Lent I [A] 1-page summary for an 8-minute homily (L-20)
Introduction: Lent is primarily the time of intense spiritual preparation for conquering our temptations, using the means Jesus used during his forty days of preparation in the desert for his public life. It is also the time for renewing our lives for the celebration of Easter with our Risen Lord who conquered sin and death by his suffering, death and Resurrection. Today’s readings teach us that we are always tempted by the devil, by the world and by our own selfish interests. So, we need to cooperate actively with God’s grace to conquer our temptations. (A homily starter anecdote may be added)
Scripture lessons: The first reading, taken from the book of Genesis describes the “Original Temptation" – “You will be like gods, knowing what is good and what is evil." Adam and Eve were given the possibility of making a choice to live for God, dependent upon and obedient to His will, or to say no to God. The temptation to evil led Adam and Eve to an act of faithlessness and sin. In contrast, today’s Gospel from St. Matthew shows us how Jesus Christ conquered temptation by relying on Faith in God's Word and authority. In the second reading, St. Paul describes how the disobedience of Adam, who fell to Satan’s Original Temptation, brought him and us sin, death, and a broken relationship with God. Paul explains that Christ regained for us the right relationship with God by his perfect obedience to God his Father. Today’s Gospel teaches us how the "desert experience" of fasting, praying, and soul-strengthening enabled Jesus to confront his temptations successfully and then to preach the Good News of salvation. The tempter urges Jesus to turn stones into loaves of bread. But Jesus rejects that temptation to mistrust His Father by satisfying his own immediate, temporal needs and thus reducing His Divine mission to self-satisfaction The tempter then suggests that Jesus prove that he is really the Son of God by jumping off the parapet of the temple. Jesus rejects this as a temptation to act as God’s superior and demand He prove His Trustworthiness! Finally, Jesus rejects the temptation to idolatry, even if worshipping Satan would enrich and empower Jesus with all kingdoms of the world.
Life messages: 1) We are to confront and conquer temptations as Jesus did, using the means he employed. Every one of us is tempted to seek sinful pleasures, easy wealth and a position of authority, power and glory, and to use any means, even unjust or sinful ones, to gain these things. Jesus serves as a model for us in conquering temptations by strengthening himself through prayer, penance and the effective use of the Word of God. Hence, during this Lent, let us confront our evil tendencies with prayer (especially by participating in the Holy Mass), with penance and with meditative reading of the Bible. 2) We are to grow in holiness by prayer, reconciliation and sharing during Lent: a) by finding time to be with God every day of Lent, speaking to Him in fervent prayer and listening to Him through the meditative reading of the Bible; b) by being reconciled with God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and reconciled with others by asking their forgiveness for our offenses against them; c) by sharing our love with others through selfless and humble service, almsgiving and helping those in need.

LENT I [A] Gen 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Rom 5:12-19; Mt 4:1-11
Homily starter anecdotes # 1: Alluring music of the Sirens: The story of sirens in Greek mythology describes the negative and positive ways of fighting temptations. The Sirens are creatures with the heads of beautiful women and the bodies of attractive birds. They lived on an island (Sirenum scopuli- a group of three small rocky islands). With the irresistible charm of their song, they lured mariners to their destruction on the rocks surrounding their island (Homer’s Odyssey XII, 39-54, 158-200; Virgil’s Aeneid V, 42-44; Ovid’s Metamorphoses XIV, 88-89). They sang so sweetly that all who sailed near their home in the sea were fascinated and drawn to the shore only to be destroyed. When Odysseus, the hero of the Odyssey, passed that enchanted spot he escaped the temptation from sirens by ordering himself to be tied to the mast and ordering his sailor comrades to put wax in the ears, so that they might not hear the luring and bewitching strains. But King Tharsius chose a better and positive way of conquering Sirens’ temptations. He took the great Greek singer and lyrist Orpheus along with him. Orpheus took out his lyre and sang a song so clear and ringing that it drowned the sound of those lovely, fatal voices of the Sirens. Today’s readings advise us that the best way to break the charm of this world’s alluring voices during Lent is not trying to shut out the music by plugging our ears, but to have our hearts and lives filled with the sweeter music of prayer, penance, the word of God, self-control, and acts of charity. Then temptations will have no power over us (RH).

2: Temptation to keep large carnivores as pets: Antoine Yates lived in New York City and for some inexplicable reason brought home a 2-month-old tiger cub “Ming” and later an alligator, “Al”. It’s not clear where he found them. But they were with him for two years — in his apartment. What was a little tiger cub, became a 500-pound Bengal tiger monstrosity and a mini alligator a three-foot monster! It was inevitable. The police got a call about a “dog” bite and when they got to the 19-story public housing apartment building, they discovered Yates in the lobby with injuries to his right arm and leg. Someone alerted them of the possibility of a “wild animal” at his apartment. A fourth-floor resident complained that urine had seeped through her ceiling from Yates’ apartment. When they arrived, the police peered through a hole and saw the huge cat prowling around in the apartment. To make a long story short, it took a contingent of officers at the door, and some rappelling from the roof to use a dart gun to bring this animal under control. When they entered the apartment, they found the big cat lying atop some newspapers. The alligator was nearby. Both animals were relocated to shelters. As for Yates, he missed his tiger and alligator, demonstrating that it’s possible to be in love with the very things that can kill you. That is what happens to those who entertain temptations in the form of evil thoughts and desires, evil habits and addictions. (http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/10/04/nyc.tiger/) For more details, visit : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_of_Harlem

3: “On the ninth trip around the block, there it was!" A comical, but illustrative, story shows us how adept we are at rationalizing our actions: A very overweight man decided that it was time to shed a few pounds. He went on a new diet and took it seriously. He even changed his usual driving route to the office in order to avoid his favorite bakery. One morning, however, he arrived at the office carrying a large, sugar-coated coffee cake. His office mates roundly chided him, but he only smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, "What could I do? This is a very special cake. This morning, from force of habit, I accidentally drove by my favorite bakery. There in the window were trays of the most delicious goodies. I felt that it was no accident that I happened to pass by, so I prayed, 'Lord, if you really want me to have one of these delicious coffee cakes, let me find a parking place in front of the bakery.' Sure enough, on the ninth trip around the block, there it was!" Temptation is strong, but we must be stronger. We should not tempt fate and we should not rationalize our actions.

