Wash Away My Troubles

Deacon Tom Writes,

Wash Away My Troubles

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Year A

As we read through Jesus’ passion by St. Matthew today, we hear how Pilate handled matters when he lost control of the crowd...“he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourself’”.

In capturing so vividly Pilate’s attempt to wash himself clean of any complicity in Christ’s death, Matthew has given us an image we may, at times, use to escape our own culpability in wrongdoing; we wash our hands of the matter. This need to become clean when things have gone wrong is universal and timeless. Pilate obviously realized that. And then there is the story of  King David years before whose guilt drove him to journal his remorse in Psalm 51:

            Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness;

            in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.

            Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.

            For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.

And, guess what? This need to become clean again when we are troubled by our guilt is still around today. It has even been popularized in our music, I’m sure some of you may recall these words to the song, “The Road to Shambala by Three Dog Night:

            Wash away my troubles, wash away my shame

            With the rain in Shambala

            Wash away my sorrow, wash away my pain

            With the rain in Shambala

Yes the truth is, we make mistakes, (yet rarely admit it...) and we do things that hurt others and ourselves. Or, sometimes, we fail to do the right thing and that makes us feel just as guilty as if we did something wrong. We need to get back on track. What better image than that of water as a sign of our becoming clean again as a first sign of our willingness to show remorse and begin anew?

That is the exact function of the Sacrament of Reconciliation…you see, this Sacrament provides real cleansing. It provides healing from the inside out, in the heart and attitude. And real forgiveness comes from the very person Pilate unjustly condemns to death. It’s unfortunate that today when there is so much need of forgiveness and such a profound underestimate of our own sinfulness, this healing Sacrament is so underutilized. As we come to the end of our Lenten journey, let us attempt to take advantage of the graces Our Lord makes available to us when we ask Him to cleanse us of our sins.

Remember to enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Who Do You Say That I AM?

Deacon Tom Writes about…

“Who Do You Say That I Am?”

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year A

Beginning on the Third Sunday of Lent, our Gospel narrative comes from the writings of St. John. The stories we hear are familiar ones:  the Samaritan Woman, the Man Born Blind, and the Raising of Lazarus. These three weeks of Lent are particularly important to those who are preparing to be fully initiated into our faith, the Catechumens or Candidates. Over these next three weeks, they undergo an intense period of interior reflection known as the “Scrutinies”. The readings from John’s Gospel help them and us reflect on who Christ really is.

The first part of John’s Gospel is referred to as the book of signs. In it John describes Jesus’ miracles as a way of letting us know His identity. John does this by having Jesus use the phrase “I Am”. This helps the listener know that Jesus is identifying Himself with God in an absolute sense.

Here are some other “I Am” statements from John’s Gospel that Jesus used to reveal Himself to His listeners:

4:25 The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” 4:26 Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking with you.”

6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst”.

8:12 Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

10:9 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved

10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.”

10:36… “I said, I am the Son of God”

11:25 Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live”.

14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.”

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have Jesus ask his disciples the tough question, “Who do you say that I am”? Matthew 15:16, Mark 8:29, and Luke 9:20. How do we answer that question when Jesus asks it of us today? Just as important, do our lives reflect our answer?

Please keep our Catechumen and our Candidates in your prayers.

Enjoy the Day!

Deacon Tom

Sin - The Bad We Do; The Good We Fail To Do

Deacon Tom Writes,

Sin –The Bad We Do; The Good We Fail To Do

Fourth Sunday of Lent Year A

Today’s Gospel brings up the topic of sin. The disciples wonder who is responsible for the man’s blindness: the man himself because of his own sins, or was it his parents’ fault, i.e. because of their sins. Jesus avoids laying blame. Rather, he says, “it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him” (Jn 9:2-3). Jesus puts an end to the notion that God employs disease to punish us for our sins. 

According to St. Thomas, “sin is nothing else than a morally bad act (St. Thomas, "De malo", 7:3), an act not in accord with reason informed by the Divine law. God has endowed us with reason and free-will, and a sense of responsibility; He has made us subject to His law, which is known to us by the dictates of conscience, and our acts must conform with these dictates, otherwise we sin.” [1]

Actual sin is committed by a free personal act of the will. It is divided into sins of commission and sins of omission. That’s right; you can actually sin by doing nothing, by failing to perform an action!! That raises the table stakes slightly, doesn’t it? Why is that? Well, sometimes we have a moral obligation to act. That’s the lesson of the Good Samaritan. You just can’t ignore someone in need. Sometimes you can’t chose not “to get involved”. 

