Reflection on the Readings for the First Sunday of Lent - 2015

Genesis 9:8-15

Psalm 25: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (10)

1 Peter 3: 18-22

Mark 1: 12-15

The story of Noah and the Ark has in many ways has become a child’s fairy tale.  Most depictions of the story look like a cartoon, showing friendly animals, lining up two by two, to enter the Ark.  We see Noah and his family, smiling as they welcome the creatures coming towards them.  Yet, like most of our modern fairy tales, the origin of the story of the Ark; the deeper meaning of the story, can be grim and frightening.

We see God, looking out at the humanity that inhabits His world and seeing only evil and corruption.  Like a potter, unhappy with the pottery he has made, God intends to destroy His creation, wipe the slate clean.  Yet, God is a creator, not a destroyer.  While He intends to wipe out the evil, He sees the good that still exists, exists in Noah and his family.  So God saves a remnant of humanity, and insures their survival.  And Noah and his family, humanity is reborn, life begins again.  And the Creator promises never to destroy all humanity again, and the rainbow is the sign of that promise.  He will seek another way to save His people from the power of sin. 

And that way is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who, through His death and resurrection, freed all humanity, past, present, and those yet to come from, from the power, and consequences of sin.  And with that freedom, with the fulfillment of the promise the Father made to His creation, the “kingdom of God is at hand.” 

This is the Good News that Jesus is calling us to accept and believe.  To believe that God does love this world, loves us; loves us so much He gave us His Son to save us, to heal us.  That kind of love calls for a response from us, and that response is to change our lives, to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, to live the Gospel!

The season of Lent is meant to be a time of preparation, a time of reflection, a time of conversion.  A reflection on what our lives have been, and to see, in light of the Gospel, what needs to be changed.  And we prepare our hearts to be open to experience the joy, and wonder of Easter morning, to celebrate the love of God

First Sunday of Lent 2013 Homily

Deuteronomy 26: 4-10

Romans 10: 8-13

Luke 4: 1-13

Note:  The Catholic parishes of Beverly, MA, are part of the first phase of reorganizing the parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston into 2 to 3 parish collaboratives, under one pastor and pastoral team.

Today’s Gospel reading continues the story after the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.  Jesus has experienced the Holy Spirit coming upon Him, has heard the Father confirming that he is the Son of God.  He must have been on a spiritual high; he is “the man.”  Now we see the Spirit leading him into the desolation that is the desert.  We are told that Jesus fasted for forty days, and was “hungry.”  Now, those of us who are dieters, or failed dieters, we may think we know what it means to be hungry, but that is nothing compared to the hunger Jesus must have experienced, and what the effects it must have been to his body.  This combination of hunger and surviving the desert, must have definitely taken him out of his comfort zone.  It is then that the devil challenges Jesus, tempts Jesus.  He first tempts Jesus to change a stone into bread.  Then he tries to have Jesus doubt his own power as the Messiah, by accepting power from the devil, at the price of worshiping him, rather than the Father.  Finally, the devil tries to have Jesus get the Father to confirm that He is the Son, by saving him from a fall.  All these actions, changing stone into bread, accepting power from another, seeking the Father’s reaffirmation; these are all self-centered actions.  And Jesus came not for himself but for others.

So Jesus drew on the divine power that was in him all the time, which was and is at the center of his being.  The Evangelist Luke expresses this power by having Jesus quote the Hebrew Scriptures.  It is the power of the Word of God that will drive the devil away.

Now, all of us experience temptation at different times, and in different ways.  We are tempted to reach for that cookie on the plate, even when our mother says not to.  We are tempted to reach for the game boy, rather than doing our homework.  We are tempted to join in the gossip about a coworker, rather than defend him or her.  And sometimes we are tempted to give in to despair, because life has gotten so hard, so dark.  In moments of temptation, great or small, we all need to turn to Him who has experienced it himself, who knows what we are going through.  If we open ours hearts to Him, if we let His word take hold of us, have faith in Him, we will ignore the temptation, have hope and not be put to shame.

Lent is a time when the Church challenges us; through fasting, increased prayer, and almsgiving, giving of ourselves for others; to leave our comfort zone, to set sail on uncharted spiritual waters.  And now this year, as a parish community, as a community of Catholic believers here in Beverly, we are being asked to go on into even more uncharted waters.  Some of us may be tempted to withdraw within ourselves and not participate in the process.  As the process moves on, for whatever reasons, some of us may be tempted to jump ship.  And on top of all that, we hear that Pope Benedict is resigning, and now the way forward looks even more uncertain, the horizon more shrouded in fog, in uncertainty.  What I ask of all us to do is to trust in Him, who built the Bark, the Ship of St. Peter, trust in him who gave St. Peter the keys of the kingdom, and asked him to care for the Lord’s sheep; believe in Him who at a word, calm the winds and the waves.  He will bring us to safe harbor.

