4th Sunday in Lent: "He was lost and has been found"

 

(gospelimages.com)

"Father I have sinned against heaven and against you"

Luke 15: 11-32

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033025-YearC.cfm

Parables are brilliant stories, using real life images in order to teach a moral about what God is like, Christian living, and many other important lessons that Jesus gave us.  Our parable this Sunday is Jesus' longest story and is richly filled with beauty about God's mercy, love for us despite our waywardness and about the danger of jealousy and pride. But first, let's look at our second reading.

Our second reading this Sunday and the stunning Gospel story which Jesus tells, reveals the very heart of God and the Good News which Jesus preached. At the base of our sacrament of reconciliation is this truth. Paul, speaking to his Christian converts at Corinth reminds them: “Whoever is in Christ Jesus is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold new things have come . . . Christ has given us the ministry of reconciliation . . .” (2 Cor 5: 17-18).

Paul gives us a theological explanation. We are called to build bridges, as God has done for us between himself and humanity, which is one image of reconciliation. Reconciliation is a process of conversion and the great sacrament of healing, or confession, invites us to walk into that process before a merciful God. Any priest should be there not as judge and jury but in the person of Christ, the divine physician who heals the wounded.

This leads to our Gospel from Luke 15 which makes that process a deeply personal one. For me, and I know for many, many more the story of the “Prodigal Son” or the “Forgiving Father” or any other variation on that title you may want to offer, is not only a brilliant cast of characters but deeply moving on a faith level.  It is rich with character development and questions our own view of God and our ultimate response to God’s almost over the top mercy. And while the selfish, ungrateful son risks not only his reputation but places himself in a position where the Jewish father is so dishonored that he may simply be banished from the family, the center piece of this story it strikes me is more the father than the son.  We may also call is, the parable of the generous father. The tender Rembrandt painting is rich with this symbolism.

In telling this story, Jesus deliberately, I suspect, left the end hanging with the father’s challenging statement to the jealous older brother: “My son . . . everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” (Lk 15: 32).  How the older son reacted to this statement is left unanswered. Did he come around and join the party? Did he walk away in disgust?  Did he ask his father to forgive him for his petty jealousy? It invites us to our own self-examination. How would I feel and what would I do? With which son do I most identify?

Further, the setting in which Jesus told this story is significant to our understanding.  Luke reminds us: “Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” (Lk 15: 1). Jesus was constantly berated for his association with the undesirables; the great unclean sinners among the more prideful “clean.”  And among his worst critics were, of course, those so hardened in their own self-righteousness, that they had closed their minds to God’s mercy, like the older brother.

Regardless, Jesus invites specifically this crowd, who are invited to see themselves in the older son, to open their hearts and minds. The real block by the older brother was likely jealousy and the unwillingness to accept the younger brother back from a life of wastefulness.  The jealously lies not in what the younger brother did, but in how he was treated by the father after coming home. Are we jealous of the good fortune of others or do we resent it? If life is all about me, then any lucky break or deserved accomplishment by another would be bring jealously. How does your parable end?

It invites every one of us to ask ourselves the same question about which of the two sons do I find in myself.  The answer for most of us is that I see both sons in me. Our God is like the father in the story who waits for us to come home with open arms. He longs for our return with love and mercy, not judgment and condemnation. Clearly, he had been waiting for the return of his son for on first sight he ran to meet him. What caused him to be so repentant – desperation and guilt: “Coming to his senses,” Jesus teaches. However imperfect his repentance was, at least it motivated him to return.

The greater value is the person, most especially one who repents.  (Have you gotten the point Pharisees that Jesus may be thinking of you?) This is why our Lord reached out constantly to those who were branded as “sinners.” Everyone has a chance with God. The younger son is changed, not the same person he was.  Like an almost Ebenezer Scrooge kind of transformation, it is cause to give thanks.

Then the story ends: "He was lost and has been found!" Again, I imagine Jesus looked more intently than before at his listeners who likely were stunned by the father’s behavior.  Hopefully, though, also moved so deeply that they saw themselves in the two sons and in particular the most stubborn among them began to soften their own pride which blinded them to see the expansive nature of God. We find it in the sacrament of reconciliation, the holy Eucharist, the scriptures, our shared faith and prayer. But we must become the father in our daily encounter with each other.

In the middle of this rich journey through Lent we may have found our personal need to return to the Father.  Go to be reconciled with the Father in sacramental confession.  He is waiting for you .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3rd Sunday in Lent: "Turn away from sin, be faithful to the Gospel"

 

(Jesus of Nazareth, 1977)

"If you do not repent, you will all perish"

Luke 13: 1-9

The Word:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032325-YearC.cfm

O God, author of every mercy and all goodness,

Who is fasting, prayer and almsgiving

Have shown us a remedy for sin,

Look graciously on this confession of our lowliness,

That we, who are bowed down by our conscience,

May always be lifted up by your mercy.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit

God, forever and ever.

