—This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.—

Two days ago I was standing next to our Bishop, along with the priests of the diocese. We took part in the Holy Mass and the blessing of the various oils —“ the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens, and the Holy Chrism.

After the Holy Mass the priests of the diocese took their stocks of oil and returned to their parishes.

I would like us to focus on what this means.

From our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit present in the hands of our bishop we received a gift.

Oil to bring healing —“ the healing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Oil to strengthen and prepare those who are about to enter into the Holy Church in baptism. The Holy Chrism to anoint, strengthen, and indelibly seal the members of the Holy Church in their witness at Baptism and Confirmation and in Holy Orders.

What marvelous gifts —“ and what a magnificent witness —“ the Holy Church gathered around her bishop and proclaiming the ancient faith. The true faith.

We returned from that event and came together yesterday and this morning in our preparation for this most sacred time. The church is decorated; the flowers in place, the candles purchased, the hymns have been practiced. What a marvelous gift —“ the gift of hands and voices working together to witness our faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now this evening. Jesus presents us with more gifts. The gifts of Holy Eucharist, the Priesthood, and Forgiveness of sins.

All of these things, all of these gifts, are gifts from God. He has sole authority over them. He heals, He anoints, It is His body and blood, He wipes sin away. We can do none of this of our own accord. Only God. Yet He gave them to us – His power, His authority, His love have been given to us.

Jesus said:

—What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.—

Brothers and sisters,

By tomorrow it will be even more difficult to understand. Jesus will be dragged around, slapped, scourged, crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross. He will die and be pieced with a lance.

God’s gift —“ His life for our lives. That gift is hard to understand. It is hard to get out minds around that concept.

In the psalm we sang:

Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ.

All of these gifts, all of these treasures are sealed in the blood of Christ. They are the rock upon which we are to build our lives.

Everyone has a solution. Everyone has a plan. Everyone has an idea. Sometimes we think we need to have something new. We are ready to buy the newest concept in the hope that it will work. We miss the true hope – what we know will work. It is what have, and what we must rely on. It is these very gifts, God’s gifts. These gifts are the plan, the idea, and the solution to all of our problems, concerns, and issues.

With this knowledge St. Paul proclaimed:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Brothers and sisters,

Our Lord said:

—I have given you a model to follow—

So this day is a memorial feast —“ a feast we and our brothers and sisters in Christ will celebrate perpetually. It is the memorial of His awesome gifts —“ God’s power among us.

He has given us everything we need – everything. Come and receive His gifts —“ and rely on them as the source of all life. Rely on them and be saved.

Amen.

Peter said to him in reply,
—Though all may have their faith in you shaken,
mine will never be.—

We make empty promises and we have empty arms. As humans our longing far outweighs the world’s ability to fulfill those longings.

Look at Peter. All his marvelous statements, all his strength and bravery, all the grand pronouncements. Certainly they came from a deep down longing. He wanted to love, but couldn’t quite get it right.

The result: Telling Jesus what he could and could not do:

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men.”

Telling Jesus he would be loyal – and the result:

Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the cock crowed.
And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”

Afterward Peter wept bitterly – and don’t we all weep bitterly after our unkept promises, after our empty arms.

We stand alone with our great sayings and gestures. We long, yearn, and are even willing to suffer and die for love, but still find it slightly out-of-reach.

Simone Weil said: —To say to Christ: ‘I will never deny you’ was to deny him already, for it was to suppose the source of faithfulness to be in himself and not in grace…. Peter did not deny Christ when he broke his promise, but when he made it.—

The problem with empty arms and empty promises is that they exist apart from the love of God. As Christians we are called to love the way God loves, to promise the way God promises, to put our faith in His grace and His path. We have to let God take hold of us and put our complete trust, our complete faith in Him. We have to trust in God’s ways regardless of what the world, what our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers think.

The women who stood off at a distance, Joseph from Arimathea, they worked in accord with God’s will. They were loyal, they stayed close to Jesus to the last, without regard for their personal desires. They desired what the Father desired: serve My Son, follow My Son, bury My Son.

