Good Friday of the Lord's Passion • Jesus was the most successful man that ever lived. Was he smarter, stronger, or tougher than the rest of us? No, Jesus was successful because he was obedient. He did his Father's will, and that's what made him successful.

We, too, will be successful if we are obedient. We need three things to succeed: Faith, trusting that our Father knows best; Hope, knowing that things being hard now often means it will be worth later; and Love, our Father loves us and calls us to love others. Gaze on a crucifix, meditate on Jesus' obedience, and ask for in increase of faith, hope, and love.

(7 Apr 2023)

Going Deeper: Spend some time in prayer before a crucifix. Meditate on Jesus' obedience and ask for in increase in faith, hope, and love.

Image Source | Over 12

Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper • This Mass commemorates so many beautiful things: the welcoming of the holy oils, the institution of the Eucharist, and the gift of the Priesthood. Then we have to go and ruin it by washing feet. Thank you, Jesus, for finding a way to make us all feel awkward.

Last summer I attended a wedding reception where the groom washed his bride's feet. It was tender and beautiful and not at all awkward. Jesus is about to leave his disciples in charge of his Church. Jesus is the perfect Servant Leader, and he wants to give authority only to those who are willing to serve.

I wash feet so that you will know, "I got the memo." But I am also inviting the men, the husbands and the fathers of the parish, to do for others as I do for them. Go home and wash your wife's feet. Wash the feet of your children, the elderly, your employees, the poor among us. We who have authority are also under authority, me to my Bishop and all of us to Jesus. We report to the Lord, and he himself washes our feet. Let us do for others as Jesus does for us.

(6 Apr 2023)

Going Deeper: Go home and wash your wife's feet. Then husband and wife together should wash your children's feet. Are there people in your community who need their feet washed, symbolically speaking?

Image Source | Over 12

Palm Sunday (A) The Latin phrase, "Sic transit gloria mundi" (thus passes the glory of the world), is a sobering reminder that everyone who seeks the glory of this world will end up disappointed. Peter is worried about what people think of him; he winds up weeping bitterly. Judas is motivated by money; he hangs himself. Pilate is motivated by power; he winds up feeling powerless. Even the chief priests, who seem to have gotten exactly what they wanted, have set themselves up for the biggest disappointment in history.

Jesus does not seek the glory of this world. He does his Father's will and seeks the glory of God. Jesus can look back on the Passion and say, "It was worth it. It was all worth it. You were worth it." Joseph of Arimathea had spent a lot of money on a monument to himself. But then he turned it all over to Jesus. Do not seek the gloria mundi. Follow Jesus and you will be able to say, "It was all worth it."

(2 Apr 2023)

Going Deeper: Make plans now to attend the Triduum services: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil at your local parish church. I promise you the experience will change you.

Image Source | Over 12

Lent, 5th Sunday (A) Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus, then the son of a widow from Nain, then finally Lazarus. The first had been dead a few minutes, the second many hours, and the third was a rotting corpse. Martha and Mary have enough faith to not give up on Jesus even when he seems to ignore them. Jesus wants to give them something more than a healing; he wants to give them a faith that is stronger than death.

Jesus goes right to the place where it hurts. "Show me where it hurts," he says. It hurts Jesus, too. We have to take away the barriers that keep this place rotting within us. We have to let Jesus raise the places we feel dead and hopeless. The human race has always been "tied up" by the fear of death. Jesus unties the human race and lets us go free.

(26 Mar 2023)

Going Deeper: What has died in you? Where have you lost hope? And what are the barriers that keep Jesus from entering those places?

Image by anutalkies/flickr | Over 10

Solemnity of St. Joseph • Today we celebrate the saint that was Jesus' earthly father and husband to Mary. His wife was sinless and his son was God, so if anything went wrong, clearly it was Joseph's fault. Why would God put someone in that situation? And how did Joseph manage to succeed at a seemingly impossible task?

Dr. Bob Schuchts writes in the book Be Transformed that Holy Orders is given to help us overcome the wound of confusion. This chapter made me uncomfortable for two reasons. First, because I exercise authority over my flock, and second because I must obey the authority of the Pope and my Bishop.

Those in authority must serve their people, not make the people serve them. It must be exercised an accordance with the truth, and motivated by love. Unity is the fruit of good authority exercised well. Most importantly, Joseph is obedient to God's authority. He knows that he cannot succeed on his own so he relies on God's guidance and power. Follow these guidelines and your authority will help bring unity.

(20 Mar 2023)

Going Deeper: Who in your life has exercised authority well? In what ways have you suffered from abuse of authority? Ask St. Joseph to help heal those wounds.

Image by Giuseppe Rollini | Over 10

Lent, 4th Sunday (A) If something bad happened to you, according to Old Testament logic, you must have done something to deserve it. But what if you were born blind--were your parents being punished? No, says Jesus, this happened so that God's works could be made visible. Jesus then cures the incurable, symbolically fashioning new eyes for him from the clay. In doing so, he exposes the Pharisees who have eyes but refuse to see.

Let me share with you two healings that I experienced. I went to my healing prayer retreat with a sore back. Praying for healing didn't to anything for me... until I rejected my fears and renounced an inner vow. Then the pain and tension went away.

