My friends, as I said in this week’s bulletin, two lines, especially, stood out for me—the 1^st from Ephesians, serving as our 2^nd reading today, “We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do the good things God created us to do…” The 2^nd one from 2 Chronicles, our 1^st reading today, comes from Cyrus, the leader of the Persians, who set the Israelites free after the Exile, with the words, “You can go home again.”

   Now, it won’t be any surprise to you that I am suggesting that each of us go deeper with these two lines.  For many of our combined years, “cradle-Catholics,” most of us, Lent has been a time, wherein we have nearly, “wallowed in,” “good ole Catholic guilt.”  The 1^st reading today from 2 Chronicles could add to the personal feelings that many of us may have had about our “worthlessness,” and feelings that we just can’t ever, “get it right”—mea culpa, mea culpa, striking our breasts, if it weren’t for the saving lines of Cyrus, that, “yes,” “we can go home again[!]”

   Again, this is why I always say, “go deeper” to unearth the message our loving God wants us to get.  Perhaps, we can look at this 1^st reading as an “attention-getter” to simply realize that in our humanity, we are imperfect and make mistakes, for any number of reasons; we are tired, ill, upset, selfish, lazy—whatever it may be, but for me, the greater part of this reading (going deeper) is the message of hope that Cyrus not only gives to the People of God coming out of exile, but to us today, is that we too, “can go home again!”

   John’s gospel selection for this Sunday lets us know, in Jesus’ words, that “God sent him into the world to save us,” (that good ole Catholic guilt) that I mentioned earlier, and told us that Jesus “needed” to die that horrible death on the cross, to save us as reparation for our sins.  Think of how that paints God in most of our minds!

   How about if we reframe this picture.  If as we read in the letter to the Ephesians, “we are God’s work of art,” wouldn’t it make more sense to think that God wanted to give us, “a little bit extra help” in living out our imperfect human lives, by sending us, “a northern star,” so to speak, in our brother Jesus, to show us the way to be our best selves –as opposed to a vindictive God who “needed” someone to suffer for the imperfections of humanity?

   I always have to wonder why our hierarchical Church fathers insist on holding up during Lent our “sinfulness” as opposed to our “merciful” God who “chases after us” all the days of our lives, as written so beautifully in the translation from The Message of the 23^rd Psalm.  The negative message does much to “enslave” us while the positive message is all about, “setting us free” to discover that indeed, “we are God’s work of art,” capable of so much good in our world. 

   And, as I look around our world, there seems to be so much that needs our love and care.  Yes, we may be “imperfect” creatures, but we aren’t incapable of making a difference in our world.  You all are aware that March is, Women’s History Month. February was, Black History Month.  Have you ever thought why we have these two month-long celebrations?  Or better yet, why we don’t have a Men’s History Month?

   Racism and sexism are two of our national sins, and when you think about it, we are only touching the “tip of the iceberg” in month-long celebrations of the wonderful accomplishments over time, of both groups, often made little of, or nothing at all.

   Friends, we live in a patriarchal world and Church, that second-guesses” the abilities of blacks and women that in the cases of whites and men, are uplifted.  If we want to talk about “sin” in our Church, here is one, where women are concerned! 

   So much my friends that is labeled, “undoable” in our world and Church is not about an “inability” to do the thing that is needed, but about “power and control” –think about it!

   Those with the power, for whatever reason, don’t want to share it, and how, we might ask, does that square with a God who created us, “works of art,” “to do the good things [that same God] “created us to do?”

   In the beginning of this homily, I spoke about the negative notion that we have often gotten concerning Lent—heavy on “repenting.”  It is good to consider that the word “return,” as in, “you can go home again,” and “repent” come from the same Greek word.  Perhaps we might concentrate in these last weeks of Lent more on “returning” to our loving God, if by our actions, we have “been away,” knowing that “we will find mercy,” to begin once again, to be our best selves, and be “enabled” to do all that we were created to do. Amen? Amen!

My friends, our lives as Christians, as followers of our brother Jesus, continually call us to face our daily lives with eyes and ears open to truly be able to see and hear all that is going on around us, especially wherein “justice for all is concerned,” because this is what Jesus was about in his life, thus showing us the way. 

