Balance of life

This past week was filled with both highs and lows for me. Yet in both there were celebrations of life. It is the gift of faith that lets me see God in both and to thank Him for all that He provides.

On June 10, my cat, Vera, turned ten years old. It is a milestone for her, as she was diagnosed with a cancer that she shouldn’t have survived the year, let alone the past seven. The vet staff that takes care of her now think she was misdiagnosed, and whatever she does have, we have been able to keep it from impacting her life too much. I celebrated the day by taking off from work and spending it with her. My family came over for dinner and it was a lovely visit. Later that night as I checked my phone, I saw a message from my neighbor that his wife had passed away a few days earlier. As I read her obituary, I realized she was just a few months younger than me. She had been battling cancer for the past three years and while the initial treatment went well, it did end up spreading and cut her life short. What a rollercoaster of emotions, from being so happy to feeling so sad for my neighbors.

I am not sure how long I will have Vera in my life, so even when she wakes me up extra early or is interrupting my work asking to be fed, I try to appreciate even these moments that bring frustration because I know our time is limited. I do see her as a blessing and I’ve mentioned in several previous blogs how in caring for her, I can get a glimpse of the love God has for me. All this time I’ve focused on Vera’s limited time, but with my neighbors’ passing, I realized it could just as easily be me that goes before her. We don’t know how long we have on this earth. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day as well as planning special events or vacations, that we lose sight of what’s really important: our relationship with God. At any time, we need to be ready to stand before Him, no matter what our age or the vitality of our health. However, we can’t live every day expecting it to be our last either.

Psalm 23 is the one most people associate with comforting the family and friends who have just lost a loved one. I suspect that’s due to the final line, “And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.” (Ps 23:6) However, I often say the first line, more as a motto when I feel like I’m being too materialistic: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” (Ps 23:1) I have quite a bucket list of house projects as well as travel ideas and crafting projects, that even if I lived healthy to 100, I don’t think I would be able to accomplish it all. I’m slowly learning that when I do encounter too many “wants” at a time, I turn them over to God, letting Him know of my desires but putting the fruition of those items in His hands and timing. 

Psalm 23 is a very short one, yet it packs a powerful punch. One of the main concepts it reminds us of, is the sheer abundance of God’s blessings. When we look at someone who passes in their early 50’s, to those half that age, it may seem that they lived a long time, however, for those around that age or older, it seems their life was too short. No matter which perspective we have, we need to realize how many blessings were given in that lifetime. We have memories to reflect upon, to bring both a smile to our face as well as a tear to our eye. It is with gratitude that we thank God for the gift of shared friendship for whatever the length of time. 

Long and short, happy and sad, life is a combination of all these, and the balance of which is in the hands of God. With a faith-filled relationship, we can trust that no matter what occurs in our life, God will accompany us through it all and bring us to dwell with Him always.

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Faith as a skill

Many people talk about having faith, as if it was something that belonged to them or was a characteristic of their natural being like brown hair or green eyes. Perhaps faith should be looked at as more of a skill, than an attribute.

I’ve challenged myself this year to practice weaving, so that I can both learn and produce more quality products. My goal is to complete at least one project a month and I have a number of kits that will see me through most of the year. As it is already June one would think that measuring out the warp would be something that I would have no trouble with, since I need to do that for every project. I had trouble with my May project, and started making the same mistake again this month. I was happy that I caught it in time, but was really flustered that I almost made the same mistake. However, it does underscore that my goal of practicing to complete a project monthly will be beneficial as I can continue learning, and noticing when I am about to make an error. Similarly when I was finishing a project on a sewing machine, I had to look at the instructions again to remember how to set it all up. It was only the second time I used the machine, but that, too, has a little learning curve to it. Not all my weaving projects will require machine stitching, so I’ll need to do even more projects before I feel sufficient in my machine sewing skills. 

As I was refreshing my memory of how the sewing machine works, it reminded me that it was like practicing patience: you need to have opportunities presented in order to actually practice patience. But it doesn’t just stop with patience, or even the virtues; it’s really faith itself that needs to be practiced so that we can build up our skill set that include the virtues, and the beatitudes, and the sacraments, and whatever other religious practices that we are called to. I don’t think one can ever plumb the depths of the knowledge of the faith. We can spend a whole lifetime and never learn it all, but that doesn’t mean we give up and don’t try. Rather we learn and practice. If we want to develop our skill in scripture, perhaps we read the Sunday readings in advance and ponder them before Mass. Or one could take time to read and reflect on the Mass readings daily. Maybe it’s expanding your reading to other books about the faith like the Catechism or biographies of the saints.

