The 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Weekend of July 12th & 13th)

“This is God”

The command of God is not far from us Moses says. It’s not up in the sky nor across the sea. It is not too mysterious or remote. Rather it is very near. So close in fact that we can taste it like a hot pepper in the sauce or feel it like a racing heart in anticipation of a first kiss. God is that close, and it scares the “bejeebers” out of us. Our reaction?

We try to trap God, maneuver God to just where we want him. Box God up.

A scholar of the law stood up to test Jesus. How presumptuous. Yet don’t we do the same thing? God if I do A-B-C then you have to do D-E-F. Or God if I go through the motions of sacrifice, then you have to make me happy or prosperous or healthy or whatever. If God doesn’t jump through our hoop, God flunks the test. Creating little boxes, we try to mold God into our image. We try to make God safe, familiar.

There were once 3 high school buddies who at a reunion began discussing God. Each argued that God was of their particular occupation. The 1^st, a doctor, said, “God has to be a surgeon like me. Genesis says God took a rib from Adam to create Eve, clearly a surgical procedure. God is a surgeon like me.” The second friend, an engineer, said, “No God is an engineer like me. Genesis says that before God made Adam and Eve, he created the heavens and earth. Only a great engineer could do that. God is an engineer like me.” Then after a momentary pause the third friend spoke up. “No gentlemen, God has to be a lawyer like me.”  Why said the other two.  “Well,” said the lawyer, “Genesis also says that God created the heavens and the earth from chaos. Who do you think made the chaos?”

Everyone likes to think God is in their image. God loves the people I love; hates the people I hate. God must be like me we think, so we cut deals, construct boxes, and administer tests. Want to feel safe? Test God. Box him up. Try to gain control. 

But beware. Try to trap God and get trapped. Build a box for God and discover your own prison cell.

Our Gospel scholar of the law was pretty stupid. He tested Jesus with a question and any good Jew could answer. Almost from the time they can walk a Jew learns this prayer: “We shall love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and all our mind.”  The part from Leviticus 19, “love your neighbor as yourself” is just about as well known. Our law scholars test was like asking Jesus what is 2 + 2 + 1? Pretty lame as far as tests go. But then aren’t all our human attempts to pull one over on God?

There was once a pastor who loved to play golf. One Sunday morning he got up to discover that the day was perfect for golf. Air was cool, the grass glistened, the gentle breeze whispered “fore.” So, the pastor who had an associate said to himself, “I’ve been harping so hard on everyone coming to church, I know they’re all going to be there. I’ll just take the day. No one will know if I slip out and play.”  So, he wrote his associate a note telling him to take all the Masses because he wasn’t feeling well. And when the associate left the rectory to go over to church, the pastor sped off to the golf course.

And he was getting away with it; no one was the wiser except for one little angel in heaven. The Angel saw the pastor playing golf. She said, “Well will you look at that. The pastor is shirking his duty!”  The Angel got so mad she went over to God and complained. “Look at that pastor of yours God. He’s skipping out on the holy sacrifice to play golf. You’ve got to do something about it.”  “Hmm” said God, “I see what you mean.”

So, the pastor set up his first shot. A beautiful drive. Straight and long. He followed it up with a shot that put the ball right into the cup. Hole after hole he had a miraculous game. Birdies, eagles, holes in one. It was the greatest game of golf ever played. “Look at that” the angel said, “aren’t you going to do something?” “I already did” said the Almighty. “What do you mean?” asked the angel. “He just played the greatest game of golf in the history of the world.” God replied, “Yeah, but who’s he going to tell?”

God will not be trapped. Will not be manipulated. Will not be hoodwinked. Our scholar tried to test Jesus but, in the end, found himself struggling to justify his existence. Who then is my neighbor? Snap! Like a crazy coyote chasing after the roadrunner our scholar is snared. Try as we might God cannot be made to jump through our hoops.

Try to trap God and get trapped. Seek control and lose it. Try to justify ourselves and be lost.

