PASSION (PALM) SUNDAY
BY FR. JIM DEITERS
I have a tradition of giving a brief homily BEFORE the reading of the Passion to help us listen with new ears of faith. And this Palm Sunday, we are blessed with Luke’s account, with particular virtues of Jesus to work on in our own discipleship. When we return on Good Friday, we will hear John’s version of the Passion with its own unique emphasis.
The main Lukan element that I invite us to listen for during the proclamation is Jesus’ unbelievably forgiving, loving disposition through it all. If we listen closely, we have so much to learn from the way Jesus keeps offering love and forgiveness to others, even in the middle of suffering. I want to highlight three encounters Jesus has with other people toward the end of the story… that point us to Jesus’ selfless, non-violent demeanor…for us to follow as His Way.
The first that stands out, is how Jesus responds compassionately to women while carrying the Cross. In the midst of his terrible mistreatment, Jesus meets a group of women weeping for him; he stops to comfort them… and turns the focus to THEIR suffering and not his own. Incredible selflessness for us to learn from.
A second profound moment happens right after Jesus is nailed to the Cross. Instead of hateful, revengeful words against his executioners, he prays, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” While his body is suffering, his heart is full of trust in God… as he offers forgiveness to those who have hurt him. Incredible act of love and non-violence for us to learn from.
And the third unique element to notice in Luke’s version of the story… is Jesus’ brief dialogue with the criminal being crucified next to him. Luke makes a point… that a person whom society has condemned to death row and killed… is the first one to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah when he intimately prays, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Then Jesus uses one of his last breaths to say, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Incredible selfless love. For the writer Luke, this criminal-turned-saint ‘stands in’ for each of us in the plot; this man teaches us to admit our sins and selfishness…and ask Jesus to SAVE us…as we place our trust in Him.
Since we worry about many things, and the suffering and trials of life can sometimes be overwhelming, let us now listen anew to this Passion story of God’s love for us; it is a story of LOVE. As we listen, we turn our gaze to Jesus and keep this prayer hovering in our minds, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
WATCH THIS HOMILY
When we commissioned the artist Meltem Aktas for our Stations of the Cross, it took between 3-6 months to create each one. As each was finished, she would bring the icon herself to us and give a beautiful reflection on its details. One that stands out for me is how she described her creating Station 14, Jesus laid in the tomb. Meltem said she wanted to portray Jesus as dead but already in a “glorified state” sort of ‘glowing’ with Resurrection and peace in fulfilling his life purpose of doing God’s Will. And then she said (with her Turkish accent), “like any icon, I want the person praying with this image to go into Jesus’ experience and feel a PART OF his Resurrection, taking a little piece of Jesus’ Resurrection ‘glow’ with them.”
I love how these special scriptures for the Fifth Sunday of Lent Scrutiny serve as a prelude to the Easter scriptures of Resurrection. The readings invite us into this ‘space’ between the reality of death…and a HOPE about the Resurrected Life of Jesus beyond this world. As Jesus stands at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, he was well aware of his own upcoming death and probably imagined himself with sort of “one foot in the grave,” but also already thinking about his Resurrected Life in heaven.
This story of Lazurus being brought back to life…serves as another kind of ‘icon’ for us to look into regarding our own life of daily ‘dying’ and ‘rising,’ suffering and joy, grief and hope. Often times, we are standing at some version of a tomb, coming to terms with something that we must let go of, that must be buried – a dream, a relationship, an unmet expectation. BUT, when we invite Jesus to stand by our side at these moments like Martha and Mary did, Jesus asks us, “do you believe that I can bring resurrection beyond the grave at which you stand?” I imagine Jesus also saying something like, “Keep your eyes on the glowing light of my resurrection face beyond the trial you are going through.”
The beautiful passage we have today from St. Paul to the Romans breaks this down even further for us…as he is explaining how our Baptism takes us INTO the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. In God’s timelessness, Jesus’ dying and rising, called the Paschal Mystery, is a real LIVING thing that we participate IN during the Mass. We are NOT here as spectators…but participants in something beyond this material world. This is the beautiful miracle we are sharing with the Elect as they will be baptized into this Mystery at the Easter Vigil. We just heard St. Paul say this about Baptism, “the Spirit of God dwells in you…and the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead…will also give (Eternal) LIFE to your mortal body.”