My family lived in five states when I was growing up. I was left with no home town. I had to go visit my old home and grieve the loss. After that I was finally able to feel at home again.

I feel confident that I can face other wounds in my life, bring them to Jesus, and experience healing and peace. Has God revealed to you any wounds that he wants to heal?

(19 Mar 2023)

Going Deeper: Notice any area of your life where something hurts you more than it should. Have you prayed about it? What does Jesus want you to know?

Image Source | Over 10

Lent, 3rd Sunday (A) Jews looked down on Samaritans as apostates from the true faith of Abraham. Jesus doesn't avoid them. In fact, he travels through their territory, finds common ground, and spends two days with them. God has not forgotten his Samaritan children.

Let's talk about paganism. The pagans had lots of gods. The gods were personifications of all the powers and forces that are outside of human control. The pagans tried to win favor with them so they could be blessed and not smitten.

On the contrary, Christians believe that there is only one God. All the forces of this world, and the spiritual world, are servants of God. Faithful, obedient servants in the case of natural forces and the angels. Rebellious, disobedient servants in the case of the demons. God is a Father who loves his children. Far from being insignificant, you can trust that God is moving heaven and earth to give you the very best.

I fear that far too many of us pray like pagans. We believe we need to get God's attention and somehow convince him to be kind to us. We take challenges as signs that God doesn't care. Far from it! The challenges are actually bringing us the best possible blessings.

God allows us to experience neediness so that we can turn to him, trust in him, and learn to rely more deeply on him. Instead, we often hate our neediness. We pray for God to take away our neediness so we can stop relying on him. You can see why God would not answer that prayer.

Instead, we need to listen to our neediness. Not just our surface neediness, but the yearnings of your heart. Our deepest desires were given to us by God and they lead us to him. Listen to the yearnings of the heart and let Jesus meet you at the well.

(12 Mar 2023)

Going Deeper: What are your surface cravings? What are the deeper desires of your heart? Spend some time identifying what you really want. Let Jesus meet you at the well.

Image Source. I am indebted to Msgr. Tom Richter on Relevant Radio's The Inner Life for these ideas, though I can't point you to the exact episode. Over 10 years of homily episodes available at PilgrimPriest.us/podcast | Like, subscribe, and pray about one person in your life who needs to hear this message| Find me on Facebook and Twitter | Powered by Patrons | give through PayPal | Thank you new Patron Fr. Michael from Minnesota

Lent, 2nd Sunday (A) At the Transfiguration, Jesus glows with heavenly light. Perhaps he is seeing the Beatific Vision? This fancy term refers to the fact that the saints in heaven see God and are overawed by his indescribable beauty and glory. Seeing God is the primary source of happiness in heaven.

Jesus gave up seeing the Beatific Vision when he became incarnate. Perhaps now, just a few weeks before his death on the cross, Jesus is given a glimpse of his Father's face. The disciples cannot see God but they see the glory of God reflected in Jesus. Even the reflected glory is so delightful that they want to stay there forever.

Right now, God the Father is gazing at you with the same love, delight, and glory with which he looks at Jesus. Sometimes we can catch a glimpse of God's delight. I had a mountain-top experience through a retreat with the John Paul II Healing Center. The retreat team was very welcoming and loving. My fellow priests were wonderful human beings. In one way or another we each experienced God's delight in us.

As a result of this, the people I encountered seemed so much more delightful. It was like I could see God's delight in them, and hopefully they could see the light of God's love reflected in my face.

Believe it or not, Mass is meant to be a mountain-top experience. We leave our ordinary life and come to a special place where we can experience God's delight in us, his beloved children. Then we come down the mountain glowing with delight. May God make his face shine on you so you can be delight.

(5 Mar 2023)

Going Deeper: Reflect on the OCP Heritage Missal cover, which appears to be the same this year as it was last year.

Thank you Dr. Bob, Bart, Sr. Miriam, Kim, Rick, Emily, Diana, and my fellow retreat participants. Image Source. Over 10 years of homily episodes available at PilgrimPriest.us/podcast | Like, subscribe, and pray about one person in your life who needs to hear this message| Find me on Facebook and Twitter | Powered by Patrons | give through PayPal

Lent, 1st Sunday (A) What can we learn from the temptation of Jesus? We can expect that Lent will be challenging. Temptations will be rolling up to your door. You can expect lots of opportunities to choose love and to be faithful to God.

The first two temptations begin, "If you are the son of God..." The devil is after something very specific -- he wants to steal Jesus' identity as Son of God. Will God really provide for you? Will God really protect you? You don't really have to obey your Father.

Our true identity is found in our Father's love for us. Lent is a time for us to say: "My Father will protect me, he will provide for me, and I choose to be an obedient son."

(26 Feb 2023)

Going Deeper: Check out the full-size version of this image at Wikimedia. There are a lot of little details like the devil holding a basket of bread, and his disguise that falls off when he flees. Perhaps meditate on the image and see how it speaks to you, a kind of "visio-divina" (like lectio divina but without the reading part).

Joke by Joyce. Over 10 years of homily episodes available at PilgrimPriest.us/podcast | Like, subscribe, and share us with your enemies | Find me on Facebook and Twitter | Powered by Patrons | give through PayPal