Easter Vigil, Cycle B - April 4, 2015

Easter Vigil

Cycle B

April 4, 2015                7:30pm

Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air

 

God’s Story

Tonight, we hear God’s story – or maybe we should say God’s story about God and us.

The Story of Goodness

The Word of God begins with the story of “the beginning, when God creates the heavens and the earth.”

And as each part of creation is brought into being, we keep hearing: “God saw how good it was.”  “God saw how good it was.”

The repetition of these words grabs our attention and they call us to approach creation positively, to see the goodness that is here.  One Catholic scholar speaks of the need to affirm what he calls human flourishing. 

His point is that wherever we see accomplishments that enable human beings to flourish – in technology, in art, in health care, in food distribution, in the provision of potable water – wherever we see human flourishing, we are to acknowledge its goodness.  It may not be done explicitly in the name of God or of Jesus.

But if it promotes human flourishing, it is good.  The story of creation calls us to see this.

The Story of Our Response – 1

God’s story then tells us that we have sometimes not acted as God wants.

Sin has entered our world.  The second reading gives a glaring example of this in the oppression of the Israelites.

Thankfully, the story goes that God frees the Israelites from slavery through the Exodus.  So, God once tamed the water in the act of creation, and here God tames the water again and allows his people to pass through it safely.

And in doing this, God wants us to remember the past – the social injustice in Egypt.  One reason God calls us to remember this is that social sin can still happen.

We see it, for example, in racism, in the allowing of poverty, and sometimes in the hatred of one religious group for another.  Positively, God calls us to be agents for justice and peace and human flourishing.

The Story of Our Response – 2

God’s story goes on to remind us of personal sin.

The prophet Ezekiel in our third reading tells God’s people that they cannot just blame others all the time.  They too, personally and individually, have disregarded God’s ways.

Ezekiel promises that God will sprinkle clean water upon them to cleanse them.  So once again, water is at work in God’s action.

Here, God expects his people to accept responsibility for their behavior.  It might be tearing down the good name of others or being unfaithful to the responsibilities of our calling in life.

God expects us to admit of personal sin.  Positively, he expects us to do what we can for the human flourishing of ourselves and of those in our personal lives.

The Story of Resurrection

Ezekiel’s promise of new life finds its fulfillment in Jesus.

God’s story in tonight’s gospel announces Jesus’ resurrection.  Saint Mark carefully says, “Very early, on the first day of the week…” 

This first day hearkens back to the first day of creation in Genesis.  It tells us that a new creation is happening here.

We even see this newness when the angel proclaims the resurrection to women and tells them to go and tell others.  This happens in a culture where the testimony of women did not count.

So something dramatically new is happening here.  And, of course, this something new is Jesus risen from the dead. 

This is what Paul proclaims tonight.  He tells us that now we are given the transforming water of baptism.

Through baptism, we are attached to Jesus Christ and this attachment brings us a new life.  It is the beginning of living our human journey with the One who is our life and our resurrection.

So, that is tonight’s story: God’s story about God and us.  That is what we are now celebrating and renewing. 

Wednesday of Holy Week, Cycle B - April 1, 2015

Wednesday of Holy Week

April 1, 2015        6:30am

 

Yesterday we heard St. John’s account of Judas’ betrayal.

Today we hear St. Matthew’s account of the same thing.

I want to highlight two details.

First, Jesus says, “My appointed time draws near.”

Matthew recalls that Jesus is aware of the betrayal and of his suffering and death that is approaching.

And yet, he is resolute and resolved to move on.

In this, Jesus shows himself as being the suffering servant described in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah.

The servant says, “The Lord God is my help.

I have set my face like flint.”

Saint Matthew shows Jesus as willing to embrace the suffering that is part of his mission, part of doing the Father’s will.

So maybe there is a lesson for us to think about here:

A lesson about our willingness to embrace suffering that is part of our vocation or part of our responsibilities in life.

The second detail is that Matthew carefully records Judas addressing Jesus as “Rabbi.”

In Matthew’s gospel, this title is only used by Jesus’ opponents who do not understand his full and true identity.

By this time, Judas should have known and accepted who Jesus is, but he did not.

So maybe again there is a lesson for us to think about here:

that we need to make time to get to know who Jesus is and in him, who God is.

We need to do that through prayer in general, and especially through prayer that involves the reading of the Scriptures.

This brings us into fuller and fuller relationship with God.

And that in turn will help us to be faithful to Jesus especially in challenging moments, especially when there is some suffering involved.

Tuesday of Holy Week, Cycle B - March 31, 2015

Tuesday of Holy Week

March 31, 2015    6:30am

 

Today’s readings are a bit of a contrast.

John’s gospel sets the scene for the final events of Jesus’ life.

We hear Jesus foretelling the betrayal by Judas and the denial by Peter.

