March 22, 2004 Monday of the 4th Week of Lent

Today is one of many instances when Jesus’ first reaction to someone is to say “no”, but then he changes his mind. John tells us that Jesus returned to Cana where he had turned water into wine. You remember that when Mary came to Jesus at the wedding feast he asked her what concern it was of His. His time had not yet come. But then, he went ahead and performed the miracle.

When the gentile woman asked Him to heal her daughter, his response was that He had been sent to the lost sheep of Israel. It was not right to take food from the children and give it to the dogs. Remember her response? Even dogs get the scraps that fall from the table? Jesus took pity on her and healed her daughter.

Today it’s a royal official who comes to Him, asking him to heal his son. Again Jesus says no. This time he chastises the man because “you people” must see signs and miracles in order to believe. But the man persists, showing that he does believe. Once again, Jesus performs a miracle after He had said he wouldn’t.

So, what’s the message here? That Jesus couldn’t make up his mind? No, first, Christ came to be one like us. Like us, He had a human nature.

How many of us, as parents or grandparents can honestly say that we’ve never said “no” to something our kids (or grand kids) wanted? Then, either because of the kid’s persistence, or because we’re all softies at heart, we changed our minds. We caved in. It must have been like that with Jesus. Being human, sometimes He spoke harshly. Then after he thought about it, He gave in.

Jesus is the only person who ever lived who you couldn’t say “He’s only human.” He was human. But, He’s also divine. Jesus the man could say “no” sometimes. But, for Jesus the Son of God , it was harder to say “no”.

Second, it may be that Jesus said “no” to see how much faith the person really had. If the person wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. If they persisted, then they must have believed that Christ could work the miracle. My kids have asked for lots of things. Believe me, they can be persistent. But none of them has ever asked me for an elephant; or an airplane. They know what I can do and what I can’t.

Remember that for Christ, nothing is impossible. Like the royal official in today’s Gospel, if we ask Him sincerely for the things we really need, and truly believe that He will answer our prayers, then He will.

March 15, 2004 Monday of the 3rd Week of Lent

Let’s take a look at the first reading. It’s a real handful. We have Naaman, a Syrian army commander who has leprosy. Naaman’s wife has a slave who tells Naaman that there is a prophet in Samaria who could cure him.

Remember that Syria and Israel didn’t like each other any better back then than they do now. Still, a cure is a cure. Naaman goes to his king and tells him what the slave said. The king says “go for it. I’ll write a letter to the king of Israel and tell him you’re coming.”

The king of Israel reads the letter and tears his garments. That means he wasn’t happy. He thinks the king of Aram is trying to make him look bad. Elisha the prophet hears about the king’s fit and sends word to him. “Why have you torn your garments? Send him to me. I’ll show him what a REAL Hebrew prophet can do.”

So Naaman goes to Elisha’s house. The prophet sends him a message to go wash in the Jordan river. Now Naaman’s mad. First, Elisha sent a message instead of seeing him in person. Second, the Jordan was a dirty, muddy stream. Back in Syria, the rivers run clean. Telling Naaman that he will get clean by bathing in the Jordan is like telling someone from the Ozarks that they’ll get clean by wading in the Mississippi.

But, Naaman’s servants reason with him. They tell him he should do what the prophet said. So he goes down and dunks himself in the Jordan seven times. Lo and behold, he’s cured. He goes back to Elisha and says “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”



In the Gospel, Jesus refers to this story when he’s preaching in the Synagogue. It’s near the beginning of His ministry. He has been preaching and performing miracles. He returns to his home town and gets a cool reception. The townspeople are wondering how this carpenter, the guy who made their coffee tables and entertainment centers, could be so smart all of a sudden. He uses the story of Naaman to make his point. He also refers to the story of Elija being sent to a widow in Sidon. Great Hebrew prophets working miracles with non-Hebrews because their own people were not as receptive as they should have been.

This is a precursor to Christ’s ministry. Today the people of Nazareth, his home town, try to throw him off a cliff. In the end, it’s his own people who will turn Him over to the Romans. He came as the Jewish Messiah, but His church would spread throughout the world, to people of all backgrounds and nationalities.