Introduction: Ours is a vibrant culture, always in pursuit of happiness. Death is an obscenity, hidden by cascades of flowers and relegated to remote burial lawns on the edge of town. Sin is denied, camouflaged, psychoanalyzed, and repressed—not confessed. We don’t really sin. We make mistakes of judgment. If a popular politician lies, he or she is only being human. Lent is a time to look at such temptations, sin and the consequences. It is a time that reminds us of the human journey of fall and redemption. Like Adam and Eve, and Jesus, we all face temptations. Originally, Lent was the season when those about to be baptized repented of their sins and sought to know the Lord Jesus more intimately. Then it became a season for the baptized to do the same. We are challenged to die to sin so that we may rise again to the new life in Christ. Since the Church begins the season with a reflection on the origins of sin among us, the main themes in today’s readings are temptation, sin, guilt, and forgiveness. We are told of the temptations offered to our Lord, submission to which would have destroyed his mission. Today’s readings give us the notion that testing comes to us by an agency apart from and in opposition to God. But the truth is that, while testing comes from the outside, temptation comes from within us. However, the good news is that, though we are tempted and often succumb, God’s grace provides the way of salvation for us. The ultimate temptations in life are NOT those that only push us to “do” things we aren’t supposed to “do”; rather they are the ones that push us to “be” persons we weren’t made to “be.” Let us then during this Lenten season very earnestly pray, as Jesus has taught us to pray to Our Father in heaven – “Lead us not into temptation [that is, ”put us not to the test”] but deliver us from evil.”
The first reading from the book of Genesis (Gen 2:7-9, 3:1-7) describes the “Original Temptation" – "You will be like gods, knowing what is good and what is evil." This is the story of the first sin, symbolized by the eating of the forbidden fruit. It tells us that Adam and Eve were given the possibility of making a choice. The fundamental choice was to live for God, dependent upon and obedient to His will, or to say no to God. Like Adam and Eve, we are all tempted to put ourselves in God's place. Consequently, we resent every limit on our freedom, and we don't want to be held responsible for the consequences of our choices. In Genesis, we witness how temptation to evil led Adam and Eve to an act of faithlessness and sin. In contrast, today’s Gospel from St. Matthew shows us how Jesus Christ conquered temptation by relying on Faith in God's Word and authority. Are we tempted to serve the gods of our inordinate desires instead of serving our loving and providing God? Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 51) presents our contrition or acknowledgment of guilt before God: “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.”

The second reading (Rom 5:12-19) explained: St. Paul describes how the disobedience of Adam who fell to Satan’s Original Temptation brought him and us death and a broken relationship with God. He presents Adam who did not resist temptation with its evil consequences for humanity, and Christ, who did resist temptation and so gave humanity the promise of new Life. Paul reminds us of the social consequences of sin. Sin is never a private affair, affecting only myself. When we sin, all our relationships are affected: our relationship with our inner self, our relationships with our brothers and sisters, our relationship with our God and our relationship with nature and the world in which we live. Paul says that just as sin and death came through Adam, salvation and life come through Christ. Paul compares human sin and its consequences to Christ’s saving action and its restorative effects on humankind. Christ regained for us the right relationship with God that Paul calls justification, which comes to us as undeserved grace. Thus, Paul’s words to the Romans describe humanity’s rehabilitation by grace. The first Adam brought disobedience, sin, condemnation and death. The new Adam has brought obedience, righteousness, justification and eternal life. (St. Paul uses what theologians call typology to help us understand exactly what Jesus has done for us and how he established for us a new life, overcoming what Adam and Eve wrought for us. He sees Adam as a type or foreshadowing of Christ).

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 4:1-11) teaches us how the "desert experience" of fasting, praying, and soul-strengthening was a kind of spiritual “training camp” for Jesus which enabled him to confront his temptations successfully and then to preach the Good News of salvation. The Gospel also prescribes a dual action plan for Lent: (1) We should confront our temptations and conquer them as Jesus did, by fasting, prayer and the Word of God. (2) We should renew our lives by true repentance and live the Good News of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness.

Gospel exegesis: (A) Forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert: The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the huge fifteen-by-thirty-five mile desert between the mountain of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea so that he could pray to the Father about the public ministry that he was about to commence. “Forty days” was a Hebrew expression meaning a considerable period of time, as seen in various incidents in Jewish history: a) the 40 days of rain in Noah’s time which Noah spent in the ark in prayer; b) the 40 days which Moses spent on the mountain with God (Ex. 24:18); c) the 40 days the prophet Elijah traveled on the strength of the meal which the angel had given him (II Kg. 19:8).
(B) The temptations. The graphic descriptions of the temptations of Jesus given in Matthew and Luke are sometimes interpreted as the dramatic presentation of a single temptation Jesus experienced throughout his public life. The devil was trying to entice Jesus away from his mission so that he could become, instead, a political messiah of power and fame according to the Jewish expectation, while using His Divine power to avoid suffering and death. In this account, we are given a glimpse of the inner struggle of Jesus as he faced the question of how to accomplish his mission. Matthew presents Jesus as conquering the tempter and beginning his preaching in Galilee. We always encounter temptation in its three major forms: power, prestige, and prosperity with two qualifying terms: “more” and “control.” We want “more” of everything and “control” of our destiny, feeling that only we know what is best for ourselves. Jesus’ temptations remind us of the temptations Israel experienced in the desert. The first temptation recalled God’s gift of manna to Israel in the desert (Exodus 16:4-8) and tested him in his capacity as the Son of God. The second temptation was a test of Jesus’ authentic sonship and it recalled the wilderness incidents wherein Israel complained against God and demanded Him to show His power by providing for their needs. Then in the third test, Jesus is offered a vision of all the world’s kingdoms in their splendor, to be entirely his for his worship of Satan. Jesus was shown those kingdoms, just as Moses atop Mt. Nebo surveyed the promised land (Deuteronomy 34:1-4), and as the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 2:6-8) describes God giving his messiah-son-king the nations of the earth as an inheritance. The first temptation has to do with Jesus’ own need for food. The second temptation involves a wider circle in Jerusalem and the Temple. Finally, the third temptation takes in the whole world. Matthew saw the sequence of the three temptations as significant in that they moved to greater heights, from stones on ground level, to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and finally to a mountain top from which all the kingdoms of the earth could be surveyed. The progression was also greater in intensity and scope, from personal food to power in Israel and then to rule over the whole world.
The gradation in temptations: The three temptations - turn stones into bread (4:3); jump off the Temple pinnacle (4:6); worship Satan (4:9) - demonstrate three kinds of control: material, spiritual and civil. They correspond to three wrong evaluations: 1) those who have material resources are blessed by God; 2) those who have spiritual powers are blessed by God; 3) those who have national power are blessed by God. These, in turn, correspond to three human-divine bargains: 1) I will worship You if you make me rich; 2) I will worship You if You endow me with magical powers; and 3) I will worship You if You give me political power. These temptations of Jesus are traditionally treated as archetypes of the temptations we experience: the temptation to satisfy personal needs by material possessions, the temptation to perform miraculous deeds by spiritual power, and the temptation to seek political power and social influence by evil means. But Jesus dismisses all three temptations using the Word of God. He quotes the Law from Scripture itself: “One does not live by bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8:3); “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” (6:16); “Worship the Lord, your God” (6:13). Each time the devil tempts him Jesus responds with a quote from the Book of Deuteronomy which describes the experience of Israel during her forty years in the desert.

