Church of St. Mary at Clinton Heights

As Christ entered Jerusalem, dozenseven hundredsof his disciples follow him.  Just minutes ago, we remembered that glorious entry and we joined with them (recall that when the Church “remembers”, it actually ‘makes present again’ the event, the happening).  The entry was glorious because for each of them, they had seen the marvelous works of Jesus and gave God praise.  For us, too, we praise God for the wondrous and glorious deeds that the Lord continues to work in our midst, deeds like:

• The compassion he instills in us as we visit the sick or comfort the dying;
• The mercy he inspires when we grant forgiveness to someone who has harmed us;
• The courage he gives us when we stand up for the oppressed, the bullied, or the victimized;
• The fortitude he grants us when we face, time and time again, an injustice that won’t go away;
• The persuasion of the Spirit that he offers when we are faced with temptation or doubt.

Yes, in these instances, and more, we come in contact with the Christ who we follow into Jerusalem.  He comes to his Holy City as our King, and we followed him with palms as an expression of our joy; a joy which recognizes that Jesus has invited us into his friendship, and we have accepted him and his love for us.  That’s our joy: it’s an expression of our “yes” to Jesus, and our willingness to go with him wherever he takes us.  This joy is rooted, then, in our “following Christ”.

But what does “following Christ” actually mean?  At the outset, with his first disciples, the meaning was simple and immediate: it meant that to go with Jesus, these people decided to give up their professions, their affairs, their whole life.  It meant taking on a whole new way of being, that is, “discipleship”.  Their work, their efforts and endeavors were all focused and aimed at accompanying Jesus…entrusting themselves to his guidance.

Now, sure, while they actually walked behind himfollowing himon his journeys, that was not the whole of their discipleship.  The rest of their “discipleship” remained in “abandoning themselves to him”.  Being totally at Jesus’ disposalfor Goodnesswas their interior discipleship.

 

Alright: what’s that got to do with us?

Well, we remembered the entrance into Jerusalem, and we joined our voices and our very selves to the throngs of disciples, as we held palm fronds in our hands, and followed him.  We began again to place ourselves into “a discipleship”…being followers of the Lord Jesus.  As we accomplish spiritual and corporal works of mercy in our own times, we further cement this relationship with the Lord.

But, there is “the rest of discipleship” that we might now need to embrace.  More than external works, which are still good, we might now be invited to enter more deeply into an interior discipleship; allowing ourselves to be invited and embraced into Truth itself, Beauty itself, Love itself, God Himself.

This invitation of Holy Week draws us to give ourselves over more completely…more fully…more authentically…to the One who is our True Good, our Just Aim, our Right Path.  Without counting the cost to ourselves, we are asked to trust the Lord who proved his love for us; we are called to no longer withdraw into our own selfish desiresno longer consider our own fulfillment the main reason for our existence; but rather take hold of the promise held out for those who abandon themselves to Goodness, Truth, Beauty, Right and Love.

And these are not simple abstracts: no, embodied by Jesus Christ himself, these virtues have been enfleshed and can now be acquired by us, Christ’s disciples, who follow after him and the path he trod; who enter into Jerusalem, the Holy City, to accomplish with Christ the works of salvation.

May our heartsand our soulsbe most open to Christ’s invitation this week; he invites each one of us: “Follow me” says the Lord, “and I will give you life”.

A Prayer of Blessing for Pope Francis and the Universal Church

 

Gathering Song

Suggested Songs

• The King of Love, My Shepherd Is (St. Columba)
• Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service (In Babilone)
• The Church’s One Foundation (Aurelia)
• Like A Shepherd (Dufford, OCP)
• Shepherd of My Heart (O’Brien, GIA)
• Make Us True Servants (Wente, Slane, WLP)
• Prayer of St. Francis (Temple, OCP)

 

Introduction

Upon the election of a new Pope, the Church celebrates the faithful witness of all believers to Christ and his Gospel. The Holy Spirit was present on the day of Pentecost and at our Baptism, and the Holy Spirit was present with the College of Cardinals when they elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Cardinal of Buenos Aires, Argentina. May we now praise the goodness of God as we pray for Pope Francis, the Church, and the world.

