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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. 

Beautiful brokenness

As we spend the next several weeks celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, I think most focus on the resurrection itself and less on the body. Now that the painful Passion is behind us, we can bathe in the love and immortality that God bestows on those who believe in His Son. But there is still a body to contend with; how do we understand the risen form of Jesus?

The Gospel of John presents two very different approaches to the resurrected Christ. The first account is of Mary Magdalene who upon recognizing Jesus embraced His feet. His response to her was “Stop holding on to me… .” (John 20:17) It seems a curious address to someone whom He loved. Jesus’ resurrected body, however, was not destined to stay on earth, but rather to return to God, the Father. The message He was conveying to Mary indicated that she should not expect for Him to remain. Jesus rose from the dead to illustrate that death was no longer a punishment, and it was just one part of His mission to reconnect humanity with God.

The second account in John’s Gospel is that of Thomas. (John 20:24-29) Most focus on “doubting Thomas” refusing to believe in the resurrection. Had he not seen Lazarus be returned from the dead at the words of Jesus? Why was it so hard for him to believe? Yet Jesus invites him to probe his wounds. For Mary Magdalene, she was to stop holding onto Jesus, but Thomas was invited to put his fingers in the nail holes and his hand in the side of Jesus that was pierced by the spear. While I feel sorry for Thomas to forever be remembered as someone who doubted Jesus, it is a powerful witness. If even those closest to Jesus had to slowly process the resurrection, it’s okay for those of us now who stumble with some of the facets of faith. When we have these times of doubt, we need to turn more to Jesus and ask Him to help us in our unbelief.

I think many want to believe that when we are resurrected, all our imperfections will be removed. Yet Jesus retained the wounds of His Passion. They may not have bled any longer, or were a source of pain, but they were still present. How is this possible? I’d like to think of it as a spiritual version of kintsugi, a Japanese technique of repairing broken objects with gold lacquer. Most of us, if we have something broken, want to hide the repair as much as possible. But in this repair process, the gold becomes the star of the show. What was once broken can now be used again, and it is beautiful because of the brokenness. Like Jesus, our wounds —physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual — will be healed through Him with a beauty that we cannot conceive. Any thoughts of what we may look like resurrected can only be a product of our limited imagination.

At each Mass we are called to encounter the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus when we receive the Holy Eucharist. It is a celebration of the Incarnation of Jesus as a human person from the moment of His conception and birth as well as His full divine nature of being the Son of God. While the outward appearance of bread and wine remain, the substance is forever transformed into the being of Jesus for us to receive. Here again the priest breaks the host, mingling a piece in the wine before offering to the congregation. While it may seem that Jesus’ body is divided amongst those who receive Him, in a spiritual perspective, we are the gold lacquer that brings His body together when we receive Him and then follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit to do the Father’s will. We bring beauty to Jesus on the cross when we share the love of God with others. And we can only do that when we offer our brokenness to God to heal.

“But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed.”

Isaiah 53:5

Deep roots

Happy Passover! No, I haven’t switched religions, but I did attend a seder meal hosted by a local catholic church the day prior to Holy Thursday. While I’ve read a number of books, especially by Dr. Scott Hahn, that dive into the connections between Passover and Mass, I was still surprised that the experience would affect me during the Triduum services. 

I would highly recommend for all Catholics to attend a seder meal at least once in their life if they are ever given the opportunity. Whether it be through a friend or family that is hosting it, or a parish church like the one I attended, as long as you have an English translation of what is being said, you will see the Mass emerge from the celebration. Participation; everyone is called to participate in the meal. While there are responses or actions for specific attendees — like the leader, the mother, and the younger children — many responses are spoken as the gathered community. The seder is a commemoration of the Passover meal the Israelites ate prior to their release from Egyptian slavery. As such, the beginning portion is spent teaching on the importance of remembering this event and thanking God for the deliverance. The Mass is a commemoration of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with His disciples, which happened to be a Passover meal. Having an understanding of the Passover meal, which the seder illustrates, allows Catholics to better appreciate and understand the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

While I do enjoy a small glass of wine with my meal from time to time, hearing that there are four glasses within the seder was a bit intimidating. I can usually make one glass last from appetizer through dessert, so as others were pouring the wine into my glass I appreciated their respect of pouring tiny amounts in my cup. One of the traditions is not pouring your own wine, but allowing others to pour it for you. The first cup, the cup of Blessing, is the first action after the general instructions of why the meal is celebrated. The second cup, the cup of Memory, is specifically aimed at the salvation God procured for the Israelites from their enslavers. One of the points the priest who led the seder meal pointed out was the wording in so many of the prayers, “Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe…” is similar to the prayer that is said over the bread and the wine after the gifts are presented at Mass, “Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation..” It seemed like each time there was a prayer, it began that way, and I felt I was waiting in anticipation for the events of the Last Supper.

Communion wafers are unleavened bread made from flour and water, and are a close cousin to the matzo that is served at the Passover meal. When the moment arrived for the breaking of the matzo and then consuming it, I thought, “This is it! This is when the Eurcharist was instituted!” And I was only half correct. One half of the Liturgy of the Eurcharist was established at that point in the meal. Poignantly, a portion of the bitter herbs are then eaten, followed by a mixture of both the bitter herbs and the matzo, or bread. Then commences the main meal. For this seder, it was more of a pot luck, so I don’t think a traditional seder would serve fried chicken and macaroni salad, but I did appreciate having a selection of foods from which to choose.

If you thought I’ve forgotten about the other glasses of wine, I have not. It was after the main meal was finished, we had the third cup, the cup of Redemption. I thought it was odd to have a glass of wine after a meal, but since I had food in my stomach and a short ride home, I figured another small glass would not be an issue. Oddly enough, the juxtaposition didn’t sink in until I was at Mass on Holy Thursday and as the priest raised the chalice to consecrate the wine, he said, “…when supper was ended…” YES! It was THIS particular point that Jesus instituted His Precious Blood, creating a New Covenant with not just His disciples present, but with all those who would share in this experience when they, and their successors, would do the same, “… in memory of Me.” This cup of redemption is the Blood that Jesus poured out during His Passion and Death on the Cross. 

In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus remarks immediately after blessing and sharing the third cup, that He will not partake of the wine again until He partakes it in the new kingdom of God. It seems odd that Jesus would skip the fourth cup completely during a meal He wanted to share with his Apostles. But the fourth cup is the Cup of Hope and Freedom. And Jesus does drink it again, while on the cross in His final moments, those leading up to His death, which conquers all death and opens the gates of heaven again. The Passover meal didn’t end in the upper room, but rather concluded with the death of Jesus. But Jesus didn’t stay dead. Rather he rose again to show that He is the Lord of all creation and has brought healing and freedom to those who follow His way. 

For me, the best preparation for celebrating Easter has been to celebrate the Passover meal. It provided a perspective of the deep roots and traditions of the faith that have been handed down for thousands of years. The Mass has become more meaningful because of this experience. I’m sure if I am able to attend another seder in the future, it would help me unpack even more riches of the faith and I pray that we all have an opportunity to explore what a seder meal can offer our faith.