No matter what we choose to practice, we need to make sure we allow ourselves to make mistakes. Continuing with the reading of sacred writings, the error we may encounter may be more of a time issue. We may not achieve the goal we set out, or we may have mistakes or errors in what we do. That’s the whole reason for practice. Even professional athletes practice regularly so that they can perform to the best of their ability during the game, and they don’t always win. Life is much more precious than a game, and while some errors we can just acknowledge and move on from, others may benefit from confessing it in the sacrament of reconciliation. The sacrament isn’t just for mortal sins, but also for the pesky venial sins that continually seem to trip us up.

Being a Catholic Christian doesn’t mean that we are perfect. It means we strive to be as perfect as our heavenly Father, but know that we can return to a relationship with Him when we fall. God has a unique plan for each of us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a plan to deepen our knowledge, and to practice a Christ-centered life. 

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Need a break

June is here and with it comes summer vacations and long weekend breaks. It seems like no matter who I talk to, the sentiment is always the same: it’s never long enough.

We were made for work, to be stewards of creation and use the products of our hard work to sustain ourselves. While the world of work looks much different than that of the bible, the principles around work are largely the same. While we are always to strive to do our best, we are also called to not let work consume us, but rather take a break from it: weekly. Some think of the creation story in Genesis as just a nice story, but it teaches us the basics of how to be human. (Gen 1:1 – 2:3) 

First God separated light from dark, and we are called to imitate Him, in bringing light —the light of truth — to those around us. Water in the bible can be a sign of chaos, and that is especially true in creation, “and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters” (Gen 1:2). On the second day God brought order to this chaos by separating the waters of the sky from that of the sea. We, too, in our daily undertakings are called to bring order and structure. On the third day, God starts to build on what He worked on the previous day by separating the land from the water and bringing forth vegetation. As God brought forth plants from the ground to eventually be harvested, so we are to produce in our work as well. Sometimes that will be a physical product or change, while for others it will be intellectual in nature. 

The second three days of creation mirror the first three, in that they populate what was created in the same order. On day four the luminaries in the sky are defined: sun, moon, and stars. The word used for the purpose of the sun and moon is “govern.” To keep the order created on the first day, we need proper governance. This is true in every aspect of life, not just in work, but also in our life as a whole; we need to follow some sort of rule-based structure (preferably that of God’s direction) otherwise we will not be able to do the work we are called to do. On day five God fills the air with birds and the sea with all that swim in it. God “blessed” the creatures and gave them a purpose to be fruitful and multiply. These are the first to receive such a blessing. (Gen 1:22) While they are not equal to God, they do share in the ability to create by having offspring. One can consider them co-workers with God. We are meant not to work alone, but with others and for others. 

Day six is the big day; the one where animals, and more importantly humans, are created. But to humans, God goes one step further than all of creation. Not only does He make us in His image and likeness, but He also charges them to have “dominion” over all of creation: vegetation, creatures of the sky and sea, as well as all the creatures of the ground both wild and tame. God entrusted all of creation to human beings, not to do whatever we want with it, but to care for it in each generation. Likewise our work life needs to mirror that purpose; not just doing whatever we feel like doing, but to focus on what is the best we can do to keep creation for the next generation. The language used is also key, as dominion connotes sovereignty or royalty. Humans are not slaves to God, but rather part of His royal household and able to bring His order and His rule to our region.

Lastly, there is the seventh day, the one God blesses and makes holy; the day of rest. God didn’t need to rest from His actions, but He knows we need to do so. He gives us the guidance within creation of how we are to work, but also to make sure we take the time to rest. We cannot do our work if we don’t have the proper rest. That’s why taking a vacation or waiting to retire in order to relax will never allow us to reach our full purpose as human beings. In our modern day where everything moves so fast, it’s easy to get caught up in our work and activities seven days a week. But without recharging ourselves by taking time for God and family, our ability to function is a mere shadow of our full potential. 

We all need a break and while vacations are good, we shouldn’t neglect the mini-vacation God calls us to every Sunday. We may need to put away the technology that tempts us to distraction and change our routine. Yet the more we strive to the ideal of rest God calls us to, the more focused we can be in our work, and potentially more efficient so that we can fully unplug, recharge, and rest in God each week.

