Notes from the Pastor

Healing plays a huge role in our society. As a nation, we spend billions of dollars annually on healthcare. Like our physical health, our spiritual health also needs attention. Throughout the Gospels, physical and spiritual healing are major characteristics of the ministry of Jesus. Some healings are recalled in great detail, while others are simply mentioned in passing. Yet, all of these healings are signs of the Kingdom of God.

One year ago, we were still in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, and yet so much had already changed. Public Masses were not allowed, so as to reduce the potential exposure to the virus. The Sacred Triduum - Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday - were celebrated in an empty church with only the priests and a couple of people in attendance to provide music and other assistance. It was the most unusual Holy Week I have ever experienced, and Easter seemed to lack the unbridled joy that we associate with our celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord. Today, we are more than a year into the pandemic, and though public health orders still limit social gatherings, we are able to celebrate Mass in our church once again, and advances in vaccines and health care hold the promise of brighter days ahead for a world that has suffered greatly because of the coronavirus. So today, let us again rejoice!

Holy Week begins today and we should enter this week with reverence, enthusiastically embracing the rituals associated with it. To celebrate Holy Week is, after all, to celebrate who we have become through Christ’s Paschal Mystery. I hope that throughout the season of Lent you have prayed, fasted, and performed works of charity. Lent ends with the beginning of Mass on Holy Thursday.

In today’s Gospel (John 12:20-33), we encounter Jesus in Jerusalem. He knows that the hour has come for him to be glorified. Jesus knows that he is about to die and he knows how it is to happen, as he refers to being “lifted up.” He says, “I will draw everyone to myself,” a fitting reminder to us that Jesus does not give his life only for the sins of a few, but so that all may be offered forgiveness and redemption. Jesus chooses to become that grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies that it may produce the fruit of salvation for all who believe. He tells us that if we are to serve him, then we must follow him, taking up our crosses and joining him on Mount Calvary – that one day, we may more fully share in his victory.

In today’s Gospel (John 3:14-21), we heard that “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.” This is why the crucifix is supposed to be in the sanctuary of every Catholic Church throughout the world. It is the sign of God’s great love for us, despite our sinfulness. God does not promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain (and sometimes even snow!), but he does promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Saint Irenaeus, a 2nd century bishop and a Father of the Church, taught that “the glory of God is a person fully alive.” This teaching, as appealing as it might be, leaves us with an important question: “Just what brings a person to be fully alive?” Finding an answer to this question is not difficult, as the answer has been taught by the Church since the beginning. If one wants to truly experience the new and abundant life that Jesus came to give, then one needs to pursue holiness. We find holiness of life by striving to live according to the two great commandments taught by Jesus: loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength; and loving our neighbor as ourselves. For the perfect example of holiness, we need only look to Jesus and then pattern our lives on his.

In today’s Gospel (Mark 9:2-10), Jesus wants to bring some focus to Peter, James, and John by having them witness the Transfiguration. The Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent always includes the Transfiguration. Jesus begins by leading the three Apostles up a mountain the traditional place to which one went to encounter God. Once there, Jesus is transfigured before their eyes. “His clothes became dazzling white…”. And, as a sign that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, he is joined by Moses and Elijah. Suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from Heaven declares: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” The Apostles fall down to the ground in fear. Were they afraid of the cloud, the voice, or the message? It was a simple command, but a very tall order: “Listen to him.”

In our First Reading today (Genesis 9:8-15), God speaks to Noah and his children. It is God who takes the initiative, who acts first. By speaking to Noah, God intervenes in human history in order to establish a special relationship a covenant
with Noah and his descendants. Today’s Reading describes the essence of God’s promise. Never again would God destroy his creation as he had with the great flood. Instead, God will honor his creation even when his people fail to live up to their part of the covenant. God set a rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant that existed between God and man.