BIBLE STUDY #127
PALM SUNDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD
March 24, 2013
AT THE PROCESSION WITH PALMS
GOSPEL LK 19:28-40
Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.
As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany
at the place called the Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples.
He said, “Go into the village opposite you,
and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered
on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it here.
And if anyone should ask you,
‘Why are you untying it?’
you will answer,
‘The Master has need of it.’”
So those who had been sent went off
and found everything just as he had told them.
And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them,
“Why are you untying this colt?”
They answered,
“The Master has need of it.”
So they brought it to Jesus,
threw their cloaks over the colt,
and helped Jesus to mount.
As he rode along,
the people were spreading their cloaks on the road;
and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of his disciples
began to praise God aloud with joy
for all the mighty deeds they had seen.
They proclaimed:
“Blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest.”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,
“Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
He said in reply,
“I tell you, if they keep silent,
the stones will cry out!”
AT THE MASS
READING 1 IS 50:4-7
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
The Word of the Lord
RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
R. (2a) My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
“He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
READING 2
PHILIP[PIANS 2:6-11
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
The Word of the Lord
Reflection
Before I begin with my reflection, I’d like to share a reflection on the Easter Triduum :
This week we begin the shortest liturgical season of the year: The Triduum. This is a Latin word meaning three days and it includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. We tend to separate these three days from each other as if they existed alone and not in concert with each other. We tend to think in terms of re-enactment, as if we were reliving those days and we try to place ourselves in these events. What was it like at the Last Supper, or at Calvary, or at the empty tomb? What did the apostles and disciples, the people in the scriptural stories experience those three days? What would I have done if I were there? But these events can’t be relived or re-enacted. As the Church teaches, what happened once in history becomes a part of our sacramental celebrations of this week. The Triduum is one long story of God’s love for us; it celebrates mystery, not history. We need to think of these three days in relation to how God is working in our lives today. How do the events of this week shape and mold my faith; how do these events draw me closer to God in today’s world; what do they say about my interaction with the problems of my family, my community, my society; how do these events give me hope in a troubled world; and how do they assist me in being the best disciple I can be? I invite all of you to share in as much of our events of this week as you can to reflect on how God is working in your life. May this be a week of grace and inspiration, but especially peace.
This year’s passion comes from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 22:14-23:56). I didn’t include it because my reflections are based on Jesus entry into Jerusalem.
The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem marks the beginning of a new section of this gospel concerned with the teaching ministry of Jesus from his entry and prior to his death and resurrection. Luke suggests that this was a lengthy ministry, more than the five days we normally think are between his entry and his death. This section begins with 19:28 and goes until the end of chapter 21. The passion narrative begins with chapter 22.
Bethphage is a village that can’t be located anymore, but since Bethany is mentioned, it’s probably near there. Bethany is east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives is a hill also east of Jerusalem. In Zechariah 14:4, it is the place where the Lord will come to rescue the nation from its enemies. It is right next to Jerusalem and is a much higher elevation. Standing on top of this mount gives one a spectacular view of the whole city of Jerusalem. The west slope of the mount is a large graveyard where many famous people are buried, such as Menachim Begin, the former Prime Minister of Israel. It’s a great honor to be buried there, since when the messiah comes, they will be the first to rise from their graves.
Jesus sends 2 of his disciples to “the village opposite you,’ probably either Bethphage or Bethany, to find a colt “on which no one has ever sat.” Matthew’s Gospel says “an ass tethered, and a colt with her” to fulfill the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. They are to untie it and bring it to Jesus. If they are questioned, they are to say that the master has need of it. These disciples found ‘everything just as he told them’.
Some commentators say that Jesus has this whole scene prearranged. That seems a little mundane to me. If so, what’s the purpose? I think that this scene points toward the divinity of Jesus. Who else can tell the future except God? Luke is saying that the one riding into Jerusalem is not only the long awaited Messiah, but also the Son of God.
