2nd Sunday of Lent

March 1, 2026

Paying attention to Jesus/Up and down the mountain with Jesus during Lent

Matthew 17:1-9

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

Genesis 12:1-4; 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9

In order to understand today’s Gospel, we need to put it into context. Peter had just, in the name of the other disciples, recognised their Teacher, Jesus, as the expected Messiah of Israel: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. (Matt 16:15) It was a climactic moment in Jesus’ relationship with his disciples. But this was immediately followed by Jesus’ explanation to them of exactly what being Messiah was going to mean for him. Far from being a mighty warrior-king who would crush all the enemies of God’s people, he was going to be rejected by the leaders of his own people, arrested, tried, condemned, tortured and eventually executed—not by them, but by the very hated enemies they expected the Messiah to overthrow. This was too much for Peter (undoubtedly speaking in the name of all his companions) and he objected strongly. In turn, he was severely scolded for obstructing God’s way of doing things. Even more, Jesus had said that if anyone wanted to be his follower, then they would have to be prepared to walk the same road of rejection, oppression, and even death.

Morale boost

All of this must have seemed like a large bucket of cold water landing on the heads of the disciples. What Jesus had said was totally against all they had ever heard about the expected Messiah. It is in this perhaps depressed mood that today’s experience takes place. Perhaps to give a boost to their morale, to help them see that the way of Jesus would lead to victory and triumph, Jesus takes Peter, James and John to a high mountain. They are the inner circle of the Twelve, and are found with Jesus at other times of crucial importance, like at the raising of Jairus’ daughter and during Jesus’ agony in the garden. This happened “six days” after the declaration of Jesus as Messiah. It is perhaps a reminder that it was after six days that God called Moses into the cloud of glory on Mount Sinai.  Also in biblical times, revelations often took place on mountain tops.  There has been much speculation about which mountain in Palestine was the ‘Mount of the Transfiguration’, but it does not really matter. It is the divine significance of a mountain, any mountain, that is being emphasised.

Transformation

As the disciples watched, Jesus was suddenly transformed (Greek, metamorphoo, a rare word in the New Testament, from which our English word ‘metamorphosis’ comes): …his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. Again, it reminds one of the radiance on Moses’ face after he came down from the mountain where he had spoken face to face with God. Then, suddenly, Moses and Elijah are seen talking with Jesus.  Their presence is very significant as they represent the two great traditions of the Old Testament: Moses personified the Law of God’s people, and Elijah, the traditions of the great prophets. Their presence and their talking with Jesus indicate their total endorsement of all that Jesus is doing, and also of all that he will experience in the days to come. Jesus is the natural continuation of their Jewish tradition and is fully part of it. Therefore, the disciples need have no misgivings about anything they have heard from Jesus about his coming destiny.

A good place to be

Peter, with his usual impulsiveness, enthusiastically suggests building three tents or shrines for Jesus, Moses and Elijah so they could stay on the mountain. It was a wonderful place to be just then.  Often, when things are good, we would like them to stay that way forever. Unfortunately, life is seldom like that and we have to move on. When we are in the cinema watching a film, we can’t shout to the projection room and say, “Stop the movie right there!  I like this bit.” Life moves on. It is true of Jesus and it is true of his followers. We have to keep moving forward, and come to terms with the happenings in our lives. In the First Reading, Abram too is told to leave his country and his family home, and go to where God will lead him. God is telling us the same every day of our lives. As Peter spoke a “bright cloud” covered them.  It was no ordinary cloud, but a luminous cloud. It both concealed the unbearable brightness and revealed the very presence of God himself (it reminds one of the cloud which covered Mount Sinai when Moses spoke with God there). From the cloud comes a voice, the voice, of course, of God himself: This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him! These are the exact words spoken at the baptism of Jesus. Again, they are an endorsement of Jesus and of all that he will experience, including his rejection by his people and his suffering and death on the way to life and victory.

“Listen to him”

This is directed at Peter and the others. To listen to Jesus is:

• to hear what he says,

• to accept what he says,

• to make it one’s own,

• to identify with it fully.

So far, the disciples have not been doing this; they have been hearing, but not accepting.

Only Jesus

At the sound of God’s voice, the disciples prostrate themselves on the ground, terrified. They hear the gentle voice of Jesus, “Get up [rise up] and do not be afraid.” Jesus’ words point to resurrection to a new life and the abolition of fear and anxiety. They look up and see Jesus standing there alone; the Father is gone; Moses and Elijah are gone. From now on they will see ‘only’ Jesus, but after this experience, they know that he is not alone, that he has the full backing of his Father and of the Jewish tradition of the Law and the Prophets. They were learning the lesson that, though Jesus the Messiah would be rejected, suffer and die at the hands of his own people and their enemies, glory and victory would follow. They were learning that, if they wanted to be truly his followers, they must accept this fully, and that they themselves must be ready to go the same way. If they stay with Jesus, victory, his victory, will be theirs too. If they stay with Jesus, they will have nothing to fear.

Back with the people

Then they came down from the mountain.  Being with Jesus means not staying up on a mountain. Being on the mountain was a wonderful experience: “It is good for us to be here,” said Peter. But Jesus came down from the mountain to be with the people in their pains and sorrows, in their fears and anxieties, in their sicknesses and disabilities and in their sinfulness. Jesus’ other name in Matthew’s Gospel is Emmanuel, “God with us”. Jesus’ place is to be with his people, and his followers have to do the same. It is nice to spend quiet days at a lovely retreat house deep in the countryside. It is nice to have a really good Mass with good homily, lovely choir, candles and incense. But most of the time our Christian life is to be spent sharing in the joys and sorrows of our brothers and sisters. We are to be the salt of the earth, the leaven in the dough, the candle on the lamp stand, helping people to know, understand and experience the love of their God for them. Most of the time we meet Jesus especially in those in need: the hungry and thirsty (in every sense of the word), the sick and disabled and those in prison: …as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ We are to find Jesus in them and they are to find Jesus in us.

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

Genesis 12: 1-4a; Psalm 33; 2 Timothy 1: 8b-10; Matthew 17: 1-9

The scriptural readings for Sundays are chosen with purpose. The first reading (usually from the Hebrew Scriptures) relates to the gospel of the day. This relationship is not accidental but reflects a theological and pastoral plan designed by the Church after the Second Vatican Council. The gospel is primary, the “theological anchor.” Each Sunday the first reading is chosen because it illuminates, foreshadows or prepares for the Gospel. So, for example, the first reading from the Hebrew Scriptures contains figures, events, or promises that prefigure Christ. The Gospel reveals the fulfillment of what the Hebrew Scriptures anticipate. So, on this second Sunday of Lent our first reading presents the patriarch Abram, who begins the journey of faith. The gospel presents the Son who will complete that journey through his faith, suffering and glory. Abram steps into the unknown because he trusts God’s Word. On the mountaintop the disciples are directed by the voice coming from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” The pattern for us disciples is presented to Abram. Here’s how it is suggested to us today. Like Abram: we are called, we did not self-initiate that call. Abram did not invent his mission, God summoned him. In the gospel the disciples do not engineer the Transfiguration, they are led up the mountain. Likewise, our Christian life does not begin with our own designs for self-improvement. God has taken the initiative to call us through our Baptism, particular vocation, graced-conversion, showing us the way we are to serve. This is contrary to modern cues which tell us we are in control and can design our own destiny. Abram hears and responds to a promise without seeing is fulfillment. So too with the disciples. On the mountain they get a view of glory before they can understand the Cross. So, it is with us. We are called to trust. Before we see, we commit ourselves without yet experiencing promised outcomes and we follow Christ without a detailed map, or GPS. It is Lent, a time not only for fasting and self-denial, but for reflection. Today’s readings ask for a Lenten response. What is God asking me to leave? What promise am I clinging to? What feels uncertain and scary to me in my daily journey? Prompted by the disciples’ mountaintop experience, have I ever had a glimpse of Christ’s glory that sustains me in times of doubt and testing? Our lives don’t re-create exactly the biblical events, but they are shaped by that same divine rhythm and pattern: Call... Promise... Journey... Fulfillment. But before all this comes grace.

• If we are in a time of our upheaval – then we are in the “ Call.”

• Waiting for something to unfold – we are in the “Promise.”

• Struggling through difficulty – we are in the “Journey.”

And... experiencing deep peace, or clarity, we have a glimpse of “Fulfillment.” Christian life seems to move through these stages repeatedly. Our modern world prizes control, speed, efficiency and measurable results. While our faith, revealed again to us in our biblical readings today, prizes trust, patience and listening. We hear the call today to trust our faithful God over long stretches of time; to stay trusting as Revelation unfolds gradually. We are reminded that glory and suffering coexist; That our story is not unique but is part of a much larger story. Like the disciples we too have “mountain moments” – times of deep prayer, clarity, peace in the sense of God near and real. Such moments are not escapes but strengthening for when we come down the mountain and returned to live faithfully the valley. Lent is not about dramatic heroics. It is about trusting the promise we have heard and the courage to take the next step. We are like Abram: we walk without seeing the whole future. Like the disciples on the mountain, we listen to God’s Word through the Beloved Son which encourages and strengthens us to keep walking through whatever daily uncertainties we must face. We remember that it is God who calls us and God who is faithful. With that Lenten hope we are carried towards Easter strengthened and encouraged by God’s Spirit. Today’s Scriptures reveal the heart of Lent. Like Abram we are asked you to step away from what secures us. Through prayer fasting and almsgiving we turn in trust to God even before we see results. Faith is not having clarity; it is walking anyway. Abram dared to trust and so began salvation history. Notice too that the promise is not just for him. “All the communities of the earth shall find a blessing in you.” God blesses us so that others may be blessed through us. In Lent we make our yearly journey out of comfort into promise, trusting that if we walk with God, even though we have not been given a map, we are walking toward blessing.

Quotable

“Abraham represents the possibility of a new beginning – the courage to answer a call.” –Elie Wiesel

Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral Raleigh, NC

“He saved us and called us to a holy life.” —2 Timothy 1:9

Here, near the beginning of Lent, we are reminded as Christians, to turn or return completely to Christian commitment. It is so easy to get caught up in the humdrum of our lives, to fill our space with noise, to drown out the still small voice of God calling us to greater life. Our lives should be a consistent exercise in letting go of things that keep us from being transfigured. Yet we linger in what we think are safe and secure ruts. The gift of Lent can be for us an intense period of purification and enlightenment, a time of transformation, a time of deepening our life with Christ. How do we do this? During the papal conclave of his election to become Pope Francis, then Cardinal Bergoglio gave a three-minute speech “in which he said the Church, in order to survive, must stop ‘living within herself, of herself, for herself’” (Rolling Stone, Binelli 2/13/14). Well, here’s a news flash—we are the Church! Each one of us must stop living within ourselves, of ourselves, for ourselves. We must be love to a hurting world. Pope Leo concludes his exhortation, Dilexi Te, with these words: “ Christian love breaks down every barrier, brings close those who were distant, unites strangers, and reconciles enemies. . .Love is above all a way of looking at life and a way of living it. A Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love, is the Church that the world needs today (120). Through your work, your efforts to change unjust social structures or your simple, heartfelt gesture of closeness and support, the poor will come to realize that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them: “I have loved you” (Rev 3:9) (121). For the next three weekends, please stop by to “Join in the Joy of Just Service” at our Works of Mercy tables in the narthex. Our devoted coordinators need YOU to be counted to help spread love. You can deepen your life with Christ by walking with others, especially the poor. If we implement even a small portion of what our popes say, we will see ourselves changing, like a butterfly shaking free from its cocoon. By living a holy life of love, we will change our world as well.

Faith Book
Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: “As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Reflection: Jesus teaches patience. Let the experience sink in. Let it be tested by daily fidelity. The deepest witness is not excited talk, but steady discipleship shaped by the cross and illuminated by hope.

So, we ask ourselves:

• What “mountain moments” have strengthened my faith, and how have they shaped my daily life afterward?

• Do I seek glory without accepting the cross that gives it meaning?

• How is Christ asking me to live quiet, patient faith right now, even without dramatic experiences?

LENTEN POETRY COMPANION WEEK 2: AN INVITATION TO AWAKEN

SUNDAY — Sunday Prayer by Jessica Powers
Prayer is the trap-door out of sin.
Prayer is a mystic entering in
to secret places full of light.
It is a passage through the night.
Heaven is reached, the blessed say,
by prayer and by no other way.
One may kneel down and make a plea
with words from book or breviary,
or one may enter in and find
a home-made message in the mind.
But true prayer travels further still,
to seek God’s presence and God’s will.
To pray can be to push a door
and snatch some crumbs of evermore,
or (likelier by far) to wait,
head bowed, before a fastened gate,
helpless and miserable and dumb,
yet hopeful that the Lord will come.
Here is the prayer of grace and good
most proper to our creaturehood.
God’s window shows his humble one
more to the likeness of His Son.
He sees, though thought and senses stray,
the will is resolute to stay
and feed, in weathers sweet or grim,
on any word that speaks of Him.
He beams on the humility
that keeps it peace in misery
and, save for glimmerings, never knows
how beautiful with light it grows.
He smiles on faith that seems to know
it has no other place to go.
But some day, hidden by His will,
if this meek child is waiting still,
God will take out His mercy-key
and open up felicity,
where saltiest tears are given right
to seas where sapphire marries light,
where by each woe the soul can span
new orbits for the utter man,
where even the flesh, so seldom prized,
would blind the less than divinized.

Source: “Prayer” from The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers, edited by Regina Siegfried, ASC, and Robert F. Morneau. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1989.

MONDAY — To Live in the Mercy of God by Denise Levertov
To lie back under the tallest
oldest trees. How far the stems
rise, rise
before ribs of shelter
open!
To live in the mercy of God. The complete
sentence too adequate, has no give.
Awe, not comfort. Stone, elbows of
stony wood beneath lenient
moss bed.
And awe suddenly
passing beyond itself. Becomes
a form of comfort.
Becomes the steady
air you glide on, arms
stretched like the wings of flying foxes.
To hear the multiple silence
of trees, the rainy
forest depths of their listening.
To float, upheld,
as salt water
would hold you,
once you dared.
To live in the mercy of God.
To feel vibrate the enraptured
waterfall flinging itself
unabating down and down
to clenched fists of rock.
Swiftness of plunge,
hour after year after century,
O or Ah
uninterrupted, voice
many-stranded.
To breathe
spray. The smoke of it.
Arcs
of steelwhite foam, glissades
of fugitive jade barely perceptible. Such passion—
rage or joy?
Thus, not mild, not temperate,
God’s love for the world. Vast
flood of mercy
flung on resistance.

