Wednesday February 28, 2007

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

February 28, 2007

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: ‘Set out for the great city of Nineveh and announce to it the message I will tell you.’"
Jonah 3:1

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Many times I have told my congregation and other people, "You do not want me in my pride, small ways, selfishness and all the other ways I am not like Jesus. You want Jesus and I want to give you Jesus. But in order to give you Jesus I must pray! If I do not pray I will never be able to give you Jesus because I will not have him to give. And you do not want me! The sinful me I offer does not give hope or salvation. Only Jesus does. So I must know Jesus and his message. And the way to know Jesus and his message is to pray. That is why I pray and I pray and I pray."

If you know me, you know I love Catherine of Siena’s, "Heaven is with us all the way to heaven." We can always make grand, magnify, amplify, broadcast the message of Jesus just like Catherine of Siena, Mary the Mother of Our Lord, or any other Christian who has surrendered to Christ in their lives. Thus, based on Catherine’s quote, I like to keep telling others, "Heaven is with us all the way to heaven. Forgiveness is with us all the way to the land of the forgiven. We are blessed all the way to heaven. We are loved all the way until the love of heaven. Goodness is with us all the way to the perfect goodness of heaven." And we could sing and speak and live forever the message of Jesus.

Quite frankly, there are times when about the last thing I want to do is be up in front of people with all eyes on me waiting for me to give guidance, wisdom, truth. So I pray and beg the Lord to change the message I am tempted to give about me and not wanting to be up in front because I am tired or whatever. I pray and beg the Lord that the message will be about him giving hope of salvation and not about me being tired or whatever.

What is your message? As a Christian, the message of my life is not about me. It is not about that I am tired or whatever. It is about who Christ is for me. It is about what Christ has done, is doing and will do for me and you if we let him. It is about following Jonah’s advice to turn back to God so that God can do his incredible work in you so that you will have an incredible, life-saving message to share with the world.

Remember, people do not want you, they want Christ in you.

The message is Christ. And we speak and sing and live his love always and forever. From the mountaintops of our lives, we magnify, amplify and shout out to all the message of Jesus. But how do we always keep focus on Jesus and not ourselves? We keep turning to him. We pray and we pray and we pray.

Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

February 27, 2007




“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted”
Psalm 34:18
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You gotta be a little cracked for the light to get in! So, it follows that you gotta be a lot cracked to let a lot of light in. How much light do we want?



I am the youngest of eight boys. It takes a lot of food to feed eight boys. Sometimes the food would run short and there would be “disputes” over who would get what. One time there was a “dispute’ between my two oldest brothers over the last potato chip. Who would get it? My oldest brother came to a quick solution. He made a fist and smashed the chip into many, many pieces. Now there were many, many “little chips” to be shared because the “big chip” was cracked into many “little chips”.



How about considering out lives as potato chips? You and I are “big chips.” But, as “big chips” we do not want to be cracked. Don’t show any cracks in the armor. Do not be weak. Do not be vulnerable. Do not show you are broken and act like you have your act all together. And this “uncrackness” is all such a sham and lie!



Think of how St. Peter was like a cracked potato chip. Peter did not even know how to be a fisher of men and Christ not only wanted him to do that but to have the authority of being the first shepherd of the church. Fr. George Montague comments on how Peter allowed himself to be cracked open for the world, “Peter told and retold the story of his own weakness and how the Lord touched him. When Peter preached, he preached from his weakness with the power of God. And that is what converted the Roman world and that is what will convert us, and the people around us if they see the power of God has touched us.” (Manning, “Stranger to Self Hatred” pg. 36)



The choice is before us. To be a big chip that acts like it has got it all together. To be a liar, sham and fraud. No cracks and no light getting in to feed and fill with eternal, overflowing power. To be “uncracked” thus to die without the power of God. Or to forsake the sham and the lie and to say we are who we are.



