I’m writing to you on the eve of Ash Wednesday, dubbed “Fat Tuesday,” a day to celebrate before the Lenten season. Many of us will have been thinking about what we’ll give up for Lent on Fat Tuesday, potentially indulging one last time in what will be sacrificed for the next six weeks, whether it’s a common vice like chocolate or wine, or something a bit more procedural. I hear some folks try to give up cursing, though I also hear that is one of the more difficult options.
Any of these would be great to forgo during Lent, but what if we considered some more emotional or introspective options, like gossiping, lying, cheating, stealing or being selfish. These are options which will cause us to truly evaluate ourselves, asking if we are truly being an imitator of Christ. Lent is a time for us all to spend in prayer, fasting and charity.
Prayer, an act of supplication or intercession directed towards God, can be healing and aid in our attempts to stick with our sacrificial commitments for the season. Through prayer we deepen our relationship with God. We see Jesus doing this throughout the New Testament, always seeking the Father before and after a healing. We, too, should seek the reassurance and refreshing shelter of God through prayer.
Our Lenten fasting does not have to focus on food alone. Abstaining from entertainment, like television and social media, can have quite an impact. However, the traditional view of fasting might sound sensational today, especially compared to the culture and norms during Jesus’ time. It was odd for a religious person not to fast. John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus, often fasted. Jesus also teaches his disciples how to fast in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically telling them not to make a show of their fasting. Christians shouldn’t fast to look pious or religious. Fasting is a practice of humbling ourselves before God. Fasting isn’t about how God responds to our prayers, but how we bring our prayers to Him.
Charity is defined as the highest form of love, signifying the reciprocal love between God and man that is made manifest in unselfish love of one’s fellow men. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, “If I have all things and yet do not have love, I’m nothing.” In a general sense, showing love, benevolence, good will, and a disposition of heart will incline others to think favorably of their fellow human being, and to do them good in turn. In a theological sense, it includes love of God, and universal good will to all. Over the years, the definition of Lent in the homilies I have given has changed from the simple thought to sacrificing something for forty days, to the thought of giving it up for good. The question I ask of myself is “What I am giving up and how will it cause me to grow in my relationship with God and my fellow neighbor?” I invite you to ask yourself this same question.
My brothers and sisters, it is my hope and prayer that this Lenten season truly becomes an awakening experience of God in our lives by our prayer, fasting and charity.
To fully appreciate today’s Gospel according to Matthew (5:38-48), we need to remember that he is writing to a primarily Jewish audience, to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah inaugurating the new Kingdom of God. While we, some two thousand years later, often call the time of Jesus living under Roman occupation “the Pax Romana,” it must be remembered that the peace of Roman rule was paid by a heavy price in both lives lost and heavy taxes.
The Kingdom of God will look and operate differently than the Empire of Rome, and this puts Jesus and those who follow him in a very dangerous position. Instead of the abusive use of power, revenge, retaliation, and greed, those in God’s Kingdom live the rule of forgiveness, pacifism, and generosity. As today’s first reading from Leviticus reminds us, this really isn’t a new teaching at all. If this sounds too good to be true, and an impossible way to live in the world, Jesus goes one step further by saying, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
YIKES!
Of course, left on our own, none of this is possible. However, Jesus does not ask us to do something without giving us all we need to carry out His holy and true commands. Today’s second reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians (3:16-23), St. Paul reminds us that we are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in us. It is by yielding to the promptings and the power of the Spirit that enables us to live, here and now, how it will be in the Kingdom of God to come. Since the Lord is kind and merciful (Psalm 103) we can choose, one situation at a time, to be kind and merciful. Hence “be perfect” (perfect meaning ‘being whole or mature [in Christ]’).
This is the weekend before the start of Lent. Today’s readings, I think, point to the end result of what our Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are all about: growing in love for our neighbor and love of God.
Let us all continue to grow in “perfect love of God which reaches to our neighbor.”
The wisdom of Sirach places a radical choice before us; it is a choice between life and death. The choice in favor of the law will lead to life, and rejection of the law brings along with it death. The authors of the Book of Wisdom remind us that there is always complete freedom to accept or reject it. It is important to remember that God does not constrain or force the will of anyone, God prizes too highly the freedom He has given us and sin never will proceed from God’s will, it is a consequence of human choice. God knows our hearts and our minds, yet our desires and our thoughts, however, do at times deviate from God’s will.
The lessons of today’s readings are multiple. There is continuity between the two laws, that of Moses and that of Jesus. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, he is well aware that their sophistication is no match for “the deep things of God.” He urges, rather, the wisdom of the spiritually mature. It does take some level of maturity to recognize that the Sermon on the Mount is not there to cast us down, to be meant only as a list of things not to do.
While Jesus’ intention is not to abolish the old law, he promises to fulfill or realize the law in a new way. Jesus reveals all injustice in our human frailty, yet is firm in what He expects from those who choose to follow him. In matters of discipleship Jesus does not allow ifs, ands, or buts. He tells us to “let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything beyond that is from the evil one.” To read the Sermon on the Mount we should come away being challenged to the point of striving to make corrections in our own behaviors.
The Sermon on the Mount is our invitation to holiness. It hopefully resonates with our deepest sense of compassion in ways of loving ourselves and neighbor as a response to our most gracious God who has given us the true freedom to learn to love. Just imagine how different would our Eucharist be if we took Jesus seriously? The resentments we hold against others would have to dissolve before we approach the altar, lest we receive the sacrament unworthily. Perhaps that is why our Communion is aptly prefaced by the sign of peace. Just as we ask God, “look not on our sins, but on the faith of your church,” so also, we who have sinned against each other must see with the eyes of faith and forgive.
