Palm Sun. 3-24-24 Mk 14:1-15:47 Dcn. Bill Kenney

After our repentant journey through Lent, and walking with Jesus through Holy Thursday and his Passion on Good Friday, now is the time for joy. Joy as we gather to rejoice in our incredible God --- a God who refused to turn his back on us, and refused to wash his hands of the whole affair (as Pilate did) as if to say, “It’s not my problem.” Rather he took our problems upon himself, our mistakes, our disobedience, our self-centeredness --- that is, all of our sin upon himself --- and in the process, in that saving act, he changed absolutely everything. No longer would humanity have to embrace the attitude, “Well, it’s always been this way.” Instead, he gave us the opportunity to begin down a new path, with new priorities, new purpose and new hope. Now, WE would no longer have to be who we had always been. He rose so that we can rise with him --- that is, so that we can experience an Easter for each Good Friday we are faced with. Even the Good Friday we will experience at the end of our lives is not the end of the story. Something more beautiful awaits. The empty tomb assures us of that. In one sense this incredible loving act came to us completely from the outside, from the utter graciousness of God. God redeems. God saves. God destroyed death forever. And we will forever be unable to be thankful enough for it. And in no way will we ever be able to repay it. That’s simply impossible. That is the God we have! But make no mistake about it, although salvation came from without, from “beyond” so-to-speak, it was won from within --- won by Jesus --- our God who entered our world the first Christmas in a profound and humble and concrete way. And that should tell us something. You see, God didn’t just “wave his hand” (figuratively) and make things better (although he certainly could have). No, this was an “inside” job. And that’s partly because God had to make sure we know just how much we are loved, make sure we know how precious we are in his eyes, make sure we know that we are not forgotten, and make sure we know that we don’t have to make this journey alone. Our God will always be making this journey with us, if we let Him. Our God will always be by our side and within our hearts --- guiding us and comforting us. And our God will always give us chance after chance after chance --- forgiving us and picking us up and drying our tears and pointing us in the right direction again and again and again. Put simply --- Jesus’ saving act might have been a once-in-history moment. That is true. He reconciled us to the Father in a way we could never do on our own. But the power of that act is not a singular kind of thing. Rather, it’s meant to be a day-after-day, year-after-year, generation-after-generation transformation of each and every human soul open to the power of it, the transformation of each and every human heart. In a very real sense, Jesus died to make each of us different --- truly different --- more alive, more loving, more connected --- that is, bring us into true “communion” with our loving God. Are we? That’s really the challenge of this holy day. Yes --- today is a day to rejoice. Absolutely. Yes --- today is a day to give our deepest and most sincere thanks. Yes --- today is a day to be filled with hope and optimism. Yes --- Easter is a time to gather with family and friends and eat great food and hunt for Easter eggs and eat a year’s worth of candy in one day. But it’s also a time to reflect --- reflect on the ways we will choose to respond (or not respond) to what we believe in faith, choose to respond (or not respond) in love to our God who has loved us completely. Will we reach out to others the way God reached out to us? Will we find ways to “lay down our lives”, as Jesus did? Will we forgive the things that seem unforgivable? Will we refuse to pursue revenge, refuse to answer violence with violence? Will we be truly generous, with our time, our gifts, our resources or will we simply give from our leftovers? Put simply --- will we faithfully love? Jesus laid down his life, in love for us. And he did it to show us that we become truly alive, when we lay down our lives for him and others. Challenge of Easter is to not just simply say “thanks” today and go back to doing things the way we’ve always done them thus making the death and resurrection of Jesus not mean very much. Rather, as people redeemed, we give thanks the only way that truly matters --- by more completely dedicating our lives to Jesus, by striving to be faithful, active, committed, loving Disciples, by worshiping God with heart, mind, soul. Jesus is risen! How can we, by our lives, live in such a way… that we boldly show the world - that Jesus has risen in us?

