Jesus said to his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). If taken in a purely secular, non-religious, or non-biblical sense, this teaching of Jesus from his Sermon on the Mount may not ring true. Some people have also left their faith behind because they have asked something of God and from their perspective, they did not receive what they asked for.

To understand this verse we need to understand a few key points. One is that God is God and we are not. That means that we do not have the full scope and sequence of God’s infinite viewpoint. We can only see from our limited finite perspective. Our God, who is Good, will only give us that which is good for us and that which serves his ultimate purpose. What we are asking for may appear to be good, but may not, in fact, be truly good, and/or in our best interest beyond the moment. If someone wants to say, well, I ought to be able to decide that! That means they have missed the first point, God is God and we are not.

Another point that I have learned from Bishop Robert Barron is that “Your life is not about you.” We are created by God for a reason and a specific purpose. Our life is about fulfilling our role in God’s theodrama. We are not the director in the great play of life, God is, but we do have a unique and significant part to play! God does not need us but desires us to share in his work of salvation history. What God requires of us, he will give us the means and support necessary to fulfill it. We also need to remember that when we experience the forgiveness, love, and mercy of God, that experience is not for ourselves alone, but we are to receive these precious gifts and give them away!

A third point that can be helpful comes from C.S. Lewis: “I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God. It changes me.” If we pray to God to bend his will toward ours then we are going to come away from prayer frustrated time and again. Our time of prayer with God has to do with answering his invitation to spend time with him, being willing to participate with his plan, and then being willing to share what he has given us in his love to share with others. In this way, we become transformed by his love and his grace builds on our nature.

As we make time to pray this Lent, let us approach our time with the proper orientation of recognizing that God is God and we are not, that our life is not about us but about coming to understand and how to follow the will of God, and acknowledging that our prayer does not change God, but instead does change and conform us to his will. When we approach prayer from these three points of reference, we can be confident that we will grow in our relationship with him and what we ask of God will be given to us, what we seek we will find, and when we knock, the door will be open.

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Photo: One of my favorite pictures of St. Mother Teresa at prayer which I framed shortly after her death.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, March 10, 2022

There is something greater here. Something greater than the wisdom of Solomon and something greater than the preaching of Jonah. Following the way of Jesus is a faith we are called to live daily. This is not a part-time vocation. We all have a unique gift in the dignity we have been conceived and born with. We have a unique way to express and live out our dignity as well. Unfortunately, what happens with most of us is that we are tempted, misdirected, distracted, and diverted as to what God would have us do and as a result we are often unplugged from the very source of our existence.

As Jesus taught, often in his parables, the kingdom of Heaven on earth starts small, like a mustard seed, like yeast, and develops slowly when nurtured. Lent is a good time to slow down, step back, take a retreat even while in the midst of our everyday activities. We just need to insert some dedicated time to God each day so as to better be able to acknowledge his presence in our activities.

If you are feeling a bit restless, on edge, or out of sync, I invite you to make some time to be still and breathe, this can be while in the shower, when you have some breakfast, a morning walk, or taking a sip of coffee or tea. During this time ask God for some guidance. We can ask him to help us see those areas that we need to repent from and let go of, those thoughts, words, and actions that keep us distracted, redirected, and off-kilter as to who God is calling us to be. We can then confess to him and receive his forgiveness and reconciliation.

God invites us to come to the silence to also be able to sit with our wounds and traumas. Many times we do not want to be still or quiet because there may be unresolved issues, hurts, and/or pain that we would rather not face. We may even believe in the lie that if we feel that we will become completely undone. God is present and waiting, inviting us to come to experience acceptance and love as we are, to feel safe to be vulnerable and honest and from this place of truth, begin with simple steps being to walk the path to our freedom.

Jesus said in today’s Gospel that, “There is something greater here.” Christianity is not a secret sect. We are called to share the joy, the forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation we experience from God with others, even with, as Jonah found out, our enemies. We are to look for opportunities to offer a smile, even from our eyes while wearing our masks, an encouraging word, to reach out to someone we have been meaning to connect with for a while, in person or far away, and/or someone that we may sense just needs a listening ear. We can also react less by asking for God’s patience to be more understanding. Just as we are hurting, so are so many others.

