Pastor of the Panhandle
Friday, March 26, 2004
Reflection #10
JMJ
V: Our help is in the name of the Lord. / Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R: Who made heaven and earth. / Qui fecit caelum et terram.
Scripture: Hebrews 10:4-10
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats takes away sins. For this reason, when he came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in. Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God.'" First he says, "Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in." These are offered according to the law. Then he says, "Behold, I come to do your will." He takes away the first to establish the second. By this "will," we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Reflection:
The Letter to the Hebrews was read for yesterday's Solemnity of the Annunciation. Though today is Friday, it seemed important to post a reflection about this holy mystery.
The Annunciation celebrates what we might call the Incarnation: Part 1. Part 2 coming at the Birth of Jesus at Christmas. Just as a human being doesn't suddenly "take on flesh" at its birth, but rather nine months before, so with the incarnate Son of God. This mystery marks the taking of flesh of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. As we focus on the suffering of Christ in the holy season of Lent, we are aware that he suffered in his Body. He suffered in the flesh he took from the spotless Virgin Mary.
It is she, the Theotokos, the one who carried God in her womb, who gave God the flesh by which he suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. How rightly do we honor her! The Son of God would not have had a Sacred Humanity by which to bring about our salvation, had Holy Mary not said "Yes" to God's Will. Through her obedience, God united to himself the very nature He desired to save 'from the inside out'!
Our Lenten eyes are drawn time and again to the Sacred Humanity suffering on the Way of the Cross. We look to the crucifix as a reminder of the Body by which we are saved. And we retain the image of the Body on the cross not because we think Jesus is still dead. NO! He lives in his Body now at the right hand of the Father! We retain the image of the Body as a reminder of how God comes to us...and how we should come to Him: in our bodies. And that image takes us right back to Mary. Her fidelity to God could literally be felt in her body. That is a call to us to live well our bodily life. And we thank her, because from her sprung The Body that is both our call and our destiny!
Responsory: (adapted from Psalm 40:7-9)
V. Your will is my delight; your law is in my heart!
Sacrifice and offering you do not want; but ears open to obedience.
V. Your will is my delight; your law is in my heart!
Holocausts and sin-offerings you do not require; so I said, "Here I am."
V. Your will is my delight; your law is in my heart!
Our Father.
Hail Mary.
Glory be.
Blessing:
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. / Dominus nos benedicat, et ab omni malo defendat, et ad vitam perducat aeternam. Amen.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Reflection #9
JMJ
V: Our help is in the name of the Lord. / Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R: Who made heaven and earth. / Qui fecit caelum et terram.
Scripture: Psalm 103:1-6, 8-13
Bless the LORD, my soul; all my being, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, my soul; do not forget all the gifts of God, Who pardons all your sins, heals all your ills, Delivers your life from the pit, surrounds you with love and compassion, Fills your days with good things; your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The LORD does righteous deeds, brings justice to all the oppressed….Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger, abounding in kindness. God does not always rebuke, nurses no lasting anger, Has not dealt with us as our sins merit, nor requited us as our deeds deserve. As the heavens tower over the earth, so God's love towers over the faithful. As far as the east is from the west, so far have our sins been removed from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on the faithful.
Reflection:
Last Sunday we celebrated Laetare Sunday, a call to be joyful, to rejoice! More than halfway through Lent, we should follow the prompting of the Sacred Liturgy to be joyful. Why?
First, it is fine reminder that joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, the possession of which is not precluded merely because we are in the midst of penance. Joy ought not be excluded from our repentance. Rather, how much more ought we exhibit joy if we are being purified of our sins and made more like Christ?!
Secondly, we ought to be joyful because our path of sacrifice and self-denial is the path by which we are recreated in God’s grace. We are joyful because this season of grace helps to form us more in accord with the design God has for us. We are full of joy because growth in grace tells us the entrance to our heavenly home will not be closed to us.
So, don’t begrudge the sacrifice and the penance. Don’t even regret learning of personal weakness, how many times the Lenten practices have been abandoned to date. Don’t wish that this spiritual journey of purification had never begun (otherwise, we just may find ourselves up to our nostrils in the things denied, cf. Numbers 11:18-20). Rather, be joyful that the soul is being cleansed, helped to grow in faith, and coming to its senses in the return to the Father (cf. Lk. 15:17)!
Responsory: (adapted from Psalm 34)
V. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
I will bless the Lord at all times; praise shall be always in my mouth.
V. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy!
V. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Our Father.
Hail Mary.
Glory be.
Blessing:
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. / Dominus nos benedicat, et ab omni malo defendat, et ad vitam perducat aeternam. Amen.