Brothers and sisters,

God made a promise – and He came among us to fulfill it:

Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

He showed us His empty arms – and in their emptiness, fastened to the cross, He showed us love beyond measure, the love of God for His people.

Our arms and our promises will be full, and love with envelop us completely. Invite Jesus to take hold of you. Come Lord Jesus, take my arms, my promises, my will, and make them in accord with Yours.

Amen.

But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.

It is Passion Sunday. Today we enter into the Passiontide, the two weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. On this Passion Sunday the Church’s readings remind us of several important things.

First and foremost, we are reminded of the resurrection. Jesus raises His friend Lazarus. This is the third time, prior to His own death, that Jesus has exhibited His power – and by exhibiting His power over life and death confirmed the fact that He is God’s son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. No one who is not God has power over life and death.

In Luke 8 we read of Jarius’ daughter:

And when he came to the house, he permitted no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child.
And all were weeping and bewailing her; but he said, “Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.”
And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.
But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.”
And her spirit returned, and she got up at once; and he directed that something should be given her to eat.
And her parents were amazed; but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.

In Luke 7 we read of the widow of Na’in:

Soon afterward he went to a city called Na’in, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her.
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”
And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”
And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Today we read of Lazarus:

[Jesus] cried out in a loud voice,
—Lazarus, come out!—
The dead man came out

Just before Jesus raises Lazarus He told His disciples that He will lay down His life, and that He has the power to take it up again:

—For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father.”

So Jesus has made His point. He is God. God who has power over life and death.

Regardless of the miracles, regardless of our church attendance, this is a good lesson for us. We may say Jesus, Jesus. We may say He is the Christ. Yet we may fail to recognize the simple fact – He is God.

Brothers and sisters,

Secondarily the Church reminds us that God’s appearance, God’s revelation, is one half of the equation. The other half of that equation is our response. Revelation – response. Our response must be one of faith.

In our first reading we hear God state that His actions will elicit a response from us.

O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
and I will settle you upon your land;
thus you shall know that I am the LORD.

We who sit here have made that response. We have come to the realization that God came to dwell among us. His spirit is in us and He has settled us in our land, our land is the Church. Our response to what God has revealed, externally, and in our hearts, is that we fully recognize Him as the Lord.

Both Martha and Mary, in the midst of their grief, express their faith in Jesus – as Lord of life, with power, even over death.

Jesus told her,
—I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?—
[Martha] said to him, —Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.——¨

My friends,

Jesus has shown Himself – God among us, Emmanuel. Jesus has shown that He has power over death. In two weeks we will commemorate the fact that Jesus – who died, sacrificed upon the cross – will take up His life again, opening the gates of heaven to us. He has shown us the promise of heaven – life eternal – what life will be in perfection.

As we walk through this two week period of reflection, increased fasting and prayer, and time in silent reflection before the wood of the cross and the the tomb, let us remember what God has done. Let us remember that God touched our lives. That He shared in all we experience, except sin. Let us remember that we are called to respond to Him in faith.

Therefore, let us recommit to a life lived as the people in whom Christ dwells, that we are in the spirit, as long as the Spirit of God dwells in us. Jesus Christ lives in us. God is with us.

Amen.

—Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?——¨
Jesus answered,—¨
—Neither he nor his parents sinned;—¨
it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.—

To our minds Jesus’ statement presents an inconceivable problem. This man was born blind – afflicted – for the sole purpose of showing forth God’s power? Yet that is what happened. Affliction, fearful trouble, showed forth God’s light.

Look at the Gospel. The parents of the man born blind tried to avoid trouble:

Ask him, he is of age;
he can speak for himself.—
His parents said this because they were afraid
of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed
that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ,
he would be expelled from the synagogue.
For this reason his parents said,
—He is of age; question him.——¨

They wanted to avoid doing the hard thing, attesting to the truth in the face of certain condemnation.

Jesus Christ proclaimed the fact that He is the light of the world. Yet, we still live in fear, fear of condemnation, fear of failure, fear of pain, sickness, misfortune, poverty, weakness. Fear… we fear it all. We fear because we forget that we have nothing to fear.