The first temptation: Is it possible to fast forty days and live to tell the tale? The New York Times says the average person can go for thirty days without eating. Gandhi and the Irish prisoners in British jails in Belfast fasted even longer. Mitch Snyder, the US advocate for the homeless, fasted fifty-one days. The first temptation could not have been better timed. Jesus had been fasting for forty days. He was entitled to eat. Even Israel in the Old Testament was miraculously fed with manna. Why not the Son of God? "Turn these stones into loaves of bread. Use your power to satisfy your physical need. You are entitled to food after a forty-day fast." The temptation was that Jesus use the miraculous powers God had given Him to use for His mission to provide for himself. This first temptation of Jesus was not merely the urge to satisfy his hunger by some miraculous deed. It also had implications as to how Jesus would respond to the physical needs of others, especially their need for food. Matthew tells us, for example, that Jesus miraculously fed a multitude of people (14:13-21 and 15:32-39). Jesus would be seen as the Messiah who provided for their pressing needs.
The very seat of religious life, namely, the sacred precincts of the Temple itself became the scene of the second temptation. The devil was suggesting that, on the basis of Scripture, Jesus must believe in and insist on Divine protection: if He were the Son of God, He had the right to expect safety and protection from His heavenly Father. Here Jesus is pressured either to identify Himself as God’s Son and Messiah, or to discredit His mission by apparently either denying His trust in God, the truth of Scripture or His own right to speak in God's Name. An additional temptation for Jesus was to use his miraculous powers to amaze people and thereby attract followers.
In the third temptation, the devil wanted Jesus to enter the world of political power to establish his kingdom of God instead of choosing the path that would lead to suffering, humiliation and death. It was a temptation to do the right thing using the wrong means. Jesus was being tempted to win the world by worshipping the devil. Why not compromise a bit? Why not strike a deal with the evil powers? Spirit-filled, sanctified, spiritually vibrant Christians are still subject to the same temptation. We need companionship, acceptance, the approval of others, love and appreciation. We are tempted to fulfill these legitimate needs using the wrong means.
(C) The preaching: The Greek word used for preaching is kerussein meaning a herald’s proclamation of his king’s message. Jesus’ preaching bore the note of authority, certainty and reliability – as coming from God his Father.

(D) Call to repentance: Metánoia the Greek word used in Matthew for repentance, meant a change of mind which included being sorry for sin and its consequences, and turning away from sinful thoughts, words and deeds, thus reversing our life-direction from ourselves to God.

(E) The message: believe in the Good News: “Believe” meant accept Jesus’ words as truth, based on his authority as the Son of God. The content of Jesus’ message was called Good News because it corrected the incorrect Jewish belief (and the bad news), that God was an angry, demanding and punishing judge, and taught the Good News that God is a loving, merciful and forgiving Father who wants to save everyone from the bondage of sin through His Son. Hence, St. Paul calls it Good News of hope (Col.1: 23), peace (Eph.6: 15), promise (Eph.3: 6), immortality (Tim.1: 10) and salvation (Eph.1: 13).

Life messages: 1) We are to confront and conquer temptations as Jesus did, using the means he employed. Every one of us is tempted to seek sinful pleasures, easy wealth and a position of authority, power and glory, and to use any means, even unjust or sinful ones, to gain these things. Jesus serves as a model for us in conquering temptations by strengthening himself through prayer, penance and the active use of the Word of God. Temptations make us more powerful warriors of God by strengthening our minds and hearts. By constantly struggling against temptations, we become stronger. Each time one is tempted to do evil but does good, one becomes stronger. Further, we are never tempted beyond our power. In his first letter, St. John assures us: “Greater is the One Who is in us, than the one who is in the world (1 John 4: 4). We may be strengthened by St. Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 10:13: "No testing has overtaken you, that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and [God] will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing [God] will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." Hence, during this Lent, let us confront our evil tendencies by prayer (especially by participating in the Holy Mass), by penance and by meditative reading of the Bible.

2) We are to grow in holiness by prayer, reconciliation and sharing during Lent: a) by finding time to be with God every day of Lent, speaking to Him in fervent prayer and listening to Him through the meditative reading of the Bible; b) by repenting of our sins daily and asking God’s forgiveness every night at bedtime; c) by being reconciled with God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation; d) by being reconciled with others, forgiving them the hurts they have caused us and asking their pardon for the hurts we have inflicted on them; e) by sharing our love with others through selfless and humble service, almsgiving and helping those in need; f) by living the Gospel or the Good News of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness in our lives, thus bearing true Christian witness.