Parents teach their children. You parents out there know this is the case. And these “teachings” can be for good or for bad, helpful or hurtful. Some are taught deliberately --- through tasks, lectures and smart discipline. Other things get “taught” because, as you know, kids are sponges and mimic the behaviors of adults around them. Of course, every adult here was a child once, and almost always sees things in themselves that they first saw in their parents. Even in matters of faith the Church asserts that parents are truly the ones who bear the first responsibility to make sure what they believe gets passed on to their sons and daughters. The baptismal rite says as much. Yes, parents explicitly and implicitly and sometimes even accidentally teach their sons and daughters all sorts of things. Now, I want all of you parents out there to consider one particular question for a second. If you could have your children remember only one thing from all the hundreds, maybe thousands of things you have taught them over their lifetimes, what would that one thing be? That’s not an easy question, is it? What is most important for them to remember? I’m guessing that if I asked a hundred of you that question - I’d get at least eighty different answers. And that’s ok. We’re not all the same, nor are our children all the same. We just heard a passage from John’s Gospel that shows Jesus in this very predicament, in this very situation. Jesus knows that his death is near. And he is in the presence of his best friends, the ones who have been by his side for several years --- listening to him, watching the things he did traveling about from town to town. And there was a lot packed into a short time. The stories. The miracles. The explanations. The scolding of the self-righteous. The demonstrations of mercy and compassion and forgiveness and kindness. The reaching out to those on the margins. He had TAUGHT them a lot (through word and deed). And now, it was sort of coming to the end. And Jesus only has time to remind them of one teaching, one lesson, one thing that he wanted to make sure they understood and that they would never forget. And so he washes their feet. And tells them they must do the same. His last wish. At least this is what John chooses to include in his depiction of that fateful night. The other three Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, don’t include this detail. Rather, they describe at length the sacred meal that took place (which John chose to omit). And so, it might seem that Jesus was actually teaching them two things that night, two final wishes, two teachings that were meant to stand in a place of importance in the hearts and minds of those who called Jesus friend, brother, Lord. But are they really two? Two different teachings? For many of the faithful tonight’s Liturgy is sort of their personal “favorite” of the entire Church year. It really is quite beautiful and meaningful. So many “Catholic” things on display. So many feelings and emotions. So many profound things to contemplate and be grateful for. It really is such a special night. And the two pillars it rests on, are Eucharist (and the ordained priesthood that is intimately linked to it) and the washing of feet. And the amazing thing is, they aren’t separate at all. They are simply two essential parts of what it means to authentically embrace our faith, two parts of what it means to be a true Catholic, a true Christian, a true disciple of Jesus. Put simply --- we share in the one so that we can do the other, RECEIVE Jesus so that we can BE Jesus, turn to God for strength and nourishment and guidance and inspiration and forgiveness --- that is, for true communion --- so we can bring those very things to others, do those very things for others, BE those very things for others. In other words --- what we do around the Sacred Altar, who we receive in this holy meal, is not to be seen in some sort of isolation, as some kind of spiritual gift we “get” for ourselves and cling to tightly. Rather, the Eucharist is meant to transform us, help us actually become the One whom we receive. That means that if we come before the altar time and time again but never wash the feet of others --- never care for our brothers and sisters --- then God will not have achieved in us and through us what he wants to achieve. Rather, what was meant to be a channel of grace has become an obstacle, what was meant to be life-giving has been anything but, what was meant to be shared has been hidden away. That’s the challenge of this holy night --- to take all our gratitude and pay it forward through acts of love, take this heavenly, divine, food into our bodies and hearts and minds so that we can be more beautiful than we were yesterday, more merciful than we were yesterday, more compassionate and forgiving and generous than we were yesterday. And so, every time we share in the communion of Jesus may we not forget that that’s only part of what God the Father calls us to. The other part --- that’s up to us the moment we walk out the door into the world --- a world in desperate need of Jesus. The amazing thing is that the ones called and sent on this mission, are you and me. And God never wants us, his children, to forget that.

