Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Lenten 4th Sunday Mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea this morning! Starting off with the Welcome & Greeting first thing, this worship really hit home for the Lenten Season and my Whole Season of Life! Celebrating the Sacred Mysteries; bring us to Everlasting Life with our proud devotion and Hebrew faith. Maybe it is me, post month-long Spiritual Journey to Israel & Palestine, but it seems Jesus as a Jew is as prevalent these days as Jesus’ 3-year ministry to launch Christianity. Probably just me…
One of the best sermons I ever heard or maybe needed to hear? Sermon given by Monsignor Keith Brennan…
Circumstances, Choices, Consequences, Reconciliation, New Beginnings…
When the folks of Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered The Promised Land three was a new beginning and new challenges. God ceased the manna from Heaven as noted in the First Reading from the Old Testament Book of Joshua:
Joshua 5:12: “The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.”
The Parable of The Prodigal Son from the Gospel reading from Luke first chronicles the younger son’s and father’s perspectives:
Luke 15:17-24: “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
Yet the older son’s reaction was quite different:
Luke 15:28-32: “But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”
“Ignore offense, hold no grudges, accept back, new beginning” versus “sulk, judgmentalism, woe is me, no new beginning.”
The father and younger son had a new beginning.
The father and the old son were distant with a new beginning hopefully in the future.
Circumstances, Choices, Consequences, Reconciliation, New Beginnings…
The catalyst? Reconciliation. And where does reconciliation come from?
God’s reconciliation with us and the world through His Son Jesus was evident in the Second Reading from the New Testament Book of 2nd Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 5:17-21: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
With sin comes the need for reconciliation… be reconciled with God through the Lenten Season! With reconciliation comes a New Beginning! (no Al-le-lu-ia possible until our hopeful Easter but this is certainly an Al-le-lu-ia moment as my Dad would occasionally proclaim in his later years!).
We are ambassadors for Christ. First reconcile ourselves to Christ and then, were possible with each other!
Are we not at one time or another a Prodigal Son of Our Father in Heaven?
A personal add-on from me:
Philippians 3:13-14: “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
May we have a meaningful Lenten Season and a hopeful Easter!
The time to act is now…
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