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     Today and every Good Friday the whole world stands around the cross. The cross has been planted right in the middle of the world. The death of the Son of God is such a terrible and awesome thing that there is not one thing that is unaffected by it. Even creation responds with earthquakes and an eclipse of the sun. The world shudders at what the human race has done to the Son of God. Many people then and even today barely noticed what happened. Unlike years ago, when we Cathlics and Protestants alike stopped from noon to 3:00pm, the stores and baks were closed so that all could pay attention to what we have done to God, and what God has in turn done for us.

     Today many are shopping for Easter goodies and clothes and hanging around the malls killing time. They go home with full bags and hopefully an empty feeling. They have forgotten or possibly never been taught why this day is so important. We have gathered here to commemorate the Passion of Jesus Christ, venerate his cross and receive his Body and Blood becuase we know that God “gets it.” what does he “get?”  He gets that suffering and sin, loneliness and despair, sickness and death have absolutely no meaning unless He is a part of it. God gets it. The Father sent his Son to tell us of his great plan of the Kingdom and the elevation of the human race to a life of grace. We did not get it. When Jesus preached mercy, we wanted justice. When Jesus forgave, we hardened our hearts. Wen Jesus came to bring us life, we put him to death on the cross.

     Jesus knew that it would take his life to save our lives, not becuase the Father demanded repayment for sin, but rather because his love for the Father and us is so pure and perfect, Jesus would hold nothing back. For Jesus, there are no acceptable losses. All are to be offered the gift of salvation. As God and man, only he could restore what we have lost.

     Some mystics have written that it was not nails that held Jesus on the cross, but his love for us. The Blood and water that flow from his pierced side waters our dry and weary souls and give us hope that no matter what we face, we can conquer by uniting ourselves with Him who died on the cross for us. The Blood and water wahs away our sins and make us children of God. The Blood and water, the very life of God himself, is the true fountain from which we draw the strength, courage and hope to suffer out of love for one another and for God.

     As the cross is placed before the whole world this Good Friday, many may not know why Christ’s death is so important for them, but we “get it.” We know. As we stand at the foot of the cross with our Blessed Mother Mary. my we help others to know that Jesus Christ died for them. He gave himself on the cross so that we who love him will always have hope and light in a despairing and darkening world. he gave hmself on he cross for us so that we will have in our hearts the truest, purest, and most beautiful love that we can ever receive, the Love of God himself, who is Love.

Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on us.

     As we gather tonight to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, there are three very important questions that are answered for us: Where have we been? Where are we right now? Where are we going? This great sacrifice of Christ takes us from where we have been and we now celebrate it in the present as a promise of the heavenly Feast that is to come.

     Where have we been? In the course of history, God has made countless covenants with us, his people, and we have broken all of them. When it looked as if we were doomed to be lost, God sent his Son Jesus, who has taken our human nature and come to restore as man what we have been unable to do. He offered himself as a perfect sacrifice, an act of love that is so pure, so beautiful and so holy that it is unbreakable. The Jewish people were told to sacrifice and eat a lamb without blemish. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, tells his disciples to eat his Body and drink his Blood under the humble appearances of bread and wine. With that action, which will be fulfilled on the cross, the apostles are given hope, freedom from sin, and everlasting life. The Apostles are instituted as priests of tjos new and unbreakable covenant and they humby serve the members of the Church by doing what Jesus did, giving them his Body and Blood for their salvation.

     Where are we now? We are not far from that first Holy Thursday night. As a matter of fact, we are at the Lord’s Supper tonight and every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Since this action has been offered by the Son of God, it has never ended. Christ’s offering continues until he comes in glory and so we pass on to others the scrament we have received from Christ, this loving action of sacrifice and share in the reception of his Body and Blood. We come here as members of his Body, with our joys and sorrows, our worries and hopes and like Christ, we give thanks for all that the Father has given us. We hear the Word of God with its challenges and consolations. We then present to the priest simple things, bread and wine, and through the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the words of Christ, we have in our midst the true Body and Blood of Christ, glorified and risen. There is no better place for us to be. There is no more perfect gift that we could ever receive- Jesus Christ himself, our food and our God. This great gift is given t us to give us strength, comnfort and grace right now, but there is still something more.

     Where are we going? our life on earth is just a beginning. We know that this life is just a preparation for the life to come, the life with God in heaven. this heavenly life has been described t us by the Lord as a heavenly banquet where we will enjoy the love of the Father, son and Holy Spirit forever. The Holy Eucharist helps us live not only in the presence of God right now, but it also forms us in the deepest parts of our hearts so that we will have the fullness of joy in heaven.

