9 April 2023 – Homily for Easter Sunday Mass – John 20:1-9

      Mary Magdalene came to the tomb in the early morning hours while it was still dark. Her Lord and Savior had just been crucified. The darkness of the early morning was overshadowed by the spiritual darkness that consumed her. Full of remorse, pain, and anger, Mary Magdalene believed that Jesus’ body had been stolen from the tomb. He had been put to death in the most violent and humiliating way possible, but now his body cannot even be anointed in the Jewish burial tradition. This is a first sign for Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the beloved disciple, of knowing that something special and unique was happening. Yet, they no idea what was going on, about the full implications that the resurrection would have on their lives and their faith.

        Last night, we celebrated the Easter Vigil Mass. The symbolism of that mass is striking. We had explained to the members of the RCIA class and their sponsors that this liturgy takes place in the darkness of night. The Easter fire symbolizes the light of Christ that is brought into our world and into our lives in a special way through his death and resurrection. We have our candles lit by the light of Christ in the paschal candle, symbolizing Christ as the source of the true light for us in our lives.

        During the season of Lent, we have been talking about how we are called to search for God in all things. We search for God in our joys, but also in moments of tragedy, suffering, and challenge.  We search for him in the quiet, prayerful moments in our lives, but also in the busy schedules of our modern lives, in those moments that change us and transform us in very profound ways. We search for God in the questions that we have and in the things that bind us and restrict us. During Lent, we journeyed with Jesus on his way to the cross. We meditated upon his sufferings and his passion. We knew that he would die on a cross on Good Friday, which is a big part of what we believe as Catholics. However, with the cross comes the resurrection.  We believe in the joy, the new life, the liberation that comes from the resurrection.

        Traditionally, in the Early Church, the Easter Vigil Mass was the time when adults would enter the faith. Last night at our Easter Vigil mass at Holy Savior, we had  a group of adults come into the Church as catechumens, those who had not been baptized yet, and candidates, those who had been baptized into another Christian denomination. These adults in the RCIA process underwent a formation that culminated into their entry into the Church last night. The joy those neophytes, their families, and their sponsors experienced is a great witness to all of us.

      But, look at what today’s Gospel says carefully.  The beloved disciple saw the empty tomb.  He saw all that was happening. And he believed.  Yet, it also said that this group still did not understand all that the Scriptures said. The members of the Early Church believed, but they spent a lot time figuring out what Jesus was all about, figuring out what relevance he had in their lives and in what they believed. We, too, are called to believe and to be witnesses. This Easter season that we are now entering is a wonderful time for us to examine our faith, to recommit ourselves to what we believe.  Perhaps we have not been attending mass regularly or are thinking about how we can become more engaged in our parish. Now is a good time to put some of that into action. For these next weeks during the Easter season, the Church invites us to ponder what the resurrection of Jesus really means to us, to ponder what it really means to live the resurrection in our lives.  Let us all accept that invitation. 

8 April 2023 - homily - Easter Vigil Mass - Exodus 14:15—15:1; Isaiah 55:1-11 - Baruch 3:9-15; 32C - 4:4, Romans 6:3-11; Matthew 28:1-10

      Our Easter Vigil Mass tonight is the highlight of our liturgical year.  Catholics throughout the world gather together to celebrate this most holy night, in union with our Lord and with all of their brothers and sisters in Christ.  We welcome our new members into the Catholic Church during this Mass, with some receiving the sacraments of baptism, first communion, and confirmation, as we feel our spiritual solidarity with them, a great sense of love and gratitude. We have the largest group coming into the Church here at Holy Savior in recent memory, for which we give great thanks. We pray for them and with them as they receive these sacraments and as they consecrate their lives to Jesus Christ. Tonight, we are called to participate in a very holy and unifying experience tonight in our Easter Vigil Mass, the culmination of our Lenten journey. 

     The Easter Vigil Mass always takes place in the midst of the night. The light of Christ has gone out of the world with his death on the cross on Good Friday.  It will remain in darkness until the Easter fire is started, symbolizing Christ as the light of the world who rise from the tomb dispelling the darkness of the world. Tonight, we celebrate Christ as the source of love, light, and goodness.  

     In our first reading tonight from Exodus, God parts the Red Sea and leads his people out of the bondage of slavery and sin. God liberates the Jewish people in order for them to be able to live with him in holiness and unity. God liberates all of us who have been baptized in Christ. In the life giving Easter waters that we will bless tonight and that will be used in our baptisms tonight and throughout the Easter season, Jesus leads us out of sin and into our new life with him.  

     In our reading from the prophet Baruch, we hear God call his people and when they answer with understanding “here we are!”, they will shine with great joy for their creator. Those who will enter our Church this evening through our RCIA program have answered God’s call. They come forward tonight to acknowledge him. We celebrate with all who are receiving the sacraments tonight. As I was reflecting upon my own RCIA experience and coming into the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass while I was writing this homily, as I came into the Church 31 years ago at the Easter Vigil Mass. if I had not come into the Church through the RCIA program, I would not be standing here with all of you as your pastor in this Mass. The Holy Spirit will come upon those receiving the Sacraments in a special way this evening, filling all of us with the joy of the risen Christ. 

      “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here for he has been raised just as he said.” These are the words we hear the angel proclaim to the women who discover the empty tomb.  Without that empty tomb, without the resurrection, the birth, life, and resurrection of Jesus would have no meaning. Without that, he would not be the son of the living God. Christ breaks through the barriers of our doubts and our fear of death as he is raised from the dead on Easter morning. Death does not the final say. Through the Easter mysteries that call out to us to night, we are to believe that Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins and rose to life so they we might have eternal life with him. Tonight, in the darkness of night, Christ is the life of the world. Christ is the light of the human race.  Christ is our Easter joy.  

7 April 2023 – Good Friday – John 18:1-19:42

      Scripture scholars John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg wrote a book entitled The Last Week about the events of Holy Week from an historical perspective. Crossan and Borg call this day of Jesus’ crucifixion “the most solemn day of the Christian year”. On the surface, calling the day Jesus died “Good Friday” might seem to be to be a contradiction in terms. In Spanish, today is called “Holy Friday”, while in German it is called “Sorrowful Friday.” But we Christians know that calling today “Good Friday” isn’t a contradiction, because even though the horror of Christ’s death occurred today, it is also the day that the redemption of the world was accomplished. 

        We can make a connection between the death of Jesus on Good Friday with his resurrection which we celebrate on Easter in the Lenten observances we have been following these past weeks.  By praying the Way of the Cross on Fridays during Lent, we make the connection between the sufferings that Christ endured and the sufferings and sacrifices that we endure in our own lives here on earth. One of the prayers that is prayed at the ninth station, when Jesus falls the third time, states: “Almighty and eternal God, you permitted your son to be weakened, crushed, and profaned so that he might rise from the dead freed from the ravages of sin. Help us to accept our weaknesses and failings as forerunners of our glorious resurrection in union with your son.” Hopefully, uniting our sufferings, our weaknesses, and our failings to journey of Christ will help us grow in our faith and help find meaning in our journey.

         It is easy to say that we have faith and to praise the Lord when things are going well in our lives, but when we go through dark times in life, we probably want to cry in pain and agony in the words of the psalm that we heard on Palm Sunday: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” In the passion that we heard today in the Gospel, there were those who abandoned Jesus who only thought of themselves. We saw Peter deny Jesus. We saw Judas betray him.  We heard the crowd shouting to have Jesus crucified. Yet, we also saw the Blessed Mother, Mary of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala standing by the cross of Jesus out of love and loyalty. We saw Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea give Jesus’ body a proper burial. 

