Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent: Transfiguration

Transfiguration by James Janknegt, used with permission of the artist

(Scriptures for today's liturgy)


The Lord takes us outside, up and beyond...

The Lord God took Abram outside his tent
to look up at the heavens…

And Jesus took Peter, James and John up the mountain
to see something beyond their usual experience...

Outside, up and beyond…

There are times, aren't there,
when we find ourselves captive in the “tents”
of our problems and concerns;
times when looking up, looking ahead,
looking beyond our troubles seems impossible.

But as he did with Abram, the Lord invites us
outside our day-to-day
to get a different perspective on our burdens,
to see them as God sees them.

The Lord invites us to leave the small world of our own tent,
to look up into the reaches of the night skies,
to wonder at and to learn again to trust
in the expanse of God’s loving care for us.

And there are times, aren't there,
when we can’t see beyond the difficulties that surround us:
when we see only what’s wrong, what’s painful,
what’s hurtful and discouraging.

And as he did with Peter, James and John, Jesus invites us
to ascend, to come up out of our problems,
to climb above what keeps us down
and to bask in the light that shines from his face,
the truth that radiates from his heart.

The Lord invites us outside, up and beyond
but we often choose to stay inside, down
and isolated in our troubles.

The Lord invites, he doesn’t force us.

He invites and he promises to walk with us,
to be our companion, as we move
from darkness to light,
from inside to outside,
from despair to hope,
from down to up, from here to beyond,
from problems to peace.

When the Lord invites us to walk with him this Lent,
will we let him lead us beyond
the burdens of the day-to-day?

Will we allow ourselves to leave behind
the burdens we cling to,
that we find so hard to let go of?

Will we go outside and beyond our difficulties
trusting that the Lord will lead us to healing and peace?

As the Lord walked with Abram
between the parts of the sacrificed animals,
will we trust that the Lord will walk every step of the way with us
through the broken, wounded pieces of our lives?

The Lord invites us out of our huddled corners of fears and tears.

The Lord invites us to heights we’ve not yet climbed,
up and above whatever holds us back and holds us down.

The Lord always invites us to draw close and follow him
and this time of Lent is a special time
for letting him take us outside our selves
through prayer, fasting and caring for the poor.

Prayer gathers us up in God.
Fasting leads us beyond our dulled satiety.
Caring for the poor leads us outside our tents of comfort.

The Lord gathers us today from out of our own tents
to this tent of meeting,
this tabernacle of God’s people at prayer.

He beckons us up out of our fears
to trust in his care for us.

He invites us beyond what the eye sees
to feast on what the heart knows:
the Eucharist of his presence at this table.

In thanksgiving,
let us pray as Peter did on the top of the mountain:
“Lord, it is good for us to be here…”

Keeping a Holy Lent - 10

I've been remiss in publishing links to the Catholic News Service Blog and its fine series of posts on the the Year for Priests. Most of the essays in this series come from Fr. Chris Valka, CSB, a young priest who writes very well and with spot-on insight.

Since Lent calls all of us to a deeper and more faithful prayer life, this most recent of Valka's offerings might be very helpful. It's titled:

Praying Outside the Box

Over the past couple of weeks, I have met with a number of people about prayer, and since Lent is around the corner it seems fitting to pass along a few fruits from the conversations.

For most of the people with whom I speak, prayer is a conundrum. We are told that prayer is essential to our spiritual life, but just about everyone I know feels that prayer is a struggle. We are told that prayer is how we dialogue with God, but most of the time, it feels awkward and one-sided. In my own past experience, I found that priests often had very little to say on the subject, seemingly because they struggled as much as everyone else. So what are we to do?

I have always believed the first step is to take the whole idea of prayer out of the 12th-century box in which we keep it. Whether we know it or not, most of us have a mental picture of what “good” prayer is supposed to be like, and usually it is contemplative, ritualized and originated in a monastery. However, prayer is much more than all that.

Second, we have to understand that there are as many different kinds of prayer as there are traditions in the church. We can use broad categories like formal, informal, collective, individual, contemplative, active, introverted and extroverted (just to name a few), but even those hardly grasp the vast treasury of prayers prayed by the church.

(Read the complete post here)

And after you've read that fine piece, click here and keep scrolling down for others you may have missed!

Read these scriptures before going to Mass!

Mount Tabor, thought by many to be the mountain of the Transfiguration: Image by BiblePlaces

You still have time to sit down and read the scriptures you'll hear proclaimed at Mass this weekend for the Second Sunday of Lent.