We have an opportunity today — to remind ourselves that there is nothing to fear as long as we cling to Christ and His Church.

Jesus brought the light, and His light penetrates to the depth of our being. Jesus asks that we allow His light to penetrate into our lives in the same way it penetrated into the life of the man born blind. Jesus’ light destroys all fear. His light does not provide for an easy-going existence, an existence where nothing bad will happen to us as long as we believe. Rather, His light provides for an existence, a life, where nothing, no man, no trouble, no illness, nothing can separate us from God’s love, God’s promise. Jesus’ light gives us the fulness of life – true life – where even in the face of fearful things we are free from fear, we are assured.

Brothers and sisters,

The Pharisees were all caught up in the healing of the blind man. They debated the healing. How could this happen? What could it mean? How was it brought about? They wanted the details and they missed the point, they missed the light. They missed Jesus. On the other hand the man born blind, who lived with the suffering and degradation brought about by his blindness, did not wonder at all. He didn’t curse his former life, ‘Jesus what took you so long,’ but looked at his new life with steadfast joy. He didn’t need an answer. He did not fear the Pharisees. He had the answer, Jesus.

Friends,

If we allow Christ’s light to penetrate us – if we become changed by it, we will have eternal life, a life where fear means nothing. Like the man born blind we will have the answer. We will fear nothing.

The example of our ancestors in faith, the holy saints, apostles, and martyrs, the founders of the PNCC and our parish, Bishops Hodur and Padewski, should be an example to us. There is nothing to fear if we hold true to our faith, if we join together in this holy cause. None backed down or apostatized in the face of fearful things. None at all, for they knew that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus’ light does not mean an end to suffering. In today’s world it is likely that we will suffer all the more for living in His light. But that suffering is brief – and in reality inconsequential. That suffering is nothing when measured against the promise of eternal life. A promise we are to proclaim – because by it the whole world will be healed and made whole.

Family,

Today, with our Lenten penitential service, we begin again, we renew our commitment, our decision to live in and with the light of Christ. We begin again in our decision to live in accord with our brothers and sisters in the Holy Church. We choose to reject sin and all fear, and we repent.

It is time, the Passiontide begins next week. It is time to choose the light of Christ, to reject all fear, to proclaim the cross and the resurrection. It is time to live in His light, and to reflect that light, sharing it with the world.

As St. Paul noted, we must:

Live as children of light,—¨
for light produces every kind of goodness—¨
and righteousness and truth.

It is our job. It is the truth we must proclaim. It is the struggle we must undertake. It is our work – and by it we will be victorious. Walk out of here today and be fearless. We have nothing to fear. We have chosen to live in the light of Christ.

Amen.

—We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.—

There are two kinds of rock, igneous and sedimentary — no wait, wrong lesson.

There are two kinds of rock mentioned in today’s readings.

The first is the sort of rock the represents hardness of heart. The Jewish people had seen God’s power. They saw Moses strike the sea – and it parted. They saw the cloud and the fire that protected them from the Egyptians. They saw the exercise of God’s might. Not too long after they said: ‘God, what god…’

I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, I can’t see God, God’s not entertaining me. Their hardness of heart was a chronic condition, a condition all of us share. I want, why doesn’t God provide?

The psalmist captures that hardness if heart when he sings:

—Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,—¨Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.——¨

That hardness of heart, those stony hearts, were confronted by the Rock of Ages. God showed that the rock in Horeb could bring forth water. Even a rock could bring forth life. Did the rock do it alone? No.

The rock that brought forth water needed two things. It needed God’s power and a faithful servant – Moses.

I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it

There is an important lesson for us in this.

We are human – and our hearts are hard, dissatisfied, filled with doubt. Regardless, our hard hearts can bring forth springs of life. To do so we need God’s power. We need to acknowledge that power. We have to take that all important step and recognize that God is the center of our lives, of the world, of the universe, of all that exists. Once we have recognized God’s proper place in our lives we must make every effort to fashion ourselves into faithful servants.