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5th Sunday of Lent, The Third Scrutiny Yr. A Ref.: Jn. 11:1-44 Humanity in his tears Mar. 21/ 22, 2026 Dcn. Bill Kenney One of the most revered stigmatists and mystics of the 20th century was St. Padre Pio, an Italian Capuchin priest. Last October we made a pilgrimage to San Giovani Rotondo, Italy to view his body lying there in- state. He professed that, “tears are the work of God in you," suggesting their divine origin and power to irrigate the stirrings of our hearts. Our tears can be understood as a gift from the Holy Spirit uniting our suffering with the sufferings of Christ for personal sanctification. Babies spontaneously cry for all sorts of reasons. As we grow older, it’s not possible, nor should we try, to hold back the tears of joy at births and happiness at weddings or tears of mourning at death and distress at illness. There’s every occasion to cry at a good book, movie or song. Deep emotional tearing is uniquely human amongst God’s creation. It expresses our solidarity for God’s will to be done in and through us. Created in the image and likeness of God, we are called to be like Jesus Christ in both his humanity and his divinity. Through his incarnation, Jesus is fully man and fully God. We often focus our thoughts and prayers of Jesus on his divinity. The awesome power and wonder of Jesus’ miracles, or signs pointing to a divine grace, certainly capture our attention. The raising of Lazarus, pointing to Jesus’ and our own resurrection, is a prime example. Arguably, one of his greatest miracles, the power of Jesus’ divinity is on full display to mournful onlookers, as Jesus, speaking to the Father says, “…I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” We adore and praise his divinity. “And Jesus wept” is one of the shortest verses in the Bible, yet it is lengthy in meaning and symbolism. Jesus’ humanity is perhaps no better expressed than in this verse. It expresses the anguish Jesus felt over the pain and sorrow his friends Mary, Martha, and others, were suffering at the death of Lazarus. To "weep" often implies a prolonged and impassioned deep grief. Jesus wept for love of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary and knew what he was going to do. Have you ever felt the peace and consolation that God had heard and answered your prayers through your weeping? Throughout his Gospel, John identifies the divinity of Jesus- his oneness with and in God; from the beginning, the Word. St. Martha proclaims Jesus as, “…the Messiah, the Son God”. Yet, John is also careful to insist that Jesus is at the same time completely human. As a human person, Jesus loves, weeps, feels fatigue and anguish, gets suspicious and perturbed; he thirsts, walks, sleeps, hungers, prays, and most notably, dies a most agonizing human death. All these references to Jesus’ humanity tell us he can relate with our daily struggles: our weaknesses and temptations and can deliver us from them as our redeemer and Savior. How does having an all-powerful divine Savior who lived as we live, except in sin, help you to realize a more personal relationship with him? Each time we partake of the true presence of his body and blood in the holy Eucharist, we grow in the humanity and divinity of Jesus. We softly pray during the preparation of the gifts, “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” The Eucharist is a lasting remedy for our body and soul to become more like Christ. During our earthly pilgrimage, we live in a “valley of tears” where we continue to shed tears of joy and sorrow. May we one day rise to new life in Jesus’ Kingdom following the Paschal Mystery of his divine Passion, death, and resurrection. May we one day share his heavenly banquet, where, “ He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” May we, especially our OCIA Elect, “Come out” as Lazarus did, to the calling of our Lord to new life this Easter, recognizing his divinity and humanity in our lives, for our salvation and for the glory of God.

Lift the fog to see the Light

If you’ve ever had a really severe toothache, you know it is pretty awful. How does something so small cause so much pain? And, if it’s bad enough a person will do just about anything to make it stop. All we want to do in that situation is get as fast as we can to the person who can make it better. And we are probably willing to pay whatever it costs to make the pain go away. If everything goes as planned, the relief we feel can be incredible. “Thank God I never have to go through that again,” we might think to ourselves. And for many of us, what happens at some point in time? We get another one. Rarely is a terrible toothache (or any other painful thing) a singular event. If we live long enough, we’re almost sure to experience multiple health aches and pains. Many things in life are this way. And they occur in all sorts of areas of our lives. Many of these things are random in nature. And there isn’t much we can do to avoid them. But others are not as random and can come about because of something we fail to learn. How many of us as children would get hurt doing something reckless, yet continue to do that very thing over and over again? I am reminded of a sibling who will remain nameless who loved to shout “Don’t try this at home!,” and then proceed to do something risky. How many of us, get into romantic relationships with people for the same wrong reasons over and over and over again? “I won’t make that mistake next time.” But then we do. How many of us give in to some sort of temptation and are convinced that we won’t succumb to that temptation again? How many of us think that if we just carefully select the right spouse, our life will be easy and perfect? Or if we achieve a certain level of financial security we’ll never have to worry again. Or the next drink will be my last. Or the next pill. Or I’ll just do this bad thing (maybe even something criminal) this one time to get myself out of a jam and that will be the end of it. You get the idea. In other words, almost nothing in life has a guarantee of permanence, a guarantee that it will last forever (for good or for bad). Sometimes things work out that way in a particular circumstance, but most things come and go. They’re here one second and gone the next. Good one moment and not so good the next. We’ll do something to alleviate a particularly negative thing (a completely worthwhile pursuit) yet somehow it (or something similar) comes back around. Or we do things that bring us a certain amount of joy (another completely worthwhile pursuit) --- yet that joy only lasts a very short time. Everything, it seems, is fleeting. “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; . . .” Now, Jesus says this statement in the middle of a strange and puzzling conversation with the woman at the well. The two of them start out talking about one thing but pretty soon are