     The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is our past, our present and our future. Let us adore his most precious Body and Blood. Let us also humble receive him with generous and loving hearts that he may make us a holy people, who love God and neighbor in word and deed, and who live our lives giving thanks.

    The outline notes for the second class are available for download under PDS 132 Sacramental theology. See you tomorrow

     Sacramental Theology students. I hope you have read the chapters for discussion in class. As I said in our first class, there will be a quiz at this Saturday It will probably have 30-40 questions, all of them objective. As a summary, here are some of the main points you need to know

Natural vs supernatural                The makeup of the human person

God as Trinity                                 Difference between person and nature

The purpose of redemption          Meaning of adopted sonship

Relation of redemption to Resurrection     Different kinds of Sonship

The questions will largely be true/false and multiple guess. Study Hard.

St. Lawrence pray for us.

   Monday through Thursday next week (March 10-13) Hope does not Disappoint will be played on Sacred Heart Radio at 11:00am.  

     The turn out last week at St. Vincent Ferrer and All Saints was very good. Better than I expected. The copies of the four talks are available on CD through Sacred Heart Radio. The total for all four CD’s is 20.00. You can call Sacred Heart Radio at 731-7740 or get on-line at www.sacredheartradio.com and click on “ORDER CD.” The talks turned out better than I expected, but I think the Lord had more to do with this than I did. All of the proceeds from the CD sales go to the radio station. I think it would be neat to sell 100 copies. Right now about 18 or so have been sold.  

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     Today I spoke at seven Masses between St. Vincent Ferrer and All Saints, to see if I could drum up some business for the Mission this week. Time will tell and your prayers that I can, with the Lord’s help, pull this off. Here is a prayer I wrote for the Holy Card that I handed out today

Heavenly Father, in this Holy Season of Lent we call to mind our sins and the things that prevent us from loving you withour whole heart and soul.  We are burdened with many cares and concerns that drain our bodies and weaken our souls.

Send us the Holy Spirit to fill us with a living hope. May this hope help us to let go of the past and keep our eyes on the future. May this hopeturn our focus from the passing things of this world to the lasting and higher things of heaven. May this hope help us to remember that you have promised to bring all the good you have begun in us to its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

Instill is us a strong faith and an ardent love. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who died for our sinsand rose from the dead that we may share his everlasting life. Amen.

Please pray for all priests and Seminarians, and support Sacred Heart Radio.

       Begining on Monday, I will be doing a four day mission entitled “Reclaiming our Catholic Hope” at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish and All Saints Parish. Each talk will be done in the morning and in the evening. The Schedule is listed below:

Ferbuary 25  8:30am Mass at All Saints; 9:15 am Talk one: Reclaiming True Hope.

                        7:00pm St. Vincent Ferrer Talk One: Reclaiming True Hope

February 26  8:30am Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer; 9:15 Talk Two: Be Reconclied to God

                        7:00 pm   Talk Two: Be reconciled to God; This is followed by the opportunity      to go to confession.

February 27  8:30am Mass All Saints; 9:15 Talk Three: Christ is Life

                        7:00pm Choir concert at St. Vincent Ferrer followed by Talk Three at 7:30pm Christ is Life

February 28   8:30am Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer; 9:15am Talk Four: Now is the Appointed Time

                         7:00pm All Saints Talk Four: Now is the Appointed Time

     I will be taping these talks and they will be made available through Sacred Heart Radio in a week or so. I hope some of you will be able to attend these.

      A couple of weeks ago, Channel 12 reporter Jeff Hirsch interviewed several children from Guardian Angels School about angels and patron Saints. He then came across the street and asked me to provide some of the Church’s theology on the Saints and the Angels. I saw that Channel 12 will be broadcasting this Monday night during the 11:00pm news. It might be intersting to tune in and see how they deal with it.

     I saw that with the 20/20 interivew on ABC, that attendance at the Bodies exhibit has picked up steam. It reminds me of the movie that recently came out starring Diane Lane, where a person was hooked up on a drug and a website, and when someone logged on, it sped up the person’s death. There is no doubt that human beings have a strange response to the dead. On the one hand we want to hide it and on the other we want to put it on display. It is kind of like people who slow down when there is a terrible wreck to see the damage, or those who watch surgical operations on TV. Human Gore seems to thrill some people.

     As a society based on a market economy, if death sells, people are going to be putting it out there, even if they use the word educational to cover it up. It s clear that the most important motive is profit. It is also clear that any publicity is good publicity for this group. The only way to shut things like this down is to stop talking about it and stop going. When it no longer pays, the vendors  will find something or someone else to exploit for a profit. Hopefully some of the people who walk through there will remember that these are real human beings, and say a prayer that they find peace in their souls, even if their bodies were turned into sideshow attractions.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians, and Support Sacred Heart Radio.