April 3, 2022: Fifth Sunday of Lent
Dear Followers of Jesus,
John 8:1-11 is proclaimed at Mass this weekend. I love this text. This story is ultimate spiritual freedom and forgiveness. I hope you can find your way this story this week. The Church needs you to know the mercy to Jesus Christ, to become a follower of Him who leads you, invites you, and shows you the way into your real life.
An anonymous woman is caught in adultery. The obvious first question is, "What happened to the man? We don't know. The more I sit with this text the more I come to the conclusion the the man involved will never know forgiveness and mercy because he does not know Jesus. The woman is in a circle of men, a circle of perceived power and authority. This power-circle caves in very fast. Jesus is near, doing what he always does — changing the status and place of power. He invites the men to self-reflect. That is the first miracle. So those without sin should be the first to cast a stone. The men begin to understand. They put down the stones of condemnation, the stones that were going to the woman who is steeped in sin according to the men in the power positions.
Jesus is stooped down to the ground. He is writing something in the sand. No one really knows what he is doing. Even centuries later, no one knows for sure. What I love about his place in this story is that he is detached from the power scene. He claims his own power by literally drawing new lines in the sand that erase the boundaries between sinners and saved. Jesus is revealing to everyone that there is a new authority; there is a new way of viewing the past. Jesus squats down to doodle a new story in the sand that washes hopelessness away and restores the dignity to the woman. The men are faced with their own stuff, which is truly fumbling for them.
Forgiveness is a miracle that we all seek, especially in the Lenten season. Sometimes we get so caught up our own sin that we think Jesus could not forgive us. Sometimes we even believe that our sin is so strong and divisive that it could not possibly be forgiven. We hold it as a badge of honor and never let it go. I am not exactly sure what possesses us believe that our own sin is so darn important, but I experience it in people all the time. "God could not possibly forgive!" Not true, just listen to this story.
I pray we can put down the stones we want to cast at others. We need to put down the stones that condemn and push others away. Sometimes those stones come from our mouths and sometimes they come from a cold shoulder. Sometimes we blame others for what is not going well in our lives. Sometimes our stones become sheer hate. Whether our stones are guns or words an email, our blame hurts people.
Lets pray to find Jesus bending down in the sand to forgive us, to erase the boundaries of our hated. Let's find him face to face.
Blessings,
Fr. Ron
March 27, 2022: Fourth Sunday of Lent
Dear Followers of Jesus,
Today, on this Fourth Sunday of Lent, we proclaim Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32 at Mass. This is one of my favorite stories during the Lenten season. Most of us are familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son. If we are not, the story bursts with love and forgiveness and is well worth our effort to enter into its mystery and grace.
There are three characters in the story, a father and his two sons. The younger son thinks he deserves the best and is aching to gain a new freedom apart from his father and brother. The amazing thing is that the father gives him his portion of the inheritance and lets him go. The young son squanders the money and grows weak, hungry and helpless. The son begins to wake up to the reality that his life was pretty darn good the way it was, so he goes back home. He admits to his father that he has really messed up.
We all understand sheer restlessness for such freedom. We desire our own voice, our own place in the world. Sometimes we get it and sometimes it eludes us. We struggle to get our way and we may become addicted to drugs, pride, violence or alcohol in our newfound freedom. We cling to self-sufficiency, self-righteousness and anger just to get our way. No one can tell me what to do. We want to make our presence felt. We definitely know the life of the young son. Some of us live it every day.
The loving father stands near the road waiting for his son. The father runs toward his beloved. He runs, which was unheard of for a Jewish elder. He runs to greet him and offer him forgiveness. He offers forgiveness and wants to have a banquet in the son’s honor. The father gives his love away easily.
We also know the father’s love and forgiveness. Our children may very well be lost and we wait for their arrival home to self and to the family. The father is an image of God and his love in the world, waiting to welcome all of us who are lost and forgotten and unhappy.
The second son is so jealous of his brother. He has kept all the rules and has always done what the father expected. He has seen his life in lockstep to the father. Our lives may very well fit in the category of the second son. We are faithful, keeping all the rules of the Church, never straying, never challenging. Yet, we find our lives so full of regret and hatred, we can hardly stand our ground and find peace in our daily lives.
This gospel becomes an invitation to explore forgiveness and mercy within our lives. We find our lives in all three characters if we take them to heart. Pray with each of the three characters and see in this Lent where you can identify. We thank God for loving mercy and tenderness, no matter where we fit into our relationships and the world. God loves us, indeed.
With peace,
Fr. Ron
Fr. Ronald Raab, C.S.C
March 20, 2022: Third Sunday of Lent
Dear Followers of Jesus,
Luke 13:1-9 invites us to examine how God is changing our lives and giving us another chance. The tree in this gospel offers us an image of hope for our own lives as well as the Church.
In this Lenten season, I am so aware that I need another opportunity to grow deeper into the mystery of Jesus’ dying and rising in me. I need to be pruned. I need God to dig up the soil around my heart and offer me another opportunity to grow from his love, in his love and because of his love.