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Title or vocation?

This past Sunday the Church celebrated the feast of the Holy Trinity. In an effort to try to understand God better in this feast, we tend to describe aspects of God with titles or labels. Yet the true essence of God cannot be summarized down into a few words. As a reflection of God, the same is true with us, even if we label ourselves. 

WIthin the Trinity, we usually identify each person by what He does: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. None of these descriptions fully delve deeply enough to really have a relationship with God. The Creator has asked us to address Him as Father, and one could write a whole book about the deeper meanings of why this title is so important. We call the second person in the Trinity Jesus, because He was born at a point in time and was addressed by that name. There is a whole litany of the name and titles of Jesus, and Redeemer is just one of them. The third person of the Trinity also has a number of descriptive labels: Comforter, Advocate, Paraclete, and even the name changed in English from Holy Ghost to Holy Spirit because of shifts in language and meanings.

As humans, we like to use descriptions to categorize ourselves. Our first title is that of being a daughter or son when we are born, setting us in relationship to those responsible for us. If we have siblings, then we may be called brother or sister, or even more descriptively as older brother and younger sister. As we grow we become students and may augment our titles by the activities in which we are involved: soccer player, swimmer, dancer, pianist. Some of these titles may see us well into adulthood, and for a few may become their career. For others these will fade into the background of our experience or be relegated to that of a hobby. 

As adults we typically can indicate the title of how we want the world to see us. For many it may be the role they have in their career. For those who work as doctors, nurses, lawyers, and CEOs, etc., most people will have a general sense of what they do and what their responsibilities are. My title at my company is not really a true reflection of what I do and when someone inquires about my job, I usually describe what I work with (websites) rather than my title (product owner), since it does not convey the same understanding as other job titles. Some folks may describe me as a baker, since I enjoying baking all sorts of delectables like breads, cakes, brownies, and cookies. However, since I only bake occasionally, I wouldn’t consider myself a baker. With my newfound enjoyment of weaving, I strive to work multiple times a week on my current project, yet again, since it is not my profession, I would only use the term weaver in describing it as one of my hobbies. Depending on the person or audience we’re introducing ourselves to, we may choose one title over another based on the relevance we perceive the others will be receptive to.

After all these years, I can remember being taught about vocations in the Catholic elementary school I attended. Vocation isn’t just a job, not merely an action, but a call from God to a particular state in life. I remember learning the three states: marriage, religious, and single life. In looking up the definition for vocation, Merriam-Webster says, “summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action; especially: a divine call to the religious life.” The etymology of the word derives from words that mean “to summon,” “to call,” and “voice.” Since we live in such a secular culture, the thought of having a calling from God is not well received. When husbands and wives talk about their vocation as being the most important in their life, the outcry that other titles should have a higher priority only serves to illustrate the lack of faith in society. There are sacraments for both marriage and the priesthood, yet other religious vows and the call to the single life can have the perception of being less important because there is no corresponding sacrament. However, God calls everyone to their unique vocation, so that not one vocation is “better” than another. We need all three types of vocations, as they work in concert with the others to support our earthly journey. With our free will, it’s up to us to either embrace God’s call or reject it.

Titles may come and go in our life and the labels we use to describe ourselves will shift over time. Yet it is our response to the vocation that God is calling us to that will determine if we achieve the final summons of God to become a saint and live in eternity with Him. 

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Radiant joy

His face was radiating pure joy. He is now Deacon Matthew Kelly, having been ordained last Saturday to the transitional diaconate and one step closer to becoming a priest for the Richmond diocese.

Growing up in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with a seminary just outside the city limits, one could think that having seminarians at my parish would be a common occurrence. Maybe there was one assigned to St. Matthew’s during the 20+ years I grew up there, but I can’t recall. Nor can I remember if there was one assigned at the last parish I belonged to, St. Isaac Jogues, where I was a member for about the same amount of time. In the summer of 2022, then seminarian Matthew Kelly came to Our Lady of Lourdes to spend the year learning what it means to be a parish staff member. His background included studies in music, which he put to full use bringing to life Latin chants and sequences that brought a touch of divine sound to various liturgies and prayer gatherings. He often led us in the weekly vesper service during Eucharistic Adoration. No matter with whom I spoke, we all had the same outlook: Matthew was going to make a wonderful priest and we would miss him when his year of service was up.