talking about something else altogether. This ordinary, daily chore had become a teaching moment, a challenging moment, a transformational moment. Jesus knows exactly what to say in every situation, always knows exactly what we need to hear. It’s easy to go through life relying most on what we can see and touch. In many respects, these earthly physical things seem more ‘real” than spiritual things, things we are asked to believe in faith, things that can’t exactly be proved to us (in the usual way we use that word). When a person is hungry --- food sounds way more important than God. When a person is sick ---- getting well sounds way more important than God. When a person is in danger --- getting to safety sounds way more important than God. When a person has no money --- getting a job sounds way more important than God. And when a person is terribly lonely ---making a friend sounds way more important than God. And you know what? The pursuit of those things does not necessarily have to take the place of God. They’re not in true competition with him. And so we should try to meet those needs, should try to improve those situations. In fact, in doing so we are almost certainly doing what God wants, cooperating with his grace. Even Jesus in the story we just heard asked the woman at the well for a drink of water before saying anything else. In other words, being faithful doesn’t mean we can’t pursue trying to meet our earthly human needs and things that make us happy, and certainly doesn’t mean we can’t do things to try to alleviate our pain or our sorrow or our disappointment. But what they aren’t supposed do is get in the way of going to the well, get in the way of our journey into holiness, get in the way of our relationship with the only ONE who can guarantee us love, compassion, understanding, mercy, forgiveness and ultimately, SALVATION. Even things such as happiness, joy, peace, meaning, hope, and every other good thing can only come about through the grace of the ONE who is all of those things. And so, as we continue through Lent we reflect on how deeply we want or deeply we think we need certain things in our lives. And then, we can strive to make sure they are aligned with our faith and our desire for God and holiness. In fact, our hearts will always be restless until they rest in God, who is - in the end - all we need. He’s the life-giving water for a thirst this world can’t quench.

Many people enjoy playing poker or even enjoy watching other people play poker. And one of the most exciting things that can happen at one point or another is a player making a risky move --- when they dramatically push all of their chips into the pot and go “all in”. Betting it all. Not holding anything back. And players usually don’t make this move in an impulsive way. They do so only when the situation is exactly right, when they realize that this is the smartest move, the one that could change everything --- in some sense, the ONLY move. Going “all in” is not as easy as it sounds. It can be difficult, even frightening at times. For example, taking out a big mortgage is a kind of going all in. Heading off to a college far from home is a kind of going all in. So is accepting a job offer for a position that will demand a lot. Or going sky diving. Or agreeing to a complicated surgical procedure. Or making a marriage proposal, or saying “yes” to such a proposal. Going all in can be a challenging thing to do --- even when we know it’s the right thing to do. “Jesus led them up a high mountain and was transfigured before them.” It’s interesting to think about this event in the life of Jesus and wonder why he chose to do this, at this moment, in front of these three people. There might be more than one reason, more than one thing Jesus (and/or God the Father) was hoping to accomplish. But I think there is one logical possibility, one reason that makes perfect sense. You see, up to this point Peter, James, and John (and others) had quite a few unique experiences with Jesus. He had said some pretty remarkable, insightful things. He told stories with endings that were unpredictable. He performed miracles and things that couldn’t be easily explained. And he spoke with a certain kind of authority. And that might have been enough (maybe even enough for us had we seen those things). But, in a sense, Jesus couldn’t take a chance --- couldn’t risk that Peter, James, and John might have somehow misunderstood the situation, what he had been saying and who he was. Jesus needed to give them a powerful reason to trust him, to listen to him, to follow him, to remain “all in”. Are we still all in? That can be a difficult question to answer. And I don’t mean just “kind of” difficult. No, this can be one of the most difficult things we will ever contemplate doing. And so, one of our “goals” during this holy season is to reflect on this critical question --- and be honest about what we discover. How committed are we? How in love with Jesus are we? Exactly how far are we willing to go? How much of us and our calendars are we handing over to him, surrendering to him, giving to him to use as he sees fit? Or are we only “in” part-way, only a little committed? Lent can help us wrestle with these important spiritual questions. But there is another implication we must consider. You see, Peter, James, and John probably needed another reason to believe and trust, needed to see something in Jesus they had never seen before. And things are no different today. Each of us, in a certain sense, needs our own “transfiguration moment” --- that is, needs to encounter Jesus, needs to see something that reveals more clearly who Jesus is, needs to see him transfigured --- white as light, shining a divine experience, divine revelation upon us. And each of us not only needs to have that experience, but also needs to help others have that experience. There are people we know, who need more reasons to remain committed, to get on board, to give their life over to Jesus, to follow him more closely, to be “all-in”. And it’s up to each of us to be that person, to be someone who gives other people reasons to believe and to trust and to hope. Are we that person? Do people look at each of us and see someone who radiates hope… radiates kindness…radiates forgiveness, compassion and love? In other words, do people look at us and see the face of God? Or do we show them something else? This Lent, may we pray for the ability to have our own transfiguration moments, to be able to see our loving God in the Eucharist before us and in the people and situations around us, leading us to be more committed than ever, more committed to going “all in”. But at the same time let’s remember to be that person who is willing to lead others up the mountain --- that is, be a person who is willing to radiate the love of Jesus in such a way that it gives people one more reason to fall in love with the One who is love.