At the same time, the prophet Isaiah gives assurance that good things will happen.

There will be a servant of God who will be a light to Israel and other nations as well.

So maybe the message of the two readings, if we take them together, is that in all of human life, joy and suffering walk side by side.

This week, Holy Week, we recall the suffering and death of Jesus.

But we cannot do that apart from our knowledge that Jesus is risen.

This coming Sunday and through the Easter Season, we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.

But we also cannot forget his passion and death.

I think we know that in much of human life, our laughter is often mingled with tears and our tears are often softened with a smile.

For example, we worry and are sad at the serious illness of a family member.

And yet, this is often tempered by the closeness of family members and the care of neighbors in those moments.

We are delighted at the success and accomplishment of a daughter or son.

And yet, that may be tempered by the fact that our parents, their grandparents did not live to see this.

So maybe what I am saying is that the experience of Jesus, shown in today’s readings, often mirrors our own human experience.

This is why we can turn to Jesus in prayer at any moment and in any experience of our lives.

He has been there and he will be here with us in all the experiences of our journey.

Monday of Holy Week, Cycle B - March 30, 2015

Monday of Holy Week

March 30, 2015    8:30am

 

This gospel for Monday of Holy Week really sets us up for the rest of the week.

And, very typical of St. John’s entire gospel, the details here focus on Jesus – on who Jesus is and who he is for us.

First, John begins by saying that “Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany.”

John carefully links Jesus’ upcoming death with the time when the lambs were slain for the feast of Passover.

The lambs were seen as a symbol of God’s salvation.

You remember that the Book of Exodus tells us that the blood of the lamb, smeared on the doorway of the homes of the Israelites, saved them from the tenth plague in Egypt.

This is why the Old Testament prescribed that the Jewish feast of Passover would be celebrated with the cooking and eating of a lamb.

With this in mind, Saint John and other New Testament writers see Jesus as the new and real Lamb of God.

He is the lamb who once and for all time reconciles us with God.

He becomes the lamb as he sacrifices his life for us on the cross.

All of this lies under John’s statement in this gospel that “Jesus came to Bethany six days before Passover.”

Second, John notes that Jesus is visiting Mary and Martha and Lazarus, “whom he had raised from the dead.”

In noting this, John is already hinting at the end point or outcome of the Lamb of God.

He will be raised or he will rise from the dead.

And third, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with oil.

This foreshadows Jesus’ washing the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper.

Jesus’ faithful servants, like Mary, will do as he does.

They will be persons of service.

So, there is some real richness in this short passage this morning.

As I said, it sets us up for the rest of Holy Week.

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Cycle B - March 29, 2015

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Cycle B

March 29, 2015 10:30am and 12:30pm

Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air

Rembrandt – at the Crucifixion

When I was back in high school, I remember learning a little bit about the great Dutch artist Rembrandt.

I imagine all of us have learned something about him and his painting.  Rembrandt lived in the 1600s and did a beautiful painting that is entitled The Raising of the Cross.

The painting portrays the final moments before the cross is raised with Jesus on it.  Everyone is dressed as they would have been in Jesus’ time except one person.

The man raising the cross is dressed in the clothing of Rembrandt’s own time, the 1600s.  Rembrandt never explained this, but those who knew him realized that this man in the painting is Rembrandt himself.

Our Role

Now Rembrandt did not put himself in the painting as part of an ego trip.

Instead, he was making an important point.  He was conveying that each of us – including himself – plays a role in the crucifixion of Jesus.

This is why the characters in the story that we just heard are so memorable.

We identify with them. 

We see ourselves in those who were present for the crucifixion of Jesus.  Some of these persons are noble and some are not so noble, but either way, we see ourselves in them and realize that we play a role in the crucifixion – just as Rembrandt was conveying.

Who Are We?

For example, do I identify with Peter?

Am I enthused about my faith one minute, when things in my life are going well?  But then am I giving up on God the next minute, when a job loss or relationship troubles happen?

Or, do I identify with Caiaphas and the high priests?

Am I at peace when my experience of faith is black and white and pretty comfortable?  But then do I quickly resist and shut down to any gray area or anything different that faith may be calling me to consider?

On the flip side, do I identify with the women who followed Jesus all the way to the crucifixion?

Am I patient in dealing with the growing pains of a teenage son or daughter?  Do I persevere in caring for a parent who is aging and needing more and more care?

Or do I identify with Joseph of Arimathea?

Do I do the right thing, not in a showy way, but without too much concern about what others will think?  Do I realize that at the end of the day, inner peace and being true to myself are what count?

Conclusion

So, the key point, the key theme in Rembrandt’s painting is that in our everyday lives, we play a role in Jesus’ final hours.

Either we participate in crucifying and putting Jesus to death.  Or we are doing what we can to make him alive and present right now.