During my time in Pennsylvania, most of the encounters I had with seminarians were when they would visit to make an appeal for funding their studies. Since their career would be dedicated to the Church, it only makes sense to support them in becoming the priests we need. For me it was interesting to see Matthew naturally becoming part of the parish family, just like Fr. Jonathan, Fr. Santos, and Fr. Rafael. I wish every parish could experience this on a regular basis! It seems that the parish family made a mark on Matthew’s heart as much as he did on ours. Over the past year he would often visit and assist in holy day Masses. It was nice to have him back “in the family” even if it was just for a short time. 

Ordinations are conducted at Richmond’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. With Our Lady of Lourdes 15 minutes away, it was the perfect place to hold a reception afterwards in his honor as well as for him to proclaim the Gospel for the first time and give the homily at the Saturday Vigil Mass. While I’m not sure how the suggestion of vespers prior to Mass surfaced, it was Deacon Matthew who led us in prayer and song. While I couldn’t attend the reception, I did attend both vespers and the vigil Mass. When I first saw him at adoration, JOY was what came to mind. It was pure, radiant joy. He didn’t say anything as he walked down the aisle, but the essence of his being sang out with indescribable joy. I realized shortly thereafter, that this would be the first time that he would actually be able to bless us with the exposed Eucharist. What an amazing blessing, to be part of the community to receive a newly ordained deacon in his first Eucharistic blessing! I had a hard time keeping my eyes dry at that thought.

I was not the only one who thought the blessing of the newly ordained is an extraordinary occurrence. At the conclusion of Mass, Fr. Jonathan asked Deacon Matthew to give his first blessing to the congregation. Two first blessings in one day! I am humbled that I was able to be a recipient of both. I think I received some of his joy, as the rest of the weekend was just lovely; nothing spectacular, but just a lovely time. And that’s what being a Catholic is all about — living life with joy so that you can spread it to others. Yes, we will have times of difficulties, known as crosses, but with the assistance of God, His angels, and His saints we can carry them and still live a joy-filled life.

While I know it’s important to pray for vocations as well as for those who are ordained, seeing Matthew first as a seminarian and now as a deacon has impressed upon me the need to pray for these men, whether we know their names or not. By praying and offering up sacrifices for them, we can participate in the graces they receive and share in their joy. It may be a bit selfish of me to hope for this, but perhaps in another year when Matthew is ordained as a priest, he’ll celebrate his first Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes. I’ll leave that prayer intention with  Blessed Mother Mary.     

Unity

With Pentecost coming up next Sunday, I was pondering what to write, and what kept jumping out at me, even while reading prayers in the Magnificat, was the word unity. 

At first, I thought it was very odd that unity kept coming to mind. I first brushed it aside and tried to think about aspects of the Holy Spirit, and again, unity came to mind. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity because it is the shared love between God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is, literally, the unity between Father and Son. Yet, my thought process wanted to write something about Pentecost being the birthday of the Church and the Holy Spirit being a central focus of the event. Unity is a lovely concept, but I can’t just put the single word in my post and be done with it. However, when the Spirit prompts, it’s way easier to go with the flow than for me to try and write what I think I should write.

No matter how mindful or empathetic I try to be, it’s all too easy for me to judge situations that I feel infringed upon. I think our society is so skewed towards the rights of the individual that it has lost sight of being a society itself, that is a gathering or community of people. In our attempt to connect with others, we like and share content on social media platforms. Yet that is not true interaction; it’s not listening to another and learning about them and their perspectives. Some take advantage of not seeing others to freely criticize them, and may cross the line from opinion to verbal abuse. We use the right of free speech as a shield and excuse to say whatever we want. However, as Catholic Christians we are called to unity; not just with God but with each other.

The Apostles, with the exception of John, deserted Jesus during His passion and death. When He returned after His resurrection, He showered His peace on them; both forgiving them and reinforcing the bond among them all. There are many times when we fail to follow God’s plan or commandments, yet He calls us back to a relationship with Him in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  When we return to walking with God, we are in communion with Him and all others who are in communion with Him: past, present, and future. God gathers us up to Himself, not just as individuals, but also into a community of His creation. It is Satan that scatters, the one who does not want to see God’s desire for unity in His creation to succeed. Satan is our accuser, the one who points out our faults and makes us feel that we are not worthy to be with God. While the latter is true, we can never be worthy on our own merit, but through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship with God and a seat at the heavenly banquet. Here again we have a theme of community. How many times in the Bible does it reference heaven as a feast or meal? We have heard that God calls us to this fellowship, this unity with others. But here on earth we look inward towards our own desires. We acknowledge others only to complain when they impede what we want.