         We have accompanied Jesus during Holy Week and we now honor him on this day that he died. We venerate his cross out of our faith and humility, knowing what the cross really means. I will never forget an image from my first Good Friday liturgy as a priest. That year, at St Richard parish in Jackson, we had all of our parishioners carrying rocks during Lent, to symbolize our sins and all that is keeping us from God.  We had everyone come an place their roots at the foot of the cross as a part of our Good Friday liturgy. One young lady from our parish had been very ill for several years; she had not eaten anything by mouth all those years and had her nutrition brought into her body through tubes. She rarely came to mass due to her medical condition, yet she was intent on coming up and venerating the cross of Jesus. As she came up, one of the last to do so, dragging the box that contained her IV tubes and drips with her, there was not a dry eye in the entire congregation. I thought – what a testimony it is to see this young lady uniting her sufferings with Christ’s sufferings, to find meaning in her faith in the cross of Jesus and in the redemption that it brings to us. Today, as we connect our lives with Jesus’ passion and his death on the cross, we have hope in the resurrection that is come.

Bulletin reflection - Easter Morning - 9 April 2023

      Easter has arrived! As Catholics, we look forward to our celebration of Easter. I always love our commemoration of Lent and our celebration of Holy Week and the Easter season each year.

     I think of Mary of Magdala in our Gospel today, of what she experienced on Easter morning as she goes to the tomb early in the morning before sunrise. She is astounded to find the stone moved from the entrance of the tomb, then finding the tomb empty. She wonders: What has happened to our Jesus? Has someone stolen his body? Even though she is confused, in an act of faith, Mary of Magdala tells some of the other disciples about what she witnessed. When the others see the empty tomb and the burial cloths scattered about, they are confused and perplexed as well. However, the beloved disciple starts to make sense of the situation. He is able to see and believe. It is significant to note that the belief in the resurrection of these first disciples does not stem from the actual appearance of the resurrected Jesus, but rather such belief developed from what was first reported to them, from the way they interpreted their experience of the empty tomb. 

     I have enjoyed journeying through the Lenten season with all of you as we tried to seek God in all things. I have enjoyed praying the stations of the cross on Friday evenings and the Lenten meals we have had together as a parish faith community. We look forward to a joyful Easter season together as we journey toward the celebration of Pentecost.  

      Jesus has risen from the dead! We celebrate his resurrection this Easter weekend.  

prayers of the faithful - 9 April 2023 - Easter Morning

Introduction - We rejoice that this is the day the Lord has made. God’s love and mercy reaches out to all of us today on Easter morning. By Jesus sacrifice on the cross, he has conquered sin and defeated death. A new life has dawned, as God’s loving care survives sin and overcomes death.  Jesus has shown us the way to the Father. May the promise of the resurrection fill us with hope and lead us to eternal life.  

Lord Jesus, you are the risen Christ. 

Christ Jesus, you were anointed by God with the Holy Spirit. 

Lord Jesus, you will come again to judge the living and the dead. 

Priest: Filled with joy by the promise of the resurrection, we no bring our prayers to God: 

1. For the Church: that by our mercy and compassion we may raise our brothers and sisters out of their pain and suffering, sharing the good news of the risen Christ with them, we pray to the Lord. 

2. That the peace that Christ brings may extend to all the nations of the world, filling our hearts with justice and healing, we pray to the Lord. 

3. For all who entered the Church at the Easter vigil Mass yesterday evening, that they may grow in love of the Lord as they live as children of the light, we pray to the Lord. 

4. For all who suffer from illness, hunger, isolation, or neglect, that their burdens may be lifted by the continuing mission of Christ in the world, we pray to the Lord. 

5. For all our sick and shut-in, for all who cannot be at Mass with us today, that they may feel our love and prayers reaching out to them, we pray to the Lord. 

6. May our disciplines of prayer, fasting, and actions of charity continue in our daily lives of faith in the joyful Easter season, we pray to the Lord. 

7. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.  For their entry into eternal life. We pray to the Lord. 

8. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for our intentions spoken and unspoken, we pray to the Lord.

Priest: God of creation and compassion, in your love for us you have given us your only begotten son and you have raised him from the dead. Hear the prayers we make today through your son, for he is our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.  

8 April 2023 - Easter Vigil Mass - prayers of the faithful

Priest: Our joy on this holy night gives us the confidence to place our trust in God for all things.  Let present our prayers for our needs, the needs of the Church, and the needs of the world. 

1. For that Church, that by word and example, we may always proclaim the glory of the resurrection of the Lord in the midst of our lived reality, we pray to the Lord. 

2. That the peace that God has willed from the very moment of creation may bloom in our hearts, in our families, in our community, and in the whole world, we pray to the Lord. 

3. For the newly baptized and the newly initiated members of our Christian family here and throughout the world, that they may grow in our new life in Christ Jesus, we pray to the Lord. 

4. For Christians around the world, that our faith in the resurrection may lead us to seek true unity in Christ, we pray to the Lord. 

5. For all of us gathered at Mass this evening, that just as Christ was raised from the dead, that we too might live in the newness of life, we pray to the Lord. 

6. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. For healing for the sick and the shut-in. We pray to the Lord. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for our intentions spoken and unspoken, we pray to the Lord.

Priest: God of love, you raised your only begotten son from the dead to eternal life with you. Raise us out of sin and death into new life with you.  We present our prayers to you this evening through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN. 

Prayers of the faithful - Holy Thursday - 6 April 2023

Introduction: We begin the Paschal Triduum this evening, the three-day remembrance of the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of our Lord.  We remember how Jesus’ life ended here on earth, in triumph disguised as defeat. This evening we hear how Jesus gave his disciples a model for the mission of the Church, as he came to them as a servant on his knees to wash their feet.  May Jesus’ lesson be a model for us as we continue to proclaim his passion, death, and rising.  May we continue to be of service to our neighbor. 

Lord Jesus, you washed the feet of your disciples. 

Christ Jesus, you gave us the Eucharist as the everlasting memorial of your light and life. 

Lord Jesus, you summon us to your table of reconciliation and peace. 

Priest: Animated by the love that Jesus shows humanity as he washed the disciples feet and commanded us to do likewise, we now turn to God with our needs and the needs of the world, desiring to be instruments of God’s grace: 

1. For the Church, that with love and compassion, we may serve those in need just as Jesus served his disciples at the Last Supper, we pray to the Lord. 

2. For those who are suffering in pain, in grief, or from want, that their burden may be lifted through God’s mercy, we pray to the Lord. 

3. For all who dedicate their lives to both ordained and lay ministry: that they may be renewed in mind and spirit as they serve to fulfill God’s mission, we pray to the Lord. 

4. For our Jewish brothers and sisters who have begun their celebration of Passover, that our prayer to God be united with their prayers on this holy night, we pray to the Lord. 

5. For our faith communities of Holy Savior and Immaculate Conception, especially for those who will be received into the Church on this upcoming Easter weekend, that our participation during these holy days may renew in us our mission to serve one another, we pray to the Lord. 

6. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. For healing for the sick and the shut-in. We pray to the Lord. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for our intentions spoken and unspoken, we pray to the Lord.

Priest: God of the eternal covenant, you so loved the world that you created that you gave us your only son to live for us and die for us and to guide us to you. Inspire us to serve one another. We make our prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN. 

