“Transfiguration” Painting by: Ronald Raab, CSC

March 8, 2020

Second Sunday of Lent

We pray for those who seek faith and belonging within the Church this Lent. God, invite the restless to journey toward your glorious light. May they find welcome and hope at your altar.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who climb mountains of job loss, ill health and food insecurity. God, feed the souls who turn toward you in their need and suffering, and may they hear your consoling voice.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for our spiritual mentors and guides. God, on the journey toward Jerusalem, befriend those who show others the challenges of faith and the gentleness of love.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who cannot bear the pain of their bodies, their minds, and their souls. God, heal those who ache for love, for justice and health.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for patience among us. God, invite the lost to journey toward you in fidelity and comfort, and may every pilgrim find the treasure of your presence.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who have journeyed to the Kingdom. God, receive the souls of those whose faith prepared them for home. In this Mass…

We pray to the Lord.

CLICK here to read this weekend’s bulletin

March 8, 2020

Second Sunday of Lent

Dear Followers of Jesus,

Matthew 17:1-9 invites us to climb a mountain with Jesus and the disciples. This is not yet Calvary, but it leads to Jesus’ mountain of death and then to resurrection. On this mountain, some amazing and breathtaking events happen in the sight of his followers. His face and clothing became dazzling white and full of light. The disciples had never seen anything so spectacular. Then from out of the sky, a voice came from out of a cloud, “Behold, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.”

We just heard such a miracle a few weeks ago at Jesus’ baptism. Here, the voice and the events on this mountain will lead them to further follow Jesus. They need a shot in the arm and new motivation in order to fulfill the journey. He is going to a place like no other. Their eyes will be wide and bright when all is said and done.

This is the moment of Transfiguration. In him all is light. In Christ Jesus, the Transfiguration is just a glimpse of what will be, when he completes his story on Calvary and from the empty tomb. But life is hushed now, for we don’t yet know the end of the story, but we keep going ready to believe in him as he takes us by his hand and his imagination to places of beauty and sheer miracle.

Last week, the gospel took us to the heated desert. This week, we follow him to a mountaintop. Here, we gain a new perspective, for we also see things differently from higher ground. The Transfiguration begins to shed light and wonder on the season of Lent. Our journey is much like that of the disciples, except that we are on an inner journey, not one that requires a walking staff and climbing boots. Here, our journey requires great patience, mountains of prayer, and enduring efforts that enable us to let go our egos, our wayward thoughts, and the threatening lies we tell ourselves. The purpose of the this journey is to shed every inner thought that keeps us from love, every voice we speak to ourselves that echoes unworthiness, apathy and hatred. Upon the mountain, the disciples heard the voice of God. Well, that same voice is leading us into places we least expect. The voice that guides us, the voice that shows us the way, the voice that remains tender within our broken and fragile hearts is the voice of God.

The voice that we overheard along the path with the tired disciples is the voice of freedom on our journey. This voice is the purpose of Lent, the voice of forgiveness, the voice that reveals to us that every person is in fact the beloved of God. The Lenten season pushes back on those other voices of despair, putdowns, unworthiness and lethargy. The voice of God is the voice of freedom. This, I am sure, is a new trail for many people. The voices we carry in our heads are so often the voices that we heed— especially the voices that condemn us, the voices that make us shrink in daylight, the voices of second-guessing, the voices that ensnare rivalry, the voices that speak to us from the inside out that we have made the wrong choices and that we are essentially a waste of time, and even more loudly the voices that swell in the nighttime that say to us we are unlovable. Let’s hear the voice of God and believe we are on solid ground, no matter how high we have to travel with him to become dazzling as the sun. “Rise, and do not be afraid.”

Blessings,

Fr. Ron

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Click here to listen to my homily for the First Sunday of Lent 2020.

