Living Sacrifice

Jesus shed His blood on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, and He expects that we will pass on that forgiveness in our own lives.  Our hearts can be transformed by God's mercy when we remember all that we have been forgiven and forget the faults and offenses of our neighhbor.  

The Council of Trent describes how we were created in "harmony," and how that melodious reality permeated our relationships with each other and with God.  When that song is interrupted by sin, God becomes man to redeem us by His grace.  The angels sing when Christ is born in Bethlehem!  God calls the Church on earth to continue the song of reconciliation and salvation.

St. Paul urges us, "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1).  Christ, likewise, insists that we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him.  United to the cross of Christ, we can live our lives for God and rejoice that He is transforming us and renewing or minds each day.

St. Paul writes to St. Timothy that "there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).  In the Gospel this weekend Jesus reveals His great desire for HIs Body, the Church, to share in that mediation.  He intends to build a Temple here in this world, the Church, where the Holy Spirit will dwell to give us power and grace to share the great message of salvation; Christ promises that the gates of the netherworld will never prevail against HIs Church; and He gives St. Peter the power of the keys to absolve sins, teach with authority and implement discipline.  We, the Body of Christ on earth, are entrusted with the awesome message of the Gospel and serve as ministers and mediators of the great mystery of salvation.

God chooses Israel among all the nations on the face of the earth, and through Israel, opens up the gift of reconciliation and salvation for all the world.  Through prayer, the sacraments and proclaiming the Gospel, we come to encounter the living God and in Him have eternal life.

Living our best life of faith, we come to recognize that God always comes to us in the storms and difficulties of life; that God can and does bring life out of death and light in the darkness; and that He carves a path for us to know, love and worship Him here in preparation for our Best Life with Him in eternity.

God emptied Himself and was born in poverty in Bethlehem to enrich the world with His divine life.  He feeds us with His own body and blood, and sends us forth to transform and change the world.

Jesus, in renouncing everything and giving His life on the cross, teaches us how to renounce everything for the Kingdom of Heaven.  Uniting ourselves to Him in His body and blood, we obtain the Treasure in the Field and the Pearl of Great Price.

By listening to Christ, in prayer and in the practice of virtue, we are called to grow and bear fruit in God's Kingdom. 

Jesus is the seed that is sown, the Word made flesh.  He is the seed that falls to the ground and dies in order that our lives may be transformed.  God grants us grace to cooperate with Him in bearing the fruit of spiritual life, one hundred, sixty and thirty fold.  

God raises up the fallen world we live in by the abasement of Christ and His willingness to embrace the humiliation of the cross.  In St. Matthew's Gospel this weekend Jesus invites us to come to Him and be yoked to Him, so that we can learn that same humility and meekness as a path to renewal.

Jesus reveals to us the Father, who is always faithful and always cares fro us as we live the Christian life.  The God who was with Jeremiah, and the Twelve Apostles, will also remain at our side to care and protect us always.

Jesus consecrates us and calls us to share in the royal dignity of the Kingdom of Heaven.  At our baptism we are anointed with sacred chrism and share in the life of Christ, priest, prophet and king.  Like the Apostles in the Gospel this weekend, we are called to proclaim to all that "the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."

God accompanies us on our pilgrimage home to eternal life.  He provides for us, protects us and helps us to cooperate with Him so that we can persevere on our way home to Him.  

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, God who reveals Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the history of our salvation is identical with the way and the means that God reveals Himself.  We seek to embrace that revelation and live out our salvation fully in Christ.

This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  We see this outpouring in the Acts of the Apostles, in St. John's Gospel, and in a multitude of remarkable ways in the New Testament and in the life of the Church.  May we be receptive to this awesome gift of God's own life, welcome it and put into practice the inspirations that God gives to us.

Jesus reveals to us, in the Gospel of St. John, what eternal life consist of: "Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ."

God, in an amazing way, dwells among His people in the person of Jesus Christ.  His Apostles and disciples listened to His voice and were strengthened and encouraged by Him in a deeply personal way.  When He ascends to the Father, He promises the gift of the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, who will not only be with them, but will now dwell IN them.  We ask for the grace to live in communion with God the Holy Spirit as He dwells in us and guides our lives of faith and service in the world. 

Jesus goes to the Father's house, heaven, to prepare a place for us.  It is He who is "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6), who even now gives us new life in Baptism and the Eucharist.  God dwells among us even now, and prepares our hearts for eternal life in the Father's house.

The risen Christ, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, opens the Scriptures to us and reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread.  May the encounter with Christ in the Mass open for us a "new horizon" and a move us on to a "decisive direction" as we follow Him.  

Divine Mercy comes to us through the wounds of Christ, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  Jesus appears to the disciples in the Upper Room and entrusts them with this ministry of mercy when He gives the Apostles the power to forgive sins.  We are called to receive the mercy of God and to trust in God's mercy, and then to go out in to the world and celebrate it with deeds of mercy.

Christ rises from the dead on the "first day of the week" or the "eighth day."  God writes a whole new beginning into the story of humanity and invites us to enter into the death and resurrection of Christ through Baptism.  

