1st Sunday of Lent: God's Enduring Covenant

We are now in the season of Lent.  It is a season of penance, repentance, and preparation. Our parishes and clergy are adorned with violet or purple vestiture symbolizing penance. We fast and abstain from meat to imitate Jesus in the desert who ate nothing for 40 days. Today's readings reflect on God's reach to humanity via His covenant and that we rely on Him.

In the first reading, we read of God speaking to Noah and his sons. God establishes a covenant between them and their descendants.  The covenant is not only with them but also with nature. Every living creature, all the birds and wild animals is a part of this covenant. God says that He will never again destroy creatures with floodwaters. God had punished the world by pushing the cosmic reset button, so to speak. The world had gotten so horrible and sinful that there was no way for it to come back.  It reached the point of no return. The world was too far gone so God has to start again. He flooded the world to the point that everything died except Noah, his family, and the animals that were aboard the ark. Now there are many ideas surrounding the story. Some say it is allegorical while others say it is literally true. Some say the world was not flooded and only a specific region while others say the entire globe was flooded. Scholars debate the details. Despite this, we cannot ignore the facts of the story. God made a covenant. He used the bow in the sky to serve as a sign. This bow is of course the rainbow. The rainbow belongs to God, not any group or political agenda. We have to be clear about this. The reading shows us how God still pursues humanity despite how bad it can get. He is just but also merciful. His ways are love and truth, as the responsorial Psalm tells us.

We must ask God to make His ways known to us and teach us the path of righteousness. God is our guide and teacher. This path of righteousness is not easy. As we read in the first reading, God did destroy the wicked. His ways are love and truth; truth can hurt many times. I know coming from an atheist background the cliche of the "God of the Old Testament" being this evil, sadistic God. Comic books like "The Preacher" even parody this caricature of God as an evil God who loves to torture or is an immature being that punishes on a knee-jerk reaction, so to speak. This is not true. The Old Testament does not depict some sadistic God that is different from what the New Testament depicts God as.  We see a just God who punishes the wicked. Without justice, nothing can function. This is why we seek God and rely on His compassion which is from old. This compassion is shown in the covenant. God could have just erased the universe. Instead, He erased the wicked like a gardener pruning the bad branches and weeding out the weeds that are destructive to the ecosystem.  God is good and upright. He shows sinners the way and guides the humble to justice. We must rely on Him always. The second reading puts it into perspective.

In the second reading, we read of how Christ suffered for sins once. This means that Jesus died and suffered for all of our sins once. This is important to know in regards to the Mass.  Many of our separated brethren in the Protestant faith believe Catholics re-sacrifice Jesus over and over. This is not true. The Mass is a reenactment of the passion of Christ. We are seeing it happen like a movie that is taped or recorded already and we are just replaying it. Jesus is not being sacrificed again. His sacrifice was once and transcends time. At Mass, we link to that sacrifice via the Holy Eucharist. Jesus died for everyone. He was the innocent who died for the sake of the not so innocent. All of this was done to lead us to God.  His flesh was put to death bringing the Spirit to us which brings life.  Jesus even reached those in the afterlife who waited since the days of Noah. This prison is often called hell but is like purgatory. They waited there for Christ.  The waters of the flood were a prefigurement of baptism. God washed the world of the original sin.  The flood was not just a big punishment, it foreshadows baptism. This all links to Jesus. Jesus sits at the Father's right had pleaded for us all. All angels, authorities, and powers are under Him and are subject to Him. Jesus is our only hope. This is why there is no one else who saves. Only Jesus does.  We rely on Him.  The Gospel introduces Jesus' desire to reach the world even at the expense of HIs own life and comfort.

In the Gospel, we get a brief taste of Lent. Jesus is taken the desert by the Spirit. He is there for forty days. While there, Satan comes to tempt Him. It was not a good experience. The devil is the ultimate and first troll. He trolled Jesus trying to get Him to break with the Father. Here we see that Satan is not an all-knowing being. He did not know who Jesus was and was trying to figure Him out. Despite all he did, Jesus never broke His Father's will. Angels ministered to Him.  After John was arrested, Jesus became the prominent figure preaching repentance and faith. Jesus went to Galilee to preach the Gospel of God. He reminded them that the kingdom is at hand. This is the kingdom of God. To be part of this kingdom, we must not only believe in God but follow HIs will. We must repent and believe in the Gospel. Believing in the GOspel is not just saying "I believe." By believing, we follow it. We put into action what we believe. This is what Lent show brings us to. During Lent, we must get closed to God and help one another. We must put the Gospel into practice.  During this period of Covid-19 Coronavirus, we can enhance our Lenten experience by offering more sacrifices for the sake of our relationship with God.  God's covenant endures forever. He never breaks it.   

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022121.cfm

Lent is a season of penance and also charitable works. One way of being charitable is by helping our ministry pay its bills and expand. Please donate at our Paypal, www.gofundme.com/sacerdotus, or become a monthly Patreon on www.patreon.com/sacerdotus.  You can also purchase items at our online store https://teespring.com/stores/sacerdotus-store. Your funds help us a great deal. We need your help!

Fourth Sunday of Advent

What is Advent?
We are now in the holy season of Advent where we prepare for both the coming of Christ at Christmas and the second coming at the end of time.  It is a spiritual period in which to meditate on these two mysteries and prepare for them.  We use the wreath and 4 candles to mark down the 4 weeks before Christmas.  

Three of the candles are purple and one is pink.  The purple symbolizes preparation through penance and prayer.  Purple is also used during Lent.  Another way to see it is that purple is a physical sign of healing. When we get hurt, the injury becomes purple.  During the time of healing, it remains purple until it clears up.  Sin hurts us and we need time to heal from it by using the Sacraments of Penance and Eucharist, Prayer, Fasting, Indulgences and a genuine Spiritual life.  