It’s not that much different today. Our faith is growing in places like Africa and Asia, while in the so-called Christian countries, divorce, abortion and pornography are rampant. We don’t have enough priests to go around so men like Father Gary are working three jobs. So, as we approach Easter, let’s pray that Christians everywhere take Christ’s message seriously. All He really asked us to do was to love one another as we love ourselves.

March 11, 2004 Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent

March 11, 2004 Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent

Today’s readings are very visual. There are a lot of images. If you attended Sister Mary Ann’s program on prayer last week, you heard her talk about imaging. You close your eyes and imagine yourself in a peaceful place to get ready for prayer. To appreciate today’s readings, we almost need to close our eyes and take in the visual image that the writers are trying to give us.

In the first reading, we read that a man whose heart turns away from the LORD is like a barren bush in the desert. He stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth.

But the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD, is like a tree planted beside the waters. It’s the water that spares us from the dryness of the desert. Even in the year of the drought, the tree still bears fruit. Water equals life.

The theme is repeated in the responsorial psalm.
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree planted near running water
That yields its fruit in due season,
And whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.

Then we come to the Gospel. Jesus tells the Pharisees the story of Lazurus and the rich man. He enjoyed his life on earth. He accumulated a lot of money. But he let the beggar lie at his door. Funny, though, when Lazurus died he was taken by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich guy ended up in the other place, the place of the damned. And he was in torment.

All of a sudden, he knows Lazurus’ name. “Father Abraham,” he says, “send Lazurus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue.” Again, the image of the water. Imagine the arrogance of this guy. He let poor Lazurus starve right under his nose, now he wants him to bring him water. Of course Abraham says “no”. I wonder how many people today think that somehow they’re going to be able to negotiate with God when the end comes?

Next, the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazurus to warn his 5 brothers so they won’t make the same mistake that he made. Abraham says “no” again. Your brothers (and you) had Moses and the prophets and didn’t listen to them. What makes you think your brothers will listen to Lazurus.

“Because they will listen to someone who has come back from the dead.”

Think about how Jesus must have felt telling this story. He knew the truth. He knew He would come back from the dead and many wouldn’t believe him. Even in the twenty-first century, when we have the technology to make a movie showing people how Christ died and that He came back from the dead, many still don’t believe.

Our Catholic tradition is full of references to water. During Lent we take the Holy water out of the fonts to signify the dryness. When Easter comes, the water will return. During the Easter Season, Father will sprinkle us with Holy water at every Sunday mass. The flowers will return to the altar and they will stay fresh because Jeannie Kohnen will carefully water them.

Christ said He was living water. He is our flowing stream. If we plant our roots in the living water we’ll get through any drought. We’ll always bear fruit. But if we are planted in the desert of worldly possessions and false idols, then we’ll whither up and die, just like a dead bush.

March 4, 2004

Wed of the 1st Week of Lent

On Monday we talked about the movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” The story is that since the picture is such a huge financial success, the big studios all decided to make another movie from the Bible. Unfortunately they had to abandon the project when they realized that no one in Hollywood owns one..

All three of our readings today are about repentance. The Ninevites repented of their evil ways and when they did, God repented of the evil that he had threatened to do them.

Our responsorial Psalm tells us that “A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.”

And, in the Gospel, Jesus calls the crowd an evil generation. He tells them that the men of Ninevah repented because of the preaching of Jonah. There is something here greater than Jonah. That’s Jesus himself. They should repent as well.


Back in the days of Vatican II, when the church restored the order of permanent deacons, they must have been thinking of days like today. Married people, men and women, know a lot more about repentance than a single priest, especially the men. Repentance is all about being sorry. “A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Not that there’s anything wrong with being married. Some of my best friends are married. It’s just that when you live with someone day in and day out, you have more reasons to repent.

For example, for some reason women don’t seem to forget things like birthdays and anniversaries. But men do. Have any of you men ever forgotten your wife’s birghday. If you have, you know what repentance is all about.