This is part of why we keep returning to the Eucharist…to admit our frail, broken humanity needs to be SAVED by Jesus; here at the Altar, we go ‘into’ the tomb with Lazarus… and INTO the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross…seeking a new life, a new way of thinking and living…remembering that IN Jesus’ Resurrection, we are a part of something beyond the tomb or suffering in front of us. And Jesus asks, “Do you believe this?” And St. Martha teaches us to say, “Yes, Lord, I do believe.”
I like to think…that if the women who helped bring Jesus’ Body to the tomb had painted what he looked like, I imagine they saw a glow emanating from his body…like our own Station 14. While we cannot physically touch this beautiful icon of prayer, we can ‘enter’ it with our eyes and heart; In prayer with the image…go INTO Jesus experience…and take with you… a little piece of resurrection hope. Find time this week in prayer to invite Jesus to be at your side… looking at whatever ‘tomb’ or trial you are facing…and hear him say with love, “come and be free.” With each suffering or dying to self that we encounter…the Eucharist we are about to receive ‘revives’ the Spirit of God within us…to reconnect us with “a little piece of Jesus’ Resurrection glow,” filling us with new HOPE about our future.
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
WATCH THIS HOMILYEarly in my priesthood, I was assigned to two parishes in the rural eastern part of our diocese. As part of the parish picnic, the senior ladies group had a raffle booth of used items people donated. Well, Betty was in charge of it…and she was from the south. For months before the event, after the weekend Masses Betty would sort of hound people to bring their used donations. You could hear her shouting out in her southern accent, “Bring your items, Git shed of it! You don’t need it anyway! Git shed of it!” At first I couldn’t understand what she was saying and it was in English?! Then I learned that “git shed of it” meant get rid of it. Betty and I quickly became friends when I brought her a couple bags of things in my house that I learned to “shed?”
This Third Sunday of Lent is the first in a series of three Sundays that we call the ‘scrutinies,’ which are primarily for our Elect preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. In an ancient tradition, they must scrutinize their lives with regard to things that they need to change, get rid of or ‘shed’ in order to give their life fully to Jesus Christ. You can see how these scrutinies and scriptures can be helpful for all of us…as an examination before confession, as we each go face our own ongoing conversion.
This Gospel story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman challenges us to do some scrutinizing and ‘shedding’ of things that are not helping us be our best self for Christ. In the story, we get to listen in on the surprising, intimate conversation between Jesus and a woman of Samaria, as Jesus breaks all kinds of social norms in speaking with her. In one sense, the woman represents each of us… going daily to various ‘wells’ of what we think will satiate our thirsts...but really don’t. There are several significant things happening in the story, but I invite us to look simply at the meaning of the setting… which takes place at a well. It is a place for people who recognize their thirst. As we will hear later in the Preface prayer at the Altar, Jesus is the one ‘thirsting’ for this woman’s faith…and ours! But the woman is also thirsting for something more meaningful in her life. Jesus…goes out of his way to BE at the well when she arrives. You see, God is the One who comes seeking US…to offer us his Saving Mercy…no matter what our past has been.
The well in the story represents the ordinary, daily places of our life – routines and habits we keep going back to - that don’t satisfy our deeper longings. Often times whatever wellspring we go to is not good for us, not helping us in our discipleship. It may be an unhealthy habit that gives us temporary pleasure; or a ‘well’ that feeds our ego; or a well of superficial living that prevents us from paying attention to the deeper thirsts inside our heart and soul. In other words, what do I need to “shed” and stop doing to be more faithful in following Jesus’ Way?
The Good News…is that Jesus comes from heaven to meet us at THIS Well of his Word and Sacrament, to convince us that he alone is the life-giving fountain from which we need to drink. In other words, if we are not making time to meet JESUS at the ‘well of prayer’ each day…we will continue stumbling through life with our empty bucket, endlessly looking for some other person or thing to satisfy us. The Holy Eucharist, Jesus himself, is our ultimate “thirst quencher.” Our action of coming forward for Communion is our humble way of saying, “Jesus, fill me.”
In prayer this week, think for a moment about the things in your life with which you are not satisfied. In the areas that feel unfulfilled, we must invite Jesus in our prayer each day…and as St. Paul just told us, ask God to “pour his Spirit of Love” into that very place that seems empty or barren.
