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An Irish bishop once preached: “Paddy Murphy went to Mass, and never missed a Sunday. But Paddy Murphy went to hell, for what he did on Monday!” It was the bishop’s intention to remind his listeners –in a rather crude and direct way!- that Christianity involves more than simply fulfilling religious obligations.

Our Lord seems to say the same thing in today’s gospel. As we heard, he challenged those scribes and Pharisees who kept religious rituals but neglected more important matters, such as justice, mercy, faith, generosity, and sacrifice.

You and I can be tempted to fall into this same trap. And when this happens, we lose sight of the fact that at the heart of Christianity are not rituals but a relationship- a personal relationship with God the Holy Trinity.

Such a relationship was Jesus’ deepest wish for the scribes and Pharisees he criticized. And it is his deepest wish for us.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082311.cfm

Photo credit: momentcaptured1 via Creative Commons

When he was the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal James Hickey told a funny story of an experience he had at Reagan National Airport, while on his way to Rome. Even though he was 75 years old and obviously dressed as a bishop, he was told by an embarrassed ticket agent that he had “fit the profile” of an international terrorist, mostly because he held a one-way ticket. As a result, he had to submit to a complete search. Although he was able to laugh about it later, at the time Cardinal Hickey was, shall we say, not amused.

This story just goes to show that none of us wants to be falsely identified or misunderstood. Jesus himself was very concerned about being properly understood, as we heard in today’s gospel. When he asked his friends about who people thought he was, he received a variety of answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, maybe one of the other old prophets come back to life. Yet each of these answers, while not bad in light of the circumstances, was wrong. It was up to Peter who, prompted by the Holy Spirit, proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Jesus wishes to be properly understood, not for his sake, but for ours. This is because our understanding of who Jesus is has profound implications for our behavior. As Christians, we seek to live in imitation of Christ. It follows, then, that the image we have of Christ will largely dictate how we shape our lives in order to conform to his. If we operate with a distorted image of Jesus, we will end up living distorted lives.

All of us here today share common beliefs about Jesus. When we recite the Creed together, we say, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,” and so forth. Nevertheless, we can profess correct doctrine in Jesus and still operate with a warped image of who he is. Just consider Peter in today’s gospel. He correctly identified Jesus as the Messiah. But then, moments later, as we’ll hear in next week’s gospel, he was appalled to learn that Jesus would be tortured and executed. His image of Jesus, at that time, did not include the possibility of his suffering and death.

Like Peter, most of us operate with a limited understanding of who Jesus is. Which is understandable; as today’s second reading reminded us, the things of God are largely a mystery to us! I have a suspicion that when we meet the Lord face-to-face at the end of our lives, we will be absolutely astonished by the full reality of who he is. In the meantime, however, our image of Jesus needs to be constantly revisited, challenged, and revised.

To do this, it’s important to recall where our images of Jesus have come from. For instance, our culture shapes our image. I once read how Victorian England was scandalized by a painting, called “The Carpenter’s Shop,” that depicted Jesus and the rest of the Holy Family in Joseph’s workplace. They were portrayed as rustic, simple, and poor- just as Scripture and historians tell us they were. Yet the class-conscious Victorian English refused to accept Jesus as portrayed in such a way. Their culture had a warped understanding of Jesus. You and I need to be on guard for how our materialistic, faced-paced, self-centered, and superficial culture might disfigure our image of our Lord.

In addition, our parents play a significant role in shaping our image of Jesus. Their attitudes, prejudices, ways of handling stress, work-habits, intelligence, and temperament all contribute. Distant parents suggest a distant Jesus; angry parents evoke an angry Jesus; happy parents reflect a joyful Jesus, and so forth. Conscious of this, we need to honestly reflect on our experience with our parents and consider how this may have influenced our understanding of Jesus.

Sometimes our image of Jesus is simply a projection of ourselves. This might result in a Jesus who never challenges us and smiles upon everything we do. It might also result in a Jesus who too much reflects our anger and incapacity to forgive each other. This Jesus is quick to punish and slow to pardon, is easy to fear but hard to love. Once an adult daughter asked her mother to forgive some old hurts. Both of them are committed, practicing Catholics. Yet when the mother hesitated to forgive, the daughter asked, “Don’t you think if I told Jesus I was sorry, he’d forgive me?” But the mother said, “I don’t presume to say what Jesus would or would not do.” Sadly, her image of Jesus had been warped by her pain and resentment.

