in the world this day because of our sins.” The nation God promised to preserve with great care was on the verge of destruction because of their sins. In better days, the kings of Israel lead the nation in repentance, and the priests offered pleasing sacrifices imploring God’s mercy. But all of these offices disappeared in Babylon. All they had left were their cries for mercy, which drifted up to God in sacrifice.
As we move through the holy season of Lent, let us carefully examine our consciousness and go to confession, knowing that no matter how badly we have sinned or how many times, God will forgive us if our repentance is genuine. And let us leave the confessional and the season of Lent filled with mercy towards those who’ve sinned against us but now seek our forgiveness, forgiving them no matter how badly or how many times they have offended us. And when we sin against and desire God’s mercy, we will be able to call upon him saying, “And now we follow you with our whole heart, we fear you and we pray to you. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord."

Monday in the Third Week of Lent: Domestic Strangers and Foreign Friends

The prophet Elijah warned Israel to return to the one, true God, and stop adopting the religious ways of foreigners. Elijah’s successor, Elisha, instructed the foreigner Naaman to wash himself clean of disease, thus prompting the foreigner to confess the God of Israel as the one, true God.
When Elijah and Elisha struggled to return Israel to Israel’s God, it was foreigners who accepted their teachings. While Our Lord was unable to convert those closest to him, his Church now extends all around the globe.
But we must be on guard lest we lose our faith thorough casual familiarity. When we adopt a casual attitude towards God, his message to us and his presence near us becomes just one of many competing influences in our lives. But when we choose to go to great lengths to recognize and adore God in our lives, his voice and presence become prominent, dominating our thoughts and decisions.
It’s not easy to meditate with the holy rosary every day, but doing so keeps the mysteries of our salvation before our minds and hearts. It’s not easy to do penance every Friday throughout the year, but doing so keeps the Passion of Christ before us. Reading the Bible on Sundays requires some discipline, but doing so places the Word of God at the beginning of our week. Visiting a church to make a holy hour during the week can be demanding, but keeps the substantial Presence of Christ at the center of our lives. Kneeling for Holy Communion helps prevent casual attitudes towards Our Lord’s Presence from developing, although this practice requires laying aside any arrogance and adopting an attitude of holy humility before the Lord.
Let us not be like Nazareth, but like Zarephath and Naaman, filled with awe before a great God who comes so close to us to do so much for us.

A Happy Couple Following Their Rite of Betrothal

Third Sunday of Lent: Hearing and Keeping the Word of God

After teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus performed an exorcism, after which the one formerly possessed was able to speak after having been mute. At this point, there was no doubt among the crowds as to Christ’s knowledge of the Holy Bible, or of his miraculous capacity to heal the sick and the possessed. But those possessed by themselves and sick with selfishness could only feel hostility for Christ, for his attention was upon the Father in Heaven and the needy on Earth, particularly those in need of liberation from sin, sickness and demons. The Pharisees and Sadducees had divided the Jews into competing sects, (not unlike the division of Christianity by Protestant Reformers in the 16th century). These could only think of religion in terms of competitive divisions, and so sought to categorize Christ as one competing Jewish leader among many.
The ordinary people of Judah, their attitudes poisoned by the Pharisees and Sadducees, were unsure what to make of Christ. They asked for a sign. A sign! Our Lord had just freed someone from demonic possession, but they wanted a sign? Of course, they asked for a sign directly from Heaven, so they could see the source of Christ’s miracles.
But if Christ was teaching the people to do good and if he was effectively combating the forces of evil, and doing all this in accordance with the Law of God, then his words and actions should have been signs to them of the origins of his power. And he did all these things for the sake of the Kingdom of God, not taking wealth, privilege or even a wife and family for himself. Everything he did was for the sake of the Kingdom of God. He did not teach or live like the Pharisees of the Sadducees. Rather, he lived in intimate communion with the Father in Heaven, to whom he taught the people to pray.
Christ’s very logical response to the crowd impressed some, who call him a blessing to his family. But they, too missed the point. The Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph and other members of Christ’s family were indeed blest, but not merely because they were related to each other. Were not all Jews related to each other tribally? Rather, the family, friends and disciples of Christ were blest because they listened to and followed him.
Each day, we must renew our commitment to listening to and following Christ. Each evening, we must examine our consciences for any failures to do so. We must not seek wealth and privilege, but the Kingdom of God. Our true wealth is our knowledge of God’s truth concerning faith and morals. Our true privilege is to be able to obey God each day. Let us hear the Word of God and keep it.
“And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.”

