Every year I start Lent a lot like I start the New Year. I am all in; I enter into Lent with whole-hearted enthusiasm and passion for whatever I have decided to sacrifice. Then forty days starts to feel a lot longer than I originally thought, and I’m tempted to (or, in some cases, follow through with) lapse in my prayer or fasting. What should we do in these situations? Is our Lent worthless? Absolutely not! The beautiful thing about conversion, what the Church calls metanoia, is that it is a continual process. Every day for us is a fresh start to re-commit to the Lord and bring Him our whole hearts. He knows our weaknesses and struggles and He knows that we will sometimes fall. But His constant presence is always there, waiting and wanting us to turn back to Him. This Lent, take this attitude every morning. Think of every day as a fresh start. Adopt the humble and passionate attitude we have on Ash Wednesday and re-commit when you find yourself tempted to go back to your former way of life. May you find yourself at Easter with the joy of knowing the Lord on a deeper level and knowing His loving mercy to all of His children!

Kendall Kohler, ’17 

 

My mom surprised me this year with a Lenten gift that she thought I would like. (I guess that is the kind of gift you get when you are a Director of Spiritual Life…) It’s a book called 40 Days, 40 Ways by Marcellino D’Ambrosio, a well-known and really enthusiastic catechetical speaker. The passage for today spoke so well about this weekend’s readings and how Jesus passed through the desert to redeem us from the Fall of Adam and Eve. I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy!

“Think of it for a minute. The triune God, completely sufficient in himself and needing nothing, decides to create paradise out of chaos in an act of sheer generosity. He creates creatures of all shapes and sizes, and appoints as caretakers of them all a pair who is created in God’s image and likeness, with intellect and will, freedom and responsibility. Their assigned activity is to love one another intimately, to walk daily with God in the cool of the evening, and simply enjoy paradise. Any duties? Sort of. They had to tend the garden, which was maintenance-free given the fact that neither thorn nor thistle, neither drought nor Japanese beetle had as yet arrived on the scene. And there was one more responsibility: to avoid eating the fruit of a particular tree, since it would kill them. But how hard was that, given all the other luscious fruit available in the garden? Then appears a slithering reptile who had given them nothing of what they enjoyed. But now he has the nerve to give them advice. ‘Did God say you’d die if you ate this fruit? Nonsense! He only said that because eating this fruit would make you his equal, and he can’t bear that. You see, he created you to enslave you. He wants to keep you under his foot. He’s keeping the best for himself. You listen to him and you’ll be missing out on real life. You’ll never be free.’ Thus began the deceptive advertising campaign that lasts till this day, the glamorization of death. For that truly is what sin is about, and that’s why God says, ‘Thou shalt not.’ He is not a crabby prude, but a loving Father. He knows us better than we know ourselves and love us more than we love ourselves.”

Bobby Laudani, ’17 

Mrs. Kate Phenicie, Spiritual Life Director 

 

I love the story in this weekend’s Gospel, the story of the Transfiguration. For obvious reasons, I’m seeing everything lately through the “lens of Kairos,” so this has special significance for me in light of the upcoming retreat. God willing, this weekend, our students, like the Apostles in the Gospel, will be led up a mountain (quite literally -- the retreat house is on top of a mountain!) and have a profound encounter with Jesus Christ. For these students, this takes a variety of forms, but we hope that they come back down from the mountain changed.

At Mount 2000 this year, our seminarian small group leader led us in a lectio divina through this story. If you are unfamiliar with the practice of lectio divina, it is one of my very favorite ways to pray. And, honestly, something that I really need to do more of! This practice leads you through steps: first, you read a passage, then you use your imagination to engage yourself in the reading as one of the characters or a bystander. Then you ask God what he is trying to communicate to you through the passage, and end with sitting in contemplation in God’s presence. Some of the question our seminarian posed to us, I will leave you with: Do you see yourself as one of the Apostles? Why or why not? If you do, what are your emotions in being chosen to accompany Jesus up the mountain? Are you afraid or excited? Maybe feeling a little proud? How do you see Jesus? What is he trying to reveal to you through this encounter?

Dear Lord, I thank You for the power of forgiveness, and I choose to forgive everyone who has hurt me. Help me set [name anyone who has offended you] free and release them to You. Help me bless those who have hurt me. Help me walk in righteousness, peace, and joy, demonstrating Your life here on earth. I choose to be kind and compassionate, forgiving others, just as You forgave me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  - Debbie Przybylski

I found this short prayer on forgiving others because I think a big part of understanding how merciful God is is realizing how hard it can sometimes be to forgive others. God forgives everyone who come to Him so remember that next time you want to hold a grudge and maybe say this prayer instead of being angry with the person that hurt you.

