"No one can take them out of my hand"

In preparing for this weekend's liturgies I am struck by the gospel and what transpiried this week in Boston.  I also say that this tragedy plays itslef out every minute around this earth; the evil that takes life!  I may focus on the events of this past week in Boston, but the heartbreak and sorrow is felt equally in every occasion regardless of place or person.

Jesus reminds us that he and God the Father are one.  Jesus as God-In-The-Flesh then also holds close every one who beleives in him. And for those who share in the divine life through baptism must do no less.  We must hold close all God's children in our own human hands.



Pope Francis sais this past week that "God is a real, concrete person, not some intangible essence or esoteric mist like "god-spray." God was present in the first responders in Boston but that is not enough.  God must be present in us all, so that not one of God's most precious creation, human life will be taken out of God's hand.

The real "Big Dance" & NIKA

Easter arrived on Sunday.  For me it is our real "Big Dance" as we are in the final days of the NCAA Basketball Championships.  There will be a winner.  There will be great celebrating for the winner and tears for the team that is defeated.  Barring another horrific injury as was suffered by Kevin Ware, the end of the contest should be emotionally and physically exhausting for all participants.  But there will still be one victor, one loser.

Easter brought its own victory for all believers, that being the victory over death. And in this contest that spanned over 3 decades, our team won!  We are ALL victors! We are all dancing towards heaven. I love dancing, and I hope to dance humbly towards the source of my very being. I hope my dance moves will be varied; slow dancing with one losing a loved one or enduring a terminal illness; a more lively dance keeping up with members of our "younger church" that shifts from joy, fear, anxiety, love, hate, and the entire spectrum of situations that some Gatorade along the way will be appreciated. I pray that my big dance will follow the moves of Jesus in his service moves towards others.  Holy Week gave us lessons better than any Arthur Murray course could give in the "dance". NIKA!  We are victors!

And So It Begins

The Triduum, or the Great Three Days cannot be described in one blog, especially by one who is not a theologian nor biblical scholar. However the events of Thursday and Friday have a link that perhaps exemplifies the limits of our human emotion; joy and sorrow. These extremes are played and prayed out in our liturgies for Holy Thursday and Good Friday. In our Holy Thursday mass we do experience the fullness of Christian Joy....that is to say the privilege of following our Lord's "Mandatum', or command to follow His example in humble service to others. We are joyful in his gentle request to follow the example he has given us. And yes, while even the sacrifice of the the Lat Supper, Jesus' sacrifice that is; brings great joy in his promise to be with us at each consecutive gathering at Eucharist. At this very moment the opposite limit of sorrow begins. Betrayal, and knowledge that he will sacrifice his own life in a most horrific way so we will have life. Fully human this God-Man will experience each human emotion; each of his human physical elements will be tested by pain and emotional stress. Can these two days offer us something that can last in our fleeting world?


We can learn by our new pope Francis. At least these two days he has led by the same example in service to ALL. We learn best when we see things done by our peers. Each and every one of us can offer Christian service to others. Not for ourselves nor expecting public or even church recognition, but for the joy of loving the Lord and accepting his will in our lives. This service to the least among us is the greatest honor we can give to the Lord. it is also the greatest joy we can receive as people of faith. Humble service however can take us to the sorrow of sacrifice. Giving Christian love must never be based on wanting or desiring an easy route with a reward. It is difficult to love those whom we dislike, or respect. It is difficult to go against popular culture that is not alway in sync with our culture of faith.

We may experience both physical and emotional pain when we do the Lord's work; in fact we should.


And so it begins..... Joy and sorrow; bringing life and love to those with none at the cost of sacrifice. But we say we are Christians. And so it begins.

Humbled

Watching the election of our new Pope Francis, and the commentary about his life in humble service, I am moved. Don't get me wrong, I am not so gullible to elevate any man, pope included to anything higher than a man, but any man or woman when infused with the love of the Lord can be the presence of Christ to whom we all are called to emulate.  Observe any loving mother toward her children and you see what I mean.

I am approaching my final day of Lenten retreat with the Byzantine Catholics monks of Holy Resurrection Monastery in St. Nazianz WI.  I again realize that real worship is humbling, because one enters into the life of Christ rather than ones own.  Authentic worship does not follow the timetable of men/women but the time of the Lord.  Sometimes I wish for the service to end, as I want to perhaps return to my own wants and desires, but liturgy calls me to the life of Christ who offers everything for our eternal salvation; mine included. Couple that with Pope Francis words today to his colleagues  and we are reminded that everything we are and have is gift, and for the Christian it is to allow Christ to animate our gifts in service. I guess it is what humility is...

Surrender

Compline is a brief service where our sins are acknowledged and we ask forgiveness.  Truly Lenten huh?

Take a look around us.....

Peter did not get it at first.  Wanted to make some party tents for Jesus and his guests.  Was not wanting to see the bigger picture, the part about the journey to Jerusalem and that stuff....

However we are sometime even more than not getting it; we choose to see only what we want to see a refuse to look at the large picture. In particular how our sins affect the lives of others. Here in Montana we recently voted for a silly anti-immigration law, one that will cause great harm to our brothers and sisters, especially the children.  Just like the laws that allow abortion for whatever reason, we have been led to believe that our own narrow view of life, selfish at times, has no consequence on others.  Not so.  If we take the invitation of the Lord to climb the mountain we will then see how we are all connected and a part of God's divine plan; ALL OF US!  And in the process we will even travel to Jerusalem to perhaps sacrifice our egos, fears, and sinful pride.  If we recognize how our decisions truly affect the lives of others, we might take a step back and re-evaluate our decisions.  

Let's all commit to climbing God's mountain this Lent; it may even transfigure our hearts.  

Who to call?

Let's face it, we all face temptation in our lives.  Some of them become addictions that can be devastating to others as well as ourselves.  Saying no to them is ultimately the best defense.  In the Scriptures for this first Sunday of Holy Lent, we are reminded that when we call upon the name of the Lord, the Lord does not disappoint. And since we receive the incarnate word of God in the Eucharist,  God's word is always near.  Christ is also near in our own brothers and sisters who share the faith.  In our temptations and struggles against sin, we can find support in the community of believers.  Challenging each other when we notice sinful behavior may be one remedy.  In Bozeman there seems to be a great anti-immigrant sentiment.  Due to our misguided voting we have now caused many of our sisters and brothers to live in fear.  We have succumbed to the temptation of power, to misuse our power to add burdens to others.

Lent also calls us to repentance.  Calling on the name of the lord in the Act of Contrition in the Sacrament of Reconciliation also brings us the grace to say "no" to the temptations that we all face. If God's word is near to us, we have nothing to fear.

A Blessed Lent...