With the first day of Spring occurring this past week, I thought of the word “Lent” meaning “Spring season.”  People might associate Lent with fasting and abstinence, our religious observance has the very practical goal of improving our sense of identity, and becoming the best version of ourselves.  As with the Spring season, so we, too, are growing anew (or trying our best to do so).

The 40 days set aside for this spiritual “retreat” is intended to remind us of Noah’s flood.  When the deluge stopped, a new earth came to life and replaced the old with the new.  This period is also intended to remind us of Goliath slaughtering Israelites for 40 days—until the shepherd boy, David, slew the great warrior.  So it is with God’s help.  We are able to face the Goliaths that threaten us.  With God’s help, we are able to face any foe.

The Israelites wandered for 40 years looking for a land flowing with milk and honey.  They spent time and energy, moaning and groaning—all the while seeking the “promised land”—losing their way, like we do at times, and wondering why they ever left slavery in Egypt.  With these experiences in mind, we become the people of faith within these biblical stories—struggling to overcome threats and begin anew.

The season of Lent sees us trying to find meaning amidst the floods, Goliaths, and deserts of our life experience.  We’re sometimes like our ancestors and believe that any bad experience we have is due to God “punishing” us for some wrong deed we did.  We are like the people in the Gospel reading.  18 died because a tower fell on them and people thought this occurred because they or their relatives did something bad.  They thought that God was getting even with these people. But Jesus told them that they died because the tower fell on them—NOT as a punishment from God.

Actions have consequences—yes.  But God calls us to growth and new life.  God is not vengeful.  Maybe the builders just did a poor job of construction.  Jesus pointed out that their “theology” was misguided—as was the thinking of our ancestors who thought that wealth was a sign of being “chosen” by God to go to heaven. Our colonial fathers and mothers were raised on a theology that associated wealth with heaven and one’s destination being hell if they were poor.  Scholars have pointed out how this mindset held sway over our ancestors.  On a less grand scale, and applicable to each of us is the spiritual task of evaluating our behavior during Lent, and seeing what behaviors and thoughts we need to put aside and which to cultivate. 

I recall Bill Clinton’s adviser telling him what to focus on when speaking to the public, and the line he offered Clinton has become almost a proverb when running for public office.  When discussing their strategy, his adviser said “It’s the economy, stupid!”  And so that has been the North Star of electioneering.  Address the economy and tell the public that you’ll put the people on “easy street”—unlike your opponent.  An ad for Hoover in 1928 said there would be “a chicken in every pot” if he were elected.  And this same pitch was given by Mr. Trump who promised to bring down the price of eggs the first day on the job.  Well, neither the chicken nor the egg prophecies came about. 

Just as Hoover folks rejoiced at the thought of getting a chicken, so did Trump’s voters who were no doubt inspired when he said “We’ll have so much money we won’t know how to spend it all.”  Sometimes critiqued as nothing but a good used car salesman, it was not surprising for critics to say “I rest my case” when he came to the aid of the world’s richest man and encouraged people to buy Musk’s Tesla cars that were placed on the White House lawn (ignoring the law that said no Federal property can be used for private business). When the new Secretary of Commerce urged people to buy Tesla stock, Mr. Musk benefitted from yet another illegal and free-of-charge advertising.

Lent is a period calling us to reflect on what we’ve done with our lives.  What would it say if we were to write our resumé—as if applying for a job, but instead it would be our resumé to enter heaven? Here’s what came to mind in my case.

Over the years, I was on numerous hiring committees—for positions on campus that sought someone for president, dean, faculty, coach, maintenance, janitor, campus minister, and every position that existed.  As you might suspect, there were numerous applicants for each “job.”  I was reminded of having this role when presidential candidates and then Administration leaders were paraded past us.  I found that some candidates were easy to pitch when reading their credentials.  With the University, we sought quality people who would represent the institution well and who would contribute to its mission.  Those basic criteria should, of course, be the same for the new Administration in Washington.  They were not. 

As you know, one submits a resumé that highlights their many achievements. I thought of what mine would say and noted that some good accomplishments were listed.  Surely God and he choirs of angels would applaud what I’ve done.  And no sooner had that sin of pride raised its head that something forcefully struck me.  Confessing here, I knew deep inside that I could not pull the wool over God’s eyes.  Maybe the angels, but not God.

We both knew that while my resumé appeared decent, there were numerous times I could have seized the opportunity to do the “more” that lay before me.  Instead, I took the path of least resistance and avoided involvement with numerous places where I could have made a difference.  My Lenten reflection led me to “repentance”—not in the sense of beating up myself for where I’ve been remiss but in re-committing myself to discerning and doing the “more” that God calls me to do with my life.

Dear Lord, inspire me to bring a smile to those whose eyes I meet.  May I have the strength to stand tall in the face of conflict and the courage to speak my voice, even when I’m scared.
I ask not for easier tasks but just enough talent to meet any tasks that come my way.
May I seek to know the highest truths and dismiss the pull of my lower self.

May I learn more profoundly why you created me, how to overcome darkness, and have the gospel wisdom To Choose generosity over selfishness.  Today, I want to surrender anything that
Undermines the sacredness who you made me to be So drench me with a knowledge of your affection for me—a child, like you, born in the Bethlehem of my family.

We return this week to the Genesis world of Abram and Sarai.  This patriarch and his matriarch wife came to be called Abraham and Sarah.  Because of their relationship to God, they were blest with descendants numbering more than the number of stars in the sky.  Their faith is the foundation of the 3 great monotheistic traditions known as the “Abrahamic religions.”  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam each claim to descend from Abraham.

This week’s Gospel reading is known as the “Transfiguration” of Jesus. It begins with Jesus, Peter, James, and John going to a mountain (ascent of a mountain signaling to us that some profound appearance of God will take place—called a “theophany”).  Once at the top, the disciples see Moses (who represents the “Law” of the Torah) and Elijah (who represents the “Prophets”).  God’s voice from a cloud is heard to say “Listen to him.”  And so, it is as if to say Jesus combined within Himself both the “Law” and the “Prophets.” He is the new covenant of God with the “human race.”

We don’t use the term “transfiguration” in everyday speech, but in today’s story, it is illustrated when Jesus is seen in a new and glorious way by the 3 disciples.  His appearance is transformed.  He is seen as the “chosen one” of God who distills in Himself all of Hebrew scripture and more!

This incident demonstrates that our spiritual growth entails opening ourselves to seeing reality in ways previously unknown.  It is a story that reminds me of an experience I had as a child.  I was about 6 years old.  One of my playmates was Mike Brady.  Mike was always on a 3-wheeler bike because he had polio and couldn’t walk.  He’d accompany us down the block as we would walk on the sidewalk or driveways and he would peddle along with us. 

One day, I was with him when he said that he could walk, too.  He said he’d show me that he could walk—but I was not to tell his mom that he showed me.  Whereupon he got off his bike—with some difficulty—and stood as upright as he could.  He then moved forward slowly in hard-to-do steps.  Then he turned back to the bike and returned to his seat—positioning himself on it once again as before.  Seeing Mike move as he did, I was amazed.  We all knew he couldn’t walk, but I had seen that he could!  Later on I told my mom about what I had seen—the unbelievable fact that Mike Brady could walk.  I had witnessed a great revelation—seeing reality in a way I had never previously seen.  Mike had been “transfigured” before me and I actually saw him standing face-to-face with me for those few minutes.

So the story of Jesus opening the eyes of the disciples is a story about us needing to have our eyes opened to realities that are not entirely on our radar.  We still have much to learn—whatever our age, income level, ethnicity, knowledge, or powers of some sort that make us feel secure.  The tribal Celts had a concept that the mountain experience represents.  Namely, some locations or experiences can be “thin places” wherein the supernatural and natural are very close to one another and are revelatory of something that moves us to new insight. Our minds expand and we are “in touch” with more than we previously possessed.

