Jesus reacted to the criticism of not observing ritual washing prior to eating that was leveled at him from the Pharisees and scribes by recalling the tradition of the Prophets through the words of Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mk 7:6). For Jesus, following the law for the law’s sake is an empty act. What is important is encountering God, experiencing his love and forgiveness, developing a relationship with him, being transformed by him, and restoring what has been lost of being created in his image and likeness, so as to be able to glorify him by serving others and inviting others into communion with him. Jesus challenged the hyper scrupulosity and exactitude of the rules that had nothing to do with being humble servants of God.

Just laws and practices are those that are enacted to build up and empower ourselves and others through discipline and clear boundaries. They help keep us from being enslaved to our passions and sins and instead lead us to freedom for excellence, for fulfillment, and to experience a heart on fire with an ever-growing love that yearns for a relationship with God and each other, like a deer for running streams.

As with any game we play, there are rules and regulations, there are referees and officials to keep order. When the rules enforced encroach on the flow of the game, such that they inhibit the freedom of play, the game is stunted. When there is no enforcement, the game quickly devolves into chaos. When the rules are consistent, they provide the structure and boundaries that limit abuse, allow for the game to flourish, and the players to experience the freedom to actualize their potential, and as such, there is the experience of the true, the good, and the beautiful.

The first time I saw people skate, I was enraptured. I think I was seven. My father was working on a project at our local ice rink and even though we were not there to skate, I refused to leave until he took me on the ice. It didn’t matter that the only skates to rent that fit my feet were figure skates. It didn’t matter that my first attempt was a dismal failure. What mattered was that I made it to the ice and the joy of that experience carried me as I learned the rules of balance, how to stop and what a toe kick was and was not for. Soon I had the freedom not only to skate but to join a hockey team. The freedom and joy I felt any time I skated or played hockey, I still carry with me to this day.

The Church, when we are at our best, is the same. We don’t lead with the rules and moralizing, but instead, we share our time, presence, and the joy of our faith. We empower and support one another as we enter into the play between our finite freedom and God’s infinite freedom. We are built for a relationship with God and one another and as our relationship matures, we start to learn and share the finer points of our life of faith. We experience the meaning of why we do what we do and why certain thought patterns and actions lead us either away from or closer to God. There is a unique balance between the rules and the freedom of play.

Loving someone does not mean we allow them to do whatever they want, but in willing their good, we offer invitations, options, and establish boundaries that will provide opportunities for growth, maturity, and authentic freedom. We are going to make mistakes, I have made plenty. The key is recognizing that we are on a journey together. As we walk together, we support and learn from one another. In this way, the boundaries and rules we follow are meant to set a foundation for healthy relationships and actualizing who God invites us to be; joyful, human beings that are fully alive!

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Photo: About eight or nine, living the dream on the ice! I still have my hockey skates. Still hoping to get back on the ice!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, February 8, 2022

“Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed” (Mk 6:56).

The people of Jesus’ time were in need of healing, hungry to draw closer to God, often searching, wandering, and wounded. This is just as true for us today. Though Jesus is not as visible to us as he was to those in the land of Gennesaret, he is just as present if not closer. We who receive Jesus in his Word proclaimed and we who receive his Body and Blood, we who receive his healing, mercy, and grace are sent forth to bring Jesus to others.

We are not to go home as if nothing of any significance just happened in our gathering as the Mystical Body of Christ at Mass. Jesus does not send us to walk around with an air of superiority over others, to judge and condemn people, to refuse to help people because we feel they deserve the condition they are in, that they are illegal, that they chose their lifestyle, that they are lazy and just need to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Jesus was and is not indifferent to the plight of others.

Pope Francis was asked in an interview by Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J., in 2013, “What does the church need most at this historic moment?” And Pope Francis answered, “that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle.” We need to be “near”, in the same “proximity”, to bear Christ to one another: “The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all.”

Jesus, please help us to be present, to come near, and bring your love, mercy, forgiveness, and be willing to enter into the chaos of one another. Help us to resist the temptation to keep others at a distance and refuse to be indifferent to the needs of those you bring to us in their time of need. May we too, in the words of Pope Francis, go out to “heal the wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful” by being willing to accompany others in their sorrows, anxiety, trials, and tribulations.