3) Lent is the time for the desert experience. We can set aside a place and time to be alone daily with God, a time to distance ourselves from the many noises that bombard our lives every day, a time to hear God’s word, a time to rediscover who we are before God and a time to say yes to God and no to Satan as Jesus did.
("Our generation has had no Great War, no Great Depression. Our war is spiritual. Our depression is our lives." Chuck Palahniuk).

JOKE OF THE WEEK "I gave them up for Lent.” A Catholic priest working in an inner city was walking down an alley one evening on his way home when a young man came down the alley behind him and poked a knife against his back. "Give me your money," the young man said. The priest opened his jacket and reached into an inner pocket to remove his wallet, exposing his clerical collar. "Oh, I'm sorry, Father," said the young man, "I didn't see your collar. I don't want YOUR money." Trembling from the scare, the priest removed a cigar from his shirt pocket and offered it to the young man. "Here," he said. "Have a cigar." "Oh, no, I can't do that," the young man replied, "I gave them up for Lent."
Making peace with his penance: A priest spied a parishioner enjoying some tasty smoked sausage on Friday during Lent -- a strict no-no in the Church. The priest, being a pragmatic soul, told the man for his penance he was to bring a load of lumber to the church to help repair the roof. The man grumbled but went off to do his penance. He arrived at the church on the next Friday and proceeded to dump a huge load of sawdust into the parking lot. "What's this?" the priest wanted to know. "I told you your penance was a load of lumber, not sawdust." The man replied cooley, "Well, if that sausage I ate was meat, then this sawdust is lumber."
Just have a beer: A man took his young son to a baseball game. While they were sitting there, he asked the boy what he was going to give up for Lent. The boy replied, "I don't know, Dad. What are you going to give up?"
His father said, "I've thought about this a lot and decided to give up liquor."
Later in the game, the beer man came by, and the man ordered a beer. His son objected, "Hey, I thought you were giving up liquor!" His dad answered, "Hard liquor, son. I'm giving up hard liquor. This is just a beer." To which the boy replied, "Well then, I'm giving up hard candy."
Fish 'n' chips: It is February 22, the third Friday of Lent, and the faithful parishioner stumbles through pouring rain past hamburger huts and steak houses into the monastery at Mount Angel and requests shelter. He's just in time for dinner and is treated to the best fish and chips he's ever had.
After dinner, he goes into the kitchen to thank the chefs. He's met by two brothers, "Hello, I'm Brother Michael, and this is Brother Francis." "I'm very pleased to meet you. I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful dinner. The fish and chips were the best I've ever tasted. Out of curiosity, who cooked what?" Brother Michael replies, "Well, I'm the fish friar." The man turns to the other brother and says, "Then you must be . . ." "Yes, I'm afraid I'm the chip monk."

“I, myself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent.” A bartender notices that every evening, without fail, one of his patrons orders three beers. After several weeks of noticing this pattern, the bartender asks the man why he always orders three beers. The man says, “I have two brothers who have moved away to different countries. We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of keeping up the family bond.” Several weeks later, noticing that the man only ordered two beers, the bartender said, “Please accept my condolences on the death of one of your brothers. You know, the two beers and all…” The man replied, “You’ll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well… It’s just that I, myself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent.”

[Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 ]

Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is metamorphosis or transformation. The readings invite us to work with the assistance of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives by renewing them during Lent, and to radiate the glory and grace of the transfigured Lord which we have received to all around us by our Spirit-filled lives. Scripture lessons: The first reading describes the transformation of a pagan patriarch into a believer in the one God. His name will be transformed from Abram to Abraham and his small family into a great nation. All Abram has to do is to obey the Lord God’s command, and he does so. The second reading, taken from St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy, explains the type of Lenten transformation expected of us. We are transformed when we recognize the hand of a loving, providing and disciplining God behind all our hardships, pain and suffering and try our best to grow in holiness by cooperating with the grace of God given to us through Jesus and his Gospel. In the Transfiguration story in today’s Gospel, Jesus is revealed as a glorious figure, superior to Moses and Elijah. The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to allow Him to consult His Heavenly Father in order to ascertain His plan for His Son’s suffering, death and Resurrection. The secondary aim was to make his chosen disciples aware of His Divine glory, so that they might discard their worldly ambitions and dreams of a conquering political Messiah and might be strengthened in their time of trial. On the mountain, Jesus is identified by the Heavenly Voice as the Son of God. Thus, the transfiguration narrative is a Christophany, that is, a manifestation or revelation of Who Jesus really is. Describing Jesus’ Transfiguration, the Gospel gives us a glimpse of the Heavenly glory awaiting those who do God’s will by putting their trusting Faith in Him.

Life messages: (1) The Transubstantiation in the Holy Mass is the source of our strength. In each Holy Mass our offering of bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine. Hence, just as the Transfiguration of Jesus strengthened the Apostles in their time of trial, each Holy Mass should be our source of Heavenly strength against our own temptations and a source for the renewal of our lives during Lent. In addition, communion with Jesus in prayer and especially in the Eucharist should be a source of daily transformation of both our minds and hearts, enabling us to see Jesus in every one of our brothers and sisters with whom we come in contact each day. (2) Each Sacrament that we receive transforms us. Baptism, for example, transforms us into sons and daughters of God and heirs of heaven. Confirmation makes us the temples of the Holy Spirit. By the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God brings back the sinner to the path of holiness. By receiving in Faith the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we are spiritually, and sometimes physically, healed, and our sins are forgiven. (3) A message of hope and encouragement. In moments of doubt, pain and suffering, disappointment and despair, we need mountain-top experiences to reach out to God and listen to His consoling words: “This is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased.”

