Let's Drop Our Stones

How often are we like the persecutors, waiting for someone to fall? Or how often are we trying to live a life for Christ and be examples to others while they wait for us to fail or condemn us for doing good and being submissive to Christ and His Church?

I think it's safe to say that we've all experienced being on both ends of this spectrum. 

Even though we stumble and fall, how awesome is it to know that God is always with us, always there to welcome us into His arms no matter what. We have the comfort of His eternal, unconditional love. 

But we then should return this love to God. We owe it to Him, and it's the very least we can do. One of the best ways to love Christ is to love those around us here on earth. It pleases Him to see us do good for others. Instead of waiting for others to fall and being there to point our fingers or say to ourselves, "at least I'm not like THEM," we should look for the good and pray for those who are also on the difficult journey to Heaven. Let us not be like the persecutors in today's readings, ready to cast a stone, but be like Christ and love and have mercy on our brothers and sisters. 

-Amanda Kepshire

It's Never too Late

The theme that the Church sets for us in the readings today is “covenant.” These pacts or bonds are woven through the old testament- God forming agreements with his people. In this particular covenant, God promised great things to Abraham and his people. He promises descendants, a line of kings, and land. However, at the end of the first reading, God reminds Abraham of the people’s pledge: “On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.” (Gen 17:9)

Our God is a loving Father. He desires union with us. In the Old Testament, he promised land, descendants, and kingdoms. He now, through Jesus Christ, has formed a new covenant with us in which he offers us salvation! It is precisely now, at the close of Lent, when we should assess how our Lent has been. What are those small “covenants” we have formed with God over the last 40 days? Have we been faithful? If not, why?

As we know, in the Old Testament, God had to renew his covenant with Israel numerous times. In the same way, now in the New Testament, he renews his covenant with us in the Sacraments, especially in the Mass, and when we are repentant in Confession. It is never too late, whether in the shortfalls of our disciplines of Lent, our habitual sin, or broken relationships, to renew our covenant with our God. In these last days of Lent, how can I offer my own preferences, my sacrifices- to complete the great journey of Lent? Our longing is for that Easter Day, when Christ rose- for the cross was not the end. After all, it is NEVER too late to renew our relationship with God. He waits.

-Andy Day

God Is With Us

Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil;

for you are at my side.

He guides me in right paths

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk in the dark valley

I fear no evil; for you are at my side

With your rod and your staff

that give me courage.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus explains to the people the power God has over evil.

“Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

When I was younger, I took these kinds of scriptures to mean that if I followed Jesus, if I did what was right, no ill would ever come to me. If I followed the rules, God would keep me safe.

But we know, as we get older and wiser, that bad things do happen to good people. Maybe not all the time, maybe almost never. But there are times when we, the people who follow Jesus and love him, will suffer. Or we will watch other people suffer, we will watch people we know and love walk through the “valley of the shadow of death.”

The truth is that the peace and light that Jesus promises doesn’t mean we will never suffer, but that our suffering will never be more than we can endure. Somehow, even in the face of tragedy and sadness, Jesus is there. The peace he brings is all we need. Whatever it is -- a small inconvenience, a great injustice -- Jesus is there for us, offering whatever comfort we need.

And Jesus knows suffering. As we will witness during Holy Week, Jesus faced almost unbearable fear and suffering -- and he didn’t want it! He begged his father to let the cup pass, if it was at all possible.

But it wasn’t. His suffering had to be endured, for the sake of us all. And because of that, Jesus did what he needed to do.

Jesus knew suffering. He understands it. He doesn’t claim that it is easy or fun, but what he promises is peace and grace to endure whatever we must. In the end, none of it is more than we can handle, because Jesus is there with us, holding our hand as we walk the way.

-Rachel Swenson Balducci

Pope Francis!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I thought it would be awesome to share the words of our new and awesome Pope!!

Click here to see  the Excitement before the Angelus!

Pope Francis: First Angelus Message - On Forgiveness


VATICAN CITY, March 17, 2013 (Zenit.org) -

Here is the translation of Pope Francis' Angelus address given today at St. Peter's Square. * * * Brothers and sisters, hello! After the first meeting last Wednesday, today I can again offer my greeting to everyone! And I am glad to do it on Sunday, the Lords day! This is beautiful and important for us Christians: coming together on Sunday, greeting each other, talking with each other like we are doing now here in the piazza; a piazza that, thanks to the media, has the dimensions of the world. On this fifth Sunday of Lent, the Gospel presents us with the episode of the adulterous woman (cf. John 8:1-11), who Jesus saves from the death sentence. Jesus attitude is striking: we do not hear words of scorn, we do not hear words of condemnation, but only words of love, of mercy, that invite us to conversion. Neither do I condemn you: go and sin no more! (8:11). Well, brothers and sisters, the face of God is that of a merciful father, who always has patience. Have you thought about Gods patience, the patience that he has for each of us? That is his mercy. He always has patience, patience with us, he understands us, he waits for us, he does not weary of forgiving us if we know how to return to him with a contrite heart. Great is the mercy of the Lord, the Psalm says.