Daniel uses a great word: “shamefaced.” It is such an accurate phrase for Lent. Here we are, poised on the second week of Lent. Have we felt the pain of our Lenten resolutions already? Have we broken the vows we made to ourselves: to be compassionate, forgiving, and reflective?

I’ll be honest. It’s only week two, and I’ve already lost my temper, I’ve already gotten frustrated, I’ve already forgotten to pray a little extra each day. I am “shamefaced,” as Daniel says, and I am sinful.

The beautiful part about this reality is that God loves us and God wants us, no matter how dirty our face is. Like a little boy, plastered in popsicle juice after a long day at the beach, his mother cannot reject or avoid his sticky hands and sticky kisses. She loves him all the same, perhaps, even more. In our sins, in our shame, in our stickiness, God still wants us to be His children. He wants to embrace us as we are!  And he calls us to do the same for others.

“Do not judge, and you shall not be judged...Forgive, and you shall be forgiven...”

It’s a lot harder than it sounds, isn’t it? Don’t judge others, forgive those who hurt you; the tasks seem daunting and unrewarding.

However, the ultimate prize is the impression that we have on others. Everyone knows what it means to be sorry, truly, hopelessly sorry for something awful that we have done. We know how gut-wrenchingly painful it is to wait in sorrow for forgiveness.

God eliminates this pain through His mercy and compassion. “Justice, O Lord, is on your side,” Daniel says. God has every right to condemn us and nail us on a cross for our sins, for our judgements, and our treacheries. “But yours, O God,” Daniel reminds us, “are compassion and forgiveness.” The face of God takes on all our shame, and His head is crowned with all our sins. Jesus took our place on the cross so that we may take the place of others. We are called by Him to forgive, for we have been forgiven, “Forgive them, O Lord, for they know not what they do.”  We are called to avoid condemnation, for Christ took on our own condemnation to death on Calvary. We are called to not judge, for Christ has already been judged for us, by Pilate, by the elders, and most painfully, by His very children as they cried, “Crucify him!”

We are called to give our everything, because God has given His everything for us.

I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the Lord. But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.”
  My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies,  from those who pursue me. Let your face shine on your servant;save me in your unfailing love.    Psalm 31: 5-6, 14-16

In today’s society, we are often faced with many challenges. Not just physical or mental challenges but also spiritual challenges. We are forced to deal with situations and conflicts in which our faith is brought into question. Although these problems may be unwanted and negatively perceived, they are crucial for getting on the path to follow God. We sometimes consider our best interest before we consider others, and this is not what God wants us to do. In order to get past these challenges, we must learn to trust God and take on the sacrificial love He has taken on. It has become much easier for someone to be more concerned about his or her own problems or fall into the sinful path that others may lead them to. It is taught now that we deserve to be “comfortable”, and though God does not wish discomfort on us, the path to following Him is not an easy one. This is where we must pick up our cross, take on that sacrificial love, and trust that God will provide for our needs. If we focus on earthly comfort or gaining satisfaction from these temporary things, we will be left to follow a path that takes us further away from God. That is what makes Lent such a crucial time for bringing people closer to God. It is within these 40 days that we must learn to sacrifice and put our wants aside. It is a time of letting go of those physical things we feel we can’t live without and focusing in on what is best for our relationship with God. In the Psalm, the writer asks God to “deliver them from the hands of their enemies” and “save them in His unfailing love”. This is what we should aim to ask God, instead of focusing on what we want from God. Our focus this Lenten season needs to shift from self-centered to self-giving. When we finally grasp this sacrificial mindset, we will be able to fully commit to the sacrificial love God desires from us and start on the path that leads us closer to God at the end of the Lenten season and beyond.

I often find myself wondering whether or not following my own desires will bring about a more satisfactory end than that of the Lord’s desire for me. I am my own person. I should be able to decide what is good or bad for me, right? Wrong.

We are often led by society to believe that spending our time on some greater being that we cannot see is a waste of our time. In time, the Lord makes himself known to all. We are called for something greater than the material world, clogged with meaningless pieces of property that deter us from true happiness.

When we find trust in the Lord, it is as if we are a tree, sending our roots deep within the earth to keep up steady. Recognizing the love of our Lord is only the beginning. Mastering the act of maintaining a healthy relationship with Him is the key to eternal happiness.

Use this Lenten season to refocus your time to the Lord. He will aid you in the process of shedding you attachment to the material distractions keeping you from him. He will provide the strength you are searching for.