If we truly want to have a relationship with God, we cannot have a mindset that our relationships with other people have no impact on our relationship with God. If we want a better relationship with God, one way to do it is to start looking at how we treat the people around us: in our families, our workplaces, our church, and any other place we go. Do we see each as a person, created by God with a unique set of gifts and talents? Do we treat them with the respect and dignity they deserve as sons and daughters of God, regardless of their professed religion? We may not agree with their perspectives and may bristle at the way they treat us, but that does not give us permission to discard them as not worthy of our time, attention, and respect. 

Pentecost is not just the birthday of the Church, rather it is a call of unity to all creation. The Apostles spoke in various tongues to bring the message of Jesus to all those scattered by different languages. They preached Jesus risen as our savior. They called for those who would listen to them to repent and be baptized so that they could receive the Holy Spirit, which is the unifying love between God the Father and God the Son. Unity does, indeed, sum up Pentecost and the greatest gift of the Trinity. 

Mary at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington DC

A very human mother

Jesus gave his mother Mary to be our spiritual mother just before He died on the cross. However, I think it’s very easy to forget that Mary was a very human mother to Jesus. 

When Mary gave her consent to Gabriel to be the mother of the Savior, she was not just a mere host for a divine creature. Rather God was able to fertilize her egg so that Jesus would receive His human flesh from Mary. While the conception of Jesus had a supernatural component, God allowed the natural progression of human time to: form Jesus in Mary’s womb, have Mary give birth naturally to Jesus, have Mary and Joseph raise Jesus from a baby to a boy to a teenager until He became a man. Jesus was fully human (and fully divine), and experienced all the emotions a human being can. Mary was a witness to her Son’s humanity throughout His life, but most especially when He was a child. If Jesus fell carrying the cross, He certainly must have taken a tumble like all children do as they are learning to walk or during play with other children. And if these incidents resulted in skinned knees and bruises, Jesus probably cried a number of times, just as He would as an adult when He wept for His dead friend Lazarus. In the movie, The Passion of the Christ, there is one scene I remember when Jesus was washing up before a meal and playfully splashed His mother. While movies are afforded the ability to add scenes that may not be historically documented, I loved that this was included because it beautifully illustrated the bond between mother and Son and their shared humanity. While there may not be documentation for that incident, I’m sure there were plenty of that type while Jesus was growing up. 

While most of Jesus’ early years are undocumented in the Gospels, there is no doubt that Mary and Jesus shared an intense mother-son bond. While the best example of this is Mary at the foot of the cross, another example is at the wedding feast in Cana. It is at Mary’s prompting that Jesus performs His first public miracle. Reflections of this Gospel passage are mostly from a spiritual perspective, but what about from a purely human exchange? Mary knows Jesus and what He is capable of doing: working miracles. She does not ask Him to make more wine, rather she simply informs Him of the issue at hand: “They have no wine.” (John 2:3) Many commentaries have analyzed Jesus’ response, but since Jesus was at the beginning of His ministry, perhaps it was not yet time to have such a big public miracle, like the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Yet Mary is keen to make sure that the wedding feast is not marred by the embarrassment of running out of wine. Perhaps her exchange with Jesus was a private conversation and only those in the most intimate circle of friends were aware. Mary does not know how Jesus will solve the issue, but directs the wait staff to follow Jesus’ directions, which end up sounding very ordinary until they are directed to draw some water and have the headwaiter taste it. In John’s Gospel, he conveys, “…and his disciples began to believe in Him.” (John 2:11). It seems as if only the disciples who accompanied Him at this point were aware of the miracle. The Gospel does not seem to indicate that anyone else from the wedding were aware of what happened; or maybe they were too busy enjoying the result of the miracle to comprehend what happened. 

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this coming weekend, let us remember the motherhood of Mary, in its very human aspects, for it is in the culmination of these human experiences that she becomes a spiritual mother to us all.

Ever present fear

It seems no matter how strong our faith is, fear is always present, waiting in the wings of our stage of life. Fear can be a good thing, as it makes us cautious and causes us to think before taking action. It can also be crippling and prevent the will of God in us. 

