At some point in our lives, we have all heard the phrase, “don’t do as I do, do as I say.” We recognize these words as coming from someone who is arrogant, who knows what the right thing is to do, and yet is unwilling to do it. We all know and understand that it is insufficient to just speak words, no matter how wise or noble, or even well intentioned. At the end of the day, we judge the quality of a person not simply by their words, since these can come so easily, but primarily on what the person does - the results of those words put into action.
In our Gospel reading from Matthew Jesus presents two sons in his story. The one who first rejected the request of his father but then would change his mind and do as his father asked, and the one who spoke all the right words but would ignore the request to go out and work in the vineyard.
On first blush the immediate meaning of this story is very clear – that we are to respond to God our father, not just with our “yes,” but with our actions. This is simple to understand – we are to follow the ten commandments and live the beatitudes. We are to remain obedient to the church that Jesus established and perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.But there is more to this story for us to hear. This is not just a call to obedience and action; it is a call to repentance and reconciliation. It is a call to soften our prideful hearts. If we read the full chapter of Matthew, we know that this episode comes when Jesus has already entered Jerusalem and the confrontation with Chief Priests and Elders has begun. The anguished journey to the cross has started. Jesus has already cleansed the temple overturning the money changers tables, and the chief priests and elders have confronted Jesus and questioned his authority. Jesus responds with the story we just heard. In their stubbornness, arrogance, and self-centeredness the Chief Priests and Elders failed to recognize the monumental and pivotal moment in which they were living. The moment that they themselves awaited with devout eagerness. For in the broad sweep of history they were waiting for the Messiah, the future savior, a great warrior and liberator, the anointed one of God. They were waiting for a healing and a reconciliation with the God of the old covenant for themselves and for their nation. A reconciliation because the covenant marriage between God and his people had been despoiled by Israel’s own rebellion, unfaithfulness, adultery and moral separation. All eyes and hopes were on the messiah. This is what the prophets pointed to. And now the last of the prophets, John the Baptist, was heralding the arrival of this long-awaited moment and those best placed to recognize it were too stubborn and threatened to see it, while the tax collectors and prostitutes were stirred to respond to this call for repentance and reconciliation.
Pride is a stealthy opponent whether two thousand years ago or today. How difficult it is to sometimes take back our words, to admit what we have said or done was wrong or even sinful. Pride is a great shield we hold up, or a high wall we build that prevents the work of repentance. Pride stifles the joy found only in humility. It was pride that prevented the chief priests and elders from participating in God’s providential plan as co-workers in his vineyard. Jesus began his own earthly ministry by proclaiming, “The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:14-15.) Repent, turn back, soften the proud heart. We are to do the work that God has called each of us to do and pride can be the great preventor. This work is made manifest in a myriad of ways, and it must be made manifest. For as one writer would pen long ago, “Christian sonship makes Christian service imperative.”
So where are we in this story? The son who said no but then went about the father's business, as the tax collectors and prostitutes would do. Or the son who spoke sweet words but remained unmoved, proud, taken up with his own wants and needs, activities and distractions.
Tomorrow is the memorial of the Guardian Angels. Each of us is given a spirit of guidance, council, protection, and love. What better friend is there to ask for the strength and guidance needed to be the disciple that God calls us to be and helps us to become. With the help of our guardian angel, we will continue along our path of sanctification – not just saying what Jesus said but also doing what Jesus did and continues to do through each one of us.
Deacon Peter, Arlington, Massachusetts
September 30, 2023
Ezekiel 18:25-28, Psalm 25:4-9, Philippians 2:1-11 (or 2:1-5), Matthew 21:28-32
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Monday, August 7, 2023
A - Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
For anyone who is committed to follow the way of the Lord, we know this journey is neither straight forward nor easy. It is not so much a walk along a bike path but more like climbing, sometimes scrambling a high hill or mountain. It is the journey of a lifetime – one nourished by the sacraments and by a prayer life to which we remain faithful despite the challenges. In the Gospel reading we read that Jesus, Peter, James and John, journey to the top of a high mountain believed, since the 4th century, to be Mount Tabor. Here Jesus is transformed and revealed in all his glory.
At this theophany we see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. We understand that here Moses represents the Law, and Elijah the prophets, and together they represent the revelation of the Old Testament which now is to be fulfilled in the Godman Jesus.
Recall how both Moses and Elijah saw God. But not in all His glory, not in all His goodness. In Exodus 33 we read how God placed Moses in a cleft of a rock and covered him with His hand as he passed by. In 1 Kings we read how Elijah hid his face in his cloak for the Lord was not in the wind, nor the earthquake or the fire, but in the mysterious ‘light silent sound’. Though both men were to experience the Glory of God on Mount Sinai, each was to do so indirectly as no man can see God’s face and live. These two theophanies are reminiscent of another encounter with the divine. Recall how Mark writes in Chapter 6 that one time the disciples were caught in a storm and Jesus comes walking on the water, and, as the passage says, “means to pass by.” As with Moses and Elijah the Lord passes by. But now something new is going to happen. Fearful they are seeing a ghost Jesus turns to them and says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he gets into the boat with them.