6 April 2023 - Holy Thursday - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper - John 13:1-15

       This evening, we start the Easter Triduum, one continuous liturgy of three days in which we commemorate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus during Holy Week. You will notice that there is no dismissal this evening, nor is there a welcome or a dismissal tomorrow at the service on Good Friday. Today’s mass of the Lord’s supper highlights the drama and tension of the final hours of Christ’s life and ministry here on earth. As Jesus gathers with his disciples, eats supper with them, and washes their feet, we know that the last moments of Christ’s journey are just ahead of him: his anguished prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas’ betrayal, and Christ’s arrest by the Roman authorities. But, knowing what lies ahead of him, Jesus does not withdraw. Instead, he continues to reach out to his disciples, loving them to the end as the Gospel tells us.  

     This evening’s mass intrinsically links the Eucharist with Christ’s act of service in the washing of his disciples’ feet. In the second reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we have one of the earliest references to the institution of the Eucharist from the Early Church. Whenever the disciples of Christ celebrated this meal, whenever they shared the gifts of bread and wine in his name, they experienced his presence in their midst.  

       In Ancient Israel, guests would come into a home from the dirty streets, with their feet being washed by the lowest ranking servant in the household in an act of humble service. In washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus makes a strong statement that would have been understood by all in Ancient Israel. Jesus is summarizing his life of service to the God the Father and to the people in this act of washing their feet, mirroring the humility and service he embraced throughout his life and ministry. Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet foreshadows his death on the cross, his final act of service to God and to all of humanity.  

      Jesus tells us: “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.” As a Eucharistic people, we receive Jesus into our lives in a special way in his body and blood, the greatest gift of self-giving that we could receive. As the risen Christ shared a meal with his disciples on the evening before his passion, he likewise serves us as well each time that we gather around his table for Mass. May the the example of Christ, the love of Christ, that we celebrate today on Holy Thursday, be the guiding light of our lives.  

5 April 2023 - Homily for Wednesday of Holy Week - Isaiah 50:4-9a

     There are four songs of the suffering servant in the book of the prophet Isaiah. We hear all four of these readings during the liturgies of Holy Week. We hear the third song of the suffering servant today, with the fourth in the liturgy on Good Friday. The suffering servant will receive from God the words he is to speak, especially for those who are in need of his encouragement. We see this in the way that Jesus gives words of encouragement to his disciples before his passion. On one of the stations of the cross, we hear Jesus speaking to the woman of Jerusalem. These women sympathize with Jesus. He gives them words of encouragement too, just as he speaks in such words to the good thief who is crucified alongside him. 

       Yet, in the reading today, it talks about how even though the suffering servant speaks the words of God, he receives insults and criticism in return. We see how the suffering servant reacts to the criticism he receives and how Jesus reacts to such insults and criticism. Sometimes we want to lash out to people in anger, don’t we.  I know we all have received criticism or snarky remarks or insults on Facebook or in an email or in a text. We look at how in the pandemic there was a lot of criticism and tension in no matter what we did in our parishes. However, what are the words God is asking us to say?  How do we respond to this criticism and insults with love and compassion? 

4 April 2023 - Homily for Tuesday of Holy Week - Isaiah 49:1-6 - John 13:21-33 and 36-38

      In the second song of the suffering servant that we hear from the prophet Isaiah today, these words can be applied to Jesus, which is why we hears these four songs of the suffering servant from Isaiah during the liturgies in Holy Week.  Like the suffering servant in Isaiah, Jesus can been seen as a sharp-edged sword and as a polished arrow in the message God gives him in his ministry and his proclamation of God’s kingdom. Jesus is the one through whom God shows his glory, as is stated in the words of Isaiah, but then we could see Jesus thinking at times that his work is in vain by the way his message is rejected so many people in Ancient Israel. In Jesus’ sufferings and in his death on the cross, most of his disciples and followers have abandoned him. As he is dying on the cross he cries out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

     In today’s Gospel, we hear of two betrayals of Jesus. One by Judas, as we see Jesus discussing the one who will betray him at the last supper with his apostles. Then, the foreshadowing of the betrayal that Peter makes of Jesus, as he denies Jesus three times. Perhaps Peter’s betrayal cuts to Jesus’ heart even mores, as Peter swears a promise that he will go to Jesus to the end, even to death. Judas makes no such promise. What will save Peter will be  his heart-felt repentance and conversion. We think of the many times we ourselves have betrayed Jesus in our hearts and our actions. We receive the body of Jesus in the Eucharist, but then we commit a sin or we turn our back on him in different ways. Like Peter, may we cry out for the wrongs we have done to Jesus and our brothers and sisters. May we cry out for the sins we commit in action and omission.

Palm Sunday - 2 APRIL 2023 - Prayers of the faithful

Lord Jesus - in your words and actions, you reveal your Father’s love. 

Christ Jesus, in your passion and death, you emptied yourself for our sake. 

Lord Jesus, in your resurrection, you have been given the name that is above every other name. 

Priest: In our commemoration of Palm Sunday, we give voice to our needs and the needs of our brothers and sisters, relying on the Lord for help, confident that the Lord will answer our prayers: 

1. For the universal Church, that we may boldly testify to our faith and work tirelessly to carry out Christ’s mission here on earth, we pray to the Lord. 

2. That peace may flower in the Holy Land, the Middle East, and Ukraine, spreading to the ends of the earth, we pray to the Lord. 

3. For all who welcome the Lord into their lives with devotion and praise, especially those who will enter the Church on Easter weekend, we pray to the Lord. 

4. For an end to the death penalty.  We pray for all those in our correctional system and for those who have been affected by their crimes. We pray to the Lord. 

5. For all of us who will be participating in the liturgies of holy week, that our participation may strength our commitment to carry our cross and assist others with their crosses, we pray to the Lord. 

6. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed.  For healing for the sick and the shut-in.  We pray to the Lord. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for our intentions spoken and unspoken, we pray to the Lord.

Priest: God of compassion, your son turned to you again and again in order to obey your will in the midst of his pain, suffering, and death.  God us the grace to accept your will and to carry our crosses.  We present our prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN. 

Reflection for Palm Sunday - Holy Savior parish - Clinton Mississippi

      Today is Palm Sunday, our entrance into Holy Week, a very special week for us as Catholics that is really at the heart of what we believe.  For the past five weeks, since we started the holy days of Lent on Ash Wednesday, we have been starting our Masses in silence, as we got down on knees to begin our Eucharistic celebration together as a community of faith. From that moment of silence at the beginning of the Mass, we can tell that these days of Lent for us as Catholics are so different than the rest of the year. 

       This week is a very special week for us in our Catholic faith.  While our secular world has all kinds of other events going on, while schools schedule sporting events and proms and other social activities, while we have work and so many other scheduled events pulling at our attention and our time, it is important for us to make time to journey with Jesus this week, to have the events of his passion, death, and resurrection really penetrate our hearts and make a difference in our lives. 

       I hope that you all will join us for our liturgies this upcoming Holy Week, especially the Triduum of liturgies on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil. With the pandemic having hampered our Holy Week celebrations for several years, this is a great opportunity for us as a community to celebrate the mysteries of our faith together. Please join us!  Father Lincoln. 

2 April 2023 - Homily for Palm Sunday - Philippians 2:6-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Matthew 26:14—27:66

     Lent is a very profound time of prayer and preparation in our lives of faith. It is a time that calls out to us, a time that can affect our lives in a very real way. We finish the seasons of Advent and Christmas, then a month or so of ordinary time, before we start our journey with Jesus in the desert during the holy season of Lent. The Church calls us to some serious work during Lent: to repent from our sins and to convert our hearts, to pray, to fast, and to perform works of charity. Lent starts in the midst of February or at the beginning of March, months that are usually cold and dreary in the middle of winter. At the beginning and ending of our Masses here at our parish of Holy Savior during Lent, we did not begin with a meaningful hymn or joyful praise song, but rather, we began our Masses with silence on our knees. The silence of our Lenten journey with the Lord is the silence of the world as Jesus endures his passion and makes his way to the cross. 

      We know that Palm Sunday is a special day, with these palm fronds that we carrying into Mass. Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, signifies that we are moving away for the silence and the starkness of Lent onto something else. At the beginning of mass today we hear shouts of joy from the crowd: “”Hosanna…;  blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest!”  We can imagine why the crowds are filled with joy and exuberance. They thought that Jesus was the Messiah, the one who would bring their nation back to glory and bring them salvation. They had heard his amazing sermons and teachings. They had seen him feed a huge crowd with only a few loaves of bread and several fish. They had seen him heal so many people of their illnesses and afflictions. They had seen him raise the dead and drive out demons. They had seen his kindness to the poor and the forgotten, to the leper and those considered unclean. But, then later in this same Mass, the shouts of Hosanna fade away and Jesus is condemned with other kinds of shouts and insults: “Let him be crucified!  Let him be crucified!”

      It is important to note that our liturgical celebration today does not end with Christ’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. That is not the final word. Today’s liturgy, then, teaches us that Jesus does not save us through his triumphal entry into the city or by his miracles. Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians that Jesus emptied himself and humbled himself. In his emptying and in his humility, Jesus demonstrates the boundless love that God has for us, a love that the Son accepted in his destiny to bring us salvation through his passion and death on the cross. Jesus did not seek power and glory as the Son of God. He had solidarity with the oppressed, the marginalized and the forgotten.  He had solidarity with the sinner, yet he was without sin. On Holy Thursday, as a part of our Holy Week commemoration, we will see Jesus washing the feet of the disciples, a task that the lowest household servant was usually assigned. The abyss of emptiness and humility will be evident in Jesus’ last moments on the cross: “From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matthew 27:45-46). In quoting Psalm 22, Jesus affirms God's presence amid his people. Jesus prays this psalm in awareness of the Father's presence with him. Jesus’ cry is not a cry for help, but rather a prayer for all peoples in the midst of his emptiness, humility, and struggle. This is Jesus who walks with us in our struggles. We are to unite our sufferings to his sufferings, for Jesus understands our pain, our brokenness, our feelings of abandonment and loneliness.  

      We commemorate Palm Sunday today: “Passion Sunday.”  We are left with the image of Jesus who stretches out his arms of love on the hard wood of the cross so that all may be invited into his loving, saving embrace. Darkness enveloped the land on that afternoon that Jesus died on the cross, but even in the moments of great darkness, God is present with us. Jesus invites us to journey with him during these days of Holy Week that begins  today, Palm Sunday.  Let us accept that invitation.   

26 March 2023 - prayers of the faithful - 5th Sunday of Lent

Introduction: On this final Sunday of Lent before Palm Sunday, we hear Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb.  Jesus calls us forth from the tombs of sin and death, where our harmful habits and harmful attributes separate us from God and from the new life that Christ offers us. As the Lord meets as in his holy word and in the Sacrament of Eucharist in the Mass today, let open our lives to him in a special way as we continue our journey during Lent. If you would please kneel in silence. 

Lord Jesus, you raised Lazarus from the dead. 

Christ Jesus, you are the Messiah, the son of God. 

Lord Jesus, you are the way that leads us to new life. 

Priest: We place our trust in the Lord, that he hears our voices as we call out to him in supplication with our needs, the needs of our neighbor, and the needs of the Church: 

1. For God’s holy Church, that we may loosen all that binds us to sin and death, bringing forgiveness, reconciliation and new life to those in darkness, we pray to the Lord. We pray to the Lord. 

2. That the nations of the world may put down their weapons of destruction. May we all work toward peace and justice. We pray to the Lord. 

3. For those who suffer with addiction, that they may find the strength and courage to break through those terrible bonds, we pray to the Lord. 

4. For those adults who will enter the Church on Easter weekend and for our children and youth preparing for the sacraments. For the new life and blessings they will receive from Christ, we pray to the Lord. 

5. That we may reach out in mercy and understanding to those who are bound tightly to sin and hate, we pray to the Lord. 

6. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. For healing for the sick and the shut-in.  We pray to the Lord. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for our intentions spoken and unspoken, we pray to the Lord.

Priest: Merciful God, you give us hope in the midst of despair, you bring us light in the darkness, and you give us new life in our death. We make our prayers today through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN. 

Happy 10th anniversary Pope Francis - 13 March 2023

Happy 10th anniversary Pope Francis.  

On March 13, 2013, Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina appeared on the central loggia of the Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican, being presented as the new pope.  

In his greeting to the people of God, he place an emphasis on being the Bishop of Rome of the Church "that presides in charity over all the Churches."  He asked a blessing from the people of God before he gave a blessing himself.  He prayers for fraternity in a world that contains so much injustice, violence, and war.  As Pope, he speaks about a Church that is poor and that is for the poor.  In the coming days, he spoke about the meaning of choosing the name of Francis as Pope, linking it our connection to the poor of the world.  He called St Francis of Assisi "the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation."

As a former missionary to South America and as someone who studied in Argentina one summer, I cried as he came out as the new pope.  I really felt the Holy Spirit had chosen him to lead the Church.  

Happy 10th anniversary Pope Francis.  

Father Lincoln 

Prayer of St Anselm - reflection in the holy season of. Lent

Seminarians who are preparing for the priesthood study a great deal of philosophy.  I remember taking a two semester course on medieval philosophy using the textbook written by Frederick Copleston, a renowned Jesuit priest from England and professor of philosophy. Much of medieval philosophy was centered around philosophical proofs written to argue for the existence of God. St Anselm of Canterbury (1033 - 1109) wrote some of these famous proofs. 

In a book of devotions written for the holy season of Lent, there is a prayer adapted from the Proslogion, a discourse written by St Anselm on the existence of God. In some ways, this prayer reflects the theme we have been using during Lent at our parishes of Holy Savior and Immaculate Conception, of seeking God in all things. Many of us Christians spend a lot of time searching for God and wanting to find him. Yet, sometimes, we are not sure how we should seek him. This prayer very much reflects that reality. Blessings to all of you this week. Father Lincoln

O Lord my God,

teach my heart this day where and how to see you,

where and how to find you.

You have made me and remade me.

You have bestowed on me all the good things I possess.

Still, I do not know you.

I have not yet done that for which I was made.

Teach me to seek you,

for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,

or find you unless you show yourself to me.

Let me seek you in my desire.

Let me desire you in my seeking.

Let me find you by loving you.

Let me love you when I find you. AMEN.

Reflection for the fifth Sunday of Lent - 26 March 2023

We have had a very meaningful Lenten season this year at our parishes of Holy Savior and Immaculate Conception. It has been wonderful having good attendance at both our weekend and daily Masses. We have had stations of the cross each week on Fridays during Lent at both parishes, with great attendance. We had a great turnout at Friday evening Lenten meals. We are thankful for the Knights of Columbus and the ladies of the parish and their dedication to serving our parish at the Lenten meals. We are excited to have a large RCIA group this year preparing for entry into the Church on Easter weekend.

