Day 27: Opening Day - Crossing Home

Woke up with an extra spring in my step this morning.  Actually, I woke up at 4:30am and had to force myself to fall back asleep.  It's Opening Day!  Baseball is here!  This afternoon (after a year off), my father and I will continue our yearly pilgrimage to the ballpark on the first day of the baseball season.  Yes, the Heat run this town and I minister and hold supreme allegiance to my beloved Dolphins, but the sport of baseball is the closest I get to the spiritual realm.  Watch Field of Dreams.  If you have time (a LOT of time) treat yourself to the best documentary ever made: "Ken Burns' Baseball."  There's something about this sport, warts and all, that reminds me of our human condition and our need to find transcendence in the ordinary.

Back in 2000, I bought a book called "Crossing Home: The Spiritual Lessons of Baseball" written by a gentleman whose love for God and baseball led him to intersect these two passions.  At the beginning of his third chapter, he writes: "The goal of The Game is to return Home to the origin of the journey.  The batter begins a trek which will hopefully lead him Home to complete a circle of accomplishment.  On the way he will meet many obstacles and challenges, and many attempts by The Opponent to stop his progress."  In the spiritual life, as in baseball, the object is to get home.  Our longing to be home with the Father is at the heart of the Christian journey.  There will be "outs" and "strikeouts" and "errors" along the way, but the goal is to go from one point to the next and be "safe".

Later today, I hope I will find time amidst all the noise that filters through the modern game to contemplate these great mysteries.  I usually do.  If not, at the very least, I get to enjoy a baseball game with my father.  What can be better than that?

Day 26: How God Sees Us

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light...Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness...” (Ephesians 5:8,11)

Let me tell you about Eleanor.  Eleanor is a kind lady from my last parish.  Every Saturday evening, she would come with her husband to the 5:30pm Mass and sit in the back pew.  She is a lovely lady (a true gentleman will not reveal her years), and she has calming, peaceful demeanor that always brought me great peace when I was in her presence.  She is a woman of deep faith and has a great love for her priests.  Eleanor is legally blind.  Yet she would see things about our faith that even I couldn’t.  So she would sit there every Saturday night with her husband who had Alzheimer’s, and she would always get excited when I would celebrate that Mass.  She was very distraught when I was transferred here, but she tracked me down nonetheless and would give me a call to check on me and to tell me about how she and her husband were doing.  About a month ago, Eleanor called me and left me a message that her husband had died.  I tried for a week and half to call her back, but later discovered she was staying with her daughter.  We finally spoke, and even over the phone, her great faith was evident.  What I remember most about her is how she would light up when she heard my voice.  She never saw me as clearly as one of you could, but yet she loved me.  I’d like to think that this is how God sees us: past the imperfections and with great love.

In my ministry, I’ve encountered so many blind people who see so much more than we do when it comes to the faith.  In today’s gospel, Jesus cures a blind beggar.  The Lord “spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent —. So he went and washed, and came back able to see (John 9:6-7).”  I was hearing a beautiful homily this morning from Father Robert Barron (I highly recommend his website wordonfire.org), and he alluded to St. Augustine’s teaching on Jesus’ actions to cure the blind man.  This spittle coming from the mouth of Jesus evokes his divinity, for everything that comes from the mouth of the Living Word gives life, and the mud from the earth represent Jesus’ humanity.  The two natures, human and divine, come together to re-create this beggar and bring him his sight.  Jesus sends him to the pool which means “Sent” and Father Barron notes that this pool symbolizes baptism and the blind man is totally immersed by “the One who was sent” by immersing himself in this pool.  Just like St. Paul told us to “put on Christ,” this blind man is immersed in the light of the Lord.