 These last several days I have been able to read a book by a cardinal Cardinal Kasper, a smart theologian, a good theologian on mercy. And it did me much good that book, but dont think that I am advertising the books of my cardinals! It is not that way! But it did me much good, much good... Cardinal Kasper said that hearing the word mercy, this word changes everything. It is the best word we can hear: it changes the world. A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just. We need to rightly understand this mercy of God, this merciful Father, who has a lot of patience ... Let us remember the prophet Isaiah, who says that even if our sins are bright red, Gods mercy can make them white as snow. Mercy is beautiful! I remember, when I had just become a bishop, in the year 1992, Our Lady of Fatima had just arrived in Buenos Aires and there was a big Mass for the sick. I went to hear confessions at that Mass. And near the end of the Mass I got up, because I had to administer holy oil. An old lady came to me, a humble lady, very humble, over 80 years old/ I looked at her and I said to her: Grandma, because in our country this is what we call old people: Grandma do you want to go to confession? Yes, she said to me. But if you havent sinned..., [I said]. And she said to me: We have all sinned... . But maybe the Lord does not forgive them... [I replied]. The Lord forgives everything, she told me, certain of what she was saying. But how do you know that, madam? If the Lord did not forgive everything, [she said], the world wouldnt exist. I felt like asking her, Tell me, madam, did you study at the Gregorian? because thats the wisdom that the Holy Spirit gives: interior wisdom about the mercy of God.

 Let us not forget this: God never wearies of forgiving us, never! So, father, whats the problem? Well, the problem is that we grow weary, we do not want to, we tire of asking for forgiveness. He never tires of forgiving, but we, at times, we tire of aski ng forgiveness. Let us never tire, let us never tire! He is the loving Father, who always forgives, who has that heart of mercy for all of us. And we too learn to be merciful with everyone. We invoke the intercession of Our Lady who held in her arms the Mercy of God made man. Now let us all together pray the Angelus. [Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted those present in Italian.] I offer a cordial greeting to all the pilgrims. Thanks for your welcome and for your prayers. I ask you to pray for me. I renew my embrace of the faithful of Rome and I extend it to all of you, who come from various parts of Italy and of the world, and to those who are joining through different media. I chose the name of the Patron of Italy, St. Francis of Assisi, and that reinforces my spiritual bond with this land, where as you know my family has its origins. But Jesus has called us to be part of a new family: his Church, this family of God, walking together along the way of the Gospel. May the Lord bless you, may Our Lady protect you. Do not forget this: the Lord never wearies of forgiving! We are the ones who weary of asking for forgiveness. Have a good Sunday and a good lunch! [Translation by Joseph Trabbic]

-Shared by Caitlin Mulcahy

Playing Pharisee

So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the Law, is accursed.” –John 7:45-49

During the time of Jesus, Judaism was divided up into different factions or “parties,” such as the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. The Pharisees were mainly scholars and theologians who prided themselves on their knowledge of Jewish ritual Law known as the Torah, which it was their job to interpret and offer judgment. They were considered the “experts” Yet, for all their knowledge and learning, in today’s Gospel reading, the Pharisees refuse to believe in the teachings and authority of Jesus because He is not from their faction.

We can often be modern day Pharisees.

Do we confined our evangelization efforts just to people with whom we are comfortable with, or with whom we share the same interests? Have we secretly (or nor so secretly) judged other people because they aren’t coming to Bible study, or are not as involved at church or don’t understand a particular aspect of Catholic teaching and decided that they are not as “good” Catholics as we are or not dedicated enough to being a disciple of Christ?  Have we ignored what the shy person in Bible study who reads softly and slowly has to say, in favor of the guy who can quote chapter and verse and seems more “learned?”   If we can answer to yes to any one of these questions (and most of us can), we are guilty of being like the Pharisees, which we do not want to be. Not only did they completely miss who Jesus really was, in the end they handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified. We do not want to miss out on something important God might be trying to tell us, because it comes from the “wrong” person or group.

Today, we celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick. (Traditionally St. Patrick’s Day is the 17^th but since it falls on Sunday in Lent, the bishop of Savannah has moved the celebration back one day.) At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken from the coast of his native Wales by Irish raiders, who sold him as a slave to an Irish chieftain named Milchu. Patrick spent six years tending Milchu’s sheep, until he was instructed in a dream to escape from Ireland, a feat he accomplished with a substantial amount of divine help. Back home in Wales, Patrick felt the call to be ordained and return to Ireland in order to bring the message of the Gospel to the Irish people, which he did in 431 A.D. As a former slave, Patrick would have definitely been the “wrong” person to listen to. In fact, Patrick’s former master, Milchu, actually sent his house on fire with him in it, to avoid the disgrace of having his former slave preach to him! Fortunately, many of the Irish did not follow his example, and instead accepted Patrick’s evangelization efforts, so that by the saint’s death thirty years later, Ireland was well on its to becoming a staunchly Catholic country.