Source: “To Live in the Mercy of God” from Sands from the Well, by Denise Levertov. New York: New Directions, 1996.

TUESDAY — The Rowing Endeth by Anne Sexton
I’m mooring my rowboat
at the dock of the island called God.
This dock is made in the shape of a fish
and there are many boats moored
at many different docks.
“It’s okay,” I say to myself,
with blisters that broke and healed
and broke and headed—saving
themselves over and over.
And salt sticking to my face and arms like
a glue-skin pocked with grains of tapioca.
I empty myself from my wooden boat
and onto the flesh of The Island.
“On with it!” He says and thus
we squat on the rocks by the sea
and play—can it be true—a
game of poker.
He calls me.
I win because I hold a royal straight flush.
He wins because He holds five aces.
A wild card had been announced
but I had not beard it
being in such a state of awe
when He took out the cards and dealt.
As he plunks down His five aces
and I sit grinning at my royal flush,
He starts to laugh,
the laughter rolling like a hoop out of His mouth
and into mine,
and such laughter that He doubles right over me
laughing a Rejoice Chores at our two triumphs.
Then I laugh, the fishy dock laughs
the sea laughs. The Island laughs.
The Absurd laughs.
Dearest dealer,
I with my royal straight flush,
love yon so for your wild card,
that untamable, eternal, gut-driven ha-ha
and lucky love.

Source: “The Rowing Endeth” from The Awful Rowing Toward God by Anne Sexton. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975.

WEDNESDAY — In Praise of Self-Deprecation by Wislawa Szymborsk
The buzzard has nothing to fault himself with.
Scruples are alien to the black panther.
Piranhas do not doubt the rightness of their actions.
The rattlesnake approves of himself without reservations.
The self-critical jackal does not exist.
The locust, alligator, trichina, horsefly
live as they live and are glad of it.
The killer whale’s heart weighs one hundred kilos
but in other respects it is light.
There is nothing more animal-like
than a clear conscience
on the third planet of the Sun.

Source: “In Praise of Self-Deprecation” from A Book of Luminous Things: And International Anthology of Poetry, by Milosz Czelslaw, ed. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998.

THURSDAY — Alone by Maya Angelou
Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can’t use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They’ve got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I’ll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
‘Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Source: “Alone” from Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, by Maya Angelou. New York: Random House, Inc., 1975.

FRIDAY — Think Not How Far by Harold Macdonald
Think not how far we have to go,
how far we’ve come; it saps the strength,
melts the will. It’s better not to know
the breadth and height and length
of all that’s still ahead.
Who wants to learn one’s end?
What will be, what would have been - weigh like lead.
Past offenses change not, cannot mend.
Better to proceed by little steps
within your range; no sweat, regret, no strain;
blanking out dramatic heights and depths
the thought of chasms, rough terrain.
Time then to see God’s downward bending
to share the journey and the ending.

Source: “Think Not How Far” from Poems from the Eighth Decade, by Harold Macdonald. 2004.

SATURDAY — Open Your Eyes by Richard Guy Miller
We never really die.
We just open our eyes.
When they have seen
Their last limitation,
We turn and weep,
Or we awake from our dream,
Open our eyes and know...
We never really die.
We just open our eyes.
When we have seen
Our last limitation,
We turn and weep,
Or we awake from our dream,
Open our eyes and know...
We never really lived.
We just closed our eyes.

Source: “Open Your Eyes” by Richard Guy Miller. Meditate with Poetry, 2003. http://www.explorefaith.org/oasis/poetry/openEyes.html.

PREPARATION FOR THE SESSION

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

OPENING PRAYER

Jesus, there is a time for silence and a time to speak. Help me, during this Lenten season, to cultivate a silence that is free from distractions and obligations, and truly open to your word. Help me to see you as God’s beloved, and help me to see myself as God’s beloved. Help me to hear you and see you in ways I have never been able to do. Especially help me to see you in those around me—in those who love me and those who don’t; in those whom I find admirable and those whom I don’t.

COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY
From “First Impressions” by Jude Siciliano (Second Sunday of Lent A 2011)

As I’ve traveled over the years, I’ve been to mountains: tall ones, like the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada mountains in the West; lesser, but still magnificent ones in Vermont, North Carolina, West Virginia and upper New York State. I’ve always been thrilled at the top of these mountains by the clear air, strong wind and spectacular views. Standing on a mountaintop also gives me a sense of security because of the solid mass beneath my feet. It’s a religious experience, it seems to me, to climb a mountain and let your mind and emotions flow with the experience. Did the three apostles Peter, James and John have some of those feelings when they got to the top of that “high mountain” with Jesus? After they got there, as if being on the mountain with him weren’t enough, they had the experience of the Transfiguration! It’s a dramatic story and appears at a key moment in Matthew’s Gospel. Some people, after a conversion experience, or when they come to a deeper awareness of the joys and peace that accompany a life centered on Christ, have a “mountaintop experience,” similar to the one Peter, James and John had. But sooner or later we need to come back down to earth and face the cross that comes with living out the life of discipleship. An authentic Christian life involves choices: will we accept the standards of living proposed by the world in its insatiable appetite for success, power, possessions, fame, etc? Or, will we choose Jesus’ way of service, peace-making, self-denial, etc.? If we accept Jesus’ way, we will also be accepting the suffering that accompanies it. Jesus invites us to take up his cross and the suffering that inevitably come with it. But he isn’t glorifying suffering just for the sake of suffering. There is a kind of suffering that is redemptive. For example, the suffering that comes with a commitment to justice for others. In this redemptive suffering comes the power to love even when resistance and hate are directed our way. With redemptive suffering also comes strength and perseverance as we work to help others who are unfairly treated by our society. Like Peter, we like to live in a fantasy world where everything is exciting and upbeat. We want to hold on to good times and happy feelings. The downside is that we tend to deny bad news, if we can. Jesus asks us to take up his cross: to live in loving relationships with others, even when opposed and taken advantage of; to respond in love to enemies; to serve and embrace, as our sisters and brothers, the poor and outcasts; to practice peacemaking in a world of violence, etc. In other words, to give our lives as Jesus gave his, for the sake of new life. Jesus was transfigured on the mountain and his disciples saw his glory. Through his death and resurrection, he transfigured the cross by revealing it as the means to new life for those who would take it up to follow him. There is one small and tender moment in today’s gospel that should give hope to us this Lent; we who are trying to pick up our cross to follow Jesus. When the disciples heard the voice from the cloud they, “fell prostrate and were very much afraid.” Then, Matthew tells us, “Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise and do not be afraid.’” This is a detail only Matthew tells. In the gospel Jesus’ words and touch have been healing, empowering and life-giving. The Transfiguration depicts the disciples, weak humans like us, falling prostrate and afraid before the divine revelation about Christ. But Jesus’ touch and encouraging words give us all the courage, desire and ability to renew our commitment to follow him this Lent. Jesus tells us this Lent, “Rise up and do not be afraid.”

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today's reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection Questions:
Have you ever had a “mountaintop” experience that left a deep impression on you?
Have you ever heard yourself being called “my beloved son”, or my beloved daughter?

Have you ever had a religious experience that left a deep impression on you?
How did it affect your daily life?
Did it cause you to make any significant change?

What have been some “events of grace” in your own life?
Did you recognize them at the time?

Is it hard, in everyday lives, to hear Jesus?
Where do you go to get away from noise and distractions?

We can ask ourselves in Lent: What is Jesus saying to me in the people and events of today?

Do we understand what discipleship asks of us?

Do I really believe his words: “Do not be afraid”?
For some people, God and religion inspire a lot of fear. Why is that?

When you have had glorious, “mountaintop” experiences, how hard was it to come back to “real” life?
Did you try to prolong or memorialize the experience as the disciples did?

Like the disciples, we are attracted by what we see of Jesus on the mountain and resistant to what he says about the cross. Going up the mountain to get a glimpse of glory is one thing; going up on the cross is quite another! Are we willing to include in following Jesus both realities: the glory of the Transfiguration and the glory of the cross?

We identify any situation that brings pain and loss to our lives as our “cross.”
What has been a particular "cross" I have had to deal with or bear in life?

What are the risks involved in listening to Jesus?

Do we often, using such stories at the transfiguration, emphasize the divinity of Jesus at the expense of recognizing his humanity? What is the danger in that?

In my own spirituality, which image do I prefer?

What holds me back from more fully responding to God’s call for me?
What can I do this Lent to begin to respond to that call?

Do I listen to Christ by listening to other people in my life---really listening?
Do I listen to Christ in the scriptures, more often than once a week?

CLOSING PRAYER

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for.

Adapted from Sacred Space 23, a Service of Irish Jesuits: Jesus, transfiguration is about you and about us. When we are with you, we are with the divine; when you are with us, you are with the human. Your love, grace, sacraments, and compassion can transfigure us. And when we look around us and see as you see, we find there are others in our loves capable of transfiguration. Help me to be present in prayer to your light and brightness; allow me to know that the light given to me at Baptism is never extinguished. Help me to light the lives of others.

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD:

Weekly Memorization
(Taken from the gospel for today’s session)
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him.

Meditations
A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination: Read Matthew 17: 1-9 (The Transfiguration). Imagine that you are Peter, and you have been invited by Jesus to accompany him to the top of this mountain for prayer. Put yourself completely in his shoes for this entire experience, trying to be present in the event as he was. Take time to sit with each question as you insert yourself into the events of that day with Jesus: What are you expecting as you set out on this experience? At what time of day do you start out? What is the weather like? What do you see? Smell? Hear? Is the journey easy or tiring? What do you four chat about along the way? How long after you all reach the top do you see something happening to Jesus? How do you react when you see Jesus transformed right in front of your eyes? Are you frightened? Exhilarated? Confused? What expressions or reactions do you see on the faces of James and John? What do you think when you see Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah? How do you know that is who they are? Why do you suggest building three tents? When a cloud envelops all three of them and you hear a voice, do you know who is speaking? Is it because in your Jewish culture no one looked directly on the face of God, and because your stories of Moses tell you that God spoke to him from within a cloud? Why are you afraid when God speaks the words telling you that Jesus is God’s son and you are to listen to him? In what instances up until now have you been too dismissive of what Jesus was telling you about what his mission is, what his fate will be, and how you are to be conducting your life--about your mission? How do you react when Jesus quietly comes upon you and touches you, telling you not to be afraid? Are you less afraid? Have you recovered and reverted to your first sense of wonder and awe? Are you apprehensive? Why do you think Jesus tells you to speak of this event to no one until after his resurrection from the dead? Do you even get what he means by talking of being raised from the dead? Has he spoken of his death before now? Did you believe him? Sit with this experience for a few moments, then imagine a transformative or exceptional experience in your own life. Recall if you fully understood what was happening while it was happening, and what you have learned about yourself and about life after having some time to digest the meaning of the experience. T.S. Eliot, in “Four Quartets, writes: “We had the experience, but missed the meaning.” Have you taken time in your own life to process an event which was pivotal in some way? Try to recall such an event, and see if you can hear Christ speaking to you in the aftermath of that experience. Were you listening? Are you listening now?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Consideration: From Bishop Robert Barron 2026. “Friends, today’s Gospel (Matthew 17:1–9) celebrates the Transfiguration. Christ came not just to make us nice people or morally upright folks, but rather to give us a share in his divine life, to make us denizens of heaven, people capable of living in that new environment. What gave the first Christians this conviction? The answer is the Resurrection—and the great anticipation of the Resurrection, which is the Transfiguration. This ordinary Jesus somehow became transformed, elevated, enhanced in his manner of being. The first thing we notice is that his appearance becomes more beautiful. These somewhat grubby bodies of ours are destined for a transfigured, elevated beauty. Secondly, in his transfigured state, Jesus transcends space and time, since he is talking with Moses and Elijah. In this world, we are caught in one moment of space and time, but in heaven, we will live in the eternal now of God’s life. Have you ever noticed that even as we appreciate all that is wonderful about this life, we are never really at home? There is a permanent restlessness about human life. But a higher, richer, more beautiful and spiritually fulfilling life awaits us.”

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:
Read Isaiah 42:1-9.
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, 
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.
This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
“I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”

We all know that this passage is taken by Christians as a reference to Jesus. But if we are followers of Jesus, if we Listen to Him, then it should apply to us as well. In your journal, write your own response to the Lord who calls you “my chosen” and says that the Lord’s spirit is upon YOU, that YOU have been given as a covenant to God’s people. How do you respond to this awesome honor/task? Speak from your heart about your desire to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

POETIC REFLECTION

Thomas Merton, OSCO, a monk, mystic and poet, saw transfiguration everywhere. In this following meditation from Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours, edited by Kathleen Degnan, Psalm, adapted from Merton’s book New Seeds of Contemplation,( pp 30-31 excerpted) reflects the joy and total exuberance of God’s presence in our natural world.

Psalm/ transfiguration/transformation/Nature
The forms and individual characters of living
and growing things
of inanimate beings, of animals and flowers and all nature,
constitute their holiness in the sight of God.
Their inscape is their sanctity.
It is the imprint of His wisdom and His reality in them.
The special clumsy beauty of this particular
colt on this day in this field under these clouds
is a holiness consecrated by God by His own
creative wisdom
and it declares the glory of God.
The pale flowers of the dogwood outside this window
are saints
The little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the side of
that road are saints
looking up into the face of God.
This leaf has its own texture and its own pattern of veins and
Its own holy shape,
and the bass and the trout hiding in the deep pools of the river
are canonized by their beauty and their strength.
The lakes hidden among the hills are saints.
and the sea too is a saint who praises God
without interruption
in her majestic dance.
The great, gashed, half naked mountain is another
Of God’s saints.
There is no other like him.
He is alone in His own character;
Nothing else in the world ever did or ever will imitate God
In quite the same way.
That is his sanctity.
But what about you? What about me?

1st Sunday of Lent

February 22, 2026

When the temptation comes to mistrust God and God’s promises, how do we react?

