9 March 2022 – Wednesday of 1st week of Lent – Jonah 3:1-10

      I really enjoyed reading the works of mythologist Joseph Campbell in graduate school. Campbell asserted that ultimately, it does not matter if a narrative is an historical account or story of fiction.  What matters most is that the narrative contain an eternal truth as its foundation.  So even though most Catholics think of the Old Testament tale of Jonah is an allegory or myth, as fiction rather than an historical account,  the story of Jonah still contains so great truths about God and about faith.  Even though some might consider Jonah a tale that would appeal to the imagination of a child, the real message of the book of Jonah gives us a wonderful opportunity to stretch our understanding of God and our salvation.

     Back when Jonah was written, most Jews believed that salvation was reserved for them, that the non-Jews were not considered to be a part of God’s plan of salvation.  Yet, the message of Jonah is all are welcome to respond to God’s call and to change their ways, that God’s plan of salvation is open to all.  This foreshadows what happens in the Early Church, where the first Jewish Christians gradually came to realize that the Gospel call was extended to people everywhere.

     For us in this time of Lent, we are reminded in the story of Jonah for our need to repent: to be truly sorry for the wrong we have done and for the good we have failed to do. We are called to reflect upon how we can return to the call of the Gospel. Let us be open to Lent as a time of preparation.

8 March 2022 – Tuesday of first week of Lent – St John of God - Isaiah 55:10-11

    We hear a very short two-verse reading from the prophet Isaiah today.  We hear often from Isaiah in the seasons of preparation of Lent and Advent, since his prophecies often foreshadow events that will later occur in the life of Jesus, the events of his birth and his death and resurrection. Since our state of Mississippi is rich in farmland, particularly in the Delta region of our state,  our analogy today in Isaiah might resonate with us, talking about how the snow and the rain hit the soil so that the seeds and grains will burst forth in the fields to new life, how they will produce bread for those who are hungry.  God’s word is supposed to do the same in our lives.  It is not supposed to return to God with empty promises and shallow content, but rather to accomplish the purpose for which he sent his word down to earth.

      The word of God bears fruit in the lives of the saints in different ways.  St John of God, the saint we celebrate today, demonstrates this in a very dramatic way.   Born in Portugal in 1495, he served as a soldier until he converted to Christianity at the age of 40. He struggled to find where God was calling him as a Christian.  At one point, his violent actions landed him in a mental hospital.  With the counsel of John of Avila, he opened up a house of healing and refuge for the poor and the sick in Spain.  John’s acts of mercy toward the poor and the sick were backed up by a rich interior prayer life and a spirit of great humility.  John died of ill health at the age of 55.  His helpers in his ministry founded a religious congregation, the Brothers Hospitallers, which now serves throughout the world.  Let us unite our prayers with the prayers of St John of God this evening.  

11 March 2022 - Friday of the first week of Lent - St John Ogilvie - Ezekiel 18:21-28

        One of the saints we celebrate this week in our Church’s calendar of saints is John Ogilvie.  He was born in 1579 in Scotland, several decades after the Protestant reformation in that country.  His noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to continental Europe to be educated. Through the debates he witnessed between Protestants and Catholics, John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people. Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17.  During his studies, he decided to join the Jesuits, being ordained a priest in 1610 in France. At that time, Catholic priests were being arrested and imprisoned in Scotland.  Yet, John felt that God was calling him to be a missionary in his native land.  He was sent there, posing as a soldier returning from the wars in Europe so that the authorities would not identify him as a priest.  With very few Catholics left in Scotland and with Catholicism outlawed there, John’s missionary work was very difficult.  Yet, someone betrayed him and revealed his identity as a priest.  He was arrested and brought before the court.  Even in the midst of torture, he refused to renounce his Catholic faith and refused to reveal the name of other Catholics.  He was condemned to death as a traitor by the court. His courage in prison and in his martyrdom was a great example of faith for Catholics in Scotland.

      In our Daily Masses during the first full week of Lent, we have been hearing from different Old Testament books such as Isaiah, Jonah, and Esther.  Today we hear from the prophet Ezekiel.  Ezekiel gives us a message of the importance of repentance and conversion, telling us that the Lord does not delight when a wicked man stays in his wickedness and earns punishment; rather, the Lord delights when the wicked man turns his back on his evil ways and has a change of heart.   The Lord delights in the conversion of the sinner.  I think of the conversion of St John Ogilvie that brought him to the Catholic faith, of his great courage and fidelity.  St John Ogilvie is a great example for us during our Lenten journey of faith.  

Flocknote reflection - St John Chrysostom’s response to God’s faithfulness

     In last Sunday’s Mass on the first Sunday of Lent, our readings addressed God’s faithfulness to us and our response to that faithfulness.  In a real life example of these readings, I saw a story about the life of St John Chrysostom (347 - 407).  John Chrysostom was an important Early Church Father.  Born in the middle of the 4th century, he was greatly admired for his public speaking and preaching skills.  The name “Chrysostom” comes from the Greek word that means “golden throated,” in reference to his great oratory skills.  John was sent from the city of Antioch to the capital city of Constantinople, both cities in the country of present-day Turkey, where he served as Archbishop.  He preached with great courage in this capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire. His denunciation of the extravagances of the rich and ruling classes and his condemnation of their excesses infuriated many, including the Empress, who ordered him to be sent into exile. When he was told of his order to go into exile, John Chrysostom responded: “What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness is the Lord’s. Will it be the loss of wealth? But we brought nothing into the world, and can carry nothing out. Thus all the terrors of the world are contemptible in my eyes, and I smile at all its good things. Poverty I do not fear. Riches I do not sigh for. Death I do not shrink from.”  Nothing concerning the circumstance of his life compared to the faithfulness of God.  

