Mercy, Sacrifice, and the Pillars of Lent, the Fifth Sunday of Lent–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

            We believe that the “pillars of Lent” are prayer, fasting and alms-giving.  As we know, each of these virtues requires both sacrifice and mercy, and they are oriented towards right relationships with God and with other people.  We believe that our prayers, our sacrifices and our acts of charity, are ultimately motivated by our desire to unite our lives with Jesus.  We love that he shows mercy towards all, and that he made the ultimate sacrifice in order to save us!  Jesus also firmly teaches us that the virtues of mercy and sacrifice must always be so closely related that one must never be understood apart from the other.  Unfortunately, we might have experienced at times a kind of tension between these two virtues.

            Some might be tempted to place a higher value on the Christian call to “sacrifice;” others might believe “mercy” to be more important than any other obligation.  With regard to these, we might even misunderstand what the Scriptures themselves teach us about sacrifice and mercy.  For example, we read in the Old Testament Book of Hosea: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (see Hosea 6:6).   These words were written more than seven hundred years before Jesus began his public ministry, and in his preaching, Jesus quotes them.  He states: “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (see Matthew 9:13).

            At first glance, and in contrast to this, the words of the Gospel today seem to place a greater emphasis on the virtue of sacrifice.  Today we hear: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (see John 12:24). These words, biblically framed between the days leading up to the events of Holy Week, and the actual sufferings and death of Jesus, clearly tell us that sacrifice is a key component of the Christian life.

            But we might ask: “Where then does ‘mercy’ fit into this picture?”  In order to answer this question, I believe we must consider the example given by the entire life and ministry of Jesus.  His public ministry was one totally characterized by acts of care, compassion and mercy for others, especially towards those who were most in need, and towards those who were the most marginalized of society.  I believe the adjective “merciful” might perhaps best characterize the manner in which Jesus related to the people he served.  It was precisely because of this that the Pharisees, the other religious “leaders” of his day, and the secular Roman authorities were so infuriated by him.  For this reason they decided to have him arrested, persecuted and killed.

            It is exactly because of the mercy Jesus had shown towards others, that he was led to the Cross on Calvary.  In this sense, it is clear to us who are Christian that the virtues of mercy and sacrifice cannot be understood apart from one another.

            During these days of Lent we have practiced the great virtues of prayer, fasting and alms-giving.  May these acts of sacrifice and mercy truly unite our lives to Jesus, and may they lead us joyfully to the hope of new life offered to each one of us at Easter!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

     Find me on Facebook by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/frayteo

God Takes Our Burdens Upon Himself, the Fourth Sunday of Lent–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

     The truth is that many of us carry burdens in our lives.  For some, these burdens might be only situational, minor and insignificant, while for others they might be chronic, great and troublesome.  Some of us may find ourselves vacillating between simply tolerating our light burdens on the one hand, and anxiously trying to overcome those that are more difficult on the other.  In any event, and to whatever extent we have them, the burdens of our lives are very real to us!

     We may believe that these burdens have fallen upon us because we have sinned, or because we have lived less than perfect lives, or perhaps because we’ve just had plain old bad luck and/or misfortunes.  For some people, and in the worst case scenarios, the burdens of life might lead to senses of shame, hopelessness, despair and/or feelings of great personal guilt.

     When these types of negative self-perceptions take hold, those who have them may conclude that they are also disqualified from loving relationships with God and/or with other people.  I believe that in contrast to such thoughts, but keeping in mind the possibility of these very real negative emotions, the Gospel today offers us a very different and positively encouraging message (see John 3:14-21).

     The Gospel clearly teaches us to have great hope and confidence in a God who takes all of our burdens upon himself, and who loves us more than we can ever possibly imagine!  Today, we hear that oft quoted passage from John 3:16 which says: “for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  These beautiful words are immediately followed with “for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (see John 3:17).  These celebrated verses of the Gospel highlight a basic teaching of our Christian faith which says that even though we are sinners and although we are not yet perfected, our God does not condemn us and he loves us without condition, and without end.

     Therefore, as we reflect on this message let us recall that our loving God promises to take upon himself all of our burdens, all of our problems, and all of our sins.  God knows our hearts; he knows our weaknesses, our struggles and our pains, and with his grace and through the great gift of Jesus, he desires to fill us with his eternal and absolute love.  If we truly believe this message, and we accept the great love of God, then we can begin to overcome the problems, doubts and pains caused by both the small and the great burdens we carry in our lives.

     My friends, as we continue on our Lenten journey, may we know that our God loves us more than we can ever truly understand, and may this fantastic and merciful love give us hope, and may it shape every aspect of our lives!  May the burdens be lifted . . .

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

     Find me on Facebook by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/frayteo

Jesus and the Money Changers, the Third Sunday of Lent–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

      In our Gospel today we are told about the event in which Jesus ejected the money changers and the traders from the temple (see John 2:13-25).  According to the passage, he was offended because they had made that holy place into “a marketplace.”

