Bulletins from 2024 (Page 6)

In this weekend’s first reading, from the Second Book of Chronicles, we hear that, in spite of their infidelities, the Lord continued to send messengers to Israel. But they were not welcomed. The third chapter of the Gospel of Saint John narrates God’s response to this bitter reception: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” Indeed, this is at the core of our faith: God’s love for humanity is so great that the Lord held nothing back, not even His only Son, given to us for our salvation. As we approach Easter, we prepare to celebrate the depth of God’s loving embrace in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. But even now we share in this each time we celebrate the Eucharist, brought into communion with the Lord and each other. We receive the Body and Blood of Christ, given that we might live. This is the good news of Laetare (“Rejoice”) Sunday, which cannot be taken away, even in the midst of Lent.

The readings we hear at Mass this weekend help us along our Lenten journey. Exodus recounts the giving of the law to Israel through Moses; the commandments he received are the same that help guide us in our relationship with God and one another. The gospel account of the cleansing of the temple presents Jesus as the new temple, that place where God lives, which would be destroyed and raised on the third day. Jesus shows the inadequacy of the old law and offers us, in Himself, the new law of love. As we continue along the path to Easter, my we walk with the Lord in spirit and truth.

Just as Jesus’ Transfiguration offered Him hope as He was on the way to the Cross and was intended to encourage Peter, James and John, to strengthen them in the face of the Cross that was still to come, so our hearing a Gospel account of that event each year on the Second Sunday of Lent can fortify us along our Lenten journey. Jesus’ prediction of His Passion was confirmation that He was aware of His eventual fate. Transfigured, the glory that was the Lord’s and would be His again was the encouragement that the disciples did not yet understand, but would in the years ahead. In this weekend’s communal celebrations of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, our prayer is that those who approach the Sacrament may have a glimpse of the glory of the wholeness and healing that the Lord offers us. May the sting of the isolation they experience give way to new hope in the Lord

This First Sunday of Lent invites us to a renewal of our life in Christ, a rekindling of the flame of our baptism faith. At the same time, Lent is a very special time in the life of the Catechumens who will approach the Sacraments at Easter. As we help them on this part of their journey of faith through the rites (“scrutinies”) we will celebrate with them on the Third, Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent, we also look to the baptismal waters through which we are made one in Christ. The readings today consider the covenant God made with Noah after the flood (Genesis), how the waters of the flood prefigure the waters of Baptism, and Jesus’ fidelity to God during his 40 days of temptation in the desert. The covenant God made with Noah, and later with Abraham, is superseded by the New Covenant made in the Blood of Jesus, the Covenant in which we are sharers by Baptism. As the Lord remained faithful to the Father those 40 days, so may we grow more and more into His faithful disciples in our annual 40-day “retreat” this Lent.

It is easy for us to dismiss biblical cures as remnants of a long ago past, asserting that God does not care for us in our illnesses as once He reached out to those who suffered every kind of malady. But if we do this, are we really not closing our imaginations to the many possible ways that God continues to be present to us – in all aspects of our lives? Are we able discern how the Lord is active in our lives and in the life of the world? Often, Jesus concludes His work of healing with the declaration, “Your faith has saved you.” Are we capable of this kind of biblical faith? Or do we consider it to be a relic of long ago? Jesus continues to heal – to make whole – those who suffer in any way, if we are open to the mystery of God’s abiding presence in our lives. That is what we celebrate in the Eucharist, that we may have the strength to believe and turn to the Lord, as we will sing in the Responsorial Psalm this weekend: “I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation” (Psalm 32).

Our passage this weekend from the Book of Job describes the futility of human existence, concluding with this line: “Remember that my life is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.” The gospel reading speaks of Peter’s sick mother-in-law who was suffering from a fever. The sentiments, expressed in Job, could have been hers. Until Jesus comes. He healed her and raised her up. It is no coincidence that these two readings are assigned to the same Sunday, presenting Jesus as the remedy for hopelessness. In healing Peter’s mother- in-law, Jesus redeems “the human condition.” This is demonstrated by the evangelist: “Then the fever left her and she waited on them.” This is not to say anything about the role of women, only that once she was restored to health, this unnamed woman was able to return to her life. Jesus is our hope in the darker moments of our lives; he raises us from the depths of what weighs us down, so that we can get on with our lives. The experience of Job, although shared by many in our own time, is not to be our end. The Lord is with us, lifting us up from the fragility of our despair.

What was Jesus’ “new teaching with authority” (Mark 1:27)? While many speak eloquently, and their power is in their words, Jesus’ words had effect: “He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” This way of teaching and speaking can also be the way of the Lord’s disciples. Our faith, our words and our actions should be unified. It is the call and commission of the Baptism we share. The mark of being a follower is the Lord’s own authority: in speech and action. While most of us fail in this from time to time, the goal remains before us; we should not be discouraged.

After the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus takes up his proclamation, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” After that, Jesus immediately begins calling the disciples: brothers Simon and Andrew and then Zebedee’s sons, James and John. The response of these first apostles was not tentative, but definite: They abandoned their nets. . .[and] left their father. Moving from the Christmas Season into winter Ordinary Time, focusing no longer on the “Baby” Jesus, we encounter Him in the Scriptures, now as an adult at the beginning of His public ministry. As the Lord called the apostles and others to follow Him, so Jesus continues to call us. We follow by the way we live our lives, reaching out in what we now call “Christlike” ways as we serve most especially those in need. May our following be as total and complete as that of Simon, Andrew, James and John and all the other disciples.