April 19, 2011

Read It:
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant.
One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved,
was reclining at Jesus’ side.
So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant.
He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him,
“Master, who is it?”
Jesus answered,
“It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.”
So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas,
son of Simon the Iscariot.
After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him.
So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
Now none of those reclining at table realized why he said this to him.
Some thought that since Judas kept the money bag, Jesus had told him,
“Buy what we need for the feast,”
or to give something to the poor.
So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night.

When he had left, Jesus said,
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself,
and he will glorify him at once.
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
You will look for me, and as I told the Jews,
‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Master, where are you going?”
Jesus answered him,
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
though you will follow later.”
Peter said to him,
“Master, why can I not follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me?
Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow
before you deny me three times.”

Reflect On It:
In today's gospel, we see that Peter will deny Christ three times. I almost feel bad for Peter. He has SUCH resolve to choose the Lord, to lay his life down for Sweet Jesus, but overcome by his humanity, he ends up denying Christ three times. Today's gospel is an interesting one, because we see the two men who will betray Jesus: Peter and Judas. The only difference between these two betrayals is that after Peter denied Christ, he trusted that Christ would forgive him. Judas, on the other hand deemed himself unforgivable and hanged himself. Who are we to believe that there can not be forgiven? Peter goes on to be the ROCK of the Church. How humbling is that? Jesus can totally and WILL totally forgive our sins against him if we come with a humble and repentant heart to him.

Pray About It:
Sweet Jesus, I want so badly to follow you to the cross. Help me to never deny you with my words or deeds. When I do deny you, help me to know of your forgiveness.

Live It! Challenge: Today, spend a good amount of time really doing an examination of Conscience in preparation of Confession for tomorrow

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Read It:
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable.
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”

Reflect on It: The prodigal son is a story that we hear often from Scripture, so much so that sometimes we just kind of glaze over it when we hear it. Recently I was on a retreat and heard an interesting take on this parable and I want to share it with you. Often, we are the prodigal son. We keep trying to live a life outside of the embrace of the Father. We convince ourselves that we would be happier if with life on the other side... We take everything that the Father has given us and pretend to be happy and then realize that it is only in his embrace that life makes sense or where we're truly happy. A life of "dissipation" is different for everyone, but no matter what it is, if it's living outside of the Lord's embrace, are we truly happy?

Pray about it: Lord, help me to realize that away from you, there is no life. Help me to be like the other Son who never leaves you and is faithful to you. You are the life and the love that I choose. Help me to see that true happiness lies in you and that my heart will be restless until it rests in you O, Lord.


Live It! Challenge: Today, cut out something that makes you happy, but that isn't from God.

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Wednesday, March 15

Read it:

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

Because the Gospel talks about the Old Testament directly, here is the other reading as well. Do not be daunted...it's a good read!

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 that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD’s bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,
“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,”
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast
and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
“Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish.”
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.

Reflect on it:
Today's Gospel is all about repentance. Jonah went to Nineveh and preached repentance and all of Nineveh fasted, wore sackcloth and repented. While those in Nineveh repented, we too are called to repent, not because Jonah told us, but instead because God sent his Son to forgive! Jesus is a sign of repentance. Should we choose not to repent, then our punishment shall be worse than those of Nineveh Jesus is the sign of repentance to this generation. There's a song where the lyrics say: "Oh God let us be a generation that sees, see your face Oh God of Jacob". One of the greatest ways to see his face is through the sacraments, especially that of confession.

Pray it: Sweet Jesus, you are a sign for this generation. Help me to always know of your mercy and to trust that it is enough for me! Help me to truly repent of my sinful ways and to never sin again.

Live it! Challenge: Every Wednesday in Lent EVERY parish in the Diocese of Arlington and the Archdiocese of Washington is open for confession from 6:30-8:30 pm. Today's challenge is simple. Be someone who repents by going to confession.

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