One such experience for me occurred when making an 8-day retreat.  Midway through the experience, I was speaking to God in prayer as I walked the beautifully landscaped retreat house grounds.  The natural world looked lovely as the trees along the river were joined by rabbits hopping in the grass and all was peaceful.  “It’s easy to believe in your existence, Lord, when the world around me is so peaceful and pleasant.  Where are you when my experience is not peaceful and pleasant—when I really need you to somehow help me?”  Such were my thoughts as I walked off the retreat house grounds and into a neighborhood where traffic replaced the calm vista I had just departed.

I walked a sidewalk whose street was filled with honking cars and a “semi” switching its gears loudly enough to make the whole scene an unpleasant one.  As I proceeded, a white picket fence was on my right and the unpleasant sounds of street traffic gave way to the startling and unpleasant sound of a dog rushing alongside me on the other side of the fence.  It was barking as if to say “If this fence weren’t here, I’d have you by the leg—just as that other dog had you as a child—and sent you to have 14 rabies shots.”  I was not in a good state of mind and I mused to God “Where are you when life isn’t pleasant and when the nasty sound of voices barking at me?  Where are you at those times, Lord?”

No sooner had I pondered that type of thought than a woman appeared at the door of the fenced-in house.  Her voice blended with that of her barking dog as she shouted: “Here, Angel.  Come here, Angel.”  And with that summons, the barking dog turned tail and ran to the woman and into the house whose door she held open.

It was as if God had to send a messenger to me–”angel” meaning ‘messenger of god’.”  It was as if I had to be drawn a big picture by God—and told “I’m with you in bad times and good, in sickness and in health, in pleasant landscapes and busy streets.  I am ‘Emmanuel’—God with you.” As it was in the beginning with Peter, James, and John, I was charged with taking my experience of this “thin place” transfiguration of hearing and feeling God’s presence—from that retreat experience—down from the mountain, and into the lives of people I would meet elsewhere.

And so it is that we meet in this “thin place” of church—bringing our ordinary sense of self to this mountain altar where we are reminded of God’s tangible presence.  We are here exposed to the thin places of sacramental encounters such as baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and sacred observances that expose us to God’s word.  Here we learn that the story of Peter, James, and John is our story of being here and now in prayer at the Mass.  And this is where we realize God calls us to be a “thin place” with whom one encounters the risen Lord in their experience of you.

Take us, Lord, from this sacred thin place of sacramental encounter to other thin places of insight—so that we can be the apostles so needed by those who stand alone on mountains with no sense of inspiration or guidance.

Lent is a period of 40 days that calls to mind the 40 days of rain that produced the flood.  Washed away was the earlier life and what came about was a new creation.  Our Lenten observance is INTENDED to be a period of growth, of insight, and greater self-awareness.  We become a new creation owing to our effort to confront and overcome the demons we encounter in the desert of our life (today’s Gospel story).  Lent is our Exodus from the shackles of sin’s slavery and journey to a “Promised Land” of new life freed from messed-up behavior we’ve been part of.

All sorts of people refer metaphorically to life as a journey—and so it is with Lent.  But in this case, it is a journey we travel with Jesus.  As our companion during Lent, he points out to us the “sights” along the way.  He calls our attention to the beautiful mountains, waterfalls, lakes, puppies, porcupines, and peacocks that make us smile with appreciation.  We thus rejoice in the wonders given us throughout life.

However, he also points out the swamps, deserts, and quicksand that we’ve sometimes not avoided.  Our sacred companion very much wants each of us to have as wonderful a life experience as we possibly can—but God knows that we have been, and still are, quite vulnerable to the mirages that lead us astray.  The Lenten season tries to put us in touch with our inability, at times, to be a good traveling companion.

One way the Gospels help us follow good maps for our journey is to point out what theology texts refer to as the “capital sins and “cardinal virtues.”  These behaviors contrast with one another in describing how we behave.  Each behavior (that is, each “sin” or “virtue”) is on a spectrum, or scale (of 1 to 10—with 10 being the “virtue” Jesus calls us to embody).  Lent calls us to evaluate where we fall on these scales:

Sadly, developed, Western, industrial-cultures tend to encourage actions that foster capital sin behaviors.  For example, instead of humility, we’re told that we should acquire things that will give us “swag” power.  “Gluttony” refers to more than eating whatever we can get our hands on.  It can follow the commercial that encouraged viewers: “When you’ve got it, flaunt it.”  And instead of being humble, we try to impress people with what we have or what we’ve accomplished.  The pro basketball player, Nikola Yokich has set records never before attained by stars of the game—but he is known among the players as the most humble guy you’d ever meet. 

Billionaires who currently control Washington can afford whatever they want, but their greed motivates them as much as a blue-collar worker is motivated simply to put food on the table.  When they have all that money can buy, the super-wealthy become greedy for power.  Not surprising is that less well-off people give proportionately more to charities than the wealthy.  In short, when looking at sinful or virtuous behavior, realize that Jesus is at one end of the scale and Madison Avenue at the other end.  We Christians are told that fullness of life and happiness can only come from imitating where Jesus would fall on that scale.  Unfortunately, as stated, we are vulnerable to society’s seductions in our quest to “get ahead” in life.

Lent is a period in which we join Alcoholics Anonymous in living one of their steps toward sobriety.   We “make a fearless inventory” of our behaviors and acknowledge our need for God to help us overcome those behaviors that have brought us, and others, down.  Some American Indian groups made a “vision quest.”  It parallels what Lent tries to accomplish with us—acquire a “vision” that will guide us on our life-path.  We can grow by reflecting on where we have been helpful or harmful toward others.  Have we committed sins of “commission” (what we’ve done) or sins of “omission” (what we’ve NOT done but SHOULD have)?

An Indian would seclude themselves on a hill, for example, and remain there for days at a time.  The person was to observe all that occurred during this time away.  They would watch trees sway in the breeze (a sure sign that the trees were looking up to God and praying).  The person would look at all of creation that lay before them—eagles floating in the wind, rabbits hopping in the meadow, ants running busily from one place to another, etc.  Each gift of God might have some revelation to provide the quester (just as St. Ignatius said that we can “find God in all things”).

Where do you fall on the spectrum and what are you going to do about it?

The past couple of weeks, our bulletin has included Gospel-based reflections from the Catholic bishop of West Virginia and a popular Christian pastor-writer.  This week’s bulletin is an article from the National Catholic Reporter.  Each of these articles addresses different socio-political topics that people argue in the news and at dinner tables.  However, the accent of these pieces is a Catholic-Christian perspective on those topics (and not just the opinion of some person on the street or some political writer.  It is important to have the guidance of these people–given the “unprecedented” times in which we live.

For example, this past week in a UN vote, the U.S. aligned itself with the atheistic dictatorships of Russia, China, and North Korea (countries that were called by President Reagan “the axis of evil”).  U.S. allies since WWII have all condemned the U.S. alliance with these regimes and expressed shock at the U.S. taking orders from Mr. Putin.  Russia’s longstanding aim has been to separate the U.S. from its allies and has now been successful in both this and in dividing U.S. citizens.  This is not just a “political” topic but is also a “religious” one.  That is, our “position” on “political” issues should reflect our religious worldview.  A challenge is that our Gospel perspective might conflict with our “political” point of view.  Bulletin articles are intended to shed Christian light on issues now being argued.  They are a Gospel lens on secular matters.

