Author: Fr. John

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When Jesus came into Jerusalem the people cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!” Hosanna is a Hebrew expression which means “save”, so the people were calling Jesus, Savior, thinking he was a warrior king that would release them from the bondage of the Romans. But Jesus, when he road into town, wasn’t riding a war chariot or a tank or an F-15. Jesus was riding a donkey, which was not only a fulfillment of prophecy, but a sign of peace.

The people forgot that earlier Jesus had taught them by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. The pure in heart. Peacemakers. Persecuted.”

Not only this, but the people forgot the words spoken of the Christ by the prophet Isaiah, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.”

Love. Mercy. Meekness. Righteous. Purity. Blessed. Peacemaker. Wonderful. Counselor.

What part of this would make them think that Jesus was a revolutionary, intent on overthrowing the government? What part of this said anything like that? Yet, when Jesus did not fulfill the peoples desires, their hearts turned against Him. Among them was one of the twelve, Judas son of Simon Iscariot, who would later regret his actions, but because of his great disappointment, betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

If he is not going to be our warrior king, then what good is he? He can’t even save himself, so how could he possibly expect to save us? What kind of king is this? To heck with mercy and peacemakers! What good is all this talk of loving your enemy, when your enemy has got a sword in your back?

When Jesus made his entry into Jerusalem the people forgot what Jesus was truly about. They forgot that his kingdom was not of this world. They forgot that not only would he eventually give them true freedom from those who oppressed them, but that he would also give them freedom from death itself.

When Jesus stood before Pilate and the crowds, the people forgot the teachings, miracles, the raising of Lazarus, and all the rest. So they cried out, “Crucify Him.”

I won’t try and answer these questions for you, but what expectations have you placed upon Jesus? He has given you eternal life, do you expect more? And, if He does not meet your expectations, will you abandon Him? If He doesn’t give you what you desire, will you betray Him? I don’t for a second believe that any of you would, but I think we should recognize that there is probably a little bit of Judas in all. So, we must remember to never look to Jesus simply for the “gifts” he gives. Instead, we look to him, we love him for who he is – God – and for what he has already done – saved. My friend Thomas à Kempis writes, “A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.” Our relationship with Jesus is not about what he does. It is about His love for us and our love for Him. Everything else is truly irrelevant.

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I’ve shared with you in the past that many a redneck’s last words were, “Here, hold my beer.” It’s true, and I think most of us have attended parties where someone was at the point of doing something equally as stupid. Well, in today’s Gospel reading, alcohol was not involved, but that didn’t stop Mary from getting way out of control.

We aren’t sure how long prior to today’s episode that Lazarus was raised from the dead, but between the raising of Lazarus and today’s events, we are told that the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish council, had come together and decided to find a reason to put Jesus to death. They were afraid that since he was gaining such popularity, especially following the raising of Lazarus, that the Romans would come and persecute them all. It is here that we have that prophetic passage from Caiaphas, the Chief Priest: “It is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” Because of this, Jesus was no longer able to go around in public. However many days later, we come to today’s episode. A party or gathering at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’ house. As before, Martha busied herself making and serving supper, and Mary took her place near Jesus. Following the meal, “Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”

Now, there is a litany of purity laws, customs, manners, and everything else that tell us what Mary did was a big ‘no no.’ Women don’t touch men, especially a rabbi. Women don’t let down their hair or run around with it uncovered, even in their own home. And oh, by the way, where did a woman come up with a year’s wages to buy such an expensive gift? Even today, what Mary did, wouldn’t go over real well at most parties (although I’m sure there are a few fellas who wouldn’t mind giving it a go). In the reading, Judas was the only one who protested, but it is reasonable to believe that, at the time, everyone else probably agreed with him. Woman, what are you doing? A whole litany of charges we could bring against Mary. It was definitely a “Here, hold my beer” moment.

