St. Mary, St. Bernadette, & St. Genevieve

     I’d like to present to you four different images of Jesus, and see how you react to them.
         The first: when Jesus feeds the multitude, with the bread and fishes.
         The second: Jesus teaching the people, from a boat, off the shore.
         The third: Jesus cleansing the Temple, which is today’s Gospel.
         The fourth: Jesus talking about those who will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.
----------------------------------
      Jesus who feeds, Jesus who teaches, Jesus who cleanses the Temple, Jesus who pronounces woe.
      Which of these four images appeals to you, right now?
Why does it appeal to you?
         Which of these images might you feel uncomfortable with?
Why does it make you uncomfortable?
-----------------------------------
         Paul in our 2^nd Reading, takes stock of all these different ways that people can react // when they first encounter Jesus. Some are looking for signs, like the feeding of the multitude, perhaps to meet their pre-conceived notions. Some are looking for wisdom, perhaps so that they too can enjoy it, for their own purposes.
         But as Paul writes, the sign and wisdom that God gives us, is His Son on the Cross. A sign of God’s outpouring love for us, and the wisdom that giving one’s life is actually to live it most fully. Neither this sign nor this wisdom are easy to accept, given our condition, which is why God keeps declaring it – again and again.
------------------------------------------------------------
         Let’s imagine for a moment that we are the disciples in today’s Gospel. We know that something important is going to happen, but we can’t quite figure out what that is. All of sudden, Jesus starts overturning tables, while saying ‘Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!’
         Some of us would be startled, thinking He’s lost his mind.
         Some of us might be thrilled, thinking, ‘Finally, this is the type of action we signed up for.’
         But again, like the Cross, the sign-value and wisdom-value of what He is doing, will be fully evident later, when the disciples put it all together. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, they are able to make that move, that transition…..from what they thought Jesus should be for them…to allowing Jesus to be God for them.
-------------------------------------------------------------
         We recall those four images: Jesus who feeds, Jesus who teaches, Jesus who cleanses the Temple, Jesus who pronounces woe. During your prayer this week, ask the Holy Spirit, to guide you on the journey: from the image of the Jesus that makes you comfortable, to that image which makes you feel less comfortable, AND THEN, to being with Jesus at the Cross.
         Being with Jesus at the Cross, is where we see his full sign-value, his wisdom on full display, His love to the max.
 

        The Irish - have a wonderful way with words.
         I was talking recently to one of my canon law classmates, an Irish Dominican. He was talking about life in a Dominican Priory, trying to keep the older friars safe, as Ireland undergoes another lockdown, and he continues his apostolate of teaching, which is now online. At some point he said something along the lines of, “all of this carry-on, and I keep saying my prayers.”
         “Saying my prayers.”
         There is a lot packed into that statement. Centuries of Christian spirituality, which we have inherited. Where someone would say prayers every morning, bedtime, and at Sunday Mass. Or the French Canadian equivalent, ‘say my beads’ – saying the rosary.
         In the Gospel, Peter and the other two disciples witness an incredible event. And in response, Peter says something. Sometimes commentators and homilists have criticized Peter in this situation, saying that he’s just being Peter: talk first, think later. But other commentators have reflected: what else could Peter possibly say? What he proposes is understandable, and good in itself.
        God doesn’t take him up on his response, on his intercession. But God does respond to his prayer…in a different way. He covers the disciples in a cloud, so that the only thing they can do, is listen. And listen they do:

“This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him.”

         They will need to focus on listening: because the outward appearance of Jesus will change: from earthly Jesus, to transfigured Jesus, to crucified and glorious Jesus, to risen and ascended Jesus. What they see will change, what they hear will not.
         When we’ve had times in our spiritual life, where it seems God isn’t answering us, He might be putting us in that Transfiguration cloud, so that our listening, becomes even more keen.
         The Irish - have a wonderful way with words.
         Flannery O’Connor, one of the great American Catholic writers, had a dry wit, and an even sharper ability to observe. She once said that “in the land of the deaf, you have to shout.” // “in the land of the deaf, you have to shout.” And in the land of the spiritually deaf, God indeed has to shout. With the incredibly troubling story of Abraham and Isaac in our First Reading, God shouts to us, to get our attention.
         The story is not about blind obedience to a capricious God, as Bishop Barron has observed. Rather, it seems to me, it a story about the utmost importance, of listening. Abraham, at every stage of the story, listens to God. And because he listens, he is then able to see, the means to carry out God’s will. And God’s will it is: that Isaac lives, so that he will give life, to His people.
         The Lord is on the road to Jerusalem. Like the Lord’s journey to Jerusalem, Lent is a time of movement in our spiritual journey. Last week, we were invited to make the move from ‘what do I want for my life?’ to ‘what does God want for my life?’ This week, we are invited to make the move from: ‘prayer as first talking God’ to ‘prayer as first listening to God.’
         In this Mass, we offer the sacrifice of our listening, so that God can bestow on us, yet another gift: the gift of sight.
 

