leap year saint

Jonah 3:1-10; Ps 51 A heart contrite and humbled, O Lord, you will not spurn; Luke 11:29-32

WOrds that end the first reading, "When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he threatened to do to them, he did not carry it out."

Words of JEsus, "there is something greater than Jonah here."

Something greater. This should be the battle cry of lent. Why do we do what we do? Because there is something greater calling us forth ion the newness of life.
Now for today:

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.

prayer not babble

Isaiah 55:10-11; Ps 34 From their distress God rescues the just; Matthew 6:7-15

Today we read in the gospel Jesus's catechesis on prayer. He invites us not to babble like the pagans who think they will be heard becasue of their many words.

In prayer, it seems, at least from the point of view of Jesus, less is best. In fact, structure seems all the more important as he gives us the "THe Lord's Prayer."

We all know, pagans aren't the only ones that babale in prayer, many of our christian separated bretheren also like to babble in fornt of people.

In fact, i had one so called minsiter, tell me that is was incorrect to recite the Our Father becasue it was a repetitions prayer and that is not JEsus meant.

Yet, we have the very words of JEsus in today's gospel, "This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgiev those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us form evil."

Seems pretty straight forward to me.

St. Gregrory instructs us that there isn nothing pleasing to the God the father than to hear these words, this prayer echoing in his ears, for they are the very words of Jesus himself.

If we have Jesus in our hearts, should we not have him on our lips as well.

For as St. benedict reminds us, it is the words of prayer that leads our mind into the heart of Christ himself.

Let the prayer be pressed upon our lips and thus echo and ring in the ears of our Father and let honor be given to him who gave us this prayer in the first place.

With the prayer, we pray not with human words alone but with the very words of God himself.

This morning we woke up early as a parish and add our first 6:30 am mass on tuesday during lent.
FOr this special mass, which about 50 members of the community showed up, i am so grateful; i started my little homily section on wisdom of the saints for our lenten journey.

I quotes St. Josemaria Escriva, a modern saint comparatively, He died in 1975.

I was quoting his take on mortification. Mortification is the discipline of the body, thus the root of the interior life.

The saint says the following, "If you do not deny yourself you will never be a soul of prayer...IF the grain of wheat does not die, it remains unfruitful. Don't you want to be a grain of wheat, to die through mortification, and to yield a rich harvest? What kind of mortification? that word you refused to say to another, the cheerful smile for those who annoy you; the silence when unjustly accused; a friendly conversation with those who irritate you; the daily effort to overlook the irritable trait of another you live with; this with perseverance is indeed solid mortification and thus begins the fruit of the kingdom being laid bear though you."

Rainbow: un-hyjacked

Genesis 9:8-15; Ps 25 Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant; 1Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15

Today in our readings we come face to face with two of the most often read and re read accounts in the bible: Noah and the ark and JEsus in the desert being tempted.

What do these two have in common?

In the first reading we encounter Noah, the Ark, his family and the animals two by two as they float around for 40 days and 40 nights as the flood waters rise.

The ark becomes a safe haven from the chaos and upheaval that unfolds around them due to sin.

Noah, because of his righteousness, is invited to construct the ark, because God looks around and sees how corrupt the earth is and that is is full of lawlessness.

Certainly an ominous critique on the created world.

After the flood, the ark lands, Ahoy! and out comes this new opportunity at life.

Then we encounter the rainbow, God places the bow in the sky as a reminder that he will never use water to flood and destroy all mortal beings.

But the bow has more meaning than God just not destroying mortal beings.

The flood doesn't change the human condition. In fact, if we keep reading the genesis narrative then we discover the evil that lurks in the fallen heart. God knows this.

What it actually points at is the fact that God has chosen to sustain humanity even in its fallen form, even though evil resides in the human heart, God pledges to be patient with humanity.


The bow reminds us that the hope of humanity does not lie with man and his ability to rise above himself, his weakness, but rather the hope of humanity now resides in God's love and mercy who chooses to journey with us.

The rainbow represents God's deep abiding commitment to humanity, to you and me, even in our fallen state.


We do not go alone and we go now in the warmth of God's mercy to guide us and care for us, even as we stumble along. God chooses to see us through our predicament, the one we ourselves caused.

Now we flip to the gospel. Mark gives us the bare bones version of the gospel. He tells us just enough, trusting we will be able to make the necessary connections as we move along.

The gospel begins with the Spirit driving Jesus in to the desert for 40 days where he is tempted by Satan and he is with the wild beast and angels minster to him.