Of course we are blessed because we have the Holy Church, as guide and support in proclaiming our faith in God and in fashioning ourselves into His faithful servants. With our commitment, and the Church’s guidance and help, we too will bring forth springs of life giving water.

The Letter to the Romans clearly shows that our hearts will be changed in our acceptance of God:

And hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Because of God’s love, because of a love so great that God Himself would die for us, we have been saved.

God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Brothers and sisters,

We have hearts of stone. Those stone hearts will be ground to powder, worn down by a love so great that we cannot help but be changed. God promises us that He Himself will give us hearts made for love. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us that God promised:

I will give them an undivided heart and will put a new spirit in them;—¨
I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.—¨
Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
They will be—¨my people, and I will be their God.

Friends,

Jesus came to give us hearts of flesh. He came and He fulfilled all that was promised. He gives us His word, His power to forgive, and His body and blood. All this so that we will recognize this simple truth:

—whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;
the water I shall give will become in him
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.——¨

We need to drink of Christ – who will destroy our hard hearts. We need to drink of Christ, so that we may: worship the Father in Spirit and truth.

When our hearts are changed, when our hearts yield God’s message, when they proclaim God’s word, we can be sure that those who hear us will say:

—We no longer believe because of your word;
for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.—

That will be the ultimate victory. Let us begin on the path today. Accept the Rock of Ages, the Christ who gives us living water. Then go out, as faithful servants, proclaiming His Gospel. Let our hearts bring living water to all we meet.

Amen.

Bear your share of hardship for the gospel
with the strength that comes from God.

Suffering. Suffering is mentioned approximately seventy-four times in the New Testament, depending on the translation.

A few examples:

Jesus with his disciples:

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

“So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.—

And how is it written of the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

A woman asking Jesus to heal her son:

Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly.

Pilate’s wife:

—Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.—

Jesus on Pilate’s killing of Galilean Jews:

And he answered them, —Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?

The Acts of the Apostles – after the Apostles were dragged before the Sanhedrin:

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

Suffering is an ever present reality. Some Christians attempt to deny suffering. As they account it those who suffer are apart from the kingdom. They preach a gospel of success and happiness. If you are successful, if you are happy, you are destined for heaven. Others maximize suffering. They deny the beauty and joy that is found in the world – the essential goodness that God created. They account all pleasure as sinful.

Neither of those approaches is correct. The gospel of success closes off those who suffer horribly, denying them the happiness of the kingdom. Those who hunger and thirst, those that are tortured, those who are abused and beaten – even within their own families, the sick. They are equal children of the kingdom and very much in need of the God’s loving care; very much in need of the care, concern, and Good News we followers of Christ must provide.

On the other hand the gospel of pain shuts our eyes to the beauty of the world – the magnificence inherent in creation. It makes us think that it is all coincidence – all an accident, all uncreated chemistry. Further it inappropriately makes us think that God desires pain and suffering, that God is a vengeful sadist. That God made a mistake in creating our senses.

Brothers and sisters,

The reality of life is that we have both suffering and happiness. We have pleasure and pain. We have a dichotomy – and we are lacking in perfection. We know that we do not like suffering. We know there is something more – that there is a better reality.

Jesus offers us a glimpse into that reality. He offers us a shinning moment of perfection – a view into the heavenly splendor that awaits us.

He was transfigured before them;
His face shone like the sun
and His clothes became white as light.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them,
conversing with Him.—¨

In that moment the voice of the Father is heard:

—This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;
listen to him.—

As Christians we are to trust that voice. We are to trust the Father. The Son came to teach us about the Father – and to give us the Father’s words. The Father sent the Son to give us life, to give us light, and to open eternity to us. He came to open the better and true reality.

Centuries before Christ’s coming Abram trusted. He listened when God told him to pack up and leave. Abram did all that based on a promise.

Abram went as the LORD directed him.

We too must go and do as the Lord directs – and we can do that because we have more than a promise.

