Beloved in Christ,
  
                                                    On Hidden Crosses and Images
​
 In our first reading for this Sunday’s mass, the Prophet Isaiah says, “See, I am doing something new!” (43:19). Indeed, God is doing something new in our lives. As we approach Holy Week, we see “new” vistas to liturgical worship to assist us in navigating the sacred paschal mystery that unfolds. One of those liturgical acts is the tradition of covering crosses and images from this Sunday (in the past, the church read the Passion narrative on the fifth Sunday in lent) until the end of the celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday and until the beginning of the Easter Vigil respectively.
 
Why do we veil our crosses and images in Church from this Sunday? The custom dates back to a ninth-century tradition in Germany when they cover the altar with a “hungertuch” (hunger cloth) at the beginning of lent to signify to the primarily illiterate laity that lent has commenced. Symbolically and spiritually, it instructs us about the hiddenness of Christ and the hiddenness of our lives in this world until final redemption when the Lord removes the veil. Then we get to know and see the beauty of our Lord and our lives fully (1 Cor 13: 12). For practical purposes, the veiling of crosses and images adds to the intensity of our preparations for the Easter celebrations. When we walk into the church on Sunday and during weekday masses, we shall notice the hiddenness of the beauty and the contemplation they inspire. Hiding crosses and images get us to listen more attentively to the proclamation of the passion of Christ narratives from the Gospel.
 
Will you do the same at home? Will your family cover all the crosses and sacred images simultaneously as the church? It will be a pious tradition to pass on to your children. It will be striking to unveil the hidden beauty as a family just before Easter Vigil.
 
This Sunday, at the 10:30 am Mass, we celebrate the third scrutiny for our Elect Sadie Fleming. We also pray for  candidates, Kylie Tobias and Steve Gump. We continue to accompany them with our prayers.
 
In Christ,
Fr. Bernard, OP
 

Beloved in Christ, 
                                                       Return to the Father’s Joy
​
 Today is known as Laetare (Rejoice) Sunday! The entrance antiphon to this Sunday’s mass from Is 66: 10-11 encourages us to rejoice, to be joyful. The rose-colored vestments, flowers-decorated altar, and temporary restoration of instrumental music in the liturgy symbolize the Easter joy this Sunday anticipates. As we anticipate the joy we shall celebrate at Easter, let us not lose focus of our goal: repentance- a change of our mind and heart toward a fuller and joyful self-gifting to God and his will. Let’s not forget that God wants to restore us to the life of grace we lost through sin.
 
We reflected on the urgency of the call to repentance last Sunday. This week we contemplate God’s fatherly patience and steadfast love for us. Let’s consider repentance from the father's abundant merciful love for his two sons in the familiar parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15: 1-3, 11-32). We see in the father an unconditional love for his wayward sons. And I include the prodigal son's elder brother as needy of the father’s merciful love. The out-of-the-way and excessive demonstration of mercy is the new direction Christ is leading us as we contemplate repentance. There are elements of the younger son and the older son in each of us. We sin by rejecting God like the younger son and whenever we feel self-righteous like the older son. The younger son was extravagant, selfish, and wasteful of God’s grace until he came to his senses after hitting the bottom of his sinful life by the movement of grace. The older son is prideful and self-centered; he feels he has earned the father’s reward. The condition of both sons is sinful, and it is only through the father’s generous love and mercy that they get reconciled to him.
 
With joy, let us celebrate the unconditional and abundant love of the Father. Then, let us return to the father in humility and a contrite heart that God never rejects (Ps.51:17). Additional opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation are made available for us during the season of Lent. Let us return home to embrace the Father’s generous love and mercy (Eph. 2:4).
 
Have you considered returning to the Father’s love in the sacrament of reconciliation during this Lenten season?
 
In His Merciful Love,
 
Fr. Bernard, O.P.

 
Beloved,                                                                           
                                                                          Metanoia Now!
 
“But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” (Lk 13:5). Those were the words of Jesus to the tragic events that bedeviled Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifice and the eighteen people who died when the tower oat Siloam fell on them. The lesson to be learned from these Galileans' sudden, tragic death is not the punishment due to their sin or being worse sinners than those who narrated the news of their death to Jesus. Instead, the lesson for us is the urgency to repent and cease to resist God’s mercy and kindness in offering us forgiveness of sins repented.
 
Now, today is the day for us to make a U-turn from our sinful ways to a life of grace. Now, not later, tomorrow is the time to repent, to do penance, to be open to the transformation of consciousness. Today is the time to embrace a new way of thinking, a renewal of mind, a change of vision, and attitudes. This shift in mindset is what the New Testament Greek calls Metanoia. It is an urgent request; we can’t afford to push it to another day.
 
Seeing the tragic death of children and innocent ones in Ukraine and our own country due to violence makes us call to mind the bad things that can happen to good people. Sometimes, it is the suddenness and unexpectedness of the good. This is why Jesus is giving us, as he did his Jewish listeners, the wake-up call, a warning not to procrastinate. God is patient and lenient, but the period of grace of mercy is not forever; there is a time limit. The parable of the fig tree illustrates this. If we are not productive of the good fruit of repentance within the time given us, we may miss the opportunity. Why delay? Why put till tomorrow what you can do NOW? Metanoia Now! Repent of sin now, not later. Time to change perspective and consciousness is not limitless—this season of Lent is the defining, kairotic moment.
 
Will you do a Holy Spirit-inspired examination of conscience today and go to confession this week? Additional opportunities are provided during Lent in our parish to receive the Sacrament of healing, confession, reconciliation, and penance. Repent, or perish. Metanoia Now!
 