LENT II [A] Sunday (3/12/2017): Gen 12:1-4a; II Tim 1:8b-10; Mt 17:1-9 Anecdote: # 1: “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” There is a mysterious story in 2 Kings that can help us understand what is happening in the Transfiguration. Israel is at war with Aram, and Elisha, the man of God, is using his Salvatore Ferragamo Drivers Shoes Sale prophetic powers to reveal the strategic plans of the Aramean army to the Israelites. At first the King of Aram thinks that one of his officers is playing the spy, but when he learns the truth he dispatches troops to go and capture Elisha who is residing in Dothan. The Aramean troops move in under cover of darkness and Ferragamo Mens Slip Ons Sale surround the city. In the morning Elisha’s servant is the first to discover that they are surrounded and fears for his master’s safety. He runs to Elisha and says, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” The prophet answers “Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” But who would believe that when the surrounding mountainside is covered with advancing enemy troops? So Elisha prays, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opens the servant's eyes, and he looks and sees the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-23). This vision was all that Elisha’s disciple needed to reassure him. At the end of the story, not only was the prophet of God safe, but the invading army was totally humiliated. (Fr. Munacci)

Lent II [A] Sunday 1-page summary of an 8- minute homily L/20

Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is metamorphosis or transformation.  The readings invite us to work with the assistance of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives by renewing them during Lent, and to radiate the glory and grace of the transfigured Lord which we have received to all around us by our Spirit-filled lives.

Scripture lessons: The first reading describes the transformation of a pagan patriarch into a believer in the one God. His name will be transformed from Abram to Abraham and his small family into a great nation. All Abram has to do is to obey the Lord God’s command, and he does so. The second reading, taken from St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy, explains the type of Lenten transformation expected of us. We are transformed when we recognize the hand of a loving, providing and disciplining God behind all our hardships, pain and suffering and try our best to grow in holiness by cooperating with the grace of God given to us through Jesus and his Gospel. In the Transfiguration story in today’s Gospel, Jesus is revealed as a glorious figure, superior to Moses and Elijah. The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to allow Jesus to consult his Heavenly Father in order to ascertain His plan for His Son’s suffering, death and Resurrection.  The secondary aim was to make his chosen disciples aware of Jesus’ Divine glory, so that they might discard their worldly ambitions and dreams of a conquering political Messiah and might be strengthened in their time of trial. On the mountain, Jesus is identified by the Heavenly Voice as the Son of God. Thus, the transfiguration narrative is a Christophany, that is, a manifestation or revelation of who Jesus really is. Describing Jesus’ Transfiguration, the Gospel gives us a glimpse of the Heavenly glory awaiting those who do God’s will by putting their trusting Faith in Him. 

Life messages: (1) The Transubstantiation in the Holy Mass is the source of our strength.  In each Holy Mass our offering of bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine.  Hence, just as the Transfiguration of Jesus strengthened the Apostles in their time of trial, each Holy Mass should be our source of Heavenly strength against our own temptations and a source of grace for the renewal of our lives during Lent.  In addition, communion with Jesus in prayer and especially in the Eucharist should be a source of daily transformation of both our minds and hearts, enabling us to see Jesus in every one of our brothers and sisters with whom we come in contact each day.  (2) Each Sacrament that we receive transforms us.   Baptism, for example, transforms us into sons and daughters of God and heirs of heaven.  Confirmation makes us the temples of the Holy Spirit.  By the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God brings back the sinner to the path of holiness. By receiving in Faith, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we are spiritually, and sometimes physically, healed, and our sins are forgiven.

 (3) A message of hope and encouragement.  In moments of doubt, pain and suffering, disappointment and despair, we need mountain-top experiences to reach out to God and listen to His consoling words: “This is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased.” Our 'Lenten penance' will lead us to the 'Easter joy.'

LENT II [A] Sunday Gen 12:1-4a; II Tim 1:8b-10; Mt 17:1-9 

Homily starter anecdotes: # 1: “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” There is a mysterious story in 2 Kings that can help us understand what is happening in the Transfiguration. Israel is at war with Aram, and Elisha, the man of God, is using his prophetic powers to reveal the strategic plans of the Aramean army to the Israelites. At first the King of Aram thinks that one of his officers is playing the spy, but when he learns the truth, he dispatches troops to go and capture Elisha who is residing in Dothan. The Aramean troops move in under cover of darkness and surround the city. In the morning Elisha’s servant is the first to discover that they are surrounded and fears for his master’s safety. He runs to Elisha and says, “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” The prophet answers “Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” But who would believe that, when the surrounding mountainside is covered with advancing enemy troops? So, Elisha prays, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opens the servant's eyes, and he looks and sees the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kings 6:8-23). This vision was all that Elisha’s disciple needed to reassure him. At the end of the story, not only was the prophet of God safe, but the invading army was totally humiliated. (Fr. Munacci) 

# 2: “Lord, give me the grace for transformation.” The word transfiguration means a change in form or appearance. Biologists call it metamorphosis (derived from the Greek word metamorphoomai used in Matthew’s Gospel), to describe the change that occurs when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. (Holo-metabolism, also called complete metamorphism, is a form of insect development which includes four life stages – as an embryo or egg, a larva, a pupa and an imago or adult). As children, we might have curiously watched the process of the caterpillar turning into a chrysalis and then bursting into a beautiful Monarch butterfly.  Fr. Anthony De Mello tells the story of such a metamorphosis in the prayer life of an old man.  “I was a revolutionary when I was young, and all my prayer to God was: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change the world.’ As I approached middle age and realized that half of my life was gone without changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come in contact with me; just my family and friends and I shall be satisfied.’  Now that I am old and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been.  My one prayer now is: ’Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’  If I had prayed for this right from the start, I should not have wasted my life.”

# 3: Metamorphosis of a Grub into a Dragonfly: You will recall from 7th-grade science class that metamorphosis is the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly and a tadpole becomes a frog. It’s a gradual change on the inside that produces a total transformation on the outside.  Holo-metabolism, also called complete metamorphism, is a form of insect development which includes four life stages – as an embryo or egg, a larva, a pupa and an imago or adult. At the bottom of a pond some little grub worms or nymphs (larvae of dragonflies) are crawling around in the mud.  They wonder what happens to their members who climb up the stem of the water lily and never come back.  They agree among themselves that the next one who is called to the surface will come back and tell them what happened.  The next grub worm (nymph) that finds itself drawn to the surface by nature, crawls out on a lily leaf and emerges from its last molting skin as a beautiful adult dragonfly.   It has been dark and murky down below, but the dragonfly sees that everything is bright and sunny in the upper world.   Suddenly something begins to happen. The transformed grub spreads out two huge, beautiful, colored wings and flies back and forth across the pond to convey the glad tiding of its transfiguration to its friends.  It can see the other grubs in the pond below, but they can’t see him.  He also realizes that he cannot dive into the pond to convey the glad tidings of his great transformation.  This metamorphosis is nothing in comparison to the glorious transformation awaiting us after our death.

