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One option for Easter Sunday morning’s Mass is from the Gospel of John (20:1-8). (I have written before on the Matthean Gospel option (here)). Like most of the resurrection accounts, John’s version paints a portrait of a journey that some of the early disciples have to make: out of fear and into faith. It shows the need to experience the resurrection and then come to understand it more deeply. While the Gospel account begins with Mary Magdalene, the focus quickly shifts to St. John; let’s study his journey.

I. Reaction Mode – The text begins by describing everyone as being in reaction mode, quite literally running about in a panic! On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

The text describes the opening moments as “still dark.” John is likely trying to do more than tell us the time of day. The deeper point is that there is still a darkness that envelops everyone’s mind.  The darkness makes it difficult for us to see; our fears and sorrows can blind us.

Mary Magdalene sees direct evidence of the resurrection but presumes the worst: that grave robbers have snatched the Lord’s body! It doesn’t even occur to her to remember that Jesus had said that He would rise on the third day and that this was that very third day. She goes immediately into reaction mode instead of reflection mode. Her mind jumps to the worst conclusion; by reacting and failing to reflect, she looks right at the blessing and sees a curse.

We also tend to do this. We look at our life and see only the burdens instead of the blessings.

1. I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm goes off instead of thinking, “Thank you, Lord, that I can hear; there are many who are deaf. Thank you that I have the strength to rise; there are many who do not.”
2. Even though the first hour of the day may be hectic: socks are lost, toast is burned, tempers are short, and the children are loud; we ought to be thinking, “Thank you, Lord, for my family; there are many who are lonely.”
3. We can even be thankful for the taxes we pay because it means we’re employed, for the clothes that fit a little too snugly because it means we have enough to eat, for the heating bill because it means we are warm, for the weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means we have been productive.

Every day millions of things go right and only a handful go wrong. What will we focus on? Will we look right at the signs of our blessings and call them burdens or will we thank the Lord? Do we live lives that are reactive and negative or do we live reflectively, remembering that the Lord says that even our burdens are gifts in strange packages? And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Do we know this, or are we like the disciples on that early morning when it was still dark, looking right at the blessings but drawing only negative conclusions, reacting and failing to reflect?

II. Recovery mode – The text goes on to describe a certain subtle move from reaction to reflection. So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

Mary Magdalene’s anxiety is contagious. She comes running to the disciples, all out of breath, and says that “they” (whoever “they” are) have taken the Lord (she speaks of Him as a corpse) and “we” (she and the other women who were with her) don’t know where they put Him (again, she speaks of Him as an inanimate corpse). Mary’s panic triggers that same reaction in the disciples. Now they’re all running! The mad dash to the tomb has begun.

Notice, though, that they are hurrying so that they can verify the grave robbery, not the resurrection. Like Mary, they didn’t take the time to reflect and perhaps remember that the Lord had said He would rise on the third day and that this was the third day. Instead, they also panic, rushing forth to try to confirm their worst fears.

But note a subtlety: John runs faster than Peter. Some scholars say it indicates merely that John was the younger man. I would argue, however, that it signals hope. The Holy Spirit, speaking through John, is not likely interested in passing things like youth. Some of the Fathers of the Church see a greater truth at work in the love and mystical tradition that John symbolizes. He was the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the disciple who knew and experienced that love of God. Love often sees what knowledge and authority can only appreciate and later affirm. Love gets there first.

There is a different verse in Scripture that I believe explains John’s strength (manifested in his speed):

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Is 40:31).

Perhaps John runs faster because he begins to move from reaction to reflection and remembrance. When you run quickly it’s hard to talk, so you tend to recede alone into your thoughts. There is something about love that enlightens, that recalls what the beloved has said. Perhaps John begins to think, to reflect and consider these things:

1. Didn’t Jesus say He’d rise three days later and isn’t this that day?
2. Didn’t the Lord deliver Daniel?
3. Didn’t He deliver Noah from the flood?
4. Didn’t He deliver Joseph from the hands of his brothers and from the deep dungeon?
5. Didn’t He deliver Moses and the people from Egypt?
6. Didn’t He deliver David from Goliath and Saul?
7. Didn’t He deliver Jonah from the whale?
8. Didn’t He deliver Queen Esther and the people from wicked men?
9. Didn’t He deliver Susanna from her false accusers?
10. Didn’t He deliver Judith from Holofernes?
11. Didn’t Jesus raise the dead?
12. Didn’t God promise to deliver the just from all their trials?
13. As for me, I know that my redeemer liveth!

Something started to happen inside John. I have it on the best of authority that he began to sing this song in his heart as he ran:

“I don’t feel no ways tired. Come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy but I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me.”

Yes, John is in recovery now. He has moved from reaction to reflection. He is starting to regain his faith.

The text says that John looked in and saw the burial cloths, but waited for Peter. Mystics and lovers may get there first, but the Church has a Magisterium that must be respected, too.

III. Reassessment mode – In life we must often reassess our initial reactions as further evidence comes in. Peter and John must take a fresh look at the evidence from their own perspective. The text says, When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths [lying] there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

Mary Magdalene’s assessment was that grave robbers must have struck, but the evidence for that seems weak. Grave robbers typically sought the fine linens in which the dead were buried. Yet here are the linens while the body is gone. If they were going to take the body, why not also take the valuable grave linens? The Greek text describes the clothes as κείμενα (keimena)—lying stretched out in place, in order. It is almost as if the clothes simply “deflated” in place when the body they covered disappeared. Finally, the most expensive cloth of all, the σουδάριον (soudarion), lies folded (rolled up, in some translations) in a separate place. Grave robbers would not leave the most valuable things behind. And surely, even if for some strange reason they wanted the body rather than the linens, they would not have bothered to carefully unwrap and fold things, leaving them all stretched out in an orderly way. Robbers work quickly; they snatch things and leave disarray in their wake.

Life is like this: you can’t simply accept the first interpretation of things. Every reporter knows that “in the fog of war” the first reports are often wrong. We have to be careful not to jump to conclusions just because someone else is worried about something. Sometimes we need to take a fresh look at the evidence and interpret it as people of faith and hope, as men and women who know that although God may test us He will not forsake us.

