How do we experience the Lord?

For the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent, Jesus took the apostles Peter, James, and John up the mountain and was transfigured before their eyes.  They were given a glimpse of the Risen Lord to strengthen then in their journey to Jerusalem.  This journey to Jerusalem is code for the true meaning of discipleship of the Lord Jesus.  For it was in Jerusalem that Jesus was to experience suffering, the cross, and even death.  To be a disciple of Jesus means to be a follower of the crucified Lord as well as the Risen Lord.

As disciples, none of us get a free pass on dealing with the cross in life.  It goes with the territory of being a follower of Jesus.  However the cross is not a dead-end street.  Rather, our crosses in life when united with the cross of Jesus is the path to resurrection and new life.  The cross teaches us the life lesson of the meaning of love -- love of others and love of God.

The transfiguration moments of our life, when we experience the Lord and His unending love for us, are meant to strengthen us in faith in dealing with the setbacks of life.  Thanks be to God for the transfiguration experiences of life.  We don't need to climb the mountain.  We need just to be aware of how the Lord shares His love with us.

In our Lenten journey, we need to go to Jerusalem.  Be awake of the gifts of transfiguration experiences that help us to be spirit-filled and guide in our path of discipleship.

The temptations of Jesus and our temptations as well.

On this the First Sunday of Lent, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  In our Lenten journey, we enter the same space as Jesus.  We are led by the Spirit into the desert experience of Lent through fasting and self-denial and then are tested with the demons that are within us -- the demons of too much busyness, addictions that enslave us, the faces of those we are unable to love.

The desert is the place of struggle in life.   The desert is also the place where we encounter God.  The places of struggle in life can lead us to trust in God's unending love for us.

The real temptation of Satan was to offer Jesus a way to be the Messiah without the cross.  It is our temptation as well -- to be a disciple without the experience of the cross in life.  The cross is part of who Jesus is, and it is an enduring sign of His unconditional love for us.  In our Lenten journey, we take up the cross by embracing spiritual disciplines.  We also take up the cross by our commitment to trust in God's healing presence in the face of the brokenness that causes us to lose our spiritual footing.

Lent is a wonderful time to be honest with ourselves and to recognize that which is not yet transformed within us.  We are then invited to place our lives more completely in the hands and the heart of a God who loves us infinitely.

This afternoon we had a great family Lenten gathering in which we engaged in prayer, talks on the meaning of Lent, and activities that involved everyone in the family.  Thank you to Eva Mascadri and Jeanne Mooney and the team.

We also had the RCIA Rite of Election at Sacred Heart Cathedral this afternoon  with Bishop Matano in which William Paul, Adam Welz, Nicole Diehl, Virginia Falcon, Daniel Henry, James King, and Vincent Tassone took another step on their journey to be fully initiated as members of our Catholic faith community.

This evening our middle school and high school youth gathered for their FAITH NIGHT reflecting on the miracles and parables of Jesus.  The faith community of St. Joseph's is fully engaged in our desire to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is most important in our lives?

In his homily, Deacon Duncan Harris asked us to reflect upon:  who do we worship; to whom do we belong; what is most important in our lives?  We must all confess that we, at times, do not walk our talk.  The way we live our lives leaves a confusing message.

May we have the desire to place God first in our lives as we focus on the conversion the Season of Lent calls us to.  May we embrace the Lenten spiritual disciplines that enable us to focus on Jesus and our call to discipleship.

This weekend at the 9:00 liturgy, we prayed and celebrated with our girl scouts in giving praise to our God.

Joyfully in the sacrament of Baptism, we welcomes five new members to our faith community:  Angela Mary Phillips, Charles Germano, Hailey Mensinga, Mia DiLorenzo, and Evan Lawrence Hill (my grand nephew).

Is the teaching of Jesus on nonviolence and universal love too idealistic?

Today's Gospel is the demanding high point of the Lord's Sermon on the Mount.  There are to be no exceptions to whom we are are to love.  Listen to the Jesus:  Love your enemies; offer no resistance to one who is evil; pray for those who persecute; go the extra mile; turn the other cheek; be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

How can this be?  We are sinners, are we not?  We are imperfect.  There are areas of life in which Jesus is not yet Lord.  Thanks  be to God, our God is patient.  Our God is forgiving.  Our God is love.

Paul tells us:  We are God's temple and God's spirit is within us.  The holiness and perfection lie deep within us from the moment of baptism.  May we surrender to the love of God that is within us.

Love of enemies is the greatest test of love.  Are we able to pray and reach out to people we don't like?  To live the Gospel of love throws us back to God.  We need to rely on grace.  As God's people, we are to love as Jesus loves us.

On Saturday, we celebrated the funeral liturgy, the Mass of Resurrection, for Megan Garbach.  We entrusted her to the fullness of God's eternal life.  Our prayerful support goes to her loving parents, Ray and Kathy, and to the entire Garbach family.

Olympic Gold, spiritually speaking

What inspires me as the pastor of St. Joseph's is to see so many single people and families who gather to celebrate the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.  For me, these parishioners deserve Olympic gold medals, spiritually speaking. Together, as a parish family, we give thanks to the Lord our God for the many blessings we have received.

Deacon Bill Coffey preached on how the light of Christ shines brightly in the dark places of light.  Because of the light of Christ, we are always and everywhere God's beloved.  Deacon Bill raised up our spiritual awareness in asking:  "Where did we see God today?"

Deacon Bill quoted those words of wisdom:  "We live life forward; we know life backwards."  It is with the grace of hindsight that we recognize the hand of God in our life experiences.

Responding to Bishop Matano's initiative, this weekend we had a second collection to help needy folks with with funds for heating assistance during this harsh winter.  As always, our parishioners responded with generosity in sharing what we have with those in need.  Channel 8 was with us this morning covering the story of how the parishes of the diocese were taking us a second collection for funds for heating assistance.

What is your relationship with Jesus?

What is your relationship with Jesus?  In some ways, this is not a Catholic question; it can seem too evangelical.  In a deeper sense, this is a very Catholic question.

Today's Gospel describes the Baptism of Jesus in the Gospel  of John.  Rather than a heavenly voice declaring Jesus to be God's beloved Son, it is the human voice of John the Baptist that affirms Jesus to be the Son of God.  John's relationship with Jesus enabled him to point out, to witness to the presence of Jesus for others.

Our prayerful reflection today invites us to see how we are called to be John the Baptist in pointing and leading others to experience Jesus in their lives.  It is our own relationship with Jesus that enables us to share the light of Christ.

As we know, we cannot share what we do not have.  We need to experience the light of Christ within our own spirit so that we share Christ with others.  May John the Baptist be our model in leading others to the Lord.