Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Today the Church celebrates the Third Scrutiny for those entering the Church at the Easter Vigil. Having reflected on the Gospel stories of the Samaritan woman at the well and the healing of the man born blind, we now reflect on Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead. The Scrutinies have drawn our attention to the desire of God for a relationship with us, just as Jesus engages the Samaritan woman in conversation and leads her both to conversion and to become an evangelist. They also point us to the ways that God…
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, gives us great reason for hope as we enter more deeply into these penitential days. Hopefully our disciplines and prayer have begun to bear fruit in our lives. Perhaps they have been a bit of a struggle, but even in those challenges we can see the grace of God at work. Today, though our journey in the desert is not yet over, the Church sounds for us a note of hope as we look forward to the day on which Christ accomplishes our salvation. The name “Laetare…
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, With the third Sunday of Lent, the Church begins to invite those who are preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation to a deeper reflection and participation in the life of Christ. Today and for the two Sundays that follow, the Scrutinies are celebrated for those catechumens and candidates anticipating reception into the Church at the Easter Vigil. Here at St. Pius, the Scrutinies will be celebrated during the 11 AM Sunday Mass. These unique rites have their origin in some of the ancient practices of the early Church. At a time when persecution…
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “Lord, it is good that we are here.” Overwhelmed by the glory of the transfigured Jesus, shocked by the presence of Moses and Elijah, St. Peter utters these words in the Gospel we read today in the hope of remaining on the mountain for a while longer. While the moment of the Transfiguration will pass and things will seem to go back to normal, the short-lived glory that Peter, James, and John were privileged to witness would become a sign and a prefiguration of what was to come. Jesus is transfigured so that the…
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Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In Mark’s typical fashion, the story of the forty days Jesus spends in the desert is recounted in a rapid-fire pace, clear on what happened, and short on details. The forty days are summarized by three things: Jesus was tempted by Satan, was among the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to Him. Each of those things seems to deserve some attention, but Mark powers past them, perhaps to allow someone else to tell that story or to leave those details to our imagination. Rather than focusing on our Lord’s experience in the desert,…
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