Reflection for Palm Sunday 2024

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Welcome on this Palm Sunday. 

The Passion narratives are replete with studies in struggle and lessons for us as we complete our Lenten study of struggle today.

A woman – praised through the ages for her love and goodness, anoints Jesus. Her heart breaks with the struggle of knowing what Jesus was about to face. On top of it all she suffers abuse for her goodness. Her resolution to her struggles – to respond in love and allow God to take care of the rest. Let us always respond to struggle with love and faith in God.

Judas – he struggles with his disappointment. Jesus isn’t the Messiah he wanted. He was going to fix that by forcing Jesus to act. His resolution to his struggle – failure in achieving his ends, a failure of his faith, and a horrific death. Let us avoid the despair of Judas by seeing Christ before all selfish desire.

The apostles and disciples – they nearly all, except John, struggle with failure in their promises and pledges to Jesus. They fall asleep. They abandon Him. They run away. They deny Him. Peter weeps bitterly realizing what he had done. They all hide and struggle to understand. The resolution to their struggle came in the person of the resurrected Jesus Who they accepted with joy. Let us reflect on our sinfulness, the breaking of our promises and pledges to God, with confession and renewed resurrection faith.

The women – Mary and the other Marys stood by Jesus’ side the whole way. They did not allow their anguish to overcome their faith in and love for Jesus. Let us imitate them.

The others – the Council, the false witnesses, soldiers, guards, Pilate, Simon of Cyrenia – each of them struggles with their actions or lack thereof. Each of them struggles between the way of God and the way of their human masters. Let us always listen to what God calls us to do. Jesus is God and He is the way, truth, and life.

The pinnacle is Jesus because in taking on our humanity He took on all our struggles, pain, and suffering. In that He, though innocent, took on all our sin and through His struggle paid the price for our sin. His heavenly Father took it all out on Him so that our debt would be fully paid. Jesus suffered every trial – His struggle with His Father’s will, with every injury inflicted, with abuse and mockery, a feeling of utter abandonment, the loneliness of death – All so we have life and hope greater than any struggle we face.

Reflection for Passion Sunday 2024

Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Welcome on this Passion Sunday. We continue in our Lenten study of struggle. 

Today we consider Jesus’s struggle as He faces His impending death. We also consider the very struggles we ourselves face in our faith journey. Through struggle, we realize that the Holy Spirit is alive and working in us. The Holy Spirit moves to guide and gift us. Jesus walks with us as we journey toward the eternal life Jesus won for us.

In today’s gospel message some Greeks arrive, find Philip, and make a request, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 

It is interesting that this meeting with Jesus is not outwardly described. Rather, Jesus’ discourse is the very response to the request. If you wish to see Me, then this is what you will and must see – My suffering and death, the requirement to walk in My footsteps, a call to our willingness to sacrifice, our complete focus on God’s kingdom work, and allowing ourselves to go to Jesus crucified.

The call to all who want to see Jesus is to accept His very real presence in each aspect of our existence, in each experience of any or all of our human senses.

Sometimes the struggles we face are right there in our face, they are a very present experience that challenges us and gives us great examples of strong faith.

As you know, yesterday we went to our Seniorate Lenten Retreat. There was a lot of good accomplished in prayer and reflection. Of course we shared in a fantastic meal. Then this happened…

We got into our ‘brief’ Seniorate meeting. Everyone reported out on the activities in their parish. Then the meeting took on a negative tone. It was an awful struggle. Negativity is. The casting of blame on others or down-talking the way others find their way to Christ is no answer or help. It hurt.

That struggle may have made lesser people bitter or angry, yet brave people from those among us and others stood up and blew away the negativity. They remembered that the negativity of the ruler of the world has been driven out by Christ.

They reminded us of what is most important for believers. Problems – go to the cross with faith that God is God, that His promises are true, that we must act in all things with faith and hope – no struggle can overcome the Holy Spirit. Our call is to be there for all who struggle with exactly the hope, faith, and welcome Jesus calls us to offer. As Jesus faced His struggle so must we!

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Institution 2024

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower… Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.“

Welcome on this Solemnity of the Institution. We take a brief break from Lent yet continue in our Lenten theme – struggle. As I mentioned on Ash Wednesday, struggle is in the very motto of our Church. 

