Matthew 9:14-15

Gregory Mussmacher, Jesus please continue to protect me from evil and those who wish to do me harm, help ease my anxieties and thank you giving me such a wonderful family!!

Daily Reading & Meditation
Friday (2/27): Fasting for the kingdom of God
Gospel Reading: Matthew 9:14-15

14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 58:1-9

4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 6 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Meditation: Are you hungry for God? Hungering for God and fasting for his kingdom go hand in hand. When asked why he and his disciples did not fast Jesus used the vivid picture of a wedding celebration. In Jesus' time the newly wed celebrated their honeymoon at home for a whole week with all the guests! This was a time of great feasting and celebrating. Jesus points to himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as the bridegroom's friends. He alludes to the fact that God takes delight in his people as a groom delights in his bride (Isaiah 62:5). To be in God's presence is pure delight and happiness. But Jesus also reminds his followers that there is a time for fasting and for humbling oneself in preparation for the coming of God's kingdom and for the return of the Messianic King. The Lord's disciples must also bear the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility, fasting, and mourning for sin. If we hunger for the Lord, he will not disappoint us. His grace draws us to his throne of mercy and favor. Do you seek the Lord with confident trust and allow his Holy Spirit to transform your life with his power and grace?

What kind of fasting is pleasing to God? Fasting can be done for a variety of reasons – to gain freedom from some bad habit, addiction, or vice, to share in the suffering of those who go without, or to grow in our hunger for God and for the things of heaven. Basil the Great wrote: “Take heed that you do not make fasting to consists only in abstinence from meats. True fasting is to refrain from vice. Shred to pieces all your unjust contracts. Pardon your neighbors. Forgive them their trespasses.” Do you hunger to know God more, to grow in his holiness, and to live the abundant life of grace he has to offer you?

"Come Lord, work upon us, set us on fire and clasp us close, be fragrant to us, draw us to your loveliness, let us love, let us run to you." (Prayer of St. Augustine)

Psalm 51:3-6,18-19

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
18 Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
19 then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on thy altar.



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Bummer or Blessing & Luke 9:22-25

Daily Reading & Meditation
Thursday (2/26): "Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it"
Gospel Reading: Luke 9:22-25

22 "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." 23 And he said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

19 I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

Meditation: Do you know the healing, transforming power of the cross? When Jesus predicted his passion his disciples were dismayed. Rejection and crucifixion meant defeat and condemnation, not victory and freedom. How could Jesus' self-denial, suffering and death lead to victory and life? Through his obedience to his Father's will, Jesus reversed the curse of Adam’s disobedience. His death on the cross won pardon for the guilty, freedom for the oppressed, healing for the afflicted, and new life for those condemned to death. His death makes possible our freedom to live as sons and daughters of God. There’s a certain paradox in God’s economy. We lose what we gain, and we gain what we lose. When we try run our life our own way, we end up losing it to futility. Only God can free us from our ignorance and sinful ways. When we surrender our lives to God, he gives us new life in his Spirit and the pledge of eternal life. God wants us to be spiritually fit to serve him at all times. When the body is very weak or ill, we make every effort to nurse it back to health. How much more effort and attention should we give to the spiritual health of our hearts and minds!

What will you give to God in exchange for freedom and eternal life? Are you ready to part with anything that might keep you from following him and his perfect plan for your life? Jesus poses these questions to challenge our assumptions about what is most profitable and worthwhile in life. In every decision of life we are making ourselves a certain kind of person. It is possible that some can gain all the things they set their heart on, only to wake up suddenly and discover that they missed the most important things of all. A true disciple is ready to give up all that he or she has in exchange for happiness and life with God. The life which God offers is abundant, everlasting life. And the joy which God places in our hearts no sadness or loss can diminish.

The cross of Jesus Christ leads to freedom and victory over sin and death. What is the cross which Christ commands me to take up each day as his disciple? When my will crosses with his will, then his will must be done. The way of the cross involves sacrifice, the sacrifice of laying down my life each and every day for Jesus' sake. What makes such sacrifice possible and "sweet" is the love of God poured out for us in the blood of Jesus Christ. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5). We can never outgive God. He always gives us more than we can expect or imagine. Are you ready to lose all for Christ in order to gain all with Christ?

"Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet to go your way. I give you my eyes to see as you do. I give you my tongue to speak your words. I give you my mind that you may think in me. I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you my heart that you may love in me, your Father, and all mankind. I give you my whole self that you may grow in me, so that it is you, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me." (Prayer from The Grail)

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.



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Father Leo's E-Mail Blast

Bummer or Blessing

Today is my nephew’s birthday. His name is Emmanuel-Joseph. His father nicknamed him “Man-Jo.” He loves to cook, too. But, what a day to celebrate his birthday! It’s the same day as the Church’s celebration of Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season.


my nephew Man-Joe

This Ash Wednesday, marked with ashes on the forehead as a sign of our humble acceptance of mortality, we begin our 40 day pilgrimage of fasting, penance, and almsgiving. Today, as well as each Friday of Lent, Catholics commemorate Jesus’ Passion and death with a day of fasting and abstinence from meat. I’m not sure how my nephew will take not being able to eat meat, but I’m sure he understands that a new life in Christ is the best way to celebrate his birthday. In fact, my nephew, who came to Mount 2009 last weekend, is a good and faithful young man. I’m sure he sees that his birthday falling on the same day as Ash Wednesday is more of a blessing than a bummer.






Traditional “King Cakes”
– a New Orleans tradition. Usually eaten at Mardi Gras,
each cake contains a small statue of the baby Jesus.
Seminarians definitely enjoyed “seeking Christ” in these
pre-Lenten specialties.

I will definitely offer more Lenten style reflections during this holy season, but I have to provide a few updates for our subscribers. I realize that my bad blogging habit has made it very difficult to communicate fun and important news to our subscribers. So, here goes:

First, I want to thank the people at the Catholic Information Center in Washington DC. This is a very important group of new evangelizers, run by the Opus Dei, who have a bookstore right in the middle of the city. Last week I celebrated Mass and did a cooking presentation. Let’s just say that it was a successful event – as evidenced by the empty pan.







Second, please keep in mind two media opportunities. The Washington Post came out to do an interview. Hopefully that will give the Grace Before Meals movement some good press. More good news comes from the Food Network: we’ve been in talks about the possibility of doing a segment on the network. Yes, our goal is still to get on PBS, but we need sponsors to provide those funds. Contact us if you know anyone. In the meantime, doing something for Food Network would not only be an honor, it’d be loads of fun. Stay tuned.

Third, Sirius or XM listeners, be sure to tune into the “Catholics Next Door” on Thursday and Friday this week. I’ll be co-hosting the show for those two days. As you may know, I’m already a regular guest each Friday from 12:20-12:40, but this week I’ll have the honor of co-hosting with Greg and Susan on this fun, factual, family-friendly show.