People are really hurting all around us. Help us to let go of the need to fix them or fix their problems. Jesus, help us to be present, to listen, to hear, and be open to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us at the appropriate time, so that, in the end, we do not prevent people from encountering Jesus, but provide a means for them to encounter the divine physician and be healed..

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Photo: Class of 2017 expressing some pre-Covid nearness and proximity!

Spadaro, S.J., Antonio. “A Big Heart Open to God: An interview with Pope Francis”. America Magazine. September 30, 2013 Issue: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2013/09/30/big-heart-open-god-interview-pope-francis

Link for Mass readings for Monday, February 8, 2021

“Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed” (Mk 1:35). This was a common practice of pious Jews at the time. The intent was to spend time away from the everyday hustle and bustle, to be still, to better be able to connect with God. Jesus is making the effort and time to do the same, to go off to a place of quiet and stillness before the day’s activity begins, and to seek guidance from his Father as to how best to proceed in his ministry. When Simon Peter is able to track Jesus down, Jesus expresses the guidance he received to move on to the nearby villages to preach there also.

I have found the practice also very beneficial. In the early 90’s when I entered the Franciscans, I learned how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. During my first week of participating in this practice, a verse resonated with me: “My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready. I will sing, I will sing your praise. Awake my soul, awake lyre and harp, I will awake the dawn” (cf. Psalm 57). There is a feeling and experience of peace, renewal, and empowerment with making the time to “awake the dawn.”

I have been blessed (except for the past month as I have been recovering) with the ability to wake the dawn over the past fifteen years or so. Having the privilege and opportunity to teach for eight and a half years at Rosarian Academy and for the past seven now Cardinal Newman HS, I begin each day in the chapel sitting quietly and praying the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer. It is nice to begin the morning slowly with God, to be infused with his Word and to be in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, then to go forth into the day to share the joy of that morning’s encounter. I also periodically stop by the chapel throughout the day and stop before going home, to be still and quiet, looking at Jesus while he looks at me.

If arising before dawn is not a practice you experience already, I invite you to take one day in the week to wake up the dawn. It is tempting to press the snooze button and get another 20-30 minutes of sleep. Yet, I have found something about the stillness before the dawn, experiencing night giving way to the morning light, hearing the bird song begin, all the while in conjunction with spending that time with God in prayer, has been a blessing and a gift. May you open this gift sometime this week!

Photo: tabernacle and sanctuary lamp in the chapel at Cardinal Newman High School, before the dawn. I am looking forward to returning to waking the dawn at CN soon!!!

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, February 7, 2021

After hearing the accounts of the missionary trip, Jesus invited his apostles to step away from the crowds “to a deserted place [to] rest awhile” (Mk 6:31). Jesus is showing the apostles the importance of balance. There are times to serve and times to recharge, to reconnect, and spend some quiet and reflective time with him. Jesus is our model, our guide and teacher, but he is at the same time more than that. Jesus is the source and sustenance of who we are as a living craving, hunger, and desire to be one with God and each another. As the deer longs to refresh itself from the waters of a running stream, we long to be nourished by the living water, Jesus, and this is true for the atheist as well as the mystic alike, for each and every one of us, whether we are aware of this reality or not.

Our thirst for communion can be stifled because it is so easy to be caught up in our day to day schedule, life’s demands, and even sometimes survival. There is so much that needs to be done, and at the same time, there are so many distractions and diversions that vie for our energy and attention. In today’s Gospel, the intent of Jesus is to escape with his apostles for some rest and renewal. They get in a boat to do just that, yet the crowd that they thought they had left behind has arrived on the other side before they did! “When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things” (Mk 6:34). So much for being able to “rest away for awhile”! Or maybe the boat ride across was that moment of rest.

I am doing my best to embrace this time I have been given to rest and renew as I recover from Covid and pneumonia (negative test result for Covid test just came today!), as well as discern how to be more balanced with the time and energy I invest when I come up and out of this on the other side.

Choosing five to ten minutes to be still, to rest in the Lord, may not seem like much but can make a huge difference. Our challenge is to be able to discern and develop a healthy balance that becomes fruitful through aligning our will with Jesus. When we intentionally put God first and make the time each day to spend with him, often there is a serendipitous alignment that we experience in our day, that we did not think possible at the outset. This often happens when we consciously make time for stillness, for meditations and prayer, even and especially, during the moment when we may feel we just don’t have the time.