I sat down this week to write this sermon, and that is exactly the sermon I was going to write, but as I read, what I discovered was that most of the early church Fathers and Mothers, and the commentators that I respect today, they could care less about that. If they mention the litany of charges against Mary at all, it is only in passing. Why? Because they can’t get past how much Mary must have loved Jesus, adored Jesus, how she gave everything she possibly could to Jesus. They can’t stop talking about her humility in anointing the Lord’s feet with perfume and wiping them with her hair. They speak about how Mary glorified God and she truly worshipped Jesus, and how the fragrance of that worship filled the house. I have to wonder if I have ever worshipped in such a manner, that the fragrance of my praise was noticeable to others.

I think this is where we can go wrong in our life with God. I’m even beginning to think it is one of the ways that I have not led you correctly. This God business is a very serious business. It is truly a matter of life and death, so I’m always pushing myself and others to pray more, learn more, read more… dig in and go to work that you may enter into a deeper relationship with God, but here’s the thing: our relationship with God is supposed to be more about loving God as Mary did. Adoring God as Mary did. Filling the air with the fragrance of our worship as Mary did. If all we do is read, study, and work harder attempting to be holy as he is holy, then we miss out. We miss out on purely and simply enjoying our God. Of sitting at his feet and just being with him for the sheer pleasure of it all.

I want to say, “God, help me to more fully understand grace. Teach me about the mystery of the Eucharist. Show me how I might serve you and your Church more fully.” There is nothing wrong with desiring these things, but every now and then, I think when I come to Jesus with these request, he says to me, “Hey, John, come here, I want to show you something.” And I’m think it is going to be the unveiling of some great revelation, but instead, when he has my full attention, he points and says, “Isn’t that a beautiful flower.” “Yes,” I say a bit taken aback. And then Jesus says the most remarkable thing. “How about we just sit and enjoy it together. After all, I made it for you.” That is worship. That is praise. Simply being with God and taking joy in his presence.

In The Joyful Christian, C.S. Lewis wrote: “To praise God fully we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God, drowned in, dissolved by that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression…. The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”

Today, I’m not imploring you to study Holy Scripture more, to go to confession, to pray more earnestly, to give to the church in support of ministry… I’m not asking you to do any of these things. In fact, today, I’m not asking you to do anything. Instead, I’m giving you an opportunity and it is this: enjoy God. Love God. Like a child tells a parent or a man or woman tells their spouse, tell God of your love for Him. Let down your hair and worship the Lord your God. Enjoy the flowers. And let the fragrance of your love for the Savior fill the air in joyful praise and worship.

Let us pray (this is Canticle 13 from morning prayer, A Song of Praise or Song of the Three Young Men / Benedictus es, Domine)

Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers; *
you are worthy of praise; glory to you.
Glory to you for the radiance of your holy Name; *
we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.
Glory to you in the splendor of your temple; *
on the throne of your majesty, glory to you.
Glory to you, seated between the Cherubim; *
we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.
Glory to you, beholding the depths; *
in the high vault of heaven, glory to you.
Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; *
we will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.
Amen.

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Following the service, a young man who was soon to be ordained a priest found himself alone in the sacristy with the Bishop.  Unsure of what to say, he thought to compliment the Bishop: “Your Grace, that was a great sermon, at times I couldn’t tell when you were talking about God and when you were talking about bishops.”

The Bishop responded, “Young man, in your situation, you would do well to blur the distinction.”

I suppose we all sometimes begin to think we’re just a tad bit better than we think we are.  As we’ve discussed before, we compare ourselves to others.  Everything from our station in society to our work or the car we drive, is a possible point of comparison, so when we look at someone else’s life or things, if we are not careful, we can find ourselves either coveting or judging ourselves better than the other.  In Scripture, Jesus also demonstrates how we compare ourselves with regard to our spiritual lives.  You’ll recall the religious leader who went into the Temple to pray and first began by thinking very well of himself before God, then turned, and looking behind him saw a tax collector and said to God, “I’m sure glad I’m not a pathetic loser like him.”  Today’s Gospel is making a similar point. 

Pilgrims from Galilee had been traveling to the Holy City of Jerusalem.  Pilate, being the nutcase that he is, believed them ready to start a rebellion, so he sent out his guards and had them butchered.  Jesus response, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?”  Put another way, “Because they were killed in such a way, do you think they were worse sinners than you?  Do you think you are better than them?”  Jesus answers his own question: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”  In other words, unless you repent, disaster will fall upon you as well, whether in this life or the next.  Same is true of those eighteen that the tower fell on.  Were they far greater sinners than the residents of Jerusalem?  Were they more deserving of such a death?  No, but disaster awaits all those that do not repent.