God often sends the “wrong” person to deliver a life-giving message. Don’t be like Milchu. Don’t be a Pharisee. Take time to listen and prayerfully consider what God might be telling you.

About the Author

Thomas McIntyre is a 2012 graduate of Georgia Southern University. He has recently returned to his alma mater to pursue a Master’s Degree in History, and is in his first semester as a graduate student. In addition to classical and ecclesiastical history, his interests include theology, philosophy, dead languages and classic rock music. 

A life less ordinary… A life extraordinary

“Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;

he sets himself against our doings,

Reproaches us for transgressions of the law

and charges us with violations of our training.”

Wisdom 2:12

When we are faced with the truth, and we are in the wrong, how often is our natural reaction to lash out in anger? We do not want to be wrong. We do not want others to know we are wrong. And we certainly do not want others to tell us that we are wrong! So what do we do? We pick on, or make fun of, the “goody two shoes” who is telling us we are wrong.  Why? “Because he is obnoxious to us.” Or because he is calling us to a higher standard than we are currently calling ourselves to, and we want to rebel against that.

“To us he is the censure of our thoughts;

merely to see him is a hardship for us,

Because his life is not like that of others,

and different are his ways.”

Wisdom 2:14-15

We all have holy, virtuous, good people in our lives. You know who they are. The people who make you want to be a better person. And I am sure we have all experienced at one time or another, a time when we may have done something wrong, or said something wrong, in the presence of someone whom we admire like that. How do you feel? Ashamed. Little. Like a disappointment, maybe.

Darkness and light cannot occupy the same space. It is impossible – darkness is the absence of light. In the same way, good and evil cannot occupy the same space. When someone is living in sin, and is actively choosing that, even just to be in the presence of someone living a life of virtue is difficult. Because they know that they were made for more than that. That they are better than that.

We should strive to be this kind of person – whose “life is not like that of others.” Not in a negative way, but in the way that causes other people to want to be better. In the way that calls our friends to a higher standard. Proverbs 27:17 tells us: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” We need each other to grow in holiness and virtue. So be the kind of man or woman that helps to sharpen your friends! Live an extraordinary life. Be a saint!

-Katie DiFato

Taking the Trinity Personally since 325

“Three Persons, one Nature” – we take this formula for granted.  But such wasn’t always the case.  In the first few centuries of Christianity, this was still under contention, and the early Fathers of the Church were struggling to articulate it.

The Fathers realized that belief in the Trinity consists of realizing that somehow God is three, without rejecting the Old Testament’s central assertion that God is One.  Passages like today’s Gospel were the building blocks for this doctrine.  Simply put, they show us that (in the words of Pope Emeritus BXVI) “there is a ‘we’ in God:” there is a dialogue in God, a back and forth between more than one something.  

This stands in very strong contrast to the history of thought that preceded the early Church Fathers.  As heirs to the spiritual legacy of Israel, they knew that the New Testament certainly did not reveal a multiplicity of Gods, and as heirs to the philosophical legacy of the Greeks, they knew that God could not be a composite of multiple pieces.  But in the revelation of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God had revealed some kind of threeness in Himself, and they had to grapple with this.

In their efforts to articulate this “God is three” and “God is one” coherently, the Fathers adopted and developed a concept that has been indispensable to theology and philosophy ever since – the concept of person.

Nowadays, because of the way it was treated in Modern philosophy, our idea of person tends to be more individualistic.  But in today’s Gospel, Jesus expresses His identity as the Person of The Son and illuminates the Divine perspective.

Jesus says that he can’t do anything without The Father, that he only does what he sees The Father doing, that he only seeks The Father’s will, and that he is given his very life by The Father.  Elsewhere in John, he goes so far as to say, “The Father and I are One.” (John 10:30)  In short, his whole identity is defined with regard to The Father. But he never says “I am The Father;” not in John or in any Gospel: he is a distinct person.

What Jesus expresses, then, is His relationship with the Father: a relationship so profound that in it, He and the Father are truly One.  Our relationships, in friendship or romance or family or whatever their nature, unite us with one another.  But no matter how close they bring us, they can provide only a tiny glimpse of the reality that is relationship in God.  In the perfect unity of their relationship, the Three Persons are truly One God.  The complete intimacy of Father and Son that Jesus expresses today give us insight into this truth.

So we come to ourselves: if, in God, being a person is defined as being in relationship, and we are made in His image, then we can’t fully be what we are without being in relationship – relationship with one another and above all with Jesus, who invites us into the intimate life of the Trinity today, saying “whoever hears my Word and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life.”