Introduction: The common theme of today’s readings is metamorphosis or transformation.  The readings invite us to work with the Holy Spirit to transform our lives by renewing them during Lent, and to radiate the grace of the transfigured Lord around us by our Spirit-filled lives.  The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain reminds us that the way of the cross leads to Resurrection and eternal life and that the purpose of Lent is to help us better to enter into those mysteries. 

Scripture readings summarized: Both the first and second readings present salvation history as a response to God’s call, a call going out to a series of key persons beginning with Abraham and culminating with Jesus Christ and His Apostles.  Faith is presented here as the obedient response to the call of God which opens up channels for the redemptive action of God in history, thus transforming the world.  In answering this call, both Abram and Saul broke with the experiences of their past lives and moved into an unmapped future to become new “people of the Promise,” for a new life.  The first reading presents the change or transformation of the patriarch Abram from a childless pagan tribesman into a man of Faith in the One God. This, years later, leads to God’s transforming his name from Abram to Abraham, and making him, as promised, the father of God’s chosen people, Israel. The second reading, taken from St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy, explains the type of Lenten life-transformation expected of us.  Today’s Gospel describes Jesus’ Transfiguration during prayer on a mountain. 

First reading: Genesis 12:1-4 explained: The reading from Genesis explains how  blind obedience to God transforms the childless and pagan Abram into a believer in the one true God, and, later in his story, from Abram into the Abraham who became the prototype of trusting Faith and the father of God’s Chosen People. Blind obedience to God at His command transformed childless Abram into the Patriarch Abraham, a believer in the one God.  Today’s passage is really the first encounter between Abram and God. Abram, a pagan, was prosperous in land and livestock, but he had no children, and that, to people of his time, was the most serious of all possible deprivations.  So  God challenged him with an offer: "I will make of you a great nation." But God's requirements were absolute: "Go forth from the land of your kin."  The requirements were to become even more absolute when, after Abraham finally had a son, God asked him to sacrifice that same son (Genesis 22:1-18).  God asks us, too, to leave our old life of sin behind, to go forth with Him into a period of repentance, renewal of life and transformation, and to give Him the whole of our being in loving surrender forever.

The second reading: II Timothy 1:8-10 explained:  St. Paul’s letter to Timothy explains the type of Lenten life-transformation expected of us.  We should be ready to bear hardship for the Gospel’s sake, and to be thankful to God for our call to holiness, not trusting in our own merits but in grace.  “Bear your share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God.”  This passage has the following Lenten themes: a) bearing hardship for the sake of the Gospel; b) understanding that we are called not because of our own good works, but by undeserved grace; c) allowing God to make our belief, that we were drawn into Jesus from before time began, the central reality in our daily living; and d) facing death while hoping for immortality, a share in the Resurrection.  The phrase "manifest through the appearance of our Savior," meaning after Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead, may also be a reference to today's Gospel story of Jesus' Transfiguration, traditionally read on the second Sunday of Lent. 

Gospel exegesis: The objectives and the time of the Transfiguration:   The primary purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration was to consult his Heavenly Father in order to ascertain His plan for Our Lord’s suffering, death and Resurrection.  The secondary aim was to make Jesus’ chosen disciples aware of His Divine glory, so that they might discard their worldly ambitions about a conquering political Messiah. A third purpose was to strengthen their Faith and Hope and to encourage them to persevere through the future ordeal (CCC #568). The Transfiguration took place in late summer, probably in AD 29, just prior to the Feast of Tabernacles.  Hence, the Orthodox tradition celebrates the Transfiguration at about the time of the year when it actually occurred in order to connect it with the Old Testament Feast of Tabernacles.  Western tradition celebrates the Transfiguration twice, first at the beginning of Lent with the Gospel account and second on August 6 with a full Feast Day liturgy. 

The location of the Transfiguration was probably Mount Hermon in North Galilee, near Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus had camped for a week before the Transfiguration.  The 9200-foot mountain was desolate.  The traditional oriental belief that the transfiguration took place on Mount Tabor is based on Psalm 89:12.   Mount Tabor, on the other hand, is a hill in the south of Galilee, less than 1000 feet high with a Roman fort on top of it, an unlikely place for solitude and prayer. But, says modern Bible scholar John McKenzie “It is far more probable that this mountain, like the mountain of the Sermon (Mt 5:11) has no geographical location. It is the symbolic mountain on which the events of Sinai are re-enacted in the life of the new Moses.”

The scene of Heavenly glory: The disciples received a preview of the glorious figure Jesus would become at Easter and beyond. While praying, Jesus was transfigured into a shining figure, full of Heavenly glory.  This reminds us of Moses and Elijah who also experienced the Lord in all His glory.  Moses had met the Lord in the burning bush at Mount Horeb (Ex 3:1-4).  After his later encounter with God, Moses' face shone so brightly that it frightened the people, and Moses had to wear a veil over his face (Ex 34:29-35). The luminosity of the face of Moses is also meant to signal the loving, welcomed invasion of God. Into his soul. The Jews believed that Moses was taken up in a cloud at end of his earthly life (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 4. 326).  Elijah had traveled for forty days to Mt. Horeb on the strength of the food brought by an angel (1 Kgs 19:8).  At Mt. Horeb, Elijah sought refuge in a cave as the glory of the Lord passed over him (1 Kgs 19:9-18).  Finally, Elijah, was taken directly to Heaven in a chariot of fire without experiencing death (2 Kgs 2:11-15). In addition, “Moses led his people out of slavery in Egypt, received the Torah on Mount Sinai and brought God’s people to the edge of the Promised Land. Elijah, the great prophet in northern Israel during the ninth century B.C., performed healings and other miracles and stood up to Israel’s external enemies and the wicked within Israel. Their presence in Matthew’s Transfiguration account emphasizes Jesus’ continuity with the Law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah) in salvation history.” (Fr. Harrington S. J.)

