Homily Archives

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for Holy Week 2011/2020

Palm or Passion Sunday
Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

“Say to daughter Zion, “Behold, your king shall come to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” (Mt. 21:5)

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.” (Mt. 5: 5)

Both of the above quotes, the first from the Gospel of Matthew during the procession with the palms in this morning’s Liturgy, and the second from the Sermon on the Mount, refer to Jesus as being meek. Let’s take a moment to look at this word. The word meek, as used by Matthew in his Gospel, is meant to carry the meaning of gentleness, humility, courtesy in dealing with others. Usually in English it carries the meaning of being timid, maybe even cowardly or submissive to another. These meanings do not apply to Matthew’s Gospel. The “land” or “earth” spoken of here literally is Palestine. In the Beatitude, it means Kingdom.

Jesus said to his disciples in Mt. 11: 29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.” Here Jesus invites the burdened to take the yoke of obedience to his word, under which they will find rest and peace. This makes for a different interpretation of the word meek than we find in the common use of the word today.

For that matter, we don’t hear the word meek used very often in common conversation today. At least, I don’t. Meekness, gentleness, humility are not the ways people today get what they want. Once again, the vocabulary of the world and that of the disciple of Jesus is different. Jesus wants his disciples to be calm, considerate, respectful, aware of the rights of others, just, giving everyone their due. This time of the Passion certainly shows the meekness of Jesus being submissive to his persecutors and going meekly to his death on the cross.

St. Bonaventure, in a sermon preached in Paris on Oct. 4, 1255, noted the importance of the virtue of meekness in the life of St. Francis of Assisi (Francis of Assisi, Early Documents, II, pp. 518-519.) Here Bonaventure writes, “ We ought to learn meekness, which is utterly necessary, from St. Francis. He cherished meekness not only toward other people, but also toward dumb animals. Even wild animals came running to him as their friend and companion.” Bonaventure goes on to tell us that meekness is necessary to the pursuit of truth both in those learning and those who teach; it is necessary for the inward and outward practice of virtue, to make right judgments, for without it others are not corrected but destroyed. Finally, he says, meekness is necessary to attain eternal life. The meek person does not create favoritism toward persons, but will care for both the lesser and the greater. The meek person is simple. He should posses only what is necessary for his needs. He should be someone who comforts the afflicted.

Meekness is quite a virtue when you take the time to uncover all its many facets. Where do I find myself in my life with the virtue of meekness? Do I see in myself a gentle person, a humble person, a person who is courteous and respectful in my relationships with others? Am I calm and considerate or do I find myself often becoming angry and frustrated with others?

Let’s all spend a little time during this Holy Week thinking of this virtue of meekness, of its many demands on us, and how entrenched it is in our own lives. It will be worth the effort for our spiritual growth.

Fr. Howard

Monday of Holy Week 
John 12: 1-11, Isaiah 42: 1-7

The first reading in this Liturgy for the Monday of Holy Week is from the Prophet Isaiah and serves as an introduction, if you will, of the servant of the Lord: “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my Spirit.” Isaiah then proceeds to list the identifying marks of the servant of the Lord that all of us are called to be.

The first mark of the Christian Servant given by Isaiah is the virtue we spoke of yesterday on Palm Sunday: meekness or gentleness. Christian ministry needs a certain amount of tenderness to go along with it. I sense that people have a difficult time seeing meekness, tenderness, or gentleness in myself. In order to do so, you have to break through the surface. I have a rather powerful voice when I want to use it and can present a gruff manner. I cannot remember how many people have asked me whether or not I was ever a drill sergeant in the army! But once you get through this surface stuff, you will discover that I am an emotional marsh mellow, compassionate and very gentle. Do people see meekness, humility, gentleness, tenderness, when they look at you?

The second mark of the servant is boldness. The meek person is not a wimp. The meek person stands up for what he/she believes. The meek are not people who can be pushed here and there. The meek speak freely of their ideals and values; they boldly proclaim Jesus as their way, truth, and life.

Thirdly, along with the meekness goes a costliness. There is often pain associated with being the follower, the servant of Christ, but it is likened to the pain of a woman giving birth to a child that eventually gives way to joy and happiness.

And finally, along with gentleness, boldness and costliness comes the mark of mightiness. There is nothing weak about the ministry of the servant. All of this can be summed up in a few words by saying the Servant of Jesus Christ is like Christ himself, a gentle giant.

On this Monday of Holy Week, let us pause for some quiet time and look into ourselves. Do we see in ourselves the marks or at least the semblance of the marks of the follower of Christ? Where do we need to grow? Which mark or marks do I need to work on the most?

Lord, help me to continue to grow as your faithful follower and servant.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of Holy Week 
John 13: 21-33, 36-38

“Will you lay down your life for me? Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times.”

“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” (Mt. 16: 18.)