It is instructive to look at 1933 Germany when the Nazi party crafted a Nazi Christianity.  It “converted” German citizens to believe that Jesus was born in Germany and was taken to the Holy Land as a child.  Nazi teaching said that Jesus did his best to convert the Jews but they eventually hanged him on a cross.  Paintings of Jesus and Mary showed them with light-colored hair and blue eyes (instead of dark hair and brown eyes).  And the people believed!! [NOT in the real Jesus but an anti-Semitic Nazi Jesus who preached that “Aryans” (northern Europeans) were “brothers and sisters” in Christ].  This same ideology is promoted by racist groups today—so we need to be “on guard” against this type of thought.  I knew a woman who was the secretary of “Fr. Charles Coughlin”—a Detroit priest in the 1930s & ‘40s whose popular radio show was pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic.  His bigotry made him popular, and will forever be an embarrassment to Catholics for representing the Church the way he did.  A moral of the story is that both he and we always need to discern if our thought is rooted in the Gospel or is a product of our prejudice.

The following is from National Catholic Reporter:  Bishop Robert Barron said Mass for House & Senate legislators.  Invitations into the corridors of power can be seductive.  Perhaps he is grateful for the opportunity to speak truth to the powerful in this daunting national moment. To date, he has been oddly silent about the issues that are of greatest concern to his brother bishops and his pope.  Maybe he was just waiting for the moment that would provide the greatest effect.

“Homily helps” are abundantly available. Here is one:  It is rare that the heart of our Gospel speaks so clearly and unambiguously to current politics. As representative of the U.S. Catholic Church, Barron need only refer to the various statements issued by fellow Catholic leaders on behalf of immigrants, as well as those about Catholic efforts to aid the most desperate in other parts of the globe. They flesh out the Gospel in real-time.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. bishops listed what he called “deeply troubling” elements of the president’s agenda: the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment. These policies, Broglio said, “will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.”

Should anyone question the legitimacy or correctness of the widespread concerns among U.S. bishops, Pope Francis affirmed their alarm and implicitly scolded them for failing to speak out more forcefully. In an eloquent and highly unusual communication, he pleaded with U.S. Catholics to reject the narrative upon which the Trump administration is basing its mass deportation campaign.  [for which the VP criticized the Pope]

Barron should give a note of support for Cardinal Robert McElroy. McElroy condemned the mass deportation scheme: “We must speak up and proclaim that this unfolding misery and suffering and, yes, war of fear and terror cannot be tolerated in our midst.”  Barron might also mention the distress of major Church organizations  — Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities and the United States Office of Jesuit Refugee Services. They can provide compelling and deeply disturbing witness to the devastation and human suffering from the administration’s cutoff of foreign aid.

A German research institute estimated total INTERNATIONAL aid to Ukraine since 2022 to be $383 billion—about one-third of which has come from the US and two-thirds from Europe.  Mr. Trump often erroneously stated that the U.S. gave 385 billion and Europe far less.  The US Department of Defense and the State Department did not offer clarification of the $300 billion figure when contacted by fact checkers.

Barron also could refer to the experience of two recent popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who lived under dictators, to challenge the administration’s distortions of the truth regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and warn against Trump’s penchant for buddying up to the homicidal authoritarian, Vladimir Putin.  Nothing good can come from cozying up to brutal dictator.  Silence in the face of Trump’s cruelty is complicity.

The church in the United States is being called to an unusual moment of witness in the public square. The call is for nothing less than to confront the cold cruelty resulting from deliberate policies to demonize the most vulnerable at home and to turn our backs on the most desperate abroad.  God has given Barron a social media megaphone, a powerful platform that he chooses to use to engage in the most divisive, ideological culture war nonsense while looking askance from the most vulnerable in society.   Barron might continue to ignore all of those difficult topics and the consensus of his brother bishops and Pope Francis. If he does, he would simply become one more clerical chump manipulated and exploited by the far right in exchange for a few fleeting moments in the balcony of the House of Representatives during a joint session of Congress, and an attaboy from Trump, Vice President JD Vance and their band of bullies.

As of this writing, we do not know if Barron took on the difficult issues and spoke the tough truths of the Gospel, fleshed out in modern times in the Church’s social teachings, That degree of courage might even get him disinvited from speaking again within that forum.

In June of 1941, Hitler’s Army began a rampage through Ukraine, razing towns, unleashing death squads, and massacring Jews by the hundreds of thousands. In one village, four Jewish brothers enlisted in the military, said goodbye to their parents, and walked off to fight the Nazis.  By the war’s end in 1945, only one of the brothers was still alive. He returned to find that the Nazis had torched his entire village, burning his parents to death. His family was dead, and his beloved Ukraine was in ruins. The Nazis had murdered between 1.2 and 1.6 million Ukrainian Jews.

He married a fellow Ukrainian Jew who had survived the war by fleeing her city, in which the Nazis had killed 5,000 Jews. Two years later, in that same city, they had a son, Alexandr, keeping alive the family line that the Nazis had brought a razor’s width from extinction. Thirty-one years after that, Alexsandr had his own little boy.

That boy was Vladimir Zelensky, who grew up to become the President of independent, current democratic Ukraine. Today, he leads his outmanned, outgunned, ferociously defiant nation against the onslaught of Russia. As Russia dashes itself against the will of his people, Zelensky, the survivor of survivors, summons the resilience of his ancestors. His wife and two young children live in Kiev and are like other Ukrainians who refuse to submit to a Russia invaded their country 3 years ago.    

Today’s Gospel, Luke 6:24-38, is a homily all on its own, e.g., love your neighbor as yourself, and if you love others who love you, what merit is there in that?  Even pagans love those who love them.  In short, we’re asked to look at our thinking and behavior and ask: does my presence in the world reflect my Gospel identity, or am I simply like others who profess no such belief?

Where I taught was located a few miles down the road from West Liberty University.  At our Catholic university, each department and each sports team, administrator, and employees everywhere on campus—had to ask “How does my presence differ from West Lib’s?”  If the Jesuit school was offering its students what West Liberty offered its people—then why sink Catholic funds into a school that was doing the same as its rival?  Taking our identity seriously, our Jesuit school was recognized as “the crown jewel of higher education in West Virginia.”

That scenario is similar to our identity as people who SAY they’re Christian/Catholic.  Is your religious identity visible in your thoughts, words, and deeds, or is it generally the same sort of identity that “ordinary people” with no religious connection have?  I’m reminded of this when reading obituaries.  Namely, most people will say of their parent, grandparent, or spouse that they “loved their family.”  When we put that in our obituaries, we echo today’s gospel.  That is, even atheists love their family.  While it’s nice and good that people have a positive sense of their kin—shouldn’t Christians be distinctive in some way?  It’s like saying in an obituary of Eva Braun that “she stood by her man to the end.”  Even she loved her spouse—Adolph Hitler!

Today’s Gospel also points to why Jesus was known for bringing a distinctive message (from heaven).  Namely, even the Old Testament told readers to “love your neighbor.”  Jesus defined “neighbor” more broadly.  For him, a neighbor was not just a fellow Israelite, but all people.  Jesus said that we were all neighbors to one another—just as we are brothers and sisters of one another.  No more parochialism for him.  No more clannishness or racial or ethnic superiority.  We all belong to the same tribe—homo sapiens!  This gets us into a topic that takes us once again to reflect on how we relate to people “different” from us.   

Think of the name-calling you heard as a kid.  Politicians get celebrities to endorse them—knowing that they can influence people.  If this rock star or actor doesn’t like some policy or people, many will suddenly say THEY, too, don’t like those “other” people.  I’ve never been one to like or dislike something simply because a celebrity said yay or nay to it.  But many people ARE influenced by what, for example, a president will say—as when Mr. Trump gave his racist lie that Haitians in Ohio were eating dogs and cats.  He made people associate Black Haitians with the devouring of household pets (even though no such thing occurred.   