You'll find the readings and commentary on them plus hints for helping children prepare to hear the Word all right here.

The first lesson includes some grisly details about the Lord and Moses walking between the carcasses of sacrificed animals (kids will love this!). The gospel, as it does every year on the Second Sunday of Lent, brings us to the top of the mountain with Jesus, Peter, James and John - and a couple of surprise visitors - for the transfiguration of Christ before their eyes. Take a look at the text and see how this knocked Peter for a loop!
Lent2010

Prayer for Priests in the Year for Priests

_______-Image by Spreadshirt

Each Friday in this Year for Priests I'll post this prayer and invite you to remember all priests and especially those who have been, who are and who may one day be a part of your life.

Several prayers for the Year for Priests are available through the US Bishops site. As an exercise for myself to enter into the spirit of this year, I wrote the following. For whatever use you make of it on behalf of my brother priests and me, we are most grateful. (Links to other material on the Year for Priests can be found on the sidebar.)

A Prayer for Priests

Gracious God, loving Father,
font of every gift and good,
make of priests for us we pray:

men of faith, men of love,
humble servants of your Word,
prophets of your Spirit’s grace;

men of hope, men of peace,
strong defenders of the truth,
heralds of your holy gospel;

men of prayer, men of praise,
guardians of our sacred rites,
of the scriptures and tradition;

men of changelessness and change,
men who follow you each day,
when and where your Spirit leads;

men of tenderness and strength,
comfort for the sick and weary,
shepherds leading home the lost;

men of counsel, men of wisdom,
gentle guides for the confused,
lights along the darkened path;

men of mercy, patient men,
understanding and consoling
of the grieving and abused;

men of justice and compassion,
reconciling and forgiving,
men of healing in your name;

men of sacrifice and honor,
single minded in your service,
set apart to do your will;

men of holiness and joy,
men anointed by your grace,
men ordained to serve as Christ.

Make us one with them in faith
and in Christ your only Son
in whose holy name we pray.

Amen.

Keeping a Holy Lent - 9

There are two words in the image above:
do you see them?

Are there ways in which the graphic illustrates your life?
Do you divide yourself into good and evil?
Are you at war with yourself?

Spend a few minutes with this excerpt from a rule for monastic life...

Don't carry on a futile battle against yourself,
don't divide yourself into good and evil.

Resist the temptation to analyze yourself -
turn your attention to the Lord instead,
and be deeply receptive.

Accept yourself in God's light
and concentrate on the mission
you have to accomplish.

- from the Rule for a New Brother

Although the quote above is from the rule for a community of Dutch religious brothers, it holds wisdom for us all. Waging a battle between "my good side and my bad side" is futile and indeed is a battle with myself as the enemy. Those who follow Jesus follow the One who has overcome evil - he is the Victor! Turning our attention to him puts us in the winner's corner and concentrating on what the Lord asks of us, our mission, keeps us in God's light. (I'll wager that regular readers here are already thinking back to Brother Patrick's post here, or perhaps my homily of a few weeks ago here...)

When evil or any temptation to be less than God made and calls us to be enters our lives, we'd do well to remember the words in James 4:

Submit to God; resist the devil and he will take flight.
Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners;
purify your hearts, you backsliders.
Be humbled in the sight of the Lord
and he will raise you on high.

This Lent, how might I more closely focus my attention on the Lord?
How might I be more open to his love?
What temptations do I need to resist, to decline?
How do I need God's help in doing that?
What mission is mine to accomplish?
How do I come to greater acceptance of who I am in God?
Lent2010

post number 2,263

Link of the Day: Dying in Haiti

This occasional series features links to pages on my sidebar or to sites I've discovered in my cyber travels. From an email from an old friend (HT to PS) I came to Dr. John Carroll's blog, Dying In Haiti: An anecdotal account of Haiti's medical situation created by structural violence and negligence

This blog predates the most recent disaster in Haiti by over four years but also includes posts following the earthquake. Carroll's "anecdotal accounts" are powerfully, well-written reports of his work as a physician in Haiti. (I've not yet been able to find more information on Dr. Carroll.)

We all would do well to link to this doctor's blog and check it regularly. As Haiti disappears from the daily headlines, we need to insure that her people not disappear from our hearts.

I'm listing Dying in Haiti on the sidebar here.

Well, Lent does mean spring time!

Image source: PhotoEverywhere

It's raining today and it's dark here in Concord but I'm rejoicing -- because it's not snowing!