Lent can be a joyful time when we enter into the season with the intent to deepen our walk with the One who is wiser than Solomon and preached repentance and reconciliation. With our hearts and minds turned back and open to God, Lent will not so much be a drudgery to endure, but a joyful embrace of the opportunity for experiencing a change of mind such that we are more open to dialogue, forgiveness, healing, sharing the joy, reconciliation, and contributing to building up the kingdom of God one healing at a time!

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Photo: Afternoon stillness, never know what the quiet will reveal in our depths.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Jesus begins his teaching on prayer by stating that prayer is not babbling. When we pray we are to resist just saying empty words that have no meaning or just praying in words that we think God wants us to hear. We are to pray from our heart.

Prayer, first and foremost, is a response to the Holy Spirit moving within us, urging us to pray, “for we do not know how to pray as we ought” (cf. Romans 8:26). We are to speak honestly to God in our prayers. One of the most honest prayers I prayed was when I was around eight years old and overheard my parents discussing the idea of getting a divorce. I said to God that if I woke up in the morning and he allowed this to happen we were through. When we pray we bring our struggles and petitions, as well as our joys and prayers of Thanksgiving, and let us not forget, we are to be still and silent as well to listen for his word or his silence.

Though I walked away from God that night, he did not walk away from me. He provided a release and a place to sleep and he accompanied as I bumbled about for a time. He continued to place small bread crumbs along the way back to him. A story for another time.

We can get a real taste of speaking from the heart in reading the psalms which covers the full range of our human emotions as well as expressions of prayers of blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. We will even come across a reading like Psalm 88, which may not appeal to us at the moment, as it is such a psalm of despair, yet someone, somewhere, might be feeling that prayer and we can read and pray it for others if we are not feeling the same way.

In our Gospel today, we read Matthew’s familiar version of the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father. It presents two ways to pray. First, it is a rote prayer that we memorize word for word. The blessing of a rote prayer is we can pray it in communion with others, as we all know the same words. Another important gift of rote prayers is that we can pray them when we are physically in pain or emotionally distraught when we feel we can’t pray. Having prayed the Our Father daily, it is a prayer we can lean on to give us strength through the storms of our life. Praying the Our Father gives us the words to speak when we have none, and by loosening our tongues, we can come to a place where we can speak more freely with God and experience the peace of his presence.

The Lord’s Prayer is also a model of prayer such that each word or phrase can be a starting point to enter into a deeper and loving dialogue. As an example, we begin with the words, “Our Father.” This is a reminder that God is the Father of us all and the beginning of all prayer. His sun shines on the good and the bad alike. Our prayer begins by putting our self in his presence and recognizing that we are all interconnected.

God, our Father, is with us even when we experience fear, feel forgotten, misunderstood, or alone. God loves us more than we can ever imagine, and our every desire to pray is already a prayer because we are responding to his invitation to spend time with him. Calling on his name is a reminder that he is always present and he hasn’t forsaken us. He provides our daily bread and forgives us as we forgive others. The flip side is that God also rejoices with us, for the joy of God is the human being fully alive!

I invite your to carve out some time today to pray the Our Father s-l-o-w-l-y. Allow whatever is going on in our life to enter into the recitation and remember that the best dialogue allows each party involved to spend some time listening to the other. As St Mother Teresa taught, “God speaks in the silence of our hearts.” By making some time to pause, to be still, and not rush through the prayer, to listen silently to God, we might just be able to come into the rest of our day better able to listen to each other a little better as well.

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Photo: As far back as I can remember, my grandfather prayed the Our Father before meals during holiday dinners. Who taught you to pray?

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

How we treat each other matters. How we speak to each other or about each other matters. Even how we think about each other matters because our actions come from our thoughts. If we are able to be mindful of how we think we can be more aware of our actions. We do not have to immediately react, we can think before we act. We can discern how what we are about to do will affect the person before us.