   Our first reading today, you probably noticed, lays out for us the 10 Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  In a general way, we could say, these ten are about being good toward all.  Additionally, we hear that we should, “Let love and respect for others, ourselves and God be central in our lives” –it would seem then that all else that is good will follow. 

   I often tell you and remind myself as well, that Jesus came to show us “the way,” to live our one, wonderful life to the best of our ability—in other words, to become our best selves.  And why would God, in Jesus have decided to do this, we might ask?  Because of love, plain and simple.  Our God who is always watching over us, rejoicing with us in our joys, sorrowing with us in our sorrows, our down times, never interfering in what we choose to do within the gift of our free wills, saw that our free choices weren’t always the best for others or ourselves, and thus came to be one-with-us as a model that we could follow. 

   Paul, in the second reading from 1^st Corinthians says that he and his followers, “are preaching a messiah nailed to a cross,” that, “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. 

   Now if we were looking for a paradox, we wouldn’t have to go further than these statements, which we can’t read literally, because the true message lies deeper.  Again, we must realize that, as Father Richard Rohr has said, Jesus’ becoming one-with-us to die was never Plan A!  Jesus came to LIVE, and to LOVE, showing us the way—his death was the result of how he had lived! The powers-that-were in his time simply did not want the equality and justice for all that he was proclaiming, as it tapped into their power and control.  The same can be said for our Church hierarchy today in their refusal to accept the God-given calls of women to be ordained to the priesthood. At the end of the day, it is about losing their power and control over the message. Bishop Barron, here in Winona has said through his secretary, in a call we made asking to speak with him, “that he won’t waste his time talking with us unless we are willing to return to the Church!”

   Jesus’ actions in the Temple, recorded in John’s gospel today, signaled, as a colleague of mine said, “the end of business as usual for those who had eyes to see and ears to hear.”  Coming to the Temple on yearly pilgrimage, as ritual and praise of a God who had been faithful to them, had along the way lost its true purpose—those in power had made the “holy sight,” a market place and Jesus was calling them to task for it.  We can only imagine the anger these same religious officials felt toward Jesus’ actions, as in their heart of hearts, knowing he was speaking the truth!

   It seems that many times, Jesus’ message is lost on the powers-that-be, but he keeps trying to draw them in, to help them see that what they do at the Temple is only the starting point for their relationship with their God. They keep getting lost in “wanting a sign,” and when he gives them one, it is much easier for them to stay on the surface, as in the gospel today, rather than pondering a deeper meaning, choosing instead to ridicule him. 

   So, my friends, again if we truly want to follow our brother Jesus, we too may find that it will demand that we, like him, will have to disrupt the “easy-going” of some in the places of power in order that all others might have a fair shake at a basic, good life.

   Jesus “was aware of what was in their hearts,” the gospel said, and likewise, of what is in ours too. And with that knowledge, he is always calling us to go deeper, to see beyond our personal needs and wants, to what many others can only dream of in this world. 

   Jesus is always calling us back as two of our hymns speak of today, to as someone said, “the heart of the message,” or as I always say, to go deeper.  Paul in his letter to the Corinthians today takes us to that deeper place.  Paul begins with that paradoxical line, “We are preaching a Messiah nailed to a cross.”  To Jesus’ first followers and probably most of the Jewish people living when he did, who awaited a “messiah,” did not imagine the messiah that their brother Jesus became.  Their image was very literal—the Messiah they awaited would conquer their present-day enemies—the Romans, and set them humanly, free.  This reminds me of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today.  The Jesus I know, if he came today, as a messiah to the Israelis would not be accepted as such by them either, as he would call them to peace, not conflict.

   With acceptance of this knowledge, Paul’s next words make more sense and bring understanding, “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.” For when did war and conflict ever bring permanent and lasting peace?  I am reminded of the words and sentiments of Angelo Roncalli, Good Pope John, who often throughout his short papacy prayed and advocated for peace.