What Moses and Elijah saw partially during their lives, Peter, James, and John, were to witness fully. In Jesus Christ, the Lord no longer passes by but visits with Moses and Elijah, with Peter, James, and John, and with us. He comforts us, gets in the boat with us. In his humanity Jesus, who is undeniably God, is fully and completely present to us, and we can look upon him face to face. In the Luminous Mysteries, Pope Saint John Paul II has gifted us with this tremendous meditation – Jesus fully God and fully man.
Matthew, in sharing this story, is presenting Jesus as the divine Lord, the fulfillment of the Old Testament and to whom dominion, glory and kingship are given. We too will see his kingship, but in the meantime, he approaches us in the ordinary and every day, not passing by, but touching us, allaying our fears, and choosing to travel with us. In our life journey we are given the opportunity to climb the mountain with our Lord and to experience the glow of grace in all things. If the sacraments allow us to encounter the King, then it is in our prayer life that we meet Christ as a friend and travel companion. And it is by means of our prayer life that we come to the simple realization the transfiguration is also meant for us – literally. For it is through Him, and with Him, and in Him, that we too are transfigured. For most of us perhaps not in a quick instant, but in the journey of life, accompanied by the rhythm of regular and deep prayer. A prayer life which prepares us for an ever-closer friendship with our Lord, a prayer life aimed at our own transfiguration. Deeply lived, it heals us of our hurts, reforms us of our sinful and selfish inclinations, frees us of attachments, and the frustrations brought on by the world. In prayer we learn how to cease doing evil and learn how to do good for no other reason than to love the Lord more fully. By means of prayer and meditation we too can ascend mount Tabor and, God willing, even encounter the ‘light silent sound.’ Our time will come to see the Lord in all his glory, to see his light penetrating all things and see the glorious beauty of his creation freed from the darkness of sin. In the meantime, he offers us his companionship with gentleness and a familial concern. So, we journey on and do so praying devoutly, for it is His greatest desire for us to meet him on the mountain and perhaps too along the way.
Deacon Peter, Arlington, Massachusetts
August 6, 2023
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Matthew 17:1-9
At this theophany we see Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. We understand that here Moses represents the Law, and Elijah the prophets, and together they represent the revelation of the Old Testament which now is to be fulfilled in the Godman Jesus.
Recall how both Moses and Elijah saw God. But not in all His glory, not in all His goodness. In Exodus 33 we read how God placed Moses in a cleft of a rock and covered him with His hand as he passed by. In 1 Kings we read how Elijah hid his face in his cloak for the Lord was not in the wind, nor the earthquake or the fire, but in the mysterious ‘light silent sound’. Though both men were to experience the Glory of God on Mount Sinai, each was to do so indirectly as no man can see God’s face and live. These two theophanies are reminiscent of another encounter with the divine. Recall how Mark writes in Chapter 6 that one time the disciples were caught in a storm and Jesus comes walking on the water, and, as the passage says, “means to pass by.” As with Moses and Elijah the Lord passes by. But now something new is going to happen. Fearful they are seeing a ghost Jesus turns to them and says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he gets into the boat with them.
What Moses and Elijah saw partially during their lives, Peter, James, and John, were to witness fully. In Jesus Christ, the Lord no longer passes by but visits with Moses and Elijah, with Peter, James, and John, and with us. He comforts us, gets in the boat with us. In his humanity Jesus, who is undeniably God, is fully and completely present to us, and we can look upon him face to face. In the Luminous Mysteries, Pope Saint John Paul II has gifted us with this tremendous meditation – Jesus fully God and fully man.
Matthew, in sharing this story, is presenting Jesus as the divine Lord, the fulfillment of the Old Testament and to whom dominion, glory and kingship are given. We too will see his kingship, but in the meantime, he approaches us in the ordinary and every day, not passing by, but touching us, allaying our fears, and choosing to travel with us. In our life journey we are given the opportunity to climb the mountain with our Lord and to experience the glow of grace in all things. If the sacraments allow us to encounter the King, then it is in our prayer life that we meet Christ as a friend and travel companion. And it is by means of our prayer life that we come to the simple realization the transfiguration is also meant for us – literally. For it is through Him, and with Him, and in Him, that we too are transfigured. For most of us perhaps not in a quick instant, but in the journey of life, accompanied by the rhythm of regular and deep prayer. A prayer life which prepares us for an ever-closer friendship with our Lord, a prayer life aimed at our own transfiguration. Deeply lived, it heals us of our hurts, reforms us of our sinful and selfish inclinations, frees us of attachments, and the frustrations brought on by the world. In prayer we learn how to cease doing evil and learn how to do good for no other reason than to love the Lord more fully. By means of prayer and meditation we too can ascend mount Tabor and, God willing, even encounter the ‘light silent sound.’ Our time will come to see the Lord in all his glory, to see his light penetrating all things and see the glorious beauty of his creation freed from the darkness of sin. In the meantime, he offers us his companionship with gentleness and a familial concern. So, we journey on and do so praying devoutly, for it is His greatest desire for us to meet him on the mountain and perhaps too along the way.