John is now looking at the same evidence that Mary Magdalene did, but his faith and hope give him a different vision. His capacity to move beyond fearful reaction to faithful reflection is changing the picture.

We know little of the reaction of Peter or Mary Magdalene at this point; the focus is on John. And the focus is on you. What do you see in life? Do you see grave robbers, or are you willing to reconsider and move from knee-jerk fear to reflective faith?

Does your resurrection faith make you ready to reassess the bad news you receive and look for blessings, even in crosses?

IV. Resurrection Mode – Somewhat cryptically, the text now focuses on the reaction and mindset of St. John. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

On one level the text says that St. John saw and believed. Does this mean merely that he now believed Mary Magdalene’s story that the body was gone? As is almost always the case with John’s Gospel, there is both a plain meaning and a deeper one. The text says that he ἐπίστευσεν (episteusen); he “believed.” The verb here is in the aorist tense, a tense that generally portrays a situation as simple or undivided, that is, as having a perfective (completed) aspect. In other words, something has come to fruition in him.

Yet the text also seems to qualify, saying, they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. It is as if to say that John came to believe that Jesus had risen but had not yet come to fully understand all the scriptural connections and how this had to be. He only knew in his heart by love and through this evidence that Jesus was risen. Deeper understanding would have to come later.

For our purposes, let us observe that St. John has gone from fear to faith. He has not yet seen Jesus alive, but he believes based on the evidence and on what his own heart and mind tell him.

At this moment John is like us. He has not seen but he believes. Neither have we seen, but we believe. John would see him alive soon enough and so will we!

We may not have an advanced degree in Scripture, but through love we too can know that He lives. Why and how? Because of the same evidence:

1. The grave clothes of my old life are strewn before me.
2. I am rising to new life.
3. I am experiencing greater victory over sin.
4. Old sins and my old Adam are being put to death.
5. The life of the new Adam, Christ, is coming alive.
6. I am being set free and have hope and confidence, new life and new gifts.
7. I have increasing gratitude, courage, and a deep peace that tells me that everything is all right.
8. The grave clothes of my old way of life lie stretched out before me and I now wear a new robe of righteousness.
9. I am not what I want to be but I am not what I used to be.

So we, like John, see. We do not see the risen Lord—not yet anyway, but we see the evidence and we believe.

St. John leaves this scene as a believer. His faith may not be the fully perfected faith that it will become, but he does believe. John has gone from fear to faith, from reaction to reflection, from panic to peace.

According to the Synoptic Gospels, sundown of Holy Thursday ushered in the Passover. Later on this evening, the Lord will celebrate the Passover meal with His disciples. We ought to be mindful that the unleavened bread Jesus will take in His hands is called “the bread of affliction.” Scripture says, You shall eat [the Passover] with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt (Dt 16:3).

Indeed, this is an evening of affliction for Jesus. Much transpires at the Last Supper that is emblematic of our human foibles and sinful tendencies, but thanks be to God, He takes this “bread of affliction” we dish out to Him and lifts it to the glory of the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.

Before being too critical of the Twelve, remember that we can be like them in many ways. Keep that in mind as you read through the commentary below; A large part of what I’ve written about the apostles applies to us as well. Indeed, they are we and we are they; and the Lord loved all of us to the end.

So on Holy Thursday let’s examine the sequence of events. It illustrates pretty well why the Lord had to die for us. We will see how earnest the Lord is about this Last Supper, how He enters it with an intense love for His disciples and a desire that they heed what He is trying to teach them. We shall also see, however, that they show forth a disastrous inattentiveness and a terrible lack of concern for the Lord.

COMING CLOUDS – Jesus knows that His hour has come; this will be His last meal. Judas has already conspired and been paid to hand Him over. Scripture says, Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come. He always loved those who were his own, and now he would show them the depths of his love. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over (John 13:1). Thus, in the gathering storm Jesus plans His last meal, which will also be the first Holy Mass. He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us” (Mark 14:13-15).

CARING CONCERN – This last supper is obviously important to Jesus. Luke records these heartfelt words: And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16). Yes, this will be a very special moment for Jesus. 

COLLABORATIVE CONDESCENSION – During the meal Jesus rises and then stoops to wash the disciples’ feet. He instructs them to see in this action a model for those who would collaborate with Him in any future ministry. John records it this way: He rose from the supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded (John 13:5).

Jesus then teaches the disciples: Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you (John 13:12-15). Just moments from now, we will see them demonstrate a complete disregard for what Jesus has just tried to teach them.

COSTLY COMMUNION – Jesus, reclining at table, will now celebrate the Holy Eucharist for the first time—but it is to be a costly communion. He has already lost many disciples because of what He taught on the Eucharist (cf John 6:50ff). After the consecration at this Last Supper/first Mass, Jesus looks into the cup at His own blood, soon to be shed, and distributes His own body, soon to be handed over. This is no mere ritual for Him. Every priest before Jesus has offered a sacrifice distinct from himself (usually an animal, sometimes a libation), but Jesus the great High Priest will offer Himself.

CALLOUS CRIME – Back at table after having taught them that they must wash one another’s feet, Jesus suddenly becomes troubled in spirit and says, I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me (John 13:21). This causes a commotion among the apostles, who begin to ask, “Who can it be?” As the anxiety builds, Simon Peter motions to John and says, “Ask Him which one He means.” Leaning back against Jesus, John asks Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus responds, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. “What you are about to do, do quickly” Jesus told him (John 13:24-30).

CONFOUNDING COMPETITION – As Judas takes the morsel of bread and heads out into the night, no one even tries to stop him! Despite the fact that Jesus has clearly identified His betrayer, no one rises to block the door or even utters a word of protest. Why not? Luke supplies the answer: A dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24). They should be concerned about Jesus’ welfare but instead they argue about which of them is the greatest.

How confounding! How awful! Yet is that not our history? Too often we are more concerned with our own welfare or status than with any suffering in the Body of Christ. So much that is critical remains unattended to because of this. Jesus has just finished teaching the apostles to wash one another’s feet, and the next thing you know, they’re arguing as to who among them is the greatest. Jesus patiently reminds them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves (Luke 22:25-27). Meanwhile, due to their egotistical response, Judas has escaped into the night.