Also in this verse, the Messiah comes in lowliness and peace, and not as a warrior. Kings and princes rode on horses and chariots, but the Messiah rides into Jerusalem on a colt, a sign of humility and a symbol of peace. Jesus fulfills this prophecy with his own entry into Jerusalem.
Jesus is the true, humble messianic king and he comes to his capital, only to be killed, as Jerusalem did to the other prophets. Jesus is the peaceful king, the just and saving king, who completes his mission not by conquering, but by dying and rising. His mission is a mission of service, not of greatness.
The spreading of cloaks and the waving of palm branches is significant in Jewish history. In 2 Kings 9:13, when the Lord anointed Jehu as king, “At once each took his garment, spread it under Jehu on the bare steps, blew the trumpet, and cried out ‘Jehu is king’!”
In 1 Maccabees 13:51, after a great victory over an enemy, the people “entered the citadel with shouts of jubilation, waving palm branches, the music of harps and cymbals and lyres, and the singing of hymns and canticles.”
By spreading their cloaks on the ground, the people are acknowledging Jesus as king; not a king that will rule over people, but a king who serves other people. Jesus ministry was one of service: he never looked for anything for himself, but gave everything he had for others.
The waving of palm branches signifies Jesus victory over the 2 greatest enemies we have: sin and death. Through his mission as the obedient Son of God who came to serve and not be served, Jesus lays down his life and rises from the dead who frees us from sin and death.
“And now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.’ ” The people are hoping that Jesus is the one promised, the Messiah that God promised to send. They hope that he is a king like David who frees the people from their enemies and builds up the kingdom economically, politically, and religiously. But Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt, signifying a different type of Messiah, one that is humble, one that comes to serve, one that comes to save.
We see that in the long passion narrative from Luke’s Gospel. Jesus begins the week by riding triumphantly into Jerusalem, like a King, but ends his week seemingly as a failure on the wood of the cross. His triumph of the early part of the week seems to end in the humiliation of crucifixion. But he comes not to establish an earthly kingdom, but an eternal and heavenly one. He comes not to vanquish our earthly enemies, but our spiritual ones; he comes to conquer sin and death.
On the cross Jesus says, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Who is he asking to be forgiven? Is it the soldiers? Yes. Is it the disciples who ran away? Yes. Is it Pilate? Yes. Is it the religious leadership who helped bring all this about? Yes. More importantly for us, he is asking for forgiveness for you and me. For all those who try to believe but fail. For all those who turn away from him. For all those who ever lived on earth so that they can live in heaven.
Jesus’ love is so great that he was willing to suffer horribly and die for us. Not just humanity in general but for you and me specifically by name. He takes on our sins so we can take on his holiness. He conquers death so we can attain everlasting life: not just life in heaven, but the fullness of life today and everyday.
Jesus gives the great gifts of forgiveness, life in abundance, and salvation. What can we offer in return? We get a hint in the first reading from Isaiah when he gives us the best biblical definition of one who follows God: “Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled.” We take time in prayer to listen to God, to see what he wants for us, and then we carry that word to others, “The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.” And like Jesus, when we are persecuted, “I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.” Revenge is not a part of our vocabulary, but forgiveness is. And we do not despair or lose hope because, “The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.”
We praise Jesus as the prince of peace, the servant-king, the long awaited messiah, the lowly and humble Lord, who gives us all so we can live forever. Can we follow him from the Mount of Olives, to the upper room, to Calvary, to the triumph of the empty tomb during holy week? I invite all of you to join us to celebrate the events that changed the world.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful and spiritually fulfilling Holy Week, and may the crucified and risen Christ bless you and your families abundantly.
Fr. Phil
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
BIBLE STUDY #126
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
March 17, 2013
READING 1
ISAIAH 43:16-21
Thus says the LORD,
who opens a way in the sea
and a path in the mighty waters,
who leads out chariots and horsemen,
a powerful army,
till they lie prostrate together, never to rise,
snuffed out and quenched like a wick.
Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.