Not only is it not snowing, but the rain is melting the snow still left on the ground!

Now, I've lived in New England long enough to know that we've not seen the last of the white stuff but I also know that a month ago there'd have been no chance of rain today - it would have been snow.

And I know that the puddles in the streets are an early sign that nature is waking from her winter sleep and rousing herself to thoughts of spring.

And so am I!

You heavens, bless the Lord,

praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,

praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Sun and moon, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

All you winds, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Fire and heat, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Cold and chill, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Dew and rain, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Frost and chill, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

Ice and snow, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt him above all forever.

-Daniel 3:59-70

Keeping a Holy Lent - 8

Galleries

I've seen artist Andy Newman's work locally and am pleased to have one of his paintings and a print of another on my office wall. I offer you here some of his works and a paragraph from the guide booklet for an exhibit of his paintings a few years ago (which I didn't see) at Arte Periferica Galleria in Lisbon. I find his words here to be solid, nourishing food for thought in Lent...


Image by Andy Newman

In the paintings of this exhibition, I have sought to explore the contrasts between darkness and light, and to search for the light in darkness that is shadow. Shadow is a place of relativity, in which it is not clear where the light ends and the darkness begins. So, in some paintings, while it is day, patches of absolute darkness apparently exist; in others it is night yet light abounds.
-Andy Newman


Image by Andy Newman

Shadows are tricksters: they play games on us and sometimes frighten us. But what hides in the shadows is revealed in the sunlight and often the light itself is enough to dispel our fear and draw us back into the embrace of warm light and an afternoon's nap. Light abounds in the night as well as the day: moon light, star light and simply the light I bring to the darkness as my eyes befriend and become accustomed to it.

Where is the darkness in the daytime of my soul? Where is the light in the dreams of my dark hours? If the Lord is my light, what fear have I of the dark? Indeed, even if I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for the Lord is at my side...

In Lent, the light and darkness of seasons' change play with my days and its shadows. Help me, Lord, to "search for the light in darkness that is shadow..." Guide me, Lord, to the light you are, the light no darkness can extinguish...
Lent2010

Word for the Weekend - February 28

Transfiguration by Cornelis Monsma, used with permission/license from the artist; click on image for larger version

This coming weekend brings us to the Second Sunday of Lent, on which Sunday every year the gospel is an account of the Transfiguration.

The scriptures for this weekend and commentary on them can be found here. Will you be taking children to Mass with you? Check here for hints on helping youngsters prepare to hear the Word.

The first lesson is from the Book of Genesis and describes a strange, ancient rite in which two parties walk between the halved carcasses of slaughtered animals, signifying each party's willingness to suffer the fate of the butchered animals should either default on their promise.

The second lesson, from Philippians, describes the transformation that should take place in each of us when we live in Christ. The language here is strong but keep in mind that St. Paul is writing from prison and understands that he may be put to death for the faith - read the last lines of this passage in that context!

The gospel is the Lucan account of the Transfiguration of Jesus in the company of Peter, John and James and Moses and Elijah who appear to them on the mountain top. In Luke, this scene takes place between two predictions of Jesus' suffering and death, indicating that the nature of true discipleship is a willingness to exchange glory for sacrificial suffering. The scene ends with a comforting voice from the heavens saying, "This is my chosen Son, listen to him."

Have you friended Jesus on Face Book?

H/T to Philomena Ewing over at Blue Eyed Ennis for a link to an interesting presentation of the Passion of Christ -- in the style of FaceBook.

FaceBook Passion comes to us from Nate Bostian. Although it's written in the casual FB style and motif, it's definitely not a mockery of the sacred story. I could see it being used with parish groups, alongside open bibles and the scriptural account, for Lenten study.

Take a look at FaceBook Passion.

What do you think?

Keeping a Holy Lent - 7

We might choose, in Lent, to fast from brooding on wrongs, old bitterness and resentment...

When we pray in the words Jesus gave us, we say, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive forgive those who trespass against us...

We ask the Lord to use the measure of our own willingness to forgive as the measure by which he might forgive us...

That might be a dicey prayer for us to offer...

Lent is a time to unburden ourselves of old grudges and gripes, to lay those burdens down...

Forgive our sins, as we forgive,
You taught us, Lord, to pray,
But you alone can grant us grace
To live the words we say.

How can your pardon reach and bless
The unforgiving heart
That broods on wrongs and will not let
Old bitterness depart?

