Who Do you Say that I am? ... Quotes from Holy Week

One could say that all of the celebrations of the liturgical year find their climax in Holy Week. Holy Week is the history of our salvation as human beings. It is the greatest love story of all time, and we are characters within the story.

All throughout the Gospels, people respond to Jesus in a variety of different ways. We could say that even today, people give a plethora of responses to Jesus. Some call Him "King" while others mock Him. Some call Him "Lord" while others betray Him. Sometimes even those who call Him "Lord" and "King" are also the ones who shout "Crucify Him!" 

After reflecting on the words of others, who do we say that Jesus is?

Sunday :

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:10)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? (PS 22)

Monday:

“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?”
“Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial” (JN 12:5,7)

The Lord is my light and my salvation.  (PS 27)

Tuesday:

“Master, where are you going?” 
“Where I am going you cannot follow me now, though you will follow later”
“Master, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you”
“The cock will not crow before you deny me three times” (John 13: 36-38)

I will sing of your salvation. (PS 71)

Wednesday:

“One of you will betray me.”
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me.” 
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi” 
“You have said so.” (Mt. 26: 21-22, 25)

Lord, in your great love, answer me. (PS 69)

Thursday:

“Master are you going to wash my feet? You will never wash my feet.”
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” (John 13: 6,8)

Our blessing-cup is a communion with the Blood of Christ. (PS 116)

Friday:

“Behold, your king!”
“Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?”
“We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19: 14-15)

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. (PS 31)

Saturday:

“Do not be amazed! You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go and tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going before you to Galilee;  there you will see him, as he told you.’” (Mark 16: 6-7)

Like a deer that longs for running streams, my soul longs for you, my God. (PS 42)

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Palm Sunday --- "Who do you say that I am?"

Today's Readings

Audio Homily

What if I were to tell you that Holy Week could be summarized into one question :“Who do you say that I am?” What we hear in today’s readings are the occurrences of what we’ll be celebrating over the course of this week. Today, on Palm Sunday, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant ride into Jerusalem, but we soon find out that those who call Him “King” will soon call Him a “blasphemer” and call for His crucifixion.

I’d like to reflect with you today on the first part of the Gospel. Jesus is reclining at table with His disciples and other folks all around Him. A woman emerges from the small gathering carrying an

alabaster jar of oil. This jar carries a very expensive oil called spikenard, and as the Gospel puts it, the cost of the oil was over 300 day’s wages. So what does she do with it? She breaks it open and she pours it upon Jesus’s head. Everyone in the room were not only amazed, but they were indignant. They were very critical about what just happened. What's Jesus's response to all of this? He says that this woman just has done “something good for me” Interestingly enough, the Greek word for “good” can also rightly be translated as “beautiful.”

Why was this such an important part of the Gospel? Well, it was her way of worshiping the King.

She anoints Him with costly oil just as a King would be anointed. She recognizes the Christ in her midst and empties her whole self before Him. Instead of simply pouring the oil on His head, she breaks the jar. She saves no oil for herself as she gives it all to her King, to the Christ.

She answered the question “who do you say that I am” with the perfect act of worship

She gave most of what she had to her King

My friends, Peter eventually answers the question from Jesus as “You are the Christ.” He would eventually die a martyr’s death for His testimony. But how do we answer the question: “who do you say that I am?” If we say He is a nice man who did nice things and said nice words… then what good is all of this. There have been many nice people who have lived. But if our testimony is like Peter’s or is like the woman with the oil --- what does that look like in our life?

Pope Francis highlights this very well in Evangelii Gaudium:

“Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.”

If we proclaim Jesus as the King triumphantly coming into our lives, we must make room. We must lay down our palms, our cloaks, our lives. It is in giving that we receive He teaches us through the cross.

My friends, as we begin Holy Week, may we allow the question of Jesus to be pondered daily in our minds: “Who do you say that I am?” May we live the answer each and every day

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A Much See Short Film... Palm Sunday...

To Purchase Please Visit: http://palmsundayfilm.com/
'Best Religious Short Film' in the 33rd Annual Telly Awards.

Synopsis
Brothers Julio and Marvin become restless during the reading of the Passion, and begin playfully slapping one another with palms they received upon their visit to church. Unsurprisingly, their mother is not amused with their behavior. After a brief scolding, the two simmer down only for a moment before they agree to a wager with one another: who can shout "crucify him" the loudest. Once arranged, the younger of the brothers gets overwhelmed by the experience.