Wild beasts honor me,
jackals and ostriches,
for I put water in the desert
and rivers in the wastelandnk,
the people whom I formed for myself,
that they might announce my praise.
for my chosen people to dri
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
PHILIPPIANS 3:8-14
Brothers and sisters:
I consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things
and I consider them so much rubbish,
that I may gain Christ and be found in him,
not having any righteousness of my own based on the law
but that which comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God,
depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection
and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death,
if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
It is not that I have already taken hold of it
or have already attained perfect maturity,
but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it,
since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, I for my part
do not consider myself to have taken possession.
Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind
but straining forward to what lies ahead,
I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
JOHN 8:1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him,
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
The Word of the Lord
Reflection
Many of you probably had an Irish priest, sister, or brother, who was a positive influence on your faith life. We owe a great deal of gratitude to those who came to our country from Ireland to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. We need to keep them in our prayers.
St. Patrick is known for evangelizing Ireland, and we know the stories about shamrock’s and snakes, but did you know that St. Patrick was responsible for private confession and private penance?
Church policy and practice prior to St. Patrick required that all confession and penance be done publicly. After someone performed their public penance, they could never again seek forgiveness for their sins from the church, nor could they ever be a priest, which drastically limited the number of priestly candidates. This regulation led many people, such as St. Augustine, to put off baptism until late in life so they would always have the once in a lifetime forgiveness available. Many people who claimed to be Catholic in St. Patrick’s day weren’t even baptized.
In the late 5th century, contrary to church law, St. Patrick ordered his monks to give private penances to those monks in their community who came to them for spiritual direction. This led to what in now known as the sacrament of reconciliation (confession). Who knows what would have happened to the Church without St. Patrick’s innovation? Whether you like to go to confession or not, offering God’s forgiveness at any time certainly seems to follow in the compassion and love of Jesus.
Today’s Gospel emphasizes the fact that we are all sinners, sometimes great sinners, and we all need God’s forgiveness to grow in His grace.
The passage begins with Jesus on the Mount of Olives. This mount is not mentioned in the gospels except for Jesus’ passion. He leaves this place and goes to the Temple area, where Jesus sat to teach them. Sitting was the proper position for a teacher of that time period.
The Scribes and Pharisees (the religious leadership) brought a woman to him who had been caught “in the very act” of adultery. How did they catch her? Was she a prostitute, and did they follow her until she was committing adultery? The Gospel doesn’t say she was a prostitute, so my opinion is that the religious leadership set her up. They didn’t care about her, but were using her to entrap Jesus. And where was the man? Doesn’t adultery need 2 people?
The Scribes and Pharisees said that the Law of Moses commanded them to stone such women (actually, Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 mention only death, but Deuteronomy 22:23-24 prescribes stoning for a betrothed virgin). In any case, they wanted her to suffer a horrible death.
They felt that they had Jesus trapped. If he said to let her go, he was breaking the law and they would be able to use this to discredit him with the people. If he said to stone her, he would lose his reputation for forgiveness and mercy.
But, as we see, Jesus turned the tables on the. He said, ““Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Now, notice what Jesus said and didn’t say. He never said not to throw a stone. He said that if you were sinless, then you could throw a stone. Since we all sin, then we can’t throw stones. At least, on top of everything else, the Scribes and Pharisees weren’t hypocrites. Jesus bends down to write on the ground, giving them time to think, and they went away one by one.
Jesus approaches the woman and asks her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” When she replies, “No one sir,” Jesus tells her to go and sin no more.
Jesus never condones the sin. Too often in our society, we try to say that there is no sin, that truth is what we say it is (my truth vs. your truth), because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings or make them feel bad. We do people a disservice when we do this, especially if they are feeling guilty about something. They know it’s wrong, they feel bad about it. What they need is for us to affirm them in the sin (sounds strange, but it works). People don’t need to hear a lot of nonsense, they need our honesty, they need to be forgiven, to be respected and to be supported as a human being.
