If you watch YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or videos on Facebook you are familiar with the phrase, “Watch until the end.” Or some other such advice.  I often find them frustrating because they are merely trying to get you to stay with the video long enough for it to count as a hit and drive their numbers up.  Often the “big finish” is a flop.  Yet as our Lord walked with Peter, James, and John up Mount Tabor, He was about to give just such a message.  
      Our Lord’s ministry was rapidly approaching His crucifixion and death, part of the message to the Disciples was to be assured there was something greater than they could possibly imagine waiting beyond this life.  They saw a bright light, and as their eyes adjusted, they could see our Lord talking with Moses and Elijah.  Since there were no photographs in those days, there was likely a measure of Divine inspiration given that they recognized Moses and Elijah.   Seeing our Lord and His two visitors shining with glory prompted Peter to try to capture the moment.  “Lord, let us build three booths…” Who would not want to capture the moment and hold it in time?  The coming of the cloud, a manifestation of the presence of God the Father, ended this thought and they heard the voice of the Father tell them “This is My beloved Son, Listen to Him.”
        The statement, “Listen to Him” is important, and one could easily say, “until the very end.”  One habit we sometimes have is to only hear part of what God is trying to tell us and, thinking we know where He is going with the message, run off on the assumption and completely mess up.  Consider the conversation our Lord had on the way down the mountain, telling them He was going to the Cross.  The message was so shocking they stopped listening even though He ended the statement with “…and rise again.”  The good news was there was enough to console them that even Peter, after having denied our Lord at His trial, stuck around because of the hope imparted to him during the Transfiguration.  
       We need always to stay with our Lord to the End. There was a story of a woman who loved the desserts at the church potlucks and would always lean over to her neighbor and say, keep your fork, the best is yet to come.  When she eventually died, she was buried with a fork in her hand to remind those at her funeral that “the best is yet to come.”   The importance of hearing this message during Lent is to ensure that we do not become disheartened with minor setbacks and failures and stop exercising our Lenten Fast.  The glory of Easter and the Resurrection is just around the corner, and if we are faithful to our Lord in the Fast, we will truly be able to rejoice in the Risen Lord.

Walking the way of the cross.  Every Lent we gather on Fridays to walk the Way of the Cross with our Lord. The Way of the Cross is a bit of an endurance test the first few weeks as all the standing, kneeling, and genuflecting make for very sore muscles.   Yet it is such an excellent reminder that our Lord gave everything for us, and we so often complain at so little. A little pain and a little effort on our part, when united with our Lord’s Passion can yield eternal dividends.  It requires humility, and a willingness to give all for the greater glory of God.
 
The first Gospel reading of Lent is always of our Lord’s temptation in the wilderness.  He began His earthly ministry being “driven by the Spirit” into the Wilderness.  Our Lord’s engagement with Satan began with a fast of 40 days.  Here our Lord subdued His body to His Spirit.  This is so important for us to remember because St. Augustine observes that our Lord experienced temptation to comfort us with the knowledge that He is well acquainted with our weaknesses and yet did not yield.  
 
We are reminded that Satan often comes to tempt us in our moments of great spiritual success as nothing pleases him more than to defeat us at our moment of potential victory.  Consider our Lord having completed 40 days of fasting only to have Satan come along and tempt Him to break the fast sooner than planned.  So, when we find ourselves tempted in these moments we must take a lesson from our Lord, plant our feet solidly on sacred Scripture and by the Word of God repel the attack.
 
We are also reminded that Satan likes to attack us when we are feeling weak.  Often in the Confessional I encourage the penitent to be especially vigilant for temptation and attacks when they are tired, discouraged, or otherwise weakened.   These are times Satan likes to propose short-cuts.  Satan suggested the short-cut of instant glory to our Lord without the way of the Cross and was immediately rebuffed.  Our Lord knew that only through the suffering of the Cross would the true and greater glory be attained.  We also must remember the long view, take up our own cross and follow our Lord.
 
I encourage you this Lent, take some time to review the Way of the Cross. Preferably go and participate in the way of the Cross meditating on each Station.  And then in humble love for our Lord, bend with Simon of Cyrene, take up a portion of our Lord’s Cross, and follow Him.

The importance of humility

Have you ever known someone who was thoroughly convinced of their own importance?  It is never a pleasant sight.  The Gospel of Luke relates the parable of choosing your seat at the banquet.  Our Lord instructs us never to go for the most prestigious seat, near the host, but rather to choose a lower place.  This is not false humility but a state of mind.  The Apostle Paul admonishes us: “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.”  He goes on to say, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4)

Humility is the key antidote to Pride, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.  I would suggest that Pride is the parent of all the other Deadly Sins, hence the reason we are so often encouraged to cultivate humility.  When we pursue humility, we remind ourselves that we are not the most important element.  We seek the best for others.  How many marriages would be better for such an attitude?  What great healing could be found if we were to seek the best for others.  Healing will be found in our own hearts as well.  One well known exorcist will prescribe the Litany of Humility for those experiencing depression because it implores God to grant the grace to place others before ourselves.  Focusing on the needs of others can help refocus our hearts to a more positive world view.  I would encourage everyone to pray this litany at least once this week slowly and carefully.  There will be a link on the webpage and on our Facebook page.

Does this mean that we are to walk around quoting the Psalm, “…I am a worm and not a man.”?  Not entirely.  The essential is to allow God to be the One to elevate you.  The Apostle James instructs us to “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will exalt you.”  From the day of our Baptism we should focus on walking humbly before the Lord.  Micah 6:8 tells us, “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and love kindness, and to walk humbly you’re your God.” When the day of our judgement comes, He will be the one to decide our place at the feast and we will rejoice to be present, even if our place at the table is in the far back corner.

 

We read in the book of Wisdom chapter 7 “I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.” The rich young man in Mark 10: 17-30 came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. The answer started simply enough, obey the law of God. He could easily check off these from his list. But then, Scripture tells us the Lord looked at him, and loved him. He saw within this young man the value of a soul in search of God. He also saw the greatest impediment to the young man’s salvation was his trust in possessions. Hence, in order to remove what kept him from eternity he was instructed to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and come follow Jesus. He went away crestfallen, he could not let go of his possessions.  What stands between us and eternity? Do we become sidetracked from following Christ because of hardship, or cost, or a lack of immediate reward? We are called daily to die to ourselves and take up our cross to follow Christ. Only in Him is our life complete.
 

"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" John 6:9
 
I wonder if the role of the unnamed boy is too often overlooked when considering the feeding of the 5000. It was not some super-wealthy individual who  stepped forward with donkey trains loaded with food. It was a young boy who was willing to bring the small offering of his lunch and place it in the hands of the Master.  The faith demonstrated by the unnamed boy is instructive. He did not look at his lunch and the size of the crowd, and determine that he would be laughed at, or that it would be a useless gesture and find a quiet spot to discretely nibble his lunch.
 
Have you ever asked yourself, “what good could I possibly do?” We see the situation in the world today, we see the state of the community, society, and even the church, and ask ourselves what our little contribution would be against the need.  We are all called to be faithful to God, to trust in God and to give all we have to God. We are not the ones who make the gift expand to meet the need. We are the ones who trustingly provide all that we have; it need not be large, merely given with an open heart.
 
We come to the Lord and present Him with our humble gifts of prayer, love, and service. They of themselves are like the five loaves and two fish. We present them to the hands of our Lord, He is able to multiply them to the service of the Church.