Leap day saint

Mark 12:28-34

Why do we have a leap year?  Why do we have an extra day in February?

The answer to both questions is simple, it is about keeping it real.  Leap year has everything to do with reality.  

It takes the earth to revolve around the sun 365.2422 days.  So every four years we add an extra day in order to keep our calendar in step with reality, in order to keep the way we measure time aligned with the way time unfolds.  It is about real time.

Today, we celebrate St. Oswald's feast day.  In the year 992 on February 29th St. Oswald was on his knees doing what he always did as Bishop each day during lent, he invited 12 poor men from the street into the Cathedral and he washed their feet and kissed their feet and blessed them.  

On February 29th, after he washed the feet of the 12th man, kissed his feet, and then gave a blessing, he died.  He simply died.  He died keeping it real.  He let his faith dictate his actions, order his life.  He lived and died loving the Lord with his whole heart, soul, mind and strength.  

This is what Jesus invites us to do, today.  He wants us to be real.  It is not enough to simply understand the command to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength.  We must live it.  We must allow the kingdom to be built in us, through our heart, that is in our conscience, at the center of our being, through our soul, having our desires and affections sanctified, through our mind, by the thoughts we think and choose to entertain, and through our strength, by our actions and abilities, in all we do and say.  Then the kingdom can be truly be built on Earth through us.

This is how we become real.  This is how our will is aligned with God's will.  The more we live this then truly we are headed toward that day when we will leap ahead into eternity.  The ultimate leap day awaits us all, that one day added to our lives in which time and eternity are all aligned with love and we leap for joy into the heavenly hymn and we all become leap day saints. 

  

law and order

Matthew 5:17-19

Law is necessary.  Law is meant to bring order.  Order is necessary for love to be real.  

Humanity has a tendency to get lost in the castle in the skies idea especially when it comes to living love.  Many prefer make believe to reality and this is where tragedy befalls humanity.   

This is why we need laws, in order to curb that tendency of man to be lost in make believe and avoid reality.  

The Jewish law of the Old Testament started out with ten simple commandments.  These were and are broad principles meant to guide the human heart to the proper reality of reverence for God and reverence for life. 

Quickly, however, humanity sought ways to find loop holes in the principles laid down by God through Moses.  Convenience often trumps reverence. 

The Mosaic Law quickly became a collection of 613 statues commenting on the original ten.  However, this was also not sufficient and the Mishnah was written over time, which contained 800 pages of commentary on the 613 statues.  Later the Talmud came about, which consist of 72 volumes, commenting on the 800 pages Mishnah commenting on the 613 statues commenting on the ten commandments seeking to understand how to have reverence to God and reverence for life. 

It is amazing how the simplicity of God is too much for the complexity of man.

Jesus comes to fulfill the law.  Jesus, as Pope Benedict reminds us, comes not like those before.  He comes not making additions or subtractions to the law and the prophets.  The only thing Jesus adds to the law is Himself.  He is the fulfillment, He is the commentary written in flesh and blood. 

When all the words fall silent, the image of Christ stands the test of time revealing to us the true way of reverence for God and reverence for life.  In Him, the law comes alive. 

The Church's role is simply to make sure the true image of Christ is followed.  This is her task, to help us not to follow the wrong shepherd home. 

Law and order and order and love finds its completion in Christ the law giver, the one who gives Himself as the standard of love, true reverence of God and reverence for life. 

   

mercy or buzzards

Daniel 3:25-43, Matthew 18:21-35

English is a difficult language.  There are many words that sound the same but are spelled differently.  For instance, the word "see" or "sea", the word "reel" or "real" etc. 

In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, unlike English, it has words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently.  For instance in today's first reading Azariah speaks of God's mercy, "Do not take away your mercy from us."

The word for  "Mercy" is spelled mhr (right to left), but the word for "buzzard" also is spelled mhr (right to left); the word for "mercy" is pronounced "rach-am" and the word for "buzzard" is pronounced "raw-khawm."  

If you mispronounce the word, you go from giving mercy to giving a buzzard.  