Towards the end of the gospel, Jesus seeks the blind man out when the Pharisees throw him out of the temple.  There is so much going on here.  Jesus immerses this man in his light and then seeks him out to reveal to him that he is the Son of Man and that he is looking straight into his eyes.  Amazing!  The poor beggar goes from not seeing a thing to gazing upon the beautiful face of our Lord.  Jesus seeking this man out after he was rejected reminds us that God always goes in search of the ones the world pays no attention to.  In the first reading, when Samuel goes to find the next king of Israel at Jesse’s house, appearances are deceiving because the strongest and most handsome of Jesse’s sons aren’t the chosen ones, but the youngest, David, is the one chosen by God to be a king. 

Our God, thankfully, does not use human criteria to choose us and find us acceptable or pleasing.  “God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).”  Unfortunately, sin clouds our eyes and we go around and judge those who are beautiful or ugly or tall or small or too skinny or too fat.  We too often judge by appearances and don’t look into a person’s heart. We do this unconsciously every time we go up to the supermarket check-out and start skimming through the magazines that obsess about what celebrities have gained weight, lost weight, how they look in swim wear, how they look in certain outfits at awards shows, and “who wore it best.”  Our culture trains us from early on to look suspiciously on those who look different and to admire fine physical beauty.  Yet our Lord looks past that.  Far too often in my years of teaching 8^th grade girls, and some boys too, I would have to counsel these teenagers through great self-esteem crises as they found themselves not pretty enough or good enough.  I would always remind them that we are all beautiful in God’s eyes.  We are all supermodels and chiseled athletes.  We are all his children.  This is how He sees us, and this is how we should see each other.

But like I said, we don’t see with the eyes of God.  St. Paul reminds us today that we were once “darkness but now we are light in the Lord.”  We must walk out of the darkness of this judgmental world, and start appreciating real beauty:  that which lies within.  We must reject what St. Paul calls the fruitless works of darkness and see everyone with the light of Christ.  While they can’t see, this is how many blind people “see” those around them.  They probably see more clearly than we do.

Let me bookend the homily with another lady from this parish who sits to my right in about the fifth pew at the midday Mass.  She also is blind and from the moment I arrived here she would take great joy in greeting me after Mass.  She plays a fine piano, and she loves to dance.  In fact, whenever she greets me after Mass, she asks me, “when are we going to dance?”  Well, last summer during our parish gala, I pulled her out to the dance floor and danced with her.  I felt a bit like Bruce Springsteen pulling a young Courtney Cox up onto the stage in the “Dancing in the Dark” video (sorry for the dated 80’s music video reference).  She danced her heart out oblivious to the people dancing around her.  I had to kind of steer her away from others but she was so happy.  She brings her faith and her beautiful way of seeing the world every Sunday to Mass and every time we have a parish mission or event.  Her faith is remarkable.  So today, we can learn from these two blind women and their faith, we can learn from the blind man who sees the Lord face to face, we can learn from our Lord who looks on each of us as beautiful human beings made in his image, we can start looking at others the way God sees us, and we can walk out of the darkness of sin and immerse ourselves in the light of our Lord who looks upon our beautiful face and asks us: “when are we going to dance?”

Day 25: The Pope's Confession

Pictures, videos, and images speak volumes and are at times the best homilies and sermons.  Yesterday Pope Francis led a Penance Service at St. Peter's Basilica.  The service included some readings, chants, and a homily by the Holy Father.  But what everyone will remember from last night is how the Pope, while being led to where he was going to hear confessions, surprised his secretary and went to confession himself:

To my knowledge, and I could be wrong (I have been before), this is the first photograph or video I have ever seen of a Pope going to confession.  It definitely speaks volumes.  The Servant of the Servants of God leading by example.  He has been pleading with us all Lent to go to confession, so he shows us the way like Christ did.  Which leads us to the question I posed yesterday on Twitter when I first saw this video:  "If the Pope goes to confession, what is holding you back?" 

P.S.  It's Saturday.  There's a church near you that's offering confessions today.  Consider this your invitation to return to the Lord through confession.