These past three weekends, we have heard Gospel readings of Jesus interacting with different individuals in the reality of their lives: of Jesus meeting the woman at the well, of Jesus healing a man who had been blind from birth, and of Jesus being notified by Mary and Martha at the death of his dear friend Lazarus. All of us need healing, wholeness, and forgiveness in our lives in one way or another. God’s grace is there for us in a special way during Lent, to operate in our lives, to invite us to renewal and conversion. In Lent, the sacraments of Eucharist and reconciliation are there for us to help us in this journey of new life and conversion.

Last week, I journeyed with Bishop Kopacz to Greenwood, Madison, and Tupelo in order to meet with the priests in Lenten days of reflection for the clergy. It is wonderful for us to get together as brother priests in our Diocese and to reflect together on the meaning of this holy season.

Blessings to all of you as we continue our Lenten journey, as we near our commemoration of Holy Week and the resurrection of the Lord on Easter weekend. Father Lincoln.

Refection for the fourth Sunday of Lent - 19 March 2023

Today, we celebrate Laetare Sunday, a point of joy on our Lenten journey, characterize by the distinctive rose liturgical color, of which Uno the Lost Sheep even has a rose colored blanket today. We look forward to the joy of the Easter week when we will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

I thought about the prayer of St Richard of Chichester in connection to the healing of the blind man in today’s Gospel: “Our Lord Jesus, Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day.” St. Richard, the Bishop of Chichester, England, prayed those words to Jesus way back in the 13th century. The feast day of St Richard of Chichester takes place on April 3, so at the beginning of Holy Week this year. St Richard parish here in Jackson has St Richard of Chichester as its patron saint. I love the message of this short prayer because seeing, knowing, and loving God more clearly is at the heart of the Gospel message today. The message of this prayer is at the heart of our Lenten journey as well. Blessings to all of you - have a wonderful week. Father Lincoln.

March 19, 2023 - Fourth Sunday of Lent - prayers of the faithful

Introduction: In the middle of our Lenten journey, we celebrate Laetare Sunday, characterized by the liturgical color of rose. We rejoice today that the Jesus’ story and his journey to the cross do not end with his placement in the tomb. As we hear the story of the healing of the blind man in the Gospel today, we pray that we may be healed of all our spiritual blindness.

Lord Jesus, you bring healing into our lives just as you healed the man born blind.

Christ Jesus, you summon the sinner to repentance.

Lord Jesus, you call us out of darkness into light.

Priest: Every day, the works of the Lord are made visible by our faith. As we place our trust in the Lord, let us now turn to him with our needs, the needs of our brothers and sisters, and the needs of the Church:

1. For the Church, that the light we shine upon the world help spread the love of Christ to all God’s children, we pray to the Lord.

2. For those who live in the darkness of war, violence, and poverty: that they may find hope in the light of Christ, we pray to the Lord.

3. For those in our RCIA program who will be entering the Church on Easter weekend. That they may realize the grace of God at work in their lives. We also pray for our children and youth preparing for first holy communion and confirmation. We pray to the Lord.

4. That the new life we see in nature in the springtime may be reflected in the renewal of our mission in the world, we pray to the Lord.

5. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. For healing for our sick and shut-ins. We pray to the Lord.

6. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for our intentions spoken and unspoken, we pray to the Lord.

Priest: Lord of light, we pray that your light ever guide us on our way. We make our prayers today through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.

prayers of the faithful - Friday of the fourth week of Lent - 24 March 2023

 Lord Jesus - you are the Word of God. 

Christ Jesus - you are our Savior. 

Lord Jesus - you are the beloved Son of the Father. 

Priest: As we place our hope and trust in God’s mercy and love, we pray for our needs and the needs of our brothers and sisters: 

1. For the members of the Church, that we may reach out to share Christ’s Good News with others. 

2. For the leaders of the nations, that they be attentive to the needs of the people they represent, we pray to the Lord. 

3. That we may pray for  Christian unity.  May all Christians find common ground to work together and to help bring God’s kingdom to fruition. 

4. For a reverence for human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, especially for the unborn and the vulnerable. 

5. For our parish community, that we may bear witness to God’s grace through our prayers and our ministries. 

6. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed, for their entry into eternal life. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for all our intentions spoken and unspoken. 

Priest: Merciful God, as we turn to you in our needs, we humbly ask you to grant them according to your will, through Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.  

Prayers of the faithful - Thursday of the fourth week of LENT - 23 March 2023

Lord Jesus - you call us to reconciliation 

Christ Jesus - you bring us hope

Lord Jesus - you call us to conversion

In the midst of our Lenten journey, we present our prayer to our heavenly Father: 

1. For our government leaders: that God will give them the wisdom to understand the needs of the people and to inspire within them fresh ideas to advance the common good.  

2. For peace and an end to warfare: that God will change the hearts of those advancing violence, help them to recognize the value and dignity of each person, and open new opportunities for dialogue.

3. For the Church: that we may give witness to the dying and rising of Christ by our lives and be instruments of hope to all who are experiencing loss or limitation. 

4. For the gift of new beginnings: that God will transform our fears into hope, our selfishness into love, and our deaths into new life. 

5. For growth as disciples: that we may place ourselves at the feet of Jesus to learn and accept the gift of life that Jesus alone offers. 

6. For all those preparing for first communion, confirmation, and entry in the Church through the RCIA process: may the Lord continue to bless them and guide them on their journey of faith. 

7. For the prayers we hold in our hearts today. 

With humble hearts, we present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.  

Prayers of the faithful - 22 March 2023 - Wednesday 4th week of Lent

Lord Jesus - you call us to reconciliation. 

Christ Jesus - you bring us hope. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to conversion. 

In faith and trust, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father: 

1. For freedom from our resentments: that we may surrender our resentments to God who frees us from hurts and teaches us to love our neighbor. 

2. For all who have left or become alienated from their community of faith: that God will touch their hearts and help us to reach out and welcome them into our faith community here at our parishes of Holy Savior and Immaculate Conception.  

3. For healing within families: that God will heal the wounds of words and actions so that families may work together and support one another. 

4. For our sick and shut-in: that God's renewing love will strengthen and comfort all who are facing surgery or who have been hospitalized or who are confined to their homes or the hospice or the nursing home.  

5. For Refugees: that God will guide them safely to find new homes and help them enrich their new communities with their gifts and talents. 

6. For the prayers we hold in our hearts today. 

With humble hearts, we present these prayers through your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.   

Prayers of the faithful - 21 March 2023 - Tuesday of the 4th week of Lent

Lord Jesus - you call us to reconciliation 

Christ Jesus - you bring us hope

Lord Jesus - you call us to conversion

As we continue our journey during this 4th week of Lent, we present our prayers to our heavenly Father:

1. For the Church: that we may all be ambassadors of Christ, bringing God’s message of compassion, mercy, and salvation to the world, especially to those who are wounded or alienated. 

2. For the grace of freedom: that we may be bound by neither our sins nor our self-righteousness, but may we be free to receive and celebrate God’s goodness each day. 

3. For a spirit of conversion: that the Spirit will guide us in surrendering our weaknesses to God, help us to turn more fully toward God, and to follow the path of the Gospel every day. 

4. For new understanding: that we may recognize God’s love for us, a love not based on our deeds or achievements, but on God’s free and generous choice. 

5. For patience: that God will sustain us as we await the fulfillment of his promises to lead us to life and bring us to wholeness. 

6. For peace in those places in the world experiencing violence, oppression, or war.  We pray for peace in Ukraine and the Middle East. 

7. For the prayers that we hold in the silence of our hearts. 

With humility and trust, we present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.  