In this weekend’s Gospel, we see Jesus continuing with the Sermon on the Mount, with a section sometimes titled as the Similes of Salt and Light: When He says, “You are the light of the world,” Jesus believes that when we work through him we provide hope to our community. Our parish takes that seriously. We trust that His words in today’s Gospel carry power and we are going to draw from it. We know from experience that we can shine the light of Christ through good deeds, done in love. We need your help to be able to continue doing that for our local community. Just as you are a light, our Catholic Ministry Appeal is a light for all who rely on the ministries of our Church. Without your support, we can’t reach those who need Christ’s light to see. With your help, we can increase our impact, draw our neighbors into God’s house, and help our church burn brightly. Please help our goal of increasing our parish’s participation rate for this appeal. Any gift that you are able to contribute is welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration in this appeal | Click here to make your gift to the appeal.
To update you, while the job was more involved than we initially thought, we are getting close to the completion of restorations for southernmost set of doors at the front of the church. We are waiting for the updated hardware to be delivered to allow for installation. It wasn’t until our contractors began removing some of the molding that we realized the extent of the damage to the doorway. What started as a job quoted near $9,000 for this first set is now estimated at $15,000. The additional cost is for the removal and re-installing the stain glass window and the additional wood and façade work. As I have mentioned before, these doors are original to the church, and our goal, along with any necessary maintenance, is focused on restoration and preservation, to keep with the historical nature of the church. Once this first set of doors are reinstalled, we will begin the process again with the entrance along Twiggs Street. We will place a temporary set of doors at that entryway, so those using handicap ramp will not have any impact to their access.
In January, new members were added to our Parish Advisory Board. The Advisory Board meets quarterly, and works alongside the Finance, Outreach, and Maintenance Committees in providing leadership and valuable input into our parish life. The board is comprised of eleven parishioners, along with our four friars. The parishioners are all active members who serve in one or more ministries each. The members are as follows: Laura Prather (Chair), Larry Bevis, Cindy Burnett, Sarah Daniels, Fr. Zack Elliott, OFM, Sam Ferlita, Friar Henry Fulmer, OFM, Fr. Mike Jones, OFM, Fr. Steve Kluge, OFM, Stephen Krist, Helen Lukavec, Lynda Marsh, Tony Miranda, Don Murray, and Felix Vega. I ask that you keep all of them in your prayers as they continue to serve our parish.
Activity up at the North Campus continues to grow, and with it, some income to assist with future upgrades and renovations. We are renting out the auditorium to the diocese on the third Saturday of each month as they host day-long pre-cana retreats for the couples of our greater Catholic community preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage. Later this month, our rental agreement for Bonaventure Hall, the campus’ former prekindergarten building, goes into effect, with the developers tasked with redeveloping Robles Park moving in as they begin their work. The money raised will be set aside for future renovations of the North Campus kitchen and auditorium. Funds from our Gala in April will also go toward that project. I hope you all have the opportunity to join us for that special evening.
I do not know if the daytime TV soaps “Days of Our Lives” and “As the World Turns” are still in syndication or producing new episodes, but in terms of titles, I feel as if they were precursors for the current way we see folks communicate and have discourse with one another. As our world turns, we see more and more that any form of communication we have is centered on what we think is important to us alone and no one else.
There are always exceptions to the rule. I am not suggesting this is the way we all interact with our neighbors, even those of whom we disagree with, but I do see this trend creeping into many of our communication channels, and it makes me wonder where the compassion, love and dialogue has gone within our homes, friends, family, not to mention within our own church.
In 2013, while addressing the founder of an Italian publication that often dissented against him, and with the heading, “Letter to the Non-Believers”, Pope Francis wrote, “I would not speak about “absolute” truths, even for believers, in the sense that absolute is that which is disconnected and bereft of all relationship. Truth, according to the Christian faith, is the love of God for us in Jesus Christ. Therefore, truth is a relationship.” The Pope went on to say, “it comes to us always and only as a way and a life.”
How can we come into truth without respect and assistance from one another? It’s easy to cheer along with your favorite team, to rally with a particular party, or to read posts shared by others who hold our same views. It’s easier to speak to those with similar backgrounds than those with which we have nothing in common. It has always been harder to love our enemy. When we write others off as irredeemable, we are missing something—kindness, compassion, and dialogue. We hear many times in scripture how those who were different were treated unfairly and looked down upon. It is Jesus who takes the time to speak and care for them. Why is He doing this, listening to them, and accepting them where their circumstances have brought them at that moment and time?
I feel as though dialogue was once very much welcomed and appreciated. It is a way of stretching one’s ability to see things in a different light. You may remember when there were debate teams in schools. It was very exciting to hear and listen to what was being debated on stage. It brought a sense of openness to the competitors, but it also gave some enlightenment and knowledge to the audience. These used to be the “Days of Our Lives” as the world turned. Dialogue, the common practice within our society, has now shifted to monologue. How are we expected to grow spiritually and mentally if we allow ourselves to be cut off from discourse?
In recent weeks, we’ve seen another uptick in tragic events that usually spark debate. People going out to relax with friends or family and have a good time, and not coming home. Bring back the days of our lives where kids can be kids, and adults can be respectful of each other in dialogue and work together to solve these crisis. I thought we’d always have that opportunity. This week, I hope we all take a small step towards the vision of speaking and listening in love. It is my prayer that we meet each other with respect and use dialogue in a spirit of compassion.
Open our hearts. Lord, and help us to find Christ in one another by dialoging in a spirit of openness.