As with so many people in Scripture, it is possible to read something good about them in one place and read about a defect they have in another place. So it is with the two quotes about St. Peter given above. In the one instance, Peter is told by Christ that he will deny him three times. In the other, Christ takes this weak but loving follower, Peter, and makes him the head of his church here on earth. This causes me to look at myself. On the one hand I see a gifted and talented person, a good person and one loved by God. On the other hand, I see a sinner, one who chooses his own will over the will of Jesus’ way every day. And this revelation of myself goes to remind me that all of us, as human beings, are not either/or but rather both/and. We are not either good or ignorant, but rather both good and ignorant.

During this time of Holy Week, let us look at the both/and side of our human nature. Sometimes I just stop, scratch my head, and wonder how I can do some of the things I do and at the same time profess to be a follower of Jesus and a lover of my neighbor. I wonder how I can admire so and so as a good and talented person and in the next breath repeat some gossip I heard about him or her. I wonder how I can say I love God first and foremost and at the same time push daily prayer aside for my own “important” things.

Let’s all take a little time on this Tuesday of Holy Week and examine this both/and paradox in our own lives. What can we do about it?

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of Holy Week 
Isaiah 50: 4-9

Today is Wednesday of Holy Week and we are getting closer and closer to the cross. Isaiah writes: “Morning after morning he opens my ears that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” We must learn to listen to God before we can speak. When the ear has been opened, when we pay attention to what Jesus has said, then we can open our lips and speak. We must listen before we speak and listen more than we speak.

We are reminded of another place in the Scriptures here where the Lord speaks to the boy Samuel. Samuel has to learn to say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” (ISam. 3:10.) It was only after he listened that he was given the responsibility of passing on what he had heard to others. This only makes sense. I have to listen to someone before I can say what they said. I have to pay attention to the details before I can pass them on to others. In practicing the 12 Steps of Spirituality, for example, I have to work Steps 1 through 11 before I reach Step 12 where I am told to pass this message on to other alcoholics. No one can give what he/she does not have.

On this Wednesday of Holy Week, let us all ask ourselves if we don’t sometimes get this whole process backwards. Do we speak before we have taken the time and patience to listen? This is where prejudice comes from. In fact, that is exactly what the word prejudice means, to make a judgment before knowing the facts. This is where falsehood comes from. Do I blunder into this occasionally?

Fr. Howard

Holy Thursday, Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper 
John 13:1-15

For the Holy Thursday Liturgy I would suggest you follow the road map passed out for the parish or the church where you are attending the Liturgy. Things have been changed somewhat here and there and the Liturgy may vary from place to place.

Traditionally, the Chrism Mass is celebrated on Holy Thursday. Many places now make a special celebration out of the Chrism Mass and celebrate it before Holy Week. In this ritual the Holy Oils used in the administration of the various Sacraments are consecrated by the Bishop. There are three oils used by the Church on particular occasions: The oil of the catechumens is used in the Sacrament of Baptism. The oil of the sick is used in the Sacrament of the Sick. And, thirdly, the Chrism is used in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders.

The Chrism Mass also pays honor to the priests who serve the people of God. On our part, let us remember today to say a special prayer for all our priests.

In todays Liturgy, the Church remembers the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist. This is the greatest of all the gifts our Lord has given us. He gave us Himself; his flesh for our spiritual food and his precious blood for our spiritual drink. How grateful we should be for these very special gifts.

Finally, Our Liturgy today is a memorial of the commission we all have from Christ to serve one another. This ritual is taught in the washing of the feet of some of the congregation by the Celebrant of the Mass. Service to others is the very essence of discipleship. As Jesus served us, so we are to serve others.

Our Holy Thursday Liturgy, then, is about blessing the holy oils, honoring the priesthood, Eucharist and service. Let us thank God this evening for his many gifts and renew our commitment to follow in his footsteps.

Fr. Howard

Celebration of the Lord’s Passion (GOOD FRIDAY) 
The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

The Liturgy of Good Friday is divided into the Liturgy of the Word, the General Intercessions, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion. There is no Mass as such on Good Friday.

Today’s Liturgy ends the Passion of the Lord. Tomorrow evening we will celebrate the Vigil of Easter and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. Our season of Lent again comes to its conclusion. If one thing stands out for me during the season of Lent, it is the virtue of humility. We began Lent with the imposition of ashes on our heads and the humbling reminder that we are dirt and will return to dirt. All of the various rituals of Lent remind us of our obligation as disciples to humbly serve God and our neighbor. Holy Thursday evening we read how Jesus humbly washed the feet of his disciples and urged us to do the same with each other. Today we witness Jesus dying humbly upon the cross for our sins. And again on Holy Thursday evening, we remembered Jesus giving himself to us in Eucharist, his greatest act of humble love to all of us.