One way to put this into practice is to follow the psychologist, Dr. John Gottman’s 5:1 principle. When you think a negative thought about someone and before you share that thought, think and write down five affirming thoughts about that person. Many times we will find that by the time that we get to the fifth compliment we will have forgotten the negative quip.

Jesus is very clear in today’s Gospel from Matthew, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:45). All of us are interconnected. What we do to one another affects everyone. When we throw a stone into the middle of a pond, the ripples of the water circle out to touch the bank and go even beyond the bank. This same ripple effect happens with our thoughts, words, and actions. Our inaction also matters.

When we are moved by the Holy Spirit to reach out to help someone in need, to be more understanding, kind, and to be willing to move beyond our prejudices and biases, and we don’t, we are cutting ourselves off from Jesus. Yet, when we do listen, risk, and move out toward another in love, we put Jesus’ teaching into practice, we begin the healing of our relationship with God, ourselves, and each other.

St. Mother Teresa called this verse her five finger gospel. She taught each person in her order and each person she had the opportunity to pass it on to that each finger on her hand represented the words: you – did – it – to – me. When we entertain a thought today, are about to form a word, and are about to follow through on an action, may we first look at the five fingers of our hand before following through. Would we continue to think the thought, say the word, or follow through on the action if Jesus was in front of us? Because he is. For what we do to each other we do to Jesus.

Give somebody a Gospel five today!

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Photo: A CN high five moment!

Dr. John Gottman’s 5:1 principle I learned from Dr. Arthur Brooks’s discussion with Bishop Robert Barron through the Word on Fire Institute. To watch Dr. Brooks talk on loving our enemies and to consider becoming a member of the Institute: wordonfire.institute/bishop-barron-presents-nov-2019/

Link for St Mother Teresa sharing her five finger gospel starts about 30 seconds in:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL2aQWeWAmE

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, March 6, 2022

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. (Luke 4:1-2). Jesus experiences the temptations of Satan, the one who tempted Adam and Eve, the father of lies, the accuser, the slanderer. Satan is one who seeks division, disunity, and we dismiss the reality of his presence at great risk. On the other hand we often give him more power than he deserves. Jesus is tempted, but unlike Adam and Eve, he does not give in. Jesus remains grounded in the will of his Father and so Satan has no power over him.

Jesus could have dismissed Satan, yet he endured his temptation to teach us “how to triumph over temptation” (St Augustine 1976, 87). Jesus not only teaches us how, but empowers us to overcome Satan. The weakest Christian is more powerful than Satan himself, because we can call on the name of Jesus. This is not some magical incantation, but when we call on the name of Jesus, he, in the fullness of his humanity and his divinity, is present with us. God has given Jesus the name above every other name, so that as his word is spoken, every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth (cf. Philippians 2:9-10). Just as a floodlight shines in the darkness, the darkness gives way to the light. This is even more true with Jesus. Where Jesus is present there is love, such that no fear or evil can remain.

Jesus came to deify us. As St. Irenaeus wrote, and I am paraphrasing, Jesus became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity. When we give our life to Jesus, we become more like God and our image and likeness is restored as God created his in his image and likeness. We do so by committing daily to reading and meditating upon, praying with, and contemplating the Word of God shared in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, practicing acts of love through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, participating in the Mass and the sacraments as often as possible, and reading the lives of the saints and other enriching and empowering writings.

The more we are engaged in these practices, the more we are healed, transformed, and conformed from within to the love of God. As we continue to turn to God through the love of the Holy Spirit and the presence of his Son, there is no room for the devil in our lives, we will be better able to recognize and resist his temptations, and come to trust in Jesus all the more. Jesus was willing to suffer and die for us so that we may find a pathway that leads us away from sin, so that we don’t need to merely survive, and to be free to live life and live it to the full, now and into the fullness of the glory to God for eternity to come.

