Hi everyone,
Here is the reflection that I will be giving tomorrow at the nursing home. As in the past I am including the Scripture readings for the day below it.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------
In today’s first reading we heard Moses telling all the people to obey the Law. Then in the Gospel Jesus told us that He didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.
So the Law is important right? Yes, it is. Sorry, but I am not going to leave it at that point, I am going to go on a bit longer. Is it the Law that is important or what it comes from and the point of it? Both. Jesus wants us to obey the Law in the commandments, not necessarily in the dietary and purity rules, but in the stuff that affects life. However, when thinking about following the Law I was reminded of a quote from the book The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. The quote says:
“There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself… as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.”
That is the old issue of missing the forest for the trees. Jesus doesn’t want us to see the Law as simply an end in itself, but as a means to that end. The Law will bring us closer to Him. When we don’t worship false idles it isn’t because we don’t do this that makes God happy, it is the fact that we know that He is the one. When we don’t covet our neighbor’s goods it isn’t because he is that worried about those material things, it is that by coveting our neighbor’s goods we are disrespecting our neighbor, failing to love him or her. We are also disrespecting God when we do this because our neighbor was made in God’s image, just like we were.
So it while it is important to follow the details, the point isn’t in the details, it is in doing what is right for our faith.
-------------------------------------------
Reading 1
Dt 4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Mt 5:17-19
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Third week of Spring quarter 2010-2011
Hi again everyone,
So somehow it seems that not much has happened since I wrote last, but at the same time it seems like so much has happened. What has happened is pretty routine for the life here at the seminary.
I guess one thing that happened which doesn’t happen every week, but does go on twice a year here is that Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago came out and gave an hour long talk last Wednesday and then celebrated the Wednesday afternoon Mass.
Cardinal George was talking about mainly was “listening”. He talked about the different ways that a priest is to listen. These ways would include (in no particular order): listening to his staff about what is going on in the parish, listening to his parish council to understand what the parishioners want, listening to his finance council to see what they can afford to do, listening to the local bishop in regards to what he wants done, listening to the larger church in regards to what is taught throughout the world and in tradition, listening to God in the Sacred Scriptures, listening to God in his private prayer time, and among the more important listening to individual parishioners when there is something they want to say.
Classes are very busy, I counted it up last week and I spent well over 50 hours between time directly in class and time studying. This doesn’t include my time at field education, meals, Mass, group prayer, or other meetings. When I say that seminary is like college on steroids I mean it. I do observe that it seems to get better after this year, meaning that the class load gets lighter, but they also seem to possibly have more work per class, so we will have to see.
Over the weekend I did take some time away and went to the driving range with 3 other guys in my class. One of them is a pretty regular golfer so he was giving the other three of us tips the whole time which was great. I didn’t do nearly as well as I had been at the place that I went with my mom over break, but I had fun and will try it again. After the break I had almost thought I could start going out on a course right away… not so much, the driving range it is for a while.
My class of eleven made it through the first two quarters with everyone staying in seminary. One guy decided to leave after the second quarter. He didn’t speak English well so although I could be nice to him and tried to talk to him I didn’t get to know him very well. I do hope that if language difficulties were the reason he decided to leave that he pursues seminary studies back home, because he is a great guy. If he just discerned that the priesthood wasn’t for him than God Bless him for being open to it and figuring out to some extent what God wants.
This past week another from my class announced that he was leaving. He doesn’t know for sure that seminary isn’t right for him, it just isn’t right for him at this time. I know that he didn’t take this decision lightly and I wish him great Blessings in whatever he chooses to do. He has given it a shot and is open to wherever God takes him, so you can’t ask for more than that. This will be more difficult on my class because he is a very outgoing and well liked guy, one that was always able to organize some fun activities and keep the group having a good experience. We all wish him well and told him to stay in touch since he lives not too far from the seminary. He will be gone completely within a day or two. I am kind of surprised that he doesn’t just finish out the quarter, but he wants to try to get on with whatever God is calling him to.
One thing that I have thought of with these two leaving is being thankful for modern technology. I’m not positive but I would imagine that without it a lot of time wouldn’t have to pass before I would lose touch with them. Because of modern technology I can have their contact information even as they move. Even more specifically I have them both as friends on Facebook, so I can see what they put up. Maybe someday I’ll even read Spanish so that I can read what the first is posting.