I am sure we all need this awareness as well. I believe with my entire heart that each of us needs another chance to find God’s love, the source and soil on which our lives grow and change in the world. Even when we resist life and hold grudges and remain active in our addictions and live behind our rough exteriors to protect ourselves from the world, I am confident that not many of us feel really good about our real selves. Sometimes, we just do not know how to access God, how to live differently in Him or even how to seek him in prayer.
Sometimes we live self-protective lives. We hide our secrets. We cannot admit our wrongs. We do not say that we need God because we do not want to look weak. We hide our tears and our emotions because the world will think less of us. We do not crack open our hearts lest others think we are not in complete control of our lives. We hide behind anger, fear and loneliness. We create a shell that will not be cracked by any thing or any one.
This is the image of the tree that has withered. It needs a second chance or maybe a third or fourth chance. It needs help to bloom, to give life and to recognize its place in the world. We are no different. We need to cultivate within our own lives a new desire for the Paschal Mystery, that is Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. In this Lent, we sit with all the ways in which our lives have withered. We examine our need for mercy and forgiveness. We reflect on our relationships and the ways in which we have pushed people away. We examine how we need God to support our lives in the Church and how the Church needs another chance to find its way into the Light.
Life sometimes does not bear the fruit we think it should. So often we grow angry and resentful about how life really is and that we did not get our way. Lent is also an opportunity for us to find the truth of who we are in God. We grow more beautifully, more faithfully, more lovingly, when we finally rest our hearts in the soil of God’s forgiveness and mercy. Then we shall grow with hope, bloom with justice and become a tree that reaches toward heavenly light.
With peace,
Fr. Ron
Fr. Ronald Patrick Raab, C.S.C., ministers among the vulnerable and marginalized of society and the Church. From his experiences in living the Gospel among the poor, he speaks and writes about prayer and service and knowing the love of God through our common poverty. He is active as a retreat director, blogger, award-winning author, and visual artist. Fr. Ron serves as pastor of Sacred Heart Church Parish, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Fr. Ron has graciously given us permission not only to use the reflections he posts on his website, ronaldraab.com, but also to freely use the art he creates for each reflection.
March 4, 2022: First Sunday of Lent
Dear Parishioners:
“Jesus was tempted in the desert for forty days. Our society has been tempted in our rough, dry days of pandemic as well. We have faced job loss, racial divides and outrage, loss of careers, and faced obstacles to educate and raise our children. The wild beasts seem to have gotten the best of us this year. These past two Lenten seasons are unlike any Lent in a century.
However, we are still on the journey toward redemption and new life. We are called once again to repent of the weight that has accumulated upon our shoulders, that has wedged us into despair and hopelessness. Easter will bring rejoicing when we capture a glimpse of new life glowing from our family dinner tables, within school assemblies or at our local hospitals and nursing homes. Life still has meaning, we are still filled with hope, even when we are challenged to let go of our control and find God in every aspect of humanity.
We still have work to do in this Lenten season. After all, the real purpose of Lent is to draw closer to Jesus Christ. There is still mercy, forgiveness and hope at the bottom of the well of our renewal of baptism. God is still inviting us to go deeper into our Christian commitments. God is still tugging on our sleeves to get our attention and to show us that he is the only one who can heal us. ...We are still called to seek the unbelievable passion of Jesus Christ who calls our names and invites us to follow him to his cross, to his empty tomb.
Christ Jesus desires to be at the center of our lives. This is the purpose of Lent. We fast in order to be hungry for God. We pray, to draw closer to the love God has for us. We give alms because we know that being pro-life means we help to lift up all aspects of human suffering. The desert of Lent is really an invitation to clear away the chaos, the emotional debris, the junk we cling to in life, in order to discover that our lives are being drawn ever so deeper into the mystery of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. Christ Jesus desires to heal our past. As we seek the Kingdom of God, we are drawn into the mercy of Christ Jesus. We do not earn such a gift. Many people stumble thinking that they need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps to look good in the eyes of God.... We don’t save ourselves. Only God’s eternal love and mercy invites us closer to Him. This is the function of Lent when we can take our liturgy seriously in our lives.
Christ Jesus opens our path through tough times. The Lenten season opens with Jesus being tested by evil in the desert for forty days. This is not just about the past, but Jesus is healing and redeeming all evil in the world and offering us the ability to journey with him. Jesus heals our rough relationships, sorts our anger and reveals to us that darkness does not win, no matter the issues that get us down. Lent explores the reality that Jesus is walking with us in the ruts of the desert we have created in our own lives. Jesus is our only hope.
Christ Jesus unites us in our common baptism. The Lenten season came to be in the Church as adults were waiting to be baptized at Easter. Then, it became a time for all Christians to renew their commitment in Christ’s death and resurrection. Most Christians forget that what we have in common is baptism. This is our place of belonging in the church. This is the foundation of why we learn to reach out to those in need. Our ministry flows from the waters of new life, leading us on the same path of salvation. Renew your life in baptism, in His love for all people during this Lenten season. Make sure the story of your baptism is told and why you want to live as a Christian in the first place.