God alone justifies. God alone sets us free from our self-created prisons. God alone is in control.

We hear the parable of the Good Samaritan and immediately we began to speculate on a plethora of questions. Am I like the priest? Am I like the Levite? Am I like the Samaritan? Should I have given money to the vagrant with the cardboard sign at the stoplight today? Have I been as charitable as I could have been? Am I prejudiced? Do I love enough? Do I hate anyone? All good questions. Many fine homilies I’m sure have been delivered exploring them. But what if there’s another way to experience this parable of Jesus?

Saint Paul wrote in Colossians that “Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” When we see Jesus, we see God. Jesus when he tells the parable is not just telling us a story with a catchy punch line. Jesus is revealing who God is. He is showing us that he is God.

Who is the guy in the ditch? We are. Humanity. Jumped by sin, beaten up and robbed by Satan. Fallen humanity is deserted, left for dead. Can empty sacrifices save us? No. The priest walks on by. Can the law pull us up out of it? No. The Levite, the expert in the law, passes on by.

Only the Samaritan, the outcast, the weird guy, can help. Only the Samaritan stoops down to heal us. The despised one takes our pain onto himself as we are lifted and led into the city on his donkey. Only the suffering servant can pay the innkeeper the necessary price to save our lives. And then promise to settle accounts upon his return. Jesus is the Good Samaritan. God is the merciful one who goes out of his way to heal us, forgive us, free us.

In the telling of this parable Jesus describes the very action of God that unfolds before us throughout salvation history. God in God’s mercy reaches down to raise us up. God in God’s mercy looks past our bumbling attempts to justify ourselves and actively works to free us. God in God’s mercy accepts our ridiculous presents of bread and wine and gives us in return the very Son of God, Jesus Christ. God alone can do this, God alone can save us, no one else can set us free.

It can be scary indeed to know that God the Creator of everything, the all-knowing, all-powerful Trinity, loves us so much as to draw close to treat us with such tenderness, such concern. After all, what could we the broken, lost, creatures that we are ever hope to do for God in return for God’s mercy towards us?

Jesus tells us, “Go and do likewise.”

Since I was a kid (like Pope Leo; circa 1955), I was taught to express gratitude in the moment.  Delaying is not in my vocabulary, so I wish to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for all the words of encouragement, well wishes and generous gifts as I retire from my responsibilities as a priest-pastor.  It seems that I have been saying ‘adios’ for months but now are the moments that I must make transition in my ministry as priest.  Like most people, I have never retired before so I know that it will be a learning experience with new opportunities to ‘give back’ yet rest and enjoy whatever comes my way.  I hope to take some “picker” trips and eventually finish unboxing all my hobbies of vinyl, books and ephemeral.   

Please pray for me as I will you daily.  Father Jeff is a very blest priest to be pastor of such a wonderful community as SFX!

Much peace and joy!

The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

June 28-29, 2025

Gospel:  Matthew 16:13-19

Today we celebrate a wonderful feast, one that does not fall on Sunday that often.  Peter and Paul, two men whose names are forever linked; one reason being that tradition holds that they were both martyred in Rome – making that city the Center of Christendom.  Peter and Paul; two men who could not be more different, and yet, the Church celebrates both of their lives this day.  They seemed to have so little in common.  Paul, the educated one, the one who was so sure of himself and his theological positions, the scholar of the law.  Peter, the “every” man, the fisherman, stubborn, bumbling at times, unsure of Jesus’ mission, a regular guy who just couldn’t quite get it.  And yet, these are the two men who were given such a central role in the life of the Church.  In fact, without them, it is doubtful there would have even been a Church.  And these are two people that Jesus chose in a very particular way.

Flannery O’Connor was a Catholic woman from the South who died in the early 1960’s at the tender age of 39.  What is neat about her short-story writings, are the surprises.  In them, it is almost always the least likely character who becomes the channel of God’s grace — it is the mean guy, or the woman with one leg, or the mentally challenged kid, or the bigot, or whomever the reader least expects.  The one who seems the most righteous or perfect or whole or good is rarely, if ever, an instrument of God’s grace in her stories.