CAUSTIC CONTENTIOUSNESS – Jesus continues to teach at the Last Supper. He surely wants to impress upon them His final instruction. How He must long for them to listen carefully and to internalize what He is teaching! Instead, all He gets are arguments. Both Thomas and Phillip rebuke Him. John records this outrage:

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” But Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him (Jn 14:1-8).

Thomas rebukes the Lord by saying, in effect, “We have no idea where you’re going; when will you show us the way?” Jesus answers, but Philip will have none of this promise to see the Father and boldly says, “Lord, show us the Father, and then we shall be satisfied.” Jesus, likely saddened by this, says to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:8-9) Jesus’ own apostles are being argumentative and contentious. They are caustic and seem to rebuke Him.

COMICAL CREDIBILITY GAP – Undeterred, Jesus embarks on a lengthy discourse (recorded by John) that has come to be called the priestly prayer of Jesus. At the end of it, the apostles—perhaps ironically, perhaps with sincerity—remark, Now at last you are speaking plainly, not in any figure. Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God (John 16:29-30). However, Jesus knows that their praise is hollow and will not withstand the test.

There is a quite a lack of credibility in what the apostles say; it is almost comical. Jesus replies to them, Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone (John 16:31-32). Peter protests, saying, Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away (Matthew 26:33). Here is another almost comic lack of credibility: [Jesus says to Peter,] Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. [Still insistent, Peter replies,] “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples (Matthew 26:34-35). Well, you know the story, and you know that only John made it to the cross.

CLUELESS CATNAP – They finally reach the garden and the foot of the Mount of Olives. Jesus says to Peter, James, and John: My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me (Mat 26:38). They seem oblivious to His suffering, though, and doze off. Attempts to arouse them are unsuccessful; they sleep on.

Here we are at the pivotal moment of all human history and the first clergy of the Church are sound asleep. (Things have not changed, my friends.) Indeed, many are in a state of moral, spiritual, and emotional sleep as Christ still suffers throughout the world and is conspired against. Jesus says,

Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go. See, my betrayer is at hand” (Mat 26:45-46).

COMPASSIONATE CONSTANCY – Jesus went on and died for the likes of them and all of us. I wonder if He had this Last Supper in mind when He said to the Father, Forgive them, they know not what they do. It is almost as if He is saying, “They have absolutely no idea what they are doing or thinking, so have mercy on them, Father.”

What a grim picture the Last Supper paints of us! It’s a disaster, really, but the glory of the story and the saving grace is this: The Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross regardless. Seeing this terrible portrait, can we really doubt the Lord’s love for us?

May your Holy Thursday be blessed. Never forget what Jesus endured!

 

Two momentous days have passed: On Monday there was the cleansing of the Temple and the laments over Jerusalem’s lack of faith; Tuesday featured exhaustive teachings by Jesus and interrogations by His opponents.

Today, Wednesday, it would seem that Jesus stays in Bethany. According to Matthew’s Gospel, the day begins with an ominous warning:

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified” (Matthew 26:1-2).

The scene then shifts across the Kidron valley, where we “overhear” this conversation:

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people” (Matthew 26:3-5).

It is interesting that they say, “not during the festival,” because according to the Synoptic Gospels that is exactly when it ended up happening. This serves as a reminder that things unfold according to the Lord’s authority. Nothing is out of His control. No one takes the Jesus’ life; He lays it down freely. Even if one considers the Johannine tradition, which uses a different Jewish calendar to date the Passover (one day later), this all takes place right in the thick of the Passover. Why? Because the Lord is fulfilling Passover. The priests and elders can plan all they want, but God is in control.

The Lord Jesus and the Twelve likely spent a quiet sort of day and it is now later in the afternoon. Matthew’s Gospel places Jesus in Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper (Matthew 26:6-7). According to Luke (7:36), Simon was a Pharisee. His leprosy was in remission and he had been readmitted to the community. Could he have been one of the lepers Jesus cured? We do not know. The story here is complex; there are significant differences among the various Gospel accounts. Matthew records it as follows:

A woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Matthew 26:7-13).

The act of anointing Jesus may have happened more than once; in the four accounts of it there are differences in both the details and the timeframes.

Luke presents this story (or a similar one) much earlier in his Gospel (Chapter 7). In his account it is Jesus’ feet not His head that are anointed. Further, Luke portrays Simon in a bad light.

Mark and Matthew place the incident on Wednesday of Holy Week, but report that it is those at the dinner (likely the apostles) who take offense at the anointing.

John’s Gospel places this event six days before Passover, but at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. In John’s account it is Mary who anoints the Lord (His feet, not His head) and Judas alone who takes offense.

For our purposes on this Wednesday of Holy Week, it is enough to note that Jesus sets the meaning of this woman’s action as anointing His body for burial. Jesus is clearly moved by her act of devotion and insight.

Jesus does not slight the poor in His response, but He teaches that the worship of God and obedience to His truth are higher goods than even the care of the poor. Serving the poor is not to be set in opposition to serving God. They are related, but God always comes first. For example, one cannot skip sacred worship on Sunday simply to serve the poor (except in a grave and urgent situation); serving the poor is not a substitute for worship. The worship of God comes first and is meant to fuel our charitable and just works. Further, set in the light of the looming passion, the dying One takes precedence over the poor ones.

One of the Twelve, Judas, has become increasingly disaffected. He has not been featured prominently among the Twelve; mention of him in the Gospels is minimal. Now he emerges, as if from the shadows, to betray Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all seem to place Judas’ plans to betray Jesus as set into motion at some point on this day. The Gospel of Matthew recounts,

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over (Matt 26:14-16).

Why did he do it? There were storm clouds gathering for Judas, by which he may have opened the door to Satan. Scripture reveals that he was a thief, stealing from the common money bag (Jn 12:6). Jesus also hints that Judas was grieved by the Bread of Life discourse, which led many to abandon Jesus when He insisted that they must eat His Flesh and drink His Blood. Jesus said, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot … (Jn 6:70-71).