In blazing light your cross reveals
The truth we dimly knew:
What trivial debts are owed to us,
How great our debt to you!

Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls
And bid resentment cease.
Then, bound to all in bonds of love,
Our lives will spread your peace.

- Lyrics by Rosamund Herklots

Image:MenOfTheWay
lent2010

Confessions in Lent

In the Archdiocese of Boston and other dioceses in the U.S., the program, The Light Is On For You, is being featured this Lent.

In Boston, there will be a priest available to hear confessions in every church and chapel, on all the Wednesday nights of Lent, from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

You can find more on Boston's offering of this program here.

Keeping a Holy Lent - 6

Image: MonterreyGourmet

To fill the platter high with fish?

To Keep A True Lent

Is this a fast, to keep
The larder leane?
And cleane
From fat of veales and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with fish?

Is it to faste an houre,
Or ragg'd to go,
Or show
A downcast look, and sowre?

No: 'tis a fast, to dole
Thy sheaf of wheat
And meat
Unto the hungry soule.

It is to fast from strife,
From old debate,
And hate;
To circumcise thy life.

To shew a heart grief-rent;
To starve thy sin,
Not bin;
And that's to keep thy Lent.

Robert Herrick - 17th century

Herrick's English may be a bit dated but that doesn't keep us from understanding the point he's making. And that point bears repeating and deserves understanding.

How is fasting functioning in our lives this Lent?

You might want to refer back to my post: Intro to Fast and Abstinence 101 - paying special attention to the words of Thomas Merton. I'm thinking, too, of the fasting of Jesus in the desert in this past Sunday's gospel. In my homily on that text I drew attention to fasting that heightens our senses and deepens our awareness of what's around us.

Just how is fasting functioning in our lives this Lent?



lent2010

Monday Morning Offering - 86

Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza

Keeping A Holy Lent - 5

Good morning, good God!

This morning begins the sixth day of Lent
and I'm grateful, Lord,
for what you've been doing in my life
and for the grace to notice, to see
your hand at work...

On "Ash Thursday"
I finally did something I've been meaning to do
for several years:
I set aside a place to begin and end my days
in peace and in prayer...

It's just a corner of a small room
with a chair and a little table,
but it's a place for me to go and sit,
apart from everything and everyone else,
a place to be with you,
a place to talk with you,
a place to listen for you...



You've shown me this corner so many times
but I was always too busy to take the time,
too busy to make the time,
to make this a corner for prayer...

How much time did it take, you ask?
Well, to move a few chairs and a footstool,
to put a cross on the wall
and a candle on a table -
about 20 minutes...

It took me a couple of years, Lord,
to find 20 minutes
to set apart a place
which has already brought me much peace...

And this I've discovered, Lord:
now that I've found a place for prayer,
it's easier to find the time for prayer...

I needed a corner of my house
to make a corner of my heart
a place for us to meet...

I offer you this corner, Lord,
with thanks for helping me find it
and thanks for helping me find you there...

I offer you this quiet place, Lord,
where I can find a quiet place in my heart,
a place to find you...

I offer you these corner windows, Lord,
with thanks for the light you shine upon me,
day and night:
your light shining in my darkness...

I offer you the first five days of Lent, Lord,
and pray that this, the sixth,
will find me faithful to my corner for prayer
and so, more faithful to you...

I pray, Lord, for all who cross my path
between my morning and evening time with you:
I pray that I welcome them
as you have welcomed me
in the corner of a room,
in the corner of your heart,
especially those who struggle
to recognize your presence in their lives...

Keep my eyes and ears, my heart and mind open, Lord,
and help me make room, even a small corner,
for all the ways your hand might touch me this Lent...

Amen.

Photo: CP



Lent2010

What's YOUR experience of temptation?

Jesus Denying Satan by Carl Bloch (click on image for larger version)

(Scripture readings for today's liturgy)

Homily for the First Sunday of Lent

So, we have Jesus, in the desert, with the devil.
I wonder if, in your mind’s eye,
you’re imagining something including
horns, a red cape and a pitch fork?

Well, Luke’s gospel doesn’t describe what the devil looked like
but I know that when I’m tempted,
I never see anyone or anything with horns and a pitchfork.

Temptation can sometimes be “right in my face”
but more often than not it sneaks up on me,
as if out of nowhere,
in the half-light of shadows,
indistinct, yet appealing…

Often when temptation comes
I have a kind of déjà vu recognition of it:
I’ve seen this, or heard this, or felt this, or wanted this before:
temptation’s desire seems to have a vague history with me…

If temptation arrived dressed in a red devil’s cape
complete with horns and a pitch fork,
I might deal with it better than I sometimes do.