Well, I guess that a lot did happen. I hope you all are having a good Lent which is drawing you closer to God.
Peace,
Adam
So somehow it seems that not much has happened since I wrote last, but at the same time it seems like so much has happened. What has happened is pretty routine for the life here at the seminary.
I guess one thing that happened which doesn’t happen every week, but does go on twice a year here is that Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago came out and gave an hour long talk last Wednesday and then celebrated the Wednesday afternoon Mass.
Cardinal George was talking about mainly was “listening”. He talked about the different ways that a priest is to listen. These ways would include (in no particular order): listening to his staff about what is going on in the parish, listening to his parish council to understand what the parishioners want, listening to his finance council to see what they can afford to do, listening to the local bishop in regards to what he wants done, listening to the larger church in regards to what is taught throughout the world and in tradition, listening to God in the Sacred Scriptures, listening to God in his private prayer time, and among the more important listening to individual parishioners when there is something they want to say.
Classes are very busy, I counted it up last week and I spent well over 50 hours between time directly in class and time studying. This doesn’t include my time at field education, meals, Mass, group prayer, or other meetings. When I say that seminary is like college on steroids I mean it. I do observe that it seems to get better after this year, meaning that the class load gets lighter, but they also seem to possibly have more work per class, so we will have to see.
Over the weekend I did take some time away and went to the driving range with 3 other guys in my class. One of them is a pretty regular golfer so he was giving the other three of us tips the whole time which was great. I didn’t do nearly as well as I had been at the place that I went with my mom over break, but I had fun and will try it again. After the break I had almost thought I could start going out on a course right away… not so much, the driving range it is for a while.
My class of eleven made it through the first two quarters with everyone staying in seminary. One guy decided to leave after the second quarter. He didn’t speak English well so although I could be nice to him and tried to talk to him I didn’t get to know him very well. I do hope that if language difficulties were the reason he decided to leave that he pursues seminary studies back home, because he is a great guy. If he just discerned that the priesthood wasn’t for him than God Bless him for being open to it and figuring out to some extent what God wants.
This past week another from my class announced that he was leaving. He doesn’t know for sure that seminary isn’t right for him, it just isn’t right for him at this time. I know that he didn’t take this decision lightly and I wish him great Blessings in whatever he chooses to do. He has given it a shot and is open to wherever God takes him, so you can’t ask for more than that. This will be more difficult on my class because he is a very outgoing and well liked guy, one that was always able to organize some fun activities and keep the group having a good experience. We all wish him well and told him to stay in touch since he lives not too far from the seminary. He will be gone completely within a day or two. I am kind of surprised that he doesn’t just finish out the quarter, but he wants to try to get on with whatever God is calling him to.
One thing that I have thought of with these two leaving is being thankful for modern technology. I’m not positive but I would imagine that without it a lot of time wouldn’t have to pass before I would lose touch with them. Because of modern technology I can have their contact information even as they move. Even more specifically I have them both as friends on Facebook, so I can see what they put up. Maybe someday I’ll even read Spanish so that I can read what the first is posting.
Well, I guess that a lot did happen. I hope you all are having a good Lent which is drawing you closer to God.
Peace,
Adam
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
start of spring quarter 2010-2011
Hello again,
So my third quarter of seminary is off to a pretty good start, a crazy sort of busy, but I think that I’m starting to find out that that will be par for the course here. Speaking of par, I forgot to mention in my last post that while on break I swung a golf club for the second time in my life. I enjoyed it and thought that I did pretty well. I asked my step-father, who golfs a lot, if he had some old clubs that I could bring to the seminary since we get to use the golf course on the seminary owned property (independently managed) for free… I haven’t gone out with them yet, but we’ll see how that goes.
So, I have a 17 credit load again this quarter, two credits for my field education and 3 for each of my 5 classes. My classes seem pretty interesting on the whole, so I am excited.
My first class on Mondays and Thursdays is Latin III. We switch instructors this quarter which I find a bit odd after the first two with the other instructor. This is my first class taught by a lay person at the seminary, but there will be others. I enjoy the new instructor’s style and look to finish out my study of Latin forever after this quarter.