In reviewing the Mass readings for this past Sunday, I only got as far as the first line of the first reading in the Acts of the Apostles. I had to stop and read it several times over, almost marveling at what it conveyed. The books of the Bible convey the most important details of what is needed to deliver its message, but sometimes the smallest detail can slip by us and we miss the wisdom it brings. The reading is just after Saul is converted and, after spending time in Damascus, has returned to Jerusalem.  “…He tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing he was a disciple.” (Acts 9:26) From a logic perspective, that makes sense; Saul left Jerusalem with approval letters that would allow him to round up those following The Way, as it was first called, and to bring them back to the city in chains for judgment. He may have returned without prisoners, but did that really mean he converted? 

It is only after one of the disciples, Barnabas, takes the responsibility of bringing him to the community that Saul is able to tell of his conversion experience and he is then welcomed and allowed to support the evangelistic efforts. Barnabas was not one of the original twelve, but rather is identified earlier in Acts as selling a piece of land and laying the profits at the feet of the Apostles. Did the Holy Spirit only prompt Barnabas to take on the role of sponsor to Saul? Or was it fear in the Apostles that hampered the Spirit’s promptings? Earlier parts of Acts record the bravery of Peter speaking out and rejoicing when they are censured by the Sanhedrin. If they are happy to experience physical punishment for speaking about Jesus in the Temple, why were they so afraid of Saul? With all the miracles they witnessed Jesus perform, why did they find it hard to believe that Jesus could convert Saul? 

Further in the book of Acts, Saul becomes Paul and the main evangelizer of the Gentile, or non-Jewish, communities. I feel like I need to ask the question, what if Saul was not accepted into the community of the disciples? Would we have all the letters he wrote that makes up a portion of the New Testament? Would he have been able to preach to the Gentiles? Paul’s conversion and writings are key, even now within the evangelization efforts of the Church. I can’t picture how different the Church would be without his impact. What would have happened if fear also prevented Barnabas from taking action? 

Between what is written in the book of Acts as well as his letters, Paul did not have an easy time in his preaching. He was shipwrecked, stoned and left for dead, and had a number of other escapes to save his life. Was Paul fearful about his life on these occasions? Yet in his second letter to Timothy, Paul seems to know his end is near and calmly says he is “being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.” (2 Tim. 4:6) Perhaps it is because of his difficult experiences that he is able to not to be afraid of death, but welcome it when it becomes imminent. 

Fear will be something that we will need to confront many times throughout our earthly life. Let us pray for open hearts to the Spirit’s promptings during these times, or for us to have a person like Barnabas to take charge and help us through our fear so that God’s will can be accomplished. 

Holy Tabernacle

Are you a holy tent? If you are a baptized Catholic who receives the Holy Eucharist, you certainly are! How can this be, if we are all sinners?

In reflecting on the Easter seasons and its readings, there are so many that point back to the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. This gift of Jesus is celebrated and adored throughout the year, but we pay special attention to it in the Easter season. During Mass, the hosts are consecrated and then distributed with any remaining then reserved in a tabernacle. The etymology of tabernacle comes from the Latin word for tent or hut. This evokes back to Exodus and when the Israelites wandered through the desert and a special tent was pitched for God to dwell amongst the people. God gave Moses specific instructions for its construction, consecration, the worship conducted within it, and its maintenance. While most think of a tabernacle as an item within a church building, made of elaborate metalwork, we forget that we who receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament then become, ourselves, living tabernacles of the Lord. Jesus is “pitching” His tent within us, each and every time we receive Him. Do we welcome His presence in this way? Or do we just acknowledge His closeness to give Him a list of our troubles that we need His help with? We all need God’s help in so many ways that it’s natural for us to unburden ourselves to Him. However, Easter is the perfect time to take a different perspective with our Eucharistic encounter at Mass. 

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:19) The idea of a human person being a temple, tabernacle, or dwelling place of God, is acknowledged by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. So, it’s not just when we receive Jesus in Mass that God dwells within us, but we are claimed as temples of the Holy Spirit from the time of our baptism. This gift of God is further reinforced with the sacrament of Confirmation, as we are sealed with the Spirit by the laying of hands by the bishop (or priest) and the sacred chrism oil. It is also these three sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist, that are considered the sacraments of initiation to become a Christian, a follower and disciple of Christ Jesus. And it is these three sacraments that are celebrated at the Easter Vigil or throughout the Easter season, depending on the needs and schedule of the parish.