At the New York studios with some seminarians.

Fourth, please keep me and the seminarians in your prayers as we leave for Rome on a pilgrimage. If you have any prayer requests, send them my way by Friday so that I can include these in our official intentions. We’ll be there for one week and we hope to do some blogging for the website, but I can’t keep that promise as you know how bad of a blogger I am.





St. Peters and pizza – two of my favorite things about these Rome pilgrimages.

Finally, happy birthday to my nephew Man-Joe. He’s not only a talented young guy who takes his faith and prayer very seriously; he also shares his uncle’s passion for food.


Man-Joe grillin' and chillin'

When I consider all of these things in life, I look at the challenges and realize that in God's hands, all is grace, all is a blessing.



Dirt

I realize that I may be pushing the envelope by promoting a chocolate dessert during the Lenten Season. I actually gave up chocolate and desserts for Lent (along with a few other things), but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show how something like dirt can also be a blessing. This recipe shares the same name as the sentiment that accompanies the moment when the priest imposes ashes on a person’s forehead. The minister says, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” It recalls how Adam came from dirt that God formed into man. That admonishment is not an insult or a “bummer,” but a blessing. It’s a reminder that we came from the love of God.

The blessing is definitely extended to the dessert of that name. “Dirt” is simply a sweet combination of ground Oreo cookies, chocolate powder, chocolate pudding, and a balanced layer of cream cheese and whipped cream. Two seminarians – both of whom are becoming resident chefs for our seminary functions – made this dessert a few weeks ago for the 82nd birthday of one of our beloved faculty members.




Click here for the recipe.



Celebrating Spiritual Rebirth

Lent provides us a time to be born again. For Catholics this is almost a spiritual version of the secular New Year’s resolutions. So go ahead and join my nephew in celebrating a new life in Christ. If there are things that we need to do better, sins that need to be confessed, virtue that we need to develop, now is the time to be the Christians we are called to be.

Let us pray:
Father, help us to be humble in these next forty days so that we can experience the grace we need to celebrate the hope that comes when we are changed, converted, and made whole by Your love. Keep our families in peace and feed us with spiritual goodness, especially when we fast! We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.








Let us pray: Loving and merciful Father, Your Son Jesus Christ has taught us to love You above all things, and one another for Your sake. By standing on the rock of Your Church, may we share in Your love, and shine like stars to Your glory. May the power of Your Holy Spirit enliven us to be more like Jesus, Your Son, and bring us to that eternal joy You have prepared for us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.Sphere: Related Content

Matthew 16:1-6, 16-18

Gregory Mussmacher, "Lord Jesus, help my unbelief! Increase my faith and trust in your saving power. Give me confidence and perseverance, especially in prayer. And help me to bring your healing love and truth to those I meet".



Daily Reading & Meditation
Ash Wednesday (2/25): "When you pray, fast, and give alms"
Gospel Reading: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

1 "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 "Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 16 "And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Old Testament Reading: Joel 2:12-18

12"Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.

Meditation: Are you hungry for God and do you thirst for his holiness? God wants to set our hearts ablaze with the fire of his Holy Spirit that we may share in his holiness and radiate the joy of the gospel to those around us. St. Augustine of Hippo tells us that there are two kinds of people and two kinds of love: “One is holy, the other is selfish. One is subject to God; the other endeavors to equal Him.” We are what we love. God wants to free our hearts from all that would keep us captive to selfishness and sin. “Rend your hearts and not your garments” says the prophet Joel (Joel 2:12). The Holy Spirit is ever ready to transform our hearts and to lead us further in God’s way of truth and holiness.

Why did Jesus single out prayer, fasting, and almsgiving for his disciples? The Jews considered these three as the cardinal works of the religious life. These were seen as the key signs of a pious person, the three great pillars on which the good life was based. Jesus pointed to the heart of the matter. Why do you pray, fast, and give alms? To draw attention to yourself so that others may notice and think highly of you? Or to give glory to God? The Lord warns his disciples of self-seeking glory – the preoccupation with looking good and seeking praise from others. True piety is something more than feeling good or looking holy. True piety is loving devotion to God. It is an attitude of awe, reverence, worship and obedience. It is a gift and working of the Holy Spirit that enables us to devote our lives to God with a holy desire to please him in all things (Isaiah 11:1-2).

What is the sure reward which Jesus points out to his disciples? It is communion with God our Father. In him alone we find the fulness of life, happiness, and truth. May Augustine's prayer, recorded in his Confessions, be our prayer this Lent: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrows or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete. The Lord wants to renew us each day and give us new hearts of love and compassion. Do you want to grow in your love for God and for your neighbor? Seek him expectantly in prayer, with fasting, and in generous giving to those in need.

The forty days of Lent is the annual retreat of the people of God in imitation of Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. Forty is a significant number in the scriptures. Moses went to the mountain to seek the face of God for forty days in prayer and fasting. The people of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years in preparation for their entry into the promised land. Elijah fasted for forty days as he journeyed in the wilderness to the mountain of God. We are called to journey with the Lord in a special season of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and penitence as we prepare to celebrate the feast of Easter, the Christian Passover. The Lord gives us spiritual food and supernatural strength to seek his face and to prepare ourselves for spiritual combat and testing. We, too, must follow in the way of the cross in order to share in the victory of Christ's death and resurrection. As we begin this holy season of testing and preparation, let's ask the Lord for a fresh outpouring of his Holy Spirit that we may grow in faith, hope, and love and embrace his will more fully in our lives.

"Lord Jesus, give me a lively faith, a firm hope, a fervent charity, and a great love of you. Take from me all lukewarmness in the meditation of your word, and dullness in prayer. Give me fervor and delight in thinking of you and your grace, and fill me with compassion for others, especially those in need, that I may respond with generosity."

Psalm 51:3-6,12-4,17

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.



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Meditation on Mortality Mark 9:14-37

Gregory Mussmacher, Lord please prtoect my family and I from evil and those who wish to do me harm. Fill the people who wish to do me harm with the Holy Spirit and help them find and believe the truth!!


Meditation on Mortality
First Sunday in Lent 2009
For Sunday March 1, 2009
Lectionary Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, Year B)
Genesis 9:8–17
Psalm 25:1–10
1 Peter 3:18–22
Mark 1:9–15


Receiving ashes in Papua New Guinea.
Beginning this Ash Wednesday, Christians around the world begin their observance of Lent. Since the fourth century, Christians have observed the 40 week days before Easter as a season of reflection, repentance, fasting, abstinence, and acts of mercy. Perhaps you'll see a friend this week with ashes conspicuously smeared in the middle of her forehead. Maybe your colleague has mentioned giving up chocolate or alcohol.

In a culture that encourages indulgence, hubris and bravado, Wednesday's ashes signify an outrageously counter cultural act of humility. As a time when we befriend our brokenness, acknowledge that not all is well with our souls, and lament the pain of so many people in our world, Lent appeals to me as one of the most sensible and brutally realistic liturgical seasons of the year.