But temptation doesn’t come in a Halloween costume:
it comes in every day clothes;
it makes itself appear normal, harmless;
it beckons innocently
enticing me to accept whatever it’s offering and promising me…

And temptation doesn’t ask me to cave in all at once.
Can’t you hear temptation’s voice?

Oh, come on! Go ahead! Just a little!
Who’s gonna know? Nobody’s gonna get hurt!
You work so hard, you’ve waited so long,
you’ve been so good:
-- you deserve this!

Temptation is seductive and very convincing.

And if I resist: does temptation walk away,
dejected and disappointed?
Does temptation admit defeat and give up on me?
No way!

When I resist,
temptation quietly slips into a corner, just out of sight,
and hits the deck doing push-ups, getting stronger and stronger,
biding its time with exquisite patience
while I congratulate and pat myself on the back
until my pride softens and renders me an even easier target
for temptation’s muscle.

All this temptation business might leave us hopeless
if it weren’t for the story in today’s gospel.
Jesus goes one-on-one with the tempter
and he doesn’t cave, he doesn’t give in, he remains strong.
And more importantly,
Jesus teaches us something about temptation.

He faces his temptation after forty days with no food
- and he was mighty hungry.

I know from Thanksgiving Day dinner
how eating can dull my senses and make me drowsy and lethargic.
Lenten fasting is meant to heighten my senses,
make me more aware of what’s going on around me.

Fasting in Lent is meant to sharpen my awareness
so that I might see temptation for what it is
and learn to recognize it when it comes,
regardless of what disguise it wears.

In the gospel the tempter offers Jesus
what’s already his as God’s Son:
all the power and glory in the world.

And the tempter tried just the same thing
with the man and woman in the Garden of Eden:
“Eat the fruit of this one tree,” he said, “and you’ll be like gods.”
But they were already created in the image and likeness of God.

The tempter delights in getting me to think of myself as worthless,
not good enough, second class -
and then flashing before me a make-over version of my self:
which isn’t the real me; isn’t the person God made me to be;
which is little more than smoke and mirrors,
a Photo-Shopped, touched up, air brushed fantasy
that ultimately leads me away from knowing my true self
and away from knowing God in my life.

And finally the tempter invites Jesus to believe that if he gives in,
things will be a lot easier: painless, pleasant and pleasurable.

But I know from my past that giving into temptation
doesn’t yield the happiness I thought it would bring me.
Oh, there might be a brief high, but the let-down from that high
and the pain it causes me and others
never exceeds nor even equals
the satisfaction and serenity that is mine
when I’m faithful to God’s presence in the life that is mine.

Prayer:
growing closer to the God in whose image I am made…

Fasting: learning to see temptation for what it is
and to heighten my awareness of what’s real in my life…

Caring for the poor:
deepening my understanding of who and what bring me real peace
and finding deep joy in serving others’ needs.

These are the tools Lent offers to strengthen me,
to strengthen each of us,
for those times of temptation from which we pray to be delivered.

Of course, the best way to win the battle with the tempter
is to stay close by the side of Jesus
who fought this battle once, for all of us -- and won.
Only he can deliver us from temptation
and every victory over temptation we have
is the strength of his grace working within us.

Especially at this table, in the sacrament of this altar,
do we find the strength we need to say no to the tempter
and yes to God’s truth in our lives.

Come to the table of the Lord and be nourished by the One
whose victory is ours in his mercy and in his love.
Lent 2010

Keeping a Holy Lent - 4

Well, Ash Wednesday is behind us and the First Sunday of Lent is upon us.

How's Lent been for us so far?

Are you among those who have been faithful now for nearly four days to those exercises of prayer, fasting and caring for the poor?

Or did you have a good start that fizzled a bit by the time the first meatless Friday rolled around?

Did you not make it to church on Ash Wednesday and have a feeling that Lent just hasn't got off the ground for you?

The "devil in the desert" in today's scriptures would like nothing better than for you to give up on Lent just because the first few days haven't gone as well as you might have liked.

Well, to hell with the devil!

Start Lent now right now!

Find 10 minutes a day to sit still and remember that God is present...
that's called prayer...

Choose some form of comfort (food or Southern?)
whose absence for 40 days will create an empty space
the Spirit might rush to fill...
that's called fasting...

