The tears of a Father for His only Son splash over us today as the cup of salvation is poured out. In the ringing silence of this moment we find ourselves asking, “Can I drink of this cup?” Can I become this man’s disciple?

Today the cross fascinates the curious. What does the crucifixion mean? Jesus is not on show here. We do not watch him die. He beckons us to die with him. Julian of Norwich says He invites us onto the Cross to be scourged and nailed by the angry and Godless who have been blinded and deafened by the world.

God chose the cross because it fulfills his expectation for the Son of Man. Death on the Cross means to suffer and to die as someone rejected and expelled, as was He by the people He came to save: the People He loves.

To become his disciple is to make a commitment to this person now hanging from a tree, this man who is scourged and pierced; this person who today, all over the world suffers because God loves Him.

Be warned, this commitment places the disciple under the law of Christ which is complete self-sacrificing love. Make no mistake everything depends on your decision to “take up your cross and follow me.”

Whoever enters discipleship enters Jesus’ death and puts his own life into death; this has been so from the beginning. There will be risks; there will be a leaving of comfort zones and individual conveniences. The cross, after all is not a horrible end to a pious life but rather the beginning of community with Jesus. Being alone in this community will be difficult because we never do anything outside communion. Every call of Christ leads to death.

The wounds that will be struck here, and the scars every Christian receives from the struggle, are living signs of the community of the cross with Jesus. Nor does the disciple suffer alone. They gather, as the Church gathers, to receive the blows and the insults of a world of stone throwers, a world of the lost and unguided.

The communal history of the Church is filled with martyrdom. Our discipleship, should we choose to accept it, will be today tomorrow and always for Christ, who gave his body into the hands of those who live in darkness without the light.

If disciples choose to accept their baptism, it means they no longer accept the self. It means seeing only Jesus, who goes ahead of all of us increasing the Truth by decreasing the darkness of sin.

How does a disciple know the cross, come to recognize it in the community of Jesus? They encounter it in the surrender of their will to God’s, in their struggle to perfect the virtues, in their shared ‘agonia’ on Calvary, and in their individual and communal martyrdom.

If the disciple is willing to become a member of this ‘community of burnt men,’ then they will risk the joy of scourging and hanging on the cross. Yes my friends, Christians are in deed ‘signs of contradiction’ in the world, they are ‘salt for the earth,’ they enhance the flavor of God’s holy Word in a complacent world.

Their only sorrow comes from being ashamed of Jesus and taking offense at his rejection. Read the history of the Christian life and you will encounter men, women and even children who amid horrific torment experience the most extreme joy!

“Let this cup pass from me? No, let the disciple drink of this cup completely for this is the reason Jesus came into this world: to glorify God.

But, “can you drink the cup?”

It is a life commitment not so unfamiliar to the world. Once committed, we will hear a voice; gently but firmly cry out, “BE NOT AFRAID, CAST YOUR NETS OUT INTO THE DEEP FOR A CATCH.” Today we meet Jesus at the point of death. Jesus will not allow us to stagnate here. He will not allow the salt of the earth to loose its flavor.

Here in King of Prussia, we are becoming a community that embraces the true dignity of the person and will always seek the integral conversion of everyone to Christ through correct catechesis, prayer and the seven sacraments.

We stretch out our arms, now as always, to embrace humanity and to lift it up to hear the Word of God proclaimed and lived! We are being sent from the Cross to free hearts to encounter, as we will, the true joy of being a member of God’s holy family.

This joy we share is a vivid reminder that obedience to the Cross makes our Catholic Church bold in its proclamation of forgiveness, audacious in our compassion for the sick and courageous in our search for the alienated, the despised and the poor. Christ is alive and we need not be afraid to say it and live like we really believe it!

As a parish, let us choose discipleship. Let us together embrace the Cross and as individuals obedient to His will, let us follow where he leads, and at the same time, recognize that we too are being followed by a God who seeks us out, who desires to find us and hold us dear.

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, we are never alone. We do not walk Calvary as strangers. We walk the Hill with Jesus; hand in hand; he leads us there, until in the end it is not you, or me nor any human being, nor any creature under heaven, but rather only Christ, who cries out to us today from the Cross, “Come, follow me!”

Today marks the beginning of a holy week of remembrance. Through Scripture, Song and Sacred Ritual, we commemorate Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. Our Parish Lenten journey leads us now to the gates of Jerusalem where ‘Jesus emptied Himself and accepted death on a cross.’ We come to this time and place, open to the wonders of Christ’s death; a power that brings new life to those who have lost hope, a home to the confused, and healing to those who suffer.

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It is on Calvary we find our noblest aspiration as human persons. Tertullian wrote: “The flesh is the hinge of salvation.” We believe in a God Who made Himself human in order to redeem us by the very flesh He gave us.

Jesus, the Son of God, freely suffered death for us in complete and free submission to the will of God. He asks nothing less from us. “By His death He has conquered death, and so opened the possibility of salvation for all of us (CCC, 1019).”