ALready Mark points us toward the Noah and the ark story.

The 40 days certainly call to mind the many important biblical moments in salvation history that are garnished by some 40 day or 40 year experience. 40 days is often a time of betrayal and trust in which God and humanity deepen their relationship.

Noah and the ark come to mind as well as, Moses on Mt SInai before he gives the the ten commandments, ELijah journeying 40 days before he gets to Mount Horeb where he encounters God , The israelites journey for 40 years in the wilderness before the promise land, the ISraelite nation has peace for 40 years under the judges, the three great kings, Saul, David, Solomon all reign for 40 years, the people of Nineveh do penance for 40 days to obtain God's pardon.

The bible is loaded with important events in salvation history wrapped up in the number 40.

But why do I think JEsus' experience in the desert is connected to Noah?

First of all, Jesus is in he desert which is a place of chaos and upheaval, not unlike the flood. JEsus isn't there alone he has the angels as well as the wild beast to keep him company. Just a sNoah was with his family and the animals so Jesu sis with his family and the animals.

Jesus himself is the ark, the safe haven from the chaos and terminal of desolation represented by the desert.

But mostly i think there is a connection because of the temptation JEsus experiences in the desert.

MArk doesn't tell us what the temptation is unlike MAtthew and Luke but do we really need to know the details. All of us know temptation. All of us are very familiar.

C.S. Lewis was asked once what kind of research and study he did in order to write the book THe Screwtape Letters, a book about how the devil seduces and tempts man away from God. His response is telling, He told the interviewer that he did not have to study all he had to do was look into his heart, "my heart showeth me the wicked and the ungodly."

Regardless of the gory details, the question to ask is what is at the heart of every temptation?

I think it goes back to the rainbow and the covenant.

If the rainbow reminds us that the hope of humanity resides in the mercy of God who chooses to be patient with us, who chooses to journey with us. If the rainbow reminds us that God chooses to sustain us despite our weak and wicked hearts then the heart of temptation would attack that reality.

Wouldn't temptation convince us that we are on our own or that we are to wicked for God's mercy or that we can do it by ourselves we do not need God for guidance. Or perhaps temptation will simply invite us to enter into lawlessness, where we no longer need the law of God to sustain us on our journey.

I think any and all of these are part of every temptation.

And yet JEsus who is tempted comes out of the desert offering us a new lease on life, a lot like the experience of Noah and his family and the animals as the doors of the ark are opened after 40 days and 40 nights.

New life begins to blossom.

Jesus is the one that resist the onslaught. As he emerges from the desert unscathed we see in him the one heart that has never known sin. It is from his heart that new life is offered to us all.

JEsus tells us that the time of fulfillment is has come. In greek, kairos, time, simply means the opportune moment directed by God. There isn Christ arises a new opportunity to life, just like when the doors of the ark opened up and the animals along with Noah's family came out.

For us, that new life is the gospel as JEsus invites us in with that simple proclamation, "the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." We should turn from lawlessness and cling to the gospel, the good news of God in Christ who reminds us of God's promise to patient with us, to sustain us, to journey with us by becoming one of us.



Unlike the flood waters that did not change the human heart, the invitation of Christ, the gospel is meant to penetrate us and transforms from the inside out. The gospel is good news becomes it comes from the one who has stood triumph in the face of temptation, the one who knows our humanity and comes to strengthen us in our journey.

To repent and believe in the gospel simply means to to turn from our wicked and fallen heart and let our gaze fall on the heart of the one who sets us free. We must fix our gaze there on the one who comes to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Only then does a new world begin to take shape.

JEsus offers us more than just a new lease on life, a new opportunity, but rather he invites us into a new world order, where the law of grace transforms the fallen reality of lawlessness. The kingdom of God is at hand is the invitation to a new world order.

What a gift. What an invitation!

Pope Benedict XVI on Lent: Prt 1

1. "Let us be concerned for each other": responsibility towards our brothers and sisters.

This first aspect is an invitation to be "concerned": the Greek verb used here is katanoein, which means to scrutinize, to be attentive, to observe carefully and take stock of something. We come across this word in the Gospel when Jesus invites the disciples to "think of" the ravens that, without striving, are at the centre of the solicitous and caring Divine Providence (cf. Lk 12:24), and to "observe" the plank in our own eye before looking at the splinter in that of our brother (cf. Lk 6:41). In another verse of the Letter to the Hebrews, we find the encouragement to "turn your minds to Jesus" (3:1), the Apostle and High Priest of our faith. So the verb which introduces our exhortation tells us to look at others, first of all at Jesus, to be concerned for one another, and not to remain isolated and indifferent to the fate of our brothers and sisters.