 

Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Prayer

God of wisdom and love,

you sent your Spirit to call a humble fisherman, Peter,

to follow Christ along the path of discipleship.

 

On this journey, Peter witnessed the loving power of Jesus

as the storms of life were calmed, diseases were cured, and demons driven away.

He encountered the compassionate heart of Christ,

as he dined with sinners and prostitutes,

preached of a forgiveness without end,

and washed the feet of his friends,

especially those who would eventually deny and betray him.

 

As you brought Peter down from the mountaintop of prayer

into the valley of discipleship,

remain upon Peter’s humble successor, Pope Francis.

Bless the Church under the care of our new Holy Father.

May he be a gentle shepherd called to tend his flock

with your kindness and generosity.

By your love and gentleness,

may Pope Francis inspire us to love God our Father

by returning the sheep gone astray to the flock of the Lord.

May he serve the Church in the image of Christ,

patterned by the faith of Simon Peter, the Rock.

 

As the keys once presented to St. Peter are entrusted to Pope Francis,

may we ever discover ways to unlock the door of faith

to a world most in need of the spiritual gifts you shower upon us.

We make our prayer with Christ your Son,

and through the gentle yet ever-changing power of the Holy Spirit,

one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm Response      Psalm 100 (Lectionary #864.2)

                                    We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

 

Gospel Reading       John 21:15-17 (Lectionary #774.13)

                                    Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.

 

Silent Prayer

 

Litany of Blessings

Loving God, gentle and compassionate,

you gave us your Son as both Shepherd and Lamb

to serve with kindness and redeem a chosen people.

Let us humbly ask for blessings upon the Church, Pope Francis,

the entire flock you have called as your own,

and for those who seek your love and mercy.

 

Our response to each petition will be, “Bless and keep us, O Lord.”

 

• Bless the Church for proclaiming the Good News to the world, we pray…
• Bless the people of God with an increase of faith, hope, and charity, we pray…
• Bless us as we continue to seek and return the lost sheep to the fold, we pray…
• Bless Pope Francis with continued humility as we strive to serve the poor and lowly, we pray…
• Bless Pope Francis with Christ’s compassion toward sinners and hypocrites, we pray…
• Bless Pope Francis with a Church zealous in her mission of evangelization, we pray…
• In thanksgiving, bless Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI with health and happiness, we pray…
• In thanksgiving, bless the College of Cardinals’ continued wisdom in their service, we pray…
• In thanksgiving, bless all clergy, religious, and lay faithful who commit their lives to the Gospel, we pray…
• In thanksgiving for the many blessings in our lives, we pray…

Let us pause so that the prayers kept in the silence of our hearts may rise like incense to the Lord our God…

 

(short pause)…

 

Prayers

• Our Father . . .
• Hail Mary . . .
• Glory Be to the Father . . .
• Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
• St. Peter, pray for us.
• St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.
• St. Ignatius, pray for us.
• St. Francis Xavier, pray for us.
• All holy men and women, pray for us.

 

And may Almighty God bless us,

protect us from all evil and bring us everlasting life. Amen.

 

Concluding Song

            (see Suggested Songs above)

Thank God: As of the afternoon of March 13, 2013, we have a new Holy Father!

Introducing: Pope Francis

 

Last weekend, we went to the well with the Samaritan Woman.

And as we conversed with Jesus, we first saw him merely as “a Jew”.  But later, as we listened while He spoke, we came to discover more about Him and we perceived Him as “a prophet”.  Only after He shared with us the depth and beauty of who we are in His midst did we understand Him to be “the Christ”.