Be honest and be cracked. The more cracked we are, the more light gets in. The more light gets in, the more we can feed the others. The more pieces we are broken into before the Lord, the more people we can feed. Just like St. Peter, we tell and retell the story of how God has touched us in our weakness with his almighty power. And that is the conversion that will convert the world. And that conversion is what this world is desperate for.



Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John

Monday February 26, 2007

Monday of the First Week of Lent

February 26, 2007




“The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them…”
Leviticus 9:1

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God wants to deliver his teaching through us. In our scripture verse today we read how the Lord is speaking through Moses to teach the people how to live. Through Moses, God tells the children of Israel that should not steal, lie, rob, defraud, hold grudges, take revenge, etc. These are all prohibitions of what you should not do as a follower of God. Also, the Lord teaches through Moses what a follower of God should do, like become holy, not stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake, forgiving your brother from your heart, loving your neighbor as yourself, etc… Thus, we see Moses teaching what we should and should not do as followers of God.



Many times in my own life and in viewing other Christians, I have seen us taking a minimalist approach to our following of Christ. The focus is on all the prohibitions and what we cannot do as Christians. This minimalist approach is sadly limiting and a lame definition of what it means to be a Christian. Of course we are called not to sin but it leaves out all we can do for the Kingdom of God that has been poured out into our hearts through baptism! When we focus on that, when we think about what we can do with the power of the Kingdom within, then that is when Christianity becomes the ultimate fascination.



This past Christmas I cut my finger with a knife and it needed stitches. I ended up in the emergency room on Christmas night. The intake person was asking me what I did and I told her I was a priest and that she was loved. Visibly moved, she told me thanks because it had been a rough Christmas day for her. You see, brothers and sisters, God always wants to deliver his teaching through you and me?



Do you believe that? Do you believe that God always wants to deliver his teaching through you? At every opportunity. If not through you then through who? Moses is not the only speaker. So, if we agree that God wants to speak through you to his people at every opportunity, then what teaching does he want to deliver through you? Pray about it, receive it and deliver it- you have to do all three! And remember, focus on all that we can do as Christians because the Kingdom of God has come and is within us. Teach people about the ultimate fascination of following Jesus.



Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John

Sunday February 25, 2007

First Sunday of Lent

February 25, 2007




“The Lord, the God of our fathers, brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm. “
Deuteronomy 26:8

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Maybe we should all go to prison. I have been to prison. I went there this past Christmas. I was so fortunate to go. But I was not sentenced to go there. I was asked if I could celebrate a mass there on Christmas afternoon and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to do so. I learned a lot and was deeply moved in my two hour stay at the women’s prison on Christmas day.



That day during mass a couple of the women who were in prison shared how that they were not free when they were living outside the prison walls and how they had become free since living in prison. What an interesting point to ruminate on. While living in the free world they felt incarcerated and when they were incarcerated they finally became free.



Now, what I am not proposing is that we should all break the law such that we would be sentenced to prison in order to become free. What I am proposing is true freedom and we can look at what it took for these women to find it. You see, these women have lots of time and little distraction in prison to come to God and ask to be released from their prison of sin to enjoy true freedom. We, too, can make time and clear distraction in order to let Jesus lead us to true freedom. True freedom is knowing Christ and his salvation. It is knowing that we are not sent to prison and death because of our sins and mistakes. True freedom is knowing that we are loved and forgiven- all the way to heaven. As one woman shared, a major thing she learned in prison that she is not a mistake even though she made the mistake that sent her to prison. True freedom is not about physically being able to go and do and wherever you want when you want. Rather, it is knowing and living according to the way of Christ which is the way of everlasting life. We see this way of life foreshadowed as Moses is going to lead the Israelites out of the oppression of the Egyptians. Jesus, the New Moses, will come to lead every sinner out of their spiritual prison to the land of true freedom.