To grow in an authentic understanding of Jesus, we can do several things. First of all, we need to explore the Scriptures, especially the gospels, which paint for us complimentary and complex portraits of the Lord. “Ignorance of the Scriptures,” insisted St. Jerome, “is ignorance of Christ.” We also need to pray- honestly, openly, and frequently- and let the Spirit of Jesus deepen our relationship, and thus deepen our understanding. We need to be active in the Church, the body of Christ, where our brothers and sisters in Christ can help shape our image of Christ. We need to embrace the teachings of the Church, which come with authority and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And we need to try and understand our pain and suffering in light of the Jesus’ cross.

First and foremost, however, you and I need to love. To truly understand Jesus, the one who came not to be served but to serve, who gave up his life that ours might be saved, we need to be generous, sacrificial, and loving people as well. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery. But when it comes to Jesus, imitation is the key to understanding who he truly is. To love him is to know him, and to know him is to love him.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082111.cfm

Image Credits: Wikipedia Commons

Friday, August 19, 2011

I think it’s nearly impossible to get anywhere on time during World Youth Day.  You have to tack an extra hour onto the normal travel time for wherever you want to go.

Missed our train to Toledo, Spain this morning at 10:20 am.  We arrived at the station at exactly 10:20am… so technically, we weren’t late.  Decided to take the next train at 12:20 pm.  The Refne Train is a commodity here in Madrid as it travels super-fast, making the hour long car drive to Toledo only 25 minutes.

While waiting for the next departure, we walked around town and purchased red and blue clothespins to decorate with U.S.A. mottos.  Everyone at WYD has been trading buttons, flags, etc. and it turns out a lot of people want our American paraphanalia.  As some of us forgot to bring trading goods, clothespins will have to do…

Toledo (Photo at right) was absolutely beautiful.  Built on a hill, the city’s summit is a great cathedral.  After crossing a bridge over a river moat and passing through the city’s great wall that surrounds the city, we made our way up the steep cobblestone roads to the cathedral.   Inside the vast space with high ceiling and towering pillars, we were overcome by awe.  Following along with a walking tour of the cathedral in a guide book, we learned some extremely interesting things—in the choir section scenes of sins were portrayed on the seats because nothing holy could ever be sat upon.  Additionally, in the chamber room there were paintings of all Toledo’s bishops.  The fun fact is that only the last two paintings were done as live portraits and looking closely you will see that every two or three bishops look strikingly (suspiciously) similar.   Most likely the artists reused faces every so often.

The remainder of our day was spent exploring the streets of Toledo and then returning to Madrid for the Via de la Cruz (Way of the Cross).  As could be seen on the big screen, the stations were intricately designed and stood on large floats.  Different identified groups of pilgrims would carry a life size cross between stations.  It was frustrating though, that I could not understand Pope Benedict’s address to the youth at the culmination of the ceremony.  As we are in Spain, the Pope has been speaking Spanish and no translation for any other language is provided.  I am going to have to figure out how to fix this because the Pope is the most important person here to hear!  I have seen some other pilgrims listening to little radios in order to understand.  Purchasing a mini-radio is now top on my priority list…other then getting some sleep that is.

After Day 5, I am wearing thin.  The crowds are claustrophobic and smelly.  I don’t even want to think about how many people I have touched and how many gallons of water I have sweated out (my apologies for probably unnecessary details).  The early mornings and late nights after walking and standing all day throughout Madrid are making my head hurt.  Staying in a room with fourteen other people and their stuff is not easy.  And I haven’t made it to the Prado Museum or eaten Chocolate con Churros yet, both which I hear are must do’s.

Lord, I pray that tomorrow you may get our group through the 5 mile hike, which begins at 9:15 am, to the site where we will spending the evening and vigil celebration before the concluding mass Sunday morning.  Give us Your strength to pull through as You did while carrying Your cross through the streets to Calvary.  Make us brave and faithful youth for You.  “Esta es la Juventud del Papa!” (This is the youth of the Pope).

Eliz.

Hell, it’s been said, is like a big pot of delicious stew. Around this pot are seated people with spoons longer than their arms. Because it was impossible for them to get the spoons into their mouths, the people are starving and angry.

Heaven has an identical pot of stew surrounded by people with equally long spoons. These people, however, are joyful and satisfied, because they have learned to feed one another, instead of trying only to feed themselves.

I’ll concede that this is a somewhat corny inspirational image, but it does remind us of the truth that we are happiest when we make it a priority to love and serve God and others first. Indeed, our Lord command us to do this in today’s gospel. We are to love ourselves, Jesus teaches us. But we are to love God and others first.