The pink is for the third Sunday or Gaudete Sunday which means "Sunday of Joy."   We are joyous because we are getting closer to Christ's birth.  As each week goes, we light the candle that corresponds to that week.  

Today's readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122114.cfm 

Here we are in the fourth and last week of Advent. Jesus is almost here.  The day of His birth is just around the corner. Since it is so near, the Church reminds us of how it all started.

In the first reading from Samuel, we read how King David is bothered that he is living in a house of cedar while the ark of the Covenant where God was is in a tent. He finds that troubling because: 'how can he (David) be living in a palace while the Lord God who did everything for him is out there in a tent as if He were camping in the woods?' The prophet Nathan replies to David that he can do whatever he wants because God is with him.  However, God spoke to Nathan.  Knowing that David wanted to build a house for God, the Lord reminded Nathan who is the real builder. He reminds Nathan and tells him to also remind David that it was He who "took you from the pasture.. cared from the flock; was commander of the people of Israel; went before them, destroyed their enemies.." and so forth.  In other words, God is saying, "you want to build a house for me?? I was the one who did everything and I can do it myself."  Now God is not being an ingrate here.  He is simply reminding David, Nathan, Israel and all of us today that He is the one who does it all. There is nothing we can offer to God that is truly our own, for all comes from Him (James 1:17, John 1:3).  Think about it.  Would a gift of an Iphone to the late Steve Jobs be truly a gift?  No it would not because he was the one who invented them and had those devices made. So, how can one build a house for God if all in this universe belongs to God and He allows things to be built or destroyed? Moreover, God states that He will establish a house for David and that when the time is right, a heir will come who will be His Son and He will be His Father.  Sounds familiar?  Who do you think this guy God is talking about is?  If you guessed Jesus, then you are correct!  Jesus is this heir who will be this descendant of King David (Matthew 1).  This is why the Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Christ.  The Gospel of Matthew was written for the Jews Per Se.  Its audience was meant for those of Jewish descent so that they could understand who Jesus was and why He is important.

The responsorial Psalm responds to the first reading saying that "forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord."  What is this goodness?  Well the Psalm tells us.  It is about God being faithful to us.  Just think about this for a moment.  The God of the universe is faithful to these little creatures made of carbon, water, iron, proteins, calcium and other compounds - human beings.  Why?  Because He loves His creation (John 3:16).  The Psalm reminds us that God made a covenant with David and swore that his throne will be established and will last for all generations.  

In the second reading from Romans, St. Paul reminds us that our faith is manifesting.  The prophetic writings and faith that has been passed on was fulfilled in Jesus Christ so that all nations of the world will come to the obedience of faith in God. God kept His promise.  Jesus Christ was born over 2,000 years ago and established the new covenant in His blood which is the Catholic Church. This Church is spread throughout the nations.  It is universal and excludes no one.  From the Tree of Jesse sprung the branch that would capture the entire world. 


Finally in the Gospel, we read how the first reading from Samuel is fulfilled.  The archangel Gabriel is sent from God to Mary who lived in town called Nazareth. She is a virgin and betrothed to Joseph of the house of David.  Notice the Gospel emphasizes this link of David and Joseph and in doing so, connects this to King David and the promise made to Him by God.  This Virgin is named Mary and the archangel greets her with powerful words, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!"  Sound familiar? It is the beginning of the "Hail Mary" prayer.   The word here in Koine Greek is "kecharitomene" which means "full of God's grace." It is the passive participle of "charitoos" which means "to pour on or fill with grace." This means that Mary was literally "full of God." There was no room for sin or anything evil because God took its place.  If I tell you that a glass is full of water, then that means there is no more room for anything else. This is why the Catholic Church teaches that Mary was the Immaculate Conception. She was conceived without original sin. 

Moreover, Gabriel tells Mary that she will conceive an important child who she is to name Jesus.  This child will be called the Son of the Most High and will be given the throne of David His father. Notice how this is connected to the first reading in Samuel.  God told Nathan that He will build a house and rise up a heir of David who will be His Son.  Now since Mary's Son is a heir, then this means that He is King since He is inheriting the throne of King David. Mary in her innocence asks how this is possible since she is a virgin and has had no relations with a man.  The angel responds that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her resulting in the child being the literal Son of God.  The Gospel ends with the angel telling Mary that her relative Elizabeth will bear a son in her old age. This will happen because with God nothing is impossible. These are powerful words indeed!  

Mary shows her faith in God by accepting and saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”  These are also familiar words found in the Angelus prayer.  The Virgin birth was foretold in Isaiah 7:14.  Many atheists have a problem understanding this "Virgin birth" thing.  However, it is not impossible, naturally and biologically speaking.  We have seen "virgin births" in nature via Parthenogenesis.  Since God created this world including Mary's body, then what is to prevent Him from allowing Mary to conceive a child in a virginal state?   The answer is nothing for with God nothing is impossible as Gabriel stated to Mary.  Mary is an example to all of us.  She shows her confusion at first which is normal, but trusts that God is good and allows Him to do His will. God respects our free will and does not force Himself on us. 

So in today's readings we are reminded of the promise of this "Son" who would inherit King David's throne. This Son would be the Savior of the world. The Catholic liturgy beautifully links salvation history via Sacred Scripture. Let us all gather now and pray "maranatha," asking the Lord to come as we celebrate His first coming 2,000 years ago which we commemorate on Christmas.  Together with King David, the prophet Nathan, St. John the Baptist, the Blessed Mother Mary and St. Joseph let us shout: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam!