11 April 2019 – Thursday of the 5th of week Lent – Genesis 17:3-9; Psalm 105:4-9

    We hear from Genesis today as we get closer to Holy Week.  Our reading from Genesis tells us about the covenant God made with Abraham. God promised to be faithful to Abraham and his descendants; God made Abraham the father of a great nation. Another reading that we often hear during the season of Lent is from the prophet Jeremiah, which speaks about the new covenant that God will write onto the hearts of the people.  We in our modern world see the heart as the seat of our emotions; the Ancient Israelites also saw the heart as the center of their thought, intellect, and being, in the same way we in the modern Western world see our brain and our soul.  So, writing his covenant on their hearts would mean embossing it on their very being.  We hear about covenants so much during Lent because Jesus is our new covenant, because the salvation Jesus brings us through his death and resurrection is our new covenant. 

       “The Lord remembers his covenant forever” – the psalmist expresses great confidence in this statement in Psalm 105. Think about when you have gone through a dark or difficult moment in your life, when it takes everything you’ve got to make it to the next day, when you walk by faith because daily life is such a battle. Sometimes we need to take it one day at a time.  Sometimes that is the best we can do.  But God never forgets the covenant He makes with his people, that He makes with us. 

        “Look to the Lord in his strength, seek to serve him constantly.”  May we truly believe the words of our psalm today, placing our trust in our Lord, placing our trust in the covenant he has made with his people.

10 April 2019 - Wednesday of the 5th Week of Lent - Daniel 3:14-20, 24-25, 28

      I think that a lot of us grew up in the United States taking our freedom to practice our religion for granted, right?  That was one of the founding values of our country.  Religious persecution was something that took place way back in history or in a foreign land, but not here in the United States.  There is a famous quote that Cardinal Francis George made to a gathering of priests in 2010 that reflects the reality I am speaking about: “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history”  In our reading from Daniel today, three young men - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - were faced with a choice - of choosing between God or their lives.   And if these young men chose to be faithful to God, then into the flames of the fiery furnace they would go.  They would be turned into ashes and their lives would be just a memory.  They responded to King Nebuchadnezzar: Even if our God does not save us, if it is not his will, then we still will not serve your god or worship the golden statue that you have set up. There have been martyrs throughout the history of the Church who have given up their lives in order to be faithful to God.  Their are men and women today who courageously stand up for their faith in different ways.   Yet, we have also seen a lot of the faithful who have left their lives of discipleship for different reasons. Our physical possessions will turn to dust one day.  Our bodies will turn to dust as well. May we always choose God and the truths of our faith, those things that eternally endure. 

14 de abril de 2019 – Domingo de ramos –

         Cuando el emperador romano Constantino reconoció la Iglesia en el siglo IV, los cristianos en Jerusalén comenzaron a representar públicamente la entrada de Cristo en su ciudad el domingo antes de Pascua. Este domingo tiene el nombre “Domingo de ramos.”  Había una gran procesión por las calles de Jerusalén. La muchedumbre llevaba los ramos y gritaba "¡Hosanna en las alturas!"  Seguimos en esta misma tradición de la Iglesia Antigua al conmemorar el Domingo de Ramos de la Pasión del Señor y el comienzo de la Semana Santa.  Además de la procesión con ramos, la otra característica antigua del Domingo de Ramos es la lectura del Evangelio de la Pasión de nuestro Señor en esta celebración.  Esta semana, completamos nuestro camino con Cristo en su camino a la cruz, en su camino a su muerte y resurrección y en la salvación que tenemos en él.
       En nuestra celebración, Cristo inicia su pasión entrando triunfalmente en Jerusalén en una entrada de amor y generosidad en lugar de poder y fuerza.  Sin embargo, en esta entrada, Jesús no entró como los grandes y poderosos del mundo; entró revestido de humildad y sencillez. En esta entrada, era la gente sencilla que aclamaba a Jesús como el Mesías.  Era en esta ocasión cuando se hace realidad lo que ya antes había dicho Jesús: “Yo te bendigo, Padre, Señor del cielo y de la tierra, porque has ocultado estas cosas a los sabios y los entendidos, y se las has revelado a la gente sencilla y a los niños.”  Era la gente humilde y sencilla que reconoce que Cristo es nuestro único salvador.  La muchedumbre, llena de alegría, alfombraba el suelo con sus mantos y con ramos cortados en el campo para dar una bienvenida de gozo a su entrada. El orgullo y la arrogancia de los poderosos cierran los ojos de su fe. En lugar de alegrarse por la llegada de Cristo, los poderosos se sienten molestados ante el júbilo de la gente sencilla.
       Tenemos mucho ejemplos de fe en la historia de nuestra Iglesia por supuesto.  Por ejemplo, en el 24 de marzo, marcamos el aniversario de la muerte del Arzobispo Oscar Romero de El Salvador.  Arzobispo Romero es mártir de la fe – murió durante la celebración de la misa en su país durante la guerra civil.  Romero defendía los derechos de los pobres en la mitad de mucha opresión y violencia. El Papa Francisco expresaba su admiración por El Arzobispo Romero.  El Papa apoyaba a su causa de canonización. El fue canonizado en octubre del año pasado.  En comparación del ejemplo del Monseñor Romero, en el Evangelio de San Marcos, los discípulos de Jesús frecuentemente no son modelos de fe.   En la forma en que se representan en el Evangelio, tal vez nos preguntamos cómo estos discípulos continuaban el ministerio de Cristo después de su muerte.  Como acabamos de escuchar en la lectura de la Pasión, en la Última Cena, los discípulos insistían en que ninguno de ellos sería traicionar a Jesús.   Jesús predijo que su fe se agitará en los próximos eventos de su camino a la cruz. Pedro y los otros discípulos lo negaron.  Sin embargo, en su agonía en el huerto, mientras que Jesús oraba, los discípulos dormían toda la noche.  En el Evangelio, no menciona los discípulos de estar presente en la pasión y la muerte de Cristo.  De hecho, sólo las mujeres que habían sido seguidores de Cristo en Galilea son reportados como estar presente en la crucifixión, aunque a cierta distancia.                                          
      Conmemoramos la pasión del Señor hoy y reconocemos la entrada triunfal de Cristo en Jerusalén antes de su crucifixión; entonces, podemos preguntarnos: ¿Cómo podemos tener los días de Cuaresma y el Domingo de Ramos y la Semana Santa un impacto en nuestras vidas?  En el año 2014 durante la misa del Domingo de Ramos en la plaza de San Pedro en Roma, el Papa Francisco pidió a los fieles algunas preguntas muy directas que salen de la lectura del Evangelio de la Pasión: ¿Duerme en su vida de fe, al igual que los discípulos que se quedaron dormidos cuando Jesús estaban orando en el huerto?  ¿Te gusta el poder de Poncio Pilato en el Evangelio, que, cuando ve a una situación difícil, y luego se lava las manos de ella?  Esas preguntas nos dan mucho para reflexionar.

Quote from Dorothy Day

We had a reflection on Dorothy Day this weekend at our masses during the 5th Sunday of Lent.  The founder of the Catholic Workers movement and newspaper, a peace and justice activist, an accomplished journalist, and a great woman of faith, Dorothy Day is a great example of faith for all of us.  Her is one of Day's profound quotes: 

“People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.” 

Quotes for Palm Sunday - April 14 2019

For Palm Sunday this weekend, I want to share with you some quotes that capture the spirit of that day.  

“But Palm Sunday tells us that it is the cross that is the true tree of life.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

“(On Palm Sunday, we commemorate the fact that the people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus with open arms. He was, for all intents and purposes, a great public success. His Word was heard. His ministry was achieved. One week later, these same people turned him over to crucifixion or watched silently while others did it. It happens to everyone. On the Palm Sundays of life, we have to learn to enjoy them without expecting them to last. It isn’t Palm Sunday that’s important. What’s important is that we pour out our lives like oil for others. (Sister Joan Chittister)

“We wave palms because we have long awaited God’s deliverance and now we’re within 7 days of it. We wave palms because Jesus shows us life-saving answers when we feel crushed by problems threatening to overcome us. We wave palms because Jesus has set us free from the destructive longings of our fallen nature. We wave palms because, like the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem and gave thanks for their healing by Jesus, we too can really be healed in body, mind, and spirit.” (Kevin Gray)

“No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.” (William Penn)

Reflecting upon Dorothy Day - Woman of Faith - on the Fifth Sunday of Lent - 7 April 2019

      On this 5th Sunday of Lent, we hear about the confrontation between the crowd and the sinful woman accused of adultery, in which Jesus tells them, let you who is without sin cast the first stone.  Today, as we hear this famous Gospel passage, we reflect upon Dorothy Day (1897 - 1980), an American woman who was a convert to Catholicism and who one day may be canonized a saint.  It is interesting that we reflect on her this weekend as we hear about the woman accused of adultery, because Dorothy Day herself would admit that her journey before her spiritual conversion was anything but holy.  In the 1930s, Day worked closely with fellow peace and social justice activist Peter Maurin to establish the Catholic Worker Movement, a pacifist movement that combines direct aid for the poor and homeless with nonviolent advocacy to help their plight. The Catholic Worker movement published its own newspaper under the leadership of Day, an accomplished journalist.  I remember hearing about Dorothy Day while I was a college student at Wake Forest.  In fact, Day passed away the fall semester of my freshman year of college. It is interesting that Pope Francis named Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, and Martin Luther King, Jr as models of good citizenship when he spoke before Congress on his visit to the United States several years ago.  Here is a wonderful quote by Dorothy Day that truly represent her faith and her love for the poor: “What we would like to do is change the world--make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, the poor, of the destitute--the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor, in other words--we can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as our friend.” 

7 April 2019 - 5th Sunday of Lent - John 8:1-11

      We are getting closer to the end our Lenten journey.  Next week we commemorate Palm Sunday and then the start of Holy Week.  Today’s Gospel highlights an important teaching. Indeed, we are all sinners.  None of us can throw the stone at the woman accused of adultery.  

        A few years ago, Pope Francis called a Year of Mercy in our Church.  Our attention was focused on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.  As I thought of the sinful woman accused of adultery in our Gospel today, I thought about the spiritual work of mercy of admonishing the sinner.  That does not sound like it is an easy thing to do, does it - admonishing the sinner?  The word admonish comes from a Latin word – monere – meaning to warn or advise or alert someone of a threat or danger.  We admonish the sinner out of love and concern, not in order to degrade or belittle him - that is important to remember. We alert the sinner of the danger of his sinful course of action.  We admonish the sinner not out of arrogance or pride, but out of love, humility, and charity.  In our modern Western society that is becoming more secular, many falsely see admonishing the sinner as an attempt by the admonisher to impose his values on others. But, in our faith journey, we are to admonish the sinner out of the brotherly love we have for him, to reach out in a spirit of mercy and charity. But we also do so in order to bring our brothers and sisters to repentance.   But admonishing the sinner with compassion and love means that we sometimes have to say some words that someone does not want to hear.  It means that we have to have to leave our comfort zone to be bold and direct with someone.  And that is not easy, is it?  Our journey of faith is not about taking the easy way out.  It is not about cheap grace.  It is not about a faith that lacks sacrifice or courage or commitment.  During these days of Lent, we are called to journey with Jesus on his way to the cross.  We are called to carry our own crosses and to look at those ways we need to repent and change.  And we are called to help our brothers and sisters to do the same.  That is why we are called to admonish the sinner.

      And this brings us to the holy person we are going to reflect upon today.  Dorothy Day was born in New York at the end of the 19th century.  If you looked at her life as a young adult, it certainly did not look like the life of a holy woman of God, but rather it was similar to the life of the sinful woman in the Gospel today.  Yet, after her conversion to Catholicism, Dorothy Day because an influential voice in the American Catholic Church and a courageous woman of faith.  Parishioner Cathy Hayden will reflect upon Dorothy Day for us today.