We can only guess at Judas’ motivations. The most likely explanation is that he was disillusion when Jesus did not measure up to the common Jewish conception of the Messiah as a revolutionary warrior who would overthrow Roman power and reestablish the Kingdom of David. Judas may have been a member of the Zealot Party or at least influenced by them in this regard. Zealots are seldom interested in hearing of their own need for personal healing and repentance, let alone the call to love their enemies. This is obviously only speculative; Judas’ motivations remain to a large degree shrouded in the mystery of iniquity.

Yes, Judas betrayed Jesus for money—a significant amount—but compared to his salvation and his soul, it was but “a mess of pottage for his birthright” (see Gen 25:34). What will it profit a man that he should gain the whole world and lose his soul? (Mk 8:36)

The widespread belief that Judas might be in Heaven may be just a tad optimistic. The Church does not declare that any particular person is in Hell, however Jesus said the following about Judas: The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born. (Matt 26:24). It is hard to imagine Jesus saying this of any human person who ultimately makes it to Heaven.

The more likely biblical judgment on Judas is that he died in sin, despairing of God’s mercy on His terms. One is free to hope for a different outcome for Judas, but while the story of Judas and his possible repentance does generate some sympathy in many people today, the judgment belongs to God.

It is the saddest story never told: The repentance of Judas and his restoration by Jesus. Think of all the churches that were never built: “The Church of St. Judas, Penitent.” Think of the feast day never celebrated: “The Repentance of Judas.”

Judas goes his way, freely. God did not force him to play this role. He only knew what Judas would do beforehand and based His plans on Judas’ free choice.

Thus ends this Wednesday of Holy Week. It was a calmer day, a day spent among friends, yet a day on which Satan entered one man, who set a betrayal in motion. The storm clouds gather.

For Holy Week an possible practice is to pray a rosary combined with the Seven Penitential Psalms. One could do this on a chosen day, such as Good Friday or on another day, even several days. I have set this forth in the rosary that follows. I also offer a PDF of this rosary that you can print here:  Rosary of the 7 Penitential Psalms.

Praying this rosary is straight-forward. The usual preliminary prayers of the rosary are prayed. Then, the Sorrowful Mysteries are prayed and one reads a verse from the psalms assigned to each bead. By the end of the rosary all seven psalms have been prayed, with Mary! She doesn’t need them, but we do and she is surely happy to pray them with us.

Rosary of the Seven Penitential Psalms

(Grail Translation)

The numbers below refer not to the verses of the listed psalm, but to the bead in the decade.

First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden

1. Psalm 6 Lord, do not reprove me in your anger;
   punish me not in your rage.
   Have mercy on me, Lord, I have no strength;
   Lord, heal me, my body is racked;
   my soul is racked with pain.
2. But you, O Lord…how long?
   Return, Lord, rescue my soul.
   Save me in your merciful love;
   for in death no one remembers you;
   from the grave, who can give you praise? 

3. I am exhausted with my groaning;
   every night I drench my pillow with tears;
   I bedew my bed with weeping.
   My eye wastes away with grief;
   I have grown old surrounded by my foes.

4. Leave me, all you who do evil;
   for the Lord has heard my weeping.
   The Lord has heard my plea;
   The Lord will accept my prayer.
   All my foes will retire in confusion,
   foiled and suddenly confounded. 

5. Psalm 32 Happy the man whose offense is forgiven,
   whose sin is remitted.
   O happy the man to whom the Lord
   imputes no guilt,
   in whose spirit is no guile.

6. I kept it secret, and my frame was wasted.
   I groaned all day long,
   for night and day your hand was heavy upon me.
   Indeed my strength was dried up
   as by the summer’s heat.

7. But now I have acknowledged my sins;
   my guilt I did not hide.
   I said: “I will confess
   my offense to the Lord.”
   And you, Lord, have forgiven
   the guilt of my sin.

8. So let every good man pray to you
   in the time of need.
   The floods of water may reach high
   but him they shall not reach.
   You are my hiding place, O Lord;
   you save me from distress.
   You surround me with cries of deliverance.
9. I will instruct you and teach you
   the way you should go;
   I will give you counsel
   with my eye upon you. 

10. Be not like horse and mule, unintelligent,
    needing bridle and bit
    else they will not approach you.
    Many sorrows has the wicked
    but he who trusts in the Lord,
    loving mercy surrounds him.

Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar

1. Psalm 38 Lord do not rebuke me in your anger;
   do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.
   Your arrows have sunk deep in me;
   your hand has come down upon me. 

2. Through your anger all my body is sick:
   through my sin, there is no health in my limbs.
   My guilt towers higher than my head;
   it is a weight too heavy to bear.

3. My wounds are foul and festering,
   the result of my own folly.
   I am bowed and brought to my knees.
   I go mourning all the day long.
4. All my frame burns with fever;
   all my body is sick.
   Spent and utterly crushed,
   I cry aloud in anguish of heart.

5. O Lord, you know all my longing:
   my groans are not hidden from you.
   My heart throbs, my strength is spent;
   the very light has gone from my eyes.

6. My friends avoid me like a leper;
   those closest to me stand afar off.
   Those who plot against my life lay snares;
   those who seek my ruin speak of harm,
   planning treachery all the day long.

7. But I am like the deaf who cannot hear,
   like the dumb unable to speak.
   I am like a man who hears nothing
   in whose mouth is no defense.

8. I count on you, O Lord:
   it is you, Lord God, who will answer.
   I pray: “Do not let them mock me,
   those who triumph if my foot should slip.”

9. For I am on the point of falling
   and my pain is always before me.
   I confess that I am guilty
   and my sin fills me with dismay.

10. My wanton enemies are numberless
    and my lying foes are many.
    They repay me evil for good
    and attack me for seeking what is right.

Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns

1. Lord, do not forsake me!
   My God, do not stay afar off!
   Make haste and come to my help,
   O Lord, my God, my savior!

2. Psalm 51 Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
   In your compassion blot out my offense.
   O wash me more and more from my guilt
   and cleanse me from my sin.