     It’s interesting to note that in John’s Gospel this event is placed at the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, while similar accounts found in Matthew, Mark and Luke place it at the end of his ministry and just before his passion and death.  In any event, what might we learn from this story?

     While some may choose to reflect upon the deeper theological symbolism of the story which clearly points to Jesus’ own death and resurrection, a simpler interpretation might give us insight into the manner in which Jesus teaches us about having respect for the poor and the neediest among us.

     As we reflect upon this Gospel account, we could ask “is it wrong to sell items, such as religious articles, raffle tickets, baked goods, candles, etc., inside of a church?”  If done with integrity, I don’t believe these types of activities and “exchanges of money” would be anything at all like what was going on in the Jerusalem temple.  I truly don’t believe Jesus would have been offended if he had arrived in our church today and had found that some members of a faithful parish organization had set up a table in order to sell cupcakes for a fund raiser!

     The anger displayed by Jesus in the temple was actually directed toward those who had blatantly taken advantage of poor and needy people; his anger was compounded by the fact that they had used the sacred temple area, the house of God, in order to feed their greed and malice.

     In those days many people had to come from very far distances and had to endure difficult journeys in order to make those pilgrimages to Jerusalem and to the temple.  When they arrived, they would have needed to purchase provisions for their visit.  For example, they may have needed to change their money and then they had to buy sacrificial offerings that were ordinarily given to the priests of the temple.  With the approval of the religious leaders, the money changers and the traders, all of whom had colluded together, had been charging extremely high prices for those services and those items.  They controlled trade in the temple and had great advantages over the faithful who visited that place.  This angered Jesus because he knew that they had been acting with great selfishness, and with avarice, and therefore had not respected those poor and needy people who had come from so far with only the desire to serve and to offer worship to God.  From this perspective it is easy to understand why Jesus was so angered by their behaviors.

     And so the simple lesson for us, as we reflect on this Gospel, is that if we take advantage of people who are poor and needy, and we care only for our own interests (whether we are inside a temple or church, or not), then we might be just exactly like those religious leaders, those money changers, and those traders who are featured in today’s Gospel!  If so, then there can be no doubt that Jesus would be equally angered by our actions as well, and we would too have to suffer the punishment given to those who do such things and who bring great offense to our God.  Therefore my friends, let’s follow the example of Jesus and always respect others, especially those who are poor and/or marginalized, and those who are most in need.  Amen!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

     Find me on Facebook by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/frayteo

The Sacrifice of Isaac, and the Transfiguration of Jesus, the Second Sunday of Lent–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

     In today’s Scripture readings we are presented with two astonishing stories.  In the first reading we hear about the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham (see Genesis 22:1-18), and in the Gospel we hear about the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain (see Mark 9:2-10).  In both of these accounts we find themes which tell of the need for possible suffering as a part of the process of achieving salvation, the goal of faith.

     In the first reading, which is in many ways difficult to understand, Abraham obediently followed the command of God to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Abraham as he traveled with his beloved son to that place of the anticipated sacrifice.

     In the Gospel, God the Father prepared Peter, James and John for the suffering and death of Jesus as he commanded “this is my Son, listen to him.”  We know that these same followers of Jesus were later put to the test when they accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem, and where they witnessed his crucifixion and death.

     Both of today’s Scripture stories allude to the need for faith, obedience and suffering before the glory of the victory can be achieved.  The question for us is: “as we continue our Lenten journey, what can we learn from the message contained in these readings?”

     We know that Abraham had to look beyond the terrible difficulty of the choice placed before him; he had to walk in faith and reject any fear he might have had that God would not remain faithful to him.  The three apostles experienced a “changed world” because of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  Because of it, they began to realize the difficult journey ahead of them and the great responsibilities they would have as faithful disciples.  Although it might have been easier for each of the people in today’s readings to live in fear, they all had to look at their changed worlds, and they were each challenged to accept the responsibilities and possible sufferings they would likely endure.

     People who have confident faith, such as Abraham, Peter, James, and John, are able to remain positive, and they are able to prevail in the face of any possible trials and sufferings.  Such people are always able to proclaim, as did the apostles that “it is good to be with God.”  Perhaps in our own lives, we have suffered valiantly in the various trials and difficulties of life, and then we have used those sufferings in order to achieve closer relationships with God.  Perhaps we have been inspired by others we have known who have done this as well.

     My friends, as we continue our Lenten journey, and the day to day struggles of our own lives, may we too walk by faith and not ever live in fear.  May we see the glory of God all around us and live in the knowledge of his love, a love that lasts forever and that conquers all fears and sufferings!  May we always keep our eyes focused on our salvation, the goal of our faith!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

     Find me on Facebook by clicking on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/frayteo