These representatives of the Law and the Prophets, foreshadowed Jesus who is the culmination of the Law and the Prophets.  Both prophets were initially rejected by the people but were vindicated by God.  The Jews believed that these men did not die, because God Himself took Moses (Dt 34:5-6), and Elijah was carried to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kgs 2:11).  So, the implication is that although God spared Moses and Elijah the normal process of death, He did not spare His Son. Peter’s offer to pitch three tents (vs. 4) is an allusion to the feast of Sukkoth (Tabernacles, Tents, Booths) which commemorated the wilderness period when the Israelites lived in tents (Dt 16:13-15).

God the Father’s Voice from the Cloud: The book of Exodus describes how God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai from the Cloud.  God often made appearances in a cloud (Ex 24:15-17; 13:21-22; 34:5; 40:34; 1 Kgs 8:10-11).  I Kgs 8:10 tells us how, by the cover of a cloud, God revealed His presence over the Ark of the Covenant and in the Temple of Jerusalem on the day of its dedication.  The Jews generally believed that the phenomenon of the Cloud would be repeated when the Messiah arrived.  God the Father, Moses and Elijah approved the plan regarding Jesus' suffering, death and Resurrection.  God’s words from the Cloud: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with Him I am well pleased; listen to Him,” are the same words used by God at Jesus' baptism (3:17).  They summarize the meaning of the Transfiguration: on this mountain, God reveals Jesus as His Son -- His beloved -- the One in Whom He is well pleased and to Whom we must listen.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #556, underlines the implication of the Lord’s baptism and his Transfiguration for our life: “On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus’ baptism proclaimed the mystery of the first regeneration, namely, our Baptism. The Transfiguration is the sacrament of the second regeneration: our own Resurrection.”

Life messages: (1) The Transubstantiation in the Holy Mass is the source of our strength.  At the shortage of wine during the wedding of Cana, Jesus changed water into wine: one substance became another substance. In each Holy Mass our offering of bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus under the appearances of bread and wine.  Hence, just as Jesus’ Transfiguration strengthened the Apostles in their time of trial, each Holy Mass should be our source of Heavenly strength against our own temptations and our source for the renewal of our lives during Lent.  In addition, communion with Jesus in prayer and in the Eucharist, should be a source of daily transformation for both our minds and hearts.  We must also be transformed by becoming humbler and more selfless, sharing love, compassion and forgiveness with others. But in our everyday lives, we often fail to recognize Jesus when he appears to us “transfigured,” hidden in someone who is in some kind of need.  Jesus will be happy when we attend to the needs of that person.  With the eyes of Faith, we must see Jesus in every one of our brothers and sisters, the children of God we come across each day and, by His grace, respond to Him with love and service.

(2) Each Sacrament that we receive transforms us.   Baptism, for example, transforms us into sons and daughters of God and heirs of heaven.  Confirmation makes us the temples of the Holy Spirit.  By the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God brings back the sinner to the path of holiness. By receiving in Faith, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we are spiritually, and, if God wills, physically, healed and our sins are forgiven (CCC  #568).

(3) A message of hope and encouragement.  In moments of doubt and during feelings of despair, the expectation of our transformation in Heaven helps us to reach out to God and listen to His consoling words: “This is my beloved son/daughter in whom I am well pleased.” 

(4) We need these 'mountain-top’ experiences in our own lives.  We can share experiences like those of Peter, James and John when we spend some extra time in prayer during Lent.  Perhaps we may want to fast for one day, taking only water, thus releasing spiritual energy, which in turn, can lift our thoughts to a higher plane.  Such a fast may also help us to remember the starving millions in the world and make us more willing to help them. 

JOKE OF THE WEEK:  1) Lenten penance: There is a story of a father trying to explain Lent to his ten-year-old son. At one point, the father said, "You ought to give up something for Lent, something you will really miss, like candy." The boy thought for a moment, then asked, "What are you giving up, Father?" "I'm giving up liquor," the father replied. "But before dinner you were drinking something," the boy protested. "Yes, but that was only sherry," said the father. "I gave up hard liquor." To which the boy replied, "Well then, I think I'll give up hard candy." 

 2) “I have decided to give up drinking for Lent:” An Irishman moves into a tiny hamlet in County Kerry, walks into the pub and promptly orders three beers.  The bartender raises his eyebrows, but serves the man three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone and orders three more.  As this continued every day the bartender asked him politely, “The folks around here are wondering why you always order three beers?"  "It’s odd, isn't it?" the man replies, "You see, I have two brothers, and one went to America, and the other to Australia.  We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank." Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two beers.  As this continued for several days, the bartender approached him with tears in his eyes and said, "Folks around here, me first of all, want to offer condolences to you for the death of your brother.  You know-the two beers and all..."  The man ponders this for a moment and then replies with a broad smile, "You'll be happy to know that my two brothers are alive and well.  It’s just that I, myself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent."

3) “Don’t worry about me, Lord.” A certain missionary on a study trip to the Holy Land was visiting Jaffa (Joppa) where Peter was residing when he baptized Cornelius (Acts 10). The breath-taking beauty of this small seaside town was such that it inspired the missionary to come up with this joke: At the Transfiguration Peter offered to build three tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. Jesus said, “And what about you, Peter?” And Peter replies, “Don’t worry about me Lord, I got a better place in Jaffa.”