With our Elect, our first scrutiny and these scriptures basically ask us two questions: What unhealthy or unholy well do I keep going back to? Are we ready to stop going there…and let Jesus fill that need?
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
HOMILY BY DEACON DAN KIMUTIS
Years ago I worked in some very loud aluminum can factories. Our hearing was tested upon hire as a baseline and re-tested annually to assess any degradation. Every year I would proudly share my stellar hearing results with my wife Kris, and say “see honey, this confirms what we both already knew – I have a listening issue, not a hearing issue”. Most of us to varying degrees struggle to listen well to one another. There are many reasons why – we’re distracted thinking of other things, we talk over the person or perhaps we begin to think about our own feelings, opinions, or anticipated response while the other person is still trying to communicate. We may even think we can multi-task with our backs to the person and still listen. In short, we are not fully present to the other person.
In our Gospel today, God reveals to Peter, James and John, the Glory of Jesus, through Jesus’ Transfiguration. But notice Peter takes no time to ponder what has just been manifested and proposes to busy himself by building dwelling places, tents, for Moses and Elijah and Jesus. He misses that the revelation demands descending the mountain to help resume Christ’s mission. Luke politely describes that Peter “did not know what he was saying”, in other words, Peter was clueless. This prompted God to literally talk over Peter to make himself perfectly clear – Luke tells us that while Peter was still speaking God descended upon them in a cloud saying “This is my chosen Son; listen to him”. And then, finally, the apostles fell silent.
Can you envision yourself making the same mistake as Peter in this scene? I can for myself. In similar ways in which we struggle to listen to each other, we struggle even more to make ourselves present to God and to recognize what he is trying to reveal to us in our daily lives. Sometimes God hides himself a bit from us, other times he overtly tries to get our attention. Either way we can remain clueless and overlook his presence, his love, his guidance and his plan for us in the happenings of our day. Lent is a time of Metanoia, an ancient Greek word that means literally “to change one’s mind”, and in spiritual terms to “turn completely around”. Through Lent we are called to reorient our hearts and minds to God, to turn away from self-centeredness and sin and make ourselves much more present to God - to LISTEN to him!
Our psalm today reads “Your face, your presence, O lord, I seek”. We must both desire and pursue God’s presence, his wisdom, and his clarity in our lives. God wishes us to use our intellect, our senses, our heart, and our free will to orient ourselves to him, ponder him, and hear his voice. Like Peter, we can miss the essence of God’s workings in our lives if we don’t quiet and still ourselves. We must take time to more deeply reflect on God and what he’s trying to tell us in our daily experiences. Recall how Mary modeled this by carefully contemplating God following the mysterious happenings surrounding the nativity – Luke tells us she “kept all these things reflecting upon them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
A very tangible way we can hear, understand, and respond to God’s voice in our everyday experiences is to make a daily examine or reflection a spiritual habit. We think about God’s blessings on us this day, and give him thanks. We consider how we were the face of Jesus to others and vice versa. We recall how we responded to those in need or handled difficult situations and let Christ tell us how we imitated him or how we could have done better. We ask God to help us know why he placed certain circumstances in our life today. We seek God’s special message in scripture we may have read this day. We reflect on our sufferings and setbacks and ask God how we should join our crosses to Christ’s. We silence ourselves and just absorb his love. And we listen.
Let us pray: Jesus my Good Shepherd, here I am in your presence. Speak to me Lord. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and transform me. Give me the gift to recognize, listen to, and trust in your gentle voice in the events of my daily life, and not be deceived by any other voices.
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
The Broadway musical and movie Wicked has so many great lessons in it about relationships, prejudice, forgiveness, and helping those less fortunate. One of its most popular songs is called “Defying Gravity,” with a message about not letting others take you down with their small thinking. The song sparked a great conversation I had with a couple teenagers who asked about one line in the song that doesn’t fit in with our Christian way of thinking. The character Elphaba had been treated as an outcast all her life, but when she finds her voice and purpose, she powerfully sings, “I'm through accepting limits, I going to try defying gravity.”