Deacon Peter, Arlington, Massachusetts
August 6, 2023
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Matthew 17:1-9
Sunday, June 18, 2023
A - Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
Soon my words will be over as we conclude the Liturgy of the Word and begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist. At that time Father will take into his hands both bread and wine and we will witness God revealing himself; humbly, quietly, simply, and fully entrusting us with his very real and immediate presence. By way of the Holy Spirit, and through the presence of Father acting in persona-Christi, this change or transubstantiation occurs. It is and always has been the teaching of the Church that the bread and wine are not merely symbols of Christ: they are the body and blood of Christ. It is by his body and blood that we have the means of salvation.
At Mass you and I are made present to and participate in the very moment of the last supper when Christ gives himself to us. We can say that in faith we participate in and look upon this singular moment. But is it faith that allows us to participate and to see? The answer may be surprising since it would be no. It is not through faith that we receive Christ since, after all, even a person with no faith who consumes the Holy Eucharist has indeed consumed Christ. Whether or not he believes it, whether or not he understands it, whether he is well disposed to receive Him or not. This is why non-Catholics should not receive Holy Communion, and this is why you and I, disfigured by mortal sin, likewise should not receive. It is not by means of faith that we are called to the Lord’s table, rather it is by way of baptism and the other sacraments that we are invited and prepared. In receiving communion, the inward union of our soul to Christ is outwardly expressed through a visible act of church unity. To express outwardly the truth of this inward union is profound and not to be treated lightly. And so, St. Paul warns us in the letter to the Corinthians that, “Each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
Listening to St. Paul, we examine ourselves to be sure we are well disposed to receive the Holy Eucharist. And so, we perform an examination of conscience as the church has taught us. It is mortal sin that extinguishes our relationship with God and so to receive communion bearing mortal sin is itself sinful since we are declaring a unity and forcing a relationship that no longer exists. It is a lie. For sure God continues to call each of us but we must be healed of mortal sin by means of confession before receiving communion. Mortal sin is serious sin, considered before committing, and yet still willfully committed. By remaining in mortal sin, the mind and heart of the sinner is darkened and the capacity to respond to the conscience continues to diminish with time. This is why we should not go but run to confession, as the prodigal son, upon realizing his stupidity, would run home to his father. Confession is our ICU.
In reflecting upon mortal sin and the resulting spiritual disruption and darkening conscience, it is good to recall and meditate on the truth that, first, we were loved. In fact, we were born by means of God wanting us to be. It is a good, you and I are a good, that God wants. Just as God spoke of his own son at his baptism before Jesus had accomplished anything, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” So, at our baptism God would speak of us as a loving, dotting Father saying, “you are mine.” Our sinful actions hurt that relationship for sure, but first, before all else, we are loved, and our identity is to be found there and not in our sins despite what we may say to ourselves or what others may say to us.
Knowing that truth, we confess our mortal sins but also strive to shed ourselves of lesser venial sins. This is the task of the spiritual and devout life, to identify and root out our entanglements, our dependencies, our addictions, and all our vices, and to replace them with virtues. So, each time we consume the Holy Eucharist we can be just that little bit closer to our Lord, a little more alive, a little bit better prepared for eternity.
But why am I preaching about sin when today is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ? It is because we are not approaching Jesus in the Eucharist empty handed. Just as Jesus would give everything to the Father, so also, we give all we are into God’s hands. And just as God the Father gives everything back to the son, so the Son of God, gives all that he is to us in the Eucharist – fully, completely, entirely, and lovingly. How could you and I approach the sanctuary and give anything other than the very best versions of ourselves.
As we prepare now to receive Jesus let us do so with a commitment to cast far away any inclinations to sin, and to take up daily the challenges of the virtuous life. May the outward sign of unity that we express truly reflect our inward spiritual communion from which all good things must come. For as our Lord tell us, “The one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” And in these words, we can find solace, rest, and peace.
Deacon Peter, St., Agnes Parish, Arlington, Massachusetts
June 10, 2023
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a; Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58