Approximate Run Time: 5 Minutes

Crew Members
Executive Producer - Eric Groth
Director - Rob Kaczmark
Associate Producer - Bonnie Gruesen
Director of Photography - Danny Hidalgo
Production Design - Kristie Kaczmark
Sound Supervisor - Kyle Escamilla
Script - Bob Rice
Re-record Mixer - Manuel Lopez III
Talent Director - Bonnie Gruesen
Editor - Rob Kaczmark
Still Photography - Steve Krueger
Production Assistant - Greg Krajewski

Cast
Jesus - Adam Ziemkiewicz
Brother #1 - Julio Santos-De Soto
Brother #2 - Marvin Quijada
Mom - Rosario Herbst
Priest - Rev. Timothy Piasecki
Man #1 - David Sanchez
Man #2 - Julio Santos-De Soto Sr.
Reader #1 - Benjamin Zilla
Reader #2 - Julia Galvan
Girlfriend - Gabby Marzetta

Copyright 2011 Outside da Box, NFP & Spirit Juice Studios, Inc.

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The Grain and St Augustine (5th Sunday of Lent)

CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO HOMILY

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to reflect on this weekend's readings. During prayer, I couldn't help but to think about one of my favorite Saints, Saint Augustine. Augustine lived in the 5^th century when Christianity really began to spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire. He was born into a family that was rather well-to-do in the region of Africa called “Hippo” which is modern day Algeria. While his mother was a faithful Christian, his father belonged to a pagan religion called Manicheanism.

Throughout most of Augustine’s childhood, he identified most with his father. He enjoyed the things that money could buy. He didn't have much regard for other people.

He always looked for ways to move “up” in the world. Meanwhile, his mother would always be in the background praying for Augustine. She saw that while Augustine thought he was happy, he wore a mask of happiness. He would continuously move onto the next thing until he’d eventually get bored. He did this until he was about 30 years old when he eventually converted to Christianity. There were a variety of reasons for his conversion. For starters, Augustine was an intellectual. So when he encounters a man named Ambrose who answers many of his deep questions, he begins to think about the faith quite a bit. He also knew that his mom was very much so a rock for him when he needed her. She was an inspiration for him. In one of his books, The Confessions (which is a personal autobiography) he reflects, “you have made us for you, o God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” He knew that in order to strive to be a Saint, he needed to die to his former ways of life.

On this 5^th Sunday of Lent, we find ourselves coming very close to Palm Sunday and

our readings reflect this reality. In our reading from Jeremiah, he gives word to God’s design of each of us, “I will place my law in them, and write it upon their hearts.” God made us for him, but we wander aimlessly in this world if we continue to resist it and life feels a bit incomplete. And this is where we find our Gospel take off, Jesus is not only preparing His disciples for His impending death, He’s also giving Himself sort of a pep-talk. In a way, He’s thinking out loud as so many of us do from time to time. In order to help people understand He uses a short parable, “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” He tries to explain that only through His death can He bear the fruit that He came to bear.

My friends, we find that this Gospel is very much so about us as well. Just as St Augustine had to die to his former ways to become something much greater, so too must we. Husbands and Wives may remember when they first got married. There had to be compromises and deaths to former ways in order for the family to flourish. They couldn't live life the same way they did before, especially when the gift of children started to arrive.There had to be a death for something greater to come about.

Older siblings recall when their younger brothers or sisters were born. They had to die to some former ways in order to help the family and to bring about a greater good. Athletes find that they have to give up bad habits in order to flourish as do musicians. In all that we do, when we want to improve ourselves there is a sort of death. We die to our former ways of doing things so that there may be growth.

Brothers and sisters, this imagery is very much so part of Baptism. When we were baptized, we died to sin and rose as a new creation in Christ. We received the light of Christ and the white garment. God called us His sons and daughters by name.

And we realize that the path to sanctity… the path to Sainthood is not in remaining  a single grain, but in flourishing as a living plant. Seeds and grains are simply the beginning, but inside of them lies so much great potential to make the world around them a better place.

Today, may we take after one of the greatest Saints of the Church, Saint Augustine.

May we reflect on what is holding us back from a better relationship with Christ and others. What are we afraid to die to in our lives… what hill must we go over?

It is in answering these questions daily that we can become more of who God made us to be.