   Paul continues, “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”  To many, Jesus’ first followers included, the cross seemed like “weakness,” but only time would show that not to be the case. 

   On Friday last, in Russia, a patriot, prophet, and truth-teller, in the person of Alexei Navalny was buried and his strong life for others celebrated.  No doubt, his murder, as that of our brother Jesus, was intended by the powers-that-be to silence both men, but the “foolishness” is that it didn’t for Jesus, nor will it for Navalny—the message will only grow. 

   The life of Francis of Assisi is often spoken of, as the “foolishness of God,” and his memory lives on strong and true 800+ years after his earthly life in countless followers, men, and women alike.  Which brings to mind once again the case for women’s ordination in our beloved Church. The powers-that-be have excommunicated all of us responding to what we know is God’s call for us, thinking it will end there, only to show once more the “foolishness” and ultimate strength of our God which is stronger than any human strength wanting to tear it down.

   So my friends, as we continue through Lent, let us open ears, eyes, hearts and minds, to hear and see and feel the love that our good God has for us, not in sending Jesus to die, but in sending him to live, to love, and to show us how to do the same, how to ultimately become our best selves. Lent is such a good time to ask if we are truly “tuned-in” to our radical Messiah! Amen? Amen!
 

My friends, let’s jump right in today tackling that 1^st reading from Genesis that on face value, is simply horrible—at least the beginning! As I always suggest, we must go deeper.  And we need to go deeper because in the 2^nd reading from Romans, we hear Paul say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Additionally, in the gospel reading from Mark, we hear our impetuous brother Peter exclaim, “How wonderful it is for us to be here!”  So, how are we to fit this all together?

   Now, the hierarchy within our Church that put these three readings together probably didn’t have as much trouble uniting the three as the common folk with children do because their theology comes from the head alone, instead of from the heart as well.  For them, connecting this reading of sacrificing Isaac to show faith in a seemingly, unfeeling god is not a problem, but is united in their belief that our God sent Jesus as a sacrificial offering for the sins of humankind.  I even picked up a bit of a reflection on TV for this Sunday from a male priest, inviting folks to listen to his message today, and he was saying the same about Jesus coming to save us from our sins. 

   Present day theologians, men and women of the likes of Ilia Delio, Richard Rohr, Sandra Schneiders, and John Shelby Spong, all deny that this cruel sending and mission was given to our brother, Jesus, by our loving God, the same God that Jesus often referred to as Abba—Loving Parent, Daddy, Mommy, as you may want to look at it. 

   Also important in understanding this 1^st reading is remembering that the Jewish people up until this time were used to the ritual offering/killing of their own. But even with that understanding, I personally find it hard to understand a “Loving Parent” choosing to sacrifice their own children. The grief shown us almost nightly on the news from Ukrainian parents, from the innocent Palestinian and Israeli parents confronted with the deaths of their children is proof of this.

   Now, if it is the consequences of how someone lived and acted in the world, then I can understand it more.  This past week, we had a present-day example of this in the murder of Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison camp for speaking against the totalitarian regime of Vladimir Putin.  Our brother Jesus continues to die in our world, over and over again in those who challenge, as he did, injustice anywhere in our world, paying the price for that action.  We need to see anew the Eucharistic “presence” here, in the present, in the suffering, poor and rejected, instead of spending our energies worshipping Jesus’ presence on Catholic altars, alone, apart from the world where Jesus told us we would find him.

   So, once we get past that horrible first part of the Genesis reading, understanding it a bit more in the cultural, ritual context, we can move on to the good piece of this reading that does indeed unite it to the other two readings for this Sunday.  “I will make your descendants as many as the stars in heaven and as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.”  This line speaks volumes about a God who loves us in an over-the-top way! And I think it was ultimately written to tell us that our God doesn’t want such ritual killings, but instead, our living to be our best, for others and for ourselves. 

It says that this loving God wants us to have a human experience that is alive and well and full with family, not one who needs the life of our children in payment for our imperfections, or as a sign of our faith. 

   If the true nature of our God was in this negative vein, then how could Paul in his letter to the Romans speak this lovely line— “if God is for us, who can be against us?” He could speak this line because Jesus had already come, lived, loved, and showed us how to do the same. 