March 1, 2020

First Sunday of Lent

We pray for our Universal Church as we enter Lent. God, heal the broken places of our institutions, and satisfy the spiritual longings for all who feel they do not belong.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the weary and anxious. God, calm the battles within those who face the treacherous desert of pain, fear and lack of forgiveness.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for the Elect, chosen today for the Easter sacraments. God, welcome those whom you inspire with faith and offer gentleness to those who search for you.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who battle harsh climes. God, ease the lives of people who survive storms, floods, whipping winds or long-term droughts.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who struggle in deserts of the soul. God, forgive the wrongs of our past and ease the echoes of our regrets in this Lenten season.

We pray to the Lord

We pray for our beloved dead who rest in abundant pastures. God, give peace to our loved ones in heaven and hope on earth for all who grieve. In this Mass…

We pray to the Lord.

March 01, 2020

First Sunday of Lent

Dear Followers of Jesus,

In Lent, we capture a glimpse of our real selves, our lives in Christ Jesus. Along with Jesus, we enter the desert. This place is not a physical desert such as Jesus entered. For us, we enter the tumultuous landscape of the human heart. It is here that God will do the healing and the forgiving. It is in the heart’s lonely terrain that God will allow us to let go of our quest for self-identity, self-possession, only to create our roads out from the rough paths. In Lent, we become aware once again, that we belong to Jesus alone.

On this First Sunday of Lent (Mt 4: 1-11), we begin in a place of self-emptying. The desert is hot, brutal, lonely and unforgiving. It is a place of death. However, if we follow Jesus, then we will tread the only path we know to redemption and love. He is all we have in the desert, the one who turns his back on the devil so to stand up for all of us. There is no evil that claims us after this. Jesus begins his triumphant quest along the sandy lines of desert life. If we have the courage, we too, may discover that evil does not win and that love and his true presence break down the barriers of everything that we may think is darkness and evil.

Lent means, “springtime.” Lent is a journey to get us from the deserts of sin, division and heartache into the place where love is. Lent is an affirmation of our baptism. This is the place where life will bloom again. Lent is the reestablishment of the Garden of Eden, now in the resurrection of Christ Jesus. We turn dust into greenery, hopelessness into redemption. The springtime that we seek is to renew our baptismal lives in Christ Jesus and our connection to the Christian community. In other words, we find at the end of our Lenten journey, our connection to Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.

Traditionally, the Church suggests that three disciplines become helpful in the desert terrain—prayer, fasting and almsgiving. These three actions are not an end in themselves. They are simply tools.

Prayer is a discipline that can help us focus our lives again on Christ and not ourselves. We can leave our self-preoccupation at his doorstep. Our sins, selfishness and self-hatred has nowhere in our hearts to thrive when Christ is within us. Prayer is simply turning our lives into the direction of Christ Jesus and forgetting everything that we think keeps us from him. We pray so to find our lives in him. We pray because we will always belong in Christ Jesus.

Fasting is a way in which we let go of anything that fills up our lives or our consciences that becomes unwieldy or obsessive. Food is an obvious distraction. Cutting back we actually become aware of our deeper hungers in God. We may fast from impulse shopping. We may fast from sexual fantasies that become obsessive or compulsive. We may fast from quick judgments about other people or situations. We may fast from things that we know we cannot do anything about, such as outcomes of political elections or Church politics. We fast from always making ourselves better than we are, making ourselves look good in other people’s eyes. We fast from thinking that we are never good enough for God. This is a big one, fasting from constantly putting ourselves down. We already belong to him; we are made for him.

Almsgiving is healthy for every Christian. Lent is not a private devotion. It is not a time to obsess about getting the Christian life correct. Lent is a time of self-emptying in order to be filled with Christ and to learn to share such love. Helping others begins with small gestures, with instinctive kindness and assisting others in love. Almsgiving is offering people part of the love we have received in Christ. Bringing others into the Light of Christ becomes our journey into the tenderness of the Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Lenten blessings,

Fr. Ron

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CLICK here for my Ash Wednesday homily. 