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March 19th - Solemnity of St Joseph

St Joseph

• Feast: March 19th
• Life: Unknown (died before Jesus' public ministry)
• Patron: The Universal Church, Workers, Happy Death
• Associations: Lily, Tools, Holy Family

CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO HOMILY

On the Feast of St. Joseph the readings the Church provides us with are readings of royalty. It seems strange to hear readings about royalty when we reflect on the life of St. Joseph because it almost seems as if he lived life to the opposite effect. We know that he was a simple man. He was a carpenter. What we often fail to realize is that out of all of history, God chose this man to be His foster father. While this man did not have riches, what he did have was worth so much more.

We hear from the Annunciation story to Joseph that even before the Angel appeared to him, he knew that Mary was pregnant. He knew that he wasn't the father, so it says that "because he was a just man..." In all of scriptures, you do not hear many people called "just." He was also obedient to the message of the Angel. Not only would He become the foster father of God, but he would also need to be the protector and first teacher.

We hear that Joseph's family line could be traced back to King David. David was the most well-known of all of the Biblical kings. While he had some problems, he is known as being a rather benevolent king. Unfortunately for our story, many others during the time of St. Joseph could also point their lineage back to David. Joseph wasn't sitting on a throne. Perhaps the closest he ever got to a throne was by making one as a carpenter. Because we know the end of the story, we also know that Jesus was not a king in the traditional sense either.

The royalty we know about during Joseph's time was not something Joseph wanted to emulate. The first king we hear about is King Herod. Like most royalty at the time, he was afraid of losing his power. Because of this, he does the unimaginable and has all of the young first born sons in the town of Bethlehem killed. It was predestined that the Christ should be born there. The other big ruler we hear about early in the Gospels is Caesar. Israel was under Roman occupation, so it was natural that Caesar would be mentioned at some point. We also know that Caesar was someone who always looked behind his back. While he spent a lot of time looking how to expand his empire, he was also always looking behind his back for a usurper. He was afraid of losing his power. To him, the only thing that mattered was power.

If God wanted to be born into royalty, he would be been the son of Caesar or Herod, but he was not. He was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the first teacher of the faith. He was a righteous Jew who taught Jesus the precepts of the Jewish faith. They observed the feast days as well as the Sabbath customs. Joseph taught Jesus what it means to live a virtuous life. We hear that Joseph is a protector, a just man, a compassionate man, a patient man, and an honest man. These traits were passed down to Jesus for sure as he taught Jesus the tools of his trade and how to be a man. While Caesar and Herod may have had power, very few actually loved them unconditionally. Joseph taught Jesus the meaning of loving unconditionally, and in return, others would love Him unconditionally. While many of the words and actions of Jesus were inspired by the Holy Spirit, we also need to realize that many of them must have come from His first teacher, St. Joseph.

On this feast of St Joseph, may we ask the first teacher of Jesus to inspire us through the words and actions of his foster Son. May we too be inspired to imitate the heroic virtues of St. Joseph.

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The Gift of Thankfulness - 4th Sunday of Lent (A)

“Imagine if the only things you had today are what you thanked God for yesterday”

What would your world look like?

This question came to me one day in prayer a few years ago

And honestly, the world I imagined was a world of darkness

The people and things I failed to thank God for just seemed so tiny compared to the gifts I realized He gave me on a daily basis.

Our Cycle A Readings from the 4th Sunday of Lent

Click Here To Listen to Audio Homily

My friends, our Gospel for today speaks about one of those gifts so many of us take for granted each day:

The gift of sight

Throughout the course of the story, we follow the story of a man born blind

In Jewish culture, people born with physical impediments were often seen as having sinned or their parents had sinned to cause this

These folks could not get any job aside from relying on the generosity of folks by begging

On this particular day, this the blind man encounters Jesus

Jesus comes without money, but what He offers is so much more

Not only does He cure the man of his blindness

But He also reveals His identity to the man as the “Christ”

When the man realizes this truth, his only response is to worship Jesus

While sight was certainly a great gift

The man realizes the greatest gift was having an encounter with the Christ

Ironically, our Gospel speaks very heavily about another type of blindness: Spiritual Blindness

While the Jewish officials could certainly physically see, Jesus subtly points out they are spiritually blind

They do not realize that right in front of them all along is the Christ that they have long waited for

This is the Christ they preach and teach about

Yet when Jesus comes and performs these wondrous deeds, they cannot see

They doubt

My friends, those who often come to believe in the Gospels are those who are most simple

Think about it

To whom did the Angel Gabriel appear to announce she would be the mother of God?