Third Sunday of Lent: Obedient Friendship

In chapter 20 of the Book of Exodus, God tells his people the kind of God he is, and tells them the kind of people they should be. "I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.” Who is God to Israel? Their savior from the consequences of sin. Therefore, they are to learn, love and obey his commands so he can keep them safe. If they choose to wander away from this covenant of salvation, they will again be in danger from other nations in this fallen world of sin and slavery. It’s only if God and Israel stick together and remain faithful to each other that the nation will be safe and free.
For an individual to break the Ten Commandments is a mortal sin, and mortal sins have eternal consequences. While the Passover saved Israel from the worldly consequences of sin in Egypt, it took the advent of the Messiah to save sinners from the eternal fires of Hell. Christ died on the Cross to pay the Devil’s ransom for our eternal souls. Once we are baptized into his sacrificial death we are set to rise with him from the grave. While Israel was baptized into a covenant with God when they passed through the Red Sea, we are baptized into the new covenant, the eternal covenant, when we are baptized into Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross.
Therefore, like Israel in the desert, we must learn, love and obey the Law of God. But learning, loving and obeying the Law of God is not easy, especially when the Devil never stops tempting us to do otherwise. How, then are we to remain faithful to the new covenant so that God will save us from the fires of Hell?
While God certainly does offer us salvation from the eternal consequences of our sins, he also offers us, indeed deeply desires of us, a friendship with him now. As Saint Paul put it, “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified…” The faith of Israel was founded upon miraculous events, while the faith of Greece was founded upon scientific inquiry. But the faith of Christians is founded neither upon miracles nor upon science, but upon sacrificial friendship. So great was Christ’s love for his friends that he gave his life in sacrifice on the Cross for all those who accept his friendship. As Christ puts it in the Gospel according to John, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.”
Israel was saved from slavery in Egypt, and was in turn to obey God’s commands. Christians are saved from slavery to Satan, and in turn are to obey the friendly commands of Christ, who laid down his life for our salvation. Listen to that text from John’s Gospel again, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” We can feel here how personal the new covenant is meant to be. Christianity contains both miracles and science, but is founded upon sacrificial friendship and faithful obedience. Christ saves us with his sacrifice, and we, his friends, obey him. And while Christ performed many miracles, and while the Church has studied God scientifically for two thousand years, we remain in friendship with Christ neither because of his miracles nor because of our study of him, but because we desire his friendship and he desires ours. The temple of his body was destroyed on the Cross not for his own good, but for our salvation.
And so, as we move through this Lenten season of preparation, let us examine the state of our friendship with Christ our Savior.
Do we meditate upon the mysteries of our salvation by praying the holy rosary daily? Do we commemorate Christ’s Good Friday Passion by doing penance on all Fridays throughout the year? Do we study the Holy Bible on Sundays? Do we perform the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in obedience to Christ? Do we make visits to the church during the week to spend private time with the very Substance of Christ our friend? When we break the Ten Commandments, do we confess our mortal sins to a priest of Christ before receiving our friend Jesus in Holy Communion? Are couples as faithful to each other as Christ is to his bride, the Church? Are children as obedient to their parents as Christ is to Our Father?
The Church preaches Christ crucified, crucified for his friends. What is the state of your friendship with him? How good a friend are you to Christ?

March Homeschooler Gathering

Friday in the Second Week of Lent: Brothers

In the Book of genesis we read, “Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons… When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all…they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.” They would not even greet him! Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the Father is “well pleased” with him. But many of us neglect to greet Christ, as if we were not at peace with him. We enter our homes without even a glance at the crucifix hanging on the wall, or even come to the church early enough to chat with our friends and engage in other activities before coming into the church to greet the one who is the center of the church. We all need to cultivate the habit of greeting Christ whenever when enter a place that has been blessed, such as a home or office, and especially when we enter a place that has been consecrated, such as a church.
The brothers of Joseph were not merely negligent, but murderous. “They said to one another: ‘Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here…’” Just as Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy, these brothers plot to kill Joseph. But it is these brothers who will become the patriarchs of Israel, with each of the tribes taking the name of one of the brothers. So, we see jealous fratricide in the hearts even of the Fathers of the nation of Israel. Many centuries later, certain descendants of these brothers would plot to kill their tribal brother, Jesus Christ. Just as the brothers of Joseph handed him over to foreigners, the enemies of Jesus would hand him over to the Roman Empire, leading to nothing less than the death of the Son of God.
In our own time, Christ works through his Church to teach the truth about faith and morals, and to establish a world of brothers united in Christ. But enemies of the Church plot to silence the voice and works of the Church. Even within the Church there are those Christians who plot against each other.
But just as the brothers of Joseph should have been more concerned with pleasing their father than with opposing their brother, so too must we all concern ourselves with the will of God the Father and live together in peace with our brothers in Christ. This, indeed, is the very purpose of Christianity.

Thursday in the Second Week of Lent: Avoiding Hell

At the time of the pending invasion of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple, God spoke through his prophet Jeremiah, saying, “…cursed is the man who trusts in human beings…blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD”.
When we place our hope for the future in man’s capacity to solve problems, rather than in God’s capacity to save souls, we are cursed by our own folly. But when we hope in the Lord alone for our future happiness, we are blessed.
Once our hope for the future is Godly, we begin making decisions with reference to our Godly hope. Our hope for salvation leads us to save others from such sufferings as poverty and disease. We become more generous to others than we are to ourselves. When those members of our friends and families with false hope notice how we’ve changed and how generous we’ve become, they want to know the cause. It is from us, then, that they learn about true, lasting hope, and they then place their hope for the future in God’s hands, and become more generous to the needy in the present. This process is called “conversion”, and it is the hallmark of the Lenten season.
Conversion from hope in man to hope in God, and from selfishness to generosity is urgently needed. Those men who die unconverted go to Hell, a torment from which there is no relief. And those down in Hell are not permitted to warn sinners up here, for the only warning we get is the warning of the Gospel, which we, therefore, must live boldly and fully for the sake not only of our own salvation, but for that of other sinners among our families and friends.
This is why it is so important for Catholics to live the Catholic Faith boldly and fully. We must listen to Moses and the prophets, Peter and the Apostles, the pope and the bishops, converting our lives under their instruction, and then living these truths in ways that attract others to them. There is no other way. The screams from Hell will not rise up to warn them. As Our Lord himself put it, quoting Abraham, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"