A Loving Father
"While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion." Luke 15:20

Just as the father in the story of the Prodigal Son rejoices when his son returns, our heavenly Father rejoices when we run to Him, run to Him with our sins, hardships, and failures. The parable makes it known that no matter the sin, or how long one waits to return to the Lord, He will forgive. The Lord’s forgiveness is a beautiful thing to focus on during this Lenten season. We should all strive to be like the son that returns to his father because Our heavenly Father is waiting to rejoice when we choose to accept our faults and return to His loving arms.

Christian DeCarlo, Third Theology Seminarian from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary

Imitation of St. Joseph
"Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.'" Matthew 1:20

While St. Joseph was engaged to Mary, an angel of God appeared to him in a dream. Now how cool would that be?? The angel told him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife. He was planning on calling off their wedding because it was found that Mary was pregnant with Jesus prior to the ceremony and he didn’t want to expose her to shame in the community. Yet, the angel told him to not be afraid to take her as his wife. That is exactly what he did, no questions, no hesitation, no complaints, total trust in God.

 

Now living our faith can be quite the challenge. It may not be the cool thing to do, especially when you are the only one saying the responses at all school Mass or when you make the sign of the cross before eating lunch in the cafeteria. During Lent this year, it is a great time to rekindle the virtue of faith. How do we grow in faith? Making time to pray is huge, and along with that talking to God about where you are struggling in your faith. For in prayer, we clearly exercise faith, believing our prayer is not in vain, trusting in what we don’t see. St. Joseph believed that it was God speaking to him through an angel in the dream, no questions, no hesitation. Let’s imitate St. Joseph’s faith this Lent, and by his intercession, pray for a faith like him. 

Bobby Laudani, ’17

Moving Forward
"Listen to my voice; then I shall be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper." Jeremiah 7:23

It is important to talk to God and listen to Him, especially during this Lenten season. God is always there for you, at all times. Even a couple of minutes of praying and talking to God will strengthen your relationship with Him and your faith. When you decide to ignore God and shut Him out of your life, you start to lose your Faith and start going backwards in life instead of moving forward. 

Cassie Little, ’17

Draw Close to God
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Mark 12:30

Humans are not strong enough to live life without God. Israel teaches us that in the first reading by saying, "I am like a verdant cypress tree. From me fruit will be found for you!" (Hosea 14:9). Physically, life cannot be achieved without fruit, much like how we cannot survive spiritually without God. This theme of Lent is also conveyed in the Gospel of Mark when Jesus tells the people what the Greatest Commandment is. He says to them, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30). If we refuse the Lord, then our connection to God is greatly weakened and could be potentially lost. However, there are ways we can make ourselves closer to God, especially during Lent. The lay people often don't realize how much they can do to help the Church, which brings us closer to God. Going to Mass more often to give praise and thanks to God benefits us immensely. Prayer is necessary to strengthen our relationship with God and our faith. Lent is a great time to reflect upon our relationship with God and ask ourselves what we can do bring ourselves closer to Him.

Michael Folmar, Third Theology Seminarian from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary

The Incarnation
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." Luke 1:35

Why did God become man? Ultimately, it was to save us from our sins and to redeem our fallen human nature, which is why He assumed a human nature in becoming man. This is the route that God freely chose to reach us. He could have chosen another way to redeem us, but He wanted to show us the depth of His unending and permanent love for us. God’s love for us radiates out of Jesus, Who makes God tangible and visible to us. So in seeing Christ, Who always has the Holy Spirit within Him, we also see God the Father as all three persons of the Holy Trinity form one perfect unity of love. Consequently, God has made Himself like us and teaches us how to live life to the fullest with Jesus as our perfect example and role model. He is the one we are to imitate. For it is Christ Who shows us to always seek the Father’s will and cooperate with His graces, which leads to our happiness. Praise God in becoming man for us!

Amber Sneeringer, ’17 

If you went to Catholic school all your life you are used to hearing the phrase "God is with you" or God is merciful". These two phrases mean a lot but when something hits you hard you usually want to hear more than that. Many people who aren't Catholic use the fact that awful things happen in the world therefore there can be no God. But we know this is not true. We know that yes awful things happen but God is always there whether we see him or not He is there in the people who comfort us when we are down, in the sunrise that puts a smile on our face. If we look hard enough even in the darkest times we can find God, even when we have turned away from Him, He is there ready to love and forgive us. One of my favorite quotes is a quote my mom told me when I was going through a hard time and that is "everything happens for a reason". God has a plan for everything and everyone and He will fulfill that plan but when that plan has bumps in the road remember to turn to God and not away from Him.