Today is Saturday. Give yourself a five-minute retreat. Read today’s Gospel slowly and reflectively. Then step into and sit in the boat with Jesus and his disciples. Breathe in deep, let your head fall back to feel the breeze of the Sea of Galilee, feel the warmth of the sun on your face, and experience the rhythm of the boat on the water. Does Jesus remain silent and rest with you? Does he begin to teach, what does he share? In your time of quiet, do you have questions for him, what do you ask, and what is his answer? Enter into the experience, and when the boat comes to shore, go forth into the day renewed and blessed by Jesus so to go forward with a heart and mind able to be moved with compassion to serve others.

From such periods of renewal, we can better embrace interruptions in our days with the heart and compassion of Jesus, as encounters and opportunities of service.

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Photo: On the ferry to Coronado Island, CA, June 2014. Enjoying a little downtime.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, February 6, 2021

The king was deeply distressed, but because of his oaths and the guests he did not wish to break his word to her (Mk 6:26).

The king referenced in today’s Gospel is the tetrarch, Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great. He reveals the weakness of his character when he calls for the beheading of John the Baptist. He made a decision regarding the life of another person to protect an oath that he should never have made to the daughter of his wife, and ought to have stood up and shared that the dignity of the life of John the Baptist was worth more than his foolish promise.

We, unfortunately, have seen too much of this kind of leadership on the secular as well as the religious stage. Too many people who are in positions of power from the smallest to the highest levels of governance have made choices that are not in the best interest of the people they are to serve nor have they sought to stand up for and empower the dignity of the person but instead have chosen to protect self-interest, seek self-preservation, or sell out to immediate expediency.

Too many are ready to protect their ego, institutions, party, tribe, at the expense of the dignity of the unborn, children, immigrants, those of a different gender, race, ethnicity, and/or class. Jesus did the opposite. Jesus called children, who were being prevented to come to him to be healed, he raised the daughter of Jairus back to life, Jesus offered hospitality to the tax collectors, Matthew and Zacchaeus, Jesus acknowledged the faith of the Canaanite woman, the woman with a hemorrhage, and stood up for the woman caught in adultery.

Time and again, Jesus showed the moral courage to stand up for and empower those who were considered as other, those on the peripheries, those considered somehow less. He ultimately did so again for all of humanity, when he was willing to be nailed to the Cross for each one of us, to die and conquer death, that each one of us might have life, and have it to the full. May Jesus empower us to grow in moral courage so we too will stand up for the dignity of the person at all stages of development from the womb to the tomb, and implore that our leaders do the same.

Painting: “Forgiven” by Yongsung Kim, Jesus showing his moral courage in standing up for the woman caught in adultery.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, February 5, 2021

The rejection of Jesus by those in his hometown did not slow down his mission. We can imagine that Jesus knew what he was going to do already, but en route wanted to stop by to see if any from his “native land” would like to participate in his public outreach. Apparently, no one did, so without missing a beat, Jesus went ahead and, “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits” (Mk 6:7). Jesus summons us and sends us out as well.

At the end of each Mass, we are sent, just as the Apostles, to proclaim the Good News! All of us as the Body of Christ, believers in Jesus the Christ, the baptized, are to live as his disciples and bear witness to how Jesus has transformed our lives. This is best done by acknowledging that God is the center of our lives and recognizing, empowering, and standing up for the dignity of each person that we have been given the grace to encounter. This is to be foundational in the way we think, speak about, speak to and act toward one another. Our call of evangelization is also unique, for each one of us has a particular charism and gift that the Holy Spirit imparts within us.

Jesus is the one who calls, sends, and empowers us for mission. We are sanctified, made holy, when we say yes to his will, participate in the sacramental life and in his life of service. Jesus not only teaches with authority, but he also calls and sends us with that same authority. We are to rely on the divine providence of our Father, meaning he will prepare us and provide that which we need to accomplish the task he has given us, and he will also send the Holy Spirit and others to provide help, aid, guidance, and support. We see this over and over again in the lives of the saints.

At first sight, we may not agree with God’s choosing, his choosing us, or the others he sends to help us! Yet, we only need to recall what he accomplished with the Apostles, remembering the simple beginnings they came from and the wonders they accomplished in Jesus’ name. We also need to remember that God does not see as we do, for we are often misled by appearances “or lofty stature” but God sees into the depths of the heart. He sees the character and potential of each of us (cf 1 Samuel 16:7).