   Jesus’ life was such that as is recorded in today’s gospel from Mark, Abba God spoke through the clouds of transfiguration that [Jesus] “is my Beloved, my Own, [and that the apostles, ourselves included should] listen to [him]” –be like him! 

   Mark’s gospel today also included the lovely line from Peter, “how wonderful it is for us to be here[!]” Now, we could discount this comment as “impetuous” on the part of Peter, or we could consider it as a challenge to ourselves, living in a world that so needs people who will look for the good, proclaim it as such in other people, animals, plants—all of creation really, and do all that we can to make life and existence all that it can be.

   So friends, I started out today lamenting the 1^st reading and its mis-guided connection to the mission of Jesus in the Incarnation.  I believe this is a prime example of how, when we read Scripture very literally, we miss the depth of the message. 

   For us to see Jesus’ coming as no more than “saving us from our sins,” as reparation to a mean-spirited god who made us “imperfect,” which means that, we will probably “sin,” is as Shakespeare said in one of his plays, “Much ado about nothing.” And while this theme isn’t about “nothing,” I would say it certainly is about the wrong theme!

In truth, for the hierarchy of the Church, to make Jesus’ coming and ultimately, his death, all about “reparation for our sins” is to short-change our Loving God, who doesn’t want to control us as the hierarchy does, but wants us to be our best, living out our human experience for ourselves and others.  Such a God wants me, wants you, to proclaim with Paul, “If God is for us, who can be against,” and with Peter, “how wonderful it is for us to be here [!]” Much to do friends—let’s be about it!  Amen? Amen!   

   My friends, being that we didn’t meet on Ash Wednesday this past week, and the fact that ashes will be given out today, just a word or two about why we have this ritual.  Like so much in Scripture, here again, we need to go deeper to find perhaps a hidden message for us.

   The prophet Joel in the reading for Ash Wednesday is speaking about the custom of “rending” or tearing their clothes, covering themselves with ashes to physically say that something was amiss in their lives that they needed to change and on a deeper level, to remind themselves that life is short—the grave is near and now is the time to start being their best.

   This past week, I was thinking along these lines as I had the privilege of being with a neighbor and good friend in the last hours of her life, Sharon Martin, as the family had called me to the hospital to give support and additionally, asked me to preside at her Celebration of Life.  Sharon was the type of person that one would want to emulate in their own life because, simply put, she was a very good person, and I believe always tried to “be her best.”

      So, my friends, we can look at this yearly ritual in the same way—a reminder that perhaps we aren’t all we should be, if we truly claim that we are following our brother Jesus. Additionally, thinking on the words that go with the “giving of ashes,” “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return,” it seems that they can serve to simply remind us of our small, but not insignificant place in our world.  We have significance, but we must see that in balance with all the rest of creation.

 We are no more or no less, but in many ways, equal to all created life in its many forms as each has a contribution to make, that without, life would be less good for us.  With that in mind, we really, each of us, should do all that we can to protect our beautiful world, and all of life, in all its many forms.

   Joel, looking at life in this deeper sense, is telling the people, ourselves included, “Don’t rend [or tear] your clothes—but rend your heart—”tear it open,” so to speak, making it big enough to hold not just your own needs, but the needs of others too. 

   With this, the example of the Congress in Washington comes to mind in their current tendency to turn in on themselves, striving to simply care only for our country, in a selfish way, ignoring our responsibilities to others in this world, to share, to lift up, so that more can have what many of us have, the basics of life, that those without, can only dream of!

   Shifting back now to today’s 1^st and 2^nd readings we see that they are basically about being saved—the Genesis reading is about Noah and the Flood, an event that kills every living thing—people, animals, and plants, except for those that made it into the ark.  Peter follows with a reading comparing the flood waters to those of baptism and of how “water” has the possibility of cleansing—saving us, as it were. 

   Now whether you hold faith in the fact, that on the surface of the story from Genesis, God caused the flood to basically wipe out all that was evil, except for Noah and his family and the other creatures aboard the ark; there is a larger story that we should hold onto as we move once again into the holy season of Lent.