We consider the stories of struggle engaged in by our forefathers and mothers. Through today’s stories of struggle, we realize that the struggle for righteousness in our lives is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our Holy Church and in each of us. The Holy Spirit moves to guide and gifts us. Jesus walks with us as we continue in our holy journey toward victory.

In preparation, I reviewed news articles concerning the organization of our Holy Church.

Here, as in Scranton and other places the people wanted a Church where they had a say in the life and matters of the Church; where their voice mattered and where their dignity was protected. The people wanted a Church that was the society Jesus intended to establish, where their lives would be bound together in the one great mission of Christ and where we would be connected one to the other as a rule of life, not just for a Sunday occasion. We have such a Church.

We know our Church was organized on March 14, 1897. Even before that, a September 1896 news articles tells us that a third delegation went to their bishop so their ideas might be heard. They were told to wait. A protest took place subsequent because requests remained unheard (lay representation in parish management, and an end to verbal abuse from the pulpit by their pastor). They were castigated by their bishop, men and women were arrested. Their pastor excommunicated them.

June 1911 – a man shows up at an outdoor Women’s Societies meeting wearing a clown outfit mocking Bishop Hodur and blessing the women with a broom and a pail of dirty water. Other men join him and two woman and two men from the Church had their heads cut open by cobblestones. Bishop Hodur has stones thrown at him. Nineteen-year-old Helen Palinski and three other young women tell the Press. “We would die for him.”

The word Catholic could not be used because of threats. February 1912, lawsuits are used to prevent Bishop Hodur from conducting services. January 1916 George Greizor was shot and killed protecting the church in Dupont. One woman describes three men hanging across a fence dazed by club blows. November 1926, Bishops Hodur and Bonczak are attacked and beaten in Poland. May 1951 Bishop Padewski is martyred in Poland.

We have been pruned, and continue to be, so we might bear much fruit from the struggle and to the victory of the Kingdom in ourselves and in the world. Amen.

Reflection for the 3rd Sunday in Lent 2024

He knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.

Welcome on this Third Sunday in Lent. We continue in our theme for this Lent – struggle. 

We are considering the stories of those who have struggled to the point of giving up on God. We see in these stories people who, in the end, were fortified because of their struggle. We may not see them ever fully overcoming their struggles, but still committed to overcoming as God has asked. Through these stories we realize that our struggles are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. The Holy Spirit moves in us and because of that we struggle against the things that separate us from God. We are never abandoned by Him.

Today’s gospel focuses on conflict. Jesus drives out those doing evil in His Father’s House – with a whip. Jesus is angry at the mockery and self-serving going on under those who were supposed to serve God and care for His Temple.

First, let’s allay any confusion we might have. We can all agree that Jesus was meek and humble, that He welcomed sinners, and that He cured and healed even to the point of raising three people from the dead. He was in touch with the grief others felt and He felt it with them. That said, He did not come to just leave things as they are, but to reveal His Father’s will for all of us, and the way to His Father through repentance and belief.

Today we see Jesus’ righteous anger at sin and profanity. Yes, righteous anger is a thing we are allowed to have when we see wrong. Yes, Jesus loved sinners – and so He never left them in their sin. Listen to Him saying – “go and sin no more.” Again, and again repeating – repent, turn away from your sin.

I want to relate a current struggle that one of our potential seminarians is going through. Let’s call him Jay. 

Jay comes from a Christian background and is entering into the Catholic Church with us. He is studying at a Christian college right now. He let everyone know about his desire to be Catholic and a Catholic priest. For this he is being ostracized by his fellow students and the Dean and Chief Pastor of the college went before the entire school and publicly condemned Jay. Of course, Jay was hurt, and is struggling.

Once again, the Temple is being profaned. In the struggle Jay’s solution is to remain resolute, to be a true Christian example walking in Jesus’ footsteps following God’s law and committed to prayer for God’s strengthening grace in the struggle. Pray for Jay. 

Reflection for the 2nd Sunday in Lent 2024

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

Welcome on this Second Sunday in Lent. We continue in our theme for this Lent – struggle. 

We will consider the stories of those who have struggled to the point of giving up on God and faith in Him. We see in these stories moments where people may have given up for a time, and who, in the end, were fortified because of their struggle. We may not see these people ever overcoming their struggles, but still committed to overcoming. 

Through these stories we will realize that our struggles are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. The Holy Spirit moves in us and because of that we struggle against the things that separate us from Christ. We are not abandoned.