At the time, and even today, we can mistakenly believe that those who suffer from disaster are deserving, but as Jesus says, The Lord, “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”  But, in the context of our reading, the blessings and or disasters of this life, are not a sign or promise of the next, that is why all, the righteous and the unrighteous are called to repent.  You know the verse well, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” but as an aside, whenever you hear or quote that verse, remember that you are only quoting a portion of the sentence.  The whole sentence is this, “There is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.”  We are now justified by God’s grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  All have sinned, but through grace and faith in Jesus, we are redeemed.  You can’t say the one “A” word, but you can say “Amen!”  Even in Lent there is Good News.

Having been with you all long enough, I don’t see any of you acting like the Pharisee in the Temple, that is, looking at your neighbor in the pew and thinking, “I’m glad I’m not like that loser.”  If anything, I believe we look at one another and wish we could be as righteous as our neighbor in the pew.  The truth is, we all struggle with sin and we are all working to overcome it.  We don’t gather in church because we’re the holiest of holies.  We gather in this place because we are sinners in need of grace that comes only from a loving God.  I’ve shared this with you before, but it is worth hearing many times.  It is from the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey: “The Church is not the society of those labelled virtuous. It is the mixed community of sinners called to be saints. When I say in the Creed, ‘I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,’ I am saying that I believe that there is a divine society, and the risen Christ is the glory in the midst of it, and the Holy Spirit is at work within it. Wherever its members respond to the reality about themselves and their calling, the marks of saintliness do indeed begin to appear.”

When we gather, if we will humbly respond to the reality about ourselves, that is our sinfulness, and if we will confess those sins, then the signs of God’s glory and the Risen Christ will begin to appear in our midst.

Let us pray: Come, Holy Spirit.  Straighten our crookedness. Fill our emptiness.  Dull the edge of our pride.  Sharpen the edge of our humility.  Light the fires of our love.  Quench the flames of our desires.  Let us see ourselves as you see us That we may see You.  Amen.

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If you believe that the Pater Nostre (aka: the Our Father) is rightly placed at the end of the Eucharistic prayer and if you believe that the correct way to receive the bread during the Eucharist is with the right hand supported by the left hand, both opened, then you can look up to Heaven and say, “Thank you, St. Cyril of Jerusalem.”  He is also the one we can thank for giving us many of the liturgies from Palm Sunday through Easter, and the forms he wrote had great influence over the liturgies in our current Book of Common Prayer.

He was born and lived in Jerusalem during the forth century and later became Bishop of that great city, although at the time, the city had fallen into quite a disreputable state.  Even so, many still went on pilgrimage to the holy sites and as a way to organize the events, Cyril developed the liturgies around Holy Week.  He also provided multiple catechisms for the instruction of those being baptized into the faith, which at the time and to the present day are quite popular, as he had quite the zeal for the sacraments.  For example, with regard to baptism, he wrote:

“This is in truth a serious matter, brethren, and you must approach it with good heed.  Each one of you is about to be presented to God before tens of thousands of the Angelic Hosts:  the Holy Ghost is about to seal your souls:  ye are to be enrolled in the army of the Great King.  Therefore make you ready, and equip yourselves, by putting on I mean, not bright apparel, but piety of soul with a good conscience.  Regard not the Laver as simple water, but rather regard the spiritual grace that is given with the water.  For just as the offerings brought to the heathen altars, though simple in their nature, become defiled by the invocation of the idols, so contrariwise the simple water having received the invocation of the Holy Ghost, and of Christ, and of the Father, acquires a new power of holiness.” (source)

It was this zeal that made his teaching so popular, leading even the faithful to attend and hear.

At his election to Bishop of Jerusalem, a bright cross appeared in the sky of Jerusalem that was seen by all and taken as a sign of God’s approval of the election.  In 1882 he was named a Doctor of the Church, along with others such as Gregory the Great, Augustine of Hippo, and Teresa of Ávila.