All of this talk about the virtue of humility reminds me of what St. Francis of Assisi wrote in his Letter to the Entire Order. I would like to include that writing in this homily for Good Friday:

Let everyone be struck with fear,
let the whole world tremble,
and let the heavens exult
when Christ, the Son of the Living God,
is present on the altar in the hands of a priest!

O sublime humility!
O humble sublimity!
The Lord of the universe,
God and the Son of God,
so humbles Himself
that for our salvation
He hides himself
under an ordinary piece of bread!

Brothers and sisters, look at the humility of God,
and pour out your hearts before Him!
Humble yourselves,
that you may be exalted by Him!
Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves,
that He Who gives Himself totally to you
may receive you totally.

Let us close now with the beautiful words of Micah the Prophet: “You have been told, O my people, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Lord Jesus, help us always to walk humbly with our hand in yours.

Fr. Howard

THE EASTER VIGIL AND THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Mt. 28: 1-10

The Easter Vigil and the Feast of the Resurrection are both celebrations of light and new life. There is an ancient homily that has come down to us that was preached on Holy Saturday centuries ago. The Homilist related that after Jesus died on the cross, he went in search of our first parent, Adam, looking for him as a shepherd would seek a lost sheep. When he finally found him, Jesus took Adam by the hand and raised him up, saying, “Awake, O Sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

In this homily, Jesus raises Adam from Sheol, the underground, where those just souls went who died while the gates of heaven were still closed. In order to rise again, Adam received the light of Christ, the Light of the World. Our own resurrection, then, is new life brought to be by the light of Christ.

Last evening’s Liturgy of the Vigil was all about the light of Christ at its very beginning. The new fire was lit and then the Paschal Candle and then the smaller candles of the faithful were also lit. This is a beautiful and meaningful ritual when the whole Church is lit by nothing but the candles of the faithful. The Paschal Candle, signifying Christ, is then placed in the sanctuary where it will remain until the Feast of Pentecost. The Easter Proclamation is then sung about Jesus being the light and savior of humankind.

We are raised to new life by the waters of Baptism and our way through life, our pilgrimage to the Father, is lit by this light, the values, way, truth and life of Jesus. We will not stumble or fall if we follow him in his light. We learn his values of love, compassion, service, humility, honesty, openness, forgiveness, respect and become happy and peace-filled, whole and holy people. All we have to do to rise is follow the light of Christ, the beacon to new life. The choice is ours: to follow Jesus or not to follow Jesus. Judas had the same choice, as did Peter, John, the tax collectors, the woman caught in adultery, the woman at Jacob’s well – the whole world including you and me and all who encounter Christ along the way.

Jesus’ words to Adam are addressed to all of us on the Easter Day: “Awake, O Sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” All we have to do is say: YES!!!

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Fifth Week of Lent 2011

Fifth Sunday of Lent 
April 10, John 11: 1-45 

Our Gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent gives us the 7th and final sign or “wondrous deed” contained in the Gospel of St. John: the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This miracle is found only in the Gospel of John. Jesus had just fled Judea where Bethany, the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary was located, because the Jews had tried to kill him while he was there. Jesus had escaped from them and returned to Galilee where he was safe. The fact that he was now going to return to Bethany to his friend Lazarus frightened the disciples. We see this in their words: “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” And also in the words of Thomas: “Let us go to die with him.”

We are all familiar with Jesus’ meeting with Martha and Mary and his telling them that he is the resurrection and the life. The promise of eternal life is given to those who believe in him. Martha acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah, the One who is to come into the world. The raising of Lazarus from the dead brought many people to the faith and, on the other side of the ledger, it threw more fuel on the fire of hatred that burned in the Pharisees as they looked for a way to kill him. From this time on Jesus was a hunted man, kind of like public enemy number one. The tension now begins to build for the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. Will Jesus come to Jerusalem or not?

Is there a lesson for us in this story? Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead surely attracted many people to Jesus, as we see in the words of the Pharisees in the following chapter of John’s Gospel: “If we leave him alone, all will believe in him.” The people admired Jesus because he stuck to his guns no matter what the cost. How about us? Are we “fair-weather followers” of Christ who follow him when everything is going well for us? Or do we also hang in there with him when things get tough – when I lose a loved one to death, when I lose my job when I am 55 years old, when the disease of cancer is discovered in my lymph glands, when I can no longer walk? How willing am I in these and other tough situations to follow Jesus?

Jesus, grant us your grace and strength to follow you no matter what.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent 
John 8: 1-11

Today’s Gospel selection gives us the meaningful story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. We read it here in the Gospel of St. John, although it is not found in the earliest manuscripts of John’s Gospel. Some later manuscripts place it in the Gospel of St. Luke. My Scripture Commentary labels it as a “free-floating tradition” about Jesus.