Ash Wednesday gets its name from the liturgical rite of dabbing ashes on the forehead of worshipers.The ashes remind us of our mortality. In words that are often read at Lent, God spoke to Adam in Genesis 3:19, “for dust you are, and to dust you will return.” In the Bible ashes are also a symbol of mourning (2 Samuel 13:19, Jeremiah 6:26), a stark metaphor that even Jesus invokes (Matthew 11:21). Ashes also signify an inner attitude of repentance, humility, self-denial, and abstinence.

On this point science and Christianity agree. In his book Beyond Science: The Wider Human Context, my favorite writer on Christianity and science, the Cambridge University particle physicist and Anglican priest John Polkinghorne, concludes: "It is as sure as can be that humanity, and all forms of carbon-based life, will prove a transient episode in the history of the cosmos." From star dust we came and to star dust we shall return.

Lenten humility is not an end in itself, some act of morbid self-hatred or misanthropic self-denial. And unlike the nihilist implications of the scientific outlook (cf. Julian Barnes, Nothing to Be Frightened Of), Lent anticipates and culminates in the Easter celebration of resurrection life. Whatever else Christians believe, we believe that God in Christ will vanquish sin and death, and so we're the ultimate optimists who affirm life. But until then, Lent reminds us that Easter's celebration of life must pass through the narrow and bitter way of death. This is true in a figurative sense; but it's also true in a literal sense. Jesus rose from the dead, but not before he died a real death; our hope is for the same. That's why at this time of year Christians find it entirely healthy and human to "remember death"—memento morum.


Ash Wednesday in Australia.
Whereas Christians anticipate and reflect upon death, society tends to deny it. We idolize strength, vigor, and youth, and marginalize the weak, the elderly and the infirm. Age spots, decreased energy, wrinkles, aches and pains are anxious cause for diets, cosmetic surgery, and pill-popping, but almost never for a reality check. When death does come, as it surely will, morticians make our corpses appear as life-like as possible, and mourners insist how "beautiful and peaceful" the dead body looks.

Our denial of death finds deep roots in the Hebrew Scriptures. Consider the most pernicious lie ever told, when the serpent told Eve, "Surely you will not die" (Genesis 3:4). This lie, so mysterious back then and so irresistible today, harms us, for while it's normal and natural to avoid the unpleasant, to persist in loving this lie perpetuates the ultimate death wish.

In 1974 the cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker won the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Denial of Death. The fear of our eventual extinction is so terrifying, so anxiety-producing, Becker argued, that virtually all cultures construct elaborate schemes to deny our mortality and enable us to believe that we are immortal. In fact, Becker believed that perpetuating this denial of death constitutes one of the chief functions of culture. But denying death is disastrous. It causes us to form illusory, false selves, and even worse, thought Becker, on the social level it foments all the horrific violence and aggression against others that we see in our world today (since we must prove other death-denials as false, and even eradicate them, else ours is exposed as a lie).

If you are lucky, long before death reality will hit hard. Life will slap you around, and the older you get the harder it becomes to believe the serpentine denial of death. Friends die. Kids grow older and leave. Your longtime neighbors move. The newspaper obituaries suddenly provoke reflective reading rather than idle curiosity. Your physical capacities of both body and mind degenerate, slowly perhaps, but nevertheless just as inexorably.

Christians, however, don't wait for such a serendipitous wake-up call to move them beyond culture's denial. At our best, we don't evade, lie about, flee from or candy-coat the specter of death. Rather, with the Lenten practice of actively contemplating our own death, we pre-empt the inevitable. In Becker's words, adopting a phrase from Luther, the Christian seeks to ". . . . taste death with the lips of your living body [so] that you can know emotionally that you are a creature who will die."

This counsel to "remember death" was standard wisdom for the early church fathers. Gregory of Nazianzus (329–388) echoed Plato when he suggested that our present life ought to be "a meditation upon death." He advised his friend Philagrios to live "instead of the present the future, and to make this life a meditation and practice of death." To the priest Photios he wrote: "Our cares and our attention are concentrated on one thing only, our departure from this world. For this departure we prepare ourselves and gather our baggage as prudent travelers would do." In his treatise On Virginity, Athanasius (296–373) encouraged readers to "recall your exodus every hour; keep death before your eyes on a daily basis. Remember before whom you must appear." John Climacus (525–605) advised us to "let the memory of death sleep and awake with you." So too St. Benedict, who in his Rule (c. 530) advised his monks to "see death before one daily."

By contemplating my death, I live more fully in the present moment, and embrace and affirm all that is life-giving. I prepare myself for that most inevitable and important date with destiny when I will pass from time to eternity. If it is true that "at the moment of our death we will all know for certain what is the outcome of our life" (St. Gregory of Sinai, 13th century), then instead of living today in ways that death will render meaningless if not tragic, I can alter my course here and now. Anticipation, then, functions as preparation.


Receiving ashes in the United States.
In his book Tortured Wonders (2004), Rodney Clapp recounts a person who chose Ash Wednesday for her one and only church appearance of the year. St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York City stands at the corner of Park Avenue and 51st Street, at the epicenter of that island's remarkable concentration of wealth, power, business, and entertainment.

One Ash Wednesday morning the priests had begun the ritual of smearing ashes on the foreheads of worshippers with the solemn words, "dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19), when a gorgeous young woman, impeccably dressed, came forward and knelt at the altar. The young woman was visibly nervous, and as she knelt the priest realized that she wanted to speak. As he leaned forward to trace an ashen cross on her forehead, she whispered, "Father, I am a model. I know I only have a few years, then I will be too old for this work. My body is aging, and I can hardly admit it to myself. I do it once a year at this service. So rub the ashes on. Rub them hard."

For further relfection

* Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking (New York: Knopf, 2005), 227pp. Named one of the top five non-fiction books of 2005 by the NYTs, Didion meditates on her husband's sudden death from a massive heart attack at the dinner table.

* Julian Barnes, Nothing to Be Frightened Of (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008), 244pp. The British novelist and atheist wonders if he can assign any meaning to his life if only extinction awaits him after death. Named one of the top five non-fiction books for 2008 by the NYTs.


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Image credits: (1) SocietyofOurLady.net; (2) Life's Rich Pageant blog; and (3) Traditio; the Traditional Roman Catholic Network.
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Daily Reading & Meditation
Monday (2/23): "All things are possible to him who believes"
Scripture: Mark 9:14-29

14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd about them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, "What are you discussing with them?" 17 And one of the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; 18 and wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." 19 And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." 20 And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, "How long has he had this?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." 23 And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes." 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again." 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, "He is dead." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" 29 And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer."