The word for mercy in Hebrew literally means "womb", which suggest that to give mercy means to bear life, to bring life forth, to give life to the other, for the womb is the seat of life.

A buzzard is an animal that feast on death in order to give itself life.  It also begins to take upon itself the stench of death.  

Interesting to note that true mercy gives life, brings forth a sweet fragrance of hope and love, allowing life to blossom, where as, a buzzard only is concern for itself. 

How do we judge true mercy and forgiveness?  If it gives life and is concerned for the life of the other than it is mercy.  The way of the cross is Christ giving us life through mercy. 

If it is selfish, then a stench of death lingers and the buzzards circle above and life is killed. 

What do we give? Is it life for the other, a true gift of mercy? Or do we seek death of the other so that we might live for ourselves?

Is is Mercy or a Buzzard?

put me in coach

Luke 4:24-30

 Basketball coaches have to be creative, have great vision, and they must know how to motivate their players.  They must know how to get the players up for each and every game, no matter the triumph of victory or the slump in defeat.  Each game is a new reality, a new ball game with a different outcome waiting to be had.

Coaches often try new antics in order to motivate their players.  Sometimes they need to get them angry so that they would see differently.  Many times, in high school, the coach would pull the star and put in the scrub just to get the star worked up, to get his head back in the game.  He always played better after the reality check that he was expendable. 

In today's gospel we encounter Jesus rousing up the crowd.  The Israelites have grown complacent.  They had grown presumptuous in their place in salvation history.  They were the star athletes; they were given the promise of the covenant and they became to self assure. They needed to be re awaken; they needed to be motivated, they needed a reality check in hopes that they might get their heads in the game.  

Jesus, like the good coach, simply lets history smack them in the face, a little reality check, and boy it gets them fired up.  He reminded them how God could use the scrubs for his glory just as well as the star.  A little ire makes people rise to the challenge, a little ire helped them realize that God's glory was more than words of a promise, but it needed to be engaged and lived fully.  The only one who has a monopoly on God's plan of action is God alone.  

He wanted them to be awaken to finally begin to see that God's plan was bigger than them. bigger than their point of view.   Only then when they recognized how God acted in history could they be able to begin to see what God was doing in the present in Christ.  

With their anger roused and their presumption shacked, their pride checked, then they were ready to play ball, follow the coaches game play, then their heads were truly in the game.

Feast of the Chair of Peter

1 Peter 5:1-4, Matthew 16:13-19

Today we celebrate the feast of the chair of Peter; we celebrate the office of truth passed down through the selection of Peter as the rock upon which the church of Jesus is built.  

We celebrate the primacy of faith that gives way to the primacy of love that is most perfectly lived out in standing upon truth as it has been issued forth through the proclamation of Peter, "you are the Christ the son of the living God."

As we encounter Peter's confession we recognize that faith is primarily received, a gift from on high, "for it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." 

The church therefore is not a man made institution, but rather it is the Father's gift to the world.  Religion is not man made it is founded by Christ upon the confession of Peter raised on the blood of the martyrs, sent forth to bear the fruit of love to the world, love which finds its culmination in the Eucharist, take and eat this is given for you. 

The primacy of Faith leads to the primacy of Love, which is celebrated in the Mass validated by the office of Peter from which Truth flows forth to bring light in to the world. 

The Church is an instrument by which the world comes in contact with God's saving word and God's saving deed.  For every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we, like Peter, become witnesses of the sufferings of Christ, the suffering reality of love that gives its flesh for the life of the world.

What a beautiful Chair, a Chair that is truly one of nobility for it it bears the mark of truth that remains undivided through out the centuries. 

change

Jeremiah  17:5-10

The prophet in today's reading describe the man who finds his strength in flesh and whose heart is turned from the Lord as a man that is a barren desert that knows not the season of change.  

In the same breath, Jeremiah then inadvertently describes the person who has been faithful then as one who knows change frequently, seasonly. 

Change is important. 