And if we look to the two men whose lives we celebrate this day, I’d have to say that Flannery O’Connor was onto something.  For here are two men who did what is almost unthinkable, two men who appeared to turn their backs on God’s goodness.  First, Paul, the great persecutor of the early Church, who witnessed the stoning of Stephen, the deacon martyr.  Then we have Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times – even after having just claimed that he never would…

Yet, their betrayals were not the end.  Rather, they were deep beginnings to a deeper and more changing relationship with Jesus.  Their lives show clearly how they went from misunderstanding God’s plan to becoming a faithful follower of it. 

My friends, ultimately this day is not so much a celebration of two men as it is a celebration of CHURCH —We celebrate the power of God to continually sustain the Church through periods of confusion, doubt or darkness… familiar?  In fact, it is precisely these moments of difficulty that provide us with, what my AA sponsor would say, “opportunities to grow” in our understanding of [A] Christ’s cross and [B] His resurrection.  What great hope they can be, for so many of us wonder, “What could God do with me?  God would never choose me.  I am too weak, too doubtful, too sinful”.  And yet, one of the things the cross teaches us is that it is precisely our weaknesses that God will use to change us and the world.  Our individual brokenness may be the starting point, but the finished product is the healing of the world around us. 

I think the key for Peter and Paul was their ability to let go of their pasts: Paul’s persecution of the early Christians and Peter’s denials of Jesus.  Either of those things could have consumed them, could have weighed heavily on their minds and hearts, could have paralyzed them and prevented them from being open to God’s grace. But it didn’t. It did not because these two men eventually embraced and lived out the Pascal Mystery in the own lives.   They were able to let go, move forward, and realize that God did not care who they were yesterday, but only cared about who they wanted to be from that moment on… just like you, you… and you!

And this should give us great hope!  How many of us think we are worthy to carry out Christ’s mission?  How many of us think we have what it takes?  Who is confident she or he can do the job, go the distance, endure the hardships… finish the race?  Maybe none of us do.Yet, this feast assures us of just the opposite.

If you are struggling with your faith…

If you are facing real darkness in your life…

If you are having a tough time following the Lord…

If nothing seems to make sense to you anymore…

If you simply think you are not worthy or good enough… Then this day is for you! 

Thanks to Peter and Paul for showing us the changing love of God.  Thanks to Peter and Paul for showing us what “laying down one’s life” really means.  Thanks to Peter and Paul for showing us how God can choose the most unlikely to accomplish the most important of things.  We ask for Peter and Paul to pray for us, that each of us will have the courage to be faithful stewards of the Lord.   May we always recognize just how much the Church needs each of us, how much God needs each of us.  

May we always have the wisdom to let go of our pasts and let God change us into the people He needs us to be… just for today.  Amen.

Starting the weekend of June 28th & 29th, we will begin following the Norms of Posture during the Communion Rite as described in the following letter from Archbishop Shelton.

All SFX parishioners enjoy a free subscription to FORMED. Click HERE to check out the pick of the week.

Click on here to view the latest edition of the Honor Thy Children Newsletter.

Click HERE to view the latest edition of The Crossroads Messenger.

Congratulations to Sarah Bischoff for being awarded the Patricia French Honorary Scholarship.  

This scholarship was established and awarded for the first time in 2017 with an objective to honor Patricia K. French by recognizing and financially supporting a deserving member of the St. Francis Xavier Community with tuition assistance for college or vocational  school. To qualify, students must be SFX parishioners in their senior year of high school, demonstrate a solid work ethic, and be a service-oriented person of high Christian moral values.

