Tag: Kathryn Mulderink

It’s Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday/Carnival! That means Lent begins tomorrow! Are you prepared to prepare? Do you have a plan for observing this holy season?

Every year, we are given 40 days (actually, a little more) to prepare for the 50 days of Easter celebration. That’s 90+ days during which our spiritual attention is focused on this deep mystery of our Faith: the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus for our salvation. 

We can trace the history of this season in the Church all the way to the 3rd and 4th centuries of the Church. The word “Lent” originally meant the spring season (the etymology comes from the word that means “lengthen” because the days are getting longer), but it has been used for hundreds of years to mean the “40 days” before Easter (maybe because it is easier to say than “Quadragesima” ;-). These 40 days, in turn, recall the 40 days of Jesus fasting in the desert before beginning His public ministry, and the 40 years of the Israelites’ wandering in the desert before entering the Promised Land. The ritual, readings, art, music, and symbolism are so rich, we must absorb them in layers. The Church knows we need to experience this over and over again, every single year!

How will your household make the most of these holy days? If we haven’t already, we should take the time to talk about Lent – what it is and why it is, feasting and fasting, and how we can best remember what is essential and deny ourselves what is inessential. A good (and simple) place to start are the 3 “pillars” of Praying, Fasting, and Giving. Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that we will be repaid a hundred times over for whatever we “give up” in this life. This truth should prompt us to be generous in what we offer for Lent!

It all begins with remembering where we come from and where we are going: “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” Tomorrow, Catholics around the world – from the Pope to the priests to the people in the pews – will receive the sign of ashes. Universal rituals like ashes, fasting, and abstaining are an outward sign of our reliance on Christ, and can unite us as one family in God’s Heart.

Liturgical calendar bonus info: Ash Wednesday is always a different date because it is determined by the date of Easter, which is determined by a lunar calendar: the Sunday after the first full moon after March 21 (which is the Spring Equinox). 

More bonus info: Lent actually ends as soon as the Mass of the Lord’s Supper begins on Holy Thursday. As soon as that Mass begins, it’s a new liturgical season: Triduum (“3 Days”).

During this Lent, let’s all resolve to offer all we can so that our world will be blessed, and we will know the joy of giving for love of God and others.

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Jesus sometimes used hyperbole to get his listeners’ ears open; he talked about plucking out eyes or chopping off hands, which he certainly did not mean literally (he only meant that our spiritual well-being is much more important than our physical well-being). So is he using hyperbole in today’s Gospel? Is he exaggerating for effect? Or does he mean it literally when he tells us we must love our enemies and give our property to those who have already taken it?

Well, yes.

Jesus came to redeem us and also to show us the way to be truly righteous in a world of unrighteousness. In order to do these things, he had to turn our human understanding upside down. He came to demonstrate what real love looks like so that we could see that what we thought we knew is far from actual truth, that God’s ways are far above our ways. But he didn’t leave it there; he also merited for us all the grace needed to empower us to act in God-like ways!

God-like ways are not natural for us, but God’s love and grace fill us and enable us to turn our natural reactions into SUPERnatural reactions! It is not natural to react to those who hate us with love; but God’s love IN us allows us to find ways to love them. It is not natural to let go of what is taken from us, but God’s love IN us allows us to surrender even that. Our human response to actions that infringe on what is rightly ours is to insist on our rights, but God’s generosity IN us allows us to let go of even what is rightly “ours.”

All the “reasonable” considerations and calculations we make when deciding what to give are only human. But God’s love IN us allows us to toss these considerations to the side to answer the call of love with complete self-forgetfulness. So we need to call on that grace to keep us from asking, “What’s in it for me?” (because then we have made ourselves the recipient of our own gift, and it is no gift at all!), or “What will this cost me?” (because then we are counting the cost, which is putting self first, and not the other!).

The natural reaction of the heart is to protect itself, but God’s love IN us helps us see that the real measure of love is the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Heart was pierced and poured out as complete self-gift for love of you and me. “The collapse of the opened heart is the content of the Easter mystery. The heart saves, indeed, but it saves by giving itself away” (Benedict XVI).