         Danielle Campoamor is a freelance writer in New York City. She and her partner of seven years have two children, ages 6 and 2. She was interviewed by an AP reporter, in an article in Tuesday’s Burlington Free Press. The article was about the challenges that many couples face during the pandemic.
         Danielle says that she and her partner argue frequently, as the pandemic complicates the challenges of raising their two children // and earning needed income. She works from home; he commutes to an Amazon fulfillment center.
         “He goes to work for 12-hour shifts,” said Campoamor, who is age 34. “I’m left alone / helping my 6-year-old with online learning, potty-training my 2-year-old, cooking and cleaning.
         There are days when I think, ‘Yes, we can do this,’ and other days I say, ‘No way that I can do this’” she said. “We don’t have the time to discuss our relationship, to work on improving it, or on separating. Sometimes I don’t have the capacity // to remember what day it is.”
         If we had to ask either of them him: ‘do you feel fulfilled?’ – how might they respond?
If we were in their shoes, how might we respond?
        My guess, is that they would respond that they are frazzled, not fulfilled. Another possible answer: some days are more fulfilling than others.
        In our Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent, we hear Mark’s version of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. We’ve come to see that Mark is very light on details, and seems to focus more on outcomes. And the ‘outcome’ of Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, is that He has something important to say: “this is the time of fulfillment.”
       What fulfillment? The fulfillment – of His promise to us – to restore the relationship between Creator – creature – and creation.  This is the News he announces.
        Like Mark’s Gospel, this Good News has an outcome, an invited response. Jesus invites us to ‘turn around’ (aka to repent) to see how God wants to accomplish // this restoration in our world, and in our personal lives. This is rather than trying to engineer it on our own.
        This restoration of relationship – between Creator – creature – and creation – is seen in our First Reading, when God and Noah enter into a covenant, a holy pact, to heal the links that had been distorted. It is also symbolized in our 2^nd Reading, which talks about baptism – the place where God, his people, and water – are not set against each other, but brought into harmony.
        When Pope Francis issued his encyclical Laudato ‘Si, it was characterized as an environmental document. But when you read it, it is much more. It is about the ‘care of creation’ – not simply the ‘care of the environment’. It is about ‘human ecology’, not simply ‘biosphere ecology.’ When humans try to engineer their own way out of a situation, without reference to that fundamental relationship of ‘Creator – creature – creation’, then the solutions can start to look as bad, as the original problem.
       Repent and believe in the Gospel. Jesus issues this very call to Danielle and her family in New York City, He issues it to us today in Addison County. What might that look like for them? To repent may be to ask themselves about their own relationship with their Creator – their fellow creatures – and the creation around them:

• What is their relationship with God like?
• Why do they fear a greater commitment to one another?
• Is the human ecology of where they live and work conducive to their family life, or do they need a new setting?

       Ultimately, God desires their good. God desires that they can pause, just long enough to see what this ‘good’ may look like.
       Just like we take the time of Lent – to pause, just long enough – to see what God’s desire is – for us as well.

        When you talk about the summer, or the fall, how do you speak of this time? Many people will say ‘when things go back to normal’, but then they may add a qualifier: ‘or whatever normal is’, or ‘the new normal’.
         In our First Reading, from the prophet Joel, the people of Israel are trying to rebuild their nation after the Exile, when a plague strikes. The plague is locust. There was no known defense against them. After leveling the crops, they got into the houses. The first shortage to be noticed, was that of wine. And the next shortage, was bread. It was as if they were being invaded by a foreign army.
         Into this situation God sends Joel, to proclaim that the Day of the Lord has arrived. This day is a day of judgment, but also – at the same time – of salvation. Of healing and health and restoration. God makes use of evil, and turns it into good.
         So Joel tells them: going back to your usual ways of personal penance, and prayer, and fasting, will only be surface level. What God desires is that His people return to Him “with their whole heart.” Rend your hearts, not your garments. Call everyoneto worship together, not just some people, on their own time.
          The call of Lent 2021 is to return to the Lord, not to return to normal. As we ponder how to live this Lent, we keep this objective in mind: how do my Lenten practices create the conditions, for my heart to return back to the Lord?
       When our hearts return back to the Lord, we give an opening for the Lord to take pity on us, and gives us His bounty.
       His bounty –  is much richer – than going back to normal.