The Pharisees hit a new low in this story. A helpless woman is used as a scapegoat in order to trap Jesus into obeying the law of Moses which allows the stoning to death of a woman adulteress. Jesus responds to this trap by writing in the sand and inviting those who are without sin to throw the first stone at the woman. The Pharisees tuck their tails between their legs and slink off one by one. We will never know what Jesus wrote in the sand but whatever it was it reminded the Pharisees that they too were sinners. Jesus forgives the woman and simply admonishes her to go and sin no more.

Jesus has a magnificent understanding of the weaknesses of human nature. We all fail in so many ways every day of our lives and it is somewhat reassuring that we have such an understanding judge as Jesus. Let us take his advice to the woman into our own hearts and try to go and sin no more.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent 
John 8: 21-30

I believe that just about all of us are aware of the teaching of the Catholic Church concerning the person of Jesus that tells us Jesus is a combination of the divine and human natures in the one Divine Person. Jesus never ceases to be God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and at the same time he is completely human in all things but sin. Jesus is indeed unique. Today’s Gospel selection for this Tuesday of Lent shows us the human side of Jesus. He tells us he only says what the Father has instructed him to say, that he always does what pleases the Father. It is evident from this place in Scripture as well as in many other places that Jesus has taken his human will and life and turned them over to the Father. This should ring a few bells for those of you who read these homilies regularly and are familiar with the great number of times I quote the 3rd Step of the 12 Steps of Spirituality where it says: We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

In our Gospel today we see Jesus practicing the 3rd Step. He has turned his human will and life over to the care of the Father. And we are, of course, encouraged once again to do the same. In doing so we experience a richness of life we would never have otherwise, a life that always enjoys the presence of the Father, a life of happiness and peace and fulfillment. We see this in Jesus, of course, and we will see it also in ourselves if we but follow suit.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent 
John 8: 31-42

“If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

Today’s Gospel certainly reinforces what we said in yesterday’s homily: If you turn your will and life over to me, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. We also see very clearly the truth of these words exemplified by the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the first reading for today’s Liturgy from the Book of Daniel (3: 14-20, 91-92, 95) where King Neb. threw them into the fiery furnace heated seven times more than usual because they would not worship his statue. When King Neb. looked into the furnace he saw the three boys dancing around and having a ball instead of being burnt to a crisp. Their belief in God, their turning their lives over to God, had indeed set them free from King Neb’s power over them.

If we turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understand Him, we too shall be free from the temptations and wiles of Satan. Turning things over to God frees us from our fears and whatever can harm us. This is another one of God’s guarantees to us. Let’s take advantage of it.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent 
John 8: 51-59

Once again in today’s Gospel reading we see the 3rd Step of the 12 Steps as a part of Jesus’ human life: “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me.” The word “glory, glorify” has many different nuances of meaning in the Scriptures. The word occurs some 170 times in the New Testament. It can mean wealth, power, prestige, honor. God is said to give glory to Christ in the sense of glory meaning the privileged state of a heavenly intimate relationship with God in Christ. Jesus turns his will and life over to the Father and because of this the Father gives Christ’s human nature the privileged state of an intimate relationship with the Father. And, amazingly enough, so it also is with us. This only stands to reason; if we turn our will and life over to God a certain intimacy will certainly be the result. One of the ways we become intimate with God is through communication with him and what could possibly be a better form of communication than turning our will and lives over to his care?

Father, all this week in the Scriptures you have been showing us the privileged life we will have if we identify with you and your way, truth, and life. Give us the strength, please, to be able to accomplish this.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent 
John 10: 31-42

Today’s Gospel reading precedes Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead in chapter 11 of John’s Gospel. The Pharisees see Jesus as trying to make himself God and take this as blasphemy, for which they tried to stone him. Jesus, however, escaped and returned to Galilee where he was safe.

Jesus, in danger of being stoned, prays knowing that God is with him and he will not be harmed; his prosecutors will not triumph over him. Have we gotten into the habit of saying a prayer to the Lord when some difficulty threatens us with harm? I have numerous instances in my life day in and day out when I whisper a prayer to keep me going when I feel frustrated and begin to drift toward negative thoughts and feelings. Negativity is a harm as far as I am concerned. It just leads to worse things. And I can’t remember when these prayers are not answered and I return to a positive way of thinking and acting.

Jesus, I thank you again and again for being there for me when I am in need of your help.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent 
John 11: 45-56

Today’s Gospel reading immediately follows the raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus in Bethany of Judea. We noted before how just previous to Jesus’ going to the aid of his friend Lazarus, he had been in Bethany and the Pharisees had tried to stone him to death. Jesus, as we saw, escaped and returned to Galilee. Then only a couple of days later, he received word of Lazarus being ill and despite the death threat in Bethany, he returned to help his friend. We remember that his disciples returned with him and were ready to die with him. Jesus did not let the fear of the Pharisees detain him from doing what he had to do.