3. My offenses truly I know them;
   my sin is always before me
   Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
   what is evil in your sight I have done.

4. That you may be justified when you give sentence
   and be without reproach when you judge,
   O see, in guilt I was born,
   a sinner was I conceived.
5. Indeed you love truth in the heart;
   then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
   O purify me, then I shall be clean;
   O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.
6. Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
   that the bones you have crushed may thrill.
   From my sins turn away your face
   and blot out all my guilt.
7. A pure heart create for me, O God,
   put a steadfast spirit within me.
   Do not cast me away from your presence,
   nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
8. Give me again the joy of your help;
   with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
   that I may teach transgressors your ways
   and sinners may return to you.
9. O rescue me, God, my helper,
   and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
   O Lord, open my lips
   and my mouth shall declare your praise.
10. For in sacrifice you take no delight,
    burnt offering from me you would refuse,
    my sacrifice, a contrite spirit,
    a humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross 

1. In your goodness, show favor to Zion:
   rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
   Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
   Holocausts offered on your altar.

2. Psalm 102 O Lord, listen to my prayer
   and let my cry for help reach you.
   Do not hide your face from me
   in the day of my distress.
   Turn your ear towards me
   and answer me quickly when I call.

3. For my days are vanishing like smoke,
   my bones burn away like a fire.
   My heart is withered like the grass.
   I forget to eat my bread.
   I cry with all my strength
   and my skin clings to my bones.
4. I have become like a pelican in the wilderness
   like an owl in desolate places.
   I lie awake and I moan
   like some lonely bird on a roof.
   All day long my foes revile me;
   those who hate me use my name as a curse.
5. The bread I eat is ashes;
   my drink is mingled with tears.
   In your anger, Lord, and your fury
   you have lifted me up and thrown me down.
   My days are like a passing shadow
   and I wither away like the grass.
6. But you, O Lord, will endure for ever
   and your name from age to age.
   You will arise and have mercy on Zion:
   for this is the time to have mercy,
   (yes, the time appointed has come)
   for your servants love her very stones,
   are moved with pity even for her dust.
7. The nations shall fear the name of the Lord
   and all the earth’s kings your glory,
   when the Lord shall build up Zion again
   and appear in all his glory.
   Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;
   he will not despise their prayers.
8. Let this be written for ages to come
   that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord;
   for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.
   He looked down from heaven to the earth
   that he might hear the groans of the prisoners
   and free those condemned to die.
9. The sons of your servants shall dwell untroubled
   and their race shall endure before you
   that the name of the Lord may be proclaimed in Zion
   and his praise in the heart of Jerusalem,
   when peoples and kingdoms are gathered together
   to pay their homage to the Lord.
10. He has broken my strength in mid-course;
    he has shortened the days of my life.
    I say to God: “Do not take me away
    before my day are complete,
    you, whose days last from age to age. 

Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion 

1. Long ago you founded the earth
   and the heavens are the work of your hands.
   They will perish but you will remain.
   They will are wear out like a garment.

You will change them like clothes that are changed.
But you neither change, nor have an end.”

2. Psalm 130 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
   Lord, hear my voice!
   O let your ears be attentive
   to the voice of my pleading.

3. If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
   Lord, who would survive?
   But with you is found forgiveness:
   for this we revere you.
   My soul is waiting for the Lord.
   I count on his word.

4. My soul is longing for the Lord
   more than watchman for daybreak.
   Let the watchman count on daybreak
   and Israel on the Lord.
   Because with the Lord there is mercy
   and fullness of redemption,
   Israel indeed he will redeem
   from all its iniquity. 

5. Psalm 143 Lord, listen to my prayer:
   turn your ear to my appeal.
   You are faithful, you are just; give answer.
   Do not call your servant to judgment
   for no one is just in your sight.
6. The enemy pursues my soul;
   he has crushed my life to the ground;
   he has made me dwell in darkness
   like the dead, long forgotten.
   Therefore my spirit fails;
   my heart is numb within me.

7. I remember the days that are past:
   I ponder all your works.
   I muse on what your hand has wrought
   and to you I stretch out my hands.
   Like a parched land my soul thirsts for you.

8. Lord, make haste and answer;
   for my spirit fails within me.
   Do not hide your face
   lest I become like those in the grave.
   In the morning let me know your love
   for I put my trust in you.

9. Make me know the way I should walk:
   to you I lift up my soul.
   Rescue me, Lord, from my enemies;
   I have fled to you for refuge.
   Teach me to do your will
   for you, O Lord, are my God.

10. Let your good spirit guide me
    in ways that are level and smooth.
    For your name’s sake, Lord, save my life;
    in your justice save my soul from distress.
    In your love make an end of my foes;
    destroy all those who oppress me
    for I am your servant, O Lord.

 

Some engage in the wishful thinking that humans can suddenly and dramatically become converted and wholly different. To be sure, there are what are sometimes called “sudden conversions” of individuals. But what this usually means is that the person’s disposition against God and/or the faith is transformed into an openness to the truth and grace of God. It does not usually mean (barring a miracle) that the person is instantly possessed of all virtue and is suddenly free of all sinful inclinations. In order for fundamental change to take deep and lasting root in a person, he or she must work hard at it and must cooperate with God’s grace.

People change and grow slowly, incrementally, often in fits and starts. What we call our character is formed gradually over time. Thoughts and decisions produce deeds; deeds produce habits; habits produce character; and character ushers in our destiny. It is the steady march and repetition of virtue (or vice) that produces our character. True and lasting conversion takes time. It takes repeated good decisions to yield the fruit of a good character.

There are seldom any shortcuts. Expecting there to be a shortcut to good character would be like expecting a person with a newfound interest in classical piano, merely on account of this new interest, to be able to play Mozart Sonatas or Chopin Etudes immediately; it just doesn’t work that way. Rather, he must begin with scales and arpeggios, practice every day, master simple pieces, and then gradually progress to the full vision of classical piano.