John Cardinal Newman, a convert to Catholicism, whose birthday we celebrate today put it this way. 

"To be human is to change.  To be perfect is to change often."

The one finds within himself no room to change is the one who no longer follows Christ.  In the words of Jesus, to be perfect as your  heavenly Father is perfect, demands that we change and change often.

Under the watchful gaze of God via the plowshare of grace we shall become fertile soil, bearing much fruit...for we have been changed throughout.

Change...this is the lenten season  of change,

Lordship of service

Matthew 20: 17-28

Watching a basketball game, the most exciting and intriguing reality is not what happens above the rim but what happens below the rim way below.   If you notice the players as they rise from the bench they usually remove their outer shirt and throw it on the floor.  There at their feet are the ball boys scampering to get at the clothes and then they do something odd, they fold them nice and neat.  

When the players come off the court all sweaty, there are the same ball boys who hand them the towels only to have the sweaty remains tossed in their face.  Then they proceed to fold the towel. 

By their willingness to serve, the ball boys get to rub elbows with the higher ups.  In their humble service they are exalted. 

Jesus reminds us in today's reading that He came to serve and that true greatness is shown in being a servant of others.  

Watching Jesus we get a glimpse into the Lordship of God, the one who rules by service.  In Jesus God from on high comes down, below the rim, and shows us his rule, a law written in sweat and blood, a passionate service for the many.  God is a hands on ruler. 

Service becomes the way to ascent.  

Lent is about coming down to service and only then do we truly rub elbows with the one on high, for only then do we imitate his actions and truly enter into the strength of our dignity, image and likeness of God. 

 

attention span

Matthew 23:1-12

Chairs, Phylacteries, tassels, heavy burdens are just a few of the keywords that stand out in todays gospel.  Makes you wonder if Jesus is off his rocker.  What do these things have to do with the good news, with salvation, with redemption.  

Jesus again wants us to move beyond the externals and go a little deeper.  He simply is trying to get us to realize that getting attention from others isn't the key to life, but rather giving attention to life and all that is caught up in living is truly the essence of holy living.

We are to be attention givers and not attention getters.  If we give our attention, become attentive, than truly we will get people's attention.  Mother Teresa is a good example of one who gave her attention carefully and methodically to life and received much attention.  

Good attention comes from those who give attention; this kind of attention transforms the world.  Let them see your good works so that they may give glory to the Father.

  

give

Dn 9:4-10, Luke 6:36-38

The prophet Daniel speaks to the reality that each of us knows so well.  We have rebelled.  A writer once put it best, "we humans are the only animal that blushes, or has a need to blush."

In deed we are shamefaced as Daniel proclaims.  Our face is a face of confusion because of our rebellion.  People look upon us and they no longer see the face of the one who made us, they no longer spy the beauty of God radiant in our complexion.   Oscar Wilde noted that sin alone can never be hidden for it writes itself all over the face. 

In deed in an age of face lifts, and lipo suction, and wrinkle removing, and chin enhancing, nose jobs and the like God calls for us to change our face, but this transformation is brought about not by the external needle and blade but by an internal openness to grace, the word of God that is the sword that severs us from the ugly reality of sin. 

True beauty radiates not from the skin but from Christ living within. 

How do we remedy such a situation?  

Jesus gives us the answer in one subtle word, "give." 

He invites us to give.  A word we say always and encounter often, a word that encapsulates the essence of the one who follows Christ.  This person must be a giver.  

A giver of worship to God in form of praise and thanksgiving.   A giver of time and attention and means to the neighbor.  A giver of affection and concern to oneself.  A giver that reaches beyond oneself in order to truly return to one self only to encounter the presence of God alive.

To give means to extend beyond, to reach out, to freely transfer all that we are so that we might truly begin to know who we were meant to be.  

As we give so sin is washed away, and our complexion begins to be youthful again; age flees where present is the heart that gives...gives until it hurts so that the wound of sin might finally be healed.

"Give," He says.  Give.

give

Dn 9:4-10, Luke 6:36-38

The prophet Daniel speaks to the reality that each of us knows so well.  We have rebelled.  A writer once put it best, "we humans are the only animal that blushes, or has a need to blush."