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply: “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

Genesis 2: 7-9; 3: 1-7;  Psalm 51; Romans 5: 12-19;  Matthew 4: 1-11

Ash Wednesday was a sobering reminder—those ugly ashes smeared on our foreheads, dusted our jackets and sweaters.  We quickly brushed them off our chests. Maybe the ones on our foreheads lasted a bit longer. What a bleak reminder they were about our frailty; to put it bluntly, we all face a death sentence. We were born and we will have an end. There is no running away from our creatureliness. As we survey our successes, achievements and dominance, whether as individuals or a nation, we know they are ultimately limited. The grim reaper will come along and take us away and also those we love and all our projects. After a while our names will be forgotten. Not a cheery way to being a Sunday reflection! Those are morbid thoughts, aren’t they? But we must face the truth about who we are so that we can live our lives with perspective, in other words, live our true lives. Genesis reminds us that if we acknowledge we are creatures of dust, we can also express our belief that the Eternal One has placed a life-giving breath in us. (“God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life....”) This breath orients us to God and calls us to follow God’s ways. If we haven’t been doing that, Lent is an opportunity to make necessary adjustments; in other words,  to “reform.” The gospel reminds us that during Lent we can look death, or anything that threatens our vocation to follow God, in the face and not be afraid, because Jesus has entered our desert experience and come out triumphant. He has preceded us into the place of temptation, the desert, and can help us get through our own deserts, the places where, like the Israelites, we wandered from the path. We do not have to be afraid, we are not alone and today at this Eucharist Jesus will feed us himself, the desert bread that gives us life. There is consolation for us this Lent, even as we cast a sober glance over our lives, because we have been given hope that Jesus has looked into our darkness, seen us there and has come to pull us out. As God rescued the Israelites in their wanderings, so God comes again searching us out, bringing us home. John Kavanagh, SJ says that Lent is our Christian Yom Kippur, our time of critical self-evaluation. It is a time to think things over, to reconsider and to be more aware of our limitations, our mortality and our need. It is a time, in other words, to remember that our lives need to be and can be, transformed by grace. Once more, through Christ, God breathes into us a life-giving Spirit. This dust we are has its origins and destiny in God. We have forty days ahead of us to make some choices. It is “focus time”—it’s like going for an eye exam and the optometrist places those adjustable lens over your eyes and keeps asking, “Is it clearer now? How about now?” We have forty days to choose more positive ways of looking and acting. The scriptures will be like the lens the optometrist places before our eyes. We didn’t think we had impaired vision, but then we were given a better lens and the blurred letters cleared up. So, it will be this Lent, as we listen to the scriptures and take them to heart, we will get our vision cleared.  We will learn what Jesus taught us from the desert, “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God wants to breathe new life into us again through the life-giving Word. Baseball players are starting Spring training.  They need this time to get ready for the opening of the season and the long season of games that will take them into the Fall and possibly into World Series contention.  Without this preparation time they will get off to a poor start and not make it successfully through the season. Like these athletes, each year, year after year, we need Lent. We need a time to refocus. We need a time to renew our baptismal vows, our commitment to Christ and our profession of faith. We notice our sinfulness and our tepid responses to the gospel; but more, we look to the one who saves us. We are reminded during Lent that we can break away from sin by the enabling grace of God. The reform in Lent is both for the individual and the community. Together, especially at these liturgies, we are called to a more attentive listening to and acting on the Word. As we listen, we become more deeply unified, we hear our family story and claim it as the one we want to believe in and live by. We could make it our Lenten practice then to be more attentive to these readings and even to prepare for liturgy by reading and reflecting on them in advance. (Most parishes list next Sunday’s readings in the bulletin—the preacher might refer to this.) The readings will discourage, even expose, our sin. But this not to laden us with guilt, as much as to denounce sin and proclaim God’s mercy. Thus, Lent is a joyful time when we become more deeply aware of God’s saving grace for us. Be careful in the Genesis reading not to make too much of Eve’s first eating the fruit.  Women have too long been portrayed in religion, literature and world cultures as the temptresses. The “Fall” from grace is our human story, not the fault of a first woman or man. In the Genesis account we are not hearing a factual “you-are-there” historical retelling. But we are hearing the truth – human beings have turned away from God. In the Genesis narrative we observe God lovingly creating humans, “by hand,” breathing the divine life into them and planting a lovely garden for them to enjoy. But they turned away from God – the human story to this day. No one needed to tell us that, we know the personal and social effects of sin on humans, institutions and God’s own lovely garden—the natural world. We can’t blame Adam and Eve for something they did “back then”—rather, we must claim responsibility in our own time and place for the choices we make. “The devil made me do it,” is a lame excuse for what we have done or neglected to do. Like Adam and Eve we have a porous wall of resistance to sin’s allures, glamor and false promises. Thankfully we have not been left on our own.  The gospel shows us that Jesus had more power than sin. With him we can overcome what we have not been able to on our own. Jesus resists the temptation to take care of his hungers by multiplying bread. He also resists the temptation to draw crowds by spectacular wonders and miracles. God will provide him and us the food we really need, when we need it—our “daily bread.” Jesus also resists the temptation to go through life on an easy ride; expecting no pain or harm to befall him.  As the “beloved” shouldn’t he expect God to protect him? And, if we are loved by God, why must we suffer? Jesus doesn’t doubt God’s love for him, even when he “falls” into the hands of those who hate him and reject his message. Jesus could have possessed the world with all its power and splendor. That would certainly have attracted multitudes to his message.  But Jesus kept his eyes fixed on his God and would not sway from his calling as a servant, to become an earthly ruler.  Through his strength we are made strong. Because of his clear-eyed vision we can see the difference between what is alluring—but passing and what has lasting value—and offers life. Let’s come to the Eucharist today aware of our deep-down hunger for God, who gives us Jesus’ life for strength and his Spirit for guidance for our own particular wilderness struggle.

LENTEN POETRY COMPANION—AN INVITATION INTO THE WILDERNESS

Ash Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

but for sorrow by Rob Suarez
I might never have asked
what could be
but for sorrow.
I might never have opened
to the terrible
vulnerability of love
but for tears.
I might never have begun
this treacherous path to
God
but for emptiness.
Source: “but for sorrow” by Rob Suarez from America Magazine, Vol. 184 No. 10 (3/26/2001)

Opening Words by Denise Levertov
I believe the earth
exists, and
in each minim mote
of its dust the holy
glow of thy candle.
Thou
unknown I know,
thou spirit,
giver,
lover of making, of the
wrought letter,
wrought flower,
iron, deed, dream.
Dust of the earth,
help thou my
unbelief. Drift
gray become gold, in the beam of
vision. I believe with
doubt. I doubt and
interrupt my doubt with belief. Be,
beloved, threatened world.
Each minim
mote.
Not the poisonous
luminescence forced
out of its privacy,
The sacred lock of its cell
broken. No,
the ordinary glow
of common dust in ancient sunlight.
Be, that I may believe. Amen.

Saturday

Late Results by Scott Cairns
We wanted to confess our sins but there were no takers.
—Milosz
And the few willing to listen demanded that we confess on television.
So we kept our sins to ourselves, and they became less troubling.
The halt and the lame arranged to have their hips replaced.
Lepers coated their sores with a neutral foundation, avoided strong
light.
The hungry ate at grand buffets and grew huge, though they remained
hungry.
Prisoners became indistinguishable from the few who visited them.
Widows remarried and became strangers to their kin.
The orphans finally grew up and learned to fend for themselves.
Even the prophets suspected they were mad, and kept their mouths
shut.
Only the poor—who are with us always—only they continued in the
hope.
Source: “Late Results” from Philokalia: New and Selected Poems, by Scott Cairns. Lincoln, Nebraska: Zoo Press, 2002

Prayer: A Progression by Jessica Powers
You came by night, harsh with the need of grace,
into the dubious presence of your Maker.
You combed a small and pre-elected acre
for some bright word of Him, or any trace.
Past the great judgment growths of thistle and thorn
and past the thicket of self you bore your yearning
till lo, you saw a pure white blossom burning
in glimmer, then, light, then unimpeded more!
Now the flower God-is-love gives ceaseless glow;
now all your thoughts feast on its mystery,
but when love mounts through knowledge and goes free,
then will the sated thinker arise and go
and brave the deserts of the soul to give
the flower he found to the contemplative.
Source: “Prayer: A Progression” from The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers, edited by Regina Siegfried, ASC, and Robert F. Morneau. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1989

Prayer of One Who Feels Lost by Joyce Rupp
Dear God,
why do I keep fighting you off?
One part of me wants you desparately,
another part of me unknowingly
pushes you back and runs away.
What is there in me that
so contradicts my desire for you?
These transition days, these passage ways,
are calling me to let go of old securities,
to give myself over into your hands.
Like Jesus who struggled with the pain
I, too, fight the “let it all be done.”
Loneliness, lostness, non-belonging,
all these hurts strike out at me,
leaving me pained with this present goodbye.
I want to be more but I fight the growing.
I want to be new but I hang unto the old.
I want to live but I won’t face the dying.
I want to be whole but cannot bear
to gather up the pieces into one.
Is it that I refuse to be out of control,
to let the tears take their humbling journey,
to allow my spirit to feel its depression,
to stay with the insecurity of “no home”?
Now is the time. You call to me,
begging me to let you have my life,
inviting me to taste the darkness
so I can be filled with the light,
allowing me to lose my direction
so that I will find my way home to you.
Source: “Prayer of One Who Feels Lost” from Praying Our Goodbyes, by Joyce Rupp. South Bend, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1988

Week One: An Invitation to Be Bread for Others
Sunday
Journaling:

Monday

Possible Answers to Prayer by Scott Cairns
Your petitions—though they continue to bear
just the one signature—have been duly recorded.
Your anxieties—despite their constant,
relatively narrow scope and inadvertent
entertainment value—nonetheless serve
to bring your person vividly to mind.
Your repentance—all but obscured beneath
a burgeoning, yellow fog of frankly more
conspicuous resentment—is sufficient.
Your intermittent concern for the sick,
the suffering, the needy poor is sometimes
recognizable to me, if not to them.
Your angers, your zeal, your lipsmackingly
righteous indignation toward the many
whose habits and sympathies offend you—
these must burn away before you’ll apprehend
how near I am, with what fervor I adore
precisely these, the several who rouse your passions.
Source: “Possible Answers to Prayer” from Philokalia: New and Selected Poems, by Scott Cairns. Lincoln, Nebraska: Zoo Press, 2002

Tuesday

Beginners by Denise Levertov
(Dedicated to the memory of Karen Silkwood and Eliot Gralla)
”From too much love of living, Hope and desire set free,
Even the weariest river winds somewhere to the sea—“
But we have only begun
To love the earth.
We have only begun
To imagine the fullness of life.
How could we tire of hope?
—so much is in bud.
How can desire fail?
—we have only begun
to imagine justice and mercy,
only begun to envision
how it might be
to live as siblings with beast and flower,
not as oppressors.
Surely our river
cannot already be hastening
into the sea of nonbeing?
Surely it cannot
drag, in the silt,
all that is innocent?
Not yet, not yet—
there is too much broken
that must be mended,
too much hurt we have done to each other
that cannot yet be forgiven.
We have only begun to know
the power that is in us if we would join
our solitudes in the communion of struggle.
So much is unfolding that must
complete its gesture,
so much is in bud.
Source: “Beginners” from Candles in Babylon, by Denise Levertov. New York: New Directions, 1982

Wednesday

We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
Source: “We Wear the Mask” from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1913

Thursday

Night Thoughts by William F. Bell
It is our emptiness and lowliness that God needs, and not our
plenitude. —Mother Teresa
Somehow by day, no matter what,
I patch myself together whole,
But all my effort can’t offset
The nightly nakedness of soul
When angels in a dark descent
Strip off my integument.
I am a cornered rebel pinched
Between night’s armies and my lack,
And when inside the bedclothes hunched
I feel the force of their attack,
I hardly know what I can do,
Exposed to God at half-past two.
I once believed my being full,
But night thoughts prove that it is not.
Waking scared and miserable,
I scrape the bottom of the pot
And then must bow down and confess
Totality of emptiness.
Kings once ventured, it is said,
To offer gold and frankincense,
But I send nothing from my bed
Except a tattered penitence,
So very little has accrued
From years of doubtful plenitude.
God who tear away my cover,
Oh, pour your Spirit into me
Until my emptiness runs over
With golden superfluity,
And I bow down and offer up
Yourself within my earthen cup.
Source: “Night Thoughts” by William Bell from America Magazine, Vol. 187 No. 18 (12/2/2002).

Friday

The Uses of Sorrow by Mary Oliver
Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.
Source: “The Uses of Sorrow” from Thirst, by Mary Oliver. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006.

Saturday

What I Pray For by Dennis O’Donnell
Sacks of rocks
I have gathered from the beach,
some of which I used to toss
my own I Ching, stones representing
fire, water, wind, and the rest,
some of them with strange,
man-like markings, like circles,
probably formed by little pools of sea water,
dried by the sun, leaving behind
a round stain of salt.
Stacks of poems, sacks of rocks,
milk crates full of books
full of baloney:
I can’t let them go, not yet,
but I lie in bed and plead with God
to empty out my past, all of it,
at least all of the bad,
set me free, flush out
all the shame and rage and heartache,
but please, not the finger-paints,
not baseball and my best friends.
Deal, He says,
but all the rocks must go.
No tarot cards, and no metaphysical bull.
Fine, I say.
I have a look at my bookcase.
I see Rumi, Suzuki, Lao Tzu,
and two Bibles. So:
who will throw the first stone?
Source: “What I Pray For” by Dennis O’Donnell from America Magazine, Vol. 190 No. 6 (2/23/2004)

PREPARATION FOR THE SESSION

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

OPENING PRAYER

Lord, you know my weaknesses and vulnerabilities; you know what might convince me to stray from trust in your care, or take the easy way out of a situation that is uncomfortable. Help me to understand that, just as metal is tested and forged in fore, my mettle is tested and strengthened when I face my weaknesses head on and do not give in to them. Keep me strong in faith and hope in your goodness.

COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

From Living Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits

In all three litlurgical cycles, the Gospel of today’s Mass always features the temptations of Jesus in the desert. It clearly links with the Lenten themes of fasting, penance and reconciliation with God and with our brothers and sisters. In the First Reading, there is a striking contrast between Jesus in the Gospel, and our First Parents in the Garden of Eden. The Second Reading connects the two events: it was the sin of our First Parents which brought about the coming of Jesus to restore our relationship with God. “Oh happy fault!” (O felix culpa!) as the liturgy of the Easter Vigil says of that first sin. The weakness of our First Parents brought about the coming of Jesus and all that he means to us for our lives. It is an example of how even behind unpleasant and, in fact, evil happenings God’s love can be found at work. It is not necessary for us to understand either the Garden of Eden story or Jesus’s experience with Satan as being strictly historical. These stories are primarily vehicles to communicate important truths to us. Today’s Gospel story follows immediately on Jesus’ baptism and endorsement by his Father as his “Beloved Son” to whom we are to listen. Note that Jesus is led into the desert by the Spirit of God. The purpose clearly is not to lead him to do evil, but as a testing of his fitness for his coming mission. Will he fail like our First Parents or like the Israelites of old? Or will be prove himself worthy of the mission he has been given? The testing will be done not by God directly, but by the Evil One, the Tempter. It is pictured as taking place in a barren region between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Jesus, like Moses before him, had fasted for 40 days. He is alone in the wilderness without food. He is hungry, weak and vulnerable. Now is the time for the Tempter to move in.