Jan’s birthday is this Saturday. I have never forgotten it, but I have waited until the last minute to shop. She says the glue is always wet on the envelope when I give her a card.

But, there’s a reason why I wait until the last minute. I want to be sure that I give her the most appropriate card possible. Sometimes, things change in a relationship, and the card that’s right today might not be the right one on Saturday. So, I’ll buy it Saturday morning, or maybe Friday night so I know it’s right.

Seriously, if I would forget her birthday on Saturday, it would do no good for me to show up with a gift on Sunday. That’s not the point. The point is that if I want to be forgiven, I’d better apologize, and mean it. A dozen long-stemmed roses a day late don’t cut it. Contrition is what she wants, and if I’m smart, contrition is what she gets.

Isn’t that what God wants from us, too.

“A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.”

When we sin, the first thing we need to do is stop. But just stopping isn’t enough. We have to be truly sorry. Just like a spouse or parent, God just wants to know that we are sorry for what we did (or didn’t do), we recognize our mistake and we will do our best not to do it again. That’s what the sacrament of reconciliation is for. We’re reconciled with God. We tell him we’re sorry, and through the priest He forgives us.

But, why do I have to go through the priest? Doesn’t God know I’m sorry? Let me ask you this, have you every had an argument with your husband or wife, or anyone close to you, and it just kind of went away? Nobody ever really apologized, it just blew over like a summer storm. Does the hurt ever really go away? No, not really. We need to verbalize our feelings, both for ourselves and for the other person.Getting that sin out in the open gets it off our minds.

That’s how it works with the sacrament of reconciliation. You’re sorry. You say your sorry. And you ask for forgiveness. It takes all three to make it work. Leave out one step and the guilt never seems to go away.

Has it been a while since you told God you’re sorry? Lent is the perfect time. Watch the bulletin and the St. Louis Review for opportunities to go to confession. Fr. Dave Polek is holding a mission at St. David Church in Arnold this week. There will be a penance service there tomorrow night at 7:00. It’s a great chance to go to a priest you don’t know, if you prefer that. Of course, there’s never a long line here at St. Bernadette on Saturday afternoon.

March 1, 2004 Monday of the 1st Week of Lent

Has anybody seen the Passion movie yet? We saw it Friday evening. I’m not here to do a movie review. Obviously I’m not very good at it. Every time I like a movie, the critics hate it. And whenever the critics love a movie, I usually hate it. I will say that in this case, the reviews have for this one have been pretty good.

It’s not really a movie that you will like or not like. It’s more of an experience. I would bet that you have never seen or read anything that will prepare you for what you see on the screen. It’s not an easy thing to watch, especially when you consider that Christ endured this terrible suffering for you and me.

So, how do you say thank you to someone who would go through that for you? When a person does something nice for you, the polite thing to do is to say “thank you.” Maybe you send a card or buy them a gift. Maybe you promise to return the favor. But, how do you say “thanks” to the Son of God?

One way is in prayer. Before we recite our wish list of the things that we want and need, we offer thanks. At mass, we say “Glory to God in the highest… We worship you, we give you thanks.” Hopefully in our private pray we remember to give thanks, too.

Another way is by attending mass and participating in the Eucharist. He couldn’t have made it much clearer when He said, “Do this in memory of me.”

But, He’s the Son of God. What can we offer Him that he doesn’t already have? He appreciates our prayers, but He doesn’t need them. What can we offer that’s a more tangible sign of our gratitude? He gives us the answer in today’s Gospel. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Welcome the stranger. Clothe the naked. Visit the sick and those in prison. When we do these things, we are doing them for Him.

Have you seen the tv show, Joan of Arcadia? In it, God appears to a teenage girl in different forms. He may be male or female. He may be a teacher or another teenager. The thing is, He can do that. He can appear in any form He wants to. He’s God.

We know that Christ is in each one of us. When we help someone in need, we are helping Him. And, that’s how He wants us to say “thank you.” He says so in today’s Gospel.

The challenge for us, every day, but especially during the season of Lent, is to see Christ in those in need and to treat them as we would treat Him.

“He will answer them, ‘Amen I say to you,
What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
But the righteous to eternal life.”