This year’s field of applicants were all deemed by the judges to be highly qualified and their decision was a difficult one, but Sarah Kate’s involvement at St. Francis Xavier and her plans for the future, lifted her to the top. The daughter of Ronnie and Jaime Booker, Sarah impressed the judges with her can-do attitude and self awareness. With plans to attend Murray State University, majoring in Agricultural Education, Sarah hopes to find a church community that offers the same small town parish atmosphere that she enjoys at SFX. She intends to continue answering Christ’s call to love and serve through music ministry wherever her journey takes her.

Prayer for Vocations

God our Almighty Father, you call each of us to a particular vocation.

Bless your Church by giving men and women the courage, zeal, and humility to respond “Yes” to your call to serve the people of the Archdiocese as holy priests and consecrated religious.

Call forth from our families those who will serve faithfully and generously in the generations ahead.

We bring our prayer for vocations to You, Father, through the intercession of Mary our Mother, in the Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

In honor of Mother’s Day, Little Way Pregnancy Center will be offering a beautiful, grace-filled gift for mothers. Archbishop Shelton will offer a mass for your mother—living or deceased.

It is said that— “The graces acquired by having a Mass said for a special intention are beyond earthly comprehension. The Mass is the greatest prayer and therefore the most powerful means to help others and ourselves gain eternity with him.”

Mother’s Day cards detailing the gift of this special Mass offered by our Archbishop, will be available Mother’s Day weekend in the back of church. For on-line donations and Mass enrollment visit www.littleway.org/mothersday or click HERE.

For over 40 years, Little Way has served the women and families in our community—offering free medical services for expectant moms, parenting classes, baby closet items, and support groups for both mothers and fathers.

All proceeds will benefit the life-saving work of Little Way. Thank you for your support.

April 20, 2025

Gospel:  John 20:1-9

Today, in this Catholic Church and in all the other Christian churches of the world; our Eucharistic liturgy is the most gratifying celebrations in our whole liturgical calendar.  Our church is decorated with more flowers than usual (lilies and poinsettias are not here 24/7); the choir is singing upbeat songs; most people are wearing their best clothes; there is a chance for some fellowship with friends we have not seen for a long, long, long while… 

Yet, none of us came here today for the scenery, the concert, the fashion show or the socializing.  We are here today because we are reminded that death was conquered ONCE.  Today, with all the Christian faiths that have spun off the root of Catholicism, we share in the hope that it will happen again… FOR US… in due time… in God’s choosing… 

Have you even watched illusionists like Harry Houdini or David Copperfield in either the media or live at a theatre?  There is usually the one who puts a lady in a box.  Locks are secured.  The box is suspended.  The illusionist thrusts swords through the box.  When unlocked and opened, the lady was gone.  “HOW did he do it?”  Although we do not know HOW the trick was accomplished, we DO know that it was not magic.  There is a logical explanation for the disappearance for the lady. 

On Good Friday, many saw the wrapped lifeless body of Jesus laid in a tomb.  They watched a HUGE stone rolled into the groove before the cave-like vault sealing the only exit.  Sunday morning three people saw the same tomb.  The stone was rolled away.  The body was gone.  WHERE had the body gone?  There were three responses: Mary Magdalene thought the body was stolen.  Peter was puzzled, “Why would someone unwrap the body BEFORE stealing it?”  John saw and believed.  Our response to the empty tomb should make all the difference in the way we live life.  Does it for you?  What do you make of an empty tomb… if anything?

Christ is raised to new life by God.  The Resurrection is not a magic trick.  It was a feat foretold by prophets and accomplished by the power of God.  Peter and others ate and drank with him.  Mary conversed with Jesus.  We follow a risen Lord.  He is alive.  Bet on it.

Christ is raised.  We are raised with Christ.  Christ’s resurrection changes everything for all who lives before and after him.  When we die, we will not he held by death.  We believe through faith like John.  Eyes of faith help us see the invisible reality.  Believing is seeing.  

Christ is raised.  Our goal is eternal life with Him. 