After Latin III I have the priest that taught Latin I and II now teaching “Intro to the Old Testament”. I enjoy scripture study so I am looking forward to this course a lot. One of the first things that was clarified, although I’ve read this before, was the truth behind the different stories of why Catholics and Protestants have different lengths to the Old Testament. The truth is that neither truly dropped or added books. Since the Old Testament is the Jewish Scriptures it would be easy to look at what they use. The problem is though, that by the time of Christ the Jews had two different sets of scriptures, one in all Hebrew with 39 books (what Protestants now use) and one in Greek with those 39 plus another 7 (what Catholics now use). The authors of the New Testament reference all but one of these 7 books in a scriptural context since they were mostly in Greek speaking territory (or evangelizing to Greek speaking territory). The canon (list) of books used fluctuated a bit for the first 400 years or so of Christianity but was pretty well standardized after that until the Protestant Reformation at which time Luther decided to go back to the Hebrew text for the Old testament.
My last class on Mondays and Thursdays is Metaphysics. This is kind of the basis for all philosophy, often summarized as the “Study of Being”. It is looked at in the processes used by St. Thomas Aquinas.
Tuesdays and Fridays I start with the class “Intro to the New Testament”. This will talk about the whole New Testament, but it seems like we are going to focus pretty heavily on the Gospels, especially the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew since they are what is called the “Synoptic Gospels”, meaning that they line up and it is actually thought that the authors of Luke and Matthew based some of their writings on the already written Gospel of Mark, but added in the oral tradition from the area that they were writing for.
My last class of the quarter is Medieval Philosophy. This is going to be an overview of writers form St. Augustine, to St. Thomas Aquinas as far as I can tell. It will be good to see the development of Christian thought in this period, so I am actually looking forward to this class somewhat.
So as this quarter started we also started Lent, it doesn’t always work that way with Lent being based on the date of Easter which is movable. I shared the reflection that I had written for the nursing home for Ash Wednesday. It turns out that in addition to there I ended up giving the reflection at the parish of the Deacon from the nursing home since he was running the Ash Wednesday service at Noon there.
I went over to the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois on Friday into Saturday to visit some of my friends from when I lived there. Other than that the quarter is pretty much picking up where I left off before break.
Peace,
Adam
So my third quarter of seminary is off to a pretty good start, a crazy sort of busy, but I think that I’m starting to find out that that will be par for the course here. Speaking of par, I forgot to mention in my last post that while on break I swung a golf club for the second time in my life. I enjoyed it and thought that I did pretty well. I asked my step-father, who golfs a lot, if he had some old clubs that I could bring to the seminary since we get to use the golf course on the seminary owned property (independently managed) for free… I haven’t gone out with them yet, but we’ll see how that goes.
So, I have a 17 credit load again this quarter, two credits for my field education and 3 for each of my 5 classes. My classes seem pretty interesting on the whole, so I am excited.
My first class on Mondays and Thursdays is Latin III. We switch instructors this quarter which I find a bit odd after the first two with the other instructor. This is my first class taught by a lay person at the seminary, but there will be others. I enjoy the new instructor’s style and look to finish out my study of Latin forever after this quarter.
After Latin III I have the priest that taught Latin I and II now teaching “Intro to the Old Testament”. I enjoy scripture study so I am looking forward to this course a lot. One of the first things that was clarified, although I’ve read this before, was the truth behind the different stories of why Catholics and Protestants have different lengths to the Old Testament. The truth is that neither truly dropped or added books. Since the Old Testament is the Jewish Scriptures it would be easy to look at what they use. The problem is though, that by the time of Christ the Jews had two different sets of scriptures, one in all Hebrew with 39 books (what Protestants now use) and one in Greek with those 39 plus another 7 (what Catholics now use). The authors of the New Testament reference all but one of these 7 books in a scriptural context since they were mostly in Greek speaking territory (or evangelizing to Greek speaking territory). The canon (list) of books used fluctuated a bit for the first 400 years or so of Christianity but was pretty well standardized after that until the Protestant Reformation at which time Luther decided to go back to the Hebrew text for the Old testament.