[Prepared by: Fr. Anthony Kadavil, Chaplain, Sacred Heart Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor, 1655 McGill Ave, Mobile, AL 36604 ]

Synopsis: Lent III [A] Sunday Homily on Jn 4:5-42 (L/17) Introduction: Today’s readings are centered on Baptism and new life. Living water represents God’s Spirit Who comes to us in Baptism, penetrating every aspect of our lives and quenching our spiritual thirst. The Holy Spirit of God, the Word of God and the Sacraments of God in the Church are the primary sources of the living water of Divine Grace. We are assembled here in the Church to drink this water of eternal life and salvation. Washed in it at Baptism, renewed by its abundance at each Eucharist, invited to it in every proclamation of the Word and daily empowered by the anointing of the Spirit, we are challenged by today’s Gospel to remain thirsty for the living water, which only God can give. Scripture lessons: The first reading describes how God provided water to the ungrateful complainers of Israel, thus placing Jesus’ promise within the context of the Exodus account of water coming from the rock at Horeb. The Responsorial Psalm, Ps 95, refers both to the Rock of our salvation and also to our hardened hearts. It reminds us that our hard hearts need to be softened by God through our grace-prompted and -assisted prayer, fasting and works of mercy which enable us to receive the living water of the Holy Spirit, salvation and eternal life from the Rock of our salvation. In the second reading, Saint Paul asserts that, as the Savior of mankind, Jesus poured the living water of the gift of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. In the Gospel, an unclean and outcast Samaritan woman is given an opportunity to receive the living water. Jesus awakened in the woman at the well a thirst for the wholeness and integrity which she had lost, a thirst which He had come to satisfy. This Gospel passage also gives us Jesus' revelation about Himself as the Source of Living Water and teaches us that we need the grace of Jesus Golden Goose Running Homme Soldes Christ for eternal life because He is that life-giving water. Life messages:

1) We need to allow Jesus free entry into our personal lives. Jesus wishes to come into our “private” life, not to embarrass us, not to judge or condemn us, but to free us, to change us and to offer us what we really need: the living water of the Holy Spirit. Let us find this living water in the Sacraments, in prayer and in the Holy Bible, especially during this Lenten season.

2) We need to be witnesses to Jesus like the Samaritan woman. Let us have the courage to "be" Jesus for others, especially in those "unexpected" places for unwanted people. Let us also have the courage of our Christian convictions to stand for truth and justice in our day-to-day life.

3) We need to leave the “husbands” behind during Lent as the Samaritan woman did. Today’s Gospel message challenges us to get rid of our unholy attachments and the evil habits that keep us enslaved and idolatrous. Lent is our time to learn from our mistakes of over-indulgence in food, drink, drugs, gambling, promiscuity, or any other addiction that distances us from the living water.

Synopsis of Lent IV Sunday [A] Homily on Jn 9:1-41 (L/17) Introduction: The fourth Sunday of Lent is known as “Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday,” expressing the Church's joy in anticipation of the Resurrection of our Lord. Today’s readings both remind us that it is God who gives us proper vision in body as well as in soul and instruct us that we should be constantly on our guard against spiritual blindness.

Scripture lessons: By describing the anointing of David as the second king of Israel, the first reading, taken from the First Book of Samuel, illustrates how blind we are in our judgments and how much we need God’s help. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds the Ephesians of their new responsibility as children of light to live as children of the light, producing every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” Presenting the miracle of Jesus’ giving of sight to a man born blind, today’s Gospel teaches us the necessity of opening the eyes of the mind by Faith, and warns us that those who assume they see the truth are often blind, while those who acknowledge their blindness are given clear vision. In this episode, the most unlikely person, namely the beggar born blind, receives the light of Faith in Jesus, while the religion-oriented, law-educated Pharisees remain spiritually blind. To live as a Christian is to see, to have clear vision about God, about ourselves and about others. Our Lenten prayers and sacrifices should serve to heal our spiritual blindness so that we can look at others, see them as children of God and love them as our own brothers and sisters saved by the death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Life messages: 1) We need to allow Jesus to heal our spiritual blindness. We all have blind-spots -- in our marriages, our parenting, our work habits, and our personalities. We often wish to remain in the dark, preferring darkness to light. Even practicing Christians can be blind to the poverty, injustice and pain around them. Let us remember, however, that Jesus wants to heal our blindness. We need to ask Him to remove from us the root causes of our blindness: namely, self-centeredness, greed, anger, hatred, prejudice, jealousy, addiction to evil habits and hardness of heart. Let us pray with the Scottish Bible scholar William Barclay, “God our Father, help us see Christ more clearly, love him more dearly and follow him more nearly.” 2) We need to get rid of cultural blindness. Our culture also has blind-spots. Often it is blind to things like selfless love, happiness, fidelity with true, committed sexual love in marriage, and the value of human life from birth to natural death. Our culture has become anesthetized to the violence, the sexual innuendo, and the enormous suffering in the world around us. Let us counteract this cultural blindness by experiencing Jesus dwelling within us and within others through personal prayer, meditative reading of the Bible and a genuine Sacramental life.

Lent IV [A] (3/26/2017): I Sam 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41 Anecdote # 1: "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent:” Sherlock Holmes and his smart assistant Dr. Watson go on a camping trip, enjoy a heavy barbeque dinner with a bottle of whisky, set up their tent, and fall asleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Watson replies, "I see millions of stars." "What does that tell you?” Watson ponders for a minute. "Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, it's evident the Lord is all powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?” Holmes is silent for a moment, then speaks. "Watson, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent.” Watson had missed the most obvious. He was clever enough to notice the complexities of the stars but he missed what was plain and simple. Today’s Gospel reading is about a whole lot of people who miss the point. In Jesus’ healing of a blind man, the Pharisees missed the most evident point that it was a real miracle by Divine intervention. ( ) .

#2: "Lead kindly Light": John Henry Cardinal Newman was a professor at Oxford University. When he was an Anglican priest, along with the other scholars, he started the Oxford movement. When he was thirty-two years old, his health was bad, and he took a break from his writings and went to Europe to recuperate. But unfortunately, he contacted a deadly fever. He wanted to return to England, but no transportation was available. As he waited, his life became lonely and tedious; he was experiencing great physical and emotional despair. It is then that he penned a beautiful hymn asking God for light: “Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on; The night is dark, and I am far from home; Lead thou me on: Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene-one step enough for me.” In his confusion and distress, Newman prayed to the God of Light to lead him from darkness to light, from confusion to certainty, and from sickness to health. God heard his prayer and led him home safely. In 1845, he was converted to the Roman Catholic faith. [John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies; quoted by Fr. Botelho.]

Synopsis of Lent V [A] Homily on John 11:1-45 (L/17)