First Monday of Advent: December 1, 2014

Read It:
When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, "Go," and he goes;
and to another, "Come here," and he comes;
and to my slave, "Do this," and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.

Reflect on it: In this gospel, we see the words that we say in the Eucharistic prayer as our response: Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof, only say the word and my soul shall be healed. On this first Monday of Advent, we see that we are HARDLY worthy to have the Lord enter our hearts and our lives this Christmas, which leads to the question of if you have prepared a place in your heart for him? As we Christmas approaches, is there space? Are we preparing for him the way we would prepare for any other guest? I hope so.

Pray about it: Sweet Jesus, as Advent starts, help me to realize how truly good you are to want to enter under my roof and it means to have you as an active part of my life. Help me to be ready and to watch for you this Advent.

Live It! Challenge: Today, pray about what the Lord is asking you to do to prepare for his coming.

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First Sunday of Advent 2014

Read It:
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad.
He leaves home and places his servants in charge,
each with his own work,
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.
Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”

Reflect on It:
I love Advent. I love it for a million reasons, but one of the main reasons that I love Advent so much is because we get to ready our hearts for the Lord. We basically spend four weeks waiting. See, waiting is tough for me and Advent teaches me to wait well. I think for a lot of us, we’re uncomfortable with the thought of waiting. We love everything instantaneously and I am no exception to that. Each one of us is called to wait; perhaps we’re called to wait to hear back from colleges or waiting for an answer from our parents. We’re actually made to wait. We spend our whole lives waiting for the Lord to come again in glory. I think that waiting for that first coming of Jesus, for him coming at Christmas, is a tangible way that we have to anticipate the second coming of the Lord. I have to ready my heart, ready my life so that teeny baby will capture my heart at Christmas. I pray that this Advent will be a time of waiting well for you.

Pray about It:
Lord Jesus, this advent I want to wait well. I want to physically feel a longing for you to enter my life at Advent. Help me to be someone that waits well for you this Advent. Amen.

Live It! Challenge: Today, commit to waiting well in one area of your life.

 

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Advent 2014

Welcome back!

It's great to see you here. If you've never been on this blog, let me just take a minute to explain how it works. Each day of Advent, we'll spend a few minutes reading one of the readings of the day, will reflect on it, pray about it and be challenged to live it. It's meant for you be able to make your advent different and to take just a small amount of time in prayer to really celebrate the season.

May you have a very happy and holy Advent!

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Good Friday, April 18, 2014

wine, he said,
“It is finished.”
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Here all kneel and pause for a short time.

Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilate permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night,
also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing about one hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.


Reflect on It:
I once read a good Friday homily that said simply this: "It wasn't nails that kept Jesus on the cross, it was his love for you". I think that's a good reflection for today.

Pray about It: Sweet Jesus, you died for me today, let me walk with you to Calgary and be with you in paradise.

Live It! Challenge: Refrain from something extra today as a sacrifice. Attend the Way of the Cross from 12-2:30 and then Veneration of the Cross tonight at St. James at 7:30 pm.

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Holy Thursday, April 17, 2014

Read It:
Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.
So, during supper,
fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.”
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
so you are clean, but not all.”
For he knew who would betray him;
for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

So when he had washed their feet
and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,
he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”


Reflect on It: There is a song that sticks with me on Holy Thursday where one of the lines says: "Do you know what I have done for you? You who call me your teacher and your friend. So I have done, so you must do". It is one of those songs that is almost haunting. Before the apostles sat down for the Last Supper, Christ, who is going to be crucified the next day washes the feet of his disciples. In this we see that it is humility that brings us to the Lord. To have your feet washed is one of the most humbling experiences one could have. The Lord of the universe stooped and washed the apostles' feet. The symbolism is incredible. Holy Thursday is the beginning of the Easter Triduum. On Holy Thursday, we celebrate three things: The institution of The priesthood, the institution of the Eucharist and we receive the commandment to love one another. We see this commandment to love one another being played out in the washing of the feet and then Christ calls us to do the same. Who in your life needs you to wash their feet?


Pray about It: Sweet Jesus, today begins your passion. Help me to enter into your suffering today.

Live It! Challenge: Attend Holy Thursday Mass and see if you hear about the priesthood, Eucharist and the new commandment. Where do you see each of these in the mass? It is chock full of even more symbolism than normal. If you go to St. James mass is 7:30 pm. You can sit with me if you would like to :).

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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Read It:
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?”
He said,
“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
‘The teacher says, AMy appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover.

When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He said in reply,
“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.”


Reflect on It: Today, we see Judas betraying Jesus. His captivation with money gets to him and he sells Jesus to the chief priests. Often, I think, oh, I am nothing like Judas, I would never do that, but really, I do this often. When I choose sinfulness over Christ, in many ways, I become like Judas. What is the cost that we are willing to sell Jesus for? Is it the cost of cheap thrills? Are we willing to sell him to save face in front of our friends? Maybe we sell the Lord so that we can live the way we want and not the way we should.

Pray about It: Sweet Jesus, as we near the Easter Triduum, help me to look at the things that cause me to be far from you. Help me to overcome these things.

Live It! Challenge: Go to confession tonight. Every Church is the diocese of Arlington and the Archdiocese of Washington, DC is open between 6:30-8:00 pm tonight to hear your confessions. Be Brave. Be Bold. Get your soul clean.

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April 15, 2014

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: "Master I will lay down my life for you". We all know that Peter ends up denying Christ. In that denial, Peter goes out and weeps bitterly for what he has done. The greatest part of this story though is that there is redemption. Peter goes on to become our first Pope. In all of this  the Lord of the Universe entrusted him with his Church when Christ would go to ascend into Heaven. Christ saw him and loved him and allowed Peter do still do his work in him. This is a powerful image that Christ can do anything within us if we just let him. We just have to seek forgiveness. Recently, Pope Francis said: "The Lord never tires of forgiveness. It is we who tire of asking". Let's be fearless in our asking of forgiveness. The great forgiveness shown to Peter is the forgiveness the Lord desires to show us.

Pray about It: Sweet Jesus, help me to always know that you can forgive me if I but seek your reconciliation. Help me to be fearless in always seeking out that Sacrament.

Live It! Challenge: If you haven't gotten yourself over to confession yet, please get yourself there. We have confessions tonight at St. James at 7 pm.

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