Complete self-giving is not hyperbole or exaggeration. The Gospel is a continual call to let go of our natural tendency toward self-preservation and pour ourselves out – “lose our lives” – for love of God and others. This Lent, what is God calling you to surrender?

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Have you ever been so hungry that you were in danger of collapsing? Jesus is not usually prone to hyperbole, so his comment here seems factual:  if he sends the crowd that has been following him for three days away to their homes, “they will collapse on the way.”

Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for them and is determined to do something to help these thousands of people, while the disciples seem to be somber realists. “What else can we possibly do?” they say. They are out of options.

But love is never out of options. Love finds a way. And the endless, creative, Love of God can make a way where there is no way. And so, Jesus orders them all to sit down and he takes the seven loaves and gives thanks. To Whom? To the Father in Heaven, undoubtedly. Then he breaks the bread and gives it to the disciples to distribute.

Does this sound familiar? This thanksgiving and blessing and breaking of bread is the way Jesus prefigures the Eucharist over and over in the Gospels. As a prefiguring of the Eucharist, we see that Jesus does the blessing and his disciples take care of the distribution. And we see that there is always, always enough to satisfy all. There is always an abundance, for all. An OVERabundance, even.  When everyone has eaten and is satisfied, the disciples gather the fragments and fill seven baskets! This Living Bread that came down from Heaven may seem small, but it will never run out.

And we are reminded that the Eucharist we receive is a prefiguring of the Heavenly Banquet to which we are all called, even as it is our sustenance along the way. Without the Eucharist, we are in danger of collapsing on our way to the Wedding Feast, but Jesus has made certain that we will have all we need to arrive whole and prepared!

The next time we approach the altar to receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, let’s recall with confidence that this is the same Jesus who fed the multitude because his heart had pity on them, and we can be confident that he feeds us his very SELF because his heart is beating with love for us as well.  

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Saul becomes Paul. Are they the same person? Yes and no.

We know that Christ has come to make us a new creation. He makes the whole world new, and each of us new. He proclaims in today’s Gospel that his disciples will do things that were hitherto unheard of, like driving out demons, speaking new languages, overcoming poison, and healing the sick.

And we know that when Saul was knocked to the ground surrounded by a brilliant light and the voice of Jesus asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” he was never the same again. Blinded and humbled and stopped in his tracks from arresting followers of “the Way,” Saul was profoundly changed. So profound was this change that on recovering his strength he immediately began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God!

He is made new. In one moment, his cramped and somewhat self-righteous zeal for the Jewish faith has him chasing down Christians to arrest them. In the next moment, his radical new (Christian) self is worshipping with them and proclaiming the Truth of Jesus Christ. He is, in essence, a new creation. Even though he is the same man, he has been made new.

Did he receive a new name? Actually, he didn’t! We often think he did (and Jesus DID sometimes re-name people) because when we first encounter him in Acts he is called Saul, and we know him as Paul. Like many people in the Bible, he had two names: Saul was his Hebrew name, but he was also known by his Roman/Latin name, Paul. It seems he began to use his Roman name because it was the name the Gentiles would have been familiar with, and he felt called to preach to the Gentiles.

But he was certainly made new in Christ Jesus, as we all are!

We may not see a bright light or get knocked to the ground, but the Lord is always calling to us and always coming to us! He wants to convert our hearts and transform them to be like His Holy Heart, so that we become love, like Him. Where are the points in your life that God has stopped you in your tracks, prevented you from doing something, or changed your course? Has God ever blinded you by His Presence, given you a word or a question, directed your heart in a surprising direction?

There are many ways that God uses to confirm us in the faith and invite us into His glorious will for us. On this celebration of the Conversion of St. Paul, let’s ask him to help us make the small and large changes that will make us truly new in Christ.