     Suffice it to say that stories of floods and other natural disasters in the times when the Old Testament books were written, were ways to describe events that possibly happened, but that the people didn’t understand.  And what they didn’t understand and couldn’t explain were put into the realm of God for cause and effect.

   So the larger story that we should hold onto from Noah and the Flood is that at the end of the devastation, we are told that God gives the sign of the “rainbow” and of how when a rainbow appears, from that day forward, it should remind the people of the covenant made between God and humans for all time. 

   The rainbow basically says—in its beauty, that our God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us.  An additional piece, in the beauty of the rainbow, would be for us beautiful creatures, given birth and a chance at a human experience, through the magnitude of our loving God, to treat our world, all created life—plants, animals, to say nothing of people, with great reverence and care, that I alluded to earlier.   

   That is why, on a social plane, it is important, and necessary, for our country to be part of the international projects like the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization (WHO)—one that works with all countries involved to see that equity exists between all peoples—both on matters of health—and working with other countries for the good of our planet—it just can’t be about us, anymore!

   It is important my friends to always, as Christians, as followers of our brother Jesus, to walk in his path, to accept and believe in the God that he shows us through his life among us.  His “Abba,” a very relational word, akin to “loving parent” is one who loves each of us unconditionally, Jesus tells us, so to accept then, and believe in a god who would destroy all of creation out of anger and lack of patience with those this same god made “imperfect” in the first place, doesn’t seem to jive with the God of Jesus.

  Jesus, in Mark’s gospel says basically the same, “This is the time of fulfillment—change your hearts and your minds.”  And being Jesus’ followers—will always mean, going deeper.  Looking back a final time at the story of the flood, we can only imagine the damage that such a catastrophic event caused—the chaos really.   Our present-day world has experienced floods that we have named “catastrophic” and the news media has shown us the devastation.

   My friends, Lent is a wonderful time that calls us each year to come to remember, if we have forgotten, our place in all of creation.  We need to remember that the earth, in all its beauty, is not only for our use, but for all our human sisters and brothers, our animal sisters and brothers too, as Francis of Assisi would name them.  If we don’t remember “our place,” it is possible that the “chaos” spoken of in the Genesis reading today could visit us in our time, as in the fires across Canada this past year and climate change that has brought fiercer storms of all kinds.   

   Lent is also a time to look at the inequality we allow to exist in our great country due to racism, sexism, and the like.  My friends, perhaps this Lent, we might choose to, spend, “a bit more time in the desert” with Jesus, whether we do that through more prayer, more reading, more “giving up” or more “giving to”—whatever it might be as we bring into clearer focus who we are as individuals, what our true place in this grand universe is, and where we may have been remiss in sharing our gifts with others.

A blessed Lent to all as we discover what is our piece to do for the good of all.  Amen?  Amen!

      My friends, here we are, this year, on the cusp of Lent, our annual pilgrimage with our brother Jesus, as he completes his journey of love—conveying his Abba God’s over-the-top love for each of us.  More on this as we move into Lent beginning on this coming (Ash) Wednesday. 

   As I said earlier in the bulletin, Lent begins on our national day of love this year, Valentines’ Day.  Some may be grousing about this fact, but from a spiritual perspective, I think it is awesome to connect the two, because when we reflect on the life of our brother Jesus, what but, love, was he about in his short, earthly journey?  But, as I said, more on that in the coming days and weeks. 

   Today’s Scriptures, not unlike many, are a bit confusing if we simply stay on the surface, with the 1^st reading from Leviticus being a case in point.  On face value and with a first, read-through, we might be scratching our heads thinking, what is the point of this?

   Here, if we go deeper, we can perhaps find a meaning for our present day.  We must first remember that the book of Leviticus has many rules and rituals for daily living of good, Jewish people.  Being that they didn’t know much about leprosy, or other skin diseases, it might have made sense to these pre-Christian folk to shun and set apart someone with a disease they didn’t understand.  But again, what does that have to do with us in a world where this disease is understood, and can be cured if detected early and treatment sought? 