In deed we are shamefaced as Daniel proclaims.  Our face is a face of confusion because of our rebellion.  People look upon us and they no longer see the face of the one who made us, they no longer spy the beauty of God radiant in our complexion.   Oscar Wilde noted that sin alone can never be hidden for it writes itself all over the face. 

In deed in an age of face lifts, and lipo suction, and wrinkle removing, and chin enhancing, nose jobs and the like God calls for us to change our face, but this transformation is brought about not by the external needle and blade but by an internal openness to grace, the word of God that is the sword that severs us from the ugly reality of sin. 

True beauty radiates not from the skin but from Christ living within. 

How do we remedy such a situation?  

Jesus gives us the answer in one subtle word, "give." 

He invites us to give.  A word we say always and encounter often, a word that encapsulates the essence of the one who follows Christ.  This person must be a giver.  

A giver of worship to God in form of praise and thanksgiving.   A giver of time and attention and means to the neighbor.  A giver of affection and concern to oneself.  A giver that reaches beyond oneself in order to truly return to one self only to encounter the presence of God alive.

To give means to extend beyond, to reach out, to freely transfer all that we are so that we might truly begin to know who we were meant to be.  

As we give so sin is washed away, and our complexion begins to be youthful again; age flees where present is the heart that gives...gives until it hurts so that the wound of sin might finally be healed.

"Give," He says.  Give.

love stamp

Esther c:12, 14-16, 23-25, Matthew 7:7-12

Each year the U.S. Post Office puts out a love stamp; for the last 35 years they have brought forth a new stamp commemorating love.  A variety of designs have been implemented and created to get at the heart of what love is and how it is should be celebrated.  

As we ponder love, especially in light of Valentines, may we always remember the one love stamp that has forever been etched in our minds and hearts, the stamp of Christ crucified.  

Surely, we see there on the cross that love is not made but rather it is to be imitated; imitation is the perfect form of flattery.  May we flatter the eternal being of love by imitating His stamp of approval upon our lives with the gift of his own.

As we pray this season of lent may the perfect love of christ purify our love and desire and lead us to a more perfect imitation of that stamp of love in crucified form.  May we prostrate ourselves as Esther and beg that we might for a change be pleasing to God; only then shall love truly be other centered, a gift mean tot be given regardless of the circumstances. 

 

something greater

Jonah 3:1-10, Luke 11:29-32

In today's gospel the crowd gathered around Jesus and they were looking for a sign, something demonstrable in order to facilitate their assent to faith.

Oh how this generation longs for signs, longs for tangible proof to believe, to trust, to follow. 

The scientific revolution as infiltrated into the recesses of our hearts and minds and has made us hard and resistant to that which is most real.  

How often we get bogged down in doubt in our search for certainty.  Yet, we lose sight of what is most certain in our search for the uncertain.  It is the uncertain proofs that boggle the mind and leave us dark in doubt while the certainty of love and hope and faith abound from all angles if we had eyes to see. 

To clamor for a sign is to refuse conversion.  Conversion is not about changing what we see but about changing how we see.  We must learn to stare at thing until it becomes strange and wonderful and filled with divine life, oozing with freshness even when it remains ordinary and just part and parcel of every day.  The human face is ordinary as it comes yet it remains the vehicle for revealing the face of God.  We just need to look again.

What is the sign of Jonah?  The reason why Jonah was so effective was because he crawled from the belly of the whale and began to speak; as he spoke he still had the traces of death upon him. This experience authenticated his words, his invitation. 

How much more does Christ, who on his body still contains the traces of death, the wounds of love?  Does not his words and life remain authentic to those who hear because of what we see?

May we begin to see anew; let us take up our rosary beads and meditate on the life of Christ, let us walk the way of the cross and in these encounters we shall begin to learn to see Christ anew in the world around us, and truly our hearts will be set ablaze and our eyes will be filled with wonder as we behold something greater.