Let us be about building up the reign of God, be willing to be empowered by Jesus and those he brings into our lives, as well as be willing to empower, encourage, and support others. May we pray and be open to what God is calling us to do to serve him, to be willing to encounter others and will their good without seeking anything in return.

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Photo: Two fine young Crusaders of integrity just before graduation a few years back!

Link for Mass readings for Thursday, February 4, 2021

Today’s Gospel reading is a sad account. Jesus preached and taught in his “native place”, but for the most part, his words were not received, he did not perform healings, exorcisms, he was not able to bring those who knew him for the greater majority of his life into deeper communion with his Father. The whole reason that he came was to bring light to a world suffering in darkness, and those closest to him refused the invitation such that: “he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith” (Mk 6:6).

Is our world today becoming more and more like Jesus’ “native place”? Do we take Jesus for granted, if we pay attention to him at all? Many expend more energy on cynicism, taking care of number one, and an uncritical acceptance of empiricism or scientism. Again, a sad state because science is an awesome gift. Science and faith come from the same source, our intrinsic ability to embrace wonder! These two are not incompatible. Authentic faith seeks understanding. A questioning and searching mind are the ingredients for a living, relevant, and vibrant faith and life.

Faith without reason, as well as reason without faith, leads to a more limited understanding of the vast expanse of creation. Scientism is limiting the very gift of science itself because it stops when the questions get really interesting, when the exploration goes beyond the measurable, the sensate experiences as we know them. Faith without reason can devolve into mere superstition.

May we resist setting limits, settling for a minimalist or cynical approach, and the hardening of our hearts, and instead open ourselves up to the limitless possibilities God opens up before us! There is so much to experience in God’s creation if we just slow down and are still enough to experience the wonder of our everyday moments all around us. The Holy Spirit works through each of us when we resist keeping each other at a distance and are willing to encounter and accompany one another. We can experience so much more by embracing our faith and reason, and opening our hearts and minds to the wonder and glory of God, which is the human being fully alive!

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Photo: Fort Funston Beach, San Francisco, CA

Link for the Mass reading for Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Simeon, a righteous and devout man of Israel, had received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that before his death he would behold the Messiah, “the Christ of the Lord” (Lk 2:26). We do not know how long Simeon was waiting, we do not know how old he was when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple. How many people had crossed his path, how many times must he have turned his head wondering when a family brought a male child to be presented to the Lord, “Is this the one?”

Today we recall the presentation of Jesus in the temple, the day in which Simeon’s waiting, his growing anticipation, comes to fulfillment. “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel” (cf. Lk 2:29-32). He can now go to his eternal rest in peace.

We can see in the presentation of Jesus more than a pious act though. In this event, the glory of God had returned to the Temple in the presence of this infant. What Simeon said and experienced as he held up this baby, is still true for us today. Jesus the Christ has come to us, to lead us “out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9), for, Jesus is the Temple, the embodiment of the Living God, where heaven and earth meet, where the divine and human are one.

May we spend some time in prayer today imagining ourselves holding the infant Jesus in our arms, as did Simeon, looking into his eyes, and allowing his smile, his giggle, to fill us with his unconditional love and mercy. As we adjust and cradle him in the crook of our arm and reach a hand to him, allow him to grasp our finger. In that simple touch, may we experience a warmth that radiates through our entire being melting all anxiety, doubt, and/or fear away. May anything that keeps us bound to darkness and sin be loosed such that we may feel the freedom of forgiveness and reconciliation. From this moment of experiencing Jesus in our time and place, may we give our life to him so that we too may radiate his light, his love, his mercy, and forgiveness to others. To love those whom Jesus sends us to encounter today.

Photo: Holy Family at St Peter Catholic Church

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Jesus and his disciples have entered the Gentile territory of the Gerasenes. As soon as they get out of the boat a man possessed by an unclean spirit rushes up to him. He himself was in a worse state than the storm that Jesus had stilled. He called himself Legion as he was possessed by many demons. He had been living in the tombs, away from society, family, and friends, some of whom had made multiple attempts to restrain him, cure him, bring him back to his right mind, but to no avail. The encounter with Jesus ultimately brought about the result of this man “sitting there clothed and in his right mind” (Mk 5:15). Jesus was able to liberate this man from his desperate state. If you have not done so, I recommend reading the full account (Mk 5:1-20).

