Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Feeling Great!


Isaac is growing up so fast! He is almost one!

 So many people - friends, family, co-workers - continue to ask how his mommy, Katie, is doing.  Many continue to pray for her. I am grateful for the thoughts, prayers and concern. Katie reports that she is "feeling great!" She remains under the watchful eye of her neurologist, who has been a God-send. 
When I see her, so healthy and joyful, it is difficult to imagine how sick she was six months ago.

Marriage and motherhood - she wears it well! 
She simply beams in loving affection for her beloved Sam 
and their precious, little Isaac Jogues Samuel,

who fills all our hearts to the brim ...








Sunday, April 24, 2011

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

A Happy and Glorious Easter!
Alleluia, He is Risen!!
O death, where is your Sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O Church, come stand in the light.
 The glory of God has defeated the night.

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O Church, come stand in the light.
Our God is not dead!
He's alive! He's alive!

- from Christ is Risen by Matt Maher

Friday, April 22, 2011

For Good Friday


No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends (Jn 15,13)

It is you, O Love, O divine self-oblation, who hold my Jesus fastened to the cross, and under your hand he bows his sacred head and dies for very love. But what do you do, O heavenly spirit of self-oblation? And to whom do you turn for aid? You know no rest until you have succored us in our misery. The love from which you spring is boundless, everlasting... O Love, you fasten yourself on the heart of my Jesus, so that in his loving surrender of himself for us, it is all pierced through and torn. O Love, it is enough. Do you not see that my Jesus, nailed to the cross, has given up his spirit? Life has forsaken his most blessed body. He is dead, truly dead, that I might have abundant life. He is dead, that the Father might adopt me as his beloved daughter. He is dead, to open to me the gates of everlasting life...

O death, you bring forth fruit of life eternal; O mighty death, render mine calm and sure. You, O death, are life eternal; beneath your solemn shadow I dare to hope (cf. Ps 36[35],8). O death, bestow on me one feeble spark of eternal life, and let it burn in me for ever. O glorious and most fruitful death, death on which hangs all my salvation: you are the sure covenant of love whereby I have been redeemed, the inviolable pledge of my reconciliation to God. O triumphant death, from you there shines forth a love incomparable in earth or heaven.

O death, you work of goodness, you are a source of sweet trust to my heart. O death, lavishing on us all your love, you contain everything that is good. Be my guardian that my own death may be to dwell sweetly beneath your shade (cf. Sg 2,3). O merciful death, you are my blessedness, my allotted portion (Ps 16[15],5), my redemption and rich inheritance.

Saint Gertrude of Helfta (1256-1301), Benedictine nun Exercises VII, None (trans. Thomas Alder Pope; SC 127, p. 281f. rev.) 


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

They are your gift to Me

At a point between Christ washing the feet of His apostles and the Last Supper, we find in the Gospel of  Saint John, Chapter 17 what is known as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. Volumes of exegeses on John 17 have been written by the Church fathers, theologians, biblical scholars and others. In his book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) devotes roughly 25 pages - all of Chapter Four - to exploring the meaning John 17. He offers a succinct, yet fascinating analysis of Christ's beautiful, moving prayer to His Father.

I am not a theologian or a biblical scholar. I rely on the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of holy Mother Church to guide me through the historical or literal interpretation, as well as the spiritual interpretation of biblical texts. This proves helpful whenever I spend time in quiet reflection on God's Word and it only enhances my understanding of its meaning for me personally. I encourage you to read John 17 and the commentary by any number of reliable sources, but for now, I wish to share my own prayerful, personal reflection, specifically of verse 24.

First of all, I love that Saint John allows us to be privy to this profoundly intimate, compelling plea to the Father from the Son. At first glance, it is obvious that Jesus is praying for His beloved apostles (Peter, Andrew, James, John and so on); however, in digging deeper we realize that Jesus is also praying for all of His disciples; for all of  His followers then and now, including us. With this in mind, the sheer depth of love reflected in six simple, yet powerful words Jesus directs to His Father, pierces this wretched, little heart of mine, shattering it to pieces.
"They are your gift to me." (John 17:24)
We, you and me, are God's gift to His Son! The season of Lent invites us and urges us to meditate extensively on Christ's Passion. Over the last several weeks, I've been participating in Lenten devotions such as praying the Stations of the Cross and the Seven Sorrows Rosary. I've been listening to audio presentations on CD, reading articles and Lenten meditations explaining the details of Christ's Passion; how He bore the unbearable weight of the guilt of all the sins of all mankind on His shoulders on His way to Calvary. And now, realizing that we are God's gift to His son, these sins - my sins, my culpability in His suffering - assume a more significant meaning. The arrows of sorrow penetrate much more deeply, knowing that I, His gift from the Father, wound Him with every sin I commit. Imagine, we - gossips, liars, ingrates, egoists, idolaters, i.e., sinners - are His gifts! "They are your gift to me."

We are His gifts because He loves us beyond our ability to comprehend. He loves us so much that He, the Creator of the universe, became one like us, taking on our sin - He who is sinless, blameless. He loves us so much that He wants more than anything for us to live with Him abundantly and forever, and so He suffered an excruciatingly painful death - He who had known no pain. He willingly, lovingly, sacrificed His life for us so that we may live.

He is our Gift from the Father.

"We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the World."

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Rejoice, O Jerusalem!

Laetare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae.



Midway through Lent the Church celebrates Laetare Sunday. Laetare is Latin for rejoice and is taken from the entrance antiphon for today's Mass:  "Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her; rejoice with her, you who mourned for her, and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts."  The joy expressed on this particular Sunday is evident by the rose colored vestments worn by the clergy and the flowers permitted on the altar.  Our Lenten penances continue for another few weeks, but this Sunday we are reminded of the hope of our salvation. Easter is drawing near! Rejoice, O Jerusalem!

My own Lenten journey, thus far, has been especially fruitful. (Thanks be to God for His Grace!) My excitement for Easter can hardly be contained and I, along with the whole body of Christ, rejoice on this special Sunday because we are almost there! But I am reminded, particularly in these final penitential weeks, of a joy that accompanies us - not only along our Lenten pilgrimage, but during our entire pilgrim-life on earth.  This Joy weaves herself through our sorrow as we meditate on His via dolorosa. She is not a celebratory Joy. She is tranquil, serene. Her gentle, winding tributaries  flow through our souls as we unite our suffering to His, as we become one with Him in His agony and death. We discover her only when we respond to our Father's invitation to enter into communion with our Savior's passion and thereby contribute to the redemption of the world. (Colossians 1:24) Such a wonderful, awesome gift! 

During these final days of Lent, I pray that you and I be granted the grace to continue our journey in love and peace. May we rest in His most Sacred Heart and meditate on the supernatural mystery of our participation in the redemption of mankind. Let His love carry you to Easter - when we will, once and for all, proclaim his Kingship with shouts of Joy.

God Bless You!