My last class on Mondays and Thursdays is Metaphysics. This is kind of the basis for all philosophy, often summarized as the “Study of Being”. It is looked at in the processes used by St. Thomas Aquinas.
Tuesdays and Fridays I start with the class “Intro to the New Testament”. This will talk about the whole New Testament, but it seems like we are going to focus pretty heavily on the Gospels, especially the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew since they are what is called the “Synoptic Gospels”, meaning that they line up and it is actually thought that the authors of Luke and Matthew based some of their writings on the already written Gospel of Mark, but added in the oral tradition from the area that they were writing for.
My last class of the quarter is Medieval Philosophy. This is going to be an overview of writers form St. Augustine, to St. Thomas Aquinas as far as I can tell. It will be good to see the development of Christian thought in this period, so I am actually looking forward to this class somewhat.
So as this quarter started we also started Lent, it doesn’t always work that way with Lent being based on the date of Easter which is movable. I shared the reflection that I had written for the nursing home for Ash Wednesday. It turns out that in addition to there I ended up giving the reflection at the parish of the Deacon from the nursing home since he was running the Ash Wednesday service at Noon there.
I went over to the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois on Friday into Saturday to visit some of my friends from when I lived there. Other than that the quarter is pretty much picking up where I left off before break.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Finishing "spring" break 2010-2011
Hello again,
I hope that everyone’s Lent is off to a great start, that you are using this time to come closer to God. I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted, and over two weeks since I’ve really written about what is going on in my life. I need to finish up what I had done on my last break before I can get into the goings on thus quarter.
I think that I had stopped on Thursday morning of the first week of break, after the all night prayer vigil had ended. I took a long nap on Thursday since I didn’t have anything really to do anyways. I probably slept for 4 or 5 hours, plus the hour I had gotten early in the morning. When I finally woke up I noticed that I had missed several phone calls (I had put my phone on silent). The staff at the parish was trying to get ahold of me to invite me to lunch, it turns out that a good friend from when I was in college was in town. His wife had some convention for work so he took off and came up with her to have a mini vacation. I had missed the call but did end up getting to see them for a late lunch on Friday after my next talk at the middle school and after her conference ended. Thursday night I went to a UW-SP men’s basketball game, it was the semi-finals for the WIAC, the conference for most of the public universities in Wisconsin.
My talk on Friday went well, it was in my friend’s classroom and actually it probably was the least of my talks since the students just didn’t give me as good of answers to work with, or questions. After the talk I had the lunch that I previously mentioned and then went over to the Newman Parish for a bit. Father Tom was taking a college student part way towards a “come and see” weekend at a convent in Eastern Wisconsin so he invited me and a retired priest friend to ride along and have a nice dinner in Appleton where we were meeting up with this girl’s parents who were taking her the rest of the way.
Saturday I got to go to another Pointer’s basketball game. This was the WIAC final which Point won very handily. To make the game even better my friend who I used to go to many of the basketball games with and her boyfriend drove up to watch the game with me, and then we went out to dinner and conversation at one of our favorite restaurants from our college days. These two have been dating for a while and I could tell that something was up by talking to her boyfriend and he did indeed propose to her less than a week later, so I am very happy for them.
Sunday I went to both of the Masses at Newman, I was the server (altar boy) for the Sunday evening Mass. I really enjoy the opportunity to do that when I back there, as I have said we aren’t allowed to serve or read at first here at the seminary because of the installations of acolytes and lectors.
Monday I had another talk at the middle school that I think went the best of all of them, and then I hit the road to head towards my mom’s. As far as I remember I took Tuesday as a down day, I think that I only went out to go to Mass at 12:10 in Winona. Wednesday I went to the morning Mass in Holmen and after that I met up with Fr. Malin for a light breakfast and to talk for a bit over an hour. It is great to see him when I am able to; he has had such an influence on my life. Some sad news that I found out when I was with him was that one of his brothers had recently died, so it was a bit of a toned down conversation, but still great none-the-less. Wednesday night I met up with my mom, her husband, my brother and sister-in-law, and my nephew for pizza. There is a unique restaurant in La Crosse that makes all sorts of pizzas with crazy topping combinations and brings them around as samplers, so we went there. I used to like it a lot, but all of that is a bit over the top for me now but my nephew enjoyed it.