This weekend, we find ourselves again in His midst, but this time we are as the Blind Man who has no sense of this Jesus: blind since birth, we cannot hope to see except by the One who can restore our lost sight.  We clearly admit from the outset, “I am he” who is blind.  And we are challenged and ridiculed by those around us.

Yet, the more we ponder and share about the One who restores our sight, the more we come to see Him for who He is:

• first, He is “a healer”;
• later, He is “a prophet”;
• still later, the “Son of Man”;
• and finally, “Lord”!

If we share our lives with Christ, He will be able to share greatly His own life with us.  If we share our life of faith with others, so much more will that life of faith impact our own…allowing us to grow in comprehension and witness…allowing us to proclaim “Christ, the Lord!”

Forgiveness is not the ready rule of our culture.  We relish revenge, and we pray to get even or to inflict more pain than was delivered.

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which we’ve been praying throughout this afternoon and evening, we seen over and over that the father is the exemplar of forgiveness: not many people in our lives are so eager to welcome back into their lives people who have hurt them grievously.  Clearly Jesus knows this condition of ours and so he tells the parable in such a way as to look beyond the younger son and the forgiving father.  Certainly in the person of the father, Jesus teaches us about the immensity of the father’s love and of the father’s desire to have us return to him.  But the second message of the parable is found in the person of the older son.  Jesus makes that older son a mirror in which he invites us to recognize how our anger and resentments keep us out of the father’s house.

You see, in Jewish culture of the first century, their system of honor and shame did not allow much forgiveness.  If someone brought shame on you or treated you shamefully, you walked away from that person and shook the dust from your feet.  So, there was nothing more shameful than for a son to insult or embarrass his father.  In fact, the law actually allowed for such a son to be stoned to death!  Thus, the way Jesus described the younger son, the prodigal, made it clear that the boy was the absolute worst a son could be.

Remember: the share of the inheritance that would have eventually come to the younger son was not money.  This was a land-based economy, so what the father would have given him was the son’s share in the family’s ancestral lands.  And what does that son do?  He squandered the property…he sold it!  And so to sell the ancestral land was not only an affront to the whole familywho would have owned the property for generationsit was an affront to their faith as well (the Jews of the time believed ancestral land to be God’s gift to their families).  Yes, this son truly did sin against both his father and God.

And the reaction to such a sin?  The father’s running to meet his son and welcome him home broke every cultural norm that applied to a situation in which a son has shamed a father.  The typical scenario would have been for the son to go to the home and seek admittance.  The father would have stood close enough to the door to be seen by the son, but his back would have been turned.  A third party would have told the father that his son was at the door and wished to see him.  For all those present to hearespecially the sonthe father would have exclaimed that he had no son.  His son was dead!

So, can you imagine how Jesus’ listeners would have been flabbergasted and more than offended by how Jesus described the father’s behavior?  His running to greet his son and the forgiveness he gave so freely and gratuitously?  This son should have been rejected, if not stoned to death!  Instead, through the generous gifts he gave the son, the father made clear to everyone present that he was more than delighted that his son was back in the circle of his family.

And now, we can better understand the older son’s anger when we understand how egregious the sins of his younger brother had been.  But wait: this son, despite his apparent loyalty to his father, shames his father as well.  The older son, by refusing to enter the house, has himself rejected his father.  No Middle Eastern man would have pleaded with a son, as this was an absolutely shameful thing for a father to do, yet the father did just this.  Again, we learn about the immensity of a father’s love, but in telling the story, Jesus invites us to see ourselves in the older son.

How is it that we love the idea that God is all-forgiving, yet we resent forgiveness when it is given to others?  How is it that the model for how to live is the Forgiving Father but, like the older son, we refuse to respect what the Father asks of us?

• If we find ourselves to be like the younger son, then turn to God.
• If we find ourselves to be like the older son, then beg God.
• If we find ourselves to be like the father, then thank God.

In any case, may wein all of our lives, our words and our workscontinue to seek the Father’s will and serve him in our forgiveness.