Meditation: What kind of faith does the Lord expect of us, especially when we meet challenges and difficulties? Inevitably there will be times when each of us cause disappointment to others. In this gospel incident the disciples of Jesus brought disappointment to a pleading father because they failed to heal his epileptic son. Jesus' response seemed stern; but it was really tempered with love and compassion. We see at once both Jesus' dismay with the disciples' lack of faith and his concern to meet the need of this troubled boy and his anguished father. Jesus recognized the weakness of the father’s faith and at the same time challenged him to pray boldly with expectant faith: “All things are possible to him who believes!” Augustine of Hippo, in his commentary on this passage, reminds us that prayer and faith go together: “Where faith fails, prayer perishes. For who prays for that in which he does not believe? ..So then in order that we may pray, let us believe, and let us pray that this same faith by which we pray may not falter.” The Lord gives us his Holy Spirit that we may have the confidence and boldness we need to ask our heavenly Father for his help and grace. Do you trust in God’s love and care for you and pray with expectant faith that he will give you what you need?

When Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, the boy, at first, seemed to get worse rather than better as he went into a fit of convulsion. Peter Chrysologus, a 5th century church father, reflects on this incident: “Though it was the boy who fell on the ground, it was the devil in him who was in anguish. The possessed boy was merely convulsed, while the usurping spirit was being convicted by the awesome judge. The captive was detained, but the captor was punished. Through the wrenching of the human body, the punishment of the devil was made manifest.” God promises us freedom from oppression, especially the oppression of sin and evil that rob us of faith, joy, and peace with God. The Lord invites us, as he did this boy’s father, to pray with expectant faith. Do you trust in God’s unfailing love and mercy?

The mighty works and signs which Jesus did demonstrate that the kingdom of God is present in him. These signs attest that the Father has sent him as the promised Messiah. They invite belief in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world. The coming of God's kingdom means defeat of Satan's kingdom. Jesus' exorcisms anticipate his great victory over "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31). While Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and may cause grave injuries of a spiritual nature, and indirectly even of a physical nature, his power is nonetheless limited and permitted by divine providence (Romans 8:28). Jesus offers freedom from bondage to sin and Satan. There is no affliction he cannot deliver us from. Do you make full use of the protection and help he offers to those who seek him with faith and trust in his mercy?

"Lord Jesus, help my unbelief! Increase my faith and trust in your saving power. Give me confidence and perseverance, especially in prayer. And help me to bring your healing love and truth to those I meet".

Psalm 19:8-10, 14

8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.



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Daily Reading & Meditation
Tuesday (2/24): "They had discussed with one another who was the greatest"
Scripture: Mark 9:30-37

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise." 32 But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Caper'na-um; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" 34 But they were silent; for on the way they had discussed with one another who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, "If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all." 36 And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me."

Meditation: Whose glory do you seek? There can be no share in God's glory without the cross. When Jesus prophesied his own betrayal and crucifixion, it did not make any sense to his disciples because it did not fit their understanding of what the Messiah came to do. And they were afraid to ask further questions! Like a person who might receive a bad verdict from the doctor and then refuse to ask further questions, they, too, didn't want to know any more. How often do we reject what we do not wish to see? We have heard the good news of God's word and we know the consequences of accepting it or rejecting it. But do we give it our full allegiance and mold our lives according to it? Ask the Lord to fill you with his Holy Spirit and to inspire within you a reverence for his word and a readiness to obey it.

How ashamed the disciples must have been when Jesus overheard them arguing about who among them was the greatest! But aren’t we like the disciples? We compare ourselves with others and desire their praise. The appetite for glory and greatness seems to be inbred in us. Who doesn't cherish the ambition to be "somebody" whom others admire rather than a "nobody"? Even the psalms speak about the glory God has destined for us. You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5). Jesus made a dramatic gesture by embracing a child to show his disciples who really is the greatest in the kingdom of God. What can a little child possibly teach us about greatness? Children in the ancient world had no rights, position, or privileges of their own. They were socially at the "bottom of the rung" and at the service of their parents, much like the household staff and domestic servants. What is the significance of Jesus' gesture? Jesus elevated a little child in the presence of his disciples by placing the child in a privileged position of honor. It is customary, even today, to seat the guest of honor at the right side of the host. Who is the greatest in God's kingdom? The one who is humble and lowly of heart – who instead of asserting their rights willingly empty themselves of pride and self-seeking glory by taking the lowly position of a servant or child.

Jesus, himself, is our model. He came not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28). Paul the Apostle states that Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7). Jesus lowered himself (he whose place is at the right hand of God the Father) and took on our lowly nature that he might raise us up and clothe us in his divine nature. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). If we want to be filled with God's life and power, then we need to empty ourselves of everything which stands in the way – pride, self-seeking glory, vanity, etc. God wants empty vessels so he can fill them with his own glory, power, and love (2 Corinthians 4:7). Are you ready to humble yourself and to serve as Jesus did?

"Lord Jesus, by your cross you have redeemed the world and revealed your glory and triumph over sin and death. May I never fail to see your glory and victory in the cross. Help me to conform my life to your will and to follow in your way of holiness."

Psalm 55:7-11, 23

7 Yea, I would wander afar, I would lodge in the wilderness, [Selah]
8 I would haste to find me a shelter from the raging wind and tempest."
9 Destroy their plans, O Lord, confuse their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls; and mischief and trouble are within it,
11 ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its market place.
23 But thou, O God, wilt cast them down into the lowest pit; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in thee.



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Gn 11:1-9 & Mark 8:34-38

Gregory Mussmacher, Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you; All things pass: God never changes. Patience achieves all it strives fro. Whoever has God lacks nothing, God alone suffices. Saint Theresa Avila



February 20, 2009



Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Gospel


Reading 1
Gn 11:1-9

The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words.
While the people were migrating in the east,
they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.
They said to one another,
"Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire."
They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top in the sky,
and so make a name for ourselves;
otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth."

The LORD came down to see the city and the tower
that they had built.
Then the LORD said: "If now, while they are one people,
all speaking the same language,
they have started to do this,
nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do.
Let us then go down and there confuse their language,
so that one will not understand what another says."
Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth,
and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel,
because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world.
It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth.


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15

R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
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Daily Reading & Meditation
Friday (2/20): "Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it"
Scripture: Mark 8:34 - 9:1

34 And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 37 For what can a man give in return for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." 1 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power."

Meditation: What is the most important investment you can make with your life? Jesus poses some probing questions to challenge our assumptions about what is most profitable and worthwhile. In every decision of life we are making ourselves a certain kind of person. The kind of person we are, our character, determines to a large extent the kind of future we will face and live. It is possible that some can gain all the things they set their heart on, only to wake up suddenly and discover that they missed the most important things of all. Of what value are material things if they don't help you gain what truly lasts in eternity. Neither money nor possessions can buy heaven, mend a broken heart, or cheer a lonely person.