Let us consider our readings and gospel. 

Imagine the struggle of Abraham as he journeys to Mount Moriah to sacrifice his only son as God had asked him. Abraham’s faith is sorely tested. Each step of the journey a torture and a consideration of the ultimate loss. Imagine Isaac’s bewilderment as the realization of what is to happen sinks in. Yet they are there. They are there in a supreme act of trust. In the end, their faith is reaffirmed and rewarded – but the process of getting there impossible struggle.

Imagine the struggle of those three disciples on Mount Tabor with Jesus. They are given a glorious vision of Jesus, the Son of God. It is meant to strengthen their faith amid the impossible struggle coming up in Jesus’ arrest, torture, death, and burial. As they descend the mountain the specter of death is before them, and they live in confusion from that day forward. After Jesus’ arrest and death, they forgot the lesson of the Transfiguration including God’s voice: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” All but John went into hiding and would not stay with Jesus.

St. Paul reminds us of the power of our God amidst our struggles. He tells us what he knew by experience, by the salvation he received on the road to Damascus. If God is for us, who can be against us?

God carried out what He stopped Abraham from doing. He did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all. God gave His all for us and in that we have reassurance amidst our struggles. We can proclaim with Paul that God will give us everything else along with Jesus. Because of that we are free and secure even in our struggles.

Reflection for the 1st Sunday in Lent 2024

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.

Welcome on this First Sunday in Lent. As many of you heard on Ash Wednesday, our theme for this Lent is struggle. 

This Lent we will consider the stories of those who have struggled to the point of giving up on God and faith in Him. We will see in these stories moments where people may have given up for a time, and who, in the end, were fortified because of their struggle. We may not see these people ever overcoming their struggles, but still committed to overcoming. 

Through these stories we will realize that our struggles are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. The Holy Spirit moves in us and because of that we struggle against the things that separate us from Christ. We are not abandoned.

We hear of Jesus’ desert journey today. He fasts and is constantly tempted – the temptations did not just come at the end. The fast and journey were a struggle for Jesus, He did not just glide through it. He was spiritually and physically hungry and tired each day of the journey, beset by the same temptations we face in struggle – you’ll never make it, you’re not strong enough, give up. That is how we know He gets us, understands what we face, and why He gives us, through the Holy Spirit, the grace of perseverance.

I have printed and left for you the poem Ithaka by Constantine Cavafy. Please take it home and read it. Use it as an opportunity for prayer.

I first encountered this poem when it was read at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ funeral by her longtime companion, Maurice Tempelsman.

Ithaka describes the journey of Odysseus, and in turn each of journeys, to our homeland. For us that homeland is heaven.

In the poem we encounter a prolonged journey. Along the way the good things in our life are increased if we keep our eye on the goal, face the struggles head on, refuse to focus on the negative, refuse to hurry, and relish each day necessary to get there. Along the way we encounter the unknown – making new discoveries about ourselves.

Each of us has their struggles on the road to our Ithaka and in Lent. In the poem’s epigram we hear: “Keep Ithaka always in your mind. / Arriving there what you’re destined for.” Let us hear that as “Keep heaven always in your mind. / Arriving there what we are destined for.”

In the end, as the poem speaks, we will understand what the struggle and journey has meant. 

Ithaka
C. P. Cavafy

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Reflection for Ash Wednesday 2024

Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Prawdą, Pracą, Walką – the motto of our Holy Church. It stands for Truth, Work, and Struggle – and by these we shall succeed or be victorious.

In our Epistle St. Paul writes to the Corinthians and calls them to conform themselves to the gifts they have received from Jesus’ sacrifice: namely justification and becoming God’s new creation in but apart from the world. Paul doesn’t stop there. He provides concrete instructions on how to accomplish this conformity. It is done through becoming God’s righteousness in real and lived ways, by living for others, not themselves, and by being reconciled where there is division.

Calls are time dependent and Paul notes that now is “an acceptable time.” God is bestowing favor and salvation at this very moment, as He is this very moment for us. Paul is saying – do it now. 

Lent has begun and we must start living our justification by being God’s new creation in but apart from the world. We are to be righteous, living for others, and reconciling ourselves with all we are in conflict with.

Brothers and sisters, we know that our Church’s motto is a call to all things that will lead us to establishing the Kingdom of God on earth at which time we will have the ultimate success or victory. It is a call to use our Church life as the guide to our personal success in living as God asks us to live. Of course, Lent is a perfect opportunity to realign ourselves to God’s way of life.

