On March 25th, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord, recalling the Archangel Gabriel’s visit to Mary to announce that God had chosen her to become the Mother of His Son.  Nine months before Christmas, we celebrate the Incarnation of Christ in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. Celebrating this solemnity gives us the opportunity to contemplate a breathtaking truth and an example of how we should respond to it:
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1. God the Son, in taking to Himself a human nature, shows us that God is not distant and disinterested in human affairs or our condition, but is God-with-us.  God knows intimately the ins and outs of our existence, its ups and downs, its joys and sorrows, for He has become one of us.
   
2. The Blessed Virgin Mary is an example to us in saying yes to God’s invitation to cooperate in His plan to take on our human nature and save us. We see Mary freely and actively embracing God’s call, “and Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word’” (Luke 1:38).

The original Greek expression of Mary’s yes denotes more than mere passive acceptance, which indicates that she wished or desired to fulfill God’s will in her life.  In the presence of the supreme value, may we, in imitation of Mary, declare the same.  Doing so will ensure that we not only benefit from the “miracle of miracles” of God-with-us, but we will be cooperators, like Mary, in helping others encounter God.

​David J. Conrad

The First Reading by the Prophet Ezekiel is a message of hope to a dispersed and discouraged people; he was among those deported when the Babylonians first took Jerusalem.  In exile his mission was to preach the word of God in order to bring new life and hope to a ‘dead’ Israel. Ezekiel’s message is clear: he assures his hearers of God’s abiding presence among them, of God’s involvement in the events of the day, so that Israel and all nations “will know that I am the Lord.” This is parallel to today’s Gospel about the raising of Lazarus which is unique to St. John.

​We know Jesus is Lord in the raising of his dead friend; an act that identifies him as the Messiah, and is the prelude to his own death and resurrection⎯our message of hope and new life.  St. Paul writes that as a result of this great act of God’s love, we are empowered to live a new life in the Spirit. The Gospel Acclamation for today is: “I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will never die.”  Considering the truth of this, the psalm for today (#130) is appropriate: “With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”  We acknowledge this truth with voices raised in songs of praise and thanks to God!

Next week end on Palm/Passion Sunday we begin the celebration of the holiest week of our liturgical year. In pre-Christian times, the palm was regarded as a symbol of victory.  It was adopted by the early Christians as the symbol of victory of the faithful over the enemies of the soul: a symbol of the spirit over the flesh. When you return home from the Palm Sunday celebration, place the palm behind the crucifix as a reminder that it is through the cross that you will gain the final victory. 

As believers, we Lift High the Cross: the symbol of new life, mercy and redemption.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

I suspect many of us have a family member or friend who is the strong, silent type. Yet even if you can’t think of someone, we all have that type of man to look to in the person of St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus and spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose solemnity we will celebrate this coming Monday, March 20th.  St. Joseph was of exceptional character, something known, not by what he said (we never hear him say anything in the Gospels) but through his deeds.  And who better a role model and guardian for us, for while what we say is important, what we do “speaks” even more.  What do we see St. Joseph doing in the Gospels?
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• He kept faith, and by it fully accepted God’s saving plan, even if he didn’t understand how it all hangs together;

 

• He promptly obeyed the will of God, something he could do because he had the desire to do so, was open to God, and practiced his faith;

 

• He was courageous in time of trial;

 

• Had a chaste love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, where he didn’t seek his own pleasure, but was of service;

 

• And he was dutiful in his exercise of parental authority.

As St. Joseph is the Patron of the Universal Church, we ask that by his intercession the Church faithfully help us live in a manner worthy of our baptismal calling. We can, fortified by the ministrations of the Church, do as St. Joseph did in our unique domains of influence. St. Joseph, pray for us!

David J. Conrad

There is no one so blind as he who will not see; and no greater tragedy than to be ‘blind’ and to say (or think) we can see.  Jesus says, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”  We are sometimes perilously blind to the ways in which our actions, words, thoughts and desires can jeopardize our eternal salvation.

​Our redemption in Christ must begin with an honest assessment of our true nature (reconciliation); and then repentance comes through an authentic conversion.  Many times, as we plead to the Lord for an intention, we already have in mind how we expect it to be fulfilled.  We often forget that God has a better vision of what is around us, and of what we truly need. Most times we are focused on what is immediate to us and it is difficult to give ourselves over to the universal vision of God.  “Not as man sees as does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.”

St. Paul tells us that “everything exposed by the light becomes visible.” He is talking about us living in the light of Christ, “for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”  We see more clearly by His light.  “One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”

This Sunday our Psalm is the well known 23rd Psalm; we sing of God leading us and guiding us because the Lord is our shepherd, our King of Love.  Those who pretend not to need this salvation are blind⎯to themselves, and to God’s Amazing Grace.