Jesus asks the question: What will a person give in exchange for his life? Everything we have is an out-right gift from God. We owe him everything, including our very lives. It's possible to give God our money, but not ourselves, or to give him lip-service, but not our hearts. A true disciple gladly gives up all that he or she has in exchange for an unending life of joy and happiness with God. God gives without measure. The joy he offers no sadness or loss can diminish. The cross of Christ leads to victory and freedom from sin and death. What is the cross which Jesus Christ commands me to take up each day? When my will crosses with his will, then his will must be done. Are you ready to lose all for Jesus Christ in order to gain all with Jesus Christ?

"Lord Jesus Christ, I want to follow you as your disciple. I gladly offer all that I have to you. Take and use my life as a pleasing sacrifice of praise to your glory."

Psalm 112:1-6

1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures for ever.
4 Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever.



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Genesis 9:1-13 & Mark 8:27-33

Gregory Mussmacher, Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you; All things pass: God never changes! Patience achieves all it strives for. Whoever has God lacks nothing, God alone suffices!! St. Theresa of Avila

Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Gospel


Reading 1
Gn 9:1-13

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them:
"Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.
Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth
and all the birds of the air,
upon all the creatures that move about on the ground
and all the fishes of the sea;
into your power they are delivered.
Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat;
I give them all to you as I did the green plants.
Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.
For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting:
from every animal I will demand it,
and from one man in regard to his fellow man
I will demand an accounting for human life.

If anyone sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
For in the image of God
has man been made.

Be fertile, then, and multiply;
abound on earth and subdue it."

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."
God added:
"This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth."
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Daily Reading & Meditation
Thursday (2/19): "But who do you say that I am?"
Scripture: Mark 8:27-33

27 And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesare'a Philip'pi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" 28 And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Eli'jah; and others one of the prophets." 29 And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." 30 And he charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men."

Meditation: Who is Jesus for you? At an opportune time Jesus tests his disciples with a crucial question: Who do men say that I am and who do you say that I am? He was widely recognized in Israel as a mighty man of God, even being compared with the greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah. Peter, always quick to respond, professes that Jesus is truly the Christ. No mortal being could have revealed this to Peter; but only God.Through faith Peter grasped who Jesus truly was. He was the first apostle to recognize Jesus as the Anointed One (Messiah and Christ). Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah, which means Anointed One. Peter's faith, however was sorely tested when Jesus explained that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die in order that God's work of redemption may be accomplished. How startled the disciples were when they heard these words! How different are God's thoughts and ways from our thoughts and ways! Through humiliation, suffering, and death on the cross Jesus broke the powers of sin and death and won for us our salvation. The Lord Jesus tests each of us personally with the same question: Who do you say that I am?

"Lord Jesus, I profess and believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are my Lord and my Savior. Make my faith strong and help me to live in the victory of the cross by rejecting sin and by accepting your will."

Psalm 34:2-7

2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.



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Rock Star//A Beautiful lie or an Eyewitness Account?

Gregory Mussmacher, Jesus You are my rock!!



Rock Star

This past weekend, the Mount St. Mary’s seminarians and university students hosted a weekend Eucharistic Retreat for over 1,600 high school and college students. With this year’s theme “Rock Star,” you can only imagine the rockin’ time we had.




Speakers like Chris and Linda Padgett and Fr. Courtney, witness talks from some of the university students, and the Matt Maher Band made it a wonderful event for everyone.


Left to Right: Kemmi, Matt Maher, Kevin, Dan, me – after the concert.

I was the celebrant and homilist for the opening Mass. I’ve presented with Matt Maher before, so he knows how I am when it comes to youth conferences. This youth rally was no different. We even had a rock star-themed fashion show. Although it sounds very out of style for Mass, I assure you it was appropriately done to prove a point that true rock stars don’t just wear fashionable clothes; being a rock star requires us to put on Christ, as said in the Baptismal ritual.




What makes a true rock star (since all of us secretly would love to be one)?




For Christians, “rocks” and “stars” go together perfectly. Jesus changed the Apostle Simon's name to Peter which means “rock.” The Gospel says that if the people do not proclaim Jesus' praise then the very stones will shout it out. Think about how Jesus calls us to be living stones. Consider how faith in Jesus is described as a “rock of refuge.” Yes, rocks are so important to scripture that if we don't recognize the rock-like quality of our faith, our hearts could turn to stone. Rocks can be helpful to build with, but can be destructive as when people threatened to stone the adulterous women. In Greek, the word for “rock” is scandalon as in “scandal.” In other words, if we don't put our rock star qualities in God's hands, we could be a different type of rock–one more scandalous than anything else.
The star quality of our faith means we must be light for those who live in darkness. Stars are supposed to point people in the right direction. Unfortunately, many of our Hollywood stars do the opposite. It seems the desire to become a star can lead us down darker paths.




It doesn't matter how much money you make, but rather how much virtue you obtain. It doesn't matter how many people you know, but how well you know God. It is not a matter of how your name is up in lights, but how well we can enlighten others to the saving name of Jesus, the ultimate rock star.

In an age where talent is no longer required to be a rock star, it is absolutely essential that we clarify what it really means to have that status. Only when we recognize Jesus Christ as the Rock Star, can we find a model to give us a foundation of faith and direction for our lives. In Him, our rock star status will never fade away.






Sauce for Seminarians

After an incredibly busy weekend, the seminarians settled in for a feast provided by seminarian Jonathon Slavinskas’ family and friends.


with Jonathon Slavinskas (i.e., Jonathon the greater)
and seminarian Jonathon Ficara (i.e., Jonathon the lesser),
family friends, and Mr. Slavinkas.

The chairman for the Mount 2009 event, Matt Rolling, was the first in line. Getting his food first and, of course, such a successful weekend made him a real happy camper and probably made him feel like a real rock star.




Click here here for the special, not so secret, Dacri/Slavinskas Family Pasta Sauce.



A Rock Star’s Prayer

I sometimes wonder how rock stars pray – I just hope they do pray. Without it, we are truly like ships without an anchor following a path without stars to point us to safety. For the past year, the seminarians have been praying the Mount 2009 rock star theme prayer. Although the event is over, I hope and pray that all of the participants will pray everyday for the grace to be true rock stars.




Let us pray: Loving and merciful Father, Your Son Jesus Christ has taught us to love You above all things, and one another for Your sake. By standing on the rock of Your Church, may we share in Your love, and shine like stars to Your glory. May the power of Your Holy Spirit enliven us to be more like Jesus, Your Son, and bring us to that eternal joy You have prepared for us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.



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A Beautiful Lie or an Eyewitness Account?
The Transfiguration of Jesus
For Sunday February 22, 2009
Lectionary Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, Year B)
2 Kings 2:1–12
Psalm 50:1–6
2 Corinthians 4:3–6
Mark 9:2–9


Transfiguration, Fra Angelico,
Italy (1400–1455).
In the Gospel this week we read about the "transfiguration" (Greek, metamorphosis) of Jesus, a story so central that all three synoptic writers include it (Matthew 17:1–8 = Mark 9:2–10 = Luke 9:28–36):

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what to say they were so frightened). Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!" Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.