If we can identify with the Centurion of the Gospel, and stand with him beneath the Cross and say with him: “This indeed was the Son of God,” then we will enter more deeply these sacred moments and ponder the great mystery of God’s love for us.

 

How can God love so much and yet allow a person to be judged?  Every human person, even if they profess to be atheist or agnostic, searches for Truth and longs to encounter God in a personal and engaging way.

We experience the person of Jesus, in prayer, fasting and in almsgiving. We encounter God in His Son, sacrificed here on our Altar. It is here we find peace in our search for Truth; in this Way we gain eternal Life.

But there are those, even Catholics who reject the possibility of finding God here. They reject the idea of formal religion and cling to personal self-awareness as a means to happiness and fulfillment.

This rejection of God and of His Church is a person’s judgment. It is not God Who judges but rather the person who has condemned himself.  Man cannot love himself alone. He must accept God’s love for him as a vital part of his existence.

A student of Socrates once said to him, “I hate you for every time I meet you, you let me see what I am.” (p 131, Barclay) This physical sanctuary, this physical parish gathered, challenges even the most determined atheist. For some, our very presence is a threat to the persons they pretend to be.

These people have alienated themselves from God and have chosen darkness over light. In their shadows they will become lost, they will not find the truth they seek, or the life that will bring them hope or joy.

But, we can witness to our own encounter with God here in our gathering. In our consumption of the sacrifice we offer, and in our acceptance of the light of Christ that makes us a people of eternal hope. Paul proclaims it: ‘God is rich in mercy. He has great love for us.’

My dear friends, our lives in communion are a light in the world! Do not be afraid to let this light shine for the lost to see. Do not be afraid to be hospitable in welcoming those who have made themselves homeless. Open your hearts and demonstrate that the light you possess is for them a Way to see the Truth and the Life of God.

 

Today we welcome those who desire to enter into full communion with the Christ at Easter and encourage you in your searching and in your repentance of sin. The Scrutinies are meant to deliver you, the Elect from the power of Satan and sin, to protect you from temptation, and to give you strength in Christ. We hope that these Rites will help you complete your conversion and deepen your resolve to hold fast to Christ above everything else.

As we continue our meditation on the Lord’s Passion and Death, we find ourselves in the desert with our ancestors in faith. We find ourselves at the foot of the mountain of Sinai, here at the foot of the Altar. We listen as they once did to Word of God, spoken to us from human lips. We open our ears so these words can enter our heart.

However, we listen with hearts that are Christian. Our hearts have turned to Jesus and so we hear these words as a foundation of our faith in the Church. Paul says, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

In the Gospel, we confront the reality of our own spiritual lives when we acknowledge all the barnacles in life that stick to us; envy, greed, lies, selfishness, anger, busyness and perhaps disrespect of self and other.

Jesus tears them down like the tables in the Temple. He beckons us to listen for the authentic words of God and challenges us to cling to them! Be filled with the same zeal which David said consumed him. Grab a hold of the Word of God and believe in the power of His Name and in the Wisdom of His Life.

My friends, our God is good. He heals the wounds our sins and selfishness bring upon us. Let us acknowledge that our sinfulness hurts us and hurts the Body of Christ.

May our fasting, acts of charity and prayer fill us with hope and lead us to the Easter joy God desires to share with us.

Amen.

 

Today’s Gospel according to Mark is a wonderful inspiration for the beginning of our Lenten Journey. “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert.” (Mk. 1:12) You get this sense of a gale wind, picking Jesus up and almost carrying Him into solitude and silence.

And what happens to Jesus when He is alone and becomes quiet? Jesus is “tempted by Satan.” (Mk. 1:13)  Jesus was “among wild beasts.” (Mk. 1:13) We know what that feels like, don’t we, when temptations bother us and our conscience is reminding us of the right thing to do. What we can forget in those times is the finish of that sentence – “and the angels ministered to Him.” (Mk.1:13)

When we get temptations in our mind, we have our conscience to remind us what is right and we have the Angels, lifting our hearts to God to set our whole person in righteousness.

So, in the desert, that great metaphor of our life with God, we have a choice: God or Satan; good or evil; light or darkness.

And then Mark reminds us that Jesus comes here to King of Prussia to proclaim the “gospel of God:” “This is the time of fulfillment…repent and believe!” (Mk. 1:15)

I am looking for fulfillment in my life, aren’t you? What is going to make my life complete? What is the ultimate purpose of my life?

My friends, Jesus proclaims to us now, this very minute that if we want to find fulfillment, real and true, we have to “repent and believe.”

It is good to be driven out into solitude and silence by the Spirit where we will be tempted but where the angels will help us find our way: to fulfillment, to peace and the prosperity of holiness which are the only riches in this life that truly matter.

Together, let this be our parish’s prayer, “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.” (Psalm 25)