Reach out to the poor on your own or through your parish Lenten program...
that's called almsgiving...

Find a way to remind yourself every day that you're living in the season of Lent. Something as simple as a post-it on your bathroom mirror with the word LENT on it -- nothing fancy, keep it simple -- just some way, day to day, to remember to pray, fast and reach out to the poor...

Lent is a spiritual spring time (whether you live above or below the equator!)
and it's not too late to plant the seeds of Lent in our lives...
Lent 2010

Just in case you missed this 1st time 'round!

Resolve now: Each week in Lent I will take time to study the scriptures for the coming weekend to be better prepared to hear, understand, receive and be nourished by the Lord's Word in my mind and heart on Sunday!

(For more on the image to the left, and if you missed Ash Wednesday this past week, be sure to read through the whole of this post...)

The scriptures for the First Sunday of Lent and commentary on them can be found here and hints for helping youngsters prepare to hear the Word can be found here.

In all three years of the Lectionary, the gospel passage for the First Sunday of Lent tells of Jesus. time in the desert and his being tempted by the Evil One. This year we hear Luke's account. I like the illustration above because it presents the temptation of Christ in the way I often experience temptation: in the half-light of shadows, seeming to sneak up on me out of nowhere, appearing harmless, beckoning innocently and mysteriously... (Click on the image for a larger version)

The first lesson, from Deuteronomy, does not pair obviously or with great strength with the day's gospel but does offer us the heart of the Hebrew scriptures: a confession of faith based on thanksgiving for God's deliverance of his own in the Exodus. The intervening text, from Romans, serves as a call to Christians at the beginning of this holy season, that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

A Little Late for Lent?

Did Ash Wednesday pass you by? You might want to "catch up" a bit and ponder the scriptures from the Ash Wednesday liturgy. And you can read all of my Ash Wednesday and Lenten posts to date right here.

Image: Tentaciones by Hermanoleon

A warm welcome to folks from Christ the King Parish in Mashpee, MA and from Immaculate Conception Parish in Malden, Ma. Both parishes have linked to this page from their parish websites, from which I'm grateful.

I'm also pleased to welcome those linking through from this week's issue of the Concord Journal in which my article on Lent was an installment in the Voices of Faith series authored on a rotating basis by leaders of Concord's faith communities.

Image source: Dofix

Keeping a Holy Lent - 3

Image source: Essex1

Lent: Getting Ready for Easter!

Lent isn't merely a season to "give something up!" It's a season to prepare for Easter. In special ways we pray for and prepare those who will receive the Easter sacraments. But all of us, including the already baptized, need to prepare to celebrate the Paschal feast as well.

At the Easter Vigil and at Mass on Easter Sunday, we will be invited to renew the promises of baptism when we are asked:

- Do you reject sin so as to live in the freedom of God’s children?
- Do you reject the glamor of evil and refuse to be mastered by sin?
- Do you reject Satan, and all his works and empty promises?
- Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth...?
- Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God...?
- Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life...?
- Do you believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church?
- Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins?
- Do you look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come?

And we respond: I do, I do, I do!

Do we? Is this what we believe? Is this what we live?
Do we even understand the questions?

What do we need to do to prepare to answer these questions from our hearts?

For some help in looking at these creedal questions and our response to them, spend some time at this site, offered by Creighton University.

Lent is a good time for us to study these questions so that we can be prepared to answer them with a strong, I do! at Easter. Fr. Bill Reiser, SJ has proposed some additional questions to ponder as we prepare in Lent to renew our baptismal promises at Easter. Perhaps his questions will be food for prayer, fasting and almsgiving this Lent in preparation for Easter:

- Do you accept Jesus as your teacher, as the example whom you will always imitate and as the one in whom the mystery of God’s love for the world has fully been revealed?

- Do you dedicate yourself to seeking the kingdom of God and God’s justice, to praying daily, to meditating on the Gospels and to celebrating the Eucharist faithfully and devoutly?

- Do you commit yourself to that spirit of poverty and detachment that Jesus enjoined on his disciples, and to resisting the spirit of consumerism and materialism that is so strong in our culture?

- Do you accept responsibility for building community, for being a person of compassion and reconciliation, for being mindful of the poor and the oppressed, and for truly forgiving those who have offended you?

- Will you try to thank and praise God by your works and by your actions, in times of prosperity as well as in moments of suffering, giving loyal witness to the risen Jesus by your faith, by your hope, and by the style of your living?

