Jesus, I Trust In You!

Divine Mercy is the consequence of all we have celebrated in the Lenten and Easter Seasons.

The wounds of Christ show the world that sin and death do not have the last word.

Divine Mercy Sunday calls us to ask ourselves how we are alike and unlike the God of mercy. Do we forgive and not hold grudges? Do we go out to seek those who have sinned against us or do we constantly complain about the wrong that has been done? Do we sow peace or discord? Are we patient or are we quick to judge another’s sin?

St. Benedict calls his followers to practice “the tools of good works” in Chapter 4 of his Rule. These works are an extension of God’s mercy in the world. If we want to know how we are to follow Christ then all we must do is put them into practice.

If we wish to gauge how close we are to Christ we can reflect upon how well we practice these tools. They will be difficult and at times will call us to grow in ways we never knew were needed, but St. Benedict reminds us in the end of that same chapter that we should, “never despair of God’s mercy.” (RB 4, 74)

If mercy is the “greatest attribute of God” (St. Faustian), then it is an attribute we must constantly seek to cultivate within ourselves that we might share it with one another.

Jesus, I Trust In You!

Let Us Comfort Him

Feet have been washed, Eucharistic love has been instituted and Life is preparing to die. Jesus is arrested, Peter denies, and the world condemns. Great silence falls over the Church and the world as the tabernacles are emptied, Christ is imprisoned, and a Mother’s heart breaks.

This night is filled with a sense of wonderment, anxiety and pain. What will come tomorrow but the death of Him who gives life to the world? Our Lord sets in prison with the thoughts that tomorrow all sin will rest upon His shoulders.

Thorns which He created crown His divine head. Men which He will redeem spit in His face. Friends He has loved pretend they do not know Him. And yet His heart is full of love.

A restless night it will be. Worries for His Mother rush through His mind. Feelings of betrayal break His sacred heart. I AM thinks for a moment what it feels like to become NOT.

Sitting with Him in silence, our hearts are full of sorrow. Nothing can console us or His Mother. No sorrow has ever come upon earth like His sorrow. Tomorrow all shall be consumed in divine love, but tonight the weight of it all comes crashing down.

Jesus, let us spend this night with you if only to comfort you.

Notre Dame, pray for us!

Today the Church and the world have suffered a great loss. The Cathedral of Notre Dame has been decimated by fire. The loss of this great edifice is a reminder to us that all can be lost in a brief and unexpected moment.

It is especially difficult for this to happen during Holy Week. We inevitably have to ask ourselves why God allowed this to happen and why at this time? Although there may be numerable human explanations, we as people of faith must try to go deeper and understand why God willed or allowed this to occur. What is he saying to us? Maybe he is suggesting that in these troubled times within the Church and the world we need to turn to Our Lady all the more!

Our Lady (Notre Dame) is the surest and quickest way for us to grow closer to Christ. It is she who calls us time and again to focus on those things which are important. She reminds us that at times we must endure great pains in the hope of being cleansed of sin.

Notre Dame always leads us on the path of conversion, always assures us that we are loved, and always reminds us what the pascal mystery is about – suffering, death, and resurrection.

If we turn to her, if we pray to her, if we keep her close to our hearts we will know that although at times we must endure suffering, it will never have the last word. The edifice might stand tall while the insides are gutted but this is so that it might become a more worthy dwelling place for that which makes it holy – the Trinity.

The voices of many Parisians heard this night singing the Ave Maria reminds us that in great tragedy and seeming defeat, we must turn to Our Lady who never fails.

Notre Dame de Paris, pray for us!

Entering Deeply Into This Week

Holy Week has begun and it calls us to delve a little deeper into the liturgy of the Church so that we might experience with Christ the saving events done by him so long ago.

The only response to this week can be silence so that we might better understand and participate in the pascal mystery that plays out in the Liturgy of the Hours and Masses of this week.

The Church is at her best when she proclaims Christ in her liturgy and this time shows her beauty more then any other.

Holy Week calls us to experience with Christ the triumph of Palm Sunday, the fear, pain and anxiety of the passion, the loneliness of laying in the tomb, and the great joy of the resurrection.

More then any other time of the year we should seek to enter deeply into the mysteries the Church offers us in her liturgy. The great cosmic drama of the pascal mystery envelopes our souls if only we allow the liturgy to play out in and through us.

May Holy Week lead us ever closer to Christ!

All Guests Are Christ. No Exceptions, No Excuses!

“Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ.” (RB, 53)

This saying from St. Benedict’s Rule is one of the more famous. Many who know the Rule have heard of it and those who strive to live the Benedictine life know that hospitality is a very Benedictine quality. St. Meinrad Archabbey takes its name from the martyr of hospitality and seeks every day to provide this care to all who enter her doors.

A time like ours has a great need for hospitality. Endless news cycles tell us why we should reject the orphan, the immigrant and those not like us. Anger and fear have become virtues which hide behind the banner of Democrat and Republican. Instead of being for things we are told or even demanded to be against everything.

Those of a different color, religion, and sexual orientation are looked down upon by many who seek to make themselves feel better simply because they can say, “At least I’m not that.” And the very foundation of life is threatened by those who idolize their “rights” without considerIng the right of those who wish to be born.

Our world more then ever is in need of the Benedictine charism of seeing Christ in everyone. No distinction or qualification can be made when receiving those that come into our lives. Who they may be, what they may have done, or where they might be going is irrelevant to us if we strive to follow St. Benedicts way of life.

What surprises me more then anything is the vitriol one sees on the internet especially when coming from those who claim Christ as their savior and St. Benedict as their father. Bending over backwards, they claim that it is their duty to teach others the “truth” while living lives of hate. Praising God and condemning others in the same breath, they show the shallowness of their faith which hides behind rules and regulations that make them feel safe.

What they and others fail to understand is that as Christians we are not called to play it safe or stay within our own little boundaries in the hope of growing closer to Christ. The Benedict Option is to see all as Christ.

We are called to be challenged to see Christ in everyone – the sinner, the saint, the refugee, the illegal immigrant. We are called to see Christ in the man or woman who is living and dying with HIV/AIDS, the addict who has overdosed for the tenth time on heroine, and the woman who sells herself so that she may feed her children. We are called to see everyone who comes into our lives and the lives of others as Christ living and dying, rejoicing and in sorrow, and we are asked to respond with love. Our presence is what is asked of us. Our judgment should be reserved.

ALL GUESTS are to be received as Christ. The key word in that simple phrase is ALL. It makes no distinction and leaves no room for you or I to determine who we can or cannot allow in, for the moment we shut the door on another is the moment we slam it in Christ’s face.