My friends,

We have the promise and more than that – the revelation of God’s might. God has shown himself. Jesus knew that suffering was coming – so He gave Peter, James, and John reassurance in the Transfiguration. Later He showed the ultimate reality. In the resurrection Jesus let us know that the joy and happiness that awaits us is limitless. He has showed us the heavenly – the kingdom where there will be no tears and no suffering, a place of eternal joy and perfection.

As we walk through Lent – and as we reform our lives – let us hold fast to the promise and reality of heaven. Let us rejoice, because no suffering, no persecution, no pain can keep us from God. He is our hope, heaven is our destination.

Amen.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

This psalm represents a powerful prayer. David is asking God to purify him, to give him a clean heart, a steadfast spirit. David is asking God to release him from sinfulness. David does not want to be apart from God’s presence. David does not want to loose the Holy Spirit’s presence in his life.

It is a wonderful prayer. It is the sort of prayer that speaks in part of David’s despair, the sort of despair we all feel when we are apart from God because of sin. More-so this prayer speaks of David’s love for God, his desire to return to God, not through his own power, but through God’s grace.

Brothers and sisters,

It is the first week of Lent, and a perfect opportunity for us to reflect on our attitude toward God, our love, and our sinfulness.

As we sit here, quietly, we should reflect on what is passing through our minds and hearts. Do we feel superior, intellectual, proud, smart, victorious, doubtful, worried, happy, guilty, righteous?

Of course, David knew all those feelings. Those types of thoughts are indicative of the distance we create between ourselves and God, between the ideal God calls us to, and the way we choose to live. Our sinfulness makes distance all the greater, distance from God, distance from each other.

As we sit here, in silence, let us reflect on just how far we are from God, just how much we need His hand. We need Him to reach out; to reach out, take us up, and hold us close. We need the gift of His grace so that we might return. We need to fall on our knees and beg Him for that grace – the grace that will renew us, creating a clean heart in us, renewing our spirit, making us steadfast in our opposition to sin.

My friends,

We are deep in sin. So deep we don’t even see it or realize it. We have made ourselves numb to the fact that we do things every day that hurt our brothers and sisters. We do things that hurt each other. From words to glances, from phone calls, visits, and E-mails, to websites we shouldn’t visit, and thoughts we shouldn’t think. Like Adam and Eve, we need to own this realization:

they realized that they were naked

We are naked in our sinfulness. We think we love and protect, but we are lost. Separateness from God gnaws at us. We feel it in guilt and in regret. If only I had loved better, if only I had been more charitable, if only I had held my tongue.

David knew his sin. Realizing his separateness from God, David cried out:

Cast me not out from your presence

David knew he was naked.

The Letter to the Roman tells us that Jesus bridged the gap, and saved humanity:

For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.

In Jesus’ coming David’s prayer was answered. Jesus came into the world to manifest God’s presence. He is here, among us. He is not far off – here is our hearts, here in these words, here on this altar, and here in this tabernacle, recently so rudely invaded.

Jesus is here, with the grace to keep us close, to guide us from sinfulness to life – true justification.

We cannot do it alone. We can do nothing to justify ourselves. We are not justified through our works, through our service, through offices and positions of authority, nor in pointing to the faults of others.

We must come here. We must walk up to the altar, heads down, sadness in eyes and voices – we must ask again and again:

Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

Jesus showed us the way. In the face of continual temptation He showed us that we have the ability to say no. He said:

—Get away, Satan!

He vanquished Satan. Thus we too can say, get away evil.

Lent is here. Time to face reality. We have sinned. With David we must say:

For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
—Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.—

When we do that He will come with His grace, to call us back, to hold us, to heal us. Like Daid, we do not want to be apart from God. It is never too late. Call on Him today. He is here.

Amen.

But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

Today’s readings and Gospel are about concerns.

As we approach the holy season of Lent it is right for the Church to remind us about concerns. Do I have too much? Do I work too hard? Do I have my priorities straight? Too much, too little, too strong, too weak.

Our first reading consists of two verses. Isaiah 46:14-15. Two simple verses to tell us that God will never let go of us.