All too often, however, our attitude is just the opposite: an indifference and disinterest born of selfishness and masked as a respect for "privacy". Today too, the Lord’s voice summons all of us to be concerned for one another. Even today God asks us to be "guardians" of our brothers and sisters (Gen 4:9), to establish relationships based on mutual consideration and attentiveness to the well-being, the integral well-being of others. The great commandment of love for one another demands that we acknowledge our responsibility towards those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of God.

Being brothers and sisters in humanity and, in many cases, also in the faith, should help us to recognize in others a true alter ego, infinitely loved by the Lord. If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts. The Servant of God Pope Paul VI stated that the world today is suffering above all from a lack of brotherhood: "Human society is sorely ill. The cause is not so much the depletion of natural resources, nor their monopolistic control by a privileged few; it is rather the weakening of brotherly ties between individuals and nations" (Populorum Progressio, 66).


Concern for others entails desiring what is good for them from every point of view: physical, moral and spiritual. Contemporary culture seems to have lost the sense of good and evil, yet there is a real need to reaffirm that good does exist and will prevail, because God is "generous and acts generously" (Ps 119:68). The good is whatever gives, protects and promotes life, brotherhood and communion.

Responsibility towards others thus means desiring and working for the good of others, in the hope that they too will become receptive to goodness and its demands. Concern for others means being aware of their needs. Sacred Scripture warns us of the danger that our hearts can become hardened by a sort of "spiritual anesthesia" which numbs us to the suffering of others. The Evangelist Luke relates two of Jesus’ parables by way of example. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite "pass by", indifferent to the presence of the man stripped and beaten by the robbers (cf.Lk 10:30-32). In that of Dives and Lazarus, the rich man is heedless of the poverty of Lazarus, who is starving to death at his very door (cf. Lk 16:19). Both parables show examples of the opposite of "being concerned", of looking upon others with love and compassion.

What hinders this humane and loving gaze towards our brothers and sisters? Often it is the possession of material riches and a sense of sufficiency, but it can also be the tendency to put our own interests and problems above all else. We should never be incapable of "showing mercy" towards those who suffer. Our hearts should never be so wrapped up in our affairs and problems that they fail to hear the cry of the poor. Humbleness of heart and the personal experience of suffering can awaken within us a sense of compassion and empathy. "The upright understands the cause of the weak, the wicked has not the wit to understand it" (Prov 29:7). We can then understand the beatitude of "those who mourn" (Mt 5:5), those who in effect are capable of looking beyond themselves and feeling compassion for the suffering of others. Reaching out to others and opening our hearts to their needs can become an opportunity for salvation and blessedness.

"Being concerned for each other" also entails being concerned for their spiritual well-being. Here I would like to mention an aspect of the Christian life, which I believe has been quite forgotten: fraternal correction in view of eternal salvation. Today, in general, we are very sensitive to the idea of charity and caring about the physical and material well-being of others, but almost completely silent about our spiritual responsibility towards our brothers and sisters. This was not the case in the early Church or in those communities that are truly mature in faith, those which are concerned not only for the physical health of their brothers and sisters, but also for their spiritual health and ultimate destiny.

The Scriptures tell us: "Rebuke the wise and he will love you for it. Be open with the wise, he grows wiser still, teach the upright, he will gain yet more" (Prov 9:8ff). Christ himself commands us to admonish a brother who is committing a sin (cf. Mt 18:15). The verb used to express fraternal correction - elenchein – is the same used to indicate the prophetic mission of Christians to speak out against a generation indulging in evil (cf. Eph 5:11). The Church’s tradition has included "admonishing sinners" among the spiritual works of mercy. It is important to recover this dimension of Christian charity. We must not remain silent before evil.

I am thinking of all those Christians who, out of human regard or purely personal convenience, adapt to the prevailing mentality, rather than warning their brothers and sisters against ways of thinking and acting that are contrary to the truth and that do not follow the path of goodness. Christian admonishment, for its part, is never motivated by a spirit of accusation or recrimination. It is always moved by love and mercy, and springs from genuine concern for the good of the other. As the Apostle Paul says: "If one of you is caught doing something wrong, those of you who are spiritual should set that person right in a spirit of gentleness; and watch yourselves that you are not put to the test in the same way" (Gal 6:1). In a world pervaded by individualism, it is essential to rediscover the importance of fraternal correction, so that together we may journey towards holiness.