Day 24: Don't Limit God's Mercy

Too often a priest hears a parishioner tell him that they don't go to confession because their sins are "unforgivable."  I always respond: "Why do you put limits on God's mercy?"  His mercy is infinite.  It knows no bounds.  As I said earlier in the week, it defies logic and goes beyond any human comprehension.  We may look upon evil deeds that others do and think to ourselves that we cannot possibly forgive them, but God does.  Adultery? Forgiven.  Murder? Forgiven?  Abortion? Forgiven.  Even the greatest of sinners (insert name of evil dictator or despot here) can be forgiven by our God if they genuinely repent.  This concept of God's infinite mercy is something that I take with me every time I enter the confessional.  There we should find a place of healing, of peace, and of mercy.  So let's stop making excuses as to why we don't go to confession.  There is nothing so grave that it cannot be forgiven.  Even if the world doesn't forgive you for what you may have done, God will!!

Day 23: Jesus Heal Me

Almost daily, someone comes into our church asking to be prayed for, blessed or anointed because they are sick.  It doesn't have to be a physical ailment.  It can be spiritual, mental, or even a sin that it is hurting the spirit.  They have something that is hurting and they simply want to be healed.  Here's the thing:  Jesus wants to heal us.  He spent most of his public life healing people, casting them free of their sins, and wants to do the same for you.  What is hurting you?  What do you need to be healed?  On this day, bring that ailment before the Lord, spend some time in prayer and simply repeat these three words:  "Jesus heal me."

Day 22: God's Creation

In looking for our own Mount Tabor to experience the glory of the Lord this Lent, it is most fitting to look for him in His magnificent creation.  For those of us who live in South Florida, it often difficult to look beyond the traffic and the endless sprawling jungle of suburbs and strip malls, but they all end where the Atlantic Ocean begins out east and where the Everglades begin out west and in points in between, there are little parcels of quiet green space where one can retreat to have their quiet moments with God and his creation.  Yesterday was one of those days for me where I ventured out to the ocean to just take in the majesty of God's handiwork.  It was a particularly windy, yet sunny day and the waves at times crashed rather violently along the seawall. There I stood on a pier gazing out at God's wonders.  The sun dancing so beautifully off the water, the waves crashing up against sailboats anchored offshore, the wind brushing through the palm trees.  Even the night before when it rained all night, it was fitting to see how God takes care of his creation with the much needed rainfall.  Today, find a green spot or a piece of creation where you can have a moment with God.  It could be your backyard, it could be a tiny little piece of grass near your work, but God has gifted us with such a beautiful day, don't let it pass without marveling at the work of His hands.

Day 21: Mary's Unreserved YES

Today we contemplate the beautiful encounter between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel as we celebrate the Annunciation.  One of the great lessons we take from this encounter is Mary's freedom to say yes without reservations.  Let me explain.  When I was 17 years old and decided to enter the seminary to study for the priesthood, I said yes to God, but I also had reservations:  "Am I too young? What if it doesn't work out? What if…What if…What if…"  It's not that I didn't trust God.  It's that I didn't trust Him enough.  Yes, I was young (Mary was younger), but I still hadn't matured in my faith to the point where I could give an unreserved "yes" to God like Mary did.  Because she was without sin, Mary had the true freedom to respond to God's call, to say yes, and to accomplish his will.  When most of us set out to do God's will, we always have reservations because, let's face it, we're dealing with the divine and since we don't know where God is taking us, we enter this journey with reservations, escape plans, and exit routes in case we don't like where the journey is taking us.  But can God possibly steer us wrong?  Of course not!  We have to follow the example of the Blessed Mother and trust totally in him.  She and Joseph were thrown many curveballs, but they never wavered in accomplishing the will of God.  They had a mission and a destination, and they were not going to be deterred from reaching their goal.  We too have a destination.  Imagine driving on a highway that leads us to God, but this highway is littered with exits that tempt us to go in different directions.  Stay the course.  Don't get distracted.  Have total trust like Mary did when she said yes to the angel. If we are responding to a divine call, God will most definitely take care of us.