In the late 1990’s, I trained for a project called Project Rachel, which is a post-abortion healing program. One of the precepts is that abortion is a grave moral evil and we tell them so. It came as a great relief to them because they felt horrible, and no one would tell her that she did wrong. Everyone tried to make excuses for her actions and make her feel better. In a way, it was affirming: we were affirming her feelings; way down she knew it was wrong and she was suffering terribly.
This was the beginning of healing. Sometimes it would take weeks for her to get her story out, but eventually, there came a time for forgiveness. Many times she felt that even God abandoned her, that even God wouldn’t forgive her; talk about entering into despair.
When she realized that she can be forgiven by God, she would ask to go to confession. What a great moment of healing and grace! God has forgiven her, and she can get on with her life, minus all the grief and despair. We were trained never to condemn; she didn’t need that, she was condemning herself. We were trained to treat her as a suffering, vulnerable human being who needed our help.
We don’t condone sin, but we don’t condemn the sinner, either. Jesus didn’t condone the sins of this woman nor did he condemn her. Also notice that he didn’t condone the sins of the Scribes and Pharisees, nor did he condemn them either.
This is a great lesson in compassion and humility. Every one of us is struggling on the road of faith. We make mistakes, and we sin. We need to confess our sins and to move on. We don’t need anyone condemning us, telling us that we are sinners, and telling us we are going to hell. We just might end up there anyway, but that’s no way to treat anyone. People who condemn others, like the Scribes and Pharisees did, are hypocrites who would be better off looking to their own sins rather than to others.
We need to hear the truth, but we need people who will love us and support us on our pilgrim way. We need people of compassion and humility who bring God’s love. We need to remember that we will be judged as we judge others (according to Jesus, anyway). As the saying goes, we hate the sin but we love the sinner.
This Gospel reminds me of our new pope, Pope Francis. He is a humble, simple man living out the gospel, concerned with the care of people, especially the poor. When some of his priests refused to baptize children of unmarried women, he told his priests last year, “These are today’s hypocrites; those who clericalize the church, those who separate the people of God from salvation.” He said that his fellow church leaders forgot that Jesus ate with sinners, and associated with prostitutes and lepers. He feels that church leaders, as well as the rest of us, should be about the church business of going out to the people and spreading the good news. Our main goal as a church is not to follow rules and regulations; it is not about control and manipulation; but our main goal is spreading the Good News.
I think God has truly blessed our church with this new pope. I feel greatly optimistic and hopeful, and feel that we will have a period of great renewal. I think many people will look to faith, and many will embrace it. I think Pope Francis is just what we need.
Let’s pray for the pope every day. Let’s not pray that the pope follow our agenda but that he will do god’s will. Let’s pray that God blesses and guides him, and that he will walk in the footsteps of our Lord.
Fr. Phil
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
March 17, 2013
READING 1
ISAIAH 43:16-21
Thus says the LORD,
who opens a way in the sea
and a path in the mighty waters,
who leads out chariots and horsemen,
a powerful army,
till they lie prostrate together, never to rise,
snuffed out and quenched like a wick.
Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
In the desert I make a way,
in the wasteland, rivers.
Wild beasts honor me,
jackals and ostriches,
for I put water in the desert
and rivers in the wastelandnk,
the people whom I formed for myself,
that they might announce my praise.
for my chosen people to dri
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
PHILIPPIANS 3:8-14
Brothers and sisters:
I consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things
and I consider them so much rubbish,
that I may gain Christ and be found in him,
not having any righteousness of my own based on the law
but that which comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God,
depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection
and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death,
if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
It is not that I have already taken hold of it
or have already attained perfect maturity,
but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it,
since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, I for my part
do not consider myself to have taken possession.
Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind
but straining forward to what lies ahead,
I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
JOHN 8:1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him,
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
The Word of the Lord
Reflection
Many of you probably had an Irish priest, sister, or brother, who was a positive influence on your faith life. We owe a great deal of gratitude to those who came to our country from Ireland to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. We need to keep them in our prayers.