Who is Jesus?
Each of the three temptations touches on Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, which had been revealed during his baptism.  “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The Tempter then begins, “If you are the Son of God, why not use your divine powers to turn these large, flat stones at your feet into bread?” God fed the Israelites with manna in the desert.  Surely he will feed his own Son? Why have powers and not use them? Why not take this opportunity to prove that you really are the Son of God? It is important to realize that all temptations—and these tests are no exception—come to us under the guise of some kind of goodness. No sane person chooses the purely evil unless some positive benefit is seen to come from it.  In each of the three tests today, Jesus is being led to do something which would seem to enhance his mission as Lord and Savior. In responding to the Tempter, Jesus will not just use his own words, but each time quote a saying from the Hebrew Testament.  In this first test, Jesus rejects the offer by saying that “it is not on bread alone that we live”. True happiness does not consist in satisfying material wants, in having many things, but in identifying ourselves fully with the vision of life which God gives us through Jesus. Further, for Jesus to have changed the stones into bread would have been to show a lack of trust in the providential care of his Father, who will see that he has all he needs for his life and mission.

Testing
Satan’s next approach is to bring Jesus to the highest point of the Temple in Jerusalem. This is God’s very dwelling place.  Surely here he will take care of his Son. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” Jesus has just shown his trust in God by not changing the stones into bread. Now here is a chance really to prove that trust. Two things would happen. First, God will not allow Jesus to be hurt. Now it is the Tempter himself who cleverly quotes Scripture: “He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” God promises his providential care in the normal course of our lives, but he never promises supernatural intervention, when we do something unreasonable. “God takes care of those who take care of themselves.” St. Ignatius of Loyola is said to have advised: “Do things as if everything depended on God and nothing on oneself and, at the same time, as if everything depended on oneself and nothing on God”. Second, if Jesus jumps and is miraculously saved, everyone will know his divine origin and will believe in him! Jesus quotes the Scripture back again, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Real faith is total trust; it is not, as Scripture scholar William Barclay says, “doubt looking for proof”.

Showdown
After the failure of the first two attempts, Satan now drops all pretense.  He brings Jesus to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world. All this can be Jesus’, if he falls down and worships the Tempter. Is not this what Jesus wants: to bring all the kingdoms of the world into his own Kingdom? Is that not the purpose of his whole life? It is, of course, an impossible bargain. It would make no sense for the whole world to submit itself to Jesus as Lord, and then for Jesus himself to submit to the Evil One. Yet, it is a bargain we constantly try to make: to belong to God and to go to any lengths to get the things we want: material wealth, success, a recognised standing in the eyes of others, etc. Jesus will put it differently later on: What does it profit someone to gain the whole world and lose their real life? What can one give in exchange for the deep relationship with God for which we were born? Jesus absolutely rejects the offer: “Away from me, Satan!” It reminds one of the words said to Peter who tried to deflect Jesus from the way he had to go and was told: “Get behind me, Satan!”

Symbols of real tests
In fact, these three tests are really symbols of real tests that we find in the life of Jesus. Jesus did produce large quantities of bread on two occasions, but not for himself but rather to feed the hungry. He rejected calls from his opponents to prove who he was by performing some striking signs. He said the only sign would be his own death and resurrection. After one of the feedings (as told in John’s gospel), he had the crowd at his feet and they wanted to make him king. Instead, he fled to the mountains to pray to his Father and packed his ambitious disciples off in a boat and into a storm which gave them something else to think about—survival! Jesus passes all three tests and will continue to do so all during his life right up to the moment of his death.  In the garden of Gethsemane, he will beg to be spared the horrors of his Passion, but will then put aside his own fears of suffering and death and accept his Father’s way. On the cross he will make the despairing cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, and soon after, in total submission, say: “Into your hands I surrender my life.” The way of the Father is the only way that will lead him – and us – to the life that never ends and when all tears will be wiped away.

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today;s reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection Questions

The Latin word used in the first verse is “tentaretur”, which is literally translated “test”.
What, for you, is the difference between temptation and test?
In what way does “testing” help us understand our strength and weaknesses and help us to grow?
What would be the benefit of “testing” for a very human Jesus as he was starting his mission in life?

Do I see the devil as my inner voice calling me to be other than I know God wants me to be because I am seduced by comfort, impressed by power and unwilling to believe in God’s care and forgiveness?

If not “bread”, what do you hunger for?

Was there ever an incident/time in your life when you sort of asked God to PROVE His love for you?

Jesus’ time in the desert was meant to be a retreat from all the noise and distractions around him as he prepared for His mission.
What things or persons, in my life, are a distraction from following Jesus more fully?
What would help me return to following Jesus more fully?

Jesus’ temptations looked like good things for him to accept, both for himself and for us. Have I ever experienced the pull to do or achieve something that is good for myself or others even though there was a cost, in moral terms?
Have I ever been tempted to do the wrong thing for the right reasons?

Do you think Jesus had to deal with real temptation in his life?
If yes, what kind of temptation?

What do you think Jesus learned about himself from his experience in the desert?
Have there ever been a time in my life when the experience of being tempted/tested taught me something about myself?

In general, does society expect people to use their position for their well-being?
Do you know people who make an effort not to use their position for their own benefit?
How do you sort out the path of virtue here in your own life?

What are some common temptations that we might be prey to?

Are you aware of an area of your life where you seem to experience temptation or struggle?
Are you also aware of sources of grace or support that God has places around you to help you deal with those temptations/struggles?
What have you learned about how God is present to you through your area of temptation/struggle?

How many of Jesus’ temptations were identity temptations? (if you are the son of God, if you are the Messiah)
How many of my temptations are identity temptations?

Are you aware of signs God places in your life that let you know that God is trying to speak to you? If not, have you ever thought of looking for some?
Are you open to that possibility?
What form might they take?

Do our problems or struggles stir up feelings of God being close to us or distant from us?
At moments like these does reflecting on Jesus’ own suffering and death strengthen us?

From Sacred Space: a service of the Irish Jesuits:
Jesus was tempted by the devil to put three values above the love of God: pleasure (bread standing for food, money, other such comforts), power (all the kingdoms of the world), and security (presuming on God to work miracles for him.). What are my temptations, the indulgences that pull me from God?

Is the power of evil real?
Where do you encounter it?

CLOSING PRAYER

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for.

Sometimes it is so hard, God, not to be tempted by the values of this world and the needs of those around me. It is very hard not to put my needs first when I am tired, lonely, discouraged and upset. It is also hard to think of my mission as serving others, not always serving myself. How do I learn balance? How do I learn peace? How do I learn to place my trust in you?

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

Weekly Memorization
(Taken from the gospel for today’s session)
“Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’”

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions: Sometimes we read this story of Jesus temptation in the desert as if it were a one-time thing, that the lure to evil was vanquished once and for all. But upon reflection we realize that there were several other times in his life when Jesus was tempted to back down, or to take the easy way out. Here are just a few:

• When His family was embarrassed by his teaching and preaching

• When people clamored for more and more healings, more and more miracles

• When Lazarus was dying and He had to finish His mission where he was

• When Peter begged him not to go to Jerusalem that last time

• When He was seized in the garden

• When He stood before the leaders or Pilate after his arrest

• When He was dying on the cross

So with us, the same old temptations keep coming back to haunt us and torment us, even when we have said “no” in the past. Can you think of any recurring temptations that crop up again and again? How did you deal with them? If you succumbed to a temptation, did this cause you to give up on yourself, or did you hit the “restart” button and resolve to handle things better the next time? Do you believe, in the deepest part of your heart, that God understands when we fail? Do I understand when others around me fail? If not, what is forgiveness all about?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination/Consideration: Read Matthew 4: 1-11 (The testing in the desert). Forty days in a desert. Just imagine it. What does it look like? How hot is it during the day? What sounds are there? Does it smell? Are there any animals? Are you hungry? What do you do all day? Night in the desert: the lonely sounds of an animal in the distance. Are you cold? Afraid? Lonely? Bored? This is the time when Jesus was most vulnerable, and so He was tempted. Jesus was tempted to use his talents to provide for his own needs; He was tempted to test God’s love; and finally, He was tempted to forsake his trust in God in return for earthly power. How did he react? Are these temptations at all like our human temptations? Have you ever been so tempted? Have you been able to turn to God in these times of temptation? Has God been a source of strength and comfort? Close with a personal prayer thanking God for the strength you have been given to trust during the dark times. (By Anne Greenfield, from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford)

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Raising Questions: Let us never forget that the ordinary way to contemplation lies through a desert without trees and without beauty and without water. The spirit enters a wilderness and travels blindly in directions that seem to lead away from vision, away from God, away from fulfillment and joy. It may be almost impossible to believe that this road goes anywhere at all except to a desolation full of dry bones—the ruin of all our hopes and good intentions. (Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, p. 235). What desert are you experiencing at this time in your life--love, creativity. Friendship, family, compulsions, insecurities? How is this wilderness experience inviting you to place your trust in God? Do you trust in the Spirit enough to give yourself totally to God? What have you held back? What are you afraid of? Speak to Jesus, who has been there too, and ask for his strength and his faith in the Father’s care. (Adapted from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford, by Anne Greenfield)

POETIC REFLECTIONS

Read these words by Thomas Merton and the meditation questions that follow. Can we imagine that Jesus may have had some of the same thoughts during those long 30 days in the desert?

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

In his book Thoughts in Solitude Merton reveals that he is unsure about the journey, that he cannot see clearly ahead, that he does not know for certain where the journey will end or who he himself is. When Merton wrote these words he had lived through seventeen years of monastic discipline and contemplative prayer as a Cistercian. It is helpful for us to reflect that if such a man could be confused or insecure, there is little reason to blame ourselves for our own perplexity.

Pause now and in silence consider these points:

• To know the outcome of the journey is to trust God less.

• If the Spirit leads us, the journey is not ours alone.

• A journey of clarity and ease cannot reach a God of mystery and love.

• The experience of uncertainty brings us closer to our companions on the journey.

• No matter how unsettling the journey may be at times, God will not permit us to be lost.

from A Retreat with Thomas Merton by Anthony Padovano, p.10

The next poem is one we might pray when we are too enmeshed in what we want or need in this world:

A story that will save us
Tell us a story that will save us
(and that will have been enough):
all the great songs have been prayed
save only one
Tell us a story that will save us:
Go down Lord
& bring us home.
May our promises free us
not chain us
May what we desire fill us
not entrap us
May those persons we love finish us
not bind us
Go down Lord
& bring us home.
You are our history, Lord,
We neither begin nor end
outside you
May you be for us not weapon,
not answer, but cause of peace
May our questions show us not division
but the smallness of human answers
Go down Lord
& bring us home.
May our words create
not destroy
May our hands nurture
not break
May our dreams lead and encourage us
not trap us in despair
Go down Lord
& bring us home.
We are anxious about many things
We are lost in many ways
Go down Lord
& bring us home.
—by Fr. Ed Ingebretzen, from Psalms of the Still Country

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 15, 2026

Jesus’ interpretation of the law and what that means for us

Matthew 5:17-37

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, “You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.” But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, “Raqa,” will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, “You fool,” will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.” But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

Sirach 15: 15-20; 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10; Matthew 5: 17-37

Those of us gathered for worship today are truly diverse: from different cultural backgrounds, countries of origins, races, etc. But what binds us together is our baptism in Jesus. Whatever our differences and whatever language we speak, we all say together, “We believe in Jesus Christ and so his way is our way.” Our basic identity is that we are a community of Jesus’ followers and we love him. Therefore, our love for him urges us to live like him. But does not hearing the Sermon on the Mount these Sundays leave you weak in the knees? How can we ever live these teachings? How will we even know how to live them? Because of his miracles and teachings Jesus had attracted great crowds. In order to teach those closest to him, he took them up a mountain. Two Sundays ago, we heard the Beatitudes, the introduction to a collection of his teachings which we call the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes called for the profound inner change necessary for anyone wanting to follow Jesus. That kind of change is spelled out in his subsequent teachings. When we hear Jesus’ sermon, what Paul says in 1 Corinthians today is true: we are called to live, not according to the wisdom of this age, but according to God’s wisdom. That wisdom, Paul reminds us, has been revealed to us in the life of Jesus made known to us, “through the Spirit.” Through the gift of the Spirit, we have come to accept Jesus Christ as God’s full revelation in the flesh. We need to remind ourselves today that the same Spirit makes it possible for us to live according to Jesus’ teaching. After all, Jesus is not just giving us a stricter, higher code of ethics. That is not what makes his teachings special. Rather, through our baptism and the gift of his Spirit, we have the desire and divine power to live what we are being taught again today. That new Spirit in us is what enables us to live, as Jesus tells us, with a “holiness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. I am choosing the short form of the gospel today. The longer offering (5:17–37) just seems like a lot. I do not want to overwhelm the congregation with a long list of “do’s and don’ts.” But even in the shorter version we hear Jesus calling us, not to a superficial, exterior performance of commandments, but to a far more profound response – deeper, interior change that will enable us to do as he instructs. How discouraged his followers must have been when Jesus taught in this way! After all, the Pharisees were considered the righteous and holy ones. Jesus’ challenge though was not only to his followers, but to the Pharisees and scribes as well. Their religion was to go deeper than exterior works – the right motives had to support right behavior. His demands are high indeed! They seem impossible to achieve. The Pharisees spent a lot of time and energy fulfilling the Law. They were of the middle class and, unlike the desperately poor, who comprised most of Jesus’s followers, the Pharisees had the education and leisure to pursue purity of observance. What chance did the illiterate, overworked and burdened poor followers of Jesus have? For that matter, what chance do we have in fulfilling these teachings? And yet, Jesus calls for a holiness that surpasses those scribes and Pharisees! From today’s gospel selection, we hear that Jesus wants to cut short, at its inception, a path that might lead to murder. So, he says to his disciples they are to control their anger. In cases of adultery, families would seek retaliation on the couple because of the shame brought down on those families, especially on the husband. To prevent adultery and the subsequent blood feud that would erupt, Jesus tells his disciples not even to think such a thing – no lusting after another. In addition, good community relations, especially among believers, would be possible if people behaved honestly with one another; if they could trust each other’s words. So, no lying. Jesus called his disciples to exemplary behavior. Such ways of being with one another, besides forming loving relationships in the community, would also draw attention to that community and to the teachings of the one they followed –Jesus. Today he is giving concrete examples of what we heard him say to his disciples last week. They are to be “salt of the earth,” “light of the world” and a “city set on a mountain.” Note the structure for the sayings. Each begins: “You have heard of the commandment….” Then Jesus presents his unique teaching, “But I say to you….” He credits the former teaching and by giving specific examples, calls his disciples to a greater righteousness, a more exacting “law.” A “new law.” We Christians are called to a different way of living, in our relations to each other and then to the world. We seek reconciliation where there is anger and alienation. We take our desires despite the license of the world around us. We are faithful to one another and so, when we make promises, we keep them. What will help us live the challenges Jesus places before us? Certainly, we cannot do it merely by gritting our teeth and putting our nose to the grindstone. Instead, we fix our eyes on Jesus, and we turn to each other in mutual love and support. Sound idealistic? Yes it does, but Jesus would not ask us to fulfill something he would not help us accomplish. It is no wonder that our Sirach reading was chosen today. It is part of the Wisdom tradition in the Hebrew Scriptures. According to that tradition human actions have specific consequences. We are free to conform our lives to God’s ordered ways, or not. In today’s reading, though short, the word “choose(s)” is mentioned three times. This Wisdom reading underlines our freedom and so encourages us to use it to make choices in accord with God’s wisdom. As difficult as these choices may be at times, the believer hears Sirach’s words of encouragement: “trust in God, you too will live.” We are assured that making these choices will be life-giving, for God’s eyes rest on the faithful. (“The eyes of God are on those who fear God....”) Jesus’ life showed us what the Sermon looks like when enfleshed. He is now our wise teacher who shows us the way to life and gives us his Spirit to help us to choose those life-giving ways. His disciples are to continue putting flesh on the Sermon in their lives. Whatever our circumstances, people who may never read the Sermon on the Mount should be able to learn its content by examining our lives.

