The Diocese of Colorado Springs, The Diocese of Pueblo, and the Archdiocese of Denver have canceled all Masses from March 13 through March 31, 2020.
All parish events are canceled at Sacred Heart Church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Manitou Springs, and Holy Rosary in Cascade.
For more information, please consult our parish website: http://www.sacredheartcos.org
Liturgical Press is offering a free digital access to Give Us This Day in response to those who do not want to pray with others due to the Coronavirus.
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March 15, 2020
Third Sunday of Lent
Dear Followers of the Living Christ,
Today, we eavesdrop the encounter between Jesus and the woman who approaches the well in John 4:5-42. This tender interaction reveals the mercy of Jesus. At this well, we also come face to face with our own truths. Jesus knows us better than we know the instincts of our own hearts. In this text, we cannot hide from him, for he knows us completely. Here, we carry our burdens and empty them in his presence. We pour out our pasts, our needs before him. This lovely woman is our guide to Jesus’ heart.
A woman arrives at the communal well at high noon. The time is paradoxical. The sun is at its height, yet she desires to be invisible among her community. Most of the women would have been at the well in the early morning to retrieve water for cleansing and cooking at the beginning of the day. The woman arrives later and as she encounters Jesus she carries more than an empty jar, she carries many personal burdens in her fragile heart.
Jesus receives her. Not just her human quest for water, but also her longing to be known, even at high noon. Jesus knows her. He understands her hesitancy, as she looks down to the ground when he is near. He opens a conversation asking for water. The love poured out to her from Jesus is profound and deep. She is after all, a foreigner. Jesus breaks down so many barriers. He cracks social expectations into pieces. His presence brings her joy and healing. She begins to open up to him. Her vulnerability shines greater than the sunlight. He knows her deeply; her parched heart becomes drenched in grace in his presence. She knows that miracles will happen with the Messiah. She is speaking to the Long-Awaited-One. Everything she always wanted is unfolding in her sight.
The water Jesus offers is his abundant and flowing mercy. We all ache to be washed clean and to be known in him. This water stirs up the mystery of our own baptism. The commitment God made to us in the washing of baptism is eternal. This mercy does not dry up nor is it only for those who live a good life. In this Lenten season, we come back to Jesus because the journey of life is long and cumbersome. We need to remind ourselves that we are loved in him. We need to empty our despair into his hands and allow him to wash away the grit and grime of our earthly doubts, sins and past history.
One of the misconceptions of Lent is that we are to beat ourselves up for being sinners. We are mistaken if we put ourselves down, if we think we don’t live up to Church teaching. This is a deep misconception. Lent, is a journey toward springtime, a renewal of our life in the everlasting and profound love that only Jesus offers. In Lent, we examine our lives one more time, only to come to the conclusion that we cannot live without God. This becomes our exultant praise on Easter. Our hearts are rich when we learn that only God’s love and mercy wash away our doubt and failures.
As we grow older, the past always seems to loom large. Sometimes we can’t forget our sins, our sexual histories, the ways in which we treated people poorly and all of our misfortunes and everything bad that others put on our lives in the past. Lent is a time to be free from all of those things yet one more time. Lent opens us to the infinite ways in which Jesus’ love flows threw our sinfulness, our despair and discouragement. Lent is a time in which we gain new insight about who Jesus is for us and why he is our redeemer in the first place. No matter how old we get, we tend to forget that our hearts become empty, and that only Jesus fills them with love, hope and forgiveness.
I want to overhear this conversation between this young woman and Jesus so I may know him in a deeper way. Nothing fills my heart as his mercy. Nothing stands in the way of the miracle of his everlasting life within me. The woman’s testimony is deep and broad and it is true and real. It is has reached my heart and I am sure her testimony rests in yours.
“We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves,
and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”
Blessings,
Fr. Ron
CLICK here for my latest article in Pastoral Liturgy Magazine, from Liturgy Training Publications, Chicago, IL. April 2020
“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.
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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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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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Broken But Not Divided 