St. Paul talks about being set free “from” so that we can be free “for”. Yes, we are set free “from” sin so that we can be free “for” Christ. That is the life of a Christian and that is the way of everlasting. Like St. Paul, let us make ourselves prisoners to Christ. Let us sentence ourselves to Christ who can only set us free. It is being imprisoned to Christ that we find true freedom. You are not a mistake and neither am I. Even the person on death row who made that grave mistake can be set free from the physical and spiritual sentence of death and know true freedom.



Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

February 24, 2007


“If you remove from your midst false accusation”
Isaiah 58:9

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I remember speaking with a parishioner who was pretty upset with me. I asked why and she said that I intentionally “blew her off” one day while greeting people after mass. I said I am sorry that she saw it that way but that I would never intentionally ignore her. She said it was intentional and that was that! What could I do? I asked her for forgiveness and she made clear to me that that wasn’t going to be happening. Bummer! I told her that forgiveness would be the Christian thing to do.



Obviously, I felt falsely accused in this situation. This woman had decided it was my intention to ignore her. I, for my part, know that it was not my intention to ignore her. The situation is that I had no reason to ignore her and there are always a lot of people vying for my attention after mass and I try to get to as many of them as possible. Many walk by and many who are standing in line leave before I can get to them. And, as a priest, it isn’t exactly in my vocabulary to ignore people and especially someone who I do not have any problems with.



But she decided that I willfully intended to ignore her after mass. My question is, “How could she know that?” And how about all the accusations I make in my life about why other people do what they do? How do I know? How do I really know their innermost heart? What is the true story behind all that they have done? Am I big enough to so easily and readily and harshly accuse another acting like I know the mystery of that human person? Beware, because that is dangerous business and can become sinful very quickly.



If you know me, you know I love to have scripture quotes, quotes, poems, alliterations, acronyms, my own personal axioms, etc. running around in my brain. One of my personal axioms is, “People are doing the best they can with what they got.” So, for example, if a person has never really been shown love or honesty or positive speech growing up then there is a good chance that they will not have that in their repertoire until they are given that and choose the grace to change.



Let us all be vigilant with how we can so easily and readily and harshly accuse others knowing that it is safe to assume that people are generally doing the best they can with what they’ve got.



Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John

Friday February 23rd, 007

Friday after Ash Wednesday
February 23, 2007


“Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” Matthew 9:15

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Ten minutes in a twenty-four hour time span is barely a blip on the screen. It is very doable. Each of us could set a time and place for those ten minutes each day. It would be no big deal to do that, right? Or maybe it would be a big deal?

A Christian song offers this enticingly provocative question, “What if his people prayed?” Yes, what if every person on this earth was committed to praying for ten minutes a day? We could call that praying each day for ten minutes the ten minute rule. How would our world be different?

I traveled around the United States for two years doing evangelistic retreats for youth. The goal was to invite the youth into the good, loving and saving relationship with Jesus Christ lived out in the church and the world. One of the most common things the youth would say about coming to personally know Christ was, “I did not know that you could get to know God and have fun at the same time.” That sentiment needs to be looked by us all who are in the church. Do we have joy with our God?

If we do not have joy with our God then we do not have our God! A joyless Christian is an impossibility! You cannot be in the presence of Jesus and be sad. So, if you are sad, you are not truly in the presence of Jesus. The disciples of John asked Jesus why his disciples did not fast and Jesus told them that they could not mourn while with him (Jesus). So why is there so much sadness and mourning in the church? If that is our life with God, then why would the unchurched ever want to walk in our doors?

So, let us get back to the ten minute rule. No big deal or a big deal? I propose that it is a huge deal. I think it is revolutionary. It is a revolutionary deal that can lead to a continual explosion of joy in your world. Only Jesus can give continual joy and if we are not going to him to get that each day that is the reason for our sadness.

Let us make a deal. Obey the ten minute rule for one year- one year. Commit to a prayerful time and place each day for ten minutes for one year and see what happens. Watch mourning and sadness flee. Learn why Christians are always smiling and laughing so much.