Many scoff at the healing power and miracles of Jesus, and they certainly would also discount demonic possession. Though rare, there are still cases today. A strict approach of scientism that only accepts the empirical, only that which can be measured by the five senses, discounts not only the divinity of Jesus and the reality of God but any talk of a spiritual realm. This is unfortunate because this is a limited approach to understanding the fullness of creation. We ourselves are both physical and spiritual. A healthy embrace and experience of both will help us to better appreciate and understand the world around us.

Too many today are in the same need of experiencing the liberating power of Jesus as the Gerasene. Just as chaotic and tumultuous, especially among too many of our youth, are those who are consumed and imprisoned by the vice grip of addiction. Family members and friends reach out desperately to help, to provide aid, and find themselves in the same situation as those who sought to care for this man who had been living in the tombs. Somehow this man caught “sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him” (Mk 5:6). There must have been some ember at the core of who he was that could still move and bring himself to Jesus.

We need to join in prayer and seek the best means to provide support and aid for all those suffering, bound, and shackled by the wide range of addictions that plague too many today. This growing epidemic damages individuals, families, and friends and could benefit from a unified approach of the best that science, psychology, prayer, and spiritual direction can offer. Each of us is ensnared at some level and seek to be free to feel the harmony and peace we were created for.

Jesus is the light that can reach into even the deepest darkness of our internal imprisonment. Yet we must choose, as did the Gerasene demoniac to surrender to Jesus. May we resist the temptation to flee from him, and instead run into his open arms. Resting in the grip of his embrace, we will come to know that we are not alone in our suffering, that our deepest anguish, sin, and wounds can be healed.

Jesus is stronger than any evil that seeks to bind and divide any of us, and we claim victory in his name and by the power of his word for all those who are suffering from any form of possession and/or addiction. May Jesus lead all of us to freedom, to our right mind, and like the Gerasene man who was healed in today’s Gospel account, experience the fullness of his healing whereby we too may go forth to help others to find the same path to atonement, redemption, liberation, and restoration.

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Photo by Alan Ferreira from Pexels

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, February 1, 2021

Yesterday we read how Jesus, “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still” (Mk 4:39)! Today we read how Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and said, “Quiet! Come out of him” (Mk 1:25)! In both cases and throughout the Gospels, Jesus is showing his authority as Lord of All. The power he wields is the divine outpouring of the Love shared between himself and his Father who is the Holy Spirit which is extended out to us.

We are invited to participate in the same life and authority of the love of Jesus. The question is, do we want to? We are inclined to sin, have adopted sinful tendencies and habits, and are entrenched in debilitating defense mechanisms that have developed over years, and maybe, even unbeknownst to us, we have even entertained and executed the influences of demons. These negative attributes will not dissolve overnight. What we can do on this Lord’s Day, is determine and decide who today is the Lord of our life. Is it us or Jesus? If you choose Jesus, read on.

May we make some time today to sit and examine our conscience and identify a habit, a thought pattern, something in our life that is counter to serving the will of God. Call to mind the seven deadly sins of pride, avarice (greed), envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, sloth, or acedia (CCC 1866) and choose one to uproot. Clearly identify it and then rebuke it in the name of Jesus. Then, as we continue into the day, and at the very instant the temptation arises again, at the moment it seeps into our thoughts, we need to use the words of Jesus and in his name rebuke it again, again, “In Jesus’ name: Pride, Quiet, be still!” or “In Jesus’ name: Pride, Quiet, come out of me!”

We also need to replace that which we have uprooted. As we identify and uproot the capital sins, those main roots that nourish many other negative and sinful behaviors, we must replace them by learning and putting into practice the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, courage, and the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. We must realize in this work of healing, that alone we will not succeed, for we must align our will and discipline with the power of his name. When we call upon the name of Jesus in seeking healing for ourselves and others, he is present and will work through us just as he did when he healed and cast out unclean spirits as has been expressed in our readings.

Where the light and love of Jesus the Christ is present, no darkness can remain. May we be willing to hold the healing hand of Jesus, our Blessed Redeemer, that he may reveal to us that which is keeping us from his Father and so choose to repent and experience the healing power of his Love. May we be willing to discipline ourselves and re-align ourselves with the guidance of Emmanuel, God with us. May we be willing to surrender our lives to Jesus, to become holy, to become saints, to be his instruments of his love and healing.

Photo: 4th century mural of Jesus from catacomb of Commadilla

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, January 31, 2021

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/012818.cfm