I had a dream some time ago, I am not sure how long now, but it is still just as vivid. I was sitting on a couch in the first floor of a house. The scene shifted so that I was seeing myself sitting on the couch from above and then my view was redirected to the attic. I witnessed a misshapen, dark figure rummaging through old boxes and newspapers. He embodied pure evil. I was then back in my body, and knew this creature was moving out of the attic and coming down the stairs to the room I was sitting in. My heart was pounding and I felt petrified as I heard his steps drawing closer. I was frozen in fear. In a few more moments, he came into view. What I saw was not the figure in the attic, but a handsome man, but I knew it was him. As he continued closer my fear increased, fearing that he would touch me. I felt frozen in place as I sat on the couch and he continued to walk closer. Then a hymn came to mind. He stopped the moment I began to sing, my fear began to dissipate and I woke up.

Evil tends to present itself at first as an apparent good, as attractive, as normal, otherwise we would reject it outright. Satan and his demons are active through whispers and nudges, they look for our weaknesses and through the same tactics as peer pressure, seek to inject their poison and manipulate our actions. I am not talking about possession here, I am just talking about their divisive influence. The most dangerous evil is the one masked in faith. Someone who can speak the verses of a Bible and quote chapter and verse does not a Christian make. The devil can do the same thing as we saw in today’s Gospel from Luke.

Each day we need to examine our conscience and assess honestly who we are serving. As with the Parable of the Talents, we cannot sit on our hands and do nothing like the wicked servant. That is the most effective tool Satan has, that he can influence us to do nothing, to be indifferent in the face of the dehumanization of the person in all of its forms. Another horror is when we rationalize what we know is unacceptable in ourselves as well as others, such as giving into the temptations of gossip, prejudicial, racist, and/or divisive talk, that lead to actions, such as the centurions who placed a robe and crown of thorns on the bloody, scourged body of Jesus and mocked him.

May we see in this icon of Jesus, scourged, bloody, wearing a crown of thorns, and mocked in our minds eye whenever we are tempted to or justify anyone who would, even in the smallest of ways, belittle, demean or degrade the dignity of another person, through thoughts, words, and/or actions, because what we do to the least among us, we do it to Jesus (cf. Mt 25:35-45). We also need to also resist the temptation of beating ourselves up when we have sinned, that is another trap, another lie, because we are still focused on ourselves, still caved in within ourselves, instead of opening up ourselves to the love of God and one another. When we are tempted, we can also remember and visualize whenJesus was tempted by Satan and resisted. We can experience the presence of Jesus, experience his love and his courage so to also recognize, resist, and triumph over the wiles of the devil.

It is helpful to assess our day, our thoughts, actions, and words with honesty and humility, thank God where we have said yes to his will and followed through on acting where he has led us, where we have loved, and ask for forgiveness for the part we have played in spreading the darkness of the father of lies. We leave less room for the allurements of Satan when we keep ourselves grounded not in ourselves, but in the will and love of God, just as Jesus did in the desert. When tempted, we can call on his name, “Jesus, I trust in you”, or sing his name! As St Augustine wrote, the one who sings prays twice.

“Trust in Jesus, my great Deliverer, my strong Defender, the Son of God. I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer, my Lord forever, the Holy One, the Holy One” (Chorus from Third Day’s song, “I Trust in Jesus”).

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Photo:”Temptation of Christ” (1872) by Vasily Surikov

Quote from St. Augustine in The Liturgy of the Hours. New York: The Catholic Publishing Co., 1976.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, March 5, 2022

Think about how good we feel after coming to be on the other side of healing from a bad cold or the flu, recovering from a twisted ankle, a broken collar bone, or other health conditions. We experience a feeling of wholeness that was missing during the midst of our suffering where we may have pondered a time or two whether or not we would ever get better.

The same can be said for estranged relationships. There is a distance of separation that can be agonizing, an inner gut-wrenching experience that gnaws away at us. We wonder if there can ever be a coming back together. When there is reconciliation, forgiveness, and amending of the brokenness of relationships, we can experience such a relief, lightness and joy, that we never imagined possible while in the midst of the gut wrenching angst, conflict and separation.

