Fifth Sunday of Lent - Jer 31:31-34; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33

03-17-2024Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: As we quickly approach Easter, we’re reminded of the reason why we are celebrating. God’s chosen people stumbled quite a bit throughout the Old Testament, so God intervened time, and time, and time again to set them back on the straight and narrow. Whereas we would likely give up on someone over time, God has remained steadfast in his grace, and always will. He created a new covenant with Israel that wrote his law upon the hearts of Jews and Gentiles alike. This new covenant was realized through Jesus Christ, who was born into our flesh and crucified on the cross. He suffered death in perfect obedience to God the Father. By being born into flesh, Jesus united humanity and divinity; through his crucifixion and resurrection, Christ “became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” He is the law of love that lives within us, and through him “all, from least to greatest, shall know [the Father.]”

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Fourth Sunday in Lent - 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21

03-10-2024Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: “The floor is lava!” We used to play this game as children, and it still seems popular today: you arrange furniture and other objects in such a way as to make it from point to point, and even room to room, without touching the floor. There may be more than one way to go, but the crux of the matter is that you have to use these waypoints to stay alive in the game. Following Jesus is somewhat similar, although obviously infinitely more serious and important! He himself, through his sacrifice on the cross, opened the doors of salvation to us – he has provided the ways and means to live free from death. His sacrifice is the only thing that makes it possible for us to enter heaven. In other words, he has arranged the spiritual furniture, made clear those waypoints, and, differing from children who play the lava game, is ready and willing to help us at any time to move safely and confidently along the journey. St Paul writes, “we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.”

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Third Sunday of Lent - Ex 20:1-17; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25

03-03-2024Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: When I was a kid, my older siblings used to tell me what to do (no surprise there!) and often backed up their, ahem, “commands,” by saying, “Mom and Dad said so.” Interestingly, sometimes that statement was not true (!), and I would get the right information – what to do and the correct way to do it – directly from my parents. My experience is not unlike that of the Israelites in today’s first reading. As they escaped from bondage in Egypt and followed the Lord through the guidance of Moses, they developed their own ways of doing things, listened to the wrong people and acted as if they were indeed conveying truth. But the Lord steps in to correct them, and in “a direct, unmediated communication” of truth to them, gives them commandments to follow. (USCCB commentary) These instructions for how to live a moral life in relationship with God and with one another are the basis of the covenant they made there with the Lord. They are the foundation of the new covenant in which we partake through Jesus Christ, who came into our history as the perfect, unmediated communication of God.

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Second Sunday of Lent - Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Rom 8:31b-34; Mk 9:2-10

02-25-2024Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: Just two weeks ago, when Christians walked around all day with a cross of ashes on our foreheads, we may have received puzzled looks. Who bothers with fasting and almsgiving for 40 whole days? Many of us live with great abundance in this country; the only time we actually need to fast might be for lab work. With this in mind, it’s helpful to remember the why: because Christ sacrificed himself for us, and he calls his followers to participate in his redemptive mission through our own sacrifices. Without sacrifice, we simply cannot be like Christ, nor will we see our own transfiguration in the resurrection to come. So Lent is a blessed season of reorienting our lives to Christian sacrifice: that of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Perhaps this season can also dispel some of the complacency that has a tendency to creep into our lives. The poor and hungry and disenfranchised still exist, and Christ depends on us to be his hands and feet to serve them. But how can we serve them if we do not embrace Christ’s example as a living sacrifice? Ask the Lord for the grace to see and hear what he is asking us to do for him.

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First Sunday of Lent - Gn 9:8-15; 1 Pt 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15

02-18-2024Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: Today is the first day of Lent! It is the beginning of a new liturgical season in the Church, a season of prayer, service and self-sacrifice. It is a time of preparation, culminating in the holiest day of the year: Easter. As we embark on our Lenten journey, we hear a reading from Genesis in which God makes a covenant with Noah where he promises, “the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.” The Lord has said that no matter our disobedience, sin and rebellion, he will never destroy us! Saint Peter explains how the story of Noah, “in which a few persons … were saved through water,” prefigures baptism, and baptism, as we know, marks us as the Lord’s own forever. We are sealed with a sign that can never be relinquished. So, just as the great flood signaled a rebirth for the world, our baptism is a rebirth of our soul in Christ. We are washed clean of our original sin, and the door to salvation is opened for us. It is fitting that at the beginning of our Lenten journey we hear the story of the beginning of our eternal covenant with the Lord. Both the covenant, and Lent, will be fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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Great Faith

02-11-2024Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: The leper in today’s Gospel was not only severely ill, but he was also barred from practicing his faith. Because he was considered unclean, he could not enter the temple to worship. It is no wonder he did everything in his power to find Jesus and beg him for healing. And heal him Jesus did, both body and soul. According to commentary on this passage from the USCCB, “In curing the leper, Jesus assumes that the priests will reinstate the cured man into the religious community.” It seems to me that this Gospel is about faith, and about love. The leper had great faith that Jesus could heal him, and the great love of Jesus for this man moved Jesus to go against mosaic law by touching and healing him. When we read the Scriptures we are reminded over and over again how much God loves us. Let us allow this knowledge to sink into our hearts and change us. When we begin to reflect God’s love to those around us, we will find that our lives are filled with his peace. Give it a try: Love as Jesus loves.

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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Jb 7:1-4, 6-7; 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Mk 1:29-39

02-04-2024Weekly ReflectionThe Faithful Disciple

GROW: Why me? It could be a flat tire, a lost job or a serious illness. When inconvenient, unpleasant or even downright horrible things happen, it is understandable to wonder why God allows it. I know that is what goes through my head in extreme adversity. God can do all things, so why wouldn’t he change “this thing” for me? In the Gospel, we see Jesus curing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law of her illness, but many of us don’t have our prayers answered like that. Instead, we may relate more to Job in today’s first reading when he says life is a “drudgery” and he “shall not see happiness again.” The reality is that God’s ways are not our ways, so we can’t know why some people endure hardship while others receive miracles. But we can change how we respond to those hardships when they arrive. Just as this passage from Job is understood better within the context of the whole book, discrete events in our lives are part of something larger than ourselves. Praying with Scripture, including reading more of Job, can help us understand how God is molding, refining, and yes – always loving us.

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