- Do you surrender your life to God as a disciple and companion of Jesus? Do you believe that God is the Lord of history, sovereign over nations and peoples, and that God’s promise to redeem all of creation from its bondage to death and decay will one day be accomplished?

All of these questions, the traditional and the new ones, are offered here for your Lenten reflection, prayer and action. Soon we’ll be renewing our baptismal promises and professing our faith in God. Let us pray for one another that this Lenten season of preparation will find us ready to answer “I do!” with voices and hearts filled with faith.

(You might find it helpful to print this post and keep the questions above at hand for prayer and reflection...)
Lent 2010

May the choirs of angels come to greet you...

Image source: Fr. Anthony

In the past two days two significant composers of liturgical music have died. May the Lord be gracious and merciful and welcome them to the company of angels whose song of praise to God is eternal!

Richard Proulx and Richard Hillert are the two composers and while their names may be unfamiliar to many, their music will sound very familiar to most.

Here's the Holy, Holy, Holy from Proulx's Community Mass

And here's the Holy, Holy, Holy from Proulx's Festival Eucharist

Finally, here's one of my all-time favorites, Hillert's A Festival Canticle.

A Prayer for Priests

_______-Image by Spreadshirt


(This prayer was published every Friday on my blog during the Year of Prayer for Priests, June 2009-2010)


A Prayer for Priests

Gracious God, loving Father,
font of every gift and good,
make of priests for us we pray:

men of faith, men of love,
humble servants of your Word,
prophets of your Spirit’s grace;

men of hope, men of peace,
strong defenders of the truth,
heralds of your holy gospel;

men of prayer, men of praise,
guardians of our sacred rites,
of the scriptures and tradition;

men of changelessness and change,
men who follow you each day,
when and where your Spirit leads;

men of tenderness and strength,
comfort for the sick and weary,
shepherds leading home the lost;

men of counsel, men of wisdom,
gentle guides for the confused,
lights along the darkened path;

men of mercy, patient men,
understanding and consoling
of the grieving and abused;

men of justice and compassion,
reconciling and forgiving,
men of healing in your name;

men of sacrifice and honor,
single minded in your service,
set apart to do your will;

men of holiness and joy,
men anointed by your grace,
men ordained to serve as Christ.

Make us one with them in faith
and in Christ your only Son
in whose holy name we pray.

Amen.



 
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Prayer for Priests in the Year for Priests

_______-Image by Spreadshirt

Each Friday in this Year for Priests I'll post this prayer and invite you to remember all priests and especially those who have been, who are and who may one day be a part of your life.

Several prayers for the Year for Priests are available through the US Bishops site. As an exercise for myself to enter into the spirit of this year, I wrote the following. For whatever use you make of it on behalf of my brother priests and me, we are most grateful. (Links to other material on the Year for Priests can be found on the sidebar.)

A Prayer for Priests

Gracious God, loving Father,
font of every gift and good,
make of priests for us we pray:

men of faith, men of love,
humble servants of your Word,
prophets of your Spirit’s grace;

men of hope, men of peace,
strong defenders of the truth,
heralds of your holy gospel;

men of prayer, men of praise,
guardians of our sacred rites,
of the scriptures and tradition;

men of changelessness and change,
men who follow you each day,
when and where your Spirit leads;

men of tenderness and strength,
comfort for the sick and weary,
shepherds leading home the lost;

men of counsel, men of wisdom,
gentle guides for the confused,
lights along the darkened path;

men of mercy, patient men,
understanding and consoling
of the grieving and abused;

men of justice and compassion,
reconciling and forgiving,
men of healing in your name;

men of sacrifice and honor,
single minded in your service,
set apart to do your will;

men of holiness and joy,
men anointed by your grace,
men ordained to serve as Christ.

Make us one with them in faith
and in Christ your only Son
in whose holy name we pray.

Amen.

Keeping a Holy Lent - 2

Lent: a joyful season?

The Preface is the prayer at Mass that leads to our singing the Holy, Holy, Holy. There are Sunday, weekday, festal and seasonal Prefaces. Preface I for Lent includes these words:

Every year you give us this joyful season
when we prepare to celebrate the paschal mystery
with minds and hearts renewed.

You give us a spirit of loving reverence for you, our Father,
and of willing service to our neighbor...

Since we tend to image Lent tend as a somber, penitential time, it may seem incongruous to refer to Lent as a "joyful season." Aren't we supposed to refrain from joy until Easter?