Once a pilgrim, always a pilgrim

 

I saw this image posted on a pilgrimage Facebook page stating, once a pilgrim, always a pilgrim.  That is certainly a reality in my life.  I strongly identify as a pilgrim.  I am hoping to go ago on the Camino of Santiago this fall or next winter, which will be the first time back on the Camino since January 2017.  I really want to be back on the Camino.  

23 March 2023 - Thursday of the 4th week of Lent - Exodus 32:7-14

     We hear how the Lord’s anger rises up against the people of Israel for rejecting him in the middle of the Exodus in the desert, how they make a molten calf as an idol to worship instead.  The Lord wants to punish the people and to save Moses, but Moses intercedes on the behalf of the people.  I think of the saints as interceding on our behalf in a similar manner, in offering their prayers, compassion, and fidelity on our behalf to help us when we have strayed from the path.   Many of us Catholics grow to see some of the saints as our friends and our advocates, as those who are helping us when we need that help the most.

       I had a very interesting conversation with the prisoners about naming our community.  At first they wanted to name the community about me - St Lincoln.  I told them there was not a St Lincoln.  When they told the head prison chaplain about their idea, she told them that she knew that I would never agree to it being named after me.  We then talked about naming it after St Maximillian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest who died in a concentration camp in WWII who is the patron saint of prisoners.  However, they said they wanted to be more than their identity as prisoners, something that transcended that identity. I certainly understood their perspective.  Then, after a long discussion, we settled on St Michael the Archangel.  I think that is a great patron saint for their community.  And as the weeks have gone by, they have really grown to like that name for them. 

       Let us reach out to the saints in the midst of our reality.  They will certainly intercede for us.  

28 March 2023 - Tuesday of the 5th week of Lent – Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 102

     I remember my first winter in Winnipeg, Canada as a missionary. The winter days were cold and dreary, with sub-freezing temperatures and darkness that never seemed to end.   I felt like I was living in the frozen tundra of the Arctic. I felt so down in the dumps as winter dragged on. I remember going to confession one frigid dark Friday evening, as I explained my feeling to the priest. His response to me was: It’s Canada in the middle of winter. It is natural to feel depressed this time of the year: Don’t worry; just persevere, as spring will be coming. 

     Well, that was how I felt up in Canada in the middle of winter. Try to imagine how the Israelites felt in the middle of their journey: tired, hungry, and thirsty. They gave up hope in the middle of their desert journey, as they saw no end in sight. The Israelites were fed up with their situation, so they turned against Moses and against God from having brought them to this hot, desolate, barren place. Their life of bondage in Egypt seemed good in comparison to what they were experiencing on the Exodus. They did not understand that God was in their midst because they did not feel his presence with them. 

       It’s often easy for us to slip into hopelessness and despair in the midst of a crisis or a difficult situation.  It is often easy for us to blame someone else for our misery and agony. When a loved one is sick or dies, when we are unemployed, when we fail at sometime we put our heart into: where do we find hope when our lives seem so dark and hopeless? 

        The Canadian winter felt like it would never end, but when spring and summer finally came, it was so full of joy and hope. The Canadians planted beautiful gardens, they spent time outside hiking or swimming or bike riding. They enjoyed every moment of beautiful weather they could get, knowing that another winter would be just around the corner.  They found God’s presence in the beauty of nature and in the grandeur of his creation.  I often found God’s presence in those dark, dreary winter days of the Canadian winters, but sometimes I had to really look for him.

         How do we open ourselves to God’s presence in our lives? We hear in today’s psalm: “O God, hear my prayer and let my cry come to you.”   Just as Moses and Jesus brough God’s presence to the people in the midst of despair, we are called to bring God’s presence to others in the midst of their reality. Let us find hope in the Lord no matter where that reality finds us. 

26 March 2023 – 5th Sunday in Lent- John 11:1-45

     Today, we mark the 5th Sunday of Lent.  We are getting closer to the end of our Lenten journey.  In just a week, we will hear the Passion of our Lord on Palm Sunday, as we enter into Holy Week, one of the most profound experiences we Christians have in our entire liturgical year.

      Today, in our Gospel, we come face to face with Lazarus, a beloved friend of Jesus. Lazarus has been sealed away in the tomb for 4 days when Jesus arrives in Bethany. At Jesus’ command, “Come out, Lazarus!”, Lazarus comes out of the tomb, with his hands and feet all tied up with strips of material, with a cloth covering his face.  “Unbind him, let him go free!” Jesus commands.

       We have been searching for God in all things during our Lenten journey.  In one of his books, No Man Is an Island, the Trappist monk Thomas Merton had this to say about seeking God: “In all His acts God orders all things, whether good or evil, for the good of those who know Him and seek Him and who strive to bring their own freedom under obedience to His divine purpose. All that is done by the will of God in secret is done for His glory and for the good of those whom He has chosen to share in His glory.”  So if God orders all things for the good of those who seek him, as we strive to be obedient to him, how do we approach this when we feel that we are bound up like Lazarus in our lives? Sometimes, the things that bind us are tied to the circumstances of our lives, while other times the things that bind us up are things of our own choosing.

      I remember talking to a prison inmate who had been battling a terrible drug addiction for many years, whose life revolved around getting his next fix of heroin or methamphetamines.  He told me that his life was dark and ugly all the time.  Even though he had a really good job in the tech industry, his addictions were always dragging him down.  He tried to break free from this horrible life again and again, but he always returned to the drugs, even if he was clean for a while. In the midst of that darkness, he said that he would pass by a Catholic church on his way to work. Even though he was not Catholic, he said that in the midst of his ugly, ugly life, he would stop in at the church to pray, one of the few signs showing him that God was still there in all that was wrong and broken in his life. Although he definitely did not want to be in prison, he did not want to be bound and constrained by the time he served in a correctional institution, he admitted that being sent to prison was a wake-up call that probably saved his lives.  I told this inmate like I have told countless other inmates that there are worse prisons we can put ourselves into compared to serving times as a prisoner behind the bars in one of the state’s correctional institutions.

      When I was a missionary I worked with a missionary model called liberation theology. Through the reading of the Exodus story in the Old Testament, the poor whom I worked with in the jungles of South America identified with the people of Israel who were enslaved in Egypt. God led the Israelites out of slavery and liberated them, bringing them to the promised land and to a covenant with him. God liberated these slaves on many different levels: on spiritual, economic, political, psychological, social, and religious levels just to name a few. As a missionary, we studied Scripture with the villagers whom I served, we all shared our stories, our reality, and our dreams, and then we discerned where God was calling our community to action. Agricultural projects, a rice milling machine, a distance learning high school, a carpentry workshop and a sewing workshop – these were some of the projects we started with in these communities in the jungle to give them hope and to help them earn a living, to gain confidence in themselves and to grow on their journey of faith.

      We can bound up in a lot of different ways.  Sometimes we can physically break through those boundaries, and in other ways, we can break free on other levels.  As a missionary, I had to overcome a lot of adversity and struggle, not the least was sickness and violence. Yet, through my missionary work and through all I had to endure, on many levels, God liberated me as well. How are we bound up – and how is God leading us in the situation we are in right now? How do we search for God and find him in those things that tie us down?

24 March 2023 – Friday of 4th week of Lent – Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22

    Today's reading from the book of Wisdom explains to us how the wicked often lie in wait for the righteous one, wanting to destroy the righteous man because he is inconvenient and opposes their actions, how the righteous one recognizes the sins of the wicked, how this threatens them. These are the forces of darkness that were at work in the world described by the book of Wisdom, the forces of darkness that tried to destroy Jesus in our Gospel reading, the forces of darkness that tried to entrap him wherever he traveled in his ministry in Ancient Israel. 