Day 20: Praying the Psalms

A couple of weeks ago, I recommended reading Psalm 51 as a Lenten practice.  In reality, all the psalms are a treasure that we have that help us focus our attention and praise on our God.  The psalm in today's Mass continues the theme of thirsting for God as we read from Psalm 42:  "Athirst is my soul for the living God?  When shall I go and behold the face of God? (verse 3)"  Our souls are indeed longing for God because there is nothing on this earth that can satisfy our thirst for him. 
The psalms take us through all of human emotions when it comes to our relationship with God: from despair to anguish to hope to consolation to longing to praise and adoration.  The entirety of Psalm 42 is a good psalm to meditate on today in its totality, but we all have a favorite psalm.  Sometime during this Lent, read your favorite psalm slowly and exult in the wealth we have in these wonderful treasures of the Bible.

Day 19: Hardened Hearts

“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Psalm 95:8)

A week or so ago, I was standing in front of the church when a parishioner passed by and asked why the water in the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes that was just in front of me was turned off.  I kind of smirked and half kiddingly told her that we were “awaiting the new waters of Easter”…and then I said, “I can’t lie to you.  One of the pumps is broken.”  But here’s the thing, even though I hadn’t intended to turn the grotto off, the waters did indeed stop flowing when Lent started.  So yesterday, I stood by the church entrance again and gazed upon the barrenness of the grotto, and thought about today’s readings.  The pump is being fixed and will probably be ready this week, but I decided to keep the grotto off until the Easter Vigil.  We are travelling though the desert, and Lent is supposed to make us thirst for Christ.  

In the first reading, the Israelites are thirsty and are grumbling against God.  Even though they had seen the great works of the Lord as he led them out of Egypt from slavery into freedom, their hearts had become hardened.  Yet at the Lord’s command, Moses strikes the rock at Horeb and water flows from it.  God has mercy on them despite their grumbling, and quenches their thirst.  In the gospel, the Samaritan woman’s heart has been hardened by sin, but Jesus still looks on her with mercy and offers her life giving waters.  The Samaritan woman symbolizes the Church unredeemed that approached Christ and walks away redeemed by his life giving waters (cf. St. Augustine).    Like at the rock at Horeb, Jesus strikes our hardened hearts and washes away the stains of sin with the water he offers. 

But what hardens our hearts?  What makes us grumble against God?  Why do we approach him with skepticism as the Samaritan women initially did at the beginning of the gospel?  Why do our hearts harden when we hear his voice?  Quite simply, we know that if we let Jesus into our hearts, we must change.  As we read the gospel about the Samaritan woman, we are able to witness her conversion and transformation from a woman going about a daily chore and closed off to the world by sin to a woman who became a true disciple that spread the word about the Messiah.  Her life changed forever.  When we encounter the living Christ, we should sing like the psalmist today:  “Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation (Ps 95:1).”  Christ is the rock of our salvation.  Scott Hahn had a beautiful mediation on this during the week when tying all these readings together specifically when Jesus speaks of his “hour” with the woman:  “Jesus’ “hour”…is the hour when the Rock of our salvation was struck on the Cross. Struck by the soldier’s lance, living waters flowed out from our Rock (see John 19:34-37).”  From the side of our Lord, we are cleansed, renewed, and refreshed.  Allow Jesus to soften your heart this Lent.  He thirsts for us.  He gives us life despite our sins.  How can our hearts possibly be hardened when we hear him calling out to us?

Day 18: With the Father

"My son, you are here with me always..." (Luke 15:31)

Today we read the gospel of the Prodigal Son at Mass, and I focused on this verse above that the Father tells the elder son.  Even though the elder son never went to distant lands like his younger brother had, and even though he stayed home obeying his Father, he was still distant, still far from his Father.  This is why he would not go into the house to join the feast for his brother who had been found.  This is why his Father had to go out to get him just as the Father had to go out to get the lost son.  The elder son complains about the feast and how unfair it is.  And it is.  The reception for the lost son defies logic.  But God doesn't deal in logic.  He deals in mercy and love.  This is why, like the father in the parable, God comes out to meet each of us where we are at to invite us to come in for the feast and to remind us that even though we are far away, he is with us always.