Live the confronted life!
+Fr. John

Thursday After Ash Wednesday

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

February 22, 2007




“I (Jesus) say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.”
Matthew 16:13-19

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Two points I want to share today. The first point is to ask yourself, “Who founded the church I am presently attending? The choice is either the Divine Christ or a mere mortal. Today, in our scripture, we see Jesus founding the church on St. Peter which has continued in unbroken unity to our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict. Every other church that exists was founded by some mortal who broke off from the church Jesus founded. Second, Jesus founds the church on St. Peter, and, in turn, on us all.



Today we celebrate the Chair of St. Peter, apostle. How would you like to be St. Peter? Jesus, The Divine Messiah, Savior and Lord says to you, “I am going to build my Church on you! On me? Woe! The manifestation and revelation of Jesus is going to come to and through my body? Like Our Most Beautiful Mother Mary we ask, “How can this be?” I am just a poor pauper begging for bread and you want to build your church on me, Dear Jesus? Don’t you think you better rethink this proposal?”



Now, rekindle what Isaiah said about who the Israelites would be for the nations, “See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the people; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see.” Isaiah 60:2-4



What an image! Because of our radiance, nations and kings shall stream toward us and walk in the radiance of the light God has given us! Wow! Coming out of the dark of the world, all people come into light of us, the church, who are radiant with light.



Let us try a little exercise right now. Just repeat out loud the following words: “Fr. John. Are you trying to tell me that I will be radiant at what I see? Are you trying to tell me that when I see Jesus, I will become radiant with light? Are you telling me that nations and kings will exchange the darkness of sin for the light of Christ when they see the radiance you have poured out into my soul? Is it true that all the daughters and sons from far off will see the light you have given me and come home to you because in me they have found you? How can it be? But you will it and so LET IT BE!!!”



Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John

Ash Wednesday February 21, 2007

Ash Wednesday
February 21, 2007
“Rend your hearts, not your garments.”
Joel 2:13
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Here we go! Welcome aboard to our Lenten Journey 2007! Once again, we get to dive into the mystery of God by diving into his Word! The mystery of God will forever be discovered by us. We just go deeper and deeper without ever exhausting it. If that is not cause for excitement, then nothing is in this world. Thank you all for joining me as we seek to dive into the heart of God as if we were diving into an ocean laden with unspeakable treasures on the ocean floor.

Live the confronted life! That is going to be a theme that I sign off each day with during Lent.

Recently meeting with a couple who I am preparing for marriage, I asked them about their chastity. Were they following God’s plan for their bodies in terms of how they relate to each other physically? When I asked them the question, they turned their eyes and heads away from my eyes, their faces blushed with red, and one said to the other, “I told you he would ask!” The other one did not think I would ask about that in the first meeting! But I did. I confronted them with the truth of God’s love. Just as I expect to be confronted by anyone who calls themselves Christian or who loves me. I want to choose love and life and God’s ways. And I want everyone I know, from engaged couples to married couples to the elderly to kids, to do the same.

If we do not live the confronted life, we can choose the life of sin and darkness- a life apart from God and his power, healing and forgiveness. If we do not live the confronted life, we can lose our marriages, friends and hope. We keep getting farther and farther from God’s ways and pretty soon we are in over our heads.

That is why we have marriage preparation- so those getting married will confront their lives. That is the purpose of church- to have the Gospel and the Eucharist and the Christ-filled community put before us, challenging us to become Holy as the Lord is Holy. That is why spouses and families should pray together each day- so that Jesus Christ will be the standard of all we think, say and do. That is why we go to confession. And on and on.

Are you living the confronted life? If not, what will you put in place to do so? Lent is a clarion call to confront yourself. Notice I wrote “yourself” and not “others.” Time to quit rationalizing, hiding, denying and tear your heart open to God and others so you can grow in the mystery of God’s love.

Live the confronted life!

+Fr. John