As people of faith, we are all on a journey toward God. The reason we go to church or call ourselves Christians is our desire to be with God when our earthly journey is over. Our faith teaches us that there is life after death and that we shall live in eternity with God if we keep His commandments and remain in His ways. Our love for God draws us toward Him and fuels our desire to be with Him. Although our human imperfections make it difficult to remain faithful to God’s ways all the time, God’s mercies sustain our hope and give us reason to keep trying to stay in God’s paths regardless of our shortcomings.
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After celebrating Mass recently for my University of Dallas students in a chapel just a few feet from the bones of St. Peter, I mused on what the fisherman would think of the overwhelming grandeur of the basilica that houses his mortal remains. Many would suspect that his simple Galilean sensibilities would be repulsed by the opulence and gilded pomp of the place, and that thought did cross my mind; but that solution strikes me as too facile and puritanical. My hunch is that Peter would consider the final resting place of his bones, the rock on which this church and the Church are built, to be a fitting reward, a capstone for his efforts to love the Lord.
In 2008 I arrived in Minnesota, where I lived for two years. Coming to Minnesota directly from Nigeria was a huge change. Of course, anyone who knows both Minnesota and Nigeria will know what I’m talking about — it’s the weather! Nigeria is warm — I mean hot — most of the year, with dry heat most of the time. I was born and raised there, so I love it, regardless, and I’m used to it and it’s no surprise. (But I have to admit that I do still complain when it gets too hot.)
At Cistercian, we had an incredible view of the total eclipse on April 8. After weeks of wondering whether the weather forecast would prove true – total cloud cover and even rain – we excitedly noticed the sun piercing through the clouds just as the school was processing to the abbey to celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Clouds continued to diminish during Mass, and afterward we walked with gratitude to the football field to await totality.
There is a tendency to picture one’s discernment, whether the lifelong vocation question or a smaller decision, as a tense and perilous choice in an all-or-nothing, heaven or hell moment.
During this last Easter, as in every Easter season, many people came into the Church, either through the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation and Eucharist) or through reception into full communion with the Catholic Church. These are great moments for the Church and for those who are coming into it. These candidates usually go through a period of formation before reception of the sacraments in order to learn more about their faith and the journey they’re about to undertake.
Lent is a season dedicated to conversion. It is a period of self-reflection, resolution, and anticipation. We must change our ways and grow. Easter is dedicated to celebrating the revelation of God’s infinite mercy, the new life and grace He showers upon us as He forgives us all our sins, heals all our infirmities, and even enables us to pass through death to share in His divine love forever.
I was deeply impressed by the answer a fellow priest gave recently to a question that I ponder frequently. When asked to name one unifying cause for the troubles that plague us as American Catholics, he simply said, “I think we try to avoid suffering at any cost.”
No easy interpretation of Genesis 22 exists. The account of God’s test of Abraham is truly awe-ful. It gives us no psychological insights into the heart of Abraham or Isaac, and the sparse narrative details — the three days’ journey, the binding of Isaac upon the altar, the dramatic angelic intervention to stay Abraham’s knife — are terrifying in their raw simplicity. Yet these verses offer wondrous cause for meditation on the mystery of sacrifice.
As Catholic priests, there are certain activities and rituals that we carry out as part of our priestly duties, functions, and ministry. These functions include celebrating the Mass, hearing confessions, giving a homily/reflection, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, etc. These are functions or activities that we carry out mostly on a daily basis. For me, as for many other priests, it is a blessing and privilege to exercise this ministry and to carry out these functions. I cannot measure the sanctifying grace it brings to me and the joy I feel when I carry out these ministerial duties.