Mr. Trump also railed against Muslims.  His inflammatory cut-down of Muslims inspired a man to go and shoot up what he thought was a Muslim mosque.  Instead, he shot and killed Sikh people at their temple—thinking these Sikhs were Muslims.  The killer didn’t even know that Sikhs were an entirely different religion—unrelated to Islam.  And so it goes when a public official, especially a president, expresses prejudice toward some group.  Bishop Camara of Recife, Brazil spoke of how politicians use name-calling.  He said “When I fed the poor, they called me a saint.  When I asked WHY they were poor, they called me a communist.”

Rodney King was the Black man victimized by police brutality during the LA riots, but became famous for uttering the phrase: “Can’t we all just get along?”  A gentle soul with an alcohol problem that took him too early in life, Rodney King echoed Jesus.  In the sermon on the mount, the Son of Mary spoke of how so many were “blessed” when he listed the beatitudes.  And so it was with “Saint” Rodney King whose words were similarly immortalized “Can’t we all just get along?”  His plea calls to mind yet another plea on this same theme of breaking down barriers that divide us: “It’s not who we love, or how we love, but THAT we love.”  

Last week’s bulletin quoted a Christian pastor-writer-lecturer applying the Gospel to contemporary politics.  This week’s bulletin quotes the letter of Catholic Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, WV.

When I was a boy, we children sometimes asked one another: “What are you?” It wasn’t a question about what position we played in baseball; it was a question about where our family had come from. “I’m Irish,” someone would answer.  Another would chime in. “I’m half English and half Polish.” We were aware that our families had come from other countries – sometimes our parents or our grandparents or other ancestors farther back in time. 

We children were aware of a truth that some Americans today have forgotten: we are all immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. African Americans, whose ancestors were brought here in chains, have made strenuous efforts to discover their origins on the African continent. Even our indigenous tribes, here for millennia, came from immigrants who crossed over to the Americas from Asia. So important has immigration been in our country’s history that a major exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution, our national museum, during our Bicentennial in 1976 was entitled “A Nation of Nations.”

Why do people leave their homeland, where they know the language, the climate, the culture and their land’s history and have multiple ties to family and friends? Sometimes because of threats to their safety. A woman in my last parish had a small store in El Salvador. The local gang told her they would protect her if she gave them half her profit.  She said she didn’t want their protection and refused their demand, so they killed her brother. She closed her store and came to the United States. Can you blame her? 

Sometimes there is religious persecution. Thousands of Christians have left Iraq and Syria because they are persecuted for their faith. A priest in Iraq, a friend of a priest who served with me a few years ago, was murdered by Islamic State terrorists in his church. Many of the parishioners fled the country. Can you blame them?  Extreme poverty can prompt an exodus from all that is familiar. The Great Famine in Irelan.  in the middle of the 19th century caused many to leave their homeland, including my great-grandparents, Thomas and Mary Farrell. They were afraid of starving to death, so they saved and borrowed money to pay for passage to the US. Can you blame them? 

There is great concern today over illegal immigration. Contrary to what many assume, most immigrants – 77% – are in this country legally. Of all foreign-born residents, 49% have become US citizens, 24% have permanent residency (“green cards”), 4% have legal temporary residency and 23% are undocumented or illegal. Another way to look at it is that about 14.3% of all people living in this country now are foreign-born, but those here without government permission are about 3.5% of the total population. (See Pew Research Center bulletin 9/’24). T

God said to the first human beings, representing our entire race: Fill the earth and subdue it [Genesis 1:28]. God gave the earth to the whole human race; national borders are a secondary human creation.  Second, people have a right to go elsewhere if they are living in intolerable conditions. So, governments, especially those in large, rich countries like the United States, should exercise their responsibility humanely and be generous in responding to those who, in distress, must leave their homelands.

When immigrants arrive here, we Catholics try to meet their needs for food, clothing, lodging and other necessities. God says to us: You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt [Exodus 22:20]. In our situation, that means: “Treat the immigrant fairly and with compassion; your ancestors were immigrants,  too.” The child Jesus was a refugee in Egypt, fleeing King Herod [Matthew 2:13]. The adult Lord says to us: I was a stranger and you welcomed me, hungry and you fed me, naked and you clothed me [Matthew 25:35-36]. Our initial concern as Catholics is not the immigrant’s legal status but his human needs. We will listen to our Lord and welcome the stranger.

Vice-President Vance recently criticized us bishops for helping to resettle refugees.  Consider this: the federal government investigates those applying for refugee status and, for those it approves, it contracts with groups such as Catholic Charities to get them settled in our country. The government pays for these services – often in arrears –but the funds received do not cover all of the cost; the Church loses several millions of dollars each year to help resettle refugees. We do it as an act of mercy, following the Lord’s teaching

N.B., Networks owned by Republican billionaires will say the Church MAKES millions of dollars from government spending (conveniently NOT saying that Catholic Charities LOSES money in caring for immigrants).  Militia groups of today are the KKK of yesterday that hunted down Blacks, Jews, and Catholics, and this anti-Catholic bias is still with us. The new Secretary of State Marco Rubio is similarly quoted by these networks as pushing for Mr. Trump to end the U.S. Aid program—but don’t mention that this same man, as former Republican Senator Rubio 2 years ago, passionately pushed President Biden to SUPPORT U.S. Aid because of the incredible work it did on behalf of the U.S. and people in need.  Meanwhile, Russia and China’s counterpart agencies give far more than the U.S. to its program because such charity wins friends internationally.  Jesuit Relief Service—which distributes U.S. Aid to needy people—has no U.S. funds to help the needy as a humanitarian and diplomatic effort of the U.S.]

Someone wanting to marry a US citizen often must wait three years to get a visa to enter the United States. People in desperate situations take the risk of coming here without legal papers.  Catholic bishops for decades have sought to reform the immigration process so that it is simpler. In the period of greatest immigration, the late 19th/early 20th centuries, the process for allowing in immigrants was much easier to follow. Ellis Island received millions of immigrants, of whom 98% were admitted. The sick were hospitalized and admitted when they got well.

The administration has adopted some policies about immigration that are acceptable in Catholic teaching: a reasonable approach to putting order at the nation’s borders and deporting true criminals. But any policies that would separate parents from their children or deny American citizenship to children born here or engage in massive deportation efforts, which will not only hurt ordinary immigrants but the US Economy as well, should be abandoned. What are you? You are an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants. Show respect and fraternal welcome to those coming to our shores today. You will honor your God and your ancestors.  

At Christmas time, I pointed out that Matthew and Luke are the evangelists who gave us all the birth narrative material, and that John and Mark said nothing about a manger, Magi, Bethlehem, and all the other elements of our Christmas story.  Similarly, Matthew and Luke give us the “beatitudes” that are associated with what’s known as “the sermon on the mount” (in Matthew).  However, Luke’s presentation of them occurs on the PLAIN and not a mountain.  Moreover, Luke only lists 4 while Matthew cites 8.   

Why the difference?  Luke reports a geography in which Jesus spoke these words, and it appears to be a Gentile region of the Holy Land.  This is in keeping with Luke’s overall focus—that Jesus came not just for the Israelites but for ALL people.  The Christian message isn’t intended just for tribal people or citizens of the Roman empire, but for people who live in the 4 directions—everywhere in the world, Black, White, Asian, and everyone in between.  Jesus’s message was a “catholic” message.  That is, “universal.” 