Look at the words we recite during the Penitential Rite during Lent. We acknowledge to God and our brothers and sisters that we have wronged them by our thoughts, words, and deeds; in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do…. It’s right here. I’m not making this up…..

I confess to almighty God

and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
and I ask Blessed Mary, ever Virgin,
all the angels and saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

There is still a lot of Lent to go. In the days ahead may God give us the courage and ability to recognize our many faults and the grace to change our ways for the better. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

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[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm

Breath Into Me

Deacon Tom Writes,

Breathe Into Me

Third Sunday of Lent, Year A

A young man told me his conversion story a while ago when I was a prison chaplain in Connecticut. He needed some quick cash to pay off his gambling debts. So, he stopped by a bank to make a withdrawal. Small problem – his withdrawal slip was a pistol. While fleeing the bank the police responded appropriately by firing at him, unaware that his pistol was a BB gun. He was hit six times. As he lay dying, he says he saw the devil come to him and begin to “rip his soul out of his body”. Just when he thought he had drawn his last breath, he felt new life being breathed into him by Jesus and he heard Him say, “Get away Satan, this is a child of God”. This young man had been recovering for seven months when I met him and, after his recovery, which was still some time off, he would face a long prison sentence. That didn’t bother him because his profound encounter with Jesus had given him a new vision for his life; it has changed his life forever. He knows that God has a purpose for him and he is looking to find out just what it is.

Most of us look with skepticism at such extreme conversion experiences because they are over the top. Yet recall the words of Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.” We fail at times to remember that God is mystery. We simply cannot grasp the great love He has for us that leads to His pursuing us all the time, through … “the labyrinth ways of my own mind; and in the midst of tears” as Francis Thompson wrote in his poem, The Hound of Heaven. God is like a bloodhound, always tracking us down, right there beside us when we stumble and fall.

Today’s gospel is about this very point. Jesus goes out of His way to engage this Samaritan woman. The Samaritans and the Jews are religious enemies who hated and loathed each other because they differed on the proper way to worship God. (Some things never change!!) Jesus intentionally crosses the barriers of hostility to encounter this woman. He meets her in the midst of the crises of her life; in the middle of her life that has been filled with broken relationships, disappointment, alienation from her community; and He breathes new life into her, and through her, He animates the entire village.

By necessity we need to be advocates for those who are trying to put their lives back together after they stumble and fall. It is through their stories and their witness that we come to know the mystery of God’s love for us, His readiness to breathe new life into us. No matter what we do. No matter how far we run or from how high we fall. 

I believe we all have profound conversion stories of how God has come to us through our failures and brokenness. Perhaps, as we continue on our Lenten journey, we can reflect on how God is calling us to use these encounters to help Him breathe new life into others too.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Renewal Of The Mind

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Renewal Of The Mind”

Second Sunday of Lent, Year A

In his letter to the Ephesians St Paul instructed them: “You should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” (Eph 4:22)

When Peter, James, and John see Jesus in the fullness of His glory, they, quite naturally, want to hang on to the moment. In an effort to hold on to this moment they want to erect three tents perhaps so that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus can stay with them for a while. But that was not to be. The vision doesn’t last. Before you know it, it’s all over and the time comes to return to the ordinary, routine affairs of daily life.

Hold on to the vision, Christ tells them. Keep this all to yourself until the Son of Man has been raised from the Dead!  What an impossible task!  Yet there can be no doubt that these men were deeply affected by what they saw. Seeing Christ in the fullness of His glory affected their thinking, their behavior, and their attitudes. Does what we hear today do the same for us?

If we so desire, the words of our Gospel today can have a great impact on our life. We too can be renewed in the spirit of our minds and be given a new mindset, one that will transform every aspect of our lives, renew and enliven our inner beings, empower us to do the difficult interior work that will allow us to grow more spiritually mature. You can call this renewal of the spirit of our minds a new thinking paradigm.

Peter, James, and John were fortunate to have been given this glimpse of the divine Jesus. We are somewhat more challenged today since we will not experience this until our life’s end. But now that the story’s been told, we have the vision. And the vision in today’s Gospel beckons us to begin the difficult, life-long work of crafting our new selves created in God’s way, a work that will come to completion only when we become one with Him in our eternal home.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

A Memorable Lenten Experience

Deacon Tom Writes,

A Memorable Lenten Experience

First Sunday of Lent, Year A

We begin this Lenten season with St. Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. I am sure that we are very familiar with this passage, so much so that it may fail to hold our attention while it is being read. Yet, for those who can envision this descriptive passage they just may come away with this thought that will serve them well for these next forty days: the desert isn’t a wasteland; it is a refuge. For us Christians, Lent isn’t a time of desolation; it is a time of discernment.