Transfiguration, Solomon Raj, India, batiq.
Some readers will dismiss this story out of hand as bizarre fiction. Others will purge it of perceived offensive elements while trying to retain some kernel of truth — for example, interpreting the incident as an embellished tale, as a truth communicated by myth or metaphor, or even as a misplaced and reinterpreted account of the resurrection. But I like the advice of Harvey Cox who cautioned against encountering the "sweeping vision" of Christian eschatology only to "whittle it down to something manageable and lackluster" (When Jesus Came to Harvard).

Years later Peter remembered this terrifying experience precisely to counter ridicule that the early believers followed "cleverly invented stories" as opposed to "eyewitness" accounts of actual events (2 Peter 1:16–18). The details of the story — exactly six days after Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ (Mark 8:27–30), the identification of Mount Hermon in present-day Syria which reaches 9,000 feet, the secluded and private nature of the incident, the palpable terror they experienced, Peter's impulsive outburst, and their confusion about something so essential as the resurrection from the dead — all these suggest that Mark was writing history and not myth or metaphor, even if the story, like so many stories in the Gospels (and much of science, by the way), is easier to describe than to explain.


Transfiguration, Andrei Rublev,
Russia (1405).
Even if the nature of the transfiguration is not obvious, Mark seems to report a genuine experience. Sometimes even the recipient of such an experience is hard-pressed to explain exactly what happened. Luke, for example, records how in Peter's miraculous escape from prison he "had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision" (Acts 12:9).

Whether Peter, James and John had an ecstatic vision, or whether Jesus was literally if briefly "metamorphosized" before their very eyes, the natural, physical phenomenon of brilliant light is secondary to the supernatural, metaphysical affirmation of the voice from the cloud — this Jesus whom the disciples followed was not just a rebel rabbi, clever sage, socio-political provocateur, subversive wisdom teacher, ascetic, or failed apocalyptic troublemaker. The transfiguration portrays him as the Cosmic Lord of all human history, and God's beloved and specifically appointed Son. Having thus experienced a fleeting glimpse and foretaste of the full and final consummation of all things, the conclusion is inevitable: "Listen to him."

Three marvels accompanied the transfiguration. First, Jesus's clothes radiated blinding light. Matthew's version likens this radiance to the brilliance of the sun (Matthew 17:2). Both descriptions evoke comparisons to Moses on Mount Sinai when Yahweh appeared to him in a cloud and consuming fire (Exodus 24). Paul described his famous conversion on the road to Damascus as an encounter with blinding light accompanied by a voice from heaven (Acts 22:6, 26:13), which testimony lends an experiential aspect to his declaration that God "dwells in unapproachable light" (1 Timothy 6:16).


Transfiguration: Bertrand Bahuet,
France, fresco, (1995–1996).
Second, Moses and Elijah appear. In his transcendent glory Jesus fulfills the law that Moses received, and consummates the end of all things that Elijah was thought to harbinger (Mark 9:11). Third, the voice of God the Father from a cloud, reminiscent of that at his baptism (Mark 1:11), affirms what only a few pages earlier Peter had confessed, that Jesus is God's beloved and specially appointed Son who merits our total allegiance: "Listen to him."

Nothing is easier for Christians who have become over-familiar with the Gospel texts and traditions than to domesticate and diminish them — taming the ineffable, trivializing the indescribable, cutting and trimming to neuter God so as to manage him. In his book What Jesus Meant, Garry Wills tries to recapture the radically subversive life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth: "He intended to reveal the Father to us, and to show that he is the only-begotten Son of that Father. What he signified is always more challenging than we expect, more outrageous, more egregious." He excoriates Thomas Jefferson's scissored-down Jesus who is little more than a "mild humanitarian moralizer," and the more recent Jesus Seminar scholars ("the new fundamentalism") who end up with a bland cardboard cutout.


Transfiguration: Duccio di Buoninsegna,
Italy (1308–1311).
The transfiguration of Jesus belies the ways we dilute the stringent wine of the Gospel. The blinding light and voices from the clouds challenge faith that has turned tepid, perfunctory, bored and boring. In her book Teaching a Stone to Talk, Annie Dillard thus asks:

Does anyone have the foggiest idea of what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets! Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews! For the sleeping God may awake someday and take offense, or the waking God may draw us to where we can never return.

I can understand how some people will read the transfiguration story and as Dillard admits "not believe a word of it." But God save us from the safe middle ground of domesticating deism.

For further reflection:

* How do we "whittle down" (Cox) accounts like the transfiguration? Why?
* Consider the many ways we trivialize the Gospel and "domesticate" God.
* Why do you think Jesus gave Peter, James and John orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until he had risen from the dead?
* For further study, see Donald McCullough, The Trivialization of God; The Dangerous Illusion of a Manageable Deity (1995).Sphere: Related Content

Prayer For Protection

Gregory Mussmacher, Jesus, Mother Mary, Archangel Michael and all the Saints, please protect me from evil and those who wish to do me harm. Jesus please fill the people who are trying to hurt me with the Holy Spirit and help them find, understand, and believe the truth.

Prayer of Protection
Prayer against evil

An older generation of Catholics may remember a prayer that used to be
said after every Mass -this is an era when the priest faced the altar and the
Mass was said in Latin. But few even of them, perhaps know what inspired
that prayer, composed by Leo XIII who died in l903.

The pope, meeting with several cardinals, sank to the floor as if in a faint.
Some of the cardinals thought he was dead. After some time, he “came to,”
as it were, and told those around him of a terrible ‘vision’ he had been
shown: “what the coming times would bring, misleading powers and raving
devils in all countries fighting against the Church.” As the Most Rev.
William L. Adrian, Bishop of Nashville, narrated the scene to an audience
on Sept. 22, l966, the pope then saw St. Michael appear - “in the nick of
time” - to cast Satan and his legions back into hell.

Following that frightening vision, Pope Leo composed the prayer that for
decades was recited in every Catholic Church in the world. A reader
suggested we would do well to publish it anew:

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard
against the wickedness and snares of the devil, may God rebuke him, we
most humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of heavenly host, by the power of
God, thrust into hell Satan and all other evil spirits that prowl through the
world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

In his l966 address, Bishop Adrian told his audience he hoped Catholics
were still saying the prayer privately. “Some recent popes and saints have
warned us,” he added, “that the anti-Christ will appear around the year
2,000 he is already born. Watch!”