Sin separates us from one another, and unchecked sin can build and multiply like cancerous cells. The Pharisees and the scribes questioned why Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners, and Jesus replied: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners” (Lk 5:32).

Jesus is truly a light in the darkness. For Levi and his friends, who just settled for the path they were on, thinking and feeling, this is the best it was going to get, were given a choice, an invitation, a new way. A great celebration of fellowship ensued in Levi’s home because these men and women, who had been outcasts, who were separated from the greater community were forgiven, welcomed, and embraced. They were loved by Jesus as they were. They did not have to change first for Jesus to call Levi and gather with them.

They were welcomed into the kingdom and reign of God. Their ticket to reconciliation and healing was accepting the invitation of Jesus, to receive and experience his love and welcome. Levi and the other sinners did not run from the light of Jesus, but were willing to recognize their need for healing, were willing to repent, to turn away from their prior ways of life and so were reborn!

They were divinized because of their willingness to participate in the life of Jesus. Levi would continue to follow Jesus such that it was no longer he who lived, but Christ who lived in him (cf. Galatians 2:20)!

Jesus invites us each day, as he invited Levi in today’s Gospel, to follow him. We are given the same invitation and opportunity for healing and for discipleship. Will we resist rationalizing and justifying our sinful thoughts, actions, and habits, welcome the light of Jesus that reveals our venial and mortal sins, admit our need of healing, and repent so to be forgiven and released from all the energy we have expended in protecting and hiding from ourselves and our God who loves us more than we can ever mess up?

Quietly spending time daily, especially in the evening and recalling our day, by asking Jesus to reveal to us those ways in which we have not lived according to his will is a wonderful practice. Those venial sins we call to mind we can confess on the spot and Jesus will forgive us. As we recognize recurring actions or more grave sins, we will need a more direct human encounter by embracing the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Reconciliation is a gift of mercy and healing where we can experience firsthand the healing grace of Jesus.

Jesus loves us as we are. Yet holding on to our sin, keeps us at a distance from experiencing the greater breadth, depth, and width of his love. When we are willing to be contrite, to embrace sorrow for the harm we have inflicted with our personal sins, and go to the Divine Physician we receive his forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation. Once absolved, the heavy weight is lifted. We are then better able to engage in penance to atone for our sins committed, better able to forgive others as we have been forgiven, and better able to love as we have been loved!

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Photo: The Calling of St. Matthew (also known as Levi) by Carravagio, 1599-1600. Wonderful work to meditate upon for Lent!

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, March 5, 2022

Today is March 4, 2022 A.D. The letters, AD, stand not for after death or analog to digital, but Anno Domini. This is a Latin phrase that means in the year of our Lord. We are living in the age of the Church, as well as in between the time when Jesus experienced his life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven until he will come again.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read today about the account of Jesus comparing himself to a bridegroom: “The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Mt 9:15). In a sense, the bridegroom has been taken from us, in another sense, he is closer to us now than he was when he was with his disciples when he walked the earth. The fullness of his reign though will not be consummated until Jesus comes again, but while we wait, when we are willing to set aside other distractions and be still, we can hear and feel the beating of his Sacred Heart.

We need food for our survival, but we don’t need as much as we think we do! Fasting from food is not the only focus of our Lenten fast though. The discipline of fasting provides an opportunity to keep our passions in check. By resisting the impulse of instant gratification, we are able to better discern between apparent goods and the actual Good in our lives. When we are able to navigate through the maze of distractions, temptations, and allurements on a physical level, we can begin to go deeper into the spiritual reality to begin to expose some of the demons that we feed, such as “distrust, apathy, and resignation” that Pope Francis talked about in his Ash Wednesday homily a few years ago.

Pope Francis mentioned that these three demons “deaden and paralyze the soul of a believing people.” He continued by stating that: “Lent is the ideal time to unmask these and other temptations, to allow our hearts to beat once more in tune with the vibrant heart of Jesus.”

