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Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Jesus said to his disciples:

“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all,

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself

and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

What profit is there for one to gain the whole world

yet lose or forfeit himself?”

Luke Chapter 9 verses 22-25

What is my motivation in life? What is  my reason to know what God wants me to do? Is it to do my own will or the will of God? We cause our own suffering when we are not aligned to the will of God. We think we  know what is best for us, we stifle the spirit. This is a reminder for all of us. Even our own will can be a possession of something that we need to give up. 

We are so involved in the division around us on the human side of life and are blind to the spiritual message. Jesus takes it a step higher, saying that we have to die to ourselves and perhaps suffer on a human level. Jesus says, “…take up your cross, and follow me.”   Are we being asked to offer our suffering no matter how big or small for the sake of the healing of our world?  

Friends, as you undoubtedly know that today is Ash Wednesday. ‘Oh, boy, here we go again, you say!’ You might be asking yourself.’ “What am I going to give up this time for Lent?” The church put Lent for us on the calendar during this period as a time for renewal and release. It is a time to reflect deeply on the things that hold us bound from achieving our God-given potential.

Again, it allows us to draw our attention inwardly, not for selfish gain, but to see our place in it all. The bigger picture, if you will. For those of us willing to take the challenge, and I don’t mean a dry Lent, as other secular challenges fill our secular world, like dry January for those refraining from chocolate, bread, etc., but the opportunity to afford ourselves a deep sense of contemplation. To seek spiritual insight, to practice what we preach.

This time of Lent will lead us to growth and transformation as so many of us are challenged to. So, let us walk this journey of faith, seeking renewal and strength and mostly transformation.

We wish you all the very best to you & your loved ones. Let us not only pray for peace in our hearts but also in our world. Bishop Michael Theogene & Rev. Honey Theogene for the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America. From all the bishops, clergy, and laity in the church. God’s blessings.

God of many names – you created humanity and called all humans good; bless us with that same understanding of calling all of our sisters and brothers good – including those who have lived and died from AIDS – those who are still living with HIV/AIDS and thriving – those who care for and work to help those with HIV/AIDS – and the scientists who are working to find a cure for AIDS. Help us, O God, to be all loving and compassionate as we mark this 2023 World AIDS Day with our continuing hope in the days ahead. Amen.

An experience of collective pain does not deliver us from grief or sadness; it is a ministry of presence.  These moments remind us that we are not alone in our darkness and that our broken heart is connected to every heart that has known pain since the beginning of time.

 Brene Brown in BRAVING THE WILDERNESS

On the beach at dawn;

four small stones clearly

hugging each other.

How many kinds of love

might there be in the world,

and how many formations might they make.

And who am I ever

to imagine I could know

such a marvelous business?

 Mary Oliver from, “On the Beach” in SWAN: POEMS AND PROSE POEMS

We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering, we are being kind to ourselves.  The truth is, we only become more fearful, more hardened and more alienated.  We experience ourselves as separate from the whole.  This separation becomes like a prison for us – a prison that restricts us to our personal hopes and fears and to caring only for the people nearest to us.  Curiously enough, if we primarily try to shield ourselves from discomfort, we suffer.  Yet, when we don’t close ourselves off, when we let our hearts break, we discover our kinship with all beings.  

Pema Chodron in WHEN THINGS FALL APART

How do geese know to fly to the sun?  Who tells them the seasons?  How do we humans know when it is time to move on?

As with the migrant birds, so surely with us, there is a voice within, if only we would listen to it that tells us certainly when to go forth into the unknown. 

 Elizabeth Kubler Ross

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the people I cannot change,

which is pretty much everyone,

since I’m clearly not you, God.

At least not the last time I checked.

And while you’re at it, God,

please give me the courage

to change what I need to change about myself,

which is frankly a lot, since, once again,

I’m not you, which means I’m not perfect.

It’s better for me to focus on changing myself

than to worry about changing other people,

who, as you’ll no doubt remember me saying

I can’t change anyway.

Finally, give me the wisdom to just shut up

whenever I think that I’m clearly smarter

than everyone else in the room,

that no one knows what they’re talking about except me,

or that I alone have all the answers.

Basically, God,

grant me the wisdom

to remember that I’m not you.

AMEN

Love is what we long for and were created for – in fact love is what we are as an outpouring from God – but suffering often seems to be our opening to that need, that desire and that identity.  Love and suffering are the main portals that open up the mind space and the heart space (either can come first) breaking us into breath, depth and communion. 

                                         Richard Rohr in The Naked Now

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Readings: Isaiah – Chapter 58 verses 9b-14 / Psalm 86 verses 1-6 /  Luke – Chapter 5 verses 27-32

Gospel:

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were at table with them.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,
“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

Reflection:

Friends, last night I was able to see the movie, “Jesus Revolution” which is a movie based on the true story of pastor Greg Laurie’s  autobiographical book of the same title on how in the early 1970s, Greg Laurie and a sea of young people descend on sunny Southern California to redefine truth through all means of liberation. Inadvertently, Laurie meets a charismatic street preacher and a pastor who opens the doors to a church to a stream of wandering youth. What unfolds is a counter culture movement that becomes the greatest spiritual awakening in American history. (Film synopsis)

Friends, if you look at your own calling, how God has called you, to reexamine your life and open to what God is leading you to. We must ask ourselves, have we responded to what we have been called to? To what purpose are we being called? How are we answering to our God’s gentle promptings and then leading us further to share this calling with our fellow sisters and brothers inspiring them to do the same?

It doesn’t mean that we are meant to have big communities of faith as Pastor Laurie has been called to, but to how we hear and  answerer God’s call to be present to the suffering  of those   among us. Are we responding with an open heart instead of reacting in fear to what we are asked to enter into?

Have we paid attention to the simple, instead of being afraid, running away from answering the call? Do we sit patiently, trusting to see what God is asking us to do?

Bishop Michael Theogene

Co-Pastor

The CACINA Catholic Parish of Saint Benedict &

Abbot of the Benedictines of Peace and Justice

The Catholic Apostolic Church in North America (CACINA)

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