How about us in this same picture? Do we allow fears or people-pleasing or an exaggerated feeling of our own ego to prevent us from following the values of Jesus when we know we should? Do we sometimes look the other way and just let things slide past that should be confronted and corrected?

Jesus, give us the strength to do your will even in scary and inconvenient circumstances.

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Fourth Week of Lent 2011

Fourth Sunday of Lent 
Mt. 17: 1-9 

The healing of the man born blind told in this Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Lent details the controversy between the healed blind man and the Pharisees. The blind man moves toward the light of faith and the Pharisees, as usual, refuse to budge and remain in the darkness of their ignorance. Because the healing happened on the sabbath, the controversy gets even worse. The main problem in this story is that the Pharisees do not know where Jesus is from and they were not open to what he said in order to find out. And so the antagonism of the Pharisees continues.

The question asked of Jesus by the disciples opens the door for a bit of reflection and instruction for us today. They ask Jesus (regarding the blind man), “Whose fault is it (the blindness)? Who sinned, the man or his parents?” People at the time of Jesus had the belief that any physical sickness or infirmity was the result of either the afflicted one’s sin or his parents’ sin. Seems like they had to blame someone for it. Jesus rejected this whole idea. The point for us to ponder here is blaming others for what we have done. We must learn that we are responsible for our own actions. The devil didn’t make me do it and my parents are not responsible for something I have done. One of the criteria for a normal and mature person is accepting the responsibility for one’s own actions.

The main point of this story, I believe, is openness to God’s word. Those who are blind and yet open to God’s word, those who listen to God and obey him, will see the light. But those who claim to be able to see and are not open to what Jesus says will remain completely blind. I have used the example of my hand to show the value of openness before in these homilies. If I take my hand and hold it open, the light will shine on the palm of my hand. But if I clench my hand into a fist and keep it that way, no light will be able to shine on the palm of my hand. It is in darkness and will stay there until I open my hand.

How about us? Do we find ourselves open and listening to what God says to us? Or are we closed in on our own ideas, our own opinions, our own way of doing things? Where, in what areas, do I need to be more open? Answering these questions make for an interesting time of reflection for us.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent 
John 4: 43-54

Some authors point out to us that St. John’s Gospel contains 7 signs or “wondrous deeds” of Jesus. In case you are wondering what they are, I will list them: 1. Changing the water into wine at Cana (c. 2). 2. Curing the royal official’s son (c. 4). 3. Curing the paralytic at the pool (c. 5). 4. The multiplication of the loaves and fish (c. 6). 5. Walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee (c. 6). 6. The cure of the young man born blind (c. 7). 7. Raising Lazarus from the dead (c. 11).

The Gospel chosen to be read on this Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent is the second of these signs. A royal official whose son was ill approached Jesus and asked him to come to Capernaum and heal the boy, who was near death. Jesus told him, “You may go; your son will live.” The official believed what Jesus had said to him and started back to Capernaum. On the way back, his slaves came hurrying to meet him and told him his son would live, that he had recovered about 1:00 in the afternoon. The official realized it was just at that time that Jesus told him his son would live.

This cure brought about by Jesus is somewhat different from the other miracles worked by Jesus. Usually he would touch the one he was healing or he was actually present when when he cured the person. But this time Jesus did not go to the person being cured. He simply told the official, “You may go; your son will live.” Jesus cured him without any apparent outward action at all.

It is good for us to remember that when we pray to Jesus for something, he doesn’t have to appear to us, talk to us, or whatever. He simply answers our prayer in his own ineffable way. My God, how great Thou art!

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent 
John 5: 1-16

Today’s Gospel selection gives us the 3rd of the 7 “wondrous deeds” contained in the Gospel of St. John: the curing of the paralytic at the pool. The name of the pool was Bethesda and around it “lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.” Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been ill for a long time and he said to the man, “Do you want to be well?”

This pool, along with some others, was thought to have curative powers. Periodically, an angel would stir up the water of the pool and the first person to enter the stirred up water would be healed. The man answered Jesus’ question with a complaint, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus simply said to him in return, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well.

Once again the day was a sabbath and the Jews wanted to know who had performed the cure, who was it who worked on the sabbath. The man did not know, for Jesus had left. Later Jesus found the man again and told him he was the one who had cured him. The Jews then began to persecute Jesus because he did this on the sabbath.

We can mention here that Philo and some rabbis insisted that God’s powers remain active on the sabbath, keeping all things in existence, giving life in birth and taking it away in death. (Philo was a Greek Jewish Biblical Philosopher who lived from 20BC to 50 AD). Evidently Jesus felt the same way.

