If you are old enough you’ll remember the days when all Catholics abstained from meat every Friday. It was common knowledge – even the moms of my non-Catholic friends knew that if I had been invited over on Friday night, then it would be mac-n-cheese. My mom was not Catholic, but she sent us to Catholic school, helped us with our catechism (CCD), and made sure we were ready to celebrate the sacraments. Continue reading
The Traditional Stations of the Cross have long been celebrated in many forms with the 14 Stations familiar to us a relatively recent form. Several of the stations arise from long-held traditions among the Christians of the Holy Land, but they are not necessarily Scriptural. In 1991, Pope John Paul II instituted a form of the Stations that are based solely on Scripture. This too forms a wonderful means of reflecting upon the events of the Holy Week which put the love of Christ in the forefront of our hearts and minds. Continue reading
The capybara is the largest member of the rodent family. Abundant over much of northern and central South America, this plump, pig-sized cousin of the sewer rat spends much of its time in the water, foraging for food (mostly aquatic grasses) and protecting itself from predators like jaguars in wetland areas and semi-flooded savannahs. Its webbed feet and easy-dry fur make its semi-aquatic life easier to manage, and it is still possible to encounter herds of up to 40 capybaras in many South American countries. They’ve even showed up as an invasive species in Florida’s endless wetlands. Continue reading
Ash Wednesday has come and gone. I hope you were able to celebrate. Lent has begun and you’ve “40 days” in the journey. So…what’s next? Take some time today and make a plan (if you have not already). Don’t let this time quickly recede in the Lenten “rear view mirror.” If you blink again, it will be Holy Week and the “best of intentions” will have to wait for another year. So… what is your plan for Lent? And I ask about “your plan” because each of us are called to be intentional in our life of prayer and to create a place and space in our life to be in relationship with God. This is especially true in the Season of Lent. Now that Ash Wednesday has passed, what is your Lenten plan to make room in your life to be filled with God’s grace? How about a Lenten checklist to help you get started? Continue reading
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 of growth and new life.
Just last Friday, the first reading was from the Letter of James, in which he admonished the faithful to endure: “Indeed we call blessed those who have persevered” (James 5:11). In yesterday’s first reading we listened to the opening passage from the First Letter of Peter: “although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials” (1 Peter 1:6). And today we hear the letter’s continuation. Continue reading
Ash 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 Sunday, March 20, 2021 and the first full moon after that occurs on Saturday, April 16th. Therefore, Easter Sunday is celebrated this year on April 17th. If you want to know the date of Ash Wednesday, just count backwards 46 days and you get March 2nd. Continue reading
When another Christian sister or brother asks me, as a priest, about the Sacrament of Confession, I think a more interesting and possibly helpful question is whether they confess their sins to another believer in their congregation. I think the response is about 99% “No, I confess my sins to God in prayer.” By the way, I think that is very commendable and laudatory practice, one the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes and recommends in para. 1434 and following. I ask them what they think of James 5:16 from today’s reading. Mostly they are not aware of the verse. It says: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” Continue reading
The familiar complaint and plea from the backseat of a long road trip – or what seems long to the one voicing the inquiry. And the longer the destination looms in an unclear and uncertain future, the more mischief blossoms in the back seat. “He’s touching me” / “she on my side, make her move over / “they won’t let me sit by the window.” It is not the jealousy, envy, malicious slander, and defamation that James has been admonishing the community about, but it bubbles up from the same source. Continue reading
Today’s first reading continues to work its way through the Letter of James.
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit”— 14 you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears. 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.” 16 But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin. (James 4:13-17)