A simple woman from Nazareth

Who else did the Angels appear to?

Simple Shepherds

Who became the first evangelist for the Church?

The Woman at the Well… a sinful Samaritan woman who’s encounter with Jesus caused her to tell the entire town about Him

And who did Jesus call to be His disciples

Fishermen, tax collectors… very simple and often uneducated men

While having so little, they lived a life dedicated to thanking God through their works and words

I think that so often in life we can close off our minds to the work of God all around us

When we encounter people daily, we can become blind to see Christ inside of them

We find ourselves on this 4^th Sunday of Lent having encountered Christ

But what do we do with that encounter?

Do we talk about it?

Are we willing to share it?

Today, my friends, I pose you the same dilemma that came to me in prayer a few years ago:

“Imagine if the only things you had today are what you thanked God for yesterday”

Your imagination may reveal a dark world to you

But we need to remember that Christ came into the world to be the “Light of the World”

Today is not too late to live a life of thanksgiving

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3rd Sunday of Lent (B) --- The Zeal of Christ

Growing up in a very large extended close-knit family, we often found ourselves playing games of some sort when we were all younger. Whether it was Nintendo, board games, or sports --- we all got a thrill over competition. I like to think that we enjoyed competition so as to help each other become the best that we could at a particular activity, but sometimes the activity got way out of hand. Because I was one of the least competitive of the bunch, when I won, folks might get a bit more frustrated than normal. They might rage-quit a video game turning off the system. They might flip over the table or board upon which we were playing a board game. They might even refuse to give the ball back so we could commence a sports game Does this sound familiar at all?

In Today’s Gospel from the Gospel of John, Jesus finds himself traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Around this Feast, many folks would come to the temple area to make sacrifices. But around Jesus’s era, people began to profit off of others who wanted to make sacrifices. They set up booths outside in order to sell animals to sacrifice. They would have moneychangers which basically allowed people to walk into the temple with coins without the face of the Emperor on them. Anything that had an image on it was seen as an idol. But of course, when they would leave the temple, they could exchange their faceless coins for coins with the emperor’s face again. A lot of times, the faceless coin had a little less value than the original coin that was traded. And when they came out of the temple, sometimes they would receive an even lesser value coin.So seeing all of the commotion, Jesus is not happy. The Temple was meant for worship – not the marketplace. So Jesus runs over and overturns some of the tables and runs out some of the vendors. So of course, the authorities stop him to inquire as to why He did what He did. “What sign can you show us,” they ask. Jesus responds, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They just don’t get it, but those who know the end of the story would know and His disciples would eventually find out.

I think that one of the most common interpretations for what Jesus did is “anger.” If we were to read the Gospel over and over again, we'd never see the word "anger" used. In fact, the word we often miss is the word we replace with "anger," which is the word "zeal." The word “zeal” is defined as a sense of fervor or ardor for a person, cause, or object. Never is the word “anger” used in the definition. Jesus did what He did to make a point. Not only the obvious point that He points out, but the less obvious point is that when they look for signs, Jesus points to the resurrection.

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus is zealous, but He isn't zeal for an object. He isn't so much as zealous for a building. Jesus's true zeal is for for God and for His people. If you were to read through the Gospel of John, the Gospel highlights Jesus’s interaction with people. The words He says and the cultural barriers He breaks He does it all because He wants to show His love: for God and for people.

I think sometimes we can let little things in life like games or objects to control us. Sometimes we strive more for objects than we do for people .It is as if these objects have some type of gravitational pull on us. Sometimes we think: "I can’t stop watching this TV show, I cant stop playing this game, I cant put down this book, I cant stop thinking about my finances, or I cant stop dreaming about that car, or house, or shoes, or clothes. The zeal Jesus has for people extends to us. He has a great longing for our hearts. He desires for us just to reach back to Him and trust Him, but sometimes I think we’d rather trust our objects.

If Jesus was willing to break down cultural barriers and if He was willing to put His life on the line for you and for me, don’t you think He is worthy of your trust?

Today, may we call upon that trust in Jesus and may we imitate the zeal He has for us. May we imitate that same zeal for others and for God. Many have done this throughout the last 2,000 years. Most of them are now called Saints.