Christ is raised.  Proclaim it.  We proclaim it with our words.  We are not responsible for the belief of the hearer.  Jesus was not always believed.  We will only be accountable for sharing the message.  Our message may not be popular or well received.  It is always difficult to go against the grain.  We may suffer, as disciples have, as Jesus did, for our faithfulness.  Doing comes out of believing.  Believing in eternal life makes all the difference.  When our words and actions match, we become credible.  People may not agree with us, but they can not ignore us.

A Dutch navigator sailing the high seas happened to come across an uncharted island in the Pacific.  He was just thrilled to land on it.  And this discovery happened on Easter Sunday in the year 1722… over 300 years ago.  Not surprisingly, the island was named “Easter Island”.  A well-known preacher used this bit of history to make a point.  He pointed out that we make a mistake if we regard Easter merely as an island – a nice place to visit once a year and then go back to the mainland.  Rather, he stressed Easter belongs on the mainland… your mainland is wherever you go… and with whomever you journey. 

Friends, the tomb is empty.

What do you have to say about that?

Gospel: John 18:1-19:42

April 18, 2025

Imagine walking into town from the country to go to market and passing through a line of naked, crucified men hanging on crosses along both sides of the road.  Some of the men may be already dead, some still gasping for air as they slowly suffocate.  Others are cursing the government and everyone else in outbursts of anger and pain.

That is what Jewish men and women had to endure whenever Rome executed someone.  Crucifixion was a brutal, inhumane torture reserved for non-Roman citizens.  Executions were public affairs meant to frighten people into submission.  And for the Jew, crucifixion was proof positive of God’s total rejection and condemnation.  Anyone “hung on a tree” was surely cursed by God.

So the crucifixion of Jesus was not a pretty affair.  We sometimes decorate our crosses and clean up our art work to make it less revolting, but then we miss the human tragedy and horror of the event.  But the death of Jesus was as brutal and gory as any execution could possibly be.  Is it me, or does anyone else view the repackaging of the film, “The Passion of the Christ” as such an attempt to sanitize what has already been produced as “over the edge?” 

May be… may be…

Those who had any hope that Jesus was a good man sent by God went home that day sorely disappointed and hurt.  A crucified criminal could not be a good man.  And Jesus was indeed a crucified criminal. 

That was the human vision of what happened on Good Friday.  That is how the event appeared to most of those who were there.  The event was nothing less than a horrible disaster, a degrading end to a young man’s career.  In the words of Isaiah, “there was in him no stately bearing…nor appearance that would attract us.”  He was a “man of suffering…spurned, and we held him in no esteem.”  Isaiah states further, however, that there is an entirely different way to view what happened.

To the eyes of faith, this horror was an act of love, an act of victory and, in John’s words, a moment of GLORY.  As Isaiah says, “it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that He endured”.  After Resurrection and Pentecost, the Christian community could look back on that horrible event and say that Jesus, in an act of unconditional love, had suffered for our sins and won our salvation.  The early church interpreted the events of Good Friday in the light of God’s loving plan of salvation.  Good Friday was not just a human event, a Roman execution.  It was also an act of love as Jesus laid down his life for us, His friends.

John, more than any evangelist, emphasizes Jesus’ free offering of Himself in service to God and to us.  John talks about the crucifixion as Jesus’ “finest hour”.  Is John clueless?  NOT.  John has captured a deep fact of our faith.  God, and only God, can take the most horrible act of a person’s inhumanity to another person and turn it into good, an eternal good.  And that is what God is all about!  He loves us so much that He is willing to turn gross evil into love and give us the benefit.

Today we gather not so much to lament the suffering and death of Jesus, as to glory in the love He has for us.  As the song used to say, “We remember, we celebrate, we believe.”  We believe that his love for us is unconditional and that He calls us to faith and life.

We do not celebrate the Eucharist today.  We dramatically remember that what Jesus did at the Last Supper was to offer Himself totally to God and us, an offering that culminated at the cross.  Today we venerate that cross knowing that we cannot look beyond it until we are called.