 Matthew, on the other hand, addresses his gospel to Jewish converts.  His audience knows the Hebrew scriptures well—which is why you find in his Gospel the most number of quotes from the “Old” testament.  His audience would right away associate Jesus telling of the beatitudes on a mountain top because it was a mountain top on which patriarch Moses received the 10 commandments.  It seemed only right that Jesus would associate the 10 commandments with the Beatitudes when telling us afresh as to how we should live our lives,  

 Picture yourself being in the crowd that day and feeling as if Jesus was referring to you in one or more of the “Blessed” he mentioned.  You go up to him afterward and ask him something to the effect: “Were you referring to me in what you just said?”  Jesus smiles silently at you and you get a really strong sense of bonding with this man, this brother, this neat guy who made you feel you were really special.  You can’t help but smile back and the two of you share a parting hug as he moves into the crowd (all of them feeling a sense of affirmation just as you do).  

 Were he to visit us today, I think you’d hear something to this effect: “Blessed are the lectors.  Blessed are choir members. Blessed are the ushers, the communion distributors, committee members, and collection counters—and all who try to serve the faith community in different ways.  Blessed are you who feel alone but still smile at others and try to be friendly.  Blessed are you who feel blue but realize that others may feel even worse—so you direct a smile their way.  Blessed are those in hospice care who seek comfort.  Blessed are you who come to mass—and who bring a smile to God’s face. 

 The “Sermon on the Mount/Plain” was God speaking to the hearts of all listeners—reminding them that they are loved by their Creator.  In line with this thought, I had an experience this past week which brought God’s affirmation to mind.  It occurred when shown the photo of a parishioner taken 3 decades ago.  The photo showed a young person in a college gym—smiling for the camera along with friends who were playing basketball but who stopped to get a group photo. 

 What came to mind was that this person, and the others, have had their successes and have demonstrated their competence in the workplace, been good family and community members, and are all-around good folks.  However, God’s love for each one transcends whatever good or bad deeds they’ve performed, or mistakes they’ve made, or awards won.  Each person, as Scripture states, is “God’s work of art.”  Each is blessed in their own way.  The parish person in the photo tries—maybe like others in the photo—to become the best version of themselves by belonging to a faith-community. 

 You are working on the best version of yourself, with others, when you are present at Mass. 

 Whenever I mention some real-life issue in a homily, or offer some reflection on what I think our response as Catholics should be to some political problem, I (and any clergy person from any Christian church) run the risk of stepping on someone’s toes.  This usually occurs when addressing some specific current issue.  I, too, have been in the pews when a speaker advanced a position that I think is not consistent with what the Gospel says.  Please know that my concern is what Jesus would say–and nothing else.  I do not belong to any political party and profess allegiance first to God.  My pastoral focus is aimed at providing parishioners some sense of how our Catholic tradition applies to our contemporary world.   If what I say conflicts with your thinking, it is not because I wish to be combative or controversial.  I’m simply trying my best to state what I understand to be God’s perspective on one or another issue. 

 What follows is an article written by John Pavlovitz, a former pastor whose commentaries might conflict with your thinking but which I think are solid Christian teachings on the American socio-political scene.  His is a voice I tap and share with you because he addresses topics better than I do.  So I share his thoughts with you because I know he speaks with authority and sees contemporary issues through a Gospel lens.   With protesters on the streets of Hemlock and throughout the nation, I think it is important that you see why so many Christians (and others) are rightly concerned about Mr. Trump’s leadership.  The author addresses this topic well when he wrote to Country-singer Carrie Underwood who performed at the inauguration.  His letter captures what many clergy say about what’s happening in D.C. 

 Dear Carrie Underwood, 

I’m writing because I’ve heard you speak eloquently about your Christian faith in the past, watched you perform a song about the beautiful mystery of baptism, often listened to your now-ubiquitous invocation for Jesus to take the wheel: to guide the life you live and to let his will direct your path. 

 I also know that you’ve been a role model for girls and young women all over this nation, obviously well-aware of your influence on them. Given these things, as a former pastor and the father of a girl myself, I wonder how you reconcile your personal faith with a performance at the Inauguration of Donald Trump. 

 As a woman and professed follower of Jesus, exactly how do you make sense of using your tremendous gifts to celebrate an adjudicated rapist; a man accused by dozens of women of assault, harassment, and misconduct; a man who once said that if his daughter were not a blood relation, that he might be dating her? 

 I’m curious to hear you explain what message you think it sends to millions of survivors of sexual assault, who will watch you contribute to the coronation of a human being whose entire life, business history, and political career have been marked by the most vile, dehumanizing, and misogynistic language about and behavior toward women? Recall his entering the dressing room of the Miss Teen contestants unannounced and making them feel quite uncomfortable. 

 This is to say nothing of his 34 felony counts, his many indictments for high crimes, his near superhuman inability to speak truthfully, or his continual verbal attacks on immigrants, LGBTQ human beings, people of color, and all Americans who did not vote for him.  

As a declared Christian, you shared the spotlight while California burned and millions of its people were in the most dire need—and he spewed a steady stream of social media insults, lies, and abject hatred?  Where is the Jesus in any of this, Carrie? 

 What in the teachings of Jesus make it acceptable to partner with Donald Trump on any level?  Where have you seen him love his neighbor, help heal the sick, feed the poor, welcome the stranger, care for the least of these?  When exactly have you witnessed him embodying the peacemaking, humble, kindhearted directives of the Beatitudes?  How precisely have you seen Donald Trump live a love and compassion that bears any resemblance to Jesus? I’m not being rhetorical here or trying to insult you, I’d really like to know. 

 I understand you have boys of your own. I’m wondering when they grow up, if you’d like them to emulate Donald Trump, if you’ll approve of them treating women the way he has, if you’d be proud to have them speak about people the way he does.  Carrie, I don’t know you and so I can’t judge your heart or declare your motives or evaluate your faith and wouldn’t attempt to. I can only tell you what I see from where I stand (Jesus called it, describing the tangible fruit of someone’s outward actions.)  By their fruit you will know them. 

 And what I see from here, is an incredibly influential, talented woman who has chosen to wear her faith proudly on her sleeve—also choosing to use her gifts for an event devoted to perhaps the most predatory, most divisive, and least Christlike human being on the planet. As someone who spent decades learning and sharing the teachings of Jesus, none of it makes any sense. 

So, if you’re able, with some specificity, please share with me, with the tens of millions of Christians in this country, with the women who are being legislatively silenced by him, 
with the immigrants and refugees and foreigners he is persecuting, with the poor and elderly and vulnerable he is preying upon, and with the people of California and North Carolina whose unfathomable suffering he is exploiting and exacerbating right now—exactly how you feel Jesus is steering this decision.  To be honest, I thought I’d be in good company. 

 I assumed that most Christian people would dismiss Trump out-of-hand, naming his vile behavior as the very immoral sickness Jesus spent his life and ministry warning his followers to fiercely resist.      Boy, was I wrong! 

John Pavlovich is an author/speaker on Christian spirituality found on the Internet. 

This past weekend’s first reading shows you where the “Sanctus” part of the Eucharistic Prayer comes from—“Holy, Holy, Holy” is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  And then these verses from Isaiah speak for each of us—theoretically—when it has the person (intended to be you and I) say: “Here I am, Lord.  Send me.”  That’s what each of us is supposed to feel and think and say after each Mass we attend—which is a good reason why these verses are in the middle of Mass.  They define why we gather—to draw strength—and be sent as an apostle of the Gospel.

When reading about the culture of the first century where Jesus lived, I noticed that the average male stood 5’5” tall.  Modern American males are–average 5’10”.  I think of today’s movies making “super heroes” of characters and then think of people at the time of Jesus not being tall hunks chiseled at 6’.  And this led to thinking about how God speaks to us people of the 21st century (or at any time in history).  Do angels appear, or must we have visions?