On the surface, the song celebrates her new found self-respect, but the words, “I’m through accepting limits” can mistakenly be interpreted as part of our culture’s gospel that says, “you can do anything you want.” Even parents, trying to give encouragement to their children can mistakenly say to them, “you can be anything you put your mind to,” when in reality…what we ‘want’ to be as a child is often not possible when we face our physical and mental limitations. Being and doing our best is not the same as doing anything we want.
The First Sunday of Lent always gives us the story of Jesus’ Temptations…when he came face to face with his humanity…even the temptations that come with being human. Basically, Satan is testing Jesus to NOT recognize his human limitations…and override them with his divine power. While the story is about Jesus’ temptations that come from hunger and being alone, the underlying lesson Jesus teaches us is that one must embrace their human condition…while trusting fully in God. We have so much to learn from Jesus in being a fully alive human being…WITH its limits.
We face limits in our bodies and minds every day. We experience roadblocks in our relationships. We reach the end of our energy or patience…and want to give up OR deny our limits and resort to coverups, or new distractions. We begin Lent with this lesson from Jesus to embrace our human condition…with its limits AND its beauty…surrendering our life to God our Creator!
When we say and believe that in Baptism, we go INTO the life of Jesus Christ, that means that we die to our SELF…and go into HIS suffering, death, and Resurrection. Jesus came to earth to show us HOW to appreciate our human condition…and depend completely on GOD when we realize and accept the beautiful parameters of being human. Living IN Christ Jesus, we have a Savior who shows us how to not let our hungers, struggles, and craving for power and control tempt us to not accept the ‘gravity’ of being a vulnerable human. Yes, we strive upward to our full potential…while keeping our feet on the holy ground of being a son or daughter of God. It takes holy humility to tell ourselves, “I love being a human and letting God be my God and Savior.” This is what Jesus teaches us in living with life’s tests and allurements.
As we invite Jesus to help us embrace our humanity as a gift, think about particular limitations you are facing right now…and ask challenging questions like these to grow in faith:
Here’s the beautiful truth: The Holy Spirit is guiding us through it all. The story began by telling us, “Jesus was filled with the Spirit” to let us know from Whom he got his strength. The Holy Spirit want to help us use our limitations to lead us closer to God; and the more we surrender our life to God, our souls find the peace they crave. The atmospheric gravity that literally keeps us grounded…can be reinterpreted as a spiritual tool for humbly loving every minute of life God has given us on this planet…knowing that, IN the Resurrected Christ…we will indeed rise to a whole new life in the Peace in God.
EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
HOMILY BY FR. JIM DEITERS
While much of our Catholic spirituality was birthed out of our Jewish heritage, most of our Catholic thinking is rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, particularly the writings of Plato and Aristotle, about 450 years before Christ. In one of Plato’s works, his main character Socrates makes this famous quote “The unexamined life is not worth living.” While this saying was in the context of Socrates’ teaching on justice in society, the philosopher challenges us to think about our life, NOT as just ‘doing’ things, but BEING. Humans are distinguished above all animals…mainly because of our ability to THINK and “examine” what is the right thing to do…since God created us humans uniquely to make conscious moral and ethical choices.
But how many of us in this fast-paced, technology driven, got-to-have-it-now world of ours actually take the time to simply be? In other words, to fully examine our lives, we must first take the time to BE…in order to be more AWARE of our thoughts, actions, and desires. Jesus is constantly challenging people in the Gospel to ‘examine’ their life in terms of what God is calling us to BE. Another way to address this spirituality of awareness…is through the simple question, “Am I becoming the best version of myself…for the life God created me to live?”
Jesus is moving us from an “unexamined” life to an examined one when, in the Gospel today, he asks if we have noticed the splinter in our eye in how judge others? And then he asks if we are aware of what kind of “fruit” we are producing with our life? Jesus’ questions are indeed challenging us to be more self-reflective as to our life purpose. The “examined life” is enriching…as it expands our heart and mind…to become so much more than just ‘doing’ with our life what the culture says is good.
Jesus is echoing the Sirach passage we heard in the first reading which got right in our face by saying, “one’s speech… discloses the bent of one’s mind,” and one’s true character is shown when faced with tribulation. While we can wear all kinds of devices to track our heart rate and exercise and sleep patterns, these sacred scriptures are ‘God’s device’ to help us examine…whether our words and actions are truly revealing that we are followers of Jesus Christ.
