Fr. Greg

Happy Easter! This Sunday is the eighth day of the Octave of Easter, so it is still considered Easter Day itself. So keep celebrating. This Sunday is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.

 

Happy Easter! Christ is risen…He is risen indeed! Since on Easter, Jesus rose from the dead and was seen by witnesses, and we decorate our church and often homes with bright colors and flowers, I thought I’d share a visual image for you to pray with and enjoy.

 

On this Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion and as we enter Holy Week, it is so good to reflect on the account of the crucifixion of Jesus and the words he spoke. Traditionally many reflect on the “Seven Last Words of Christ.” If you look between the four Gospels, you find seven sentences Jesus speaks—three are unique to the Gospel of Luke, three to John, and one to Matthew/Mark.

 

Since this year on Palm Sunday we get the Gospel of Luke, I include what Luke writes:

 

Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. (John 8:3-4) These are a couple lines of our Gospel for the 5th Sunday of Lent. In other words, her sin was uncovered (and yes, it is most definitely not fair that the man was not also brought out on charges). Likely, being caught in the act, she probably wasn’t afforded the chance to cover up much, and likely she felt very exposed, vulnerable, ashamed and afraid.

This weekend we get the gospel reading of Jesus telling us the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We have all been prodigal sons or daughters who sinned against our Father and distanced ourselves from God. But now is the time to come back, and going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation is THE way to do it. It truly is a Sacrament about God’s mercy and compassion that brings joy to us and to God. The Father is waiting for us just like the parable:

 

Mass is boring, isn’t it? Well, if we don’t understand what is going on it certainly seems to be. It’s not entertaining. We sit, stand, and kneel at various times, and half of it seems like we’re just watching the priest do his thing up there on the altar. But hey… we don’t want to go to hell, so we show up. Week-in and week-out. We punch our card, satisfy God, and move on with our lives. 

 

This Sunday, the 2nd Sunday of Lent, we always get the account of Jesus’ Transfiguration. An ancient tradition is that this occurred forty days before Good Friday. Jesus literally shines on the mountain as he prays: “While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white.” (Luke 9:29)

 

We have begun the season of Lent, but likely much of our attention is on the news concerning Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine. We pray for peace and for all those who have died and suffered in the war, especially the innocent. We are reminded how broken our world is and of fallen human nature. Also, we should recall there is a bigger enemy and a bigger war occurring that we must fight in this Lent. As St.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus challenges us to remove the wooden beam from our own eyes first so that we may see clearly, and only then are we able to even consider removing a splinter from our brother’s eye. Did you know your pastor is literally almost blind in one eye? I have a rapid growing cataract in my right eye.

Did you know the Catholic Church is engaged in a Synod on Synodality? Synodality is term meaning the process of fraternal collaboration and discernment. The current Synod is a two-year process of listening and dialogue which began late 2021 and will conclude in 2023. As such we are invited to reflect and answer questions which will be summarized and gathered by the bigger Church. I’d invite anyone to answer any of the questions below and reply back to me at frgreg@popolathe.org. Please be as clear and brief as possible.