Jesus, the consummate teacher, leads by example inviting us to follow him into the desert. In the solitude of that wilderness he is tempted by the devil with some clever “earthly” ways options for establishing the Kingdom of God on earth. Fortunately, as we are told, Jesus does not go into the desert by himself and he is aware of who is waiting for him there. He has an ally, a protector. “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert…to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus does indeed encounter the devil. He is tempted. He feels the full brunt of satin’s power. But, he will not yield! Even though he is shown all the power, the privilege, and the prestige that this world has to offer, it will not sway him. He will remain faithful to the Spirit within him, the Spirit who revealed him as God’s “beloved Son”.

This Lent we have another opportunity to grow in holiness, another chance to discern God’s Will for us. This is precious time, a time to read scripture so that we can become an intimate friend of Jesus. Remember the question that Jesus asked Peter when they were at Caesarea Philippi, “Who do you say that I am?” How do we answer that question? Who is Jesus for us? Do we know him personally, as a friend in whom we confide….trust…. share our lives? Do we look to Jesus to help us discern the choices that lay before us….help us in our relationships…..with life’s challenges...or to overcome our many personal weaknesses?  Lent is a special time when we can experience the love God has for us by coming to know the person of Jesus Christ, God’s “beloved Son”. Spending some quality time with Jesus in the desert, away from the TV and the noise and chatter of this world is a sure way to make this a memorable Lenten experience. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

A Proper Frame Of Mind

Deacon Tom Writes,

“A Proper Frame of Mind”

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

We live in a frenzied world. We have so much technology at our fingertips and we are more connected to the entire world then ever before. The world is literally just a click away, as images from the corner and around the world flood into our living rooms from the cell phones of people who witness history in the making. We are virtually eyewitnesses to history in the making because technology has placed us in the midst of such events as the crises in Syria or the foiled coup in Turkey. We are reminded that people want freedom. They are putting their lives on the line to overthrow the repressive regimes that have suppressed them for many years. A new day is dawning…. Hopefully, a better day awaits many people living without basic freedoms.

Today’s gospel reminds us that the ultimate power of freedom is the power to make ones own decision in life. We all make choices on how to use the precious gift of freedom that we possess. Jesus gives us some practical advice on how to make the right decisions in regard to the important matters in our lives. “No one can serve two masters,” he tells us. Why? For the simple reason that our inherent makeup will not allow us pursue two opposing desires over the long term. Our love, our passion, our desires cannot be divided. We need to choose one or the other; we need to decide if we are going to serve God or everything else that competes with God.

The gift of freedom that we have received from the hand of God helps give us a proper frame of mind, a moral compass so that we can choose wisely. This proper frame of mind helps us get our priorities in order so that we freely choose to put God first in our lives and by so doing we are then able to enjoy the things of this world as he intended us to use them… for our well-being and the well-being of others.

Many of the images being broadcast instantly around the world, images of poverty, these current revolutions, so many other dreadful human conditions, are visible signs that we have abused the gift of freedom that God has given us. These images can leave us with a sense that we have all but forgotten God. And, perhaps there is much truth to that. Our faith, on the other hand, and the passage from the Prophet Isaiah serve to remind us of the eternal truth that God has not forgotten us, and he never will.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

The High Call To Holiness

Deacon Tom Writes on….

“The High Call to Holiness”

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Jesus takes the contemporary wisdom of his time and turns it upside down. The ancient patterns of behavior of seeking revenge, the old “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” order of the day mentality needs to give way to a new mindset, a new way of resolving differences. So Jesus introduces his followers to some new and innovative ways to bring about justice saying, “Offer no resistance to one who is evil” and “turn the other cheek”.