(Collect of Mass)

In the midst of our journey through Lent, this Sunday we are confronted with an age-old question about the nature of God and the seeming random events of life; mostly the bad stuff that seems to happen.  You may be familiar with the statement: “Nothing happens by chance.”  Frankly, I often wonder is it purposeful or is it random?  Does God permit rather than cause?  And if so, why? Are we victims of our own choices?  Does God really bring punishment on the bad? These are questions that often concern us.

God’s wisdom is beyond our own and he remains forever the kind of burning bush experience we hear of in our first reading today in the book of Exodus.  God speaks to Moses from a bush that burns with fire but is not consumed: “I am who am” or short form: “I AM” is the name God gives to Moses. Such a name is not really a name as such but rather a statement of God’s existence.  God cannot be contained or identified by an individual name as the pagan gods.  He is rather, as St. Thomas Aquinas states, totally Other.  God cannot be limited or contained, nor can we comprehend his fullness and ultimate purpose. Yet he communicates in a personal way to his creation and to humankind as we see in Abraham, Moses, Jesus and in our times of prayer.

As true as this is, the question about evil remains unanswered. Was God the cause of the suffering of the Hebrew slaves and now, through Moses, their liberator? To assume that God’s purposeful hand is the cause of all the bad that happens is to assume that God is both the determined cause of tragedy and blessings.  If that is true, then God appears to be both a sadistic dictator and a compassionate healer at the same time. He takes some sort of perverted pleasure in the suffering of the guilty and allows the righteous to enjoy blessings. Our Gospel from Luke this Sunday is a classic example of this viewpoint.

In other words, the crowds revealed a general understanding of that time: sinners were punished by God and the innocent were blessed.  So, in this example, what seemed a great abomination by Pontius Pilate was really God using him to punish these Galileans who were notorious sinners.

In answer to their inquiry, Jesus does a very Jewish thing – he answers a question with another question and uses the example of a tower in Siloam which fell upon and killed eighteen people: “Do you think they were guiltier than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means!” (Lk 13: 3-4).

Jesus’ statement: “By no means” is telling.  So, does our God go around causing tragedy and suffering as retribution upon the guilty?  I think not.  Yet, it’s clear he permits it and the death on the cross of the most innocent human being ever who walked this earth is the model for that mystery.

God’s purposeful will is beyond us yet up close. Jesus revealed important things about the nature of God, and so in the Old Testament, but we remain in darkness about the reason for the existence of evil.

What we do know is that God is not the cause of evil but out of tragedy he can bring much good. Think of the outpouring of compassion and generosity from others that often comes after great suffering of both the guilty and the innocent.

Before him we stand as Moses did: “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground . . . Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God.”

Yet, this God beyond us, reveals his compassionate care, his desire to save and set free, his promise to take action on behalf of the suffering. “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and I have heard their cry of complaint . . . I know well what they are suffering.” (Ex 3).  Does that sound like a God who deliberately inflicts misery, even on the guilty?

If we put it all together, we find a God of mercy who walks with us in our sadness and our joy.  Yet also this Gospel presents a warning to us to, as we heard on Ash Wednesday: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”

Bad things that happen are not punishment from God for sin. Rather, he calls us to conversion, away from lives of sin to avoid a dark end. The way of darkness and sin and pride leads to darkness. The embrace of repentance and the Gospel leads to eternal life. Those who suffered physical tragedy were not greater sinners than anyone else, Jesus reminds his audience and us, but we create our own world of suffering through the choices we make.

In support of this, Jesus uses the image of barren fig tree as a symbol of the ancient chosen people.  The planter of the tree recognizes that the tree is unproductive, lifeless, and just stealing much needed nutrients from the soil that could be used by other more lively plants.  The gardener (God) recommends, however, “Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future.” (Lk 13: 8-9).

One more chance, one more opportunity.  For this merciful God in Christ Jesus, has come to walk among us and show us the way to life. No retribution or vengeance but an invitation to conversion and a new way of life based in mercy and love. This Lent is the time to wake up and embrace this great truth.  Don’t let the towers of our pride and selfish choices be the cause of our misfortune.

Our Eucharistic gathering is a moment of connection with both joy and sadness in everyone’s life.  We are not there alone for Christianity and Catholicism in particular is not a private devotion.  It is a call to imitate the God who comes into our lives as a living word and a real presence.  This is the God who loves, forgives, and who offered his life in suffering for our salvation.  He desires our salvation, but he also warns against our refusing it. We stand before both mystery and mercy. 