The short answer is “no.”  Rather, God speaks to you and me in the ordinary events of our lives and the interests that catch our attention.  I’ll give 2 examples from my life to show how God speaks to us.  After seeing these examples, look at your life-experience, and see where God has “spoken” to you—in the past—and now.

When teaching the president of the University asked me to moderate the honor society.  I was he 3rd one he appointed since the other 2 left the school for other assignments.  I had no interest in moderating the group but added the job to my other responsibilities.

A person who worked at the school was a member of years standing and suggested one day that I get the students to do a project.  Okay, I thought.  But what, exactly, might I get them to do?

I had a student in class who was CEO of 15 grocery stores in Ohio and West Virginia.  I asked him if he had “day old” bread that my people could pick up and deliver to the “Catholic Neighborhood Center” that fed sreet people and provided food to the needy.  He said he’d look into the matter, and a couple of days later told me to begin the pick-up the next week.  Thus started what became known as the “bread run” to Riesbeck’s Market in St. Clairsville, OH.

Long story short is that this blossomed into students and faculty and workers picking up 3 Riesbeck stores, 2 Panera bread stores, and 1 Kroger six days a week.  Panera, by the way, has a policy of giving away its baked goods to charities every day of the year.  This “ministry” that included so many people got Internet attention in nn article that said “Finally, an honor society is actually doing something important.”

A second example started one day when I stopped to save a turtle crossing the highway.  Naturally, people honked at me for taking 30 seconds to get the turtle.  Some in WV liked to run over the turtles–human nature having the capacity to save life and take life.  Arriving back at campus, I learned that it was a box turtle–a species that was disappearing from the region (partly due to people thinking it funny to run them over).  I put the little fellow in my campus garden, and word spread that there was a campus turtle.  Others brought box turtles they had at home–one delivery especially memorable.

A man stood at the fence with a little boy.  I asked if he needed directions and he said no, but that he had heard there was a box turtle  in the fenced-in garden. Signaling me that what he was saying was for the benefit of his son, he said: “We were thinking that our turtle would appreciate being with other box turtles.  Might I be interested in taking him?  Sure, I said, and so “Big Red” came to live at the garden (having a beautiful red color to his shell).  

My goal was to breed box turtles and re-introduce them into the environment.  Over time, I watched eggs being laid and baby turtles born there in the garden.  When the Jesuits left the University, I had to find a home for my colony of beloved box turtles (I fed them each day year-round and they were my friends).  Through the grace of God, I found that the nearby State university had a zoo program and would be happy to take the box turtles for its training of students to care for such local fauna.

I give these examples from my life in order to illustrate what occurs in YOUR life.  Namely, God speaks to us in our everyday experiences, activities, encounters, inspirations, and visions of what “might be” if someone only did it.  You crochet?  Maybe you should crochet blankets for elders who’d appreciate covering their knees when watching TV.  We have parishioners delivering food to people, helping at the food bank, singing in the choir, and many other involvements that are unique to their life.  THAT’S how God speaks to you and me.

The “bread run” and “turtle sanctuary” arose out of the clear blue–one unexpected happening leading to me being inspired by God to bungle my way through setting up 2 “ministries” that included and helped many others.  YOU are offered the same sorts of opportunities to “bloom,” to create, to make your mark in the world.

Thinking of these things brought to mind the Jesuit saint, Paul Miki.  He worked in Nagasaki, Japan until the emperor rounded him up and martyred him and 26 others.  He had established a vibrant Catholic community in a very non-Christian Japan, but the emperor wanted no foreigners in his country (sound familiar).  On the one hand, Miki went to his death by crucifixion–feeling as if all his good work had accomplished nothing.  In 1600, all Europeans were forced out of the country and werne’t permitted entry until 1860.  When the Jesuits returned, they were approached by a community of Japanese who told them that they had hidden their Catholic practice FOR 200 YEARS–and were overjoyed that they now had priests and a connection with the Church.

Miki never saw what he had accomplished–but Nagasaki remains the most Catholic city in Japan (where few Christians exist).  I asked a Japanese woman if Japan’s primary religion was Shintoism.  She said, in her broken English, “No religion in Japan.  Only religion of money.”  Money was the god of the 21st century Japan, according to her.

What is God saying to you about your vocation?

Presentation of the Lord Sunday refers to Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the Temple and observing the Torah’s command to “purify” Mary and dedicate Jesus to God.  The ceremony is an Israelite example of what’s known as the “menstrual taboo” that anthropologists study in all cultures of the world.  For example, the Lakota Sioux Indians had a special ceremony for girls upon their first menstrual period.  Each month until menopause, the girl was obliged to separate herself from contact with others during her period.  Whatever your ethnic background, you can count on finding SOME sort of tribal “taboo” associated with this biological reality.

The Sioux referred to Sacred things as “wakan”—a word that referred to the mysterious or spirit realities they knew to exist.  Not having our biology books, the Lakota regarded the menstrual flow as mysterious—associated with the moon’s cycle and pregnancy.  Such things must be dealt with in a special (sacred) way—such as what occurred with Mary (and all Jewish women) at the Temple.  As stated, it seems cultures everywhere had SOME such behaviors associated with blood flows each month.  We’re just not in touch with this reality in the same way as were our ancestors.

This historical and anthropological background is all good, but what does it have to do with you or me?  Well, as you know, the Church has a liturgical calendar that is intended to put us “in touch” with concepts, or practices, or events of our religious and spiritual traditions.  We learn about the life of Jesus, the people with whom he associated, a theological understanding of what he taught about God and what our behavior should be, and varieties of behaviors associated with Christianity (the sacraments, pious practices, celebrations, etc.).  The Church’s liturgical calendar is LOADED with all sorts of yearly observances.

When I taught before coming here, I’d have a one-on-one appointment with each student in the different courses.  I’d ask many questions, and one topic surprised me.  Many students didn’t know how old their parents were or their birthdays.  Some students knew the dates of Mom and Dad’s birthdays, but many did not.  This told me that these types of students wouldn’t have a clue as to

This “Presentation” feast day is NOT just an event the Church highlights so that we know Jesus was presented in the Temple.  Yes, it tells us that his parents wanted him to grow up as a child who was schooled in scripture and one who lived his faith.  But the day ALSO should remind each of us—of the day that WE WERE PRESENTED IN THE TEMPLE, the church, for our baptism.  On that sacred day, our parents brought us into the faith community’s gathering place (a parish church) and we were welcomed by members of the faith community.

The Feast of the Presentation is, thus, a special day each year on which we call to mind how we’ve lived our baptismal identity.  It’s kind of a “check up” in which we reflect on the years and how we’ve walked a sacred road or if we’ve strayed from it.  In short, we’re not just looking at the historical event of Jesus dedicated to God when he was a baby.  Nope! We’re evaluating how and if we’ve walked and talked the ways of Jesus since OUR own “presentation in the Temple” (at church when we were a baby).

We observe this feast day each year on February 2^nd—Groundhog Day!  Like so many of the Church’s feast days, this one is based on the seasons of the year or the lunar cycle which tells us when it’s summer, winter, spring, or fall.  These seasons are, moreover, associated with the planting or harvesting of crops.  For example, this feast day occurs right between the winter and spring solstice.  The “groundhog” in Punxsutawney, PA will or won’t see his shadow on this day—and will tell us if there are 6 more weeks of winter before the weather sees us planting seeds.  Remember, too, that “fasting” during Lent is considered a “penance,” but it’s also the reality of our ancestors running low on food at that time of year—and HAVING to “fast” because there wasn’t much food to go around until better weather.  So our ancestors spiritualized their lack of food—and called it “fasting” and offering our sacrifice to God.  They put spiritual meaning on a fact of life—coping with little food during winter.