St. Patrick is known for evangelizing Ireland, and we know the stories about shamrock’s and snakes, but did you know that St. Patrick was responsible for private confession and private penance?
Church policy and practice prior to St. Patrick required that all confession and penance be done publicly. After someone performed their public penance, they could never again seek forgiveness for their sins from the church, nor could they ever be a priest, which drastically limited the number of priestly candidates. This regulation led many people, such as St. Augustine, to put off baptism until late in life so they would always have the once in a lifetime forgiveness available. Many people who claimed to be Catholic in St. Patrick’s day weren’t even baptized.
In the late 5th century, contrary to church law, St. Patrick ordered his monks to give private penances to those monks in their community who came to them for spiritual direction. This led to what in now known as the sacrament of reconciliation (confession). Who knows what would have happened to the Church without St. Patrick’s innovation? Whether you like to go to confession or not, offering God’s forgiveness at any time certainly seems to follow in the compassion and love of Jesus.
Today’s Gospel emphasizes the fact that we are all sinners, sometimes great sinners, and we all need God’s forgiveness to grow in His grace.
The passage begins with Jesus on the Mount of Olives. This mount is not mentioned in the gospels except for Jesus’ passion. He leaves this place and goes to the Temple area, where Jesus sat to teach them. Sitting was the proper position for a teacher of that time period.
The Scribes and Pharisees (the religious leadership) brought a woman to him who had been caught “in the very act” of adultery. How did they catch her? Was she a prostitute, and did they follow her until she was committing adultery? The Gospel doesn’t say she was a prostitute, so my opinion is that the religious leadership set her up. They didn’t care about her, but were using her to entrap Jesus. And where was the man? Doesn’t adultery need 2 people?
The Scribes and Pharisees said that the Law of Moses commanded them to stone such women (actually, Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 mention only death, but Deuteronomy 22:23-24 prescribes stoning for a betrothed virgin). In any case, they wanted her to suffer a horrible death.
They felt that they had Jesus trapped. If he said to let her go, he was breaking the law and they would be able to use this to discredit him with the people. If he said to stone her, he would lose his reputation for forgiveness and mercy.
But, as we see, Jesus turned the tables on the. He said, ““Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Now, notice what Jesus said and didn’t say. He never said not to throw a stone. He said that if you were sinless, then you could throw a stone. Since we all sin, then we can’t throw stones. At least, on top of everything else, the Scribes and Pharisees weren’t hypocrites. Jesus bends down to write on the ground, giving them time to think, and they went away one by one.
Jesus approaches the woman and asks her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” When she replies, “No one sir,” Jesus tells her to go and sin no more.
Jesus never condones the sin. Too often in our society, we try to say that there is no sin, that truth is what we say it is (my truth vs. your truth), because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings or make them feel bad. We do people a disservice when we do this, especially if they are feeling guilty about something. They know it’s wrong, they feel bad about it. What they need is for us to affirm them in the sin (sounds strange, but it works). People don’t need to hear a lot of nonsense, they need our honesty, they need to be forgiven, to be respected and to be supported as a human being.
In the late 1990’s, I trained for a project called Project Rachel, which is a post-abortion healing program. One of the precepts is that abortion is a grave moral evil and we tell them so. It came as a great relief to them because they felt horrible, and no one would tell her that she did wrong. Everyone tried to make excuses for her actions and make her feel better. In a way, it was affirming: we were affirming her feelings; way down she knew it was wrong and she was suffering terribly.
This was the beginning of healing. Sometimes it would take weeks for her to get her story out, but eventually, there came a time for forgiveness. Many times she felt that even God abandoned her, that even God wouldn’t forgive her; talk about entering into despair.
When she realized that she can be forgiven by God, she would ask to go to confession. What a great moment of healing and grace! God has forgiven her, and she can get on with her life, minus all the grief and despair. We were trained never to condemn; she didn’t need that, she was condemning herself. We were trained to treat her as a suffering, vulnerable human being who needed our help.