Jesus came to give us life and to give it abundantly and this purpose didn’t just stop for the sabbath. We are to follow this same course in loving our neighbor. Again, let us remember that people come before things.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
John 5: 17-30

“I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

Jesus, in our Gospel for this Lenten weekday, speaks of his closeness to the point of identity with the Father. Jesus does nothing on his own, the Father loves the Son and shows him what he himself does, the Son gives life like the Father, it is impossible to honor the Son without also honoring the Father, as the Father has life in himself, so he gave the possession of life to the Son in himself. Then the words of the Son that we should all be able to make our own, “I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

The will of God for all of us is to acknowledge the Father and the Son as our way, truth, and life. Jesus tells us he did nothing on his own. That should be the goal of all of us. How many, many times I have gone off on my own, doing what I thought was the way, the truth, and the life. And consequently many are the times when I goof things up when I do this. Remember the bracelets that had written on them: What would Jesus do? Not a bad thing to ask ourselves before acting.

Jesus, you are our way, truth, and life.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent 
John 5: 31-47

"The works that the Father gave me to accomplish …… testify …… that the Father has sent me.”

Countless times I have read someone quoting St. Francis of Assisi as having said to his Friars: Preach always – and if necessary, even use words. Personally, I have never been able to locate in his writing just where or when Francis said this. But I guess it really doesn’t matter that much. The thought and suggestion is a good one. We preach the Gospel to others far more by our actions that we do by our words and heaven knows people pay more attention to my actions than to my words. People are interested in whether I practice what I preach. It’s that old idea of talking the talk and walking the walk. If the two don’t jive up, then I’m a phony and no one pays any attention to me at all.

Where do I fit in here? Can people tell from my actions that I follow the Gospel, the commands, and the values of Jesus? Or do they hear one thing from me and see another in my actions? Let’s take a little time to check this out in our reflection time today.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent 
John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

For nine years (1981-1990) I lived and ministered in Lorain, Ohio, either as a parish priest or as a hospital chaplain. Lorain is about 20 miles west of Cleveland and is located right on Lake Erie. While I was there, the Friars splurged and bought a boat. It was a Lyman, a boat built especially for Lake Erie. Lake Erie is the shallowest of all the Great Lakes and can kick up very quickly to very high waves in a storm. Our boat was built to take this beating, but if we got caught in a storm we still found it wise to point the boat into the wind, into the waves, to keep from capsizing.

Jesus did the same thing. When he was faced by difficulties or the storms of life, he turned into the wind. He didn’t turn the other way and try to run away from the storm or opposition. How about us? When we encounter the storms of life, do we turn into them, face them, or try to turn the other way and flee?

Lord, with your grace and your strength, help us to keep our noses into the wind.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent 
John 7: 40-53

“Have any of the authorities of the Pharisees believed in him?”

Some of the crowd wanted to arrest Jesus and sent guards to bring him in. But they returned empty handed. “Why did you not bring him?” the crowd asked. “Have you also been deceived?” And then the Pharisees asked the guards, “Have any of the authorities of the Pharisees believed in him?”

The people were beginning to think for themselves about Jesus and not like the Pharisees wanted them to think. Nicodemus, one of their members, did not believe what they had to say about Jesus. The Pharisees thought everyone should believe as they did. And undoubtedly many of the people did so.

How about us? Are we influenced by the beliefs of others without taking the time to study things and develop our own ideas and opinions based on our values? Just because the guy across the street is prejudiced against those who have a different religion than he, doesn’t mean I have to be that way too. If so and so jumped off a high bridge, would I follow?

Lord, help me to make up my own mind on things and issues using your values as my criteria and not necessarily the opinions of others.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Third Week of Lent 2011

Third Sunday of Lent
Mt. 17: 1-9 

In the Rite of the Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), going on in all our Parishes as a preparation for entry to the Catholic Faith, the Third Sunday of Lent is the Sunday designated for the first scrutiny in preparation for Baptism at the Easter Vigil. The scrutinies are spiritual steps in this process intended to purify the catechumens’ minds and hearts and to purify their intentions to make them firm in their resolve to joining the Catholic Faith. Most Parishes will experience this ritual today.

The Gospel to be read on this Third Sunday of Lent is the rather long Gospel from St. John telling the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan Woman at Jacob’s Well. The essence of this story’s revelation is that “the hour is coming and is now here,” meaning that in the person of Jesus the new order in the history of salvation has arrived. Jesus affirms that he is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God who is to come to us incarnate to “make all things new.” It is the new way, truth and life Jesus brings us that the RCIA candidates are studying during these times and which they will totally embrace at the Easter Vigil.