The next time you see advertised on TV “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray, you can tell family and friends the deeper meaning, or Christian interpretation of what is otherwise just a cute comedy.  It’s the story of a TV crew sent to Punxsutawney, PA to cover the behavior of a groundhog named “Phil,” and his appearance on that day.   Murray plans a smart alec reporter feeling bad about having to cover this lame story instead of something more exciting.  He keeps waking up on February 2^nd—wondering how he’ll ever get to February 3^rd.  The first time he lived the day, Murray was out for himself—cutting down people and having a wisecrack for everyone.  He thinks only of himself.  Each day, he wakes up and it’s time to re-live the day once again—with the same people saying the same thing, and him reacting to them in whatever way he wishes.

Eventually, his “do over” of each day sees him thinking of others first and helping different people one after the other—strangely becoming a kind of Christ-figure, man for others.  Murray’s character is named “Phil” just like the groundhog (also “Phil”).  Like the groundhog, he returns and “does over” February 2^nd over and over again—until he gets it right!  He finally reaches February 3^rd when he’s actually become a decent guy who relates to people in a Christ-like way.  In the film, his character even says at one point “Let me turn toward the light.”

This past week, I was reminded of this film since I had a number of encounters which, upon later reflection, I could have done better.  I could have said or done something I failed to do with this person or another.  And that’s the point of the film “Groundhog Day” and the purpose of our reflecting on the Presentation.

If we sincerely look at our lives—which we do when coming to Mass—we can see the time of the week when we could have lived our baptismal identity better than we did.  Amen. 

What follows is an editorial from the National Catholic Reporter.  Although it directly addresses the remarks at the National Prayer Service last week, it touches on topics that should make all of us uncomfortable.  One reason we come to church is to hear the word of God and act upon it.  We hear it in the reading of scripture, homilies, songs sung, and the presence of inspirational individuals who try their best to live their lives as instructed by the Lord.

However, it is a simple fact of life that none of us are saints, and that throughout history, Catholics have thought, said, and done things that bring a tear to God’s eye.  For example, how could our ancestors support the many cruelties of slavery? How could they slaughter American Indians as occurred in Gnadenhutten, Ohio in the 1770s?  There, regional citizens of Pennsylvania and Ohio came upon a town of CHRISTIANIZED Delaware Indians.  They rounded up over 100 men, women, and children—held them overnight—and then in the morning killed them all by hammering their skulls. 

There’s a legitimate, secular way of looking at current affairs and concluding one of two things.  Namely, the position you take is “On the RIGHT side of history” or “The WRONG side of history.”  These statements refer to you and me “standing with” any number of human issues that eventually prove to be the “side” that Jesus would have espoused and stood for.  In short, when you and I come to Mass or any of the sacraments, we’re TRYING to have our eyes opened to “doing the right thing.”  The National Catholic Reporter article follows:

The words that Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Budde spoke were few. They weren’t shouted. They weren’t demanding. They consisted of insights and a request that might be heard anywhere at any time in a house of worship.

Because those words were spoken directly to the newly, second-time elected president of the United States during a widely covered prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, they are likely to be remembered long after this administration has gone the way of the next election.

Hers was but one voice amid a growing chorus of religious figures condemning the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportation. Unlike others, however, she had the opportunity to address the president directly. The words have gone viral, but it is worth repeating them here:

In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country. … The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.

What Budde did wasn’t just taking advantage of an opportune encounter with the commander-in-chief. What she did was something she was obliged to do as a disciple of Christ preaching the Christian message. She gave a human face to those who, in the approach of a heartless administration, are a faceless group, shamefully maligned and made into a national scapegoat. They have become the new enemy, the inhuman “other” upon which our social ills and anxieties have been heaped. 

Some will disparage her words as a bit of performative preaching. Others will dismiss them because there will never be proof her words provided solace or safety for immigrants. Others will apply political calculus to her message and wonder which voters she might have affected or whether she merely solidified entrenched divisions in the Christian world as well as the wider culture.

All of that is irrelevant noise.

Was Jesus chastised for failing to accurately calculate the displeasure of Roman and religious leaders before pronouncing his next discomfiting truth?

If a Christian leader in her pulpit, addressing a president who voluntarily placed himself in that sacred space, cannot speak out of the heart of the Gospel, then we might as well turn our cathedrals, basilicas and other houses of worship into museums. 

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance spent months ginning up inordinate fear among immigrant communities and exploiting the lies beneath that fear for political purposes. Trump has pardoned violent criminals who attempted an insurrection. He has been celebrated by crude racists and those who would endanger the LGBTQ community.

If Budde had not addressed those fears and begged for mercy, the service would have been, at best, a disingenuous engagement and, at worst, an act of fraud and cowardice.

Given Trump’s general avoidance of worship spaces, it is unlikely that any other minister of the Gospel will have the opportunity to confront him as directly. It is gratifying then to know that, in addition to Budde, there is a growing chorus of Christian leaders condemning Trump’s intended mass deportations and his insistent lies that the immigrant population is made up mostly of criminals.

Pope Francis, in an unusually blunt assessment, called Trump’s mass deportation plans “a disgrace.” Cardinal Robert McElroy, the newly appointed archbishop of Washington, warned earlier this month that an indiscriminate mass deportation program would be “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and head of the Archdiocese for Military Services, included additional elements in his critique: “Some provisions contained in the Executive Orders, such as those focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us.”

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, a Texas diocese on the border with Mexico, issued a lengthy condemnation of Trump’s plans, saying they “deeply affect our local community and raise urgent moral and human concerns.” 

The Department of Homeland Security’s decision to permit immigration raids in schools and churches “strikes fear into the heart of our community, cynically layering a blanket of anxiety on families when they are worshiping God, seeking healthcare, and dropping off and picking up children at school,” Seitz said.

In comments made during a Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said, “The Catholic community stands with the people of Chicago in speaking out in defense of the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers.”

Understandably, the cardinal also opposes attempts by “government agencies to enter places of worship for any enforcement activities.”

Other denominations, including Quakers, Presbyterians, Unitarians and the United Church of Christ have all publicly declared opposition to mass deportations and support for immigrants. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has declared itself a “sanctuary denomination.”

Underneath those declarations and public statements, untold numbers of groups, parishes, congregations, synagogues and organizations are making plans to blunt the Trump administration policies. Who knows? Trump, who declared in his inaugural address that his election was divinely ordained, may energize and unite mainline Christianity in the United States in a way we haven’t seen for decades.

In the meantime, one of God’s servants has intervened in a modest and respectful way, begging for mercy for the most vulnerable among us. It is an unremarkable ask for a Christian leader, but it may take remarkable action from the rest of us to see mercy served. 

N.B., Keep in mind that, politically speaking, both parties know there is a problem and have been trying to solve it.  That’s why it was so disappointing last year for both parties to agree on what to do—but Mr. Trump told Republicans to NOT sign the bill.  His reason for not wanting the border issue solved was that he wanted his campaign rallies to hear that HE will solve the problem. Sadly, voters have short memories and forget that he didn’t get both parties to agree in his first term!  Back then he made the same campaign promise and when millions crossed into the U.S.!  Bishop Budde, the Pope, and other denominations were not proposing a solution to border crossings.  Their appeal for compassion was no doubt made by clergy years ago when YOUR ancestors were being called swine and getting beat up (or killed) because they were “different” (the Irish, Polish, German, Italian, African, and other)children of God.