When we are willing to discipline our impulsiveness, to slow down, to take a breath, to be more mindful, we can begin to see more clearly our complacency, contempt, and indifference. We can then be more open to God’s invitation to enter into a relationship with him and each other. We can then better assume the posture of John the Apostle by resting our head on the chest of Jesus (cf John 13:25), such that our hearts will beat in the same rhythm as his Sacred Heart.

This is the gift of contemplation that drives us to service. This is the same rhythm that beat in the prophet Isaiah who reminds us in today’s first reading what true fasting is all about:  “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, and not turning your back on your own” (Isaiah 58:6-7).

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Photo: Sacred Heart of Jesus, lit up as I was leaving after our 5:30 pm Ash Wednesday Mass.

Link for Pope Francis homily:
https://aleteia.org/2018/02/14/pope-francis-offers-a-worksheet-for-lent-check-it-out/

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, March 4, 2022

Jesus said to his disciples and all who could hear him: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23). We can best take up our cross daily by putting into practice the three pillars of Lent offered yesterday, which are almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. These disciplines aid us in resisting the temptations of pride, power, pleasure, honor, and wealth.

Giving ourselves some time to be still and to breathe deeply is a good way to begin Lent. From this place of letting go and just stopping from everything else, we can then pray about how we can put these pillars of Lent into practice for these next forty days. If forty days are too much, think about the next week, or even just today.

As we make steps to slow down and be still, it is also wise to be aware of our own resistance to doing so. Are we willing to see and acknowledge our own sinful inclinations? Are we indifferent or fearful of being present to those in need within our reach? Praying and seeking the help of God and being open to his guidance in all areas of our life will provide the stepping stones that will lead to our healing.

Returning to prayer throughout the day will help to establish a habit and rhythm of prayer. This often is accomplished best when we schedule set times to meditate on the readings of Lent, to be still and rest in the Lord before the Eucharist in adoration or present in the tabernacle, pray the rosary, walk or sit among the beauty of God’s creation, and/or spend some quiet time reading a spiritual book, or the life of a saint. It is also good to just be silent and still. While at work, it can be as simple as stopping for a few moments at set times, say every three hours, to take a breath, and repeat a verse or short prayer, such as, “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me.”

Each day it is helpful to evaluate what we consume, what time and energy we expend, and discern, what we can fast from. Define the types of food that really aren’t healthy for us, what activities that we can let go of so we can devote more time to practices that empower, encourage, and lift up others as well as ourselves. We can fast from thinking, speaking, or acting in any way that is unkind, belittling, or demeaning.

When we put something in place that will help build a foundation for a closer walk with Jesus we are taking something out of our life that could lead us astray. Jesus guides us in today’s Gospel to take up our cross and follow him, meaning we are to discipline ourselves so as to free ourselves from that which enslaves us.

We can take up our cross today when we make time to pray, to be still, and follow God’s will. We can take up our cross when we fast from any negative, demeaning, or derogatory thoughts, words, or actions and instead be encouraging, hopeful, and loving. We can take up our cross when we embrace opportunities to give of our time, talent, and treasure to build up and provide access to those around us. We can take up our cross today and each day during this season of Lent so that we may know better the One who died on the cross for us, the One who gave his life for us that we might have life and have it to the full!

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Photo: Jesus with the Cross, Mission San Luis del Rey de Francia, Oceanside, CA

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, March 3, 2022

In our Gospel reading from Matthew today, Jesus presents us with the three pillars of Lent: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. With each pillar, he cautions his disciples to resist the temptation of engaging in these spiritual practices such that the focus is placed on us, such that we believe we ought to receive accolades for our efforts. The purpose of almsgiving, prayer, and fasting is to grow in true humility, which is placing ourselves in a posture of surrendering our will to God, to come to a place within our being that we can love as Jesus loves us, to will the good of the other as other for their own sake, not seeking anything in return.

