Category: Parish News & Events

Last summer I attended a Theology of the Body course and had a mountaintop experience. A diverse group of people from around the world came together to learn about St. John Paul II’s teaching and in the span of five days we grew to love each other. Each person I met was amazing, joyful, and in love with Jesus. It was a foretaste of heaven. 

It was a mountaintop much like the one Peter, James, and John were on. It was there they caught a glimpse of what was to come and enthusiastically Peter suggested they build booths for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Peter wanted to set up camp and stay but that was not what Jesus had in mind. Jesus brought them down from the mountain because there was still work to do. It wasn’t time yet. 

I think God offers us these experiences to give us hope in the goodness he has in store for us. Whether it’s a conference, a time of prayer or even a time with loved ones where we are sure of his presence, I believe God offers us this to buoy us up. And even though like Peter, we desire to stay and soak it in, it’s not time yet. 

Those amazing experiences inspire and feed us and now is the time to share them. Share a time when Jesus reached down and touched you, a time when it felt real. There’s someone who needs to hear it. Those moments are good and beautiful and not just for us alone. Don’t stay on the mountain. Come down and do the work. It’s not time to stay yet, but soon it will be. 

What story of an experience with Jesus can you share?

Jesus, please give me the opportunity to share a story about my experience with you and give me the words you desire someone else to hear. 

Contact the author

I have really been struggling with one person in particular lately. Some of the struggles have come about due to emails. Why does so and so have to be so direct, sarcastic, rude, etc.?

When speaking to a friend recently I found myself apologizing for an email that could have come across the very same way! She gave me a piece of advice that I found very helpful. She said that whenever she opens up an email to read it, she tries to think happy. So often the way we read a message depends on our mood at that moment, so if we try to read others’ messages with an upbeat spirit, it may help us to avoid many misunderstandings.

Ultimately, if I assume someone is writing a certain way without proof, I am judging them. Was I there when they were typing? No. Did I hear them speak the words out loud? No. Do I know what frame of mind they were in when they wrote the message? No. Since that is the case, I should always give them the benefit of the doubt and not assume the worst.

In today’s First Reading, Moses encourages the people to observe the statutes and decrees of God with all of our heart and soul. “And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God.”

What an incredible promise! To be God’s special people, to belong to Him as His own, to be raised up high as a people sacred to the Lord… But what is the caveat? That we follow His commands. If I judge people’s intentions, I am not following His commands. Boy, do I want to partake in that promise, so from now on I pledge to think happy thoughts!

Jesus takes it one step further in the Gospel saying: “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” Now the person I am referring to is far from my enemy, but I have to be careful. If I pile one offense upon another, they could easily become like one in my heart.

As we continue our Lenten journey, let us continue to examine our hearts and purify our minds so that we too may rejoice in the words of the Psalmist: “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!”

Contact the author

As with Lent itself, our readings today are sobering. We might not recognize it at first, focusing instead on the message of hope: “If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed … he shall surely live, he shall not die”; “For with the Lord there is kindness and with him plenteous redemption” (Ezek. 18:21; Ps. 130:7). That message is real, but to truly appreciate it we first need to understand the more difficult message.

Jesus says in the Gospel that our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, and that even saying so much as “You fool” merits the fires of Gehenna. Speaking through Ezekiel, God says that if the righteous man turns back to iniquity, he will surely die. We hear at one and the same time that God judges sin harshly, expecting perfection from us, and also that He is merciful and does not desire the death of the wicked.

Both are true, and this is the drama of Lent and the drama of the Christian life. God makes demands of us and issues commandments, and He expects us to live up to the call. The Ten Commandments are difficult for sinful man. Despite this, Jesus raises the standard in the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon is summarized by His stark injunction: “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). These are not idle words!

But who can live up to this? “If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand” (Ps. 130:3)? No one, really. Through our sin, even through something so apparently small as yielding to wrath, we merit the fires of hell. We choose a finite good over the infinite, often knowing exactly what we do. But that is not the end of the discussion.

Christ comes to redeem, and His words are not idle when He speaks of this side of the drama. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Our Lord gives us humanly unattainable demands, but He provides us with divine grace, the life of God in our souls.

How can we access this grace? Generally, by remaining close to Jesus and by turning from sin. This is what we hear at the beginning of Lent: Repent! We are sinners, and we do not deserve heaven. Yet, life is open to us if we turn away from sin and keep the Lord’s statutes. We ought to seek forgiveness and follow the Commandments, Beatitudes, and the other teachings of God.

More specifically, we need to stay close to the seven sacraments and the sacramentals (holy water, blessed objects, etc.). Jesus Christ instituted the sacraments as the means of incorporation into Himself. This means that He intended us to receive Baptism, go to Confession frequently, and receive the Eucharist in order to be saved. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).

It is through the sacraments and the Sacrifice of the Mass especially that we are so incorporated into Christ as to share in His claim to heaven. Through the sacraments we are cleansed of our sins, receive God’s life in us, and are equipped to avoid sinning and live a life of holiness in the future. Let us take advantage of these great graces during the season of Lent, and throughout the drama of our Christian lives.

Contact the author