     However, our psalmist assures us today: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.  The Lord confronts the evildoers.  He hears the just cry out to him. We might look out at our world today and see a lot to cry out about. We see acts of violence in our community, acts of terrorism and war in the world, people attacking others with their words and actions. Perhaps we are broken hearted at seeing all that is going on in our world today, in the struggles we are enduring in our own lives, for our inability to let go of our past hurts and brokenness.  The Lord tells us to  remember that in the middle of our Lenten journey, he is close to the brokenhearted and the crushed in spirit. The Lord's mercy and compassion is always with us.  We, in turn, are to be a healing presence in the world, the presence of the Gospel values.  The world is definitely in need of such a presence. 

22 March 2023 - Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent - Nicholas Owen - Psalm 145, Isaiah 49:8-15

      The prophets were sent to Ancient Israel to not only proclaim a message from God, but also to bring the people back to God, to reconcile them to the Lord. The people of Israel may think that God had forsaken them for their transgressions and sins, but the prophet Isaiah reaffirms the message of the covenant that God made with his people, of his steadfastness in maintaining that relationship with them. The psalmist echoes this same message today, proclaiming that the Lord is gracious and merciful.

       In England, during the reign of Elizabeth I, Catholics were forbidden to practice their faith. Starting in the year 1585, it was considered treason, punishable by death, if a man in England had been ordained a priest abroad. Thus, priests needed places to hide.  Nicholas Owen was originally from the city of Oxford in England.  He was a stone mason and carpenter by trade. He became one of the first English Jesuit lay brothers. From 1588-1605, Owen travelled throughout England constructing hiding places in safe houses where priests could hide. During the evening and night, he worked carving concealed rooms out of the stone walls or ground. The location of the secret room was known only to himself and the owner of the house. During the daytime he would work as a carpenter in the house in order to keep this secret from others. 

     He was arrested in 1594 with a Jesuit priest; despite torture, he would not reveal the names of any other Catholic priests. He was released from custody when a wealthy Catholic paid his fine. He is believed to have engineered the escape of Father jJohn Gerard from the Tower of London in 1597. Owen was arrested again in 1606, at which time he died of torture.  He was canonized a saint by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Catholic Martyrs from England and Wales.  

     The bravery and courage of Nicholas Owen reminds me of the courage and convict that the prophets such as Isaiah has as well. All of us may be prophetic in our words and our actions in the way we live out our faith each day.  

21 March 2023 - Tuesday of the 4th week of Lent – John 5:1-16

       The pool at Bethesda is located just outside the city walls of Jerusalem. The pool was originally built to supply water for the Temple, but during Jesus' lifetime, the pool no longer served this function.  By Jesus’ day, the pool had acquired a reputation for healing qualities. Jesus singles out one man from the many people who are gathered at the pool to be healed. This man acknowledges that he has no one to put him in the pool, a direct admission that there are no family or friends there to help him. Perhaps it is difficult for us to imagine how this afflicted man would survive there very long by himself without anyone to help him. This man did not know that it was Jesus talking to him, so he obviously did not anticipate being healed by Jesus.  Although the man expects to be cured by the waters of the pool, Jesus by-passes the pool altogether and cures him directly. Unlike some other healings Jesus performs in the New Testament Gospels, Jesus doesn’t link the healing of this man with his faith.  Rather, Jesus cures him because he needs and desires healing. The cure that happens in this Gospel passage has a very reassuring and positive message to all of us as we continue our Lenten journey. The man is cured, he is saved, because he merely wanted to be well.

         The holy season of Lent is an opportunity for all of us to grow closer to Jesus and to contemplate the great love God shows us through his beloved Son. May our Lenten prayer today be that we may recognize the opportunities that Jesus extends to us every day.  May we use the gifts given to us to bring life and abundance to our daily lives.

3rd Week of Lent - 12 March 2023 - Prayers of the faithful

Introduction: On this third Sunday of Lent, we hear of the Samaritan woman at the well.  She comes to the well to draw water, a part of her daily routine.  But on this day, she encounters the Messiah and her whole life changes.  We also have an opportunity to encounter the Lord in the word of God today.  May our lives be changed by the words we hear. 

Lord Jesus - you are the living water.

Christ Jesus - you are a fountain of grace and mercy. 

Lord Jesus - you are our peace and reconciliation. 

Priest: We place our trust that the Lord is in our midst, so now let us give voice to our needs in our prayers:

1. For the Church, that the woman at the well be a model for us, leading us to give witness that Jesus is the source of living water, we pray to the Lord. 

2. For governmental leaders, that they ensure that our precious water resources be well cared for and that fair and equitable ways be found to secure that all people have sufficient clean water.  We pray for those in the state and federal government working toward a solution to the water problems in the city of Jackson, we pray to the Lord. 

3. For those who lack the basic necessities in life, that they may have the resources they need to live in dignity as children of God, we pray to the Lord. 

4. For those preparing to enter the Church through our RCIA program, may they find their spiritual thirst quenched by the living water that Jesus offers to them, we pray to the Lord. 

5. For those we are suffering in life, for those who have hardened their hearts, for those struggling with addictions and mental illness, that they way feel the love of God pouring out into their hearts through the Holy Spirit, we pray to the Lord. 

6. For healing and wholeness for the sick and the afflicted in body, mind, and spirit.  For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed, for their entry into enteral life, we pray to the Lord. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts, for our intentions spoken and unspoken, we pray to the Lord. 

Priest: God of compassion, when we struggle through the deserts in our lives, may you quench our thirst with life-giving water.  Hear the prayers that we make today in trust and love, through Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN.  

 

Bulletin Reflection for the third week of Lent - 12 March 2023

     At this weekend's Mass readings, we hear of the themes of repentance, conversion, and mercy as we reflect upon the woman at the well and the life-giving waters that Jesus offers to her.  God wants us to repent, convert, repent, and renew. There may be times in our lives when we get off track and when we move away from God.  At different points on our journey, we may not feel like our faith is bearing fruit.  At different points, we may feel that God’s presence is far away. Yet, God is always there for us on our journey of faith.  

     I want to continue to encourage you to engage in our Lenten journey here at our parishes of Immaculate Conception and Holy Savior.  We have stations of the cross, Mass, adoration, and a Lenten evening meal on Fridays at Holy Savior and the stations of the cross at Immaculate Conception.  Our Lenten reconciliation service will be coming up on Wednesday, March 22. We will have various priests from parishes in the area here to hear your confession.  Also, we look forward to our commemoration of holy week and Easter, especially with the large group in our RCIA program entering the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass.  Blessings to all of you as we continue our journey during the holy season of Lent.  Father Lincoln.  

Prayers of the faithful - feast of St Patrick - 17 March 2023

Lord Jesus - you bring us justice. 

Christ Jesus - you bring us hope. 

Lord Jesus - you bring us love.  

Priest: As we journey through Lent, we pause to keep the feast of Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. We praise God the creator, who sustained Patrick and who sustains the Church in good times and bad. 

1. That the leaders of our Church may have the courage and wisdom of St Patrick.  

2. That those who are struggling on their journey may know the love and support of the Christian Community wherever they may be. 

3. That peace and reconciliation may grow here in our country and throughout the world. 

4. That we in our actions and our prayers may reach out to the most vulnerable and defenseless in our society. We pray that we may all reflect the Gospel of Life in our words and our actions.  