We give to others not “to win the praise of others”, not even to receive thanks, but specifically because another is in need of our help. We pray, not “that others may see” us, to puff ourselves up, but to empty ourselves into the arms of our Father, recognizing how dependent on him we really are. We fast not “to look gloomy like the hypocrites”, so to draw attention to ourselves, but we fast to discipline ourselves such that we are not enslaved to our passions. We discipline ourselves, so as to walk on the path of freedom for excellence and engage in the fullness of the life God made us for.

Today as you receive your ashes, and even if there are those reading who may not be able to do so, we are reminded that from dust we have come and to dust, we will return. We are created, finite beings, that are given a limited time to live our life on this earth. This is important to acknowledge so that we resist the temptation of taking our life, the gift of our time on this earth, for granted.

We are also reminded to repent and believe in the Gospel. Jesus, please help us to recognize and to be contrite for our sinful thoughts, words, and actions and reveal to us the empty promises of our distractions and temptations. Through our participation in almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, help us to experience our restlessness, and seek not to appease it with finite, material things that will not last, but to come to recognize that our fulfillment will come only when we find our rest in the One who has made us for himself, our loving God and Father, who awaits us with arms wide open.

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Photo credit: https://www.cathopic.com/arito

Link for the Mass readings for Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Jesus continued his teaching about the entrance into the kingdom of God as the rich man walked away sad by stating, “Children how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:24-25). The disciples are stymied, primarily because present Jewish belief was that those who had amassed wealth and riches did so because they were blessed by God. If someone who had followed the commandments of God, appeared to be blessed by God, would he or she not be a part of God’s kingdom, what then was one to do?

Yesterday’s reading ended with Jesus responding to the disciples astonishment. First by stating that “For human beings it is impossible.” Jesus said this because there is nothing that we can do to earn or buy our way into heaven. It is not through perseverance, dogged determination, or will power that we are saved. Our security also is not to be placed in the things of this world, our happiness and fulfillment is not to be placed in the apparent goods and glitter of the finite things that offer comfort and pleasure. For if we place our hope in the things of this world, in our own belief that we can control our own destiny, we will be building our foundation on sand. Jesus continued, “For human beings, it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” (Mk 10:27).

There is only one way to enter the kingdom of God. Say yes to his invitation. The rich man refused the invitation, because he chose his possessions over the kingdom. The Apostles chose differently. The opening line of today’s Gospel reading is given by Peter, speaking up for those, who like him, did what the rich man did not do, when he said “We have given up everything and followed you” (Mk 10:28). Jesus affirmed Peter and the other disciple’s acceptance of the invitation to come and follow him, as well as to assure those who would willingly sacrifice and voluntarily give up, house, family, or land, to follow him. He insisted that they would receive back “a hundred times more in this present age… and eternal life to come” (Mk 10:30).

Jesus, in today and yesterday’s Gospel accounts, is not a preaching a kind of prosperity gospel or free reigning capitalism, nor is he a proponent of socialism or communism. Each of these are human socio-political, economic constructs. Jesus instead is painting a picture of the reign of God as a new family. One that exists, not of the world’s making, but of God’s design. A kingdom not of this world, though still present in it, and the good news is that all are invited to be a part of it.

Those who are a part of this kingdom are not connected through bloodline, tribe, political party, or nation, but are united through a transformation of heart and mind and spirit. The followers of Jesus become brothers and sisters. They care for one another, provide hospitality, charity, support, access, means, and encouragement for one another. Together, they meet the challenges and persecutions that would come from those who oppose the kingdom.

Jesus offers us the same invitation that he offered the rich man and his disciples. Jesus is inviting us to follow him by letting go of that which distracts us and diverts us from giving our life more fully over to him and building up his kingdom. We need to assess our lives, to divest ourselves from anything that we place before God. In this way, we can become less attached and resist looking to our material goods for our security and pleasure, and instead build our foundation on the solid rock of our relationship with Jesus, his Father, and the love of the Holy Spirit.

What or who are you going to follow today, the allure of wealth, power, pleasure, and/or honor, or Jesus?

Painting: Ariel Agemian, “The Face of Christ” 1935

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, March 1, 2022