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Homilies are posted no later than during the week
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http://www.agreeley.com/homilies.html
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http://www.st.ignatius.net/pastor.html
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http://www.geocities.com/seapadre_1999/
* available in Spanish - see Spanish
homilies
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When You Give Alms
(February 6, 2008)
Bottom line: We have three tasks for Lent: Prayer, fasting and - in a
particular way this year - almsgiving.
Today we begin the season of Lent. Shortly, we will we receive ashes in
the form of a cross. It dramatizes the purpose of these forty days: to
unite ourselves with Jesus in his Passion, Death and Resurrection. The
question this morning is: How does a person make a "good Lent"? What
will I do differently during these six weeks?
In his message for Lent 2008 Pope Benedict gave some concrete
suggestions. He recalls the three basic Lenten "tasks" - prayer,
fasting and almsgiving. Sometimes people think that these practices are
passé, that Jesus has somehow spiritualized everything. You
know, it's the 21st century - we don't have to get on our knees, or
reach into our wallets or pass up a tempting dessert. For those who
have fallen into a vague "spirituality," I ask them to re-read today's
Gospel. Jesus does not say, "If you fast." He says, "When you fast." He
does not say, "If you feel like praying." He says, "When you pray." Nor
does he say, "Give if you happen to have something extra." No, he says,
"When you give alms."
That last penitential practice - almsgiving - is what the Holy Father
focuses on in this 2008 message. He notes that Jesus "became poor for
us." That is what Lent, and especially Holy Week, is about: Jesus'
abject poverty, his self-emptying for our salvation. He became poor for
us so that we might become rich. Becoming rich refers to sharing God's
life. It also includes temporal blessings. They are a sign of God's
goodness, his abundance. Jesus puts those things in our hands, says
Pope Benedict, so that we can assist those in need. That is what we
mean by almsgiving.
The pope points out that giving alms not only helps the person who
receives. More important, it helps the person who gives. Almsgiving,
says the pope, is "an exercise in self-denial to free us from
attachment to worldly goods." The force of material riches attracts us
and they can easily become an idol. If that happens, we cut ourselves
off from God. Jesus said, "You cannot serve God and mammon." The person
who gives alms rejects the idol of mammon and, instead, serves God.
We will have wonderful opportunities for almsgiving during Lent.
Support of your parish, of course, takes first place. I am not saying
this because I am your pastor. I'm saying because the parish is where
we receive the Sacraments and hear the Word of God. The parish,
moreover, helps organize and focus our service to brothers and sisters.
Beyond the parish and the diocese, we do what we can to reach out to
the poor in our world. A good way of doing this is by taking home the
Rice Bowl. If you are like me, you will need a child's help to form
this cardboard into a container. But when you do, you can place it on
your dining table. The Rice Bowl will remind of the three tasks:
fasting, prayer and almsgiving. I know that sometimes people feel
stretched. That's all right. We need to recognize the source of all we
have. Christ became poor for our sake. Almsgiving unites us with his
self-giving.
As your receive the ashes at this Mass, I invite you to make a good
Lent: to do some voluntary fasting, to find new moments for prayer and
- in response to the message of the Holy Father - help the needy and
yourself by giving alms. Welcome to Lent!
**********
Spanish Version
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http://www.saintvincentarchabbey.org/homilies/index.lasso
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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/lowhome.html Meeting Christ in the Liturgy
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Ash Wednesday
Joel 2, 12-18; Psalm 51; 2 Cor 5, 20-6,2; Matthew 6, 1-6. 16-18
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
LENT. Ashes. Fasting. Fish on Fridays. These and many more things come
to mind as we begin again this most important period of preparation in
the Church year. Though the Church requires fasting and abstinence,
these are not the most important things about Lent. Fasting and
abstinence are no help to us unless they move us to deeper prayer,
bring us to a deeper commitment to the most important truths about our
life in Christ: baptism, forgiveness of sins and a share in the
Resurrection through conversion of heart and mind.
The Catechism speaks of this conversion:
...Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one's
brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies,
and prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping
up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart,
purity of heart, and seeking the Kingdom before all else.(Mt 5:23-24,
44-45; 6:7, 14-15, 21, 25, 33.) These are the works of Lent, and the
reason for fasting and abstinence.
The Church from very early in her life has celebrated baptism for
converts each Easter. The aspects of fasting, penance, and other
disciplines of Lent, came into custom in imitation of our Lord in the
desert and as a way of helping those already baptized to spiritually
renew their own baptismal life. These are celebrated in anticipation of
the resurrection promised to all the baptized in Christ's own rising
from the dead on that first Lord's Day.
Let us pray for all who are preparing to enter the Church at Easter,
whether through baptism or profession of our Roman Catholic faith for
the first time. And may our own fasting, penance, almsgiving and prayer
be the seeds which promise a more abundant life in Jesus Christ our
Risen Lord.
Let us pray for one another until, next week, we again "meet Christ in
the liturgy"---Father Cusick
(Publish with permission.) www.christusrex.org/www1/mcitl/
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http://www.ctk-thornbury.org.uk/
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Contact Father at cbonar@cfl.rr.com;
information about his book of homilies is available at www.clydebonar.com.
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These
homilies may be copied and adapted for your own use; however, they may
not be
commercially published without permission of the author.
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