We’ve had feast days each weekend since Christmas but this weekend we are simply in what the Church designates as “Ordinary Time.”  We’re coming off the birth of Jesus and the Gospels beginning His story of God becoming incarnate (taking on flesh)—so where do we go from there?  Answer: his public life and, in John’s case, the first miracle of his public life: the wedding feast at Cana (at which Jesus changes water into wine) at the request of his mother.

A curious element of John’s Gospel is that he never mentions Mary’s name—while the other Gospels DO.  And yet, a powerful scene within his Gospel is at the crucifixion when Jesus tells John “Behold your mother” and tells her “Behold your son” (John).  Theologically, this touching scene has been understood to mean that John represents humanity and that in keeping with the theme of the Gospels that we are “brothers and sisters in Christ,” Jesus is reminding us one last time the heart of his “Catholic” (meaning “universal”) message.  Namely, he is the son of God and our brother—with Mary as our symbolic or adoptive mother.  The human race is NOT a bunch of unrelated tribes, nations, and ethnic groups—but one people—God’s children.

And yet, for John, she remains un-named in his Gospel.  Oddly enough, Islam’s sacred book, the Qu’ran, has an entire chapter devoted to Mary, and is named “Mary.”  She is the only woman mentioned by name in that holy book, and that name appears more times than it does in all the Gospels combined.  But in our non-Gospel way, many Christians think of Muslims as heathens when they are our cousins in the faith (along with our Jewish brothers and sisters).  Why do people who claim to be Christian get on the anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim bandwagon?  All 3 faith communities are within the Abrahamic faith tradition!! 

Scholars have long wondered why the Cana story is not found in the other 3 Gospels.  The great St. Thomas Aquinas thought the wedding might have been John’s!  And so, he reported the event.  However, later scholars hold that the apostle John was probably NOT the writer of this Gospel.  And why does the Gospel begin with a wedding that had water changed to wine. 

Well, maybe the following was at play.  Namely, audiences were already familiar with the major event in Israelite history known as the 10 plagues visiting Egypt.  ONE of those plagues was the Nile River water changing into blood.  Voila!  That story’s water being changed to blood foreshadowed the Christian eucharist.  Jesus said to regard the wine they drank as his “blood” and thus be his continued presence when the community “broke bread” at the “table of the Lord” (altar). 

Some Christian fundamentalist groups will say that Jesus changed the water into grape JUICE and not wine—thus not having his disciples consume an alcoholic beverage.  Some preachers will say that the Koine Greek word did not mean “wine” but “juice.”  However, when one holds to believing a falsehood, or a lie, there is nothing you can say to change their mind.  Reputable scholars who are well-versed in ancient near-east biblical languages—all say that the word John used meant “wine” and NOT “grape juice.”  Tell that to some fundamentalists and they will not accept the truth.

This same pattern of denial exists within what some call the Trump cult.  60 courts ruled AGAINST each allegation that Trump’s people raised (when saying the 2020 election was fixed).  Many of those courts were overseen by Trump-appointed judges.  Some of his aides and family members told him that he lost (which he admitted in rare interviews).  He had even made plans long in advance of the election to protest if he DID lose.  But he still pushed what became known as “the big lie” saying that he actually won.  And now, some who are being appointed to his cabinet are being rewarded for still pushing “the big lie.”  He know they will support whatever he says—be it truthful or not.  His nominee for Attorney General is one such person—doing what his former Attorney General would not do (lie).  He fired Mr. Barr for holding to the truth.

Meanwhile, fundamentalists have the same mindset as Trump cultists.  They are presented with facts but reject them. In biblical studies, this topic uses the following terms.  When one translates a text accurately and objectively—without bringing their prejudices or personal opinions to the topic, one is referred to as a biblical “exegete.”  They are not influenced by thinking that is unrelated to the text’s original meaning within the original context.  By contrast, one who translates a text and who injects their bias is not doing an “exegesis” of the text, but an “eisegesis” (a “reading INTO the text” something that isn’t there.  E.g., I’m opposed to drinking alcohol, so I will make sure there is nothing in scripture that has heroes (especially Jesus) drinking alcohol. 

When there is a different opinion based on facts that are 50-50, reasonable people say the topic is a call that’s “to tough to make.”  However, when the evidence is 99% in one direction—and people cling to the 1%–there’s no changing the minds of the 1%.  In Mr. Trump’s case, he won votes for selling the “big lie” and bible scholars lost a segment of “Christians” to fundamentalism when saying Jesus drank wine.

Even Bishop Papias—a first-century Christian leader—knew people who knew Jesus, and he reported that Jesus said the finest wine would be in heaven.  Tell that to a fundamentalist, and they will tell you (with zero evidence or knowledge) that Bishop Papias was wrong. 

Since so much has been made of this political topic over the past few years, it seemed a timely example to use—especially since a result of this purely political strategy was this week’s presidential inauguration.   Enough voters were persuaded that 2020 was a “stolen” election—to illustrate that the lie “worked.”  This political topic isn’t made to replay the past election.  Rather—whatever the topic–each of us always needs to re-evaluate the “water” of our thinking—and ask God to refine it to produce wisdom in all matters we address.  Such is the story of Cana—Jesus changing the sterile water of our everyday thought into a symbolic wine of high quality.

If the above points are too provocative or uninteresting, points that all of us can learn from the Cana story are these: 1) Ask Jesus for help (as Mary did); 2) Be specific in your prayer when asking what needs change—water to wine; 3) do what he asks (as the waiter did); 4) realize that your life-efforts are intended to help others and make life better for them (as our political leanings must be our effort to serve the many and not the few).

With Martin Luther King Day being this week, here is a prayer formulated by a clergyman who inspired him:

Open unto us/me, light for our/my darkness
Open unto me, courage for my fear   Open unto me, hope for my despair
Open unto me, peace for my turmoil
Open unto me, joy for my sorrow
Open unto me, strength for my weakness
Open unto me, wisdom for my confusion
Open unto me, forgiveness for my sins
Open unto me, tenderness for my toughness                                          Open unto me, love for my hates
Open unto me, Thy Self for myself    Lord, Lord, open unto me!

Today’s 2^nd reading from Corinthians noted that we each have our special contribution to make.  The following lyrics are from a spiritual that Martin Luther King liked to quote:

If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill, be a scrub in the valley. 

But be the best little scrub on the side of the rill. 

Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.  If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. 

If you can’t be the sun, be a star. 

For it isn’t by size that you win or you fail, be the best of whatever you are.  

Last week, we had the baptism of a beautiful little girl.  As I’ve mentioned many times, when we see such a darling innocent, and feel all sorts of affection for this gift from heaven, we get some sense that God has the same sort of affection for each of us.  Even though we might be mature and respected members of some community, we are needy infants in God’s eyes. 

I make the above point so often that I seek new theological “material” to offer for reflection on the topic of God’s love for each of us.  Today’s first reading provided it.  This is what the first reading said: “God’s delight in us is like a bridegroom rejoicing in his bride.  Just so does your God rejoice in you.” 

Try and recall how you felt when falling in love with a special someone.  That flurry of emotion and thought that you had back then—is what God feels for you. 

On the day we inaugurate a felon as president, we also honor a King—M. L. King.  Unlike the felon’s message, the King spoke wisdom in stories such as this one.

A little girl who wandered away from home, and could not be found when people went to search.  Community leaders said that everyone should gather in the field, hold hands, and walk together over the brush and meadows to search for the child.  Finally, they found the little girl—dead.  And that night, the mother wept quietly saying over and over again: “If only we had held hands yesterday.”

Such was the point of Martin Luther King’s preaching and teaching.  It was also the preaching and teaching of Jesus.  And should be what each of us holds as our own.