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Pharisees. As we read through Mark’s Gospel, we see Jesus making enemies when he is only trying to hold out the truth to them (have you ever felt like this?). The Pharisees are the ones who hold themselves above everyone else because they know the law up and down, inside and out. And they follow the law. Scrupulously. Not just the Scriptural law, but the hundreds – HUNDREDS – of traditional interpretations of that law. In their (self-determined) superiority, they ruled over the people and in their (self-determined) self-righteousness, they looked down on all others.

This is what humans will do. Because we are fallen, and we are free. So wherever there are rules, there will be a tendency for some to act like the Pharisees. There will always be some who assure themselves that they are doing things properly because they are obeying the precise letter of “the law.” And it never ends there! For those who think and operate like the Pharisees, there will always be a tendency to nitpick the (self-determined) failures of others.

At some point on the spiritual journey, most of us become hyper-aware of “the rules” and work hard to conform ourselves, our behavior, our habits, to those rules. Saying specific prayers, attending Mass, confessing our sins, and practicing other devotions are good things! But the enemy can turn these good things into emblems of (self-determined) righteousness, and even tempt us to think we are better than others. We may even be tempted to look down on others or begin to nitpick inessential details. This is not the point of the rules the Church gives us!

If we do these “good things” just to “be good Catholics”, we are missing the essential thing. Religion is not about following rules (though the rules are certainly the guardrails that keep us on the road and not in the ditch!). All of the many practices and devotions in the Church have one essential goal: to help us encounter and love Jesus Christ, who alone is holy!

We are made to glorify HIM, and not ourselves.

The Pharisees were glorifying THEMSELVES, and not God.

In their (self-determined) righteousness, the Pharisees refused to let Jesus’ transforming love heal their hardened hearts so that their lives could open up to the unimaginably broad horizons of God’s will for them. We can do the same thing – God has given us a free will that makes self-determination possible, but what we determine for ourselves will always be so much smaller, so cramped and limited, compared to what God wills for us. Let’s determine to open ourselves and offer ourselves as completely as we can to Him, trusting that He wants more for us than we can imagine!

Lord, I give everything to you and I accept everything that You send, knowing that Your love for me is greater than my weakness and littleness, and will never fail me. Amen.

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“The whole town was gathered at the door.” What would this look like if it happened at your house? “After sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.” What would you think about this? What would your friends think about this? What would you do?

Jesus responded by curing many and driving out demons. If we had that ability, maybe we would do this too. But then, Jesus does something we probably would not do – he leaves and goes far away from all the people clamoring for his help, celebrating him, undoubtedly wanting more from him.

He goes away to pray. He leaves the crowd so that he can be alone with his Father.

This is a recurring pattern in the Gospel, so it must have happened often. Jesus, who alone is the Holy One, who alone is the Lord, who alone is the Son of God, goes to be alone with his Father. In his singular power and steadfastness, in his spiritual perfection, in his emotional and psychological integrity, he is utterly independent of every inordinate human influence. He is focused on the Mission from his Father, and neither the criticism of others nor their adulation can move him unless it is the will of the Father. And so, he returns to communion with the Father repeatedly, even when he must get up very early or stay up very late to do so.

His friends go looking for him (in another passage, they seem to think he is losing his mind because they cannot understand his actions). When they tell him “everyone is looking for you,” he responds that he needs to keep moving, to preach in other places, so that others can experience the Good News. Was this the message he received from the Father in prayer? It seems so, by his words, “For this purpose have I come.”

And then he preaches and heals throughout all of Galilee, to fulfill the Mission given to him by the Father.

When we remain firmly in the Truth of our own mission, we too can be less disrupted by the criticism or adulation or advice of others. We all have a mission, we all have tasks put before us by the Father. How do we know what they are? They are usually revealed in the duties, interruptions, and inspirations of the moment: our family, our parish, our job, those in need before us. It is only when we spend quiet time with the Lord, as Jesus did, that our purpose can become clearer to us, and we can fulfill our mission with courage and confidence. Otherwise, we can be like snowflakes in the wind, being blown in every direction by influences that are not holy.