Ash Wednesday

Let us pray to seek Christ Jesus in prayer, fasting and almsgiving during our Lenten journey. We pray to receive our rewards from a life self-giving.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us not blare a trumpet for our own skills and talents to be noticed, but let us listen to the subtle voice of Jesus calling us into integrity and peace.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us become hungry for self-awareness and to serve the needs and hungers of others. May we create tables of welcome for the stranger and tables of honest conversations for our families.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us work diligently for justice in our communities, to generate honest work for those in need of a daily wage, to create homes for people living outside, and to share with our children a passion for all that is good and loving.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us pray for a Lenten season of integrity for all who lead the Church, for all who are lost in faith, for all who do not know how to pray, and for all who wait to find the love of Christ Jesus.

We pray to the Lord.

Let us pray for our friends and family members who have died, that their journey may now end viewing the face of Jesus Christ in heaven. In this Mass…

February 23, 2020

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

We pray for healing among the divides of our nation and in the hateful places within our Church. May the touch of Christ Jesus bring mercy and temperance.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for love to smooth the rough edges of family life. We pray to let go of our desire to control people we love. May we learn to listen to our loved ones so to heal the common good.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those exasperated by the daily grind. May we lift up those bowed down by hardship, financial insecurities, and long-term illness.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for our children who run and play, who use their instincts for delight and purpose. May we all learn from them the beauty of life, and the renewed joy of our spirits.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray to bring words of mercy and forgiveness along with us to our family tables and here at Mass. May God’s mercy settle into the hurts we have caused others and bring peace and stability to our schools and homes.

We pray to the Lord.

We pray for those who have carried their loved ones to their graves. May all the dead rest in the security of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. In this Mass we pray for…

We pray to the Lord.

CLICK HERE to read the full bulletin

February 23, 2020

Dear Believers in the Christ,

Today’s gospel, Matthew 5:38-48, challenges us to go the distance with God. Jesus invites us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. However, it is not about the perfection of a marathon runner or a craftsman perfecting a trade or art form. This perfection is not about making a mistake or wrong cut or using the wrong color or shading in a painting. The perfection Jesus is inviting us into is that of the Father’s mercy and compassion.

We need to be careful when we hear the word, “perfection” in the gospel. Especially as Americans, we tend to hear “perfection” and think we are to create a business plan or achieve an advanced degree in order to follow Jesus. We may think faith is on our shoulders by living the catechism to the letter of the law. We want to make lists and check them twice about how we learn and live, what the appropriate actions are, and how to succeed in the faith business without really trying. All of these approaches to Jesus are not what he means by being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus invites us into the perfection of the Father because that is where all mercy, forgiveness and tenderness rest. In God is the fullness of all life. God is wisdom and hope and generosity. The gospel reveals to us how to enter such a mystery. We offer what we have to others, a tunic or cloak or a listening ear. We go two miles instead of one. We give time, energy and attention even when we think we lost and out of steam. We give attention and hope even on days when we most need it ourselves.

The real training ground of perfection lies in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. In fact this week, we begin the Lenten season, the real formation session of our baptismal lives. Lent is the place where we discern once again the hope for our real lives. Ash Wednesday begins the forty days of renewal and surrender to the person of Christ Jesus. Our baptismal commitments in Christ are renewed and given a deeper life as we commit ourselves to our real identity in Christ. Lent cleanses our consciences and opens new doors in our relationships with God and the Christian community. Through another Lent, we grow closer to becoming like God, the perfect source of love and wholeness.

Our perfection of faith allows us to forgive our enemies and offer peace to those who persecute us. Perfection of faith is forever surrendering to the love of God. We already belong to God in the incredible depths of our baptism. Our problem is that we think we live in the shallow end of the pool.

Please allow God’s love to flow through you as we enter this week into the gift of the Lenten season. We shall meet together when we renew our commitments once again during the Easter Vigil, where perfection will flow from the love God has for his people.

“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 Blessings to you,

Fr. Ron

Here is my 60-Second Sermon published on PrayTell Blog.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN