View From the Ambo

The Eucharist is the answer to every question. Jesus gives us Himself and a model of service in this feast.

We enter Holy Week with Passion Sunday, consider the beast of burden tasked with carrying Christ into Jerusalem, and consider Christ's own humility and obedience!

Just as Lazurus was called out from the Grave, the place of stench, The Lord calls us out of the places of our lives, and uses them to tell of His glory. When we respond to His call, we are unbound and set free.

We are like the blind man, invited to come to Christ for healing so that we can see as God sees.

The Samaritan woman encounters Christ at the well, and she is moved to conversion and becomes a disciple. She in turn guides the other townspeople to Christ, and they, too, become disciples.

The Transfiguration gave the Apostles the encounter with Christ that helped them through the scandal of the Cross. We are called to encounter Him, too, and we do so by PRACTICE.

Prayerful reading of Scripture (Lectio Divine)

Rote prayers like the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Adoration - praising God for who He is

Contrition - admitting our sins and asking for mercy

Thanksgiving for what the Lord has done

Intercessions for those in need

Contemplation - contemplating the Scriptures as St. Ignatius taught

Examen - reflecting on our day's activities in the light of grace

This First Sunday of Lent, we enter the desert with Jesus Christ. He provides the model and the means to resist temptation. He knows His identity, knows the truth, names the lie, and claims the truth. In our own temptations, we can do the same, and go to Him fro the strength of the Sacraments.

Our John Ireland School Mass homily for Ash Wednesday. As we enter Lent, we cal to mind that prayer, fasting and almsgiving are means to unite us to God, others and ourselves. May we live reconciliation out the Lent.

Jesus invites us to let go of anxiety, an affliction that affects all, but chronically 1 in 6 Americans. By remembering that the Lord loves us, and calling to mind the things He has created may help us be prepared but not anxious.

Jesus Christ invites us to be merciful, not to exact justice. When we are, we fulfill our 'end' - the purpose - of our lives.