Scripture tells us that even "the upright falls seven times" (Prov 24:16); all of us are weak and imperfect (cf. 1 Jn 1:8). It is a great service, then, to help others and allow them to help us, so that we can be open to the whole truth about ourselves, improve our lives and walk more uprightly in the Lord’s ways. There will always be a need for a gaze which loves and admonishes, which knows and understands, which discerns and forgives (cf. Lk 22:61), as God has done and continues to do with each of us.

then they will fast

Isaiah 58:1-9; Ps 51 A heart contrite and humble, O God, you will not spurn; Matthew 9:14-15


We have a very short gospel this first friday of Lent.

The question is posed to Jesus as to why some fast( disciples of John and the Pharisees, the religious elite) while his disciples, however, seem to go about their merry way eating and drinking, carrying on like each day is a feast.

Why do some fast and others feast?

Jesus' words are quite telling, "Can the wedding guest mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast."

In some sense Jesus is telling the disciples of John that his disciples are enjoying what they have while they have it. They are making the most of the time they have been given while JEsus is with them. They are treasuring each day as it comes.

While Jesus is with them, feasting is required.

But fasting shall become a reality the moment his presence is ascended on high.

Then they will fast, that is then they will hunger. They will long to be with him; they will long for the days of old and that longing and deep desire shall show itself in fasting.

The fast itself will remind them that JEsus is the only thing that truly satisfies.

So, there is no us win feasting for feasting with Christ being present is just pretending.

Fasting is about reality. We do not have completely what our hearts desire mostly, so we fast in anticipation of that union that awaits.

Our hunger grows as we hunger here below.

after ashes: day by day

Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Ps 1 Blessed are they who hope in the Lord; Luke 9:22-25

TOday we commemorate St. Polycarp, bishop & martyr. Polycarp was a pupil under st. John the Evangelist. He knew those who knew Christ.

ON his way to martyrdom, when asked to denounce Christ and to swear by the fortune of Caesar, Polycarp responded, "86 years I have served him, and he never did me ny wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me."

When threatened with with fire, to be burned at the stake unless he denounced christ, Polycarp continued,"The fire you threaten burns only an hour and is quenched after a little; for you do not know the fire of the coming judgment of everlasting punishment that is laid up for the impious. But why do you delay? Come do what you may."

Polycarp truly had courage under fire.


Fortitude, one of the cardinal virtues, ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.

But we cannot win the supernatural olympics unless we have daily preparation and training. This season of lent is meant to be like a 40 day spring training, where we daily prepare ourselves for the courage needed to truly look into the face of the crucified one and be won over by that kind of love and thus seek to truly let that kind of love be the hallmark of our existence.

Polycarp did this. We, too, must have the courage to peer into the eyes of Christ and embrace the cross each day anew.

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

Daily! Not once in a while. Not when we feel like. Not tomorrow. Daily!

It is day by day we learn the courage of love and implement it in our life.

We must remember that the cross of Christ was primarily the burden of the sins of another. That cross was our sins. HOw do we daily carry the cross of the sins of another.

It doesn't take a whole lot of courage to be judgmental. It does take a whole lot of courage to help carry the sins of another and to do so with great magnanimity, cheerfulness, and patience.

interesting take on motherhood

A poem:
I’d Rather be the Father
by Faith Shearin

Right from the start, it's easier to be the father: no morning
nausea, no stretch marks. You can wait outside the

delivery room and keep your clothes on. Notice how
closely the word mother resembles smother, notice

how she is either too strict or too lenient: wrong for giving up
everything or not enough. Psychology books blame her

for whatever is the matter with all of us while the father
slips into the next room for a beer. I wanted to be

the rational one, the one who told a joke at dinner.
If I were her father we would throw a ball across

the lawn while the grill fills with smoke. But who
wants to be the mother? Who wants to tell her what

to wear and deliver her to the beauty shop and explain
bras and tampons? Who wants to show her what

a woman still is? I am supposed to teach her how to
wash the dishes and do the laundry only I don't want

her to grow up and be like me. I'd rather be the father
who tells her she is loved; I'd rather take her fishing

and teach her to skip stones across the lake of history;
I'd rather show her how far she can spit.

I'd be interested in comments from all you mothers out there