Prayer Against Satan & The Rebellious Angels

Published by order of H.H. Pope Leo XIII


The Holy Father exhorts priests to say this prayer as often as possible, as a
simple exorcism to curb the power of the devil and prevent him from doing
harm. The faithful also may say it in their own name, for the same purpose,
as any approved prayer. Its use is recommended whenever action of the
devil is suspected, causing malice in men, violent temptations and even
storms and various calamities. It could be used as a solemn exorcism (an
official and public ceremony, in Latin), to expel the devil. It would then be
said by a priest, in the name of the Church and only with the Bishop’s
permission.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen


Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in “our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers
of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high
places” (Ephes., VI, l2). Come to the assistance of men who God has
created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the
tyranny of the devil. Holy Church venerates thee as her guardian and
protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led
into heaven. Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our
feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church.
Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His
mercy down upon us; take hold of “the dragon, the old serpent, which is the
devil and Satan”, bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit “so that he
may no longer seduce the nations” (Apoc. XX, 2).

Exorcism

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the
intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed
Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the
Saints. (and powerful in the holy authority of our ministry)(Lay people omit
this parenthesis), we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and
deceits of the devil.

PSALM 68God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him
flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts
before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies.

R. He has conquered, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David.

V. May thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us.

R. As great as our hope in Thee.

(The crosses indicate a blessing to be given if a priest recites the Exorcism;
if a lay person recites it, they indicate the Sign of the Cross to be made
silently by that person.)


We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic
powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects; in
the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, + may you be
snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made
to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of
the Divine Lamb. + Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to
deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God’s elect and sift
them as wheat. + The Most High God commands you. + He with whom in
great insolence, you still claim to be equal; “He who wants all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim., 11, 4). God the
Father commands you. +God the Son commands you. +God the Holy Ghost
commands you. +Christ, God’s Word made flesh, commands you; + He
who to save our race outdone through you envy, “humbled Himself,
becoming obedient even unto death” (Phil., 11,8); He who had built His
Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail
against Her, because He will dwell with Her “all days even to the end of the
world” (St. Mat., XXVIII, 20). The sacred Sign of the Cross commands
you, + as does the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith. + The
glorious Mother of God; the Virgin Mary, commands you; + She who by
her humility and from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception,
crushed your proud head. The faith of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and
of the other Apostles commands you. + The blood of the Martyrs and the
pious intercession of all the Saints commands you. + Thus, cursed dragon,
and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God, + by the true
God, + by the holy God, + by the God “who so loved the world that He
gave His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but
have life everlasting” (St. John, III); stop deceiving human creatures and
pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation; stop harming the
Church and hindering her liberty. Be gone, Satan, inventor and master of all
deceit, enemy of man’s salvation. Give place to Christ in whom you have
found none of your works; give place to the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church acquired by Christ at the price of His Blood. Stoop
beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke
the Holy and terrible Name of Jesus, this Name which causes hell to
tremble, this Name to which the Virtues, Powers and Dominations of
heaven are humbly submissive, this Name which the Cherubim and
Seraphim praise unceasingly repeating: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the
God of Armies. V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto
Thee. V. May the Lord be with thee. R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray. God of heaven God of earth, God of Angels, God of
Archangels, God of Patriarchs, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of
Martyrs, God of Confessors, God of Virgins, God who has power to give
life after death and rest after work, because there is no other God than Thee
and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and
invisible, of whose reign there shall be no end, we humbly prostrate
ourselves before Thy glorious Majesty and we beseech Thee to deliver us
by Thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits, from their snares,
their lies and their furious wickedness; deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy
powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord. That Thy Church may
serve Thee in peace and liberty, we beseech Thee to hear us. That Thou
may crush down all enemies of Thy Church, we beseech Thee to hear us.
(Holy water is sprinkled in the place where we may be.)

Imprimatur: +Henri, O.M.I. Vicar Apostolic of James Bay - Aug. 15, l967


SAINT MICHAEL, the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our defense
against the wickedness and snares of the devil, May God rebuke him, we
humbly pray; and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of
God thrust into Hell Satan and the other evil spirits who prowl about the
world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Imprimatur: Francis Cardinal Spellman Archbishop of New York,

February 24,1961

I know of no other prayer like this one that puts the authority over evil back
into Christian hands. It is a profession of faith and should be said daily
aloud in your homes and at the office.
=====================================================================================

Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Gospel


Reading 1
Gn 8:6-13, 20-22

At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,
and he sent out a raven,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.
Then he sent out a dove,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
But the dove could find no place to alight and perch,
and it returned to him in the ark,
for there was water all over the earth.
Putting out his hand, he caught the dove
and drew it back to him inside the ark.
He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.
In the evening the dove came back to him,
and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf!
So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.
He waited still another seven days
and then released the dove once more;
and this time it did not come back.

In the six hundred and first year of Noah's life,
in the first month, on the first day of the month,
the water began to dry up on the earth.
Noah then removed the covering of the ark
and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up.

Noah built an altar to the LORD,
and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird,
he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself:
"Never again will I doom the earth because of man
since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start;
nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.
As long as the earth lasts,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
and day and night
shall not cease."

=====================================================================================
Father,
you have appointed your Son Jesus Christ eternal High Priest.
Guide those he has chosen to be ministers of word and sacrament
to help them to be faithful
in fulfilling the ministry they have received.

Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever
=====================================================================================

Daily Reading & Meditation
Wednesday (3/18): "Whoever relaxes one of the commandments "
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:17-19

17 "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9

1 "And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you. (Deuteronomy 4:1)

Meditation: Do you view God's law negatively or positively? Jesus' attitude towards the law of God can be summed up in the great prayer of Psalm 119: "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." For the people of Israel the "law" could refer to the ten commandments or to the five Books of Moses, called the Pentateuch, which explain the commandments and ordinances of God for his people. The "law" also referred to the whole teaching or way of life which God gave to his people. The Jews in Jesus' time also used it as a description of the oral or scribal law. Needless to say, the scribes added many more things to the law than God intended. That is why Jesus often condemned the scribal law. It placed burdens on people which God had not intended. Jesus, however, made it very clear that the essence of God's law – his commandments and way of life, must be fulfilled.

Jesus taught reverence for God's law – reverence for God himself, for the Lord's Day, reverence or respect for parents, respect for life, for property, for another person's good name, respect for oneself and for one's neighbor lest wrong or hurtful desires master us. Reverence and respect for God's commandments teach us the way of love – love of God and love of neighbor. What is impossible to men and women is possible to God and those who put their faith and trust in God. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit the Lord transforms us and makes us like himself. We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) because "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). God gives us the grace to love as he loves, to forgive as he forgives, to think as he thinks, and to act as he acts. The Lord loves justice and goodness and he hates every form of wickedness and sin. He wants to set us free from our unruly desires and sinful habits, so that we can choose to live each day in the peace, joy, and righteousness of his Holy Spirit (Romans 14: 17). To renounce sin is to turn away from what is harmful and destructive for our minds and hearts, and our very lives. As his followers we must love and respect his commandments and hate every form of sin. Do you love and revere the commands of the Lord?