Quotable

“The Sermon on the Mount fills me with bliss even today. Its sweet verses have even today the power to quench my agony of soul.” —Mahatma Gandhi

Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC

Blessed are they who observe God’s decrees, who seek the Lord with all their heart. —Psalm 119: 2

As we just celebrated St. Valentine’s Day, thoughts of the heart are still fresh on our minds. For many of us, it is a day of showering our dear ones with visible signs of our love. I wonder how many of us Christian adults took this day to shower God, hidden in the guise of a stranger, with love? What would our children learn from loving encounters with the disadvantaged and the poor? Beginning in 1843, The Missionary Childhood Association (MCA) is one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies active in over 130 countries throughout the world. The Missionary Childhood Association seeks to: inspire children to be open-hearted in their communities; help children experience the joy of being part of a global family where everyone is important and helps one another; and educate children in a missionary outlook, expanding their awareness of the needs of children worldwide. It serves as a vital tool for children to grow in faith and develop a sense of universal solidarity, the sensitivity to others that is an essential dimension of Christianity. MCA’s motto is “Children Helping Children” through prayer, evangelization, and action. To learn more: The Missionary Childhood Association - Pontifical Mission Societies. A bit of history about MCA: Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson was much in demand by French bishops, who were serving as missionaries in the USA – the “Missions” of his day, to visit the young U.S. churches and then return home to encourage support for their work. In 1839, Bishop Forbin-Janson did just that, sailing across the ocean and landing in New York. He also visited New Orleans and Baltimore, as well as Canada, all on horseback. When he returned to France two years later, he met an old friend – Pauline Jaricot – who had founded the Society that was helping to support the missionary efforts he had seen firsthand in the United States. During a conversation between these two friends in 1843, Bishop Forbin-Janson shared his own longtime dream – to help the children of the Missions. He was convinced that children rich in faith and love were capable of playing their own part in the Church’s mission – and of even stirring adults to the same generous missionary spirit. Sometime during the course of their talk, the Holy Childhood Association, now Missionary Childhood Association was born. It continues to be love on a mission.

Faith Book
Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Reflection: What will help us live the challenges Jesus places before us in the Sermon on the Mount? Certainly, we cannot fulfill them merely by gritting our teeth and putting our nose to the grindstone. Instead, realizing our limitations, we turn to Jesus and ask for a renewed gift of his Spirit. Sound idealistic? Yes it does, but Jesus would not ask us to fulfill something he would not help us accomplish.

So, we ask ourselves:

• In what ways might I be tempted to practice religion outwardly, while resisting the deeper inner change of heart that Jesus calls for?

• How is God inviting me – right now – to move beyond simply following rules and toward a more honest, loving, and merciful way of living?

Post Cards to Death Row Inmates

“One has to strongly affirm that condemnation to the death penalty is an inhuman measure that humiliates personal dignity, in whatever form it is carried out.” —Pope Francis

Inmates on death row are the most forgotten people in the prison system. Each week I am posting in this space several inmates’ names and locations. I invite you to write a postcard to one or more of them to let them know that: we have not forgotten them; are praying for them and their families; or whatever personal encouragement you might like to give them. If the inmate responds, you might consider becoming pen pals.  

Please write to:

Edward Davis #0100579 (On death row since 3/12/1992)
Kenneth Rouse #0353186 (3/25/1992)
Michael Reeves #0339314 (5/14/1992)

—Central Prison P.O. 247 Phoenix, MD 21131

Please note: Central Prison is in Raleigh, NC., but for security purposes, mail to inmates is processed through a clearing house at the above address in Maryland. For more information on the Catholic position on the death penalty go to the Catholic Mobilizing Network: http://catholicsmobilizing.org

Donations

“First Impressions” is a service to preachers and those wishing to prepare for Sunday worship. The Dominican Friars sponsor it. If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to:

Fr. Jude Siciliano, OP
St. Albert Priory
3150 Vince Hagan Drive
Irving, Texas 75062-4736

Make checks payable to: Dominican Friars. Or go to our webpage to make a secure online donation: https://www.PreacherExchange.com/donations.htm

First Impressions — Ash Wednesday by Jude Siciliano, OP

Joel 2: 12-18; 2 Corinthians 5: 20-6:2; Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

Dear Preachers: Ash Wednesday. The very title has an ominous ring to it. Add to that the somber reminder as ashes are imposed on our foreheads, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” The alternative formula, “Turn away from your sin and be faithful to the gospel,” sounds much better. I want to “be faithful to the gospel”. But I am too quick to skip that opening, “Turn away from your sin.” Sounds like, “Repent!” to me. There it is again, that serious note. No matter how you put it, I am dust and I must repent. No getting around the serious shift in sights and sounds the liturgy just took. Ash Wednesday is preceded by Fat Tuesday’s excesses because we all know how grim Lent can be. Let’s enjoy ourselves one last time before we enter the long dark tunnel of Lenten denial. So goes the popular notion of Lent. But suppose it isn’t such a glum note? Suppose there is something joyous and relieving about Lent? Suppose in other words, it is a time to clear away the distractions and hear again the liberating message of the Gospel? And suppose it is also a time to renew our community’s commitment to spread that message to others by our words and deeds? Still more, suppose it is a call to live as the reconciled community we claim to be, wouldn’t that be a powerful message and an invitation to others to be part of us? We really don’t need Ash Wednesday to remind us that we are dust. Reminders of dust are all around us. Dust is what we return to at the end of our lives. But long before we breathe our last, life reminds us of the corruptibility of everything. So much of what we put our confidence in ages, breaks, comes apart at the seams and wears out. All that is new, shiny and glitzy have a very short life expectancy. Mortality touches even our most noble human treasures: loved ones die; sickness limits us; age saps our energies and our noble efforts to do good feel the strain of the long haul. This day’s liturgical action puts ashes on our foreheads, dust before our eyes, but the ashes are just a reminder of what life does to us all too frequently. It comes over to us and, in one way or another, rubs ashes on our foreheads, and says, “Remember, you are dust.” It is frightening to thing about how much we forget and run away from this reality. So much of our society bases our identity and worth on what we have achieved and what we own. Today says, “Remember, it is dust.” But after we are told to repent we are invited again to “be faithful to the gospel.” We are invited today to remember that we are baptized Christians, called to be in the world in a unique way. The world we live in is guided by different standards and norms for behavior. These ashes also remind us that our old way of life is dead – turned to dust. We don’t belong to the old world any longer, so we need to stop living as if we do. We are reborn to a new life. And our lives in Christian community must reflect this new life and help others to hear the message we hear today, “Remember all else is dust” In Paul’s language, our lives are an invitation to others to, “...be reconciled to God,” for we too are “ambassadors for Christ.” Walter Brueggeman, referring to the dust statement in Gen 2: 7 (“The Lord God formed the human person of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living creature.” ), says that the Ash Wednesday liturgical formula reminds us that the human person is fundamentally material in origin, subject to all the realities of an “earth creature”. And since dust is no “self-starter,” the reality of the human situation is that we depend on God’s free gift of breath. We are humans totally dependent on God for each moment of our existence. This is not a curse, but what it means to be human. So, when we are told to remember we are dust today, we are also making a statement about ourselves to God. It is as if we are saying, “Remember our origins O God. We are dust without you. So much of what we touch turns to dust if not done in your name. Sustain us moment to moment in your life and through the death of your Son, deliver us from our sin.” Who are we humans? We are creatures gifted from moment to moment by our gracious God and that is not a bad thing to remember as we enter another Lent. It is important during Lent not to privatize the season. Over the generations, with the separation of adult baptism from the Vigil, we lost a sense of the communal sense of Lent. What we got instead was a highly individualized experience focusing on private spirituality with personal penances and “spiritual development.” As always, the scriptural readings give us balance and keep us on track. While we won’t be focusing on Joel, notice, in passing, the call for the assembly to gather, “Notify the congregation, assemble the elders....” The community is being gathered and reminded to turn back to God, “...Rend your hearts not your garments and return to the Lord your God.” The selection from 2 Corinthians puts our Lenten focus on the community’s renewal in mission. Paul’s letter reveals that the Corinthian community showed the same flaws as our own church communities. (The first thing we said in today’s eucharistic gathering was “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.”) We do tend to idealize the early church community, don’t we? It’s as if they were the perfect model of what it means to be a Christian community and we are always falling short of their mark. But they were, and we are, always in need of reconciliation. In fact, Paul speaks very boldly appealing on God’s behalf for this reconciliation. Jesus is the sign that God wants to be reconciled to us. There is an urgency to this appeal for reconciliation. “Now is the acceptable time.” Things must have been pretty hot among the Corinthian Christians! We may be resistant to God and to changing our ways (“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”), but God is once again taking the initiative to appeal to us to return. Throughout the first 7 chapters of this letter Paul is focusing on the gospel message of reconciliation and on the nature of Christian ministry. This community was split into bickering factions. Paul can be quite harsh in his criticism of them. Christ’ death has reconciled us to God and so, not to live as a reconciled community is to deny that gospel and to fail to be, with Paul, an “ambassador for Christ” to the world. Lent calls us back to God and to each other in community. The message we are to proclaim is a message to be preached by the witness of the whole community as we live out our joyful awareness of what God has done for us.