Jesus said to his disciples, “‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you– that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”  Cyril also opened the minds of many to the meaning of the scriptures and their significance to the teachings of the church.  In a similar fashion, we are called to continue this practice by providing instruction to the youth of our community and to those who are new to the faith, that they too might grow into a deeper knowledge of the Lord.

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Forbes magazine ran a list of some of the most interesting excuses for missing work. Things like:
– I just put a casserole in the oven.
– My plastic surgery needed some “tweaking” to get it just right.
– I had been at the casino all weekend and still had money left to play with on Monday morning.
– I had a gall stone I wanted to heal holistically.

My two favorite:
– I woke up in a good mood and didn’t want to ruin it.
– I accidentally got on a plane.

From our Gospel reading: “Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.’”

The reading speaks very clearly about the mission and work of Jesus, and, “On the third day” is a clear reference to the resurrection when this work was complete. However, in reading this passage, I was really struck by the idea of work, the work that Jesus was accomplishing, which called to mind the work we each perform. And, when I say ‘work,’ I’m talking about our jobs: teachers, lawyers, laborers, pilots, mothers, EMTs, you name it.

Some of you all are retired and some have not yet entered the workforce, in addition, a sermon on work may seem like an odd topic, but given that we spend at least a third of our lives working, perhaps the topic isn’t too odd after all. And, what we must understand—contrary to popular culture—is that the primary purpose of our work is not our income. “Fr. John done went and lost his mind!” Nope. And I’ll say it again: the primary purpose of our work is not an income. If that is true, which it should be, then what is?

From our Gospel, Herod was already looking for this trouble maker, Jesus, to kill him, and the Pharisees told Jesus of Herod’s intent. For me—and maybe I’m just a softy of a boss—but having someone threatening to kill you seems like a fairly legitimate excuse for missing work, but Jesus wasn’t buying it and didn’t let it deter him. He said to the Pharisees, “Look. I can’t be bothered with that. I’ve got things to do. I’ve got work to do.” And this work has nothing to do with money. That is not what motivated Jesus. On the night before he was crucified, Jesus prayed, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’” Again, Jesus prays, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” The soul purpose of Jesus’ work was not a salary, it was “to glorify the Father.” Question: if the soul purpose of the work of the one whom we claim to follow was to glorify the Father, then shouldn’t this be the guiding purpose of our work as well?

Don’t misunderstand, I know that we have to eat, put a roof over our heads, care for the family, all the other responsibilities we have, but we must also keep in mind the parable Jesus told about the man who had a surplus crop. He built himself extra barns to store it in and said to himself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ Jesus said, “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

In the work we perform we are to have as the guiding purpose of that work the same guiding purpose as Jesus—the glory of the Father: for the love of God. If God chooses to bless us with an abundance… well, that is a sermon for another day. However, the fruits of making the glory of God our primary purpose of work are numerous: there is commitment and pride in doing a job well, there is joy in knowing that all our works —menial or great—are for God, there is resolve in knowing we serve God, society, and one another, and so much more.

My friend St. Josemaría Escrivá writes, “Let me stress this point: it is in the simplicity of your ordinary work, in the monotonous details of each day, that you have to find the secret, which is hidden from so many, of something great and new: Love.” (Furrow #489) What does this look like?

A deacon whose faith had been revitalized during a service came to the priest to tell her he was now ready to live for Jesus and available for service. The priest prayed with him, thanked him, and assured him that he would be called upon. Later that same night a widowed mother in the church called the priest and said she was desperate for a ride for her young son to the hospital the next day for a long-scheduled appointment with a specialist doctor. The hospital was 50 miles away in the city, and her ride had fallen through. The priest, smiling to herself at the seemingly providential provision of God, called the deacon and asked him to take this task. At first, the deacon protested that he would have to take a half-day off of work, but relented under the priest’s gentle reminder that he had wanted to serve.

So the deacon arranged the time off work and went to the woman’s house the next morning. The mother was unable to go because of her other children, so he carried the little boy out to his pickup and set him down beside him in the seat. When they had driven awhile, the boy said, “You’re God, aren’t you?” The deacon said, “No, of course not. Why would you say that?” The boy said, “Last night I heard my mother praying to God to send someone to take me to the hospital. I thought you must be God.” The boy was quiet for a minute, and then he said, “If you’re not God, then you work for him. Right?”