Christ dies in the Passion as a culmination of a life entirely poured out in love for the salvation of the world.  He teaches us, in His gift of Himself in the Eucharist at the Last Supper, in His surrender to the will of the Father in Gethsemane, and in His sacrifice on the cross, that we can live our lives entirely for God.

In Baptism, Jesus raises to new life all who believe in Him and gives us new and everlasting life.  He establishes a friendship in which we can believe and trust in Him, spend intimate time with Him and share in union with Him the in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Baptism is the gateway to life in the Holy Spirit, the door through which we enter to encounter the sacramental life and all that God has in store for us.  The healing of the man born blind is an image for us, anointed and washed, and growing in a deeper relationship with Christ on the way towards Easter. 

Jesus encounters the woman at the well, seeking her and the Samaritans.  He unites us to Himself and calls us to fulfill our responsibilities as His Bride, the Church.  He gives us His body and blood to united Himself to us, now and in eternity.

The Father speaks to us in Sacred Scripture, announcing "The is my beloved Son, in who I am well pleased; listen to Him".  We can listen to the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, in our suffering, in silence and in His sacrifice.  

Through the transgression of the Divine Law, Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world.  Through His gracious act of love, Jesus has brought life and salvation to us.  This Lent we seek to allow Christ to live and move in us as we face temptations and trials. 

Over 1,000 times in Sacred Scripture, the heart is named as the place of encounter between God and humanity.  Christ desires to change our hearts and to prepare them for that encounter with Him that will enable us to live the Christian life with faithfulness and joy.  

The Church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, preserving the culture from corruption and illumining God's plan for all humanity.  Jesus challenges us this weekend, because "a city on a mountain cannot be hidden."

God sees our suffering and looks upon us with great compassion.   But He sees much more than just suffering; He sees the blessed life that we are being called to and already gives us a share in that beatitude, right here, right now.  

Jesus, the Lamb of God, offers Himself as a sacrifice of love on the altar of the cross.  Uniting ourselves to His sacrifice in the Eucharist, we can make an offering of ourselves as a sacrifice to God.

Christ came to "save his people from their sins" (MT 1:21).  In the Baptism of the Lord, He teaches us how He will accomplish that salvation.  Christ descends in to our humanity and raises us up to new and everlasting life.  

The Light of Christ which illumines all Israel now shines out to all the nations, represented by the three Magi.  We are called to follow the star and arrive at the place they did, adoring our Lord and being totally transformed by Him.

St. Joseph teaches us the virtues of family life.  He is attentive to the voice of God, even in his sleep; he promptly obeys what God reveals; he tenderly and devoutly cares for the child Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We seek to imitate him as we follow Christ.

God invites us to walk through Bethlehem, the "House of Bread," to see the Child born in the Manger and to feed on Christ His Son in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

The closer we come to the mystery of the Incarnation, when heaven comes down on the earth in a new and amazing way, the more we see the activity of the angels in the Scriptures and in the Liturgy.  The angels teach us how to worship God, how to carry the message of the Gospel and how to fight for virtue as we enter more deeply into the salvation God won for us.  

Even the natural world anticipates the coming of Christ.  When God becomes man, we are also reawakened to the beauty of creation and to the God who reveals Himself to us in the Eucharist.   

The Church's vision for peace entails more than the absence of war and the absence of conflict.  Peace is an "active and demanding gift" (Pope Leo XIV).  St. Augustine defines peace as "tranquillitas ordinis", the tranquility of order.  Christ comes to bring us that peace.

God calls us to watch and wait for the coming of Christ.

Christ, our King, reigns from the cross and in the Eucharist.  He comes in poverty and humility to win our hearts and make us His bride, the Church.  

In the fires of adversity, God teaches us to live well the Catholic faith, to be purified so as to be available for others, and to persevere.  

We celebrate this weekend the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us as the Temple of God.  Just as Christ was pierced with a lance and out flowed blood and water, even so the Church is nourished by this saving stream and equipped to bring the healing power of Christ to the world.

Every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a remembrance, a memorial of the passion and death of the Lord Jesus that is offered anew to the Father.  We remember all the faithful departed in this Holy Sacrifice and pray that they may rise to new life with Him.

Sirach teaches us that "The prayer of the lowly pierces the crowds," and Jesus says that "all who humble themselves will be exalted."  God listens to our prayers when we approach Him with a humble and contrite heart.

Prayer and growth in the spiritual life is a battle, a daily struggle.  How can we surrender ourselves more completely to Christ so that He can win the victory in us?

God greatly desires a deep, personal relationship with each one of us.  When we approach Him with humility, gratitude and worship we come to realize that "The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power" (Psalm 98).

Jesus calls us to trust and have faith that He will provide for us and care for all our needs.  Having faith, we grow in virtue and in integrity.   As God speaks through the prophet Habakkuk: "The rash man has no integrity, but the just one, because of his faith, shall live."

The Christian life involves avoiding evil and  practicing the virtues as disciples of Christ.  This weekend's readings allow us to reflect on two of the Cardinal Virtues: Justice and Prudence.  How are we allowing the life of virtue to be formed in us as we embrace the Kingdom of God and eternal life?

Christ has been "lifted up" on the cross to change and transform us in the Christian life.  The cross is the exalted love of God through which we are redeemed and become new creatures in Christ.