2nd Sunday of Lent: The cross and the glory

 

(The Transfiguration by Raphael)

"This is my Son, listen to him"

Luke 9: 28b - 36

The Word:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm

For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death,

on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory,

to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets,

that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.

(Preface for 2nd Sunday of Lent)

I’m sure that at some time in your life, we’ve all experienced a ride on a roller coaster. Could be somewhere like Disneyland which adds great fantasy to something that for some may be frightening. Or maybe a summertime festival or something in between.

The thrill of a roller coaster is the anticipation, you’re strapped in your seat, the ride begins its climb where you finally reach the top and begin the descendent to screams and laughter, then before you know it, you’re climbing again for another thrill ride.  When you finally reach level ground, you may want to do it all over again or at least to take a break.  But knowing something exhilarating was waiting at the top makes the coming down grateful release. But having had the experience, you’re somehow changed by the memory of it.  

Today in our Gospel, Jesus takes three of his most trusted disciples who would eventually play a key role in the beginning of the Church: Peter, James and John. They rise to the mountain and there are overcome by the thrill of seeing Jesus transformed in glory. In fact, two of them are struck speechless but the ever impulsive Peter, speaks words that are nearly humorous.  "Let's build three tents for you all and just sit and enjoy for awhile." That is clearly not the point of this strange vision.

Peter wanted to stay at the top and continue to enjoy the view from above. No hurry to descend. The roller coaster has stopped at the peak so all can enjoy the view! But it's more than just a moment of awe and wonder. A very different scene takes place as Christ is transformed, significantly changed in appearance before the eyes of three select disciples. He is changed to a new form as if he took off the cloak of his humanity and revealed his divinity. 

Here he reveals his divinity and his link with the law and the prophets as the One who would come to free humanity from the ultimate power of evil that is death. Here a greater hope is promised but the prominent shadow of the Cross is shown. We hear that Christ is the Word made flesh, and he points to the cross as his destiny and our hope. This vision is an indelible reminder to these disciples of his ultimate destiny through the cross. We are rescued from sin and death by his action. 

Centuries before we hear of the call of Abram in the desert, our first reading from Genesis.  Abram, later Abraham, is an elderly man when he is called by God to leave his “father’s house” and move out into a new land with merely a promise from God that he would be blessed significantly.  In fact, we hear of five blessings from God to Abram.

These blessings are a promise, a sign of hope for the future: “I will make you great and I will bless you . . . make you name great, you will be a blessing . . . I will bless those who bless you . . . all the communities of the earth shall find a blessing in you.” To bless and to be a blessing in this context is a promise of partnership, a friendship with God and foreshadows our own destiny.   That blessing we see fulfilled in Jesus and he confirms this before his three disciples.

On that mountain, traditionally Mt. Tabor in Israel, we may say that Peter, James and John were fortunate or blessed to be there. Yet, the focus was not on them so much as it clearly was on Jesus before them.  Christ affirmed that he was the word made flesh; that although the disciples had only experienced the Jesus of history, they now are blessed to see the Jesus of faith, an almost resurrection experience before that great event. He is the same yet appears in a new and glorious form before them.

This second Sunday of our Lenten journey brings us face to face with a moment to listen.  That is, Jesus is not a normal human being. He is far more than just an impressive and highly successful young man who grew up in the little village of Nazareth with very poor parents.

His nature is both human and divine; that his mission is beyond this world and that he has come in the line of the prophets as the sign of God’s new Covenant, originally established through Abram (our first reading from Genesis) and Moses as the fulfilment of that sacred Law.

For three Jews to witness such an event it would have all come together in a profound way.  God has fulfilled his promise to Israel and to all of humanity.  This is God’s answer to our sinful disobedience which estranged us from God.   Now, in Christ, his future passion, death and resurrection, a new and eternal Covenant is established between God and humanity. This is the new exodus, the new journey that will end in both suffering and glory.

For now, hold on to this but bring it down the mountain for future reference when the mission will carry on beyond Jerusalem to the entire world. The thrill of the roller coaster reaching the top is now secured by a return to the more familiar and a new mission given to the disciples as they come down to carry on their mission.

In prayer, in charitable service, in the sacraments, in compassion for another, at a time when we include another without judgement and recognize their human dignity, in the sacred Word of God, in the Holy Eucharist, in spiritual reading, in a tough time I’ve endured, in the sickness of another or a word spoken to me or who knows where, how and when God will call our attention to himself and demand our ear.

At Mass we hear his Word, and we encounter his living presence in the Eucharist - are we changed by him?  Let's pray this Lent teaches us to listen more and talk less that by his grace we may be changed for Easter resurrection.  The Word and the Cross is our hope. Are you ready to get in the car and ascend to greater heights? It may be a cross we carry to the top but on the other side is glory, only to go down and walk more closely with the Lord.

 

First Sunday of Lent: "Who wins the conversation?"