In Jesus we find the fulfillment of that promise. God came to us, revealing Himself, saving us, renewing us, and rebuilding what was broken. Jesus came because God can never let us go, after all He is our Father and has promised His constant love.

Thus Jesus came to usher in the end times. In doing so He revealed the requirements for the road ahead.

During Lent we will recall what this meant.

Jesus’ coming meant more than a few kind words and an occasional healing from a nice guy. It meant the revelation of God’s total commitment, His unending love and care for us.

Our reflection on Jesus’ mission will culminate in the sacrifice of Good Friday. The day when all that was broken was taken up on the cross.

On Easter Sunday we will see death broken, evil destroyed, and the road ahead – the road that leads to heaven, fully open to us.

In Easter we will hear the Gospel account of the road to Emmaus. That road is symbolic in that those disciples walked it, listening to God’s word, and in the end reached the revelation of Jesus. Recall what they felt on the road. Their hearts burned. They were filled with joy.

The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!

Friends,

In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that in the days of the kingdom, the days that will be ushered in by His death and resurrection, concerns are no more. God is present. He is here. Life has changed.

Really, worrying about things is meaningless in respect to this new life – the new life in which we share. God’s grace and love are sufficient. His end game has been revealed and we know where we are headed. As such nothing, no worry, no concern, nothing physical, nothing known or unknown, not even the depths of hell nor the heights of heaven can contain the extent of God’s grace – His care for us.

Brothers and sisters,

St. Paul wraps this all up. He is not worried about the judgments of the Corinthians, of human tribunals, or even his own account of himself. Paul places his faith solely in the judgment of the Lord. Beyond that, Paul is on message – he is working at his task – the building of God’s Kingdom.

Paul knows that he is living in the midst of the eschatological promise of Christ. The earth is fading away, time is moving forward, the day of the Lord is neigh. Paul knows the Lord’s word and the words found in Isaiah 40:8

The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.

It is more than living with concerns over what to eat or what to wear. It is more than living with concern over the world’s judgments or self judgment. Our call is to live through Lent and through each day as people focused on one thing – the Kingdom of God. God’s grace is enough – it is sufficient to get us there. We cannot contain that love – only live in it.

Let us go forward then, forward this day, forward everyday, forward through Lent in thankfulness, in joy, in expectation seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness. In doing so we acknowledge that God’s life — God’s way — is enough for us.

Amen.

I am the LORD.

That phrase occurs over and over in the Book of Leviticus. The Book of Leviticus is a book of Law given by God to the Hebrews. It is a legislative document. Throughout the book God lays out His Laws and commands, and at the end of each He says —I am the Lord.— or —I, the LORD, am your God.—

He is asking us to recognize that fact.

We are sixty days from Easter, two weeks out from the start of Lent.

In this time of preparation the Church reminds us of something very key. She reminds us of what God has asked us to recognize. While we may recognize it in the intellectual sense it bears hearing. God is our Lord. God commands us, rules over us, and is in charge of our lives. We are to recognize that intellectually and from the gut.

We are to recognize that in our baptism, and in our coming here, we surrender to God. We pray that He makes use of us. We ask that He take our will, our very being, for His purposes.

Brothers and sisters,

That is the hardest choice. The choice to give oneself to another. To put our trust into the hands of someone else. To give up our will, our knowledge, our desires, and to replace those with knowledge of God, God’s will, and God’s desire. It is even more difficult because we know that God is demanding, that God has all sorts of requirements we do not really, and let’s be honest here, that we do not really like.

Look at the Gospel – turn the other cheek to those who strike you. Someone wants your shirt, given them your coat as well. Your boss or spouse asks you to go the extra mile, go two. Give to whomever asks, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow. Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

Is God crazy? Doesn’t He know about credit risk, painful cheeks, and the fact that it gets pretty cold in upstate New York without a shirt or coat? He wants us to love Osama, and the atheists who think we are all delusional and schizophrenic?

Yes, that’s right.

Further, God wants us to give up sin. That little moment of selfish pleasure, cast it aside. That rush we get when we show ourselves as superior to another – let it go. More than let it go, repent of it and do it no more.