God wants a personal relationship with us. Not just a quick visit once a week to check off that obligation, but to truly dwell in us at every moment of our lives. He sent His Son to be our Savior, the one who heals the brokenness caused when humanity chose their own desires over trust in God. God the Father and God the Son send God the Holy Spirit into the world to sanctify it, to make it holy so that we can have a relationship with the Triune God, listening to Him and trusting His will for us. One way we respond is to have a consistent prayer life, for example morning and evening prayer, or a daily rosary. It’s setting time aside to be attentive to God. 

God is not surprised when our human nature gets in the way. It’s why Jesus gave us Himself at the Last Supper, and upon His resurrection, directed the Apostles to receive the ability to forgive sins, something that only God can truly do. By frequenting the sacraments of Holy Communion and Reconciliation, we can better maintain the dwelling place within ourselves for God. No one, even the saints, is worthy to be a dwelling for God by his or her own merit. It is only through our cooperation with His Will for us that we can be a tent for God to dwell. And if we are a dwelling for God, then we bring Him everywhere we go and to everyone we meet. Others can see this reflection of God by our actions and our words. We embody the Trinity, that is we give our body as a reflection of our relationship with God to those we encounter. That is the makings of a saint, who dwells with God after his or her earthly life is complete.

During this seasonal focus on the Eucharist, let us take the time to think of God as living within us every day. Let us strive to be a Holy Tabernacle that pleases Him, welcomes His presence, and remains attentive to His call.

Who is Jesus

What would you say if someone asked you which holiday was more important: Christmas or Easter? How we answer this question can shape how we view Jesus and our relationship with Him.

From the perspective of society, Christmas seems much more popular and celebrated than Easter. We don’t have Easter parties all month long, nor do we celebrate in our workplaces, our neighborhoods, or in our hobbies/sports affiliations. Even those who don’t believe in Jesus will decorate a tree in their home and exchange gifts. Christmas preparations and celebrations can last from the middle of November into the beginning of the New Year. Easter seems to be a holiday that is acceptable to celebrate, but not completely embraced. There may be egg hunts, but those are usually activities for children. Children may get their picture taken with the Easter bunny, but the draw is not as intense as it is for Santa Claus, nor will the resulting photo be included in Easter cards that are sent out as holiday greetings.

Theologically, you can’t have Easter without Christmas. However, Jesus being born into the world was not the saving action; His Passion, Death, and Resurrection are what healed the relationship between God and humanity. Mother Church in her wisdom celebrates Easter for 50 days, which is much longer than the Christmas season. For those who attend Mass every Sunday, the Gospel is getting rather repetitive. For three weeks now we have heard the Resurrected Jesus appearing on that first day of the week. For those hoping this upcoming Sunday’s Gospel will be different, you’re only half correct. While the Gospel is not another aspect of Jesus appearing to His disciples, it is Good Shepherd Sunday. The second line is, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) Being in the Easter season, it causes us to recall the Holy Triduum we celebrated just a few weeks ago. 

So why is Easter so important? Each year we are called to prepare during Lent for Easter. And each Easter season, we are called to renew our Baptismal promises. We hear again and again about the disciples seeing Jesus in His resurrected form. Each of these is an opportunity to renew our belief in and relationship with Jesus. If we believe that Jesus is who He said He is, the Son of God, then we can’t be satisfied with a wishy-washy faith. He can’t just be a nice man who told people to be nice to other people and had wise things to say. Belief in Jesus calls us to action; we are to be doers of the Word, not just hearers of the Word. At the same time, we can’t just run off on our own and think we know what Jesus wants us to do. We are all called with different gifts and skill sets. In order to act upon His Word, we need a relationship with Jesus, one we pursue as if our lives depended on it — because our everlasting lives do. 

Many think that Easter is long past, having been celebrated last month, and it is no longer relevant.  This couldn’t be further from the truth. Each Mass is both a mini Christmas and a mini Easter, celebrating Jesus coming in flesh and blood — hidden within the bread and wine — and recalls the Words from the Last Supper, the memory of His death and His resurrection. And every time we participate in Mass, we have the opportunity to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus and to give thanks to God for His amazingly generous love and mercy. 

In our ever-changing world, let us not lose sight of who Jesus is for us and pursue a relationship with Him, both in the Easter season and beyond.