   Let’s look, for our purposes here, at the notion of being, “sent away” or taking oneself away, for a time, to be at a better place.  For me this calls to mind the times when our children were young, and perhaps became upset with something that was being asked of them, or they were having a bit of a tantrum about something and couldn’t be reasoned with.  We, as their parents told them that they had to go to their room, “to be alone” for a time until they could act better—our thinking was, that their screaming and upset-ness could be done in their rooms, as long as they were safe, and then they could return when they felt better.

   We find in Mark’s gospel another story of a leper, and learn that Jesus’ response was, “to be moved with pity” – a good response to finding someone who is suffering.  Jesus does what we would expect him to do in curing the suffering man.  Then, as in the 1^st reading from Leviticus, sends the now, cured man, to the priests as Moses and Aaron commanded their people to do.  In this we see that our brother Jesus respects the law and follows it, to the best of his ability, for the good of others—or, in other words, it is always about the “people” not the “law.” 

   Looking more deeply at the 1^st reading, especially the idea of “needing to go off, and be alone” when one is found to be “unclean” is an idea that we can perhaps look at in a deeper way, as I think we would all agree that we could be emotionally, and spiritually, as well as, physically, “unclean,” and in need of “time alone,” to be cured in some way, and more ready to be with and for the rest of humanity. 

   We see Jesus’ need in today’s gospel, “to go away, alone,” for a time, because he has, interestingly enough, done something good!  I am sure there was a great struggle within him to have the people hear, “all of his message,” and not just be taken up in their personal needs for physical cures. In other words, Jesus wanted the people to “lay his words on their hearts” so that they could then, be “moved with pity” too, for others. 

   In other places as well, in Scripture, we see Jesus “going away to be alone,” to rest, to pray, to be restored.  I think this is good for all of us to reflect on in the actions we take on in and for our world—we too, from time to time, must take some moments for ourselves, to restore, to rebuild our own psyches, our minds, and hearts, to be our best.  Goodness doesn’t flow from the proverbial, “empty cup.”  Even in the example of our frustrated children that I gave in the beginning—time away allows for deeper thinking, and hopefully the realization, that how I am in the world can’t just be about me.  We also call this in our day, “tough love.” This was usually the case and when they came back, things were better. 

   Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians today fleshes out for us, a bit more, how we are, to be, for ourselves, and for others.  He tells us that basically, he wants to be there for others, doing whatever he can for those in need, saying, “I do this by seeking not my own advantage, but that of the many” – he tells them and us, “to imitate [him] as [he] imitates Christ.” 

   This notion of “not seeking his own advantage,” is one that the greater part of our Congress in Washington could take to heart.  The reason that they can get, little or nothing done is because many of them have forgotten the oaths they took when sent there by the voters—to care for the needs of all the people. 

   This past week I had the opportunity to hear and see a video of a conversation between Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the TV series, The Chosen, and Bishop Robert Barron.  I was most impressed with Jonathan’s use of the word, “humility” for how he feels in playing the part of Jesus.  He shared that before taping a new segment of the series, he always prays that, “he will not get in the way,” of God speaking through him.  I believe such a prayer should be on our lips, and in our hearts, and especially for all those in positions of leadership within our Church. 

   As readers and hearers of my homilies know, I am not fond of our bishop, but in this production, I came to see him in a bit of a different light—the exchange between these two, “men of God,” had many “light” moments as they bantered with each at times and seriously discussed the impact of The Chosen on the people seeing it.  I often find the bishop, “too much in his head” without connecting what he is saying to the lives of present-day folks.  Jonathan challenged him a bit to show us another side, which I appreciated seeing.

    So, my friends, I lay all of this before us today, challenging us, as the people of old, to do deeper, finding those places in our lives that may be “unclean” to use the Scripture terminology today—or we might say, not just right, in need of “time alone,” to become, “our best selves.”  Perhaps our prayer today could be that of Jonathan Roumie’s who humbly attempts to “play” our brother Jesus, praying that “we [too] would not get in the way” of our loving God speaking through us. Amen? Amen!