St. Ambrose said, “You have shown Yourself to me, O Christ, face to face.  I meet You in Your sacraments.”  We meet each other too, when we sing and celebrate together.  In Lent we hope to let the scales fall from our eyes⎯to see ourselves as we truly are⎯and to pursue a better vision as we sing joyfully of the Light of the World!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

The readings for this Third Sunday of Lent are filled with images of water and thirst - St. Paul says, “the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” Jesus speaks of living water with the woman at the well: a spring of water that is spiritual and wells up to eternal life.

​I was thinking about the importance of water to those who live in the desert, especially in the time of Jesus. The simple act of needing a drink meant walking (at times) a great distance to the well, and then taking away only what water they were able to carry.  (Water is pretty heavy…) Even in today’s world, clean water is still difficult for many people to get and to have for everyday use. There is even a prediction (like so other many important, life-giving things) that clean, potable water is a future commodity for selling and control.

The Responsorial Psalm today (#95) is “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” It reminds us that every prayer of praise, petition and thanksgiving must be supported and sustained by sincere repentance. A hardened heart is a serious spiritual condition caused by repeated refusals to recognize and acquiesce to our loving God─like the Samaritan woman initially not recognizing Jesus as living water. None of us is immune from a hardness of heart, which can alienate us from God, and turn us from the well.

We hear the Gospel story of the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus today, and how her life changed after an encounter with Him. We need to ask ourselves if our lives have been changed by our encounter with Him as well. Lent is an opportunity to change our hearts, to live more holy and better lives. Our Lenten journey is the perfect time to focus on our faith; all the things we pledge to give up and all the things we pledge to do is a design for conscious spiritual growth. It is not too late, never too late to drink from the well. Today we sing together our sincere desire to not harden our hearts, and to choose for the water of life.

The Samaritan woman was excited to know that Living Water would be available to her any time she needed it, she wouldn’t have to go far, and it was a never-ending spring. All of us, like her, should be excited about this—and our Lenten journey is to help us understand and live her experience at the well with Jesus. Drink up!

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

In the First Reading from the Book of Genesis and in the Responsorial Psalm today we hear about trust in the Lord: Abram trusts God so much he changes his name and his country of residence. The Psalm response reminds us of the incredible quality and breadth of the Lord’s love for us. Why would we not trust God?

​St. Paul reminds us that we were saved to be holy and to live a holy life; so bear your hardship (your cross) for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God. The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent always tells the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. What do these Scripture readings have in common?

The Old Testament Reading speaks of the establishment of a covenant blessing from God—a future great nation. We are still building this kingdom of God, working in the field of souls, to continue the work started by Abram. St. Paul writes of the new covenant in Christ—Christ, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light—a future eternity for us in heaven. The Gospel Transfiguration story gives us a momentary vision of that eternity, a future assured to us who believe.

So: remember eternity--your future—in all your today acts and actions, in what you say, in your now choices and your every daily decision. We have God’s trust and love and strength to help us on our journey. Remembering eternity may mean your own personal transfiguration according to God’s design for you—and in that remembering today there may be the opportunity to actually experience eternity later…

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

When you care for a sick person, are you changing God’s will? No. Are you making a real difference? Yes! What you are doing is fulfilling God’s will. You are doing your part in God’s will to make this world more the way He wants it to be.

​Along these same lines, when you pray for another person, are you changing God’s mind? No. But your prayers make a difference because they are fulfilling what is needed for God’s will to be done. When you pray, you have become a “cause.”  Blaise Pascal once declared, “In calling us to pray for one another, God has extended to us the dignity of becoming causes.”

This reveals a great deal about the nature and identity of God. It reveals that God is the opposite of a tyrant. In Christianity, God is not a dictator, but a Father who wants to work with us.  God shares His strength with us. God shares His power with us. When He calls us to pray, God makes us into something even more than children, He allows us to be co-workers with Him.

Thus when we pray we are working with God and are drawn into an even more intimate relationship with Him.

David J. Conrad

I have been thinking a lot about temptation recently—especially as Lent is upon us. (During his homily a few weekends ago did you hear Fr. Kevin’s “I give up” joke about what to give up for Lent?) Anyway, I looked up “temptation” in Webster’s Dictionary, and I was struck by how many different words start with the four letters “t-e-m-p” and how these words may be related beyond those first four letters. The beginning of these words comes from “tempus” which means “time” in Latin.  The words that are related by “t-e-m-p” that stood out most to me were temperament, temporary, temporize, temple—and of course—temptation.

​Struggling with temptation, I know that our response (good or bad) to any sin may be tempered (lessened) by the temperament with which we are born: our ability to turn from sin to discipline is always part of our personal struggles.  As believers, however, we are graced with forgiveness when we do fall (and we ask for it), so it helps to understand that temptation may be transitory, temporary, and fended off if answered with scripture and prayer. And we may not temporize—make excuses to avoid our baptismal commitment to do right—in situations of temptation. We must take responsibility for all our acts as apostles.