We don’t condone sin, but we don’t condemn the sinner, either. Jesus didn’t condone the sins of this woman nor did he condemn her. Also notice that he didn’t condone the sins of the Scribes and Pharisees, nor did he condemn them either.
This is a great lesson in compassion and humility. Every one of us is struggling on the road of faith. We make mistakes, and we sin. We need to confess our sins and to move on. We don’t need anyone condemning us, telling us that we are sinners, and telling us we are going to hell. We just might end up there anyway, but that’s no way to treat anyone. People who condemn others, like the Scribes and Pharisees did, are hypocrites who would be better off looking to their own sins rather than to others.
We need to hear the truth, but we need people who will love us and support us on our pilgrim way. We need people of compassion and humility who bring God’s love. We need to remember that we will be judged as we judge others (according to Jesus, anyway). As the saying goes, we hate the sin but we love the sinner.
This Gospel reminds me of our new pope, Pope Francis. He is a humble, simple man living out the gospel, concerned with the care of people, especially the poor. When some of his priests refused to baptize children of unmarried women, he told his priests last year, “These are today’s hypocrites; those who clericalize the church, those who separate the people of God from salvation.” He said that his fellow church leaders forgot that Jesus ate with sinners, and associated with prostitutes and lepers. He feels that church leaders, as well as the rest of us, should be about the church business of going out to the people and spreading the good news. Our main goal as a church is not to follow rules and regulations; it is not about control and manipulation; but our main goal is spreading the Good News.
I think God has truly blessed our church with this new pope. I feel greatly optimistic and hopeful, and feel that we will have a period of great renewal. I think many people will look to faith, and many will embrace it. I think Pope Francis is just what we need.
Let’s pray for the pope every day. Let’s not pray that the pope follow our agenda but that he will do god’s will. Let’s pray that God blesses and guides him, and that he will walk in the footsteps of our Lord.
Fr. Phil
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
BIBLE STUDY #125
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
March 10, 2013
READING 1
JOSHUA 5:9A, 10-12
The LORD said to Joshua,
“Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.”
While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho,
they celebrated the Passover
on the evening of the fourteenth of the month.
On the day after the Passover,
they ate of the produce of the land
in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain.
On that same day after the Passover,
on which they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased.
No longer was there manna for the Israelites,
who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21
Brothers and sisters:
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
LUKE 15:1-3, 11-32
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable:
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Jesus associated with people whom the rest of society found reprehensible. Associating with sinners, the sick, or the unclean made one unclean, and unfit to participate in religious rituals. People would go to great lengths to be ritually clean, but would have little to do with the outcast of society. His attitude and actions was shocking to many people who wondered about his religious legitimacy and leadership. Jesus didn’t care about these things, and purposefully associated with the poor and outcast.
In response to the outrage of the Pharisees, Jesus tells three parables: the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son, commonly known as the Prodigal Son, which is today’s Gospel selection.
Can anyone define the word ‘prodigal’? It’s not a word we commonly use. It means recklessly extravagant: recklessly in the sense of not thinking or not counting the cost; extravagant in the sense of being overly generous. Someone who is prodigal would be, as we say, generous to a fault, or someone who would give you the shirt off his back. We’ll see who’s prodigal in this story.
The parable begins with the younger son asking his father for his share of his inheritance. What is he saying to his father? When does someone get an inheritance? When someone dies. He is telling his father that he can’t wait for him to die, that his father is dead to him anyway, so give me my money. Nice guy, isn’t he? A real gem.
Surprisingly, the father agrees! Most wealth was in the form of land, animals, and property. So the father divided his property and gave half to the younger son who collected his belongings, went to a foreign land, and spent his inheritance in dissolute living. I suppose the younger son must have sold his share of the property to have cash in his self imposed exile.