To examine our life is not just about recognizing our shortcomings. An examined life, the great philosopher teaches us, is one in which…suddenly you see, really see the little things of life; you see in daily living all the hundreds of holy moments with renewed meaning and gratitude. It is a spiritual process of training ourselves to live IN the moment, more aware of how my words and actions have an impact on others.
The Good News is that God has given us, IN Jesus, the ultimate ‘standard’ and icon upon whom we must train and discipline our life. Jesus himself said to us today that we, his disciples are in “training” …and “every disciple is to become like his teacher.”
I hear Jesus teaching us to spend extra time this week truly examining our life, our thoughts, our desires. An examined life, in light of Jesus as our model, is truly a rich, beautiful way to live. As Jesus feeds us with his Body and Blood, the Eucharist probes, reveals, and unveils anything that is not helping us become like our Teacher.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily by Fr. Jim Deiters
Pope Francis sets the measuring bar quite high for us Christians. He is relentless in following Jesus’ teachings on care for the poor and the outcast. Who else spends their birthday each year at the soup kitchen for the homeless and uses their day off visiting those in prison? And in the last week, while in the hospital with critical health issues, he still insisted that every day he call the Catholic parish in Gaza to assure them of his prayers and makes daily connect with the suffering in Ukraine. If only other world leaders would heed his example that care for the outcast and suffering must be a top priority. And imagine if everyone of us Christians would be so generous in how we think about the poor and all God’s “least ones.”
One of the great hymns in both Catholic and Protestant churches is called, “There’s a Wideness In God’s Mercy,” written by Frederick Faber in the mid-1800’s that actually we will sing as our recessional today. When Faber converted to Catholicism in England, following John Henry Newman, Catholics started using many of his hymns that have enriched our prayer. I love how the composer coins that phrase, “there’s a WIDENESS in God’s Mercy…” that connects with our Gospel today when Jesus uses the word “measure” that challenges us to think about the “measuring” and limiting we sometimes practice with our love and forgiveness. The composer goes on to use the words “broader” and “deeper” to describe the way that GOD “measures” things differently than us humans. The hymn text points us back to Jesus’ Gospel message today…calling us followers of his to expand WIDER the measure of our charity toward others.
I hear Jesus simply asking us this question, “What are you using for your measuring stick…for love?” Or more specifically we can ask our self, “Who taught me to limit the ‘wideness’ of forgiveness?” Early in our childhood development, with various influences, we start to formulate what love means…as well as the risks and benefits of giving and receiving love. Of course we need healthy relationship boundaries, but at some point we set up defined “measuring” guides that put a limit on how much we think we can forgive and love. And our ‘limits’ get reinforced or shrink each time we feel betrayed or get hurt in a relationship.
Within the circles of our own family and friends, we are sometimes tested on how large a measure of love we can give to a sibling, spouse, child or friend, when it seems they have used up every drop of charity we thought we had. How is it possible to heed Jesus’ teaching to “give without counting or expecting anything in return?” This is where God’s Grace comes into play. Jesus is inviting us to let HIM fill our empty cup with God’s endless measure of love. When we come to the end of our own measuring stick…we have to submit our lives to God…and become a humble vessel…that let’s GOD’S love flow through us…when we feel we have no portion left.
As difficult as it is, when Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” it requires starting each day meditating on how much LOVE God has for you…and how often God forgives us. While our pride and memory want to hold on to the hurt, we must be replenished each morning with the “wideness of God’s Mercy” …refilling my measuring cup to be more generous in pouring out love and generosity toward others.
As Pope Francis keeps reminding us that we Christians have no option but to keep a global perspective in extending mercy and care for God’s suffering ones, we must remember that since we are “made in God’s Image and likeness,” we have the capability to actually BE as generous in love as God is to us. Too often we forget to tap into our God-given power…usually because we have put limits on the measure of love we think we are capable of…or we set calculated parameters on what we think others ‘deserve’.
In the Eucharist, the wide river of God’s Mercy flows into our narrow veins to transfigure us into Jesus. As we approach the Altar of Jesus’ Sacrificial Love…let yourself be submerged in the refreshing current of God’s wide, deep, and broad waters of love. God wants to pour his abundant mercy “into your lap.”