This third Sunday of Lent, we hold First Scrutiny for our parish Elect, Sadie Fleming. Please offer prayers for Sadie as she prepares for the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil.
 
Don’t forget to celebrate the Annunciation of the Lord this Friday by attending mass.
 
In His Mercy and Compassion,
 
 Fr. Bernard

 
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
                                                                      Grief and Glory
 
As I write this message, the entire globe focuses attention on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian military force's violence upon Ukrainians reaches us via television and social media. But, as with Ukrainians, it is with many other people in other climes that we don’t get to see on TV and social media. Griefs and sorrows attend to a great swath of humanity as we speak. Equally, on personal or individual levels, we know of sorrows and griefs consequent upon our experiences of suffering and pain. Jesus’ disciples also had this notion of suffering. Before the account in Lk 9:28-38, Jesus had instructed his disciples about the need to carry their crosses daily and follow him. Before explaining the cost of discipleship to them, Jesus revealed in verse 22 of Lk 9 that “The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” The prognosis of sufferings, sorrows, and grief must have drained the hope and confidence of his followers.
 
The manifestation of his glory to his closest disciples, Peter, John, and James, on the Mount of Transfiguration is not only a fulfillment of the Law and the prophets; it was also meant to boost the faith and hope of his followers whenever they experience misery in life. The manifestation of God’s presence on the mountain is designed to strengthen Jesus himself when he faces his agony from Gethsemane to Golgotha. It is also to boost the hope and faith of his followers when they experience suffering and tragedy in the course of living their faith in God. As St. Leo the Great wrote, “The principal aim of the Transfiguration was to banish from the disciples’ souls the scandal of the Cross.” Jesus provides a source of consolation for them amid their sorrows due to the cross they will be called to carry.
 
In whatever condition of suffering, no matter the woes and griefs that we may experience in life, we are reminded of the great manifestation of Jesus’ glory. When we remain with him, and in his presence like Peter, John, and James, Jesus will console us and strengthen our faith. Staying in His presence is what we should aim to do more during this Lent- find and dwell long in the consoling and strengthening presence of Jesus. Praying to him, especially in His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, is a unique way of beholding his divine glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. In His heavenly glory, we retrieve his grace to live through whatever grief we may experience in life due to the suffering and tragedy that is our human lot.
 
Will you spend quality time with Jesus and experience His glory in Eucharistic Adoration? When we come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we are on a kind of mountain of Transfiguration where like Peter, we say to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here….” Come to Jesus; it is good to be in his presence. Come to adore his glory in the Holy Eucharist. Let him restore your hope and faith amid miseries that may be turning your lives upside down. In the glory of his presence in the Eucharist, we draw hope and faith to see us through the sorrows and sadness life throws at us. Jesus’ love and life outlast any sadness and grief. Come walk with him during his passion as we pray the Stations of the Cross on Fridays in Lent at 7 pm. I invite you to come to stay with Jesus.
 
In Christ, 
 
Fr. Bernard, O.P.
 

​Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
 
                                   The Temptations of Jesus
 
 I love "The Temptations." Yes, you read me correctly. I am a fan of The Temptations, an R&B musical band from Michigan. To be precise, I love their brand of soul songs not only because I consider one of their well-known songs, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," a secular version of Solomon's Song of Songs. Also, I am fascinated by the band's name without the article "the": Temptation. Why would I love temptations? Who loves to be tempted? We have all been tempted to do what we know we should not do, and as Christ's Faithfuls, we often wish we did not have to go through temptations and pray against falling into them when we say the Lord's Prayer. Yet, I love temptations for this reason: Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan in the desert. Jesus' temptations in the wilderness after fasting for forty days and his victory over them cast my daily temptations in a new light. Temptation is a test of my love for God, and I love the fact that Jesus was tempted and successfully resisted his temptations which helps me see that my temptations are opportunities for me to live in the light and power of Jesus Christ. Temptations and victory over them are indications of God's sufficient grace in bearing testimony to our love for him over anything he created. 
 
 Jesus was tempted. Like us, the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the incarnate God experienced temptations. He was not only tempted at the end of his fasting and prayer but also at other times. We recall, for instance, his agony in the garden of Gethsemane when thoughts that were against God's will passed through his mind (Matthew 26: 36-56). Jesus' temptation offers us an excellent place to begin our lent. Many of us fasted and abstained from meat on Ash Wednesday, not without temptations. We are often more prone to temptations when we are weak. We are bombarded with thoughts and situations that threaten our will and resolution to make sacrifices in the biblical way to aid our spiritual campaign and conversion to God. 
 
 Why did Jesus allow himself to be tempted? What are the lessons to be drawn from his temptation in the desert? When his fasting and prayers were over, the gospel, according to Luke 4: 1-13, tells us that the devil tempted Jesus in the areas of hunger, worship, and power. So how does Jesus' experience of temptations instruct us on how to face and overcome our temptations to sin? According to St. Thomas Aquinas in part 3, Question 41 of his Summa Theologica, there are four related reasons and lessons derived from Jesus' temptation:
 
1. His temptation strengthens us against the temptations that will inevitably assail us post-baptism. 
2. By his temptations, he lets us know that no matter how holy and pious you are, a Christian will never be spared the hardship of temptations.
3. He makes himself a mediator in overcoming our temptations by providing us with his example.
4. Jesus' temptation was aimed to "fill us with confidence in His mercy." 
 
 How do you fight temptations? Will you commit more intentionally to fasting, Scriptures, and prayers as ways of overcoming temptations during this year's Lent? 
 
 In Christ,           Fr. Bernard, O.P.