 

 

What gives you life? What gets you up out of bed every day? Is it practicing to be the all-state baseball player or the star soccer player or to get on academic honor roll? Or, is it your parents dragging you out of bed at the last second to catch the bus? Deep inside, there is something that motivates us to press on, a goal that we are striving for that keeps us going throughout the day.

 

The first reading from Exodus today tells the story of Moses up on a mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, while the Israelites waited for him to come back with words from God. God, in the meantime, was providing for their every need, giving them bread and meat and water in the desert. God was what gave them life, both physical and spiritual life. Yet, because Moses was on the mountain so long, about 40 days, the Israelite people got discouraged that he would never return. The Israelites turned away from God, their Life, to a golden calf, a false god unable to give any sort of life to them.

 

Jesus in the Gospel calls the Jews out for seeking eternal life in the Old Testament. The whole Old Testament points in a hidden way to Jesus who is the source of life, God is the source of all life. The Jews from the Gospel though seek life in things other than God. Jesus says, “You refuse to come to me that you may have life.” Jesus is the source of life, giving us the reason to get up every morning, to keep pressing on during the tough days and to realize with gratitude that he is the reason for the best days of our life too. What gives you life? Is it focused on God who gives us athletic ability and academic talent or on athletics or academics themselves apart from God? God wants to give us life because of his great love for us! Jesus Christ is the source of life, giving peace and joy in our daily activities and work. Without Him we can do nothing. But with Him we can have true joy in life.

Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130:1-8; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45

 

 It’s a bit ironic that the theme that keeps coming to me for this reflection today is dryness, given the amount of rain outside. This past week, I’ve been experiencing some dryness in prayer. I’ve been feeling pretty unmotivated to pray and really distracted during my usual daily prayers.  I know that this is part of the spiritual life, and God allows it to happen sometimes to show us something and to draw us closer to Him, although he feels distant. But this weekend’s readings show us that, regardless of what part of us is dry or dead, Christ can bring life to it.

The first reading follows the story of the dry bones in the book of Ezekiel and the Gospel is the story of the raising of Lazarus. In both of these instances, God brings life into areas where there is no life – where there is, in fact, death. These foreshadow Jesus' coming Resurrection and give us certain hope that He can raise any part of us that feels dead or dormant. As Christians we can hold on to this hope during times of spiritual dryness, when God feels distant or even absent. The same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the grave, the same Spirit that St. Paul talks about in the second reading, lives within us and can raise our hearts.

I love this song as a meditation on the dry bones in the book of Ezekiel. Enjoy!

                How well are you doing this Lent? How many times do we really stop and ask ourselves this question? A lot of people during Lent give up sweets, others it's a form of social media and then there are people who vow to pray more often or give a little more in the collection basket at church every week. But let me ask you this, are you a person that goes out and tells everyone what you are doing for Lent? Jesus said in the gospel today that, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me.”(John 9: 54) What Jesus is saying here is that the point of Lent is to not achieve attention from others for what we do during the season but it lets us have a closer relationship with God. We do not gain eternal life from others but from God Himself and that is what I challenge you all to remember… not only during Lent but throughout your lives.

 

 

As Lent is quickly coming to a close it is becoming increasingly more difficult to stay strong to the things we have given up or promised ourselves to do more of. When this gets tough we have to remember to put our complete trust in God and His power and love for us. Not just during Lent, but every day, we can find so much comfort in knowing that God is constantly there for us no matter what. "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold," this verse is proof to us that God will be our "rock." He will guide and protect us every day of our lives.

 

 

Palm Sunday, aka “The Sunday with the Super Long Gospel Reading,” has so much on which we can reflect! The first reading is the foreshadowing from the Lord’s Suffering Servant; the Psalm is the prayer Jesus prayed from the cross; the letter to the Philippians is full of so much depth when read in light of Christ. But there is one part of the Gospel that has been sticking out to me recently – Barabbas. An often overlooked character, he has really stirred up a lot of questions for me in the irony of his position.

One of my professors points out to us once that the name “Barabbas” literally translates to “son of the father.” This in and of itself is ironic, because he is released to the crowds instead of Jesus, the true Son of the Father. How could they not see what was right in front of them? We remember Barabbas as the revolutionary whom Pilate released at the request of the crowd. And, because of that, Jesus was retained and then put to death. But Jesus just didn’t die in place of Barabbas; He died for Barabbas, just like He did for each of us. Barabbas was guilty. Jesus was innocent, but He still died in His place. In a way, aren’t we all Barabbas? I wonder if Barabbas knew what Jesus did for him. What happened to him after he was released? Did he become a follower of Jesus or did he go back to his former life? When we face the reality of what Jesus did for us, how do we respond?