Mother Teresa once put it very well. She said that the proper order of priorities in our life is JOY: J-O-Y. J is first, and that’s for Jesus; O is next, and that’s for Others; and Y is last- and that’s for You.

Readings for today’s Mass:http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081911.cfm

Photo Credit: PetLvr via Creative Commons

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Pope Benedict arrived in Madrid today and we got to the streets super early, securing an excellent pope-viewing spot—second row, to be exact.  In ready position at 11am, we had two and a half hours to spare before Papa Ratzi (as the Italians have nicknamed him) was to complete his drive through the streets and finish at his Spanish dwelling, right across the corner from where we stood.  The hours were filled with time for reflection, people watching (my personal favorite), chanting and cheering, and befriending four Polish volunteers!  They taught us how to say “thank you” in Polish—Dziequje, pronounced JenKUya—as we ended up having to say that to them quite a few times…  We also had an opportunity to hear the girls’ studies in Warsaw and of course take pictures together!

Hearing the approaching cheers prompted by the Popemobile, we all then crowed as close to the barricades as possible and readied our cameras.  In front of us were standing three disguised protestors. Right as the Pope was about to pass, they open a large banner and hold it high, blocking everyone’s view behind them.  Understandably frustrated, we all tried to pull it down.  It was then that a policeman made them take the sign down and we were able to see the pilgrims across the street cheering violently at the protestors.  Only then did we realize the whole time these protestors had been under our nose since the beginning.  Eventually the policeman confiscated their banner, thank goodness!

So seeing the Pope in the Popemobile was not as uplifting as I expected, though a group member was able to reach her hand high above the banner and get a perfect video of the whole thing.  Reflecting back on the experience now, however, this is just one example of the persecution most Catholic youth go through daily.  And we stood all together through it all, success indeed.  Additionally, imagine what Christ endured carrying His cross to Calvary, a much stronger pain of persecution, as it puts into perspective just how much Jesus sacrificed to save us, the sinners.  Pope Benedict XI, the Vicar of Christ, does the exact same thing.

Next stop, the English speaking base in Madrid: the Love and Life Center.  Here we waited in line for almost 45 min for pizza and Coke (lunch was much needed) and then heard from panelists speaking on the Theology of the Body.  It was a wonderful experience to see so many other enthused youth and to hear from inspiring speakers such as Jason Everett.  But honestly, the best things about the event were as follows: air conditioning, English speaking people, and bathrooms.

Moving on to the welcoming celebration for the Pope, we had to again endure the absolute craziness of the metro crowds.  Waiting two or three times to get on a train is becoming normal.  The celebration was similar to the Pope’s entrance earlier in the day.  With constant cheering, standing, and another display of the Popemobile, the only difference was the increased mass of crowds.  Oh, and no protestors.  Welcomed and presented with a gift by a youth from each continent, Pope Benedicto, encouraged us to cherish friendships and to always participate in joyful celebration for the glory of God.

With sore feet and exhausted bodies after standing and walking the whole day, we returned home to discover a sudden second wind.  Laughing and taking ridiculous pictures as we reflected on many funny anecdotes from the day, our abs certainly got a workout.  God has showed his love by ending our tiring, up-down day on a good note.  He always figures out something if we just pay attention. Thank You, thank You, thank You!

Eliz.

What if you threw a party and nobody came? You’d be heartbroken, of course, as you’d be let down by those you love.

Jesus spoke of a party in today’s gospel- a wedding banquet thrown by a king for his son. Many were invited, but nobody came. The king, we’re meant to understand, is God the Father; Jesus himself is the king’s son.

This parable is about the “kingdom of heaven,” which is a kingdom of love, because God is love. And because God is love, he treasures relationships. That’s why so many are invited to the wedding party! But no one was compelled to come. With love, there’s no such thing as an offer we can’t refuse.