   

absurd charity

Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus invites us to an absurd charity.  Why?  Because He himself loved us in an absurd way.  Jesus simply invites us to live as He demonstrated His love for us.  Are we not the least of his brothers and did he not go out of His way to make us feel like royalty.  

It is absurd, isn't it!

"Come you who are blessed by my Father.  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Jesus absurd love for us is premeditated, intentional, from the beginning he thought about us.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me."

"What you did for the least of these you did unto me."

Do not hesitate!  Love boldly, love absurdly! May the least be treated like royalty through you and I.

It is absurd, isn't it! 

 

litmus test for lent

Isaiah 58:1-9

"On your fast days you carry out your own pursuits...is this the manner of fasting that I wish."

The words of Isaiah are not just words of prophecy meant for those who lived 2500 years ago.  These words must echo in our own conscience in our heart of hearts.  They must beckon at us lest we too make lent about our own pursuits.

Lent is not about us; it is not about what I give up; we give up in order to give life. 

 Lent is about living simply so that others might live.  We make sacrifices so that mercy may abound and life can spring forth for others.  

The litmus test for lent is measured not in the weight we lose or the food we give up but in the life that benefits through us.  Listen again to the words of Isaiah, the paradigm for the true lenten experience...

"releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke, setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke, sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, not turning your back on your own.  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall be quickly healed" 

Let the litmus test of Isaiah be your guide and in 40 days you will have a heart that abounds in goodness.

land of the living

Dt 30:15-20; Lk 9:22-25

when we think of lent we often think of Jesus and the 40 days he spent in the desert.  We think also of our own desert experience, how we long to get away, separate, have time alone.  But into todays readings we encounter the Israelites leaving the desert to enter the promise land.  Kind of strange in this season of lent.

Moses is bidding farewell to the Israelites.  They are all gathered and he is giving them last minute instructions and reminders.  He will soon die and the Israelites will be ushered off into the promised land.

They will be leaving the desert and will enter into a land of duties, obligations, chores, errands, busyness; the everyday task of living will consume them especially as they run up against strange customs, strange faces, strange religions, and strange ideas.   The burden of everyday life will be great and taxing.  

Moses pauses for a moment to remind them to choose life that is to not get so caught up with living that they lose sight of life.  Choose life!

Lent is an opportunity to allow the everyday burdens of life, the work, the school, the routine, the errands, the chores to become moments of encounter with the living God who gives life. It is the everydayness of life that becomes our desert of dependence on God. 

Self-denial is about being fully present to life while walking in the land of the living.  Like the Israelites we leave the desert to enter into the everydayness of living; let us not lose sight of life.   

message from Benedict XVI for Lent 2008

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/lent/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20071030_lent-2008_en.html

dust alive

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

There is an old melody that goes like this, "does chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night."

Experience in life reveals to us that gum indeed loses its flavor;  the more you chew it the harder and stale it comes and eventually you throw it out; so do Christians become stale and hard the more life chews what we have to offer; we lose our flavor through our encounter with life and the world.  Thus, the church in her wisdom offers us a time of renewal, 40 days, of becoming a little more flavorful, filled once again with the fragrance of Christ, aromatic sense that captivates the taste buds of the world and brings about transformation.

Today we begin with ashes.  The palms of rejoicing from Jesus entering Jerusalem, green with life, are now consumed with fire, turned to ash, black with repentance.  These are the ashes of reality...as we are marked with ashes we enter into the truth of our existence the truth of solidarity, we are all dust come alive in the hands of God.

This 40 day journey is a journey of giving this gift of life back to the one who gave it; this is a training period in which we learn the Father by following the Son.  This is only done through giving of ourself in imitating Christ.

We pray, where my space becomes God's space; we fast, where emptiness abounds so only God can fill; we give alms, in imitating Christ we too make charity concrete in our life by not only recognizing solidarity with others but living it.  

Thus, we regain some of the flavor that has been spent and begin a new to live for Him.  