The deacon responded, “Now more than ever, son. Now more than ever.”

In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul writes, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.”

No matter your calling in this world: whether you’re volunteering, working for a salary, studying for a test, let all your efforts be seasoned with love and perform this work with joy and to the very best of your abilities, with your soul purpose being the glory of God.

Let us pray:
O Lord, my God,
Creator and Ruler of the universe,
it is Your Will that human beings accept the duty of work. May the work we do bring growth in this life to us
and those we love and help to extend the Kingdom of Christ. Give all persons work that draws them to You
and to each other in cheerful service.
We unite all our works with the Sacrifice of Jesus
in the Mass that it may be pleasing to You and give You glory. We pray
Your Blessings upon all our efforts.
With the Saints as our example and guides,
help us to do the work You have asked
and come to the reward You have prepared.
Amen.

The podcast is available here.

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Coming quickly on the heels of “Hey, Siri”, the Apple virtual assistant that allows you to ask everything from the weather forecast to “Why is the sky blue,” is the virtual assistant from Amazon: Alexa. Alexa is this little device that you can setup in your home and she’ll do everything from tell you a joke to arm your security system. As she is from Amazon, she’ll also help you shop and let you know when your packages are delivered through her notification system. For example, you ask Alexa, “What are my notifications?” and she’ll respond, “You have one new notification: such and such is in.” Such and such can be anything from the title of a book to a 12 pack of canned mackerel. “You have one new notification: 12 pack of canned mackerel is in.” Hold that thought…

Just like any other book, theological books will often have catchy titles in order to get you to take more than a cursory look, especially when it comes to exceptionally dry topics such as moral and ethical theology, which is more a logic game than anything. Well, as it turns out, Janie ordered a book from Amazon on just that topic, so when I got home on Monday, Alexa had a new notification. I asked: Alexa, what are my notifications. She answered: You have one new notification: Dirt, Greed, and Sex is in. After spewing coffee across the kitchen, I told Alexa, You’ve know idea!

Dirt, greed, and sex are in, they are always in, and in one form or another, they are what draw us from God and into a life of sin; and they have managed to bring down so many, because they always wanted more or something that they couldn’t have. To one degree or another, that is true for all of us.

I look at the sins that Jesus was tempted with while in the wilderness: turning stones into bread, authority and power over the nations of the world, throwing himself off the pinnacle of the temple… I look at these sins and realize they are not the sins that would really trip me up. They are above my pay grade and I know it, but as one of my friends in Montana liked to point out, the Devil only has so many tricks, the problem is that we so often fall for them, time and time again. So if that is true, then perhaps the temptations of Jesus are in fact my temptations.

Turning stones into bread, I’m not looking to accomplish that unless Harry Potter teaches me a spell of transfiguration, but I am guilty of seeking ways to serve myself instead of relying on God to provide. I have no aspirations to rule the world, but there are times when I would be very pleased to have free reign over my own microcosm of the world, taking what I want and doing with it as I like. And I’m not going to throw myself off one of the downtown towers, but I can be easily tempted to abuse the gifts that God has given for personal gain. So, in truth, we are all tempted as Jesus was, but those temptations are tailor made for each of us. Whether it be dirt, greed, sex, or so many other forms, the one who tempted Jesus will come after us, and if he is not successful at one time, then he will come calling again. As the Scripture said after the Devil tempted Jesus, “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.” He is relentless in his pursuit of you and although his tricks may be limited, he’s got one tailor made for you that will fit perfectly. So, when he comes our way, how are we to overcome the temptations as Jesus did?

From Jesus example, I think there are three main areas of focus, and the first is not to argue with the Devil. He’s been at this business of deception a lot longer than you have and he knows all the tricks and when we begin to argue with him, instead of defeating him, we more often than not will end up justifying our actions. Simple example: Hey, Fr. John, have a cookie. I can’t, trying to drop a few. But you did already. You weighed this morning and you were down several. One cookie won’t hurt. Think of it as a reward. And… one box of Girl Scout Cookies later, I am sufficiently rewarded. Eating a cookie isn’t a sin (thanks be to God!), but when we are tempted to sin, we can’t win by arguing, that is only entertaining the idea even more, instead, as soon as we recognize the temptation, we must quickly and without hesitation dismiss it and move on.

