Category Archives: Blog Posts

Second Sunday of Lent March 13, 2022: Column on Luke: 9:28b-36, Cover Art

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Dear Believers in the Christ,

On this Second Sunday of Lent, Luke 9:28B-36 takes us to a mountaintop for the Transfiguration. Our perspective has radically changed from the desert; here we see a vision of who Jesus is and who he will become. Jesus finds his place among the prophets, and he becomes a vision in white for the disciples. 

The disciples are overwhelmed at the sight of Jesus’ appearance. They think this might be the end of the road where his work might now be accomplished. However, even more things happen. The Father’s voice from heaven declares Jesus to be his son. The voice of the Father tells the disciples to listen to Jesus because he will lead them far beyond this mountaintop.

In the Transfiguration moment, everything changes. However, the real moment will take place on another mountain, which is Calvary. On that mountain, Jesus will die, and that act will really transform everything. In this Lenten season, we capture a scene that is also for our lives. In believing in Christ Jesus, we are linked to the Trinity. Jesus has much authority to transfigure our lives as well.

In Lent, through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, our lives are transfigured. We become more in line with Jesus, his words, and his role as Messiah. We are invited to discover him more intimately, to stay with him as the disciples desired to do when they saw his white clothing. Lent draws us into this love, into his forgiveness, and mercy as the Son of the Father. 

We all may have many excuses not to follow him. We don’t like change. We are comfortable enough in our faith by Sunday attendance at Mass. We don’t want to give up control. We hoard power and relish our prestige. We think if we let go of such things, we will be left with nothing. Our egos seldom desire such change because we fear being destroyed or annihilated. However, in faith, all things are made new, and all doubt, discouragement, and displeasure shall become filled with forgiveness and grace. 

Yet, the disciples show us that real change can happen. When we let go of our control we listen to and hear the voice of the Father. We are challenged to move away from the comfortable into an even more genuine following of Christ Jesus. To truly follow Christ, the path to Calvary will be inevitable. Letting go in our Lenten season will show us that God is God and we are not. 

There are many things that need to be changed in Lent. We need to be rescued from our inaction toward the poor and pay more attention to the love God has for us all. We shall find our path toward forgiveness even when we are the obstacles. We shall find our lives within the company of the prophets who even know our names. We ultimately become more deeply aware that we are sinners, yet we are also redeemed in the dying and rising of Christ Jesus. 

God give you peace,

Fr. Ron Raab, CSC, Pastor

First Sunday of Lent, March 6, 2022: Cover Art, Column on Luke 4:1-13

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Dear Followers of the Christ,

On this First Sunday of Lent, this passage from Luke 4:1-13 brings us into the desert, an image of these forty days of Lent. In this text, Jesus is confronted by the devil. He battles temptations for food, for power, and for safety. Jesus overrides all temptations. No evil is greater than the redemptive love of Christ Jesus. He is the reason we are entering into such a journey in the first place. 

During the Lenten season, we come closer to our identity in Christ. Jesus washes away our sins, doubts, and failures. We enter more deeply into prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to revitalize our faith and to sustain our commitments in the Church. However, these go far deeper than obligation. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving reveal our ultimate surrender to the dying and rising of Jesus Christ. 

How do we enter more deeply into prayer this Lent? The Church invites us to renew our devotional life in Lent. We may pray the Stations of the Cross to understand the deep pattern of letting go and receiving, the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. We may receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation with more intention or frequency. In Lent, we learn self-reflection and the consequences of our actions. We may also read the scriptures more frequently, reflect with people in a group, or attend daily Mass. We may pray with greater intention with our families at home at mealtime or at bedtime. 

