Category Archives: Musings

From a friend in Tampa

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For those of you who think we have it so easy in Florida, I want to tell you something: It was only 62 degrees the other morning. And drizzling. I had to get a jacket. I had to decide between my Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup champions jacket, my Tampa Bay Rays American League champions jacket or my Tampa Bay Bucs Super Bowl champions jacket. By the time I made my decision, it had warmed up to 74 degrees, and I didn’t need the jacket anymore. Stressful morning! Now it’s 87 degrees, and I’m headed to the beach.

A Heart Contrite and Humble

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David, son of Jesse – the one who became King of Judah and Israel – anointed as a young lad, the one who defeated Goliath, the one who established Jerusalem as the holy city and brought the Ark of the Covenant to reside. King David of whom the Books of Kings and Chronicles hold up as favored of God, as the high-water mark of all the kings – it is his voice who cries out to the Lord. “A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn” (Ps 51:19) Such is the refrain from the Responsorial Psalm from today’s readings.

The psalm begins “A psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.” It describes a scene from 2 Sam 11:1 thru 12:14 in which King David was sleeping with another man’s wife (Bathsheba), impregnated her, and arranged her husband Uriah’s murder. The confessional prayer of this Psalm is deeply personal for David, but its instructional elements provide a framework for how we are to have a heart contrite and humble. The Psalm is best read as a whole taking all 19 verses into context. As you read through the Psalm, you will find a few key elements that explain what it means to have a contrite heart.

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The Chair of St. Peter

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Most of the apostles and lots of saints have their own feast day, but there is no “Feast of St. Peter.” Today (February 22) the Church celebrates the “Chair of Peter” the sign that Peter was the first among the apostles and the one designated to lead the early Church after Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension. For the record, Peter is not alone. St. Paul does not have a “Feast of St. Paul.” We celebrate these great saints together in a single celebration, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

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Naming Lent

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In Italian, Lent is quaresima or forty (days). In German, it is Fastenzeit or time for bodily restraint. Our English word comes from an older Anglo-Saxon word for spring—len(c)ten—whence our Lent. Italian tells us how long it will last (with its symbolic overtones). German tells us what to do in that time. But English tells us what is supposed to happen, that is, we are supposed to experience a springtime of faith, a time growth and new life.

On fasting

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The following is often attributed to Pope Francis – not likely according to Fr. Horton and his They Didn’t Say It blog. But nonetheless, it is great spiritual guidance by which to renew one’s Lent.

  • Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
  • Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
  • Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
  • Fast from pessimism and be filled with love.
  • Fast from worries and have trust in God.
  • Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
  • Fast from pressure and be prayerful.
  • Fast from bitterness and fill your hearts with joy. F
  • ast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.
  • Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
  • Fast from words and be silent as you listen.

Ash Wednesday and Sundays in Lent

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lent-2-heartlargeAsh Wednesday, the first day of the penitential season of Lent in the Catholic Church, is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. It is a “movable” feast that is assigned a date in the calendar only after the date of Easter Sunday is calculated. How is it calculated? I’m glad you asked.

According to the norms established by the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) and later adopted for Western Christianity at the Synod of Whitby, Easter Sunday falls each year on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This year the vernal equinox falls on Saturday, March 20, 2021 and the first full moon after that occurs on Sunday, Mach 28th. Therefore, Easter Sunday is celebrated this year on April 4th. If you want to know the date of Ash Wednesday, just count backwards 46 days and you get February 17th. Continue reading →

The time given

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Today’s first reading continues with the accounts in the Book of Genesis. We move from the story of Cain and Abel at the beginning of Genesis 4 to the story of Noah in Genesis 6. Let me fill in the highlights in between. The descendants of Cain are described in terms of violence (Lamech) and yet at the same time as craftsmen, nomads, and minstrels. We also learn that Adam and Eve have another son, Seth, who is described – not in terms of occupation – but in terms of the practice of worshiping God as Seth’s lineage “began to invoke the LORD by name.” (Gen 4:26). Genesis 5 is a genealogy of the generations from Seth to Noah. – and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Taking the text literally, between the sin of Cain and the Flood is a period of 1,600 years. Quite a long time to let things play out, so to speak.

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It’s your choice

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In today’s first reading, the brothers Cain and Abel have just brought an offering to the Lord. Abel brought his best lamb to offer to God in sacrifice. Cain brought some of the first fruits of the harvest, but pointedly not the best. “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not.” (Gen 4:5-6a)

Several commentaries offer that what follows in Genesis 4:6-7 is perhaps the most challenging verse facing translators in the Book of Genesis, or perhaps all of the Hebrew Scriptures. “So, the LORD said to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen. If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”

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