Thursday I don’t remember what I did during the day but in the Evening I went to the house of some good friends for dinner and to spend time with them. We went out for a drink and then I headed back to my mom’s. Friday I packed up to head back to the seminary. I was meeting the same guy whose bachelor party had been about two weeks before and his fiancé for dinner before heading out. I am very much looking forward to their wedding this May. I picked up the same guy who I had given a ride home to and we headed out at about 6:30 I think to come back to the seminary. We had some rain to drive through and since the temperatures were hovering right about the freezing mark I took it easy in case it froze but we made decent time anyways.
Saturday was still break and I took the opportunity to head up to Madison to experience the historic protests against the so called “budget repair bill”. I am very glad that I was able to make that trip and stand up for what is right. I think that everyone acknowledged that all people have to give in on some financial matters, but simply that this bill went too far. I didn’t stay all that long as I had stuff to get done, but I really enjoyed my time at this protest.
Well, that pretty much finishes out my break, I will write about the classes for the new quarter soon. In fact, I may write it now and just wait a day or two to post it so I’m not overloading.
Peace,
Adam
I hope that everyone’s Lent is off to a great start, that you are using this time to come closer to God. I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted, and over two weeks since I’ve really written about what is going on in my life. I need to finish up what I had done on my last break before I can get into the goings on thus quarter.
I think that I had stopped on Thursday morning of the first week of break, after the all night prayer vigil had ended. I took a long nap on Thursday since I didn’t have anything really to do anyways. I probably slept for 4 or 5 hours, plus the hour I had gotten early in the morning. When I finally woke up I noticed that I had missed several phone calls (I had put my phone on silent). The staff at the parish was trying to get ahold of me to invite me to lunch, it turns out that a good friend from when I was in college was in town. His wife had some convention for work so he took off and came up with her to have a mini vacation. I had missed the call but did end up getting to see them for a late lunch on Friday after my next talk at the middle school and after her conference ended. Thursday night I went to a UW-SP men’s basketball game, it was the semi-finals for the WIAC, the conference for most of the public universities in Wisconsin.
My talk on Friday went well, it was in my friend’s classroom and actually it probably was the least of my talks since the students just didn’t give me as good of answers to work with, or questions. After the talk I had the lunch that I previously mentioned and then went over to the Newman Parish for a bit. Father Tom was taking a college student part way towards a “come and see” weekend at a convent in Eastern Wisconsin so he invited me and a retired priest friend to ride along and have a nice dinner in Appleton where we were meeting up with this girl’s parents who were taking her the rest of the way.
Saturday I got to go to another Pointer’s basketball game. This was the WIAC final which Point won very handily. To make the game even better my friend who I used to go to many of the basketball games with and her boyfriend drove up to watch the game with me, and then we went out to dinner and conversation at one of our favorite restaurants from our college days. These two have been dating for a while and I could tell that something was up by talking to her boyfriend and he did indeed propose to her less than a week later, so I am very happy for them.
Sunday I went to both of the Masses at Newman, I was the server (altar boy) for the Sunday evening Mass. I really enjoy the opportunity to do that when I back there, as I have said we aren’t allowed to serve or read at first here at the seminary because of the installations of acolytes and lectors.
Monday I had another talk at the middle school that I think went the best of all of them, and then I hit the road to head towards my mom’s. As far as I remember I took Tuesday as a down day, I think that I only went out to go to Mass at 12:10 in Winona. Wednesday I went to the morning Mass in Holmen and after that I met up with Fr. Malin for a light breakfast and to talk for a bit over an hour. It is great to see him when I am able to; he has had such an influence on my life. Some sad news that I found out when I was with him was that one of his brothers had recently died, so it was a bit of a toned down conversation, but still great none-the-less. Wednesday night I met up with my mom, her husband, my brother and sister-in-law, and my nephew for pizza. There is a unique restaurant in La Crosse that makes all sorts of pizzas with crazy topping combinations and brings them around as samplers, so we went there. I used to like it a lot, but all of that is a bit over the top for me now but my nephew enjoyed it.