The last word I want to consider in conjunction with temptation is “temple.” We should always remember that we are living tabernacles of the Spirit of God. We, ourselves, are a temple: a “space marked out, a religious edifice, a place devoted for a special purpose.” (Thanks, Webster.) This definition is something we could consider when struggling with our choices. 

Reading the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent (always about Jesus’ temptation in the desert), we hear the many various ways our Lord was tempted by the Tempter. Jesus is tempted in his body (hunger); he is tempted for his safety and for testing God; he is tempted with power. He puts the Tempter in his place as he responds with the Word of God as his strength. He is the model to consider as we go forward in this season of conversion and transformation. Like Adam and Eve in the Genesis reading, we may fall, but St. Paul reminds us today that we will be made righteous—something to hang on to in our dark and fallen moments.

May our Lenten journey this year be productive—full of temptation, trials and tests that will help strengthen us in this voyage toward our true goal—eternal salvation. It’s all only a matter of tempus…

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

“Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” In Isaiah today, God instructs Moses to tell us that we must love our neighbors: no hatred, no revenge, no grudges. St. Paul reminds us that we are temples of God—given that God’s Spirit lives within us—that we are (to remember that we are to be) holy. Jesus teaches an alternative vision to “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”—as then we would all then be blind and toothless…

​Today in Scripture we hear some ways to live in holiness: from the Old Testament, from St. Paul, and from Jesus in the Gospel. Just in time for the Lenten Season and our personal reconciliation we can choose to be holiness in action. While reading the Scripture for this weekend I pondered what holiness meant to me personally; what it is and what it is not.

Holiness is not the rigid moralism, or code, of a thousand “don’ts.” Last weekend we heard most of the Scripture readings speak about the law. Jesus explained, for example, that “Do not commit adultery” actually calls us to build wholesome, healthy and holy relationships with one another. “Do not bear false witness” has the intent of calling us to be totally honest (there is no such thing as an alternative fact, and the truth’s credibility is always tied to the integrity of its messengers). Holiness is more about the infinite “do’s” that we can do to make life better for all. Being holy is less about what scared people avoid, and more about what changed, transformed, and converted by faith people actually do and choose in all life situations.

As a spouse, a parent, a worker, a student, a teacher, a lawyer, a candlestick maker, a neighbor, or a momentary presence in a stranger's life—your call to holiness is a very practical challenge to make others’ lives better, fuller, happier, healthier, more sane, more thoughtful, kinder—and more aware of God’s loving presence for them because you are in their world. (Remember two weeks ago—you are light and salt for the world!) Holiness is responsive; a conscious call for action and a choice in any of life’s circumstances. Instead of an “eye for an eye” we are called to love and pray for enemies, to be peaceful and generous to those who persecute us. Yikes! This is the challenge of a true believer.

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc

Today, this Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we hear in the Gospel that the Mosaic laws (The Commandments) are fulfilled in the person and the teachings of Jesus. Jesus takes us beyond the actual letter of the law to the spirit of the law. We hear Him say to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” He explains to them a very “revolutionary” concept: He goes past the obvious intent of the law and into the actual heart of any matter that He brings up.

Jesus states the law: “You shall not kill; whoever kills will be liable to judgment.” He then asks them to go beyond the obvious: not just you shall not kill - but you shall not be (act) angry, you shall not name call, you shall forgive, you shall not hold grudges - and you must settle with others. “Kill” in this case may not be just about killing the body; but about killing someone’s spirit, someone’s hopes, someone’s dreams, someone’s ability to move on. Jesus’ description of “kill” encompasses more than the strict and usual definition. He gives a broad meaning that encompasses more; He challenges us as Disciples to live beyond the obvious.

Jesus states the law: “You shall not commit adultery.” Then he tells them you shall not lust even in your heart. He goes on, you get the picture! He states the Jewish laws in the Gospel and then he takes us past those obvious and particular parameters and into God-like sacredness and holiness. The thoroughness and dimension of His teaching is revolutionary and very demanding.

Our hymn at the presentation of the gifts today is “Eye Has Not Seen,” It directly quotes the Second Reading from St. Paul to the Corinthians: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard…(we cannot imagine) what God has (ready) prepared for those who love Him.” In other words (Scriptural words): we do not think as God does about the law or punishment or most anything. As His Disciples we should try though. And to ask for the grace to look beyond any laws’ intent, and like Jesus act in mercy and grace for those around us. This is what we are called to do!

At the end of the long Gospel reading Jesus says: “Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow…Let your “Yes” mean “Yes” and your “No” mean “No.” If you think about it, sticking to your word, your vows, your personal integrity in all you say and do—is sticking to your Baptismal promises as a Christian in all its challenging (and very difficult) implications. Remember He says: “Anything more is from the evil one.” Hmmm. No wiggle room there…

Keep singing!

Elizabeth Dyc