Christ Jesus offers us justice and new life. The path to Easter is essentially a path to human justice and love. New life is meant for all humanity. Christ speaks to us through our sorrows and into our redeemed and loving hearts. Life can change. Jesus heals our hurts and our grief. Jesus changes hearts. Paths open up for us as believers. We really can learn to become more kind, gentler with our neighbor. We can live not from our ego accomplishments, but the internal longing to listen to the voice of Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit leads us if we can simply entrust our stubbornness to God. All things matter in Jesus Christ.
God give you peace, Fr. Ron”
Ronald Patrick Raab, C.S.C., ministers among the vulnerable and marginalized of society and the Church. From his experiences in living the Gospel among the poor, he speaks and writes about prayer and service and knowing the love of God through our common poverty. He is active as a retreat director, blogger, award-winning author, and visual artist. Fr. Ron serves as pastor of Sacred Heart Church Parish, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Fr. Ron has given his permission to use any and all of his art (this week’s cover image) and reflections.
Blessings,
Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor
February 27, 2022: Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners:
Lent begins this week. Yes, Wednesday, March 2nd is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the 40 days of Lent. By, the way, don’t forget to come to one of the four opportunities we have for you to receive ashes - Mass at 8;15AM and 7:30PM and a service, no mass, at 12:00PM and 4:00PM. Speaking of ashes, why do we get ashes?
Your first thought might be that ashes are a reminder that some day we are going to die. Our bodies will eventually turn to ashes—’ashes to ashes, dust to dust,’ until we are raised up on the final day. Ashes are a sign that we are willing to ‘die’ to this world and live the way Jesus taught. Or some of you might remember that ashes are used as a sign of repentance, mourning and grief. In Old Testament times people used ashes as a sign of repentance.
Whatever the wearing of ashes conjures up in your mind, we all know that Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a particular time in the liturgical year when we are called to take time to assess how we’re doing in our walk with God. If we ‘do it right,’ Lent helps us identify ways we can grow spiritually as well as parts of our lives that we need to avoid. When we receive ashes, we are either reminded that “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return” or to “Turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel.” During Lent we try to turn away from those things that cause us to sin and turn toward God. We use ashes as an outward expression of our need to begin again.
We’ve received our ashes, what then? Usually we go back to our seat or perhaps leave church totally depending on whether we’ve gone to mass or a simple service. Whichever is the case this year, before we move on with our day, let’s take a few moments to consider what those ashes mean and prayer this prayer:
“Heavenly Father, during this time of reflection I remember how you lived the life I ought to have live. You showed us how to resist temptation during your time in the desert, and through the life you led here on earth. As this Lent season begins, remind me that I am but dust. I can do nothing without you. Help me to see the world through the eyes of those in the first Lent season, who awaited a Savior and awaited new life through you. Thank you for your sacrifice on the cross. Amen.” 1
There’s usually another thing that comes to mind when we think of Ash Wednesday - what will I give up for Lent? In recent times, we have learned that it’s not just the giving up part that makes Lent fruitful for us spiritually, but the positive side of ‘what will I do for Lent to become a better follower of Christ? It’s gotten pretty easy for most of us to give up the familiar ‘vices’ which usually fall into the food and drink category. Maybe we’re really brave and decide that one day a week we’re going to give up social media, TV, or surfing the web. How realistic is that? And, if we do manage to get through one day of whatever we decide to ’give up,’ do we go back at it with a vengeance the next day to make up for lost time?
Perhaps this year, we can skip the ‘giving up’ and instead ‘give in.’ When we think of giving in, we think of surrendering to someone else’s will - what they want us to do, where they want us to go, who they want us to be. In terms of living in the world, our worst nightmare is to be the person and have the same life as someone else. We work to proclaim our individuality by the clothes we wear, things we like, schools we attend, jobs we choose and so on. Somewhere deep inside we know that while God made each of us one of a kind, we were all created for the same overarching particular purpose in life - to grow to know him and love him more with each moment.
Perhaps this lent instead of coming up with a quick ‘giving up’ item, let’s make a commitment to give in to the three ‘pillars’ of Lent:
Prayer - Perhaps even investigate different kinds of prayer like Centering Prayer, Taizé prayer, Lectio Divina, etc. Fasting - We’re willing to fast to lose weight, why are we not willing to fast to increase our awareness of the place food and drink has in our lives?
Almsgiving - Regardless of our status in life, there is always someone in need. Traditionally, almsgiving is associated with providing the necessities of life to individuals in need and organizations who help them, but many people are in great need of spiritual help.
Or perhaps the fullest experience of Lent can be found in merging the giving up and giving in approach. We might ‘give up’ sleeping in on Sunday morning and come to mass in order to ‘give in’ to the only thing that truly matters in life—our relationship to God.
Blessings,
Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor
1. Bollinger, H. An Ash Wednesday Prayer for Remembrance and Reflection in 2022. https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holidays/an-ash-wednesday-prayer-to-
remember-gods-merciful-love.html