Sacred Space—Your daily prayer online

Matthew 5:17-19

The Word of God—Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus said to the crowds, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Some thoughts on today’s scripture. When I read these words I am troubled, Lord. Some scholars deny the authenticity of these verses. After all, Jesus nowhere insists on observance of all 613 precepts of Old Testament law, much of it ceremonial. What sense have these words for me? That the meaning of the law is love of God and of my neighbour. Jesus is no destroyer of people’s devotions and faith. He does not abolish the faith practice of a people or a person. All the goodness of our religion and our faith is precious to him. His grace is given to each personally; each of prays differently, or with a variety of times, places and moods. ‘Pray as you can, not as you can’t” is one of the oldest and wisest recommendations for prayer. Prayer is entering and relaxing into the mystery of God’s love, each in our own way. Jesus teaches by word and action, by saying and doing. His example of life is our guide and our encouragement. There is a link between what we say and what we do, and when this link is strong, we are strong in the kingdom of God. We are ‘to walk it as we talk it.” Sincerity and integrity of life is what we are called to. I consider how it is that my way of living and my world’s influence on others. I pray in thanksgiving for those places in my life in which I can imagine that I have a good influence. I ask God’s help in the areas for my example and inspiration might be better. But Jesus lived in such a way that the words of the scriptures came to life. I think of how the scriptures come to life in me by what I do and what I say. I think of all those who have taught me, calling to mind the people who have helped me to understand God’s ways. I give thanks for them and ask for blessing. I pray that I may be such a person for those around me. Jesus pointed to the continuity in God’s work and action. I think of the traditions and teachings that have brought me to where I am and I ask God to continue to draw me to life. Jesus saw a continuity of God’s message as he spoke as had the prophets of old. I realise that I too have a history and tradition - some of which is known to me. I thank God for all of those whose insight builds me up. I ask God to continue to bless me and to lead me into the wisdom that Jesus had. I pray in respect for all who teach the faith that has come to us from the apostles. All the law and the prophets is summed up in the law of love?   St. Paul speaks of “giving my body to be burned, but without love, it is as nothing”. How is it that we constantly put so many demands and ‘laws’ before the law of love? Is it because it is so challenging, so without limit. I am called to give nothing less than my all! What is it like to read this? Can I dare to ask for this gift? To give my all?  As the poet said “lest having thee I might have naught beside” Talk to Jesus about this? Do I want this gift? Or maybe I am at the stage where I am only able to want, to want it? The scripture scholars have difficulty reconciling Jesus' words here with his freedom of spirit in many matters concerning the Sabbath. Jesus did not reject the Old Testament of the Jews, but brought it back to its basics: love God and love your neighbour; and he stresses here as elsewhere, that our life should be of one piece, so that people should be able to read our principles from our behaviour – that is more important than being able to instruct people in the law of God. It is harder to live one sermon than to preach a dozen. The fulfilment of the old religion would be a person, Jesus Christ. The law is good only because it leads to Christ. All of religion is good only insofar as it leads us to God and through Christ. Our prayer in the company of Jesus leads us to God our Father in the fullest way possible, the way of Jesus. Oddly enough, Jesus seemed to break significant rules of the Jewish faith as it was practiced in his time: his disciples gathered food from the fields on the Sabbath; he didn’t observe the rules of purification of cooking and drinking vessels beloved of the Pharisees; he allowed the “unclean” to approach him and was rendered ritually “unclean” by such contact; and he associated with sinners. “Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” (Luke 15:1-2) How is Jesus not “abolishing” but “fulfilling” the law in this way? Could it be his profound union with people, his loving engagement with people, especially people in difficulty or people being excluded? Is this what being “great in the kingdom of heaven” means? Jesus did not come on earth to abolish what had already been revealed. The law and the prophets indicate the mind of God. The Son of God just added a divine dimension to them. Such teaching should hold sway for us, while heaven and earth endure. It is bad enough to break one of these commandments, but to teach someone else to do the same is terrible. It is useful for us to ask ourselves, do we proclaim such teaching, or following our own opinions do we oppose his law? We need to see the sacredness of all God’s teaching. Jesus was a Jew: he lived out the Torah (the Law), which expressed the love-relationship between God and the Chosen People. He did this by revealing in his life and death the love of God in a dramatic new way. We too are called to fulfil that sacred relationship in our lives. By looking at my life and listening to me would anyone know that God is at the centre of my heart, and that I try like Jesus ‘always to do what pleases him’ (John 8:29)? Not so easy to pray this gospel! “Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets...” The heart of the Law was and is: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind... and your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). Jesus came “to fulfill” the law. Observing external laws is not enough. Jesus wants listening hearts, courageous, generous and discerning. Hearts like his. Are you ever called to be prophetic by rising above peer pressure and speaking the truth in your heart? End your prayer with the writer of the Psalms: “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. (Psalm 25:4-5). The relationship between the Old Testament and the novelty brought by Jesus was one of the main issues the Gospel had to face. Here Jesus insists on the continuity between the Law and himself. Yet, by affirming that he is bringing the Law to its perfection he is claiming special powers for himself, divine powers. This is the real difference: Jesus is God himself. The perfection that Jesus brings to the Law is in its spirit and not in the individual observances: the Law is fulfilled by love, which becomes the greatest commandment of all, and in the spirit of freedom, the freedom of the children of God. I ask myself what is my manner of fulfilling the law and teaching it to others, I ask the Father for his pardon. I also ask him to give me his spirit of universal love and filial freedom. What role do the law and the prophets play in the new covenant instituted by Jesus? This issue was critical for Jewish converts in the early church, as Matthew realised. It is still relevant for us today. Jesus speaks of “fulfilling” rather than “abolishing” the law and the prophets. How do you understand the word “fulfil” in this context? This reading may spark off other questions also such as: How well do I know the Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament)? Do I notice how frequently they are quoted or are echoed in the New Testament? Where do I stand in discussions about the “letter” and the “spirit” of Scripture, etc.? Jesus underlines the continuing relevance of the teaching of the law and the prophets. Whenever he is critical of one or other aspect of this teaching he claims to be “fulfilling” the law and not abolishing it. Christians continue to reverence the Old Testament as a source of revelation. We acknowledge our Jewish heritage. In particular we pray the psalms every day. Am I familiar with the psalms? Do I appreciate how such prayer brings me into harmony with my Jewish brothers and sisters today? It may sometimes be that life seems to be made up of random events, disconnected encounters and fragmented experiences. Looking at our lives, God sees them as whole and is able to recognise the continuity of our discipleship in a way that is often hidden from us. I let God survey my life so that I may see how I have kept the commandments and helped others to do the same. I don’t claim to be great in the kingdom of heaven, but I allow God to tell me who I am. This is a tribute to the teacher! All who teach the goodness and truth of God, by word or example, are sharing in the teaching ministry of Jesus. We learn of God in the mind by reflection, courses, reading, and in a community of faith; we learn of the God of the heart in prayer. The historical words of the prophets are endorsed by Jesus. The word of God endures forever and salvation is for all who heed the prophetic warnings. Jesus fulfils the law and the prophets by living as God would wish. He crowns the law by putting love above all. We may forget law, but we must never forget love, because God is love and wants love to dominate human living. The commandments of which Jesus speaks are those given to Moses on Mount Sinai. They were valid when Jesus spoke, 1,400 years after Moses. They are still valid today. If we all kept them, we would experience something of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Can I list the Ten Commandments? To which do I need to attend right now? The account of the Transfiguration shows that Jesus respects the Law and the great history of Israel. He sets out to bring the Law to its intended purpose, to fulfil it, showing it was a law of love. He built on the past, transforming it and bringing it to completion. The primary role of a prophet was to teach, reminding people of God’s message and calling them back when they strayed. Foretelling the future was not their main function. Jesus is the great Prophet, bringing meaning and direction to life. When I pray the Gospels, Jesus is present, helping me to see my best way forward. Jesus loves his Jewish religion. Also he understands the heart of it. He wants to fulfil it by loving his Father perfectly, and by loving all God’s people, even as far as dying for them. I pray to be a good disciple by living like that. Have I grasped the heart of my religion? Do I concentrate on loving God and my neighbour? Is there more love in the world because of my being around? In the evening of life I will be examined in love, not in the outer aspects of religion!

PREPARATION FOR THE SESSION

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

OPENING PRAYER

Lord, we have been made by you and for you. Give us openness to your words, honesty in facing our failures, hope in your understanding and forgiveness, asd the courage to live out your teachings.

COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

From “First Impressions” 2023, a service of the Southern Dominican Province.

Those of us gathered for worship in our churches are very diverse people, from different cultural backgrounds, countries of origins, races, etc. But what binds us together is our baptism in Jesus. Whatever our differences and in whatever language we speak, we all say together, “We believe in Jesus Christ and so his way is our way.” Our basic identity is that we are a community of Jesus’ followers and we love him. Therefore, our love for him urges us to live like him. But doesn’t hearing the Sermon on the Mount these Sundays leave you weak in the knees? How can we ever live these teachings? How will we even know how to live them? Because of his miracles and teachings Jesus had attracted great crowds. In order to teach those closest to him. he took them up a mountain. Two Sundays ago we heard the Beatitudes, the introduction to a collection of his teachings which we call the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes called for profound inner change necessary for anyone wanting to follow Jesus. That kind of change is spelled out in his subsequent teachings. When we hear Jesus’ sermon, what Paul says in 1 Corinthians today is true: we are called to live, not according to the wisdom of this age, but according to God’s wisdom. That wisdom, Paul reminds us, has been revealed to us in the life of Jesus made known to us, “Through the Spirit.” Through the gift of the Spirit we have come to accept Jesus Christ as God’s full revelation in the flesh. We need to remind ourselves today that the same Spirit makes it possible for us to live according to Jesus’ teaching. After all, Jesus isn’t just giving us a stricter, higher code of ethics. That’s not what makes his teachings special. Rather, through our baptism and the gift of his Spirit, we have the desire and divine power to live what we are being taught again today. That new Spirit in us is what enables us to live, as Jesus tells us, with a “holiness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. In this gospel passage, we can hear that Jesus is calling us, not to a superficial, exterior, performance of commandments, but to a far more profound response--a deeper, interior change that will enable us to do as he instructs. How discouraged his followers must have been when Jesus taught in this way! After all, the Pharisees were considered the righteous and holy ones. Jesus’ challenge though was not only to his followers, but to the Pharisees and scribes as well. Their religion was to go deeper than exterior works--the right motives had to support right behavior. His demands are high indeed! They seem impossible to achieve. The Pharisee spent a lot of time and energy fulfilling the Law. They were of the middle class and unlike the desperately poor, who comprised most of Jesus’ followers, the Pharisees had the education and leisure to pursue purity of observance. What chance did the illiterate, overworked and burdened poor followers of Jesus have? For that matter, what chance do we have in fulfilling these teachings? And yet, Jesus calls for a holiness that surpasses those scribes and Pharisees! From today’s gospel selection, we hear that Jesus wants to cut short, at its inception, a path that might lead to murder. So, he says to his disciples they are to control their anger. In cases of adultery, families would seek retaliation on the couple because of the shame brought down on those families, especially on the husband. To prevent adultery and the subsequent blood feud that would erupt, Jesus tells his disciples not even to think such a thing--no lusting after another. In addition, good community relations, especially among believers, would be possible if people behaved honestly with one another; if they could trust each other’s words. So, no lying. Jesus called his disciples to exemplary behavior. Such ways of being with one another, besides forming loving relationships in the community, would also draw attention to that community and to the teachings of the one they followed--Jesus. Today Jesus is giving concrete examples of what we heard him say to his disciples last week. They are to be “salt of the earth,” “light of the world” and a “city set on a mountain.” Note the structure for the sayings. Each begins: “You have heard of the commandment….” Then Jesus presents his unique teaching, “But I say to you….” He credits the former teaching and by giving specific examples, calls his disciples to a greater righteousness, a more exacting “law.” A “new law.” We Christians are called to a different way of living, in our relations to each other and then to the world. We seek reconciliation where there is anger and alienation. We tame our desires despite the license of the world around us. We are faithful to one another and so when we make promises, we keep them. What will help us live the challenges Jesus places before us? Certainly we can’t do it merely by gritting our teeth and putting our nose to the grindstone. Instead, we fix our eyes on Jesus and we turn to each other in mutual love and support. Sound idealistic? Yes it does, but Jesus wouldn’t ask us to fulfill something he wouldn’t help us accomplish. It is no wonder that our Sirach reading was chosen today. It’s part of the Wisdom tradition in the Hebrew Scriptures. According to that tradition human actions have specific consequences. We are free to conform our lives to God’s ordered ways, or not. In today’s reading, though short, the word “choose(s)” is mentioned three times. This Wisdom reading underlines our freedom and so encourages us to use it to make choices in accord with God’s wisdom. As difficult as these choices may be at times, the believer hears Sirach’s words of encouragement: “trust in God, you too will live.” We are assured that making these choices will be life-giving, for God’s eyes rest on the faithful “The eyes of God are on those who fear God....” Jesus’ life showed us what the Sermon looks like when enfleshed. He is now our wise teacher who shows us the way to life and gives us his Spirit to help us to choose those life-giving ways. He teaches us about the ways that will help us choose life not death. His disciples are to continue putting flesh on the Sermon in their lives. Whatever our circumstances, people who may never read the Sermon on the Mount, should be able to learn its content by examining our lives.

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection questions:

This teaching of Jesus seems extreme to some. Do you agree?
How hard is it to live what Jesus is saying here?

Jesus seems to be rejecting some of the more petty regulations that governed the society and religion he was part of. Are there any “rules” in our Church or society that seem petty to you?
How would you rewrite them?

Some very important rules of the Jewish law, which Jesus said he did not come to abolish, were, in fact, deleted as early as Apostolic times on behalf of gentiles who wanted to become followers. How to we reconcile this?

Do I see echoes of the Jewish law in our Christian rules/laws?
Has this passage aver been used as a “put-down” of Jewish customs, rules, and observances?

Have there been rules you observed in childhood which no longer seem to be followed?
How do you feel about that?

Can someone “keep” the rules and still be unchristian in some way?

Jesus may be talking about interior vs exterior observance of the law, or He may be talking of the letter of the vs the spirit of the law.
Can you think of some examples of such differences in your own lifetime?

How do the directives mentioned in this section of the gospel strengthen society?

How much of our life is the result of circumstances outside ourselves?
How much of our life is the result of our behavior or choices?
How much of our life is the result of our attitude?

Which is harder, a law to love under all circumstances or a law made up of specific rules?

Can you list the 10 commandments?
What of the 10 commandments are easy?
Hard?
Irrelevant to you?
To which should you turn my attention right now?

Did Jesus ever break ”the law”?

The law is only good insofar as it leads to Christ. Religion is only good insofar as it leads us to God. Comment.

Define “letter of the law.”
Define “spirit of the law.”

Did I ever “break a law” or “bend a rule”, either civil or religious, that I felt was a more moral thing to do than obeying a law or rule? (Take for example telling the truth. Is there a time when someone or some entity is not entitled to the whole truth? How about telling the truth when it might hurt someone (do I look fat in this dress?)?

How do I define ‘Primacy of Conscience”?
When can this teaching be abused or used to rationalize really bad behavior?
What are some very positive things about this teaching?

What are some “laws” of my own culture, my own family, my workplace?
Are they different from Jesus’ “laws?

Did the Church ever have, or does it now have, some “laws” or customs that, strictly speaking, are not strict moral imperatives, but require Catholics to follow them?

How can we live our lives holistically and with integrity? What are the rules for that?

How and where do we teach goodness, honesty, kindness, fairness, compassion, forgiveness, generosity? How and where do we teach the opposite?

What would I say, in one phrase, is the heart /main law of my religion?
Do I live it?
Perfectly?
How does what I do or what I say as a religious person reflect the message of Jesus?

As a parent, or advisor, if you had to narrow down your choice of “rules” to follow or “sins” to talk about to three that you consider the most important, what would they be?

CLOSING PRAYER

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for.

Dear Lord, help me to discern the rules by which you want me to live. I thank you for all those who have helped me understand your ways. Help me to realize that your scriptures come to life in me by what I do and what I say. I pray for all of us who are sometimes lost and discouraged. May I, personally, be an instrument of your mercy.

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

Weekly Memorization: Taken from the gospel for today’s session….Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Meditations:

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions: Is there are hierarchy of moral laws? Are some laws non-negotiable? Are all laws equally important? Is there a difference between laws made by God and those made by humans? What do you consider the three non-negotiable? Or is every rule of law equally important? If so, what are the consequences of breaking a rule others consider minor? If you were God, what commands would you give to your people? How would your commands differ from what you perceive God has already set in place? Would you have more or fewer? Which of God’s laws are hardest for you for you to obey? And finally, are all laws an either/or proposition, or are they ideals that we strive to attain and often fail? How does this rigidity lead to over scrupulosity or despair? Pick one precept of Jesus that you find particularly difficult to deal with and pray to God for the gift of courage and forgiveness.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Discernment: Instruct me, O Lord, in the way of your statutes, that I may exactly observe them. Give me discernment, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart. Discernment means that we form our conscience and use our heart and our brain to sort through the decisions we make each day. It is harder than simply following a set of “rules”. According to Joseph Tetlow S.J., in his commentary on the Ignatian Exercise, “we regularly have to fight out of fearful confusions and conflicts to form a right conscience. We have to wrestle out of self- centeredness and selfishness in order to give our love to each other. We try to feel our way through the prejudices and inequitable dealings we take from our own culture to think clearly and to do justly. We know that living water wells up within ourselves into eternal life; we also know that we are like the apostle Paul, who did what he meant not to do and did not do what he meant to do.” Now, how do we make sense of the tension within our humanness? This is hard. For example, we look at the “rules” and “laws” our culture and religion have imposed—some are in conflict with each other, and some are in conflict with our need to love God and one another? scrupulosity on one hand seems safer, but can lead to being too judgmental of ourselves and others. On the other hand, rationalization is the “get-out-of-jail-free technique we employ to excuse our bad behavior to ourselves or others. So our lifelong task is to find a balance, and a way of discerning how we should behave. So we pray for discernment:

• for the honesty to examine what our desires are and evaluate them in terms of God’s will for us.