St. Paul goes on to tell us that we shouldn’t delude ourselves with pride in our own wisdom:

If any one among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.

My friends,

The fact is this. God created the world, and each of us, setting us on the road of return. We are all bound to Him and for Him, each according to the measure of grace that we have been given.

As we walk that path, drawing ever closer to God, we must recollect and remember these things:

First, that our Lord is God.

Second, that our wisdom, our personal strength is nothing if it not conformed to God. We can say we know everything. We can be astrophysicists, accountants, attorneys, surgeons – and all of it is lacking if we do not count ourselves as fools because we lack in the knowledge and wisdom of God.

Third, we must place ourselves into God’s hands. We are safe there, even when the world hits us, takes our coat, demands our work, and persecutes us.

Fourth, God demands repentance, a true inner change. We must reorder our way of thinking and living, aligning it with God’s direction.

Fifth, we must recognize God’s presence in all. God is in all, and all are called to return to Him, regardless of their station, class, religion, or the good or bad they have done. He is most particularly in us for as St. Paul tells us:

Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Of these things some will ask, Well how do I know what God wants? How can I know when it is all so unclear, so uncomfortable?

When asking that question recollect and remember, God has sent His Son to teach us. We have Sacred Scripture and Tradition to guide us, and the Holy Church, ever present, to instruct us. Not only that, we know that God promises an eternity of joy with Him if we conform ourselves to Him.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

There is nothing unclear in the beatitudes, in Jesus’ instruction to:

be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

As we approach Lent let us set our sights on re-ordering our lives. Let us resolve to live in union with God and His Church. Let us listen to God as He tells us:

Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Yet we do speak a wisdom to those who are mature, but not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.
Rather, we speak God’s wisdom

Today we enter the holy season of Septuagesima. Easter is only 70 days away. We jump right from Christmas joy to the contemplation of the Lenten journey which lies ahead.

Today we consider wisdom, and choices.

The Apostle Paul tells us that the Holy Church teaches wisdom. That’s a hard thing to accept.

It is hard to think that, until we realize that the wisdom, the truth that we teach, is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ as taught and preached by the Apostles, the Fathers, and our Bishops down to this day.

We teach what He taught. We desire what He desired. The Church desires that each and every person live in the truth. The Church desires that you and I surrender to Christ, and to the image of Christ in each other.

Brothers and sisters,

The Book of Sirach is a book of wisdom. Wisdom is truth boiled down to its simplest elements:

There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.

We have choices to make. Paul tells us that the Church teaches wisdom. Wisdom tells us that we have a choice.

Our great and holy founder, Bishop Hodur taught the very same wisdom. People can come to us, to His Holy Church. If they find truth and light here they are welcome to stay. They are welcome to learn wisdom from the Holy Church. If they do not find it here, if their conscience leads them elsewhere, we hinder them not.

We desire that all come to the truth. Therefore we welcome all who come to seek the truth. We desire that all come to Christ, all those seeking, wishing to learn, desiring to love. Let them come here to find, to learn, and to love. Above all we desire that all form their conscience in accord with the wisdom of God – and in the end make the decision for Christ – to be more than church goers, to be Christ followers.

This weekend we held a rummage sale.

We held a rummage sale because, believe it or not, we are Christ followers. We found a means to raise a few dollars to help a member of the Holy Church in his ministry to the children of Iraq, children in the one of the very worst areas of Iraq.

We did not consider politics. We did not consider the fact that the children we serve may never fully know the reality of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We simply helped a man who bears the cross of Christ on his uniform; helping him witness to Christ.

As we walk through this holy season let us consider the ways in which we live as Christ followers. Let us examine our consciences in that regard. Jesus taught us that it is the state of the heart that matters. Our sins are more than the doing of the sin, they begin in the heart. He told us:

Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’

In other words, be honest through and through.

Let us hold Christ in our hearts. Let us live as Christ followers. Let us see Christ in every person on earth.

Wisdom is to follow Christ. Let that be our choice.

Amen.