Jesus’ radical new prescription to eradicate the plagues of hatred and discrimination is to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. Of course, this is much easier said than done. There is a story told about the days following the North’s victory over the South in America’s Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln was being pressured to completely destroy the Confederacy, to decimate the enemies of the Union once and for all. Lincoln’s answer was classic. He responded to those calling for the annihilation of the South with these reconciling words saying effectively:  “Don’t I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends”? Lincoln understood very well that violence only begets more violence. The cycle never ends. How could it in the absence of a new mindset, a new vision that lifts the victim and the vanquished to a higher level of social and moral conscientiousness? This attitude perhaps helped fashion America’s treatment of our enemies in the twentieth century when, after the Second World War, the Marshall Plan sent massive humanitarian aid to Europe in order to lay the foundation for a world able to reconcile differences through mutual respect and an orderly process of dialogue rather than mutual destruction.

Embracing a new way of responding to problems that give rise to the endless cycle of violence that ravages peoples, cultures, and societies is a critical component of our faith. Through the Prophet Moses the Lord told his people to “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy”. We are called to be holy as God is holy. Therefore violence and revenge are not options. There is no better advocate for this than Christ who became a victim for us all and who suffered torture and death at the hands of violent people in order to show us the way of peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

Let us take Christ’s words to heart and strive to put them into practice by “turning the other cheek” when others choose the way of violence and also by praying for those who do so.

I would like to recommend the book, Living Justice, by Thomas Massaro, S.J. as a great Lenten read on Catholic Social Teaching. Watching the News will never be the same!

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Make The Right Choice

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Make the Right Choice”

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Our readings today address the choices we have in life. Sirach seems to say that, in essence, every choice that we make comes down to this: we choose between life and death or, stated differently, between good and evil. Then the Sacred Writer cautions us further that, “whatever we choose shall be given to us”.   

It is not often that we think of the choices we make throughout the day as either good or evil or between life and death. We probably make hundreds of choices over the course of an ordinary day. Yet it shouldn’t be a surprise to us that every choice we make counts; every choice we make has us heading in one direction or another.  We often find ourselves in situations where we must compromise... our faith, our values, our entire belief system. Jesus, in saying that he has come to fulfill the law, not to abolish it, reminds us that we have a reference point on how to determine if we are making good or bad choices. His focal point is … the Law, specifically, the Law God handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai.

In today’s Gospel Jesus expands the meaning of the Law when he interprets it in a much broader sense. And so he equates anger with the act of killing another person. And then again, the act of calling someone a fool and thereby diminishing their dignity as a child of God, becomes punishable by eternal damnation….

I don’t think that Jesus is being over scrupulous. He is being very cautious. He knows that it is the little things that trip us up not only in life but also on our spiritual journey as well. He knows that every choice we make is either drawing us nearer to him or has us moving further away from him. He knows that little by little we can loose the kingdom of heaven by making bad choices.  

Jesus taught us that the best choice we can make is to choose to love, to love God first and foremost, and to love others, even our enemies as ourselves. And this happens every time we choose to put others first, and by doing so, we deepen our love of God, which is always the right choice! 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

You Are The Salt Of The Earth

Deacon Tom Writes,

“You Are The Salt Of The Earth”

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

The Sacred Author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote this insightful passage concerning the enduring truth about the Word of God when he penned these words, “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart”.

Heb 4:12

As crowds pour into the streets around the world carrying signs and placards supporting one cause or another, advocating one course of action over a different path forward, labeling one ideology good and those who stand in opposition to that way of thinking bad, anyone who leaves the crowds and placards behind and enters any of our Catholic Churches around the world this weekend will heard these words from the Prophet Isaiah

Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;

Isaiah goes on to say:

If you remove from your midst
oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
if you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

We don’t surrender our politics, our agendas, our experiences, or hopes for the future when we enter Church to worship God. These are essential dimensions of our lives that are to be conformed and shaped by the Word and Sacrament that we receive when we participate in “the sacred mysteries” which bring us together as “the people of God” whenever we gather in God’s name.

We are faced with many challenges today of major significance to put it mildly. In good conscience – a whole other conversation - we must not overlook the cautionary and prophetic advice of those who have not only experienced similar extraordinary times but who also persevered while remaining faithful to high moral standards.

Jesus calls his disciples “the salt of the earth”. All who heard Jesus say this understood how valuable salt was as a preservative, an antiseptic, a precious commodity to enhance the flavor of food, a “spice of life”. Salt was a medium of exchange from which the word “salary” is derived. If we are to be the “salt of the earth” as Jesus envisioned his disciples to be, we must bring to the current debates the Christian values we find in Sacred Scripture that sees us all as God’s children, and to do so not just with our words but with our actions as well by bringing light and zest to the world around us.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image – You Are The Salt Of The Earth You Are The Light Of The World: www.cliipartkid.com