• for the wisdom to understand the difference between actions that are culturally promoted or forbidden and those that come from a primal desire to please God.

• For the courage to face the resistance to change, to get out of our comfort zone when necessary for our own good and that of others.

Are there any issues in my life that I am conflicted about? Are there any ways of behavior that are not healthy for me or for my relationships with others? How does guilt play out in my decision -making? Do I really examine and understand my motivations? I pray for honesty, for wisdom, and for courage as I strive to align my life with what I understand to be God’s desires for me..

A Meditation in the Ignation Style/Prayer of Consideration (from “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits): Jesus is no destroyer of people’s devotions and faith. He does not abolish the faith practice of a people or a person. All the goodness of our religion and our faith is precious to him. His grace is given to each personally; each of prays differently, or with a variety of times, places and moods. “Pray as you can, not as you can’t” is one of the oldest and wisest recommendations for prayer. Prayer is entering and relaxing into the mystery of God’s love, each in our own way.Jesus teaches by word and action, by saying and doing. His example of life is our guide and our encouragement. There is a link between what we say and what we do, and when this link is strong, we are strong in the kingdom of God. We are “to walk it as we talk it” Sincerity and integrity of life is what we are called to. I make an “examen” of my life and actions of the last two days, looking at what I said and did in some detail. I consider how it is that my way of living and my world’s influence on others. I pray in thanksgiving for those places in my life in which I can imagine that I have a good influence. I ask God’s help in the areas for my example and inspiration might be better. But Jesus lived in such a way that the words of the scriptures came to life. I think of how the scriptures come to life in me by what I do and what I say. I think of all those who have taught me, calling to mind the people who have helped me to understand God’s ways. I give thanks for them and ask for blessing. I pray that I may be such a person for those around me. Jesus pointed to the continuity in God’s work and action. I think of the traditions and teachings that have brought me to where I am and I ask God to continue to draw me to life. Jesus saw a continuity of God’s message as he spoke as had the prophets of old. I realize that I too have a history and tradition - some of which is known to me. I thank God for all of those whose insight builds me up. I ask God to continue to bless me and to lead me into the wisdom that Jesus had. I pray in respect for all who teach the faith that has come to us from the apostles.

Literary Reflection: Several novels by Graham Green explore the difficulties which arise for a person who feels he has forfeited redemption or happiness because he broke some big rules and therefore was unworthy of God’s love and understanding, and is tormented by sin, guilt and fear. Try reading the Power and the Glory, the story of a “Whiskey Priest” set in Mexico during the time when religion was outlawed, or The End of the Affair, which explores guilt over an illicit relationship.

POETIC REFLECTIONS

It is worth taking yet another loook at one of my favorite poems written by a Stegner fellow. Imagine that he is speaking of the Stanford Campus life, and The Dish is the “hill” he is referring to. It illustrates what Jesus was teaching.

In the Evening We Shall Be Examined on Love
And it won’t be multiple choice,
though some of us would prefer it that way.
Neither will it be essay, which tempts us to run on
when we should be sticking to the point, if not together.
In the evening there shall be implications
our fear will turn to complications. No cheating,
we’ll be told and we’ll try to figure the cost of being true
to ourselves. In the evening when the sky has turned
that certain blue, blue of exam books, blue of no more
daily evasions, we shall climb the hill as the light empties
and park our tired bodies on a bench above the city
and try to fill in the blanks. And we won’t be tested
like defendants on trial, cross-examined
till one of us breaks down, guilty as charged. No,
in the evening, after the day has refused to testify,
we shall be examined on love like students
who don’t even recall signing up for the course
and now must take their orals, forced to speak for once
from the heart and not off the top of their heads.
And when the evening is over and it’s late,
the student body asleep, even the great teachers
retired for the night, we shall stay up
and run back over the questions, each in our own way:
what’s true, what’s false, what unknown quantity
will balance the equation, what it would mean years from now
to look back and know
we did not fail.

—from Lights & Mysteries, by Thomas Centollela

Often humans often lose sight of the laws of the universe, and our obligation to treat the universe with love and care. We need to remember that the laws of the universe speak God’s will. The sun “rises” and “sets”, morning and evening, day after day, year after year. Think of the delicate balance of the ecosystem and reflect on all the ways human hands have disrupted God’s order, have broken god’s laws. We have not been very good stewards of the world we were given. While it is easy to blame the mega-polluters and the corporate giants for our precarious planet, but the truth is, most of us in the developed countries do not want to trade either convenience or money to save the rain forest or endangered species, our oceans and marine life… What sacrifices or changes are you willing to make to help deal with climate change? Denise Levertov, a late Professor of English at Stanford, and a renowned poet, has this to say:

Tragic Error
The earth is the Lord’s, we gabbled,
and the fullness thereof–
while we looted and pillaged, claiming indemnity:
the fullness thereof
given over to us, to our use–
while we preened ourselves, sure of our power, 
willful or ignorant, through the centuries.
Miswritten, misread, that charge:
subdue was the false, the misplaced word in the story.
Surely we were to have been 
earth’s mind, mirror, reflective source.
Surely our task
was to have been
to love the earth,
to dress and keep it like Eden’s garden.
That would have been our dominion:
to be those cells of earth’s body that could
perceive and imagine, could bring the planet
into the haven it is to be known,
(as the eye blesses the hand, perceiving
it form and the work it can do).

—from Evening Train

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 8, 2026

Your contribution to the kingdom is important.

Matthew 5:13-16 (Jerusalem Bible)

You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people’s feet. You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in people’s sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.

REFLECTIONS
February 8, 2026

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

Isaiah 58: 7-10; Psalm 112; I Corinthians 2: 1-5; Matthew 5: 13-16

If we were to ask the prophet Isaiah to describe what religion in the modern world should look like, he would tell us what he told the post-exilic Jewish community in Jerusalem: share bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, do not turn your back on your own, and remove oppression, accusation, and malicious speech. When we do these things, the prophet tells us, our “light shall break forth like the dawn.” These days there is much darkness and many shadows that cannot be overcome simply by switching on a wall light. We religious folk do not always confront the darkness around us: economic inequality, racism, mass incarceration (for example, our downtown Dallas jail has almost 7,000 inmates), migration crises, and environmental degradation. Our neighbors can be suspicious of religion when we talk about justice, but do not practice it. Do we “talk the talk and walk the walk”? Authentic faith must be embodied – at our dinner tables, in shelters, clinics, classrooms, neighborhoods, and even in the halls of government. The prophet is not just addressing personal sin. He anticipates modern discussions of what we now call “structural sin.” He calls us to examine systems that benefit some while burdening others. He personalizes our response to the needs of others. The poor are not problems to be solved, but flesh-and-blood neighbors to be embraced. Isaiah is not only addressing individual responsibility; he is issuing a call to nations and to the religious community. When we unite to act justly and kindly toward all, communities become places where light returns and wounds are healed – emotionally, spiritually, and socially. Our world remains in shadows and darkness. Isaiah promises that “the gloom shall become for you like midday.” This comes about not merely by speaking words. As I write this, we are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. His words remain powerful and illuminating because they were backed by prophetic witness. The world was brightened by his words because his life made God visible. Isaiah reminds us that God rejects a religion confined to ritual alone. He calls his hearers to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, free the oppressed, and heal broken lives. Jesus echoes Isaiah’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, from which today’s Gospel is taken. We are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” These are not automatic badges of membership for his followers, nor are they abstract beliefs or private holiness. They are a call to action. Our light must “shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” These “good deeds” are the visible signs Isaiah describes. Salt has developed a negative reputation. How many of us have been told by our doctors, “Cut down on your salt intake”? But Jesus focuses on salt’s ability to preserve and to give flavor. Isaiah warns that when a society neglects the poor and vulnerable, it rots from within. When disciples feed, shelter, and defend the weak, they act as salt – agents of resistance to moral and social decay. Where would we be without light to guide and reveal our way? Jesus promises that darkness will be dispelled, that it will be like noonday. In our world of shadows, people weighed down by fear, inequality, and indifference can shine when our works of mercy illuminate God’s presence. Our world is hungry for hope. When believers feed the hungry, welcome the homeless, lift burdens, and speak without malice, we become salt that preserves what is human and light that makes God believable. In our Church, we treasure our sacramental life, doctrine, and tradition. Yet Isaiah and Jesus insist that belonging to a religious community is not enough. Jesus is not complimenting us when he says, “You are the light of the world”; he is challenging us. Our responsibility as his followers is to be light in the dark places of our world. Our parishes, schools, and ministries must not be known first for what we oppose, but for whom we feed, welcome, defend, and heal through our service. We do not lack teaching, but we must ask ourselves: do we embody what we teach? We risk becoming cultural Catholics if we are not in solidarity with the poor, migrants, the imprisoned, the sick, and the forgotten. Catholic Charities, parish food pantries, prison and hospital ministries, immigration services, and shelters are not “extra works.” They are who we are – “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” We Catholics need to be brighter, not just louder. This has become for our Church an era of scandal, polarization, and mistrust. It is not a matter of “image repair,” but of turning again toward the poor and vulnerable. This is what the prophets Isaiah and Jesus guide us to do. We cannot keep our faith behind church walls; our lives must illuminate the lives of those most in need. When we live mercy, our Church becomes salt and light that cannot be ignored.

Quotable

“We must not withhold [the light of faith] as if we were our property. Instead, we are called to make it shine throughout the world, to offer to others through good works….” —Pope Francis (on Matthew 5:13-16)

Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC

Share your bread with the hungry. --Isaiah 58: 7

The advocacy group, Bread for the World, writes: “It is commonly known that the cause of hunger in the world is not a shortage of food but rather access to food. Some people are hungry because food is in short supply in their area and for a specific reason. It may be because they can’t afford to buy enough food. It may be both. Some countries have a ‘hunger season’ every year. It’s when the previous harvest is gone and the next harvest is not yet ready. It can last as long as three or four months. “The U.S. doesn’t have that kind of a hunger season, but for many families, some weeks are hungrier than others. These usually come toward the end of the month, as families run short of food before they have money to buy more. People can’t simply decide to spend less on rent, but if necessary, they can spend less on food. For many low-wage workers, retirees, people with disabilities, and their families, even careful planning cannot stretch the grocery budget throughout the month. Less expensive — and less nutritious — filler foods can keep children’s stomachs from growling, but they can’t provide what children need to grow and learn. Adults who are missing meals because they can’t afford to buy food can’t concentrate as well at work.” Catholic social teaching tells us that after charity comes solidarity, relationship. Relationship leads to advocacy for just changes because bonds with those on the margins help us become the “light of the world.” You can begin today to effect change by participating in any of the following food ministries here at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral: Catholic Parish Outreach Food Pantry, Helen Wright Shelter for Women dinners, Oak City Cares weekend meals for homeless and hungry, and/or Women’s Center lunches for homeless women. More detailed information can be found on the HNOJ Cathedral website (Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral | Corporal Works of Mercy). To join, contact: socialconcern@hnojnc.org To begin helping with advocacy, take action at the Bread for the World website, http://www.bread.org/about-hunger, as they write: “We can virtually end hunger in our time. Each person who takes action with Bread for the World helps us get closer to that goal.” The one who becomes a light to the world brings forth a new day of grace and justice and it begins by sharing your bread.

Faith Book
Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.”

Reflection: Jesus reminds us that faith is not meant to be hidden or kept private. Like salt, our discipleship is meant to bring flavor, preserve what is good, and make a difference where we live and work. Like light, our lives are meant to reflect God’s goodness so others can find their way. When we live the Gospel with integrity, kindness, and courage, our ordinary actions become signs of God’s presence in the world.

So, we ask ourselves:

• Where in my daily life is God calling me to be more visible in faith and love?

• How do my words and actions help preserve what is good in my family, parish, or community?

• What might be causing my faith to lose its “saltiness,” and how can I renew it today?