      God asks us to respond to his faithfulness to us with our own faithfulness.  So many of the saints display this faithfulness in the difficult and challenging circumstance of their lives.  May the example of St John Chrysostom and so many of the other saints encourage us in the reality of our own lives, especially in the context of our Lenten journey.  

5 March 2022 - First Sunday in Lent - CYCLE C - Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Luke 4:1-13

       As we begin our holy season of Lent, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness to his promises.  The Israelites grew in number in Egypt, where they were oppressed by the Egyptians and put into bondage.  The Lord heard their cries. He saw their suffering and pain. He led them out of slavery from Egypt to a land he promised them. God fulfilled his promises to the people of Israel.  He did not abandon them, even when they strayed and were.  In response to God’s fidelity, the Israelites provided God the first fruits of the harvest as a sign of gratitude and thankfulness.  

      Remembering God’s faithfulness to us. Responding with gratitude and thanksgiving.  That is a good message to hear on this first Sunday of Lent.  Hopefully that will help set the tone for our Lenten journey.  Each year, it edifies me to see all the people who come to Mass on Ash Wednesday, eager to receive the smudge of ash on their forehead, wanting to come to church to start this holy season of repentance, renewal, and conversion.  I am very thankful that the staff and I planned four Masses on Ash Wednesday, since our Masses were very well attended and there was a great energy of faith and devotion coming from all of you.  We also had very good attendance at the two stations of the cross we had on Friday, including the evening stations of the cross with our traditional Knights of Columbus fish fry. Were the churches full because of the last two years of trying to deal with the pandemic, of wanting to get back to church and back to our community during this season of Lent?  Irregardless of the pandemic, perhaps people are wanting to connect with the divine in a more intense way during Lent, to feel God’s presence in a direct personal way with our fellow Catholics, to show God by the outward sign of the ash on our foreheads that we truly want to be his disciples, that we want to renew our faith. 

      Our Gospel reading on the first Sunday of Lent is always about Jesus and his forty days in the desert, since that is the model of our Lenten journey.  Jesus faced temptations in the desert just like the Israelites faced trials and temptations on their journey in the desert to the promised land, just like each one of us faces temptations on our journey of faith. Jesus’ faithfulness and his resistance of temptation should bring us courage and hope.  The desert is a place of trial and temptation, just as our journey through life is filled with many trials and temptations.  But the desert is also the place of God’s revelation to Moses, the place where God presented the ten commandments to his people.  We confront our temptations and our sins in the desert of Lent, but we also have a special encounter with God during the desert of Lent as well.  

      I chose gratitude and thanksgiving as a theme for us at St Jude during Lent this year because perhaps we need to think more about showing thanks and gratitude in our lives in different ways. Also, this reflects my practice of the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola in Spain several years ago, which emphasizes the importance of gratitude and thanksgiving on our journey of faith. Therese of Liseaux, Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church who died of tuberculosis in her Carmelite monastery at the age of 24, wrote this: “Jesus does not demand great action from us but simply surrender and gratitude.”  So often we are focused on the big things we are attempting to do in life.  But as Therese says, our focus should be on surrendering to God, being obedient to God, and giving thanks and gratitude to God. If we surrender to God in obedience and gratitude, then we will be able to accomplish his will. I want to encourage you to look at the contemplative examen prayer in the tradition of the spirituality of St Ignatius of Loyola that we are sending out in Flocknote emails and in handouts each week during Lent. The examen prayer has five simple steps, beginning with giving thanks to God, praying for God’s guidance to help us review our day, seeing God in the reality of our day, looking at the I have failed during the day, and then looking to the next day. It is a wonderful prayer for which we can review our day and see God’s presence it. Our suggested gratitude activity today is to do an act of kindness toward someone today to reflect the gratitude you have in your heart. In the light of today’s Gospel, let us respond to God’s faithfulness with gratitude and thanksgiving. 

Prayer - compliance and oversight committee of the Diocese of Jackson

      Lord God, we come to you in the midst of our reality and in the midst of our journey today, as we are in the beginning of our Lenten journey, of 40 days with Jesus in the desert.  We give thanks for our Diocese, for the people of God in our Diocese, and for the men and women who serve in ministry here, both lay and ordained.  As we restart our oversight and compliance committee today, we thank you for the men and woman who have agree to be on this committee.  May the Holy Spirit lead us and guide us in our vision today, as together with Bishop Kopacz, we work toward the mission of our Diocese.  As we gather together today virtually, we ask the Spirit for wisdom and guidance.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  AMEN.  

prayers of the faithful - Friday after Ash Wednesday in the holy season of LENT - 4 MARCH 2022

Lord Jesus - you call us to give thanks. 

Christ Jesus - you call us to a life of service. 

Lord Jesus - you call us to holiness. 

Priest: Let us bring our prayers to God, the source of mercy and compassion.

1. For all Christians who are beginning their holy Lenten journey.  

2. For obedience to the will of God among the followers of Christ, even when God will challenges us and is difficult to follow.  

3. For unity and collaboration amongst all Christians.  

4. For those who hunger and thirst in a physical sense, and for those who hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness.  

5. For the people in need in the Diocese of Jackson, particularly our sick, those looking for work, those feeling lost in life, and those battling addictions.  

6. For all who have gone before us in faith, for their entry into eternal life.  

7. For the people of Ukraine in the midst of war, for safety, courage, and protection.  

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

Priest: God of mercy and compassion, you give new heart to your people: Hear the prayers we make in faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord forever and ever. Amen.