Through the messiness of ashes we encounter the mercy of the cross; through the messiness of living we encounter the beauty of life; we are dust alive in the hands of God.  

the other side

Mark 5:21-43

In today's gospel, Jesus crosses over to the other side.  

While he is there he encounters a crowd waiting, pressing, pushing, needing, wanting; yet, he seems to embrace all of them with enthusiasm and eagerness; 

he remains charitable and gentle even in the midst of all those demands. 

The people were selfish, they only cared for what they could get; they were using Jesus for what he could provide and yet he allowed it.  

Truly Jesus had gone over to the other side.

He refused to let the hounding of others determine his own attitude of charity, gentleness, and godliness.  Unlike Moses, who caved under the pressure of the harassment of the people at Kadesh (Numbers 20:2-12), where he failed to manifest the sanctity of God;  the new moses, Jesus, crosses over to the other side and manifest the sanctity even in such pressure situations.  

He is ridiculed at one point and yet maintains his composure; goodness flows forth and benefits all.  Charming indeed is the son of God, who cares for those even when they do not necessarily care for him. 

Perhaps we too can cross over to the other side and begin to live differently.  Grace through Christ can do this.   This is what lent is about, 40 days given to us to begin  the journey to the other side of life, where love of God and love of neighbor truly transforms us.

John Bosco

This is a small tribute to St. John Bosco, who dedicated his life to the education of children.  He did so because he took to heart the words of Christ, "who ever receives one of these little ones receives me."

His motto was in brief, "anger never, kindness always, be firm but never harsh."

It is the adults who must temper themselves when relating to the young; otherwise the wisdom gained that comes with experience is lost in opposition to youthful ignorance.  The only way we can show the young minds that the wisdom we gain is worth listening to, is simply by living worthily.   

Those who have lived life, experienced life, know life, have the greater responsibility to be virtuous especially when relating to the young.  In the words of Jesus, "those who have, more will be given."  So we take what we have, receive what is given in order to show the young there is more to be had.

St. John Bosco pray for us!

Candlemas

Luke 2:22-32

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of The Lord. 

Today we commemorate the introduction of Jesus into the temple and the purification of his mother according to the Mosaic Law.  Here Mary offers turtledoves for her purification and Jesus is consecrated to God.  

This feast reminds us that just as Jesus is introduced into the Temple for the first time and becomes a light for the world according to Simeon so to at our Baptism Jesus is introduced into the temple of our bodies and his light begins to shine through us. 

Receive the light of Christ...these words are spoken at our baptism and must echo throughout our days and nights as we bring that light to the world.  

On this day we bless the candles used at the liturgy reminding ourselves that every light that burns is a sign of the one true light that can never be extinguished.

Yet, the greatest candle is not made of beeswax; no, the greatest candle is made of flesh and bone and blood...it is the light of our life that burns the brightest.

Receive the light of Christ...may this light be kept burning brightly...what gives light must endure burning!

May this feast give us the fuel of courage and faith so that through our lives we might light up the darkness and bring forth the radiance of the face of Christ... the glory of God is seen in the face of Christ which shines through us. 

private affair

Mark 4:26-34

"But to his own disciples he explained everything privately."

Faith is never a private affair; all fruit of prayer and devotion is meant to be lived publicly.  As Christians we are very much meant to be in the public eye.  Otherwise how could we be the light of the world.  We should let people in on our business, nothing should be hidden, nothing should be kept secret.  With Jesus the secret life has ended...

Yet, in order for our public witness to have any value, in order for our lives to bring light, in order for the kingdom to spread forth, and in order for the seed of faith  to grow, we must have some private time with our Lord.  

In the silence, in the quiet, in intimacy with Jesus, can the seed truly begin to blossom, can the fruit truly begin to mature, can the dough truly begin to rise...

Mother Teresa shared this wisdom with us:  if you are busy then maybe you need two hours with the Lord and not one.  The more active we are the more time we need with Jesus.  The more we contemplate the kingdom the more the kingdom will become active in our life.

Otherwise our public life just becomes a private affair, our little private practice, and not His.