Thursday I don’t remember what I did during the day but in the Evening I went to the house of some good friends for dinner and to spend time with them. We went out for a drink and then I headed back to my mom’s. Friday I packed up to head back to the seminary. I was meeting the same guy whose bachelor party had been about two weeks before and his fiancé for dinner before heading out. I am very much looking forward to their wedding this May. I picked up the same guy who I had given a ride home to and we headed out at about 6:30 I think to come back to the seminary. We had some rain to drive through and since the temperatures were hovering right about the freezing mark I took it easy in case it froze but we made decent time anyways.
Saturday was still break and I took the opportunity to head up to Madison to experience the historic protests against the so called “budget repair bill”. I am very glad that I was able to make that trip and stand up for what is right. I think that everyone acknowledged that all people have to give in on some financial matters, but simply that this bill went too far. I didn’t stay all that long as I had stuff to get done, but I really enjoyed my time at this protest.
Well, that pretty much finishes out my break, I will write about the classes for the new quarter soon. In fact, I may write it now and just wait a day or two to post it so I’m not overloading.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Ash Wednesday 2011
Here is the reflection that I am giving tomorrow at the nursing home. As with other reflections I've posted I am including the readings for the day afterwards if you are interested. I know that I still have to write a post about the rest of my break and starting back up here, I hope to do that soon.
Peace,
Adam
-------------------------------------
March 9, 2011
Ash Wednesday
Here we go again… another Ash Wednesday means another Lent is starting. In just a few minutes you will all be marked with ashes on your forehead.
The readings for today all tell us how to go about our Lent, it is clear to us why the Church gives us these readings for today. The second line of the first reading says that we are to return to the Lord with all of our heart, this is the essence of all that we do during Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These are the keys to Lent to help us return to the Lord with all of our heart.
But Lent isn’t just about showing that we are in Lent, and returning to the Lord for just these 40 days. It is about returning to him, turning away from our sin, for all of our life. We all stray, God welcomes us back, but hopes that we don’t stray again. However, when we do, He will indeed welcome us back again.
Go about your Lent in a way that is an example to others. The idea that Jesus talks about with not being flashy with our prayer, our almsgiving, and our fasting isn’t that others shouldn’t notice it, but rather that we shouldn’t flaunt it and make it seem like we deserve something for doing it.
God wants us to use this time to prepare for Easter, and for the rest of our lives. If you flaunt what you do, that is unsustainable, live your Lent in a way that you can continue in the future. Live your Lent so that your life can be an example for others.
Today we are being marked with ashes so that we can signify that we are in Lent. What about tomorrow or the next forty days, will people notice a difference in you? Will they see that you are improving in Lent? Find a way to make this Lent special and to move forward with it into the rest of your life.
Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
2 Cor 5:20-6:2
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
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.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Peace,
Adam
-------------------------------------
March 9, 2011
Ash Wednesday
Here we go again… another Ash Wednesday means another Lent is starting. In just a few minutes you will all be marked with ashes on your forehead.
The readings for today all tell us how to go about our Lent, it is clear to us why the Church gives us these readings for today. The second line of the first reading says that we are to return to the Lord with all of our heart, this is the essence of all that we do during Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These are the keys to Lent to help us return to the Lord with all of our heart.
But Lent isn’t just about showing that we are in Lent, and returning to the Lord for just these 40 days. It is about returning to him, turning away from our sin, for all of our life. We all stray, God welcomes us back, but hopes that we don’t stray again. However, when we do, He will indeed welcome us back again.
Go about your Lent in a way that is an example to others. The idea that Jesus talks about with not being flashy with our prayer, our almsgiving, and our fasting isn’t that others shouldn’t notice it, but rather that we shouldn’t flaunt it and make it seem like we deserve something for doing it.
God wants us to use this time to prepare for Easter, and for the rest of our lives. If you flaunt what you do, that is unsustainable, live your Lent in a way that you can continue in the future. Live your Lent so that your life can be an example for others.
Today we are being marked with ashes so that we can signify that we are in Lent. What about tomorrow or the next forty days, will people notice a difference in you? Will they see that you are improving in Lent? Find a way to make this Lent special and to move forward with it into the rest of your life.
Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
2 Cor 5:20-6:2
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
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.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
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