The second way of overcoming the temptation is to listen to the voice that is speaking to us and learn to discern who it is directing us. This can at times be difficult, for as Paul teaches us “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” At times, the voice that is directing us can sound very much like God, when in truth, it is not. Discern and test what you hear against what you know of the nature of God. Is this word, are these actions in concert with the Word of God and the teachings of Jesus, or is there some subtle discord?

Finally, and this is what makes the first and second way to overcome temptation possible: fall deeper in love with God. St. James spells it out nicely: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” Enter into a deeper relationship with God and God will do the same for you. He will be near to you on the day of battle and assist you in overcoming evil.

Alexa is right: dirt, greed, sex, and many other temptations are in, so don’t argue with the Deceiver, listen for the voice of the Lord, and draw into a deeper relationship with Him who loves you and was able to overcome all temptations. From St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” So that on the day of trial, you may stand.

Let us pray: Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The podcast is available here

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One of the fables of Aesop tells the story of a man, a boy, and a donkey. An elderly man was traveling with a boy and a donkey. As they walked through a village, the man was leading the donkey and the boy was walking behind. The townspeople said the old man was a fool for not riding, so to please them he climbed up on the animal’s back. When they came to the next village, the people said the old man was cruel to let the child walk while he enjoyed the ride. So, to please them, he got off and set the boy on the animal’s back and continued on his way. In the third village, people accused the child of being lazy for making the old man walk, and the suggestion was made that they both ride. So the man climbed on and they set off again. In the fourth village, the townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the donkey because he was made to carry two people. So the boy and the man strapped the donkey to a pole by his feet and began to carry the donkey. Unfortunately, when they came to a bridge, the boy tripped, sending the donkey into the river below where he drowned.

We would like to say that we aren’t like this, always trying to please others, but there is something in our makeup that seeks the approval of others.  So often, we have this fear of failing in the eyes of those around.  That’s the reason why, when you do something really well, it’s not the 100 compliments that keep you up at night, but that one criticism can keep your mind running until 4:00 a.m.  We seek the approval of others, and in doing so, we become hypocrites (the origin of that word means ‘actor’).  We become actors on a stage and our lives become spectacles and productions for others, seeking the audience’s approval.  That’s what Jesus was speaking about in our Gospel.

Jesus said, the hypocrites/actors like to practice their piety, their holiness before others, as on a stage, “so that they may be praised by others… so that they may be seen by others… so as to show others” how holy they are.  But Jesus tells us that when we practice our holiness there should only be one who observes us, and that is God.  When we perform as actors, we will very often end up not only carrying the donkey, but looking like one as well.  Whereas, when we practice our faith before God alone, he observes our efforts—feeble as they may be—and rewards us.

My friend Thomas à Kempis writes, “Who are you, then, that you should be afraid of mortal man? Today he is here, tomorrow he is not seen. Fear God and you will not be afraid of the terrors of men. What can anyone do to you by word or injury? He hurts himself rather than you, and no matter who he may be he cannot escape the judgment of God. Keep God before your eyes, therefore, and do not quarrel with peevish words.”

During this Season of Lent, do not be concerned about the opinions and actions of others.  In faith, seek only God’s approval, follow the narrow path that God has placed you on, and humbly walk in his ways.

Let us pray: Lord God, Father of mercies, to You we look, in You we trust. Bless and sanctify our souls with heavenly benediction, so that we may become Your holy dwelling and the seat of Your eternal glory. And in this temple of Your dignity let nothing be found that might offend Your majesty. In Your great goodness, and in the multitude of Your mercies, look upon us and listen to the prayers of Your poor servants exiled from You in the region of the shadow of death. Protect and preserve the souls of Your poor servants among the many dangers of this corruptible life, and direct us by Your accompanying grace, through the ways of peace, to the land of everlasting light.  Amen  (The Imitation of Christ, Bk. 3, Ch. 59)