The moral life is this way, too. A virtue is defined as a good habit. But habits are not acquired by doing something once. Habits, by definition, are repeated actions. Repeated (good) actions are the basis for virtue. Even if grace comes from God and can spur and enable virtue, virtue does not fall out of the sky. Grace builds on and cooperates with our nature, which is to grow and change slowly by habitual, repeated actions in response to grace. Over time, accumulated good actions become the good habits we call virtues and help to form the more lasting aspect of us that we call our character.

Sadly, the opposite is also true. Vices also build strongholds in our life and our character. Repeated sinful acts engender vice, which has a negative effect on our character. Character is rightly defined as the collection of moral qualities that define a person. And while qualities may change over time, it is wishful thinking to presume they can change quickly, dramatically, or substantially. Our character is largely the summation of our repeated decisions.

Among the more dangerous versions of this wishful thinking (that people can easily and fundamentally change in a moment) is the notion that upon death, those who have stubbornly indulged in sin and/or values opposed to God and His Kingdom will suddenly have a change of heart at the judgment seat of Christ. It is fancifully imagined that they will suddenly want what (until now) they had resisted, disliked, or outright rejected. The human heart seldom, if ever, changes on a dime. This is true even when we suddenly discover that we were wrong about something. We human beings are not even swayed by clear facts if we don’t want to accept certain truths. Instead, we will often grow angry and defensive rather than make a wholehearted change. And in those cases in which we do change our view, it is usually done slowly and in fits and starts, especially when it comes to deep-seated views such as those related to politics or religion.

Imagine a person who has, throughout his life, opposed or resisted essential aspects of the Kingdom of God such as forgiveness, love of one’s enemies, chastity, generosity, and the worship that is due to God. Values such as these are not simply hoops to jump through on the way to a magical kingdom or a personal resort of one’s own design. These are actual parameters of the Kingdom of God and the perfection of that Kingdom we call Heaven.

And herein lies the crucial point: by our repeated choices in life, we are either deepening our desire for God and His Kingdom or eroding it. Our character is either being configured to God and what He is offering through virtue, or disfigured and disinclined to what God is offering through vice.

It is foolish to think that a person who scoffed at chastity and God’s teaching on sexuality will suddenly esteem them when he dies, or that one who did not want to forgive his enemy will suddenly wish to do so. It is unlikely that one who spurned going to Mass and worshiping God in the Holy Liturgy will suddenly want to enter the great liturgy of Heaven, which is described consistently as featuring hymns (Rev 4:8-11; 5:8-14; 7:9-12), candles (Rev 4:5), priests in robes and miters (Rev 4:4), delight in the proclaimed words of a book (Rev 5:1-5), praise of the Lamb on the altar (Rev 5:8ff), incense (Rev 8:3ff), and so forth. How likely is it that one will go from considering these things boring, pointless, unnecessary, and not worthy of attendance, to suddenly considering them glorious and heavenly? How attractive will one find the worship and praise of a heavenly multitude of saints in Heaven if he was never attracted to worship with God’s people on Earth?

God will not force us to want what He offers or to obey His vision for us as portrayed in His Law. Heaven is the fulfillment of all that He offers; it is not our personally designed paradise.

The greatest tragedy of all is that the souls in Hell would be even less happy in Heaven, where the things that they rejected in this life are esteemed and are fully and perfectly present, where many whom they did not care for in this life are honored and in the highest places.

It is wishful thinking, therefore, to think that many who are disinclined to God or are outright hostile to Him and/or what He teaches and offers will experience a sudden conversion as they are escorted to judgment. Scripture says, Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie (Eccles 11:3). In other words, when we die, our character will be forever fixed. It is like a piece of pottery which, having been molded into any number of shapes while on the potter’s wheel, has its shape forever fixed when it is placed in the fire of the kiln. It is like the rich man in the parable of Lazarus who, though lamenting his awful state, shows no desire for Heaven and does not ask to be brought there. Rather, he asks to have Lazarus bring water to him in Hell.

Yes, it is a dangerously wishful thinking and presumption to think that an unrepentant sinner will suddenly want to repent, or that one averse to significant aspects of God’s Kingdom will suddenly wish to seek entrance or will suddenly rejoice in what moments before he found irrelevant or even odious. Instances of such sudden “changing of stripes” are exceedingly rare.

In this life there are certainly wonderful moments of conversion. But they must be followed by perseverance and reparative grace to undue the many lingering effects of years of bad choices. In the case of authentic deathbed conversions, purgatory seems a strong necessity.

A proper antidote to this wishful thinking is to have a sober urgency to summon sinners away from those things that deepen their aversion to the Kingdom. Repeated and unrepented sin hardens the heart and darkens the intellect. A sober reverence for this truth is both necessary and salutary. Wishful thinking is not only unhelpful, it is harmful; it detracts from the urgency that motivates us to work for the salvation of souls, beginning with our own.

Judgment day is but the final recognition and solidification of what has been a long series of decisions. Sow a thought, reap a deed. Sow a deed, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie (Eccles 11:3).

The readings from today’s Mass speak to us of our desperate condition and how God’s abiding love has not only set us free but also lifted us higher. God was not content to restore us to some earthly garden, paradise though it was. No, He so loved the world that He sent His Son, who opened Heaven itself for us and has given us a new, transformed, and eternal life.

Let’s look at some of the themes and ponder how God  demonstrates His ardent love for us and persistently works to lift us higher. If there is any problem it is from us, not God.

I. Problems – In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the LORD’’s temple.

And thus we see our repeated infidelity, worldliness, and impurity. It is not as though we have had just a few bad moments; we have been persistent and consistent in our sinfulness. The cup of human wickedness never seems drained. This is what God has been dealing with in the long and often sad tale of human history.

Are there good chapters? Sure.

But any honest look at human history will also reveal that there is something deeply flawed in human nature. We are living in a fallen world, governed by a fallen angel, and we have fallen natures. Thrice fallen! This is our condition and this is what God is dealing with.

But God does not remove His love and remains an ardent lover of us.

II. Prophets – Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them, for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed that there was no remedy.

God’s first recourse is to call us through the prophets and through His Word. Like any loving Father, He does not seek merely to punish, but to instruct. Perhaps we will hear and mend our ways.