"Lord Jesus, grant this day, to direct and sanctify, to rule and govern our hearts and bodies, so that all our thoughts, words and deeds may be according to your Father's law and thus may we be saved and protected through your mighty help."

Psalm 147:12-20

12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
17 He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends forth his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!



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Mark 8:11-21

Gregory Mussmacher, Jesus thank You for a wonderful weekend with my family, please asnwer my prayers and I love You!!

Daily Reading & Meditation
Monday (2/16): "No sign shall be given to this generation"
Scripture: Mark 8:11-13

11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." 13 And he left them, and getting into the boat again he departed to the other side.

Meditation: Are you good at reading signs? Signs tell us what is coming ahead. The people of Jesus' time expected that the coming of the Messiah would be accompanied by extraordinary signs and wonders. The religious leaders tested Jesus to see if he had a genuine sign from heaven to back his Messianic claims. False messiahs in the past had made extraordinary claims to attract their followers, such as claiming that they could cleave the Jordan River in two or cause the walls of Jerusalem to fall. Jesus knew the hearts of those who came to test him. They were more interested in seeing signs and supernatural phenomena than they were in hearing the word of God. Simeon had prophesied at Jesus' birth that he was "destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that inner thoughts of many will be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35). Jesus gave them no sign except himself and the ultimate proof of his divinity when he rose from the dead.

The Lord reveals himself and makes his presence known to us in many ways – in his word and in the "breaking of the bread" in the Eucharist, in his church – the body of Christ, in his creation, and even in the everyday circumstances of our lives. If we seek the Lord, we will surely find him. And we can be confident that he will give us whatever we need to understand and carry out his will. Most of all the Lord assures us of his daily presence and the promise that he will never leave us. Theresa of Avila's prayer book contained a bookmark which she wrote: Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you; All things pass: God never changes. Patience achieves all it strives for. Whoever has God lacks nothing, God alone suffices. Is God enough for you?

"Lord Jesus, may I always recognize your saving presence in my life and never forget your promises when I encounter trials and difficulties. Give me a faith that never wavers, a hope that never fades, and a love that never grows cold."

Psalm 119:67-68, 71-72, 75-76

67 Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I keep thy word.
68 Thou art good and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.
76 Let thy steadfast love be ready to comfort me according to thy promise to thy servant.



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Daily Reading & Meditation
Tuesday (2/17): "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod"
Scripture: Mark 8:14-21

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 16 And they discussed it with one another, saying, "We have no bread." 17 And being aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." 20 "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." 21 And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

Meditation: What do you do when you come to the end of your resources – when you feel inadequate, shorthanded, or empty? Do you wring your hands, complain, fret, and give in to worry, fear, and despair? Mark tells us that the apostles set off in their boat across the Sea of Galilee only to discover that they forgot to bring enough food for their journey. What were they to do miles away from land and any place where they could buy food and supplies? They were anxious of course, and this was right after Jesus had performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes where the disciples fed more than four thousand people (Mark 8:1-9). Jesus knew the trouble in his disciples' hearts even before they could speak. Jesus dealt with their anxiety by first warning them to not fear what can harm the body rather than what can destroy the very heart and soul of their being.

Jesus cautioned the disciples to beware of the bread that corrupts and leads to death, such as the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Our "daily bread" is whatever nourishes us, not just physically, but spiritually, intellectually, and morally as well. Why did Jesus tell his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod? To the Jew leaven was a sign of evil. It was a piece of dough left-over from a previous baking. In due course it fermented and this fermented dough became leaven. Fermentation was associated with decomposing rot. Jesus warned his disciples to avoid the evil influence of the Pharisees and of Herod who sought their own counsels rather than the will of God. As the apostles continued to worry about their lack of bread, Jesus reminded them of his miraculous provision of bread in the feeding of the four thousand. He then upbraided them for their lack of trust in God. Do you not yet understand? It's easy to get preoccupied with the problems and needs of the present moment and to forget the most important reality of all – God's abiding presence with us and his abundant provision for our lives as well. Do you pray with joyful confidence, Father, give us this day our daily bread?

"Lord Jesus, you alone can sustain me with your life-giving Word and Spirit. Give me joy and strength to serve you always and help me to turn away from the leaven of sin and worldliness which brings corruption and death."

Psalm 94:12-19

12 Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O LORD, and whom thou dost teach out of thy law
13 to give him respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, "My foot slips," thy steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many, thy consolations cheer my soul.



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Mark 1:40-45

Daily Reading and Meditation

Sunday (2/15): "People came to Jesus from every quarter"

Scripture: Mark 1:40-45

40 And a leper came to him beseeching him, and kneeling said to him, "If you will, you can make me clean." 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, "I will; be clean." 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, "See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people." 45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Meditation: Is there anything that holds you back from approaching the Lord Jesus with expectant faith and confidence – perhaps fear, pride, doubt, and the risk of losing your reputation or your friends? No one who sought Jesus out was refused his help. Even the untouchables and the outcasts of Jewish society found help in Jesus. Unlike the people of Jesus' time who fled at the sight of a leper, Jesus touched the leper who came to him and asked to be made clean. Why was this so remarkable? Lepers were treated as outcasts of society. Their physical condition was terrible as they slowly lost the use of their limbs and withered away with open sores over their entire bodies. They were not only shunned but regarded as “already dead” even by their relatives. The Jewish law forbade anyone from touching or approaching a leper, lest ritual defilement occur.

The leper who came to Jesus did something quite remarkable. He approached Jesus confidently and humbly, expecting that Jesus could and would heal him and make him whole again. Normally a leper would be stoned or at least warded off if he tried to come near a rabbi. Jesus not only grants the man his request, but he demonstrates the personal love, compassion, and tenderness of God in his physical touch. The medical knowledge of his day would have regarded such contact as grave risk for incurring infection. Jesus met the man’s misery with compassion and tender kindness. He communicated the love and mercy of God in a sign that spoke more eloquently than words. He touched the man and made him clean – not only physically but spiritually as well.

Some eleven centuries later, a man named Francis met a leper on the road as he journeyed towards Assisi. “Though the leper caused him no small disgust and horror, he nonetheless, got off the horse and prepared to kiss the leper. But when the leper put out his hand as though to receive something, he received money along with a kiss” (from the Life of St. Francis by Thomas of Celano). Francis did what seemed humanly impossible because he was filled with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is ready to heal us and free us from fear, prejudice, and anything else that might hold us back from approaching others with selfless love and concern for their welfare. Paul the Apostle tells us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit sets us free to love as God loves – with mercy, kindness, goodness, and compassionate care. How do you treat your neighbor, especially those who have been rejected, mistreated, and left alone. Do you approach them with the same love and compassion which Christ has shown to you?

“May the power of your love, Lord Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your love, as you died for love of our love." (Prayer of Francis of Assisi, 13th century)

Psalm 32: 1-2, 5, 11

1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.



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