A LOOK BACK AT THIS SUNDAY FIFTEEN YEARS AGO.
February 6, 2011

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

Isaiah 58: 7-10 Psalm 112 I Corinthians 2: 1-5 Matthew 5: 13-16

Salt has gotten a bad rap in recent years. It’s linked to high blood pressure, a life-threatening condition. Doctors suggest those with high blood pressure reduce their intake of salt. With the increased consumption of prepared foods and snacks, nutritionists warn all of us that we consume too much salt and that we should cut down on our intake--especially as we age. So, for us moderns, it doesn’t sound like a compliment, or an encouraging word, when Jesus calls his disciples “the salt of the earth.” No one eats salt plain, by itself. Still, even these days, with all the cautions we hear, most people prefer a little salt in their food. I was speaking with a friend who is a nurse and has high blood pressure. She said, with a mischievous wink of our eye, “I’m not supposed to eat salt, but I still put a tiny bit on my food. It enhances the flavor.” But those disciples didn’t have to worry about over consuming potato chips and frozen dinners. Their experience with salt was entirely different from ours. Salt was a luxury item and was used as a preservative for foods. It was also a sign of friendship and community, and so people shared salt at banquets to express their bonds of family and friendship. In the Hebrew Scriptures it was a symbol of permanence and purification. Salt symbolized the people’s relationship with God, which Numbers (18:19) described as an “inviolable covenant to last forever before the Lord, for you and for your descendants.” That “inviolable covenant” was described as a “covenant made in salt”(2 Chronicles 13:5). Thus, when Jesus called his disciples “the salt of the earth”that title would resonate deeply in their daily experience and religious heritage. He was suggesting first of all, that they were friends of his and were in a permanent and stable relationship with God. Early Christians took up the image of salt and connected it to baptism and their covenant with God. Because of this covenant they were protected and preserved from evil. The world could corrupt Christians, but baptism and the gospel would preserve and keep them in their relationship to Jesus and one another. They, like their Jewish ancestors, were in a “covenant of salt.” Until most recently, salt was still used in baptismal liturgies. It was placed on the tongue of the one being baptized. (Salt is often sprinkled in water to be blessed.) We bless ourselves with that water as a reminder of our baptism and its healing and preserving qualities for our faith. Those baptismal waters continue to preserve us from evil, for God has not broken the new “covenant of salt” we have in Jesus. Through the ongoing life of the Holy Spirit in each of the baptized, we are able to fulfill our calling to be “salt of the earth.” We Christians are in a “salt covenant” with each other. We may not be the best of friends. We may not invite each other over for a special occasion or dinner in our homes on the holidays. Nevertheless, we are covenanted to one another through our baptism. In Christ we are also in a lasting communion with God, empowered and nursed by the Holy Spirit. We are in a “covenant of salt.” Today’s gospel reminds us that we are called into the service of Jesus Christ. He is not only calling us the “salt of the earth,” he is telling us to be that salt of the earth. It’s an awesome responsibility Jesus entrusts to us. We are to be witnesses who point the way to Jesus. We may feel as small and insignificant as salt, such a tiny ingredient, but like salt we are to mix in, not avoid, life in the world. Like salt, we may not call attention to ourselves, nevertheless people will recognize the flavor we bring into the world — it is the quiet, but effective presence of Christ — the one with whom we have a lasting covenant of salt. But sometimes Jesus’ disciples are not supposed to be just a quiet presence in everyday life. Some circumstances require that we make more of an impact on our surroundings. Or, as the second part of today’s gospel reminds us, we are to be “the light of the world.” In a large, dark gymnasium or arena, one match ignited on the court can be seen by even someone up in the last, upper row of the stands. In the dark, no one can miss the light. We are to be Christ’s light in a dark world. Jesus wasn’t saying anything new for religious Jews. The prophet Isaiah gives some examples how believers can be light in the world. “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked when you see them... etc.” Jesus takes up that message later in a parable in which he identifies himself with the neediest, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, etc.” Today Paul advises us that human wisdom, on its own, will not provide light for our world. There are lots of flash and bright lights that lure us from all sides, but do not truly illumine our lives the way the light of Christ, displayed throughout his life and on the cross, can. Of course a city built on a hill cannot be hidden. We didn’t need Jesus to tell us the obvious. But for a Jewish audience that image of the city on a hill would remind them of Jerusalem--not just the physical city, but all it meant to the Jews--a sign of God’s righteousness and presence in their midst. The ideal Jerusalem was to be a place where things were done right, according to God’s light. It was to be a city of the people of God. The prophets had anticipated that this ideal and perfect Jerusalem would attract all the nations and God would teach and protect them. The prophet Micah proclaimed: “Many nations shall come and say, ‘Let us climb the mountain of the Lord,...That God may instruct us in God’s ways, that we may walk in God’s paths. For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.’” (Micah 4:2) We, the church, are supposed to be that kind of city set on a mountain. We are called to be the community that draws people of all nations to Christ. The good we do in the world should identify us — a city on a mountain — for all to see. Well, we are set on a mountain and the scandals of these recent years, at all levels of our church, have not drawn, but turned some people away. Our identity as light has been darkened; and as salt, we have lost our flavor for many. Therefore, as a response to Jesus' teaching and call today we pray, not only for ourselves, but for our church. We pray for a cleansing, renewing influx of the light only the Spirit can give. “Help us, O Spirit of light, to be faithful servants in the world, lights in the darkness and salt to flavor the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby M.P.S. Coordinator of Social Justice Ministries, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh, N. C.

You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world... —Matthew 5: 13-14

I am an “okay” cook but I do understand how salt can flavor a dish and I find it interesting how little salt it takes to do so. I can readily identify with the phrase, “You are the salt of the earth,” because it is such a basic seasoning. Works of justice are “salt” in its most ancient use to preserve and prevent decay thereby insuring good health. “You are the light of the world,” however, invokes quite a different “Who ME?” feeling. Yet, look how the US Catholic Bishops, in both Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium and Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, envision “a laity who are living witnesses to Christ: well-formed in faith, enthusiastic, capable of leadership in the Church and society, filled with compassion, and working for justice.” These are the ingredients for being a light to the world and it begins with continuing adult faith formation. Author Thomas R. Hawkins calls it, “the learning congregation,” in a book by the same name. Learning challenges our mental models of how we perceive things to be and opens us up to the possibility of seeing from God’s perspective how things could really be. Learning ignites our interior lamp. You and I are on a mission to be salt and light to the temporal world. As the U.S. Bishops affirm, “The church and its adult faithful have a mission in and to the world to share the message of Christ to renew and to transform the social and temporal order. This dual calling to evangelization and justice is integral to the identity of the lay faithful; all are called to it in baptism.” “We need to build local communities of faith where our social teaching is central, not fringe; where social ministry is integral, not optional; where it is the work of every believer, not just the mission of a few committed people and committees.” Choose to accept the mission and we can get cooking and learning together. Contact socialconcern@sacredheartcathedral.org to express your interests in works of justice and in becoming part of a study group.

Faith Book
Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. "Faith Book" is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s Gospel reading: Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything.”

Reflection: Jesus Christ is not only calling us the “salt of the earth,” he is telling us to be that salt. It’s an awesome responsibility for we are to be witnesses who point the way to Jesus. We may feel as small and insignificant as salt, such a tiny ingredient, but like salt we are to mix in, not avoid, life in the world. People will recognize the flavor we bring into the world--it is the quiet, but effective presence of Christ--the one with whom we have a lasting covenant of salt.

So we ask ourselves:

• How and where am I a “salty” witness to the living Christ?

• What daily practices do I follow to sustain myself as “salt of the earth?”

PREPARATION FOR THE SESSION

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. ( 1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

OPENING PRAYER

Lord, it is through engagement with others that our light will shine. I need to see how important I am to the mission, even though my contribution may be small. Help me to persevere in personal time of blandness and darkness so that I can reflect and amplify the beauty of your Kingdom.

COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

Adapted from “Living Space”, a Service of the Irish Jesuits

Today’s gospel is part of the famous “Sermon on the Mount” in which Jesus outlines his entire teaching. It begins with the beatitudes; with which we are also very familiar. We may be totally filled with the spirit of the Beatitudes but it will not do very much good unless their effects are clearly seen in our lives. To be a Christian, it is not enough to be good; we must be seen to be so. It is not enough to ‘have a spirituality’ that fills us with a feeling of peace and tranquility. The spirituality of the Gospel is essentially outreaching. We have not only to be disciples of Christ but also need to proclaim him. So Jesus, immediately following the Beatitudes, presents us with a number of images expressing this. “You are the salt of the earth.” Salt is an essential ingredient in almost all cooked food (even sweet food) to provide taste. We all know what it is like to have soup that contains no salt; we know how much part salt plays in flavoring mass-produced fast foods. We are to be like salt; we are to give taste, zest to our environment. We do that through the specific outlook on life which we have and which we invite others to share. At their best, Christians have been very effective in doing this and have had a great impact on the values of many societies and in bringing about great changes. To be tasteless salt is to be next to useless. Salt that has lost its taste is only fit to be thrown out. At the same time, in the West we sometimes, too, put some salt on the side of our plate. That salt, however, tasty it may be, is still not doing any good unless it is put into the food. And this is an interesting feature of salt, namely, that it blends completely with food and disappears. It cannot be seen, but it can be tasted. That reminds us that we as Christians, if we are to have the effect of giving taste, must be totally inserted in our societies. We have to resist any temptation, as Christians, to withdraw and separate ourselves from the world. It is a temptation we can easily fall into and there are many places in our cities where the Church is absent nowadays. There is no salt there. In our commercial districts, in our industrial areas, in our entertainment and media centers, where is the visible Christian presence? Other images used by Jesus today include being the “light of the world” or being a city built on top of a hill. There is no way it can be hidden; it sticks out like a sore thumb. And what is the point of lighting a candle and then covering it over with a tub? You light a candle to give light so that people can see their way and will not fall. To be baptized and to go into virtual hiding is like lighting and then covering up a candle. Finally, Jesus gives us the reason for making ourselves so visible. It is so that people may see our good works? In order that we can bask in their admiration and wonder? No, but so that they will be led through us to the God who made them, who loves them and wants to lead them to himself. It is for us today to reflect on how visible our Christian faith is to others both as individuals, as families, as members of a Christian group, as parishioners, as a diocese.

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow:

Reflection questions:

What is an “everyday saint”?
Do you feel you are one?
What does it mean to be light for the world?
What does it NOT mean?

The enemy of this gospel is the feeling that we are too insignificant to matter. In my own life, how can I counteract this self-defeating tendency to be passive rather than active?

For a lot of our religious history, we have been taught that our main mission is to avoid sin, to stay out of trouble, to perfect our interior spiritual development. Period. This gospel passage runs counter to that. How much of my life has been spent on my own personal growth and spiritual development, and how much has been spent witnessing to others?

Walter Burghardt, S.J., has described our mission in life as “Grace on Crutches”. How does work as a metaphor for our own personal brokenness and imperfection and our role in this world?

Is the career I find myself in utterly divorced from the directives contained in this gospel?
How?
Is there anything I can do to change this?

Are there people or places in our area where a Christian witness is for all intents and purposes absent?
Can we do anything about that?
What are some “non-heroic” actions people can take to make God’s kingdom more present?

When is it appropriate to be transparent with others about your faith?
When is it not appropriate?
Should we be proactive, or let others take the initiative?

Why are people in the workplace expected to leave their faith at the door, rather than integrate beliefs into everyday decisions and relationships?

Who are some of the discarded in this world for whom Christians can be salt and light?

Often criticism and judgmentalism leach all the flavor and joy out of life. Has this been my experience?
How do I counteract it?

Joy is something that can actually change the world. In what everyday ways do I radiate the joy of the gospel?

Without salt, food is tasteless and uninviting, or spoils and is discarded. Without care and concern, our world can become flat and unwelcoming, causing people’s hope and energy to wither and disappear. Despite all that we do already, many of us can do a little more.
What is one thing you can do to spice up your little corner of the world?

CLOSING PRAYER

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for.

Adapted from Sacred Space: Lord, help us to see that we are children of the light, that our lives are illumined by you, the light of the world (John 8:12). Help us to see in your light the hidden hope of glory that is in us, so we can rejoice even in the darkness of the world. Help us to be light for others, for that is our commission.

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

Weekly Memorization: (Taken from the gospel for today’s session) You are the salt of the earth; your light must shine before others.

Meditations:
A Meditation in the Dominican Style — Asking Questions: Very often, when we are confronted with the teaching of Jesus that we are to be the light for the world, we claim that we would love to do more, but we are just too busy. Life is crazy right now, etc., “I don’t have time”. Here are some problems with that statement:

• When will you ever have more time than you do now?

• Who, actually, has more time than you do?

• Have you evaluated the time commitment you might have to make, or are you dismissing any time commitment at all?

• Excuse #492: I am so messed up myself I cannot possible be a good resource for anyone else

Query: Were the first apostles always models of unselfishness, maturity and piety?
Query: What daily practices can I follow to sustain myself as someone for others?
Excuse #493: I have so much I am personally dealing with right now; I do not have the bandwidth to take on anyone else’s needs.
Query: Did the first apostles not have families, economic difficulties and relationship commitments as well?
Query: Can I find at least one small way I can be a light of hope and kindness to someone else?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style — Action: Read Isaiah 58:6-10 “Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me: to break unjust fetters, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break all yokes? Is it not sharing your food with the hungry, and sheltering the homeless poor; if you see someone lacking clothes, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own kin? Then your light will blaze out like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Saving justice will go ahead of you and Yahweh’s glory come behind you. Then you will cry for help and Yahweh will answer; you will call and he will say, “I am here.” If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist and malicious words, if you deprive yourself for the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, your light will rise in the darkness, and your darkest hour will be like noon.” Both Sunday’s gospel and the first reading fly in the face of the commonly acknowledged “truth” that it takes money and power to change the world. Instead, says Walter Burghardt, S.J. the world needs Christian disciples, not just popes or martyrs, not great orators or donors to great causes. The world needs everyday, ordinary disciples who go about their lives witnessing to the message of Jesus to forgive, to care for the lonely, the sick, the hungry , to heal those has He did. Can I say I am disciple? Why or why not? Pick one thing you can do this week to be Christ for others. And do it.

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style — Relationship: Psalm 112: 4-9 “For the honest he shines as a lamp in the dark, generous, tender-hearted, and upright. All goes well for one who lends generously, who is honest in all his dealing; for all time to come he will not stumble, for all time to come the upright will be remembered. Bad news holds no fears for him, firm is his heart, trusting in Yahweh. His heart held steady, he has no fears, till he can gloat over his enemies. To the needy he gives without stint, his uprightness stands firm for ever; his reputation is founded on strength.” Read this psalm as example of what it means to be salt and light, then write your own mini-psalm transliterating the words of the psalm into to first person ( “all goes well for me who lends generously”, etc). Pray it every day this week.

POETIC REFLECTIONS

Thomas Centolella, a former Stegner Fellow from Stanford, has written a poem about “raising ourselves to the power of ten” in order to accommodate all the needs that are out there in our world. See if it says anything to you.

At Big Rec
A few hours spent in the dry rooms of the dying.
Then the walk home, and the sudden rain
comes hard, and you want it coming hard,
you want it hitting you in the forehead
like anointment, blessing all the days
that otherwise would be dismissed
as business as usual. Now you’re ready
to lean on the rail above the empty diamonds
where, in summer, the ballplayers wait patiently
for one true moment more alive than all the rest.
Now you’re ready for the ancient religion of dogs,
that unleashed romp through the wildness, responding
To no one’s liturgy but the field’s and the rain’s.
You’ve come this far, but you need to live further in.
You need to slip into the blind man for a while,
tap along with his cane past the market stalls
and take in, as if they were abandoned,
the little blue crabs which within an hour will be eaten.
You have to become large enough to accommodate
all the small lives that otherwise would be forgotten.
You have to raise yourself to the power of ten.
Love more, require less, love without regard
For form. You have to live further in.

The next poem serves as a reminder that in order to be the light of the world, we must be grounded in the light of Christ.

Gather the People

What return can we make
for all the Lord has done in our lives?
We bring bread, wine, our clay dishes
and our clay feet
to this altar
and we pray that we may here
make a beginning--
that somehow in our days
we can begin to see the promises
the Lord has made us.
The promises do not always
glow with obvious light, or
overwhelm us by their obvious truth.
No matter what anyone says,
it is difficult to understand an invisible God
and belief is not always
the easy way out.
So we gather the people
and we tell the story again
and we break the bread
and in the memory of the one
who saves us,
we eat and drink
and we pray and we believe.
We gather, we pray, we eat.
These things are for human beings.
God has no need of them.
Yet he himself gathered the people,
prayed, broke bread
and gave it to his friends.
And so the invisible God became
visible
and lives with us.

— by Ed Ingebretzen, Psalms of the Still Country