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2nd Sunday of Lent : Fear and Transfiguration (Homily)

When I was younger, I recall being especially afraid of going to haunted houses. There is a particular element to haunted houses that keeps people away, but also attracts people to them at the same time. On one particular occasion in high school, I recall going to the “Nightmare in Painesville” set of haunted houses with some of my friends. I really dreaded this task as we made our way to Painesville on one Friday. I even went so far as to try to come up with some excuses to turn around my car, but I couldn’t think of any that would have been satisfactory for my friends. So we arrived at the haunted houses and stood there in line to walk through the first haunted house. I remember literally shaking as the line moved forward. Then, to my dismay, I saw a little girl in front of me who could have been no more than 7 years old. She was with what appeared to be her father and older brother. What struck me in my place was seeing this little girl clinging to her father. Here I was, 17 years old, and I was just as afraid of this haunted house as this little girl. In an attempt to be more courageous, I stood up taller, stuck out my chest, and lowered my voice to show everyone how cool I was with this haunted house. Although I was completely terrified on the inside, I tried not to show my fear for the sake of this little girl.

In today’s Gospel, Peter, James, and John show great fear after hearing a

voice coming from a cloud. The Gospel actually tells us that they fell prostrate on the ground, which means they literally fell face first into the ground in fear. Strangely enough, they didn't fall in fear because of seeing Jesus transformed in front of them and apparitions of Moses and Elijah standing next to Jesus. The three Apostles fell in fear when they heard a voice coming from a cloud. I don’t know about you, but if I saw two apparitions in front of me and one of my good friends transform into a bright white light, I would have most likely fell prostrate in fear right there. Surprisingly, Peter actually tells Jesus that it was good for them to see such a sight. For the Apostles, their fear actually came from the unknown. They saw in front of them the transfiguration and they were content with it, but upon hearing the voice of God, an unknown voice to them coming from the clouds, they became afraid.

I think that many, if not all of us can attest to being afraid of the unknown. As a teenager, one of these unknowns for me was haunted houses. For the Apostles in today’s Gospel, they were afraid of a mysterious voice coming from the clouds. In the year 2000, the fearful unknown was whether the computer systems were going to click over to the next millennium or whether there was going to be a massive blackout. In recent years, one of the greatest fearful unknowns has been natural disasters and the damages associated with them. We’ve been witness to some of the most devastating hurricanes, some of the largest tornados, horrendous blizzards, disastrous floods, and most recently devastating earthquakes and tsunamis. We fear these natural disasters because we’ve seen their destruction. Because of today's technology we are able to keep up with natural disasters from around the world. Seeing the pictures on the news and the internet really has us aching for our brothers and sisters around the world. It can feel like our heart is leaping out of our chest for them.

When we see pictures and video clips from natural disasters like the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, many of us can feel very helpless being so far away. The tsunami caused catastrophic damage to homes, businesses, and to a nuclear power plant. We are half way around the world, but it seemed like it hit the whole world. I actually remember getting text messages from friends last Friday sharing their grief over this catastrophe. What struck me most about each one of these messages was that each one of them ended with some type of prayer or intercession. Even though none of us were near to Japan to help out physically, all of us could pray. It sometimes takes eye opening events like natural disasters or our own fearful unknowns to realize our absolute dependence on God. I actually had a friend of mine who didn't go to church for years tell me that she went to Mass in order to pray with the community for the people of Japan. The thought of our loving God in heaven truly brought a sense of comfort to people. Even the three Apostles at the transfiguration felt a sense of comfort in Jesus’s touch and words: “Rise, and do not be afraid.”

Despite whatever happens to us throughout our lifetimes, God is always there to lay His healing hand upon us saying: “Rise, and do not be afraid.”  We might not see His hand or hear His voice at first like the Apostles, but He is always there. Just as parents are there to hold their frightened little ones like the little girl at the haunted house, so too is God there to hold us and tell us that things will be okay when we are afraid. Jesus became transfigured before the Apostles to show us that there is indeed a beautiful world beyond our own. He died on a cross and rose from the dead not only to bring us salvation, but to show us that death is merely part of our journey as human beings. We can conjure up so many images of the unknowns in our lives and scare ourselves like I did as a teenager at the haunted houses and the Apostles did when they heard the voice from the clouds. Despite the fears that we have in our lives, Jesus assures us that the Father is with us through it all calling us His beloved Children and telling us to “not be afraid.”  The Eucharist is one way that God tells us that He is still with us. Through the Eucharist, we are strengthened and in the innermost part of our souls, we are told to “not be afraid.”

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