In 2022, let’s resolve to imitate Christ by spending more time in solitary prayer, receiving our mission and the grace to fulfill it from the Father Who loves us.

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If you give too much attention to the news, to social media, or to the murmurings of the masses, you will find endless reasons to be confused, afraid, even despondent. But if you contemplate the Lord’s Presence in the tabernacle or open the Scriptures, you will hear a Sovereign God say, “Be not afraid!”

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, and are invited to contemplate the radiant Truth that the victory is already won, Our Lord and Savior is already seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. As Priest, Prophet, and King, Jesus in constantly offering Himself and interceding in the name of, and on behalf of, His people. This is why we need fear nothing, this is why Jesus tells us that when things seem to be at their worst, his people should “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand” (Luke 21:28).

We can rejoice no matter how things seem. Not simply because we have been saved – Catholicism is so much richer than that! Our Faith is about encounter, relationship, and union. In Christ, we are able to encounter the loving, living God (on the altar, in the Word, and in each other), and from that encounter we are transformed and empowered to bring the Good News to others. God is always calling us in love to deeper relationship, to a loving union with Him, and God is always coming to us in love, to transform us and empower us to be the bright lights of His love to others. We share in the very work of the King of the Universe.

Our union with the divine changes us from who we are to who we are created to be. And we are here, living in a world that is in desperate need that we BE who God created us to be. We are created to be disciples and friends of this compassionate King. We are created to be, like him, arrows pointing to the Father with our lives. We are created and called to be leaven for world enervated and deflated by sin and selfwardness; to be the salt that enhances and preserves what would otherwise rot; to be light in every darkened place. We are anointed into the very mission of Christ, to be – IN HIM – God’s priests, prophets, and kings.

We are created to be radiantly awesome; and this culture has a huge need for our awesomeness. We are created to be holy, and this world has a deep need for our holiness.

We are lifted up by bowing low before our Lord Jesus Christ, because he alone is the holy One, he alone is the Lord, he alone is the Most High! What a gift we have been given, to know and be loved by the King of the Universe, and to share in the mission of salvation.

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I love the widow’s mite, even as it challenges me every time to give of my substance and not my surplus. It is no act of great trust to give only what is left over AFTER I take care of my needs and probably my wants, and then, once I’m sure my own situation is provided for, give some of the surplus.

As I write this, I am on the couch with one of the most famous illnesses in the history of the world (after Bubonic Plague and the Spanish Flu, I’d guess) and unable to do much of anything. It is hard to be immobilized when you have several jobs, children, grandchildren, charitable activities, writing deadlines. There is a moment when you wonder, “What will happen?!” And then you recognize how the Lord reaches in, fills in the gaps, and makes sure that all the necessaries are actually attended to, that people are generous with their various assistances, and patience is the virtue that will win the day/week.

I also realized that very often the objective tasks we do (and we are definitely called to certain tasks, by our duties and responsibilities, the needs of the people before us, and the movements of the Spirit within us) can keep us from the deep self-examination that is the call to ongoing conversion. Being forced to hold still can bring this reality to the forefront.

So, as I wrestled a fever for what seemed like endless days, I felt that I “wasn’t doing anything.” But of course, I could be doing something if I accept this unavoidable difficulty as a gift from the Hand of God and offer it back to Him in love. Like the widow who dropped her few pennies into the temple treasury, I am able to give nothing more. It’s all I have. And it’s all God wants. Because it takes great trust to give something that seems so insignificant and know God can do great things with it.

So, the meditation for each of us is about how generously we give. Do we give of our surplus, or do we give to the Lord first, and then trust that the rest will be enough for us? Do we give what we choose to give, what is satisfying to us, or do we give in each moment whatever the Lord is asking us to give? Today it may be to endure this fever with patience, tomorrow it may be to do some great act of charity. Does our giving cost us anything? Or does it simply prop up our own idea of ourselves as generous (which is to make ourselves the actual recipient of our gift… which is no gift at all…)?

Lord, teach us to walk with you in every moment, so that we give of our substance, and give what you are inviting us to give, so that we are truly free.

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