 

(Ivan Kramskoy - Christ in the Desert 1897)

"One does not live on bread alone."

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030925.cfm

If the devil, the Prince of Darkness, and his legions were to appear to you, what sort of conversation would you have with him?

Trained exorcists tell us that you should never engage in conversation with the demons.  They are intelligent, crafty, and twist what is false, making it sound as if it were true.  Don’t believe anything they say, they advise, no matter how enticing it may seem. He is the ultimate manipulator, more intelligent than we are.

Satan is named, the “Father of lies” for a reason.  Nothing he may say or do should be trusted. His intent is to sow seeds of division, dissent, and destruction. He has no good intentions, particularly against those who believe in God and follow Christ.

However, our Gospel on this first Sunday of Lent, always brings us to a particular conversation between Jesus and Satan.

This conversation, as strange as it seems, grabs us because it is the one and only time, we see such a thing.  Normally, through various healings and confrontations with those who claimed to be possessed by an evil spirit, Jesus would not engage in conversation but would command that spirit to leave the person – and it would.  

Here the devil approaches Jesus at a time when he is especially vulnerable after a 40 day fast in the barren and empty desert.  More than a month without food, Luke makes the point of indicating, would leave anyone in a state of weakness, desperately hungry and likely ready to eat just about anything. Luke states in one translation “. . . he was famished.”

The devil approaches Jesus in this state hoping to take advantage. “Turn these stones into bread.” What would you do or say?  What, if you had the power to do what Satan suggested?  You haven’t eaten for 40 days and, after all, it’s only bread.  Who would care about or even blame you for doing it?  The temptation for satisfaction, for giving in to pleasures of the flesh, for turning away from God’s will would be strong. Here, Jesus identifies with our own struggle against sins of distorted fleshly pleasure.

Our Lord, does not give in but does quote scripture: “Man does not live on bread alone . . . “We do not seek our ultimate purpose in this world, its joys and diversions, though flashy and momentarily satisfying, will never fulfill our purpose for being here but God alone. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee” so St. Augustine wisely reminds us. Can you resist the temptation to buy the next upgrade of your Iphone?  I hear it’s out now and has quite the capability! It’s only $1,000. (not tempting here)

Satan now ratches up the ante by going to a more enticing and clever temptation for power and prestige.  He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence and then states, “. . . for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.”

What does this tell us about earthly power and who ultimately may be manipulating behind it.  Not position, but where unchecked power and position might lead.  We have seen inspiring leaders, but we have all too often seen dark and evil forces working through those in positions of power who seek nothing but glory and will go to any lengths to fulfill their lust for power. It reminds us that power tends to corrupt.

The fallen angels of Satan and his legions continue to wreak havoc where they can. Hoping that Jesus himself might achieve his end to “save the world” Satan awaits our Lord’s answer to abandon the cross and achieve his goal by being the most powerful man in the world. If he just joins in with the goals of the fallen, with the dark forces, imagine what they might accomplish!

Again, though Jesus confronts this temptation that we all feel at times in less dramatic ways to be the center of attention, to be noticed, to be powerful and influential, to answer to only ourselves, and he again quotes scripture: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.” Would you speak to the evil one in the same way or give in for the sake of personal fame, riches and power?

Finally, still determined, Satan places Jesus in a most dramatic position, on the top corner of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Here he challenges Jesus that the way down would be to simply jump! Yes, but for the sake of knowing the angels would fly in to protect him.  Imagine what the people would see from their vantage point.  Jesus jumps, angels appear and catch him, then gently place him on the ground.  Who is this that heavenly beings would come to his rescue in such a display?

Our Lord again resists by confronting this sin of presumption or daring to challenge the power of God by quoting scripture once again “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

So, in your conversation with the dark one, what would you say? Would you jump knowing that somehow God would come to your rescue and intervene, thereby you have won your challenge of God’s power? Don’t we at times want to be noticed for what we do or say?  What about being popular? Or being the center of attention when we enter a room?  How many times during the day do you look at yourself in a mirror or window concerned about your appearance? What can you answer on this question, on these temptations to old Satan?

The world, the flesh and the devil fight for control over us. In their confrontation for our ultimate destiny, I would take great comfort that we are on the winning side with Christ, who faced these and other temptations for our sake.  Though we still have a weak and flawed nature due to the first among us to eat the forbidden fruit, it is Christ himself who overcame the force of sin and won the battle for us. 

This God of mercy and love reaches out to us in times of temptation, we must decide whose side we want to be on.  That of light or that of darkness? 

To center our lives on the joy, fulfillment and satisfaction that only Christ can offer with the promise of eternal life or on the side of fame, glory, power, control to seek ultimate pleasure in this world, to get everything we can while were here, indifferent to the next. God has given us the power to choose.