If we take the motto apart, we see that a couple of the statements in the motto are straight forward. Truth – we can all get onboard with God’s truth, rejecting the world’s version of things.  Work – we all know work is required to conform to God’s way, and especially in Lent where we pledge to do the work necessary – fasting, prayer, devotion, and charity. Then we get to struggle. That is a far harder concept and seems daunting.

What is it about struggle? If we look at its synonyms we can easily see that it is the taking of the much harder road: To fight, grapple, engage in conflict, compete, contend, contest, vie, fight, battle, clash, wrangle – and most perfectly in our case to strive, try hard, endeavor, make every effort, spare no effort, exert oneself, do all one can, and do one’s utmost.

Those definitions and synonyms are key to understanding our journey along God’s way. We have a call, we know the time is now, and if we are perfectly honest, we recognize it will be a struggle.

This is the part that is most difficult for us as Christians, the struggle to live in conformity to God’s will for us. The struggle to accept God’s love for us in a simple act of faith and confession. We have this great, all powerful, awesome God Who only desires our love, yet we struggle to give it fully. We want unity with God, to be His righteousness, to live for others, and to be symbols of reconciliation to all, yet we fail to do it. We try and try and try and come up short. We think this over and over and wonder if we should give up. We often get exhausted in the struggle.

In struggling we reach a point where we consider giving up.

This Lent we will consider the stories of those who have struggled to the point of giving up – most especially giving up on God and faith in Him.

In those stories we encounter difficult struggles, some who perhaps gave up for a time, and in the end were fortified because of their struggle. What you may notice is I did not mention whether they overcame their struggles.

In the end what we will find is the realization that the struggle itself is evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. The Holy Spirit moves in us and because of that we struggle against the things that separate us from Christ. We will find that the struggle itself and our not giving up is evidence of the Lord’s work in our lives.

As we walk with Christ through Lent, and reflect on the struggles He faced, we will recall Jesus’ promise that those who followed him would face constant struggle (ref. John 15:19 and John 16:33). As we face our struggles now and, in the future, let us acknowledge that the struggle itself leads to ultimate success and victory and resolve to keep pressing on with faith and hope.

Reflection for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021

Strength of Faith

They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Over the months of Ordinary Time, a time dedicated to growth, we focus on how we live out the Christian faith, how we walk in Strength of Faith. Remember, we are focusing on our Strength of Faith. 

Today, the scriptures and gospel present three examples of strength of faith. I’d label them: Shut up; Ouch, it hurts; and Get out of here. How should we stay strong when we encounter those?

In the Old Testament reading we hear God’s instruction to Ezekiel. He must go to the house of Israel to prophesy against it. God would not let them get off so easy, ignorant of what He wants. God knows that Ezekiel would not have it easy, but God knew the people had to hear His voice; the word spoken so that they might correct their behaviors. The result would be what it would be, but whether they heed or resist—they shall know that a prophet has been among them. Ezekiel certainly heard the words, Shut up. Even so, he prophesied in strength of faith, in accord with God’s instruction.

So too today. Those hearing God’s word have a choice, to heed or resist, to have a full life in God, or to lack. We, like Ezekiel, must proclaim the word, speak the truth, share the gospel, and remain strong in faith even if we hear: Shut up!

In our Epistle, St. Paul discusses the thorn of Satan he received. Whatever the set of temptations he was subject to, no matter how strong the enemy, he recognized that the grace of God was stronger. He knew that the grace of God amid weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints built up his strength of faith.

We have thorns of Satan as well. Yes, ouch, temptations big and small hurt. That does not mean we are defeated. It does not mean stop, but rather like Paul we need to press forward in strength of faith relying on God’s grace, so we get to the fullness of life promised for those who follow God’s path.

So too Jesus. He did nothing other than to proceed in strength of faith. That did not mean He was without challenge. Imagine going back home and having everyone tell you, Get out of here! They took offense at Him.

The reaction of others back then or today was and is not important, but rather that we follow the example of Jesus Who always walked in strength of faith. We are called to be strong.

Following Jesus did not and will not mean that we do not face: Shut up; Ouch, it hurts; or Get out of here. What really matters is our decision to walk in strength of faith, relying on God’s grace, and if we do, we receive fullness of life eternal.