This is the message that comes to us in today’s story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan Woman at the well. He asks her for a drink of water. She hesitates because he is a Jew and she is a Samaritan and the one does not associate with the other. Jesus tells her that if she knew who he was, “you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”Something new! “Whoever drinks this living water will never get thirsty again and will give whoever drinks it eternal life, life that will not end.” Wow! No more trips to the well for water, no more thirst, and eternal, everlasting life on top of all this.

The woman said, “Sir, give me this water.”

Jesus opens himself to her and tells her who he is. She sees from their conversation that he is a prophet. Pretty soon she is convinced that he is the Messiah, the One who is to come. She goes and tells the other Samaritans of the town and pretty soon the whole town began to believe in him. It is not too difficult to see why this Gospel is used on the Sunday for the first scrutiny, the checkup or self-evaluation on where they are in accepting Jesus as their Lord and Master.

Today all of us can ask ourselves where we are, even the old-time Catholics, in our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Master. Where would we like to be? This is a good time for a bit of scrutiny regarding ourselves, for a bit of checking up, examining ourselves, where we are in our resolve made many years ago in Baptism to follow Jesus.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Third Week of Lent 
2 Book of Kings 5: 1-5, Luke 4: 24-30

Both of our readings chosen to be read on this Third Monday of Lent make mention of Naaman the Syrian. We have mentioned him before in these homilies but his story is a good one for us to remember from time to time as it contains a pivotal message for our spirituality.

Naaman was a commander in King Aram’s army and highly respected. He seems to have had a fine reputation and a good future ahead of him. But one day he discovered he had leprosy and he saw his career in the army shrinking away. He would even be forced to stop living in the city and to live outside the town with the other lepers. He began doing everything he could do to find a cure. One of the servants of Naaman’s wife told her about Elisha the Prophet who could cure him of the disease. The King sent a letter of recommendation for Naaman to Elisha to cure Naaman of his disease. Naaman started out taking with him his whole retinue and plenty of money to pay for the cure. When he arrived Elisha didn’t even come out of his house to see him but sent word to Naaman by his servant, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”

Naaman thought this was too easy or too weird. After all, there were plenty of rivers at home where he could wash seven times and he started to leave on his way back home. One of his servants asked him to give it a shot. He had come all this way; what did he have to lose? So Naaman bathed seven times in the Jordan River and was cured.

The moral once again for all of us: Do it God’s way, whatever it is, and not your own way and what you are seeking will materialize.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent 
Mt. 18: 21-35

The subject matter of our Gospel read on this Lenten Tuesday is forgiveness – forgiving those who have hurt us. For one reason or another, the first thing that came to my mind this morning in thinking of forgiveness is the story of the father whose son is shot that is told in the book Dead Man Walking by Sr. Helen Prejohn. This man’s son was gunned down for no reason at all by the man Sr. Helen was working with in prison. The man whose son was killed was called by the Police to identify the body and as he knelt in the muddy field where the body of his son was found, he said a prayer of forgiveness for the one who had committed this senseless act. Wow! That has to be forgiveness at its hardest.

It isn’t always easy to forgive. Hurts run deep sometimes. And some of the things we are asked to forgive, we will never forget. But forgive we must – for our own good and for the good of the perpetrator. The Gospel tells us we are to forgive others as God forgives us. In other words, we are to let it go, let it drift into non-existence, and get on with living.

Is there anyone in my life I must forgive today?

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent 
Mt. 5: 17-19

Our Gospel for today tell us that whoever obeys the commandments of God and teaches them to others will be called greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. A good question to ask ourselves occasionally is whether or not there is something going on in our corner of the world that I am enabling and not doing anything about. Sometimes we see things happening that should be corrected and we take the easy way out and say nothing at all. This could be anything from gossiping about others to harassing or criticizing handicapped people, to stealing insignificant things from the workplace or whatever.

If we see something unethical going on, we should confront it in a nice way. Don’t just sit back and say nothing. This tends to make bad situations worse and sometimes unstoppable. A good example of this would be having too much to drink and then driving a car, or just drinking too much on occasion.

We should not let our fear and our people-pleasing put us in the category of enablers.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent 
Luke 11: 14-23

Today is the last day of the month of March. The snow of the winter has almost disappeared (except here in Minnesota where it just keeps right on snowing) and the floods of spring have begun. Nature moves on and so do we. As we pass now into the month of April, we see Holy Week beginning on April 17 followed by the glorious feast of Easter on the 24th.

The Gospel for this last day of March is about driving out demons. As we continue our Lenten journey, do we see any demons in our lives that are keeping us from being better people? Any excessive anger, rage, violence, selfishness, etc.?

Lent is marching on. How am I doing with my “turning around” we talked of a week or two ago? Have any noticeable U turns been made? Or have we drifted into complacency? What do I see that must be attended to before this penitential season is over?