Sadly, in Jesus’ parable many did refuse to come to the party, because they were indifferent, rude, or downright hostile and angry. Will this be our choice as well? Or will we accept Love’s invitation to love like him? After all, this is a party we don’t want to miss! And we wouldn’t want to let down our host.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081811.cfm

Photo Credit: alibree via Creative Commons

Wednesday August 17, 2011

Today started with an 8:45am wake up after a much needed seven hours of sleep and a light Spanish breakfast, before heading to the Viva la Vida! Pro-Life Youth Festival.  Organized by the Irish, the conference showcased many Pro-life Programs throughout the world (England, USA, Poland, Canada, Australia, Austria, New Zealand, and Ireland were all represented).  The speakers’ main theme centered on the importance of using images to proclaim the evil of abortion, as they have proven to be extremely effective.  The goal of each group was to end abortion, totally and completely: First by changing public opinion, and then the law.  Currently, many speakers said, society uses people and loves things.  We are acting completely backwards. Interspersed between the presentations, several bands performed and the crowd got more riled up each time.

Highlights included a talk by Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, who dedicates her life to ending abortion and investigates Planned Parenthood’s facilitation of child abuse through undercover operations (check out her videos on YouTube!)  The band L’Angelus was also a hit! A combination of Cajun fiddle tunes, saxophone pop, and New Orleans R&B, these four siblings put on quite a show that got the audience off their feet to say the least!  It was not long before their younger 9 and 5 year old sisters, 7 year old twin brothers, and mother came on to perform as well—such a powerful expression of family and life.

After the conference, we made our way (extremely slowly due to increasingly massive crowds) to the Parque del Retiro.  The metro was just insane…picture included…but it just goes to show how many youth there are out there living the Catholic Faith.  Ole!

Exiting the metro we immediately come across a church and went inside to take a peak and say a prayer.  The contrast from the crowded and noisy streets to the air conditioned and serene church was significant.  It felt as if God was reminding us to take a hiatus from our busy lives and make that quiet time for Our Lord.  Just so happens the priest needed an English version of the WYD pilgrimage book and we had one.   Mass was starting in 10 minutes.  I bet you can guess what happened.  The mass was beautiful, and in English! The Lord is always leading us to where he wants us to be and He certainly had a plan for us today.

At the park we stopped for ice cream (a necessity of course), stood in the shade from the hot sun while watching a youth pep rally and band (the spirit never dies down, wherever you go), and made friends with some Italians who fervently tried to persuade us to trade our American flag for theirs along with every other patriotic item they had.  After a solid 20 minutes of friendly argumentation, we decided to meet at the same spot at 3pm on Saturday to exchange flags, story to be continued…

After finally making it back through the crowded metro to our host’s home, we quickly changed into a clean and sweat free pair of clothes before heading back to town for dinner.  Exiting the Puerta del Sol metro stop around 8:20pm, we stumbled upon a march of protestors against the pope.  Now this is something I would rather not include but I believe it to be significant to the heart of the youth here today.  Despite lines of police separating the youth from the protestors and blocking two major streets, every country seemed to have a group of youth praying and shouting, “Benedicto, we love you!”  Through the difficult trials, we do not back down.

The night ended with a spectacular performance of Flamenco dancing.  Every step, every facial expression is done with intention.  The little things which these talented dancers do make the show so full of passion.  It is in some way a metaphor for our own lives—we must do what we do with a true passion for the glory of God.

I would like to end with a brief prayer Lila Rose said in her early teens and shared with us.  “Lord, use me. Use me to work for Your glory and to fulfill Your plans for me.”

Good (3am) night!

Eliz.

Written by: Elizabeth Lent, Junior at University of Notre Dame and parishioner at Little Flower in Bethesda

Photos by: Elizabeth Lent

What do John Wayne, Oscar Wilde, Buffalo Bill, and (possibly) George Washington have in common? They all became Catholic on their deathbeds.

Conversions such as these should cause rejoicing! But that’s not always the case. News that a notorious gangster became Catholic as he died was met with howls or protest by those who thought it unfair that such a person might receive God’s mercy. Much like those in today’s gospel who grumbled when the latecoming workers received the same pay as those who’d worked all day.

From the world’s perspective, the conclusion of Jesus’ parable isn’t fair. After all, longer work should lead to greater pay! But Jesus was speaking of the kingdom of heaven, where different rules apply.

On the job, we can earn a paycheck, and even a bonus. But there’s nothing we can do to earn our way into God’s kingdom. We’re welcomed in, not because of anything we’ve done, but because of what Jesus has done. Heaven isn’t a reward for good behavior, it’s a gift from God. There’s no admissions fee, as Jesus already paid the price for us.

Yes, we are accountable for our actions before God, who calls us to lead holy lives. But Jesus’ parable reminds us that those passing through the pearly gates won’t hear, “Congratulations! You’ve earned it!” Jesus will say instead: “Welcome! I love you.”

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081711.cfm

Image credit: Wikipedia Commons