First Sunday of Lent – February 22, 2026 Obedience unto the Lord during Lent and always. Dcn. Bill Kenney In our Gospel reading Satan tries to exploit any possible weakness in the human nature of the god-man, Jesus Christ. Afterall, he learned that Adam and Eve from our Genesis reading were weak humans, easy pickings to fall prey to his temptations. Because of their pride and disobedience, they were not, as we pray, “delivered from evil”. While Satan handed God’s “good” creation a terrible blow of original sin, God would have his total victory over sin and death through his son, our savior Jesus Christ. From Romans: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.” Matthew recounts to us how Jesus is confronted in the desert by the “tempter”, a title that even insinuates an evil disposition. Jesus is tempted three times- all secular desires: self-serving and presumptuous power, celebrity, and pride. As we heard, in complete obedience to the Father, Jesus responds to Satan by quoting Scripture, the Word and Law of the Lord. It was no contest. Jesus is the living Word and the devil has no power over him, not even in his upcoming death. Jesus tells him. in all authority, “Get away Satan!” This Gospel account is written, as is all Scripture, on our behalf- that we may know and participate in God’s plan and will for our lives. - to grow in relationship through trust and obedience to his word in Scripture and his Word, Jesus Christ, for our eternal salvation. The Last Temptation of Christ is a controversial, if not blasphemous novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis. It is a fictional depiction of a supposed conflict between the human and divine natures of Jesus. It focuses on a "last temptation" -the implanted desire to avoid the sacrifice of the crucifixion and live a mortal life, offered by Satan to Jesus while he was on the cross. This story highlights the human condition we face in our daily lives- our fallibility, our weakness to sin- in contrast to the awesome power and glory of our divine Savior overcoming darkness and evil. Out of great love for us and great obedience to the Father, we know the truth: how Jesus fulfilled the plan of the Father to redeem our souls, to reunite us with our Creator and usher in his Kingdom, of which the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The heart of the issue is whether you, in humble obedience, serve and worship God, or not. And if you’re not serving God, you’re ultimately serving the devil. As Bob Dylan, of whom I’m a big fan, sang, “It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve somebody”. Who are you serving? Simply put, are you doing what God wants you to do? Do you regularly discern what God wants you to do with your time, talent, and treasure? Do you open your heart to invite him into your daily decisions so as to remain faithful to his plan for you? Galatians 5:25 states, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." We must imitate Jesus’ example of obedience- overcoming temptations of the flesh to follow the Father’s divine will. That’s why Lent is a penitential season- to forsake the sins of the flesh and get us back in the Spirit. That’s why we need to worship at Mass every week and receive the Holy Eucharist. That’s why we need to have a daily prayer life, to be rooted in Scripture, to pray devotionals like the Rosary; to spend time with Christ in Adoration, in order that we might be rooted in Christ. He succeeded where Adam failed. He shows us the way to all righteousness. We must walk in the Spirit. In our sorrow for our sins we pray, “Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.” If we don’t walk in the Spirit, we give the devil a chance to work on us, to move us away from God, and, in the end, we clandestinely serve him. We live in both a pragmatic physical world and a mysterious spiritual world. Perhaps our temptations from the devil are more subtle than they were with Jesus in the desert. The devil may not manifest himself and tell you his evil desires. In that respect, living a holy life can be especially difficult. We need to be united in the Spirit to discern our choices that they are in line with God’s providence for each of us and as a People of God. How, for example, are R-rated movies or worse subtly numbing our Christian family, morals and values? Perhaps we’re numbed by the indulgences of the clothing, or lack thereof, illicit drugs, sexual promiscuity, and profane language that litter our televisions, theaters, red-carpet award shows, Superbowls, and even commercials anymore. Not to mention the temptations we face on the Internet. There are many “low-hanging-fruit” opportunities for giving up some subtle evil in our lives. Pick one, but instead of taking a bite of it and digesting its evil, throw it out of your life. Throughout this Lenten season, may we grow in trust to love and serve the Lord. May the Lord “create in us a clean heart and renew within us a steadfast Spirit” that through our self-sacrificial offerings of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving we may grow in obedience and grace, not as an end to themselves, but for the greater glory of God.

Sixth Sunday in O.T.