Certainly Lent and its disciplines of prayer, fasting and works of mercy can be experienced as a time of spiritual and personal restraint, but Lent is also springtime for the life of faith - regardless of the side of the equator on which you live.

If Lent is a time for our "minds and hearts to be renewed" then it's also a season of new beginnings and opportunities, clean slates and life refreshed. And all of that is certainly cause for joy!

Note, too, how this Lenten Preface reminds us of what God does for us in the season. The Lord gives us a spirit of loving reverence for the Father of us all, inclining our hearts and minds to prayer and the needs of our spiritual lives. And there's more! The Lord gives us a spirit of willing service to our neighbor. That means that the Lord disposes our hearts to be generous in serving and helping our neighbor with our time, our talents, and our financial resources.

This spirit of reverence and service is a gift to us from God - ours for the taking. Of course, just as at any time of the year, it's easy for us to be too busy, too distracted, too self-concerned to even notice the gift of spiritual renewal the Lord hands out to us. And that's why the so-called "disciplines" of Lent (prayer, fasting, works of mercy) are so important.

What we "do for Lent" attunes us to the Lord's presence, inclines us to awareness of God's presence and disposes us to receive what the Lord offers us.

As we noted earlier: Watch out! God's gettin' busy!

And it's time for us to get busy about Lent!

Image source: NetGlimse


Lent 2010

The time for your people to turn back to you...

Agnus Dei by Francisco de Zurburán

Since 1974 I have prayed Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I on Ash Wednesday, all the Sundays of Lent and some Lenten weekdays as well. (Note: there are two Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation.)

Of all the Eucharistic prayers it is my favorite on account of its beautiful language and rich Paschal theology. From a presider's point of view, this text seems to pray itself, so easily does it lend itself to proclamation.

Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation - I

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere
to give you thanks and praise.

You never cease to call us to a new and more abundant life.
God of love and mercy, you are always ready to forgive;
we are sinners, and you invite us to trust in your mercy.

Time and time again we broke your covenant,
but you did not abandon us.
Instead, through your Son, Jesus our Lord,
you bound yourself even more closely to the human family
by a bond that can never be broken.

Now is the time for your people to turn back to you
and to be renewed in Christ your Son,
a time of grace and reconciliation.

You invite us to serve the family of humankind
by opening our hearts to the fullness of your Holy Spirit.

In wonder and gratitude, we join our voices
with the choirs of heaven to proclaim the power of your love
and to sing of our salvation in Christ:

Holy, holy, holy Lord…

Father, from the beginning of time
you have always done what is good for us
so that we may be holy as you are holy.

Look with kindness on your people gathered here before you:
send forth the power of your Spirit
so that these gifts may become for us
the body and blood of your beloved Son, Jesus the Christ,
in whom we have become your sons and daughters.

When we were lost and could not find the way to you,
you loved us more than ever:
Jesus, your Son, innocent and without sin,
gave himself into our hands and was nailed to a cross.

Yet before he stretched out his arms
between heaven and earth,
in the everlasting sign of your covenant,
he desired to celebrate the Paschal feast
in the company of his disciples.

While they were at supper,
he took bread and gave you thanks and praise.
He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
Take this, all of you, and eat it:
this is my Body which will be given up for you.

At the end of the meal,
knowing that he was to reconcile all things in himself
by the blood of his cross,
he took the cup, filled with wine.

Again he gave you thanks,
handed the cup to his friends, and said:
Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
this is the cup of my blood,
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.

Let us proclaim the mystery of faith…

We do this in memory of Jesus Christ,
our Passover and our lasting peace.
We celebrate his death and resurrection
and look for the coming of that day
when he will return to give us the fullness of joy.

Therefore we offer you, God ever faithful and true,
the sacrifice which restores us to your friendship.

Father, look with love on those you have called
to share in the one sacrifice of Christ.
By the power of your Holy Spirit
make them one body, healed of all division.

Keep us all in communion of mind and heart
with Benedict, our pope, and Sean, our bishop.
Help us to work together for the coming of your kingdom,
until at last we stand in your presence
to share the life of the saints,
in the company of the Virgin Mary and the apostles,
and of our departed brothers and sisters
whom we commend to your mercy.

Then, freed from every shadow of death,
we shall take our place in the new creation
and give you thanks with Christ, our risen Lord.

Through him, with him, in him,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honor is yours,
almighty Father, for ever and ever.
AMEN.
Lent 2010