Have we? Is the presence of God’s Word among us a saving remedy? Again, the answer is mixed, but in general, poor.

To some extent Jesus’ call to love has led to greater healing in this world. The light of faith, which once informed the Western world, gave birth to hospitals, greater love for the poor, greater respect for the dignity of the human person, the university system, and the scientific method. The barbarians of ancient Europe were given faith, and many found unity in the bosom of the Church, in more stable governments, and in respect for just law.

But it also remains true that too much of human history, even in the Christian era, is marked by violence, war, lack of forgiveness, injustice, unchastity, and a lack of commitment to the truth of the Gospel.

Yet God continues to send His prophets in and through the Church. Can the world really say that John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI have not been prophets? How about Mother Teresa, Padre Pio, Fulton Sheen, C.S. Lewis, and countless others?

In all our ruinous state, God does not remove His love and remains an ardent lover of us.

III. Punishments – Their enemies burnt the house of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, set all its palaces afire, and destroyed all its precious objects. Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon, where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.

Punishment is not God’s way of venting anger; He is not seeking vengeance.

The purpose of punishment is to allow us to experience the effects of our sins in smaller ways so that something worse does not befall us. And thus the ancient Babylonians afflicted Israel, and God punished and purified His people.

God may well permit great suffering to come upon us, not to vent His anger but rather to summon us to repentance, lest something worse befall us, namely the eternal fires of Hell.

But, truth be told, we humans are a difficult case. Any look at the decline of the West would make one think we’d have come to our senses by now. Our families are ruined, our birthrates have plummeted, our educational system is in steep decline, our economies are out of control, we have debts we cannot pay, and we seem incapable of chastity or of making commitments and keeping them. Yet still we stubbornly persist in our path away from God and the gospel of truth and freedom.

Will we recover our senses or will we vanish like empires before us? That remains to be seen. But the Church will persist, and though punished and pruned, she will endure.

For in all our ruinous state, God does not remove His love and remains an ardent lover of us.

IV. Purpose – All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: “Until the land has retrieved its lost Sabbaths, during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest while seventy years are fulfilled.”

Sin causes damage and that damage must be repaired. We must come to understand that sin is not just the breaking of abstract rules; it causes real harm.

The Christian term “reparation” refers to the repair that must be made for the damage that sin causes. The verse used here in today’s reading talks about healing the breach caused by sin.

Thus while God never withholds His love, He must journey well out onto the wayward paths we have taken in order to lead us back. This a work of God’s, not just a wave of the hand, not just a legal declaration.

We have done more than disobey a legal precept; we have strayed far away and a journey of reparation must be made. The Lord Himself will shepherd us back!

For in all our ruinous state, God does not remove His love and remains an ardent lover of us.

V. Persevering – (from the Gospel)  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

And thus is fulfilled the great and passionate love God has for us. For in all our ruinous state, God does not remove His love and remains an ardent lover of us.

His own Son comes to find us in our wayward places and leads us back.

For in all our ruinous state, God does not remove His love and remains an ardent lover of us.

VI. Promotion – (from the Epistle)  God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ—for by grace you have been saved—raised us up with him.

And thus is our redeemed state even greater than our original justice. We have been raised up with Christ. Grace has brought us higher than we ever were before.

Now no mere earthly garden is granted, but Heaven itself.

For in all our ruinous state, God does not remove His love and remains an ardent lover of us.

VII. Peril  – (from the Gospel) – Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world,  but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light,  so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,  so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Many who love to quote John 3:16 (God so loved the world …) stop before the lines above. Yet they are critically important to the passage since they remind us of the necessity for us to welcome the saving love of God.

God has done everything to help us and to summon us to Him. But He does not force the deal. He stands at the door and knocks (Rev 3:20). He does not barge in; we must open.

But some do not open! Why? Because they prefer the darkness to the Light. To them, the Light is harsh and convicting. It exposes their deeds for what they are: wicked, sinful, unjust, and wrong. Pride and obstinacy keeps many from answering God’s call. They reject the saving love He offers and the many ways he Has reached out to them.

Here, then, is the peril of human choice. God offers, but some reject Him, preferring sin and darkness. God permits this rejection because He wants our love offered freely. Love cannot be forced, it must be given freely. That there is a peril is on our side, not God’s. God wants to save us and lift us higher. The peril is that many prefer wickedness, darkness, and earthly pleasures. They would prefer to “reign” (they will not) in Hell rather than serve in Heaven. The peril comes from us, form our obtuse hearts. It is not from God.

For those of us who do open, God’s love is ready to lift us higher. He offers us eternal life, the fullness of a life that grows richer from year to year until it opens to one so full and beautiful that eye has not seen nor has ear heard of the glories waiting for us (cf 1 Cor 2:9). Praise God! Rejoice!

In the West we are living through times where the Church seems largely irrelevant to most people. And we, the leaders and members of the Church have largely made it that. We have reduced the Gospel to a cheerful call that all are welcome and recast our parishes as cruise liners rather than lifeboats or battleships.

Largely gone are the urgent words of Jesus that we should repent of our sins and believe in the Gospel. Jesus warned of endless hellfire, of wailing and grinding of teeth and every sorrow if we did not accept his invitation or departed from him. “If you do not come to believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24) Most can hardly imagine Jesus speaking like this, and yet it is an exact quote, as are countless other quotes and parables such as “depart from Me, I know you not.” The true impact of so many of the parables is lost on many, and yet they warn that there are sheep and goats, those on the right, those on the left. There are wheat and tares, wise virgins and foolish ones, those who accept the invitation to the wedding feast and those who don’t.

And yet, few today have any practical belief in the dogma of Hell and have largely dismissed it as a remote possibility for themselves or anyone they know. As the Church, this is our doing, starting with those who preach and teach but it does not exclude individuals among the faithful who have been more than willing to surround themselves with teachers who say what their itching ears want to hear (see 2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Without understanding the real possibility that our sinful and disordered appetites and wills may well reject God’s offer of salvation not much else makes sense or impels effort on our part to enter the dramatic battle necessary for salvation. If all is well, who needs Sacraments, prayer, or to adhere to the truth of God’s Words? Who needs to cling to a Catholic family or parish that provides them with all that is most essential to save their souls and the souls of their family members? Who needs saving? Who needs sacraments like confession or the Holy Eucharist? Who needs to be taught the faith? Who needs to muster for a battle when there is no real threat?  What’s so wrong with living together outside of marriage. If there is a God, he won’t care about such things. All that matters is if you’re nice and tolerant.