Holy Thursday 2025

Gospel:  John 13:1-15

April 17, 2025

We enter tonight into the Sacred Triduum, three holy days that culminate in the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, by placing ourselves in humble service to others.  The solemnity, the symbols, and the beauty of this liturgy need very little – if any – explanation.  We can focus on many symbols tonight, but let out attention be drawn to the Gospel we have just heard proclaimed and the sacred action which will follow this homily: the mandatum (washing of feet). 

Instead of hearing the familiar story told in the synoptic Gospels, we hear instead John’s account of what happened after the meal Jesus shared with his disciples.  By telling them HOW Jesus washed the feet of these disciples, John makes the necessary connection between servanthood and Eucharist.  This is called mandatum because it is Jesus’ mandate that his disciples to as he did.  “Do this, do this love, in memory of me.  Do this Eucharist in memory of me.  Pour yourself out in complete service to others as I have done”.  Early in Church history, the mandatum was considered a sacrament; a transforming encounter with Christ. 

Sharing in the Eucharist means washing the feet of others. 

Feet are an interesting part of our bodies.  They help support us and keep us standing upright.  They prevent us from falling by keeping us balanced. Above all, feet are essential to walking as we take one step at a time.  They may not be the most glorious part of our body, but they have a major role to play.  Ask anyone who has lost the use of a foot.

The Hebrews walked from slavery into freedom.  The prophets walked from place to place announcing the message of Jesus.  Even at the time of Jesus, walking was THE mode of travel.  So, celebrating the Last Supper, Jesus, who took the role of slave and that of the host, washed disciples’ feet.  By doing this, Jesus not only performed a practical act of offering comfort to weary feet, he also emphasized that if anyone wishes to be a follower, she or he must be a servant to all.

The Hebrews were instructed to eat the Passover meal with their loins girt (that is to say, flexed, ready to walk), sandals on their feet, and staffs in hand ready to “hit the road”.  Before the journey, the Hebrews were instructed by God to prepare a meal.  They would need nourishment for the journey.  This meal was not one for the sake of eating/killing hunger – it was a sacred meal.  So they were prepared to hear God say, “Ready, set… go!”… they were called by God to set out on a journey with no clear knowledge of WHERE they would be going… kind of like handing your phone to someone who would program your GPS, click start, and tell you to follow it … wherever it tells to you walk … forever how long. 

Jesus shows the disciples the meaning of perfect love.  Just as Jesus knew the twelve, He also knows us.  In fact, Jesus is aware of our past sins as well as those we will commit.  In all of this, Jesus still loves us.  Knowing fully who we are, Jesus is still willing to serve us and asks us to do the same.  Doing Eucharist means service to one another on the journey of life. 

“Where charity and love prevail, there is God.”  Let us commit ourselves to the poor, to humble service as a Eucharistic people who live by the mandate of Christ. 

Let us go forth and wash the feet of others.

Passion / Palm Sunday

April 12-13, 2025

Gospel: Luke 22:14-23:56

Imagine, if you will, a group of people walking through a huge store they seldom have a chance to visit; maybe just once a year.  On every display, there is a sign that proclaims “HUGE SALE”!  In this store, the sales are genuine and represent outstanding value.  But the people assume it is all “just routine sale promotion, just business as usual.”  They leave the store without checking anything out; they miss out on the special values that were available to them.

With today’s liturgy we begin HOLY WEEK.  The analogy you just heard is not perfect; God doesn’t run a sale on grace this week – grace is always FREE.  But there are special, sacred times of grace.  HOLY WEEK is one.  It is unlike any of the other 51 weeks of the year.  The upcoming days can truly be holy ones for us if we are aware…

HOLY THURSDAY.  Recall and appreciate more deeply; Jesus’ deep affection for his friends and example of service to others; his desire to remain with us and his breathtaking gift of The Eucharist; His acceptance in the Garden of “doing for us what we could not do for ourselves”.