However, Lent reveals the deeper reasons for prayer. We learn a profounder, more beautiful reliance on God. We learn more about our sin, our failures, and the walls that keep us from intimacy with God. Prayer gets us to the truth, both in our hearts and in our actions. Prayer also offers us the truth of God’s mercy, love, and redemption. Lent is not a time to slash our self-esteem or to think we are not worthy of God. Lent, in fact, is just the opposite. It is a time to reflect on our humility. Lent reveals the life that is really ours, to be more open to intimacy, love, and forgiveness. Lent is not a season to make us feel unworthy of God, rather it is a vehicle to deeper intimacy with the Divine. The core of our Christian lives is to discover Jesus Christ, and to commit our lives once again to the pattern of redemption with his passion, death, and resurrection. We are one in the Paschal Mystery. 

There is nothing that keeps us from God’s love, nothing at all. Prayer in Lent is meant to lead us into a deeper silence and awareness that forgiveness and mercy are real and forever gifts from God. We don’t change God’s mind in Lent. We allow God to change our hearts for the good in Lent. I invite you to spend time in silence and prayer during Lent. Be aware of God in your heart. Learn to settle into God’s love and do not be afraid. Prayer invites us into relationship with Jesus, an intimacy that is the core of life. 

Lent leads well beyond the desert. Lent leads us into the joy of belonging to Christ’s resurrection. Death gives way to life. This is our deep joy and profound place within the Church. We belong to God through baptism. Lent is a time to renew our baptismal call and commitment so that the Church may thrive. In the Lenten season we renew our lives in Christ, and we do so to serve the needs of the world. The beauty of Lent is ultimately about the wonder, joy, and salvation of the entire world. Baptism is not just about our salvation, but it is a vehicle for renewal, love, and service to all humanity. We shall rejoice at Easter within our personal and common prayer. Life in the desert gives way to forgiveness and peace in this beautiful and glorious world. 

God give you peace,

Fr. Ron Raab, CSC Pastor

Conference at the University of Notre Dame: Accountability, Healing and Trust 2022

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I am a panelist for this conference on sexual abuse. On Friday morning, I will speak with two other preachers on, “Preaching in and for a Wounded Community.” Here is more information about the conference:

Conversations in Theology, Psychology, and Law for the Life of the Church

March 3–5, 2022 

University of Notre Dame
McKenna Hall Conference Center

This conference will explore practical strategies to increase accountability, promote healing, and rebuild trust in the life of the Catholic Church in the aftermath of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Its focus will be on the needs of local parishes, their leaders and staff, including educators in Catholic schools. The conference will also explore the intersection of parish life and the formation of ordained and lay ecclesial ministers in seminaries, dioceses, and Catholic universities. Scholars of theology, psychology and law will present recent research on these issues in conversation with those working in ministerial settings who have developed approaches and practical programs to address the needs of Catholic parishioners, students, and Church leaders during these challenging times. 

CLICK here for more information

I wrote this to prepare my own heart for my talk and presence at this conference:

Creed for Preaching Among the Traumatized                              

I believe Jesus born in a cave, cries for us

In the darkest places of human anguish

I believe the Holy Infant welcomes childhood wounds

Where truth is illumined, and cooing is soothed

I believe the Holy Family fled their land to protect

Our trafficked children who feel uncomfortable standing on earth

I believe Jesus confronted evil under the hot sun and

Still crushes evil in our deserts of being unloved

I believe Jesus drenched in the Jordan rises with hope

For us drowning in rivers of self-blame

I believe Jesus reached for the hand of Simon’s mother-in-law

To reconcile families tormented by emotional disease

I believe Jesus touches our eyes to

Wipe away generational tears of unlived lives

I believe Jesus heals the leper because

No pain in us is untouchable

I believe Jesus circled men holding accusing stones

To heal the weight of emotional and sexual abuse

I believe Mary wept at Jesus’ cross

To teach us to stand among forbidden suffering of loved ones

I believe the Disciples carried Jesus’ body

Burying our abuse in a cave of hope

I believe Mary Magdalene’s testimony finds a home

In vulnerable hearts that ache for tenderness and truth

I believe Thomas who touched Jesus’ nail marks

Gives us permission to expose our wounds to one another