So what is at is a stake? Nothing, it would appear. No drama in the valley of decision (see Joel 3:14). Nothing to see here, just move on. No wonder people do move on, or drive by our parishes on Sunday mornings. We have preached ourselves into irrelevance by jettisoning the Scriptures for a mish mash of niceness that sounds more like Barney the Purple Dinosaur. We are deeply afraid of offending anyone and our message has devolved to vague abstractions and generalities that are little more than suggestions that we learn to be kind and nice and that all must feel welcome. It’s hardly a summons to a battle for souls, starting with our own. Hardly a call to engage an implacable foe with the weapons of righteousness, holiness, and courage. In such a climate of nearly universal salvation, reinforced by our silence in the face grave moral evils, why should anyone bother to come, or care at all.

In a recent book, Why They Follow, Matthew Warner has some important reflections to help understand the emptying pews. Let’s consider some quotes. He begins with the modern sense that most people are basically in good shape and will most likely attain heaven:

 It’s very difficult to break through and communicate with somebody who just doesn’t seem to care. The modern attitude seems to be that everything in [most] humans is basically in order and that all is well. If that’s true, Jesus becomes merely a great spiritual teacher, and no longer a savior, and our churches, become just nice groups of people to do things with rather than lifeboats. (Page 26).

Yes, who needs a savior if heaven is already in the bag? So Jesus and his message get reduced to kind advice that can improve your life and foster greater kindness. Parishes are reduced to meeting halls where nice people do nice things together. It is a cruise ship not a battleship out fighting for souls. Has it occurred that most of what we offer in this vision can also be supplied by a bowling league or bridge club?  What do we offer that is special or necessary? He continues:

CS Lewis wisely pointed out that “Christianity if false, is of no importance, and if true, it is of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” Unfortunately, in many churches, it feels a bit moderately important and they no longer act as if there’s something big at stake. (Page 27)

And there it is, most don’t think there is anything big at stake if they go or don’t go to Mass. Long gone are the days for most that missing Mass was a serious sin, that sacraments were an essential medicine, that knowing the faith and living it was essential to keep you out of hell. There was, not so long ago, a sense that the stakes were high. It mattered if you went to Mass or not, if you prayed or not, if you got married and stay married or not, if you were chaste, generous, and obedient, or not. Heaven or hell were in the balance, and saying yes to God and repenting when we fell was absolutely essential. Few today of the of the 83% of Catholics who no longer attend Mass think there is anything at stake. And only a slightly higher number of the 17% who do go grasp how much is at stake.

He goes on to write:

People today passionately follow leaders who have communicated that something they care about is at stake: “If the other party wins, America will be set back 100 years!” “If you give us $20 a month, a whole village will get clean water for a year!” “Buy now, before tickets sell out!“ (Page 27)

So there is urgency and action is essential since so much is at stake. It is rare that any Catholic hears or says similar things about holding the faith and remaining faithful until death. When was the last time most Catholics heard a priest warn them of the probability of hell if they remain unrepentant or defiant about certain sinful acts? When was the last time Catholic parents warned their children of the tragedy that the loss of heaven could be if they defy the very virtues that are celebrated in heaven?  Our author continues:

People have to be summoned to something great, beyond their wildest imaginations;  something wonderful that compels them to engage, to act, to commit, to rearrange their lives, to sacrifice to become saints. (Page 36)

So, warning about Hell is not enough. We must also preach and teach of heaven, inspire a longing for it and a passion so compelling that everything we do is ordered to it. Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things will be added unto you. (Mat 7:33). Heaven is so glorious and wonderful it cannot even be described. It is joys unspeakable and glories untold. It is What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9) St. Paul said, This one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14-15).

When was the last time you heard a sermon on heaven? When was the Last time you even thought of heaven? Do you really think this limited world can fully satisfy us? No, we were made to be in heaven with God forever. Don’t blow it by foolishly rejecting what God is offering. Every and any sacrifice is more than worth it to attain the glory that waits.

But, since most people are not inspired by the prize and have largely diverted their attention to worldly trinkets, there is little to lose in their minds. Hence, little is at stake, either because it can’t be easily lost, or because its no big prize in the first place. Previous generations longed for an end to worldly woes and for the glory of heaven. They sang of it: When I die, Hallelujah by and By, I’ll fly away…. Soon I will be done with he troubles of this world, goin’ home to love with God…. Oh by and by, when the morning comes and all the saints of God are gathered home, we’ll tell the story of how we’ve overcome, and we’ll understand it better by and by! But for us, our world of comfort dulls our senses and longings for a world where joys will never end. What’s on T.V. tonight is our real passion.

He continues:

Every group needs a big Why – the big vision. It is something worth sacrificing everything else for.… The question is what big things are you leading your people to do? …. In other words, how much does it matter if you succeed?… Be bold. Create tension. Give them a clear choice that compels them into meaningful action…. Jesus asked for everything… Because living the Christian life, at some point always becomes inconvenient, impractical, hard to understand, strange, and messy. And if you want your flock to make it through those times, rather than drift away, they need a very big reason to stick around. It’s got to be worth it.  (Pages 28, 33, 35)

It is sad but true that, in most of our parishes we have steadily removed any sense that what we do in the Liturgy, our prayer, our teaching and obedience to the truth really matters. Largely the message is that it doesn’t matter that much since most will be saved even if they skip all that. Further it doesn’t really seem to matter if a spouse a sibling or children go to Mass or live chastely and morally. All that seems to matter is that we be vaguely nice and pleasant, and even if not, God will surely understand. 

There are big things at stake. Does what you’re doing at your church feel that way?

In the next installment, lets look at the Kerygma, (the preaching of the early Church) that emphasized that the Gospel is absolutely essential for salvation, without we perish.