In order to survive, he hires himself out to a farmer who sends him to tend the swine. Luke is painting a picture of a young Jewish man who is about as down and out as one can get. He is broke, has nothing to eat, and is tending pigs! He is so hungry that he is willing to eat the food given to the pigs. This is about as low as he can go.
He finally has to good sense to go back to his father, who treats his hired hands justly. I can see him practicing his speech as he is walking home to his father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” He is not even interested in returning a son. Does he think his father won’t accept him back? Doesn’t he trust his father’s forgiveness and love?
Since his father saw him coming a long way off, he must have been looking for him. I can see the father constantly peering out in the distance, hoping that his son will return. He is so excited that he runs to his son, kisses him and hugs him. He sees how bedraggled his son looks, and orders his servants to dress him in a fine robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. He orders the fatted calf to be killed and a banquet be prepared for his son. He is restoring his son to his former position as a son.
Notice that the father never questions his son about his actions, where he was, or what he did with the money. By all rights in that time, he could have refused to take him back at all. By taking his inheritance, the son was declaring that his father was dead to him and he had no further rights.
None of that was important to the father. All he cared was that his son, who was dead, has returned to life. By restoring the young man as a son, the son was entitled to a further inheritance! Talk about being prodigal.
So, it is the father who is prodigal, and it should be the story of the Prodigal Father.
Our heavenly Father is like this prodigal father. His love is without bounds or measure. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done. He would forgive any sin confessed with sincerity and a desire to repent and to change. The only unforgiveable sin is the one not confessed. A lot of people are like the younger son, who don’t believe in God’s love and forgiveness. Even though they go to confession, there is still a doubt in the back of their minds: Am I really forgiven? And they hold on to their guilt and won’t let go. Be assured that our Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally and his love and forgiveness is there for the asking.
Our Father is watching and waiting, looking for us to repent. When we do, he doesn’t ask for an accounting, but offers us forgiveness and celebrates with joy, and offers us a banquet of his love and salvation.
This is what the older son failed to understand. He thinks that he has earned something from his father for working long and hard. His father gives him everything he needs, and he shouldn’t be jealous of his brother. The older son doesn’t think this is fair. He reminds me of the Pharisees who didn’t like Jesus reconciling sinners. I think a lot of people can relate to the older son. We think God’s love, forgiveness, and salvation needs to be earned. Well, in fact, those things can’t be earned, they aren’t merited, and we have no right to them, but are given as free gifts from God.
What we must come to realize is that God doesn’t give us what we’ve earned, but He gives us what we need. It may not seem fair or just to the older son or to us, but thankfully, God’s ways are not our ways. We all need God’s love and forgiveness. Let’s make use of God’s free gifts and celebrate with joy.
Fr. Phil
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
March 10, 2013
READING 1
JOSHUA 5:9A, 10-12
The LORD said to Joshua,
“Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.”
While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho,
they celebrated the Passover
on the evening of the fourteenth of the month.
On the day after the Passover,
they ate of the produce of the land
in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain.
On that same day after the Passover,
on which they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased.
No longer was there manna for the Israelites,
who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.
The Word of the Lord
READING 2
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21
Brothers and sisters:
Whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
The Word of the Lord
GOSPEL
LUKE 15:1-3, 11-32
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So to them Jesus addressed this parable:
“A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father,
‘Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’
So the father divided the property between them.
After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings
and set off to a distant country
where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
‘How many of my father’s hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I no longer deserve to be called your son;
treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’
So he got up and went back to his father.
While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
His son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son.’
But his father ordered his servants,
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him;
put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Take the fattened calf and slaughter it.
Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again;
he was lost, and has been found.’
Then the celebration began.
Now the older son had been out in the field
and, on his way back, as he neared the house,
he heard the sound of music and dancing.
He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
The servant said to him,
‘Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.’
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
‘Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’
He said to him,
‘My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;
he was lost and has been found.’”
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
Jesus associated with people whom the rest of society found reprehensible. Associating with sinners, the sick, or the unclean made one unclean, and unfit to participate in religious rituals. People would go to great lengths to be ritually clean, but would have little to do with the outcast of society. His attitude and actions was shocking to many people who wondered about his religious legitimacy and leadership. Jesus didn’t care about these things, and purposefully associated with the poor and outcast.
In response to the outrage of the Pharisees, Jesus tells three parables: the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son, commonly known as the Prodigal Son, which is today’s Gospel selection.
Can anyone define the word ‘prodigal’? It’s not a word we commonly use. It means recklessly extravagant: recklessly in the sense of not thinking or not counting the cost; extravagant in the sense of being overly generous. Someone who is prodigal would be, as we say, generous to a fault, or someone who would give you the shirt off his back. We’ll see who’s prodigal in this story.
The parable begins with the younger son asking his father for his share of his inheritance. What is he saying to his father? When does someone get an inheritance? When someone dies. He is telling his father that he can’t wait for him to die, that his father is dead to him anyway, so give me my money. Nice guy, isn’t he? A real gem.
Surprisingly, the father agrees! Most wealth was in the form of land, animals, and property. So the father divided his property and gave half to the younger son who collected his belongings, went to a foreign land, and spent his inheritance in dissolute living. I suppose the younger son must have sold his share of the property to have cash in his self imposed exile.
In order to survive, he hires himself out to a farmer who sends him to tend the swine. Luke is painting a picture of a young Jewish man who is about as down and out as one can get. He is broke, has nothing to eat, and is tending pigs! He is so hungry that he is willing to eat the food given to the pigs. This is about as low as he can go.
He finally has to good sense to go back to his father, who treats his hired hands justly. I can see him practicing his speech as he is walking home to his father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.” He is not even interested in returning a son. Does he think his father won’t accept him back? Doesn’t he trust his father’s forgiveness and love?
Since his father saw him coming a long way off, he must have been looking for him. I can see the father constantly peering out in the distance, hoping that his son will return. He is so excited that he runs to his son, kisses him and hugs him. He sees how bedraggled his son looks, and orders his servants to dress him in a fine robe, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. He orders the fatted calf to be killed and a banquet be prepared for his son. He is restoring his son to his former position as a son.
Notice that the father never questions his son about his actions, where he was, or what he did with the money. By all rights in that time, he could have refused to take him back at all. By taking his inheritance, the son was declaring that his father was dead to him and he had no further rights.
None of that was important to the father. All he cared was that his son, who was dead, has returned to life. By restoring the young man as a son, the son was entitled to a further inheritance! Talk about being prodigal.
So, it is the father who is prodigal, and it should be the story of the Prodigal Father.
Our heavenly Father is like this prodigal father. His love is without bounds or measure. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done. He would forgive any sin confessed with sincerity and a desire to repent and to change. The only unforgiveable sin is the one not confessed. A lot of people are like the younger son, who don’t believe in God’s love and forgiveness. Even though they go to confession, there is still a doubt in the back of their minds: Am I really forgiven? And they hold on to their guilt and won’t let go. Be assured that our Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally and his love and forgiveness is there for the asking.
Our Father is watching and waiting, looking for us to repent. When we do, he doesn’t ask for an accounting, but offers us forgiveness and celebrates with joy, and offers us a banquet of his love and salvation.
This is what the older son failed to understand. He thinks that he has earned something from his father for working long and hard. His father gives him everything he needs, and he shouldn’t be jealous of his brother. The older son doesn’t think this is fair. He reminds me of the Pharisees who didn’t like Jesus reconciling sinners. I think a lot of people can relate to the older son. We think God’s love, forgiveness, and salvation needs to be earned. Well, in fact, those things can’t be earned, they aren’t merited, and we have no right to them, but are given as free gifts from God.
What we must come to realize is that God doesn’t give us what we’ve earned, but He gives us what we need. It may not seem fair or just to the older son or to us, but thankfully, God’s ways are not our ways. We all need God’s love and forgiveness. Let’s make use of God’s free gifts and celebrate with joy.
Fr. Phil
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