We bring to the Lord our experience of community, both joy and pain; gratitude for Eucharist and desire to enter more deeply into it; we ask ourselves; what are areas of our lives that most need nourishment?

GOOD FRIDAY.  Recall and appreciate more deeply; Jesus’ acceptance of injustice, pain and death for our sake; his forgiveness of those responsible.

We bring to the Lord our own sadnesses; past, present and to come; contrition for the ways we have been part of “the hour of darkness”.

HOLY SATURDAY.  Recall and appreciate more deeply; the shock, confusion and emptiness felt by those who loved Jesus; and through all this, God’s plan moving toward fulfillment; death: a requirement for resurrection.

Bring to the Lord all those whose world would have been suddenly torn apart; petition for trust, even in the darkest of times; that God is still in charge; our desire to be spiritually renewed.

EASTER VIGIL/EASTER SUNDAY.  Recall and appreciate more deeply; God promised a savior and God delivered.  Our personal history is joined to the great events of salvation history. Despite news headlines, victory over death is final.

Bring to the Lord boundless gratitude for being restored to new life; desire to see signs of new life in our lives and the lives of others.

In our Eucharist today, we celebrate the Pascal Mystery which we recall in detail during Holy Week.  Let us pray for the grace to enter fully into this sacred time… the holiest of all the weeks of the year. 

Ash Wednesday 2025

March 5, 2025

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6; 16-18

Everyone has seen it at one time or the other… a thought put on a button, bumper sticker, just about anything… message:

Please be patient.  God isn’t finished with me… yet!

Whether we realist it or not, today we proclaim that same message.  We don’t do it with a button… but with the ashes on our foreheads.

The askes we will wear announce to the world a plain fact… we are not perfect, we are sinners…

These ashes tell all who see us that we are beginning 40 days of prayer, repentance and sacrifice – that we are Catholic Christians seeking somehow to reconcile ourselves with God.

These ashes say that we are a work in progress.

They say: please be patient.  God ISN’T finished with me.

In a word, He isn’t finished with any of us.

That is the great wonder and consolation of Lent!

As we enter this holy season, we should approach it soberly and seriously.  But we should not mistaken “seriousness’ for ‘solemnity’.

The Gospel reminds us; “Do not look gloomy… anoint your head and wash your face.”  I’d take that one step further; add to this season of penance and prayer a sense of possibility.  Make it an occasion of Hope.  And yes, even Joy… and most definitely Mercy…

We think of Lent as a time for ‘giving up’… let us shorten our work to ‘giv-ing’… begin by giving JOY.

And if you truly want to give up something, don’t settle for chocolate or pizza or cheesecake or alcohol or tobacco or shopping or the casinos or whatever… you name it…

Go further.  Go deeper.  Try giving up something REALLY hard… give up cynicism… or jealousy… or backstabbing…

Give up gossip.  Give up regrets for choices you never made or paths you never took.  Give up the Blame Game. Give up fighting God’s Will for you.  Give up acting “MY will be done” rather “THY will be done”.

Need help?  Try this: give up whatever fear or anxiety is keeping you from celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation… pull a Nike… Just Do It… go.  Look for opportunities… they are there…

Give up being too busy to pray or being too worriedto Hope.  As I know is said in AA… let go, let God.  As it is also said, ‘there is no better time than the present’.  As scriptures says, ‘now is the acceptable time’…

The point of all this isn’t just to take others feel better – or make ourselves feel holy.  It is to draw us closer to The One who makes everything, including redemption… possible.  And we do it now for a good reason.  Lent pushes us to admit something we prefer to ignore.  You know, we don’t have forever.  Look in the mirror after Mass tonight, we have been marked.  The clock is ticking… and there is work to do…

As we ‘Remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return’ OR ‘Reform your life and believe in the Gospels’; we remember to start ‘over and over and over’ in these 40 days to become better… not perfect.

Be patient with yourselves… and with everyone else; especially the unsensible…

God isn’t finished with any of us… yet.