5. That the stranger in our midst be treated with dignity and respect.  

6. For the sick and shut-in and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.  

Priest: God of truth and beauty, you look after us through our ups and downs through life.  Always keep your flock in your care. We present these prayers through your son Jesus Christ Our Lord forever and ever.  Amen. 

prayers of the faithful - 16 March 2023 - third week of LENT

Lord Jesus, you are the light that dispels the darkness, Lord have mercy. 

Christ Jesus, you are the Savior of the world: Christ have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you are the way that leads to everlasting life: Lord have mercy. 

Prayers of the Faithful 

Priest: The Lord looks upon us as we approach him in awe and wonder. Now, let us pray for our needs and the needs of others.

1. That the Church throughout the world might listen to God’s beloved Son and trust in his promises, especially during this holy season of Lent.  

2. That our world may be transformed by peace and harmony. We pray for an end to war, violence, and terrorism. 

3. For our governmental leaders, that they may they put aside differences and work together in unity and solidarity - 

4. For those children preparing for first communion, for the youth preparing for confirmation, and for those adults in our RCIA program.  May their Lenten journey help them deepen their faith and trust in the Son of God.  Let us pray to the Lord.

5. That all of us may follow the Gospel of life in our words and in our actions, respecting human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. 

6. For all those affected by storms, bad weather, and natural disasters in Mississippi, in our country and throughout the world.  For safety for all.  

7. For healing for the sick and the shut-in. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. 

8. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.  

Priest:  Our soul waits for you, O Lord, for you are our help and our protection. Hear these our prayers and graciously grant them through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord for ever and ever.  AMEN. 

prayers of the faithful - 15 March 2023 - third week of LENT

Lord Jesus - you are humble of heart - Lord have mercy. 

Christ Jesus - you call us to be missionary in spirit - Christ have mercy. 

Lord Jesus - you are the Son of the Father - Lord have mercy. 

As we continue our Lenten journey today, let us bring our prayers to our merciful God: 

1. That, by prayer, fasting and works of charity, the holy people of God will accompany Jesus on his journey during these holy days of Lent.  

2. That all Christians and all people of goodwill may listen to the Word of God and obey his commandments in daily life. 

3. That we will find time each day for God, seek him in the silence of our hearts, and learn to love him more and more. 

4. That God will lead us to the path of justice and peace.  We pray for those who are being harmed in the world by war, terrorism, and violence.  

5. That our religious and governmental leaders will work together, especially keeping in mind the marginalized and the vulnerable.  

6. For the sick and shut-ins, for those who need healing mind, body, and spirit.  

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.  

God of mercy, keep us in your love.  We ask these prayers through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.  AMEN. 

prayers of the faithful - 10 March 2023 - Friday of the 2nd week of Lent

Lord Jesus - you call us to faithfulness.  

Christ Jesus - you proclaim the truth of the kingdom of God. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to discipleship.

As we continue our Lenten journey during this second week of this holy season, we present our prayers to our loving and merciful Father: 

1. For the Church, may she prophetically proclaim the kingdom of God in the midst of our reality. 

2. For our governmental leaders, may the work toward justice and solidarity. 

3. For our first responders, the men and women in the military, and our medical professionals, in thanksgiving for all who keep us safe. 

4. For missionary, many they inspire all the faithful to be missionary in spirit. 

5. For the repose of the souls of the faithful departed, for their entry into eternal life. 

6. For those who need healing in their lives body, mind, or spirit. 

7. For the prayers we hold in the silence of our hearts.

God of compassion, we reach out to you in our prayers this evening. We present our prayers with hope and trust through your son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever. AMEN.   

19 March 2023 - 4th Sunday of LENT - the healing of the blind man - – John 9:1-41

      Questions. So many questions. What's striking about today's account of the healing of the blind man at the pool of Siloam is the presence of so many questions. We begin with a question that Jesus' disciples ask: They wonder who was responsible for this man's blindness, this man himself or his parents. The disciples assume that this man is blind because someone had sinned, a common belief in the ancient world. The blind man's neighbors ask questions, wanting to know how he recovered his sight after he had been healed. The Pharisees, as always, ask many questions about who Jesus is, about how he broke the law in curing this man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees' questions are very condemning; they aren't concerned with the blind man's welfare. The Pharisees do not celebrate his newly restored sight.  

       In light of all these questions in today’s Gospel, what about the questions we ourselves ask in our search for God in our lives?  Depending upon what questions we ask and how we ask them, our questions can either help us to see through the lens of faith, or they can blind us to God's presence. The disciples, the man's neighbors, and others question whether this man was really blind since birth. In asking such questions, they don’t see the joy and the miracle in what Jesus did in healing him. They can only ask what their view of the world and their expectations allow them to envision, which is a very distorted view of reality. 

        Having been healed, this man is able to live a different life, not just because of his newly obtained physical sight, but because of his newfound spiritual sight. He recognizes Jesus as the Son of Man and the light of the world. The Pharisees were never physically blind, but they were blind in a psychological and spiritual sense. The truth is hidden from the Pharisees by their need to control, in only asking those questions that they hoped would reinforce their rigid view of God and the world. The Pharisees cannot behold the miracles that Jesus performs with awe and wonder, but instead they try to condemn Jesus and trap him. 

        In our search for God, in our journey of conversion and repentance during Lent, we need to be willing to see things in a new way. We need to ask new questions that will give us honest, insightful answers, that will allow Jesus to challenge our biases and our suppositions, for it is often difficult for us to see God in our lives in a new way, even when it's before our very eyes.

       “Our Lord Jesus - Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day.”  St. Richard, the Bishop of Chichester, England, prayed those words to Jesus way back in the 13th century. In fact, the feast day of St Richard of Chichester takes place on April 3, so in a couple of weeks. Seeing, knowing, and loving God more clearly: Isn't that at the heart of what our Gospel is about today?  Isn't that the heart of our Lenten journey?

        The light of God can be given to us in any condition we are in, whether we’re currently blind, or whether we can already see clearly through the eyes of faith.  We are invited to recognize God's light in Jesus.  For the disciples, the Pharisees, and the neighbors of the blind man, opening themselves up to the light of Christ meant a new understanding of sin, a different way of looking at the purpose of human life, and the meaning of God's actions in human history. 

What about us?  What blindness do we need to strip away? What questions do we need to ask? 

10 March 2023 - Friday of the 2nd week of Lent - Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13A, 17B-28A

     In our first reading, we hear the story of Joseph, the beloved son of his father who was betrayed by his brothers out of jealousy and greed. Yet, in the midst of this harsh reality, God uses Joseph as a key player in the founding of the nation of Israel, his chosen people.  

       I can imagine that when Joseph, the youngest son, arrived in the family of his father Israel, it was a big change for all his brothers to deal with.  I remember a quote for the pre-Socratic philosopher Greek philosopher Heraclitus from the 5th century BC that was often quoted by my history professor in seminary, Father Vincent McNally: “Change is the only constant in life.” This same philosopher made the same point about change being always present in our lives by another quote: “No man ever steps into the same river twice.”  The river is always there, but the water in it keeps changing so that from one minute to the next it is really a different river.  

     The landscape of our faith has certainly changed in modern America in recent years. Fewer people are going to Mass. Christians are increasingly the subject of attack and ridicule, even in our own country.  I recently read the book Silence by Japanese author Shusaku Endo, historical fiction based in the 17th century when Catholics were repressed in that country. This novel tells the story of several Portuguese Jesuit priests who arrive in Japan in the midst of the suppression of the faith, being pressured and tortured to renounce their faith.  We are not at that point here in our own country in our own modern era, but are we headed in that direction?  Even in this reality we are facing today, a very challenging reality indeed, may we take courage in the practice of our Catholic faith.