Ash Wednesday 2013

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  Some Catholic bloggers have expressed the concern that the news of Pope Benedict’s resignation would take away from the Lenten observance.  I do not think so, but we will see how many will show up to have their foreheads marked with ashes.

I am coming to realize that Lent can be a time to deepen one’s spiritual life.  When we enter more intensely into the spiritual practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving; we can find ourselves out of our comfort zone.  It is then that God can enter in and transform us.

There are a couple of links I would like to share, that can help us get a good start this Lent.  One is from Father Austin Fleming, author of “A Concord Pastor Comments.”  And another is from Mary DeTurris Poust, who writes the “Not Strictly Spiritual” blog.

From My March Column in Fraternity Newsletter

“United by their vocation as brothers and sisters of penance, and motivated by the dynamic power of the gospel, let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior  change which the gospel itself calls conversion.  Human frailty makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily.”  (Art. 7a, SFO Rule)

Saint Francis was constantly reminding his followers that they could never be satisfied with the level progress they had made on living the Gospel life.  He is quoted as saying in the later years of his life,” Brothers, let us begin again, because up until now we have done nothing.”  He recognized that the spiritual journey in never over, that we travel it every day of our life.

All of us can become complacent about where we are in our relationship with God.   Lent provides us an opportunity to do a reality check on that relationship, an opportunity to deepen that relationship.  The Church calls us to intensify our practice of the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Lent gives us the inspiration, the nudge, to spend more time in solitude, reading and reflecting on Scripture, letting the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts.  We then can see if we are making a relationship with God a priority in our life, if we letting the Spirit inspire us to greater acts of charity, if we are letting the Gospel of Christ guide us in our daily lives.

Our Rule and this season of Lent both remind us that the process of conversion is never finished, never over, no matter how long we have been professed.  Each day we must answer anew the call of Jesus to pick up our cross and follow Him.

Reflection on Ash Wednesday

Another Ash Wednesday has come and gone.  The 2012 season of Lent has begun.  I went into St. Anthony Shrine, Boston, MA, for a period of prayer and to receive the ashes.  I went to a Franciscan Friar I knew and he gave me a pretty good smudge.  People would definitely know what faith I belonged to that day.

Later, I went to a mid-day Mass at the Shrine.  The celebrant, during his homily, called on all of us to use this Lenten season as an opportunity to become the person God meant us to be.  We are all called by Christ to a life of holiness, to strive to live the Gospel and enter into a deeper relationship with our loving God.

The Church give us the season of Lent to remind us of that call, and encourages us to answer it with all our heart and soul.

"Fruits of Penance," My February Fraternity Newsletter Column

“All who love the Lord with their whole heart, with their whole soul and mind, with all their strength (cf. MK 12:30), and love their neighbors as themselves (cf. Mt 22:39) and hate their bodies with their vices and sins, and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and produce worthy fruits of penance.” (Exhortation of St. Francis to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance, Chap. 1)


“United by their vocation as brothers and sisters of penance, and motivated by the dynamic power of the gospel, let them conform their thoughts and deeds to those of Christ by means of that radical interior change which the gospel itself calls conversion. Human frailty makes it necessary that this conversion be carried out daily.” (Art. 7a, SFO Rule)


Saint Francis was constantly reminding his followers that they could never be satisfied with the level of progress they may have made trying to live the Gospel life. He is quoted as saying in the later years of his life,” Brothers, let us begin again, because up until now we have done nothing.” He recognized that the spiritual journey is never over, that we will be traveling it every day.

We all can become complacent about where we are in our relationship with God. The upcoming season of Lent provides us with an opportunity to do a reality check on that relationship, an opportunity to deepen that relationship. The Church calls us to intensify our practice of the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent gives us the inspiration, the nudge, to spend more time in solitude, reading and reflecting on Scripture, letting the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts. We then can see if we are making a relationship with God a priority for us; if we are letting the Spirit inspire us to greater acts of charity; if we are really letting the Gospel of Christ guide us in our daily lives.

Our Rule and this season of Lent both remind us that the process of conversion is never finished, never over, no matter how long we have been professed. Each day we must answer anew the call of Jesus to pick up our cross and follow Him.