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Third Week of Lent 
Mark 12: 28-34

“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

Today’s Gospel for this first day of the month of April presents us with the Great Commandment as given in the Gospel of St. Mark. It is good for us to focus on this as we head down the home stretch toward the end of Lent. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This commandment gives us the main concern of the Christian disciple: Love God in a very special way and the love of my neighbor. That’s really what its all about. Fulfilling this Great Commandment means living the values of Jesus. Let’s all pause right now and make a list of these values as we remember them from the Gospels. I’ll write mine down as I sit here thinking of them. You make your own list. Read mine later. My list would include: prayer (talking to God), meditation (listening to God), obeying the commandments of God, doing things God’s way, making God a part of my life, caring, compassion, forgiving, unselfish service to others, respecting others, being patient with things, listening to others, being gentle, kind, being non-judgmental of others, practicing the physical and spiritual works of mercy. This is my list for right now. I am sure I missed mentioning many others. All of this reminds me that I still have much to do in becoming the true Christian person I hope to be.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent 
Luke 18: 9-14

Today’s Gospel tells the story of the proud Pharisee and the humble tax collector praying in the temple. The Pharisee was better than everybody else and wouldn’t let God forget it. His inventory was BRAG, BRAG, BRAG. The tax collector knew his unworthiness as he stood before God and he simply asked, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Actually, if we stick to our guns, neither one of them was truly humble. Certainly not the Pharisee; he was proud all the way. But he did have good points and wasn’t afraid to speak about them. The tax collector knew his faults but didn’t even think about his BRAG points, his goodness.

Humility, as we have said before, is true self-knowledge. The truly humble person realizes his good points and bad points. He knows he doesn’t deserve nor has he earned the good things, his gifts and talents. They are God’s gifts of his grace. Humility stand on the middle ground.

Let us ask God today for the strength to be truly humble people using our gifts and talents for the good of others and trying to make things better in the area of our character defects.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Second Week of Lent 2011

Second Sunday of Lent 
Mt. 17: 1-9 

“And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.”

The Gospel chosen to be read on this Second Sunday of Lent depicts for us the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor. His face shone like the sun, his clothes were white as light. Jesus literally was a new man! In this story of the transfiguration, we see the close connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus came to change, not to abolish. Moses was present, whose face became like the sun when he saw God on Mount Sinai. The old and the new come together in Jesus.

This is a wonderful story for our reflection during this Season of Lent. We too are to change, we too are to be transfigured. While keeping the old body we take on a new way of doing things, a new way of living, thinking. We turn from the powers of darkness to have our faces shine like the sun. We experience what has come to be called a Spiritual Awakening. We literally acquire a new personality in our same old person. We look and appear to be the same, but we have changed dramatically. All of this happens because we climb the mountain of the Lord with the Lord.

This whole process of transfiguration, this personality change, is quite evident in the 12 Steps of Spirituality. It comes up bright and clear in the 12th Step, which states: Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry the message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. This Step echoes the story of the Transfiguration in today’s Gospel. Jesus is transfigured because he follows the will of the Father. He leads his disciples, he carries the message to them, to also be transfigured and this will happen if they follow the will of the Father and the values of Jesus.

This whole thing is another guarantee from Jesus. We cannot miss! If we follow him as our Way, Truth and Life, we will be transfigured, we will become new persons in Christ, we will be happy, joy-filled and at peace with God and ourselves. We will be holy. We will possess heaven right here on earth – almost!

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Second Week of Lent 
Luke 6: 36-38

Today’s Gospel reading from St. Luke is a wonderful follow up for yesterday’s thoughts on our being transfigured, being changed from the old to the new person. Today’s Gospel reminds us to be merciful toward others and not judgmental and critical of them. We have no business condemning and judging others. As we hear often in AA, let’s take our own inventory and not worry about someone else’s. We are to forgive if we wish to be forgiven by the Father. We are to give to others from our God-given gifts and talents and then more, to the point of overflowing, will be given to us. It is easy to see transfiguration coming if we do what Jesus requests from his disciples.

Let’ focus just a moment today on forgiving others. A great Lenten practice is to work on any resentments present in our lives right now. Resentments are silly. The only one we really hurt with them is ourself. They get us all disturbed, all shook up, as Elvis would sing, to the point of losing sleep and becoming physically ill. Who needs that?

Let’s ask the good Lord during this Season of Lent for the strength and desire to forgive anyone we resent. Let’s do ourselves a favor.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent 
Isaiah 1: 10, 16-20

Our first reading for today’s Liturgy is taken from the Prophet Isaiah. A passage of good advice for all of us in the process of transfiguration particularly if we are into ourselves like the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading.

Isaiah tells us to clean up our act, listen to God, put aside our misdeeds, knock off doing the wrong things, learn to do the good and choose to do it, be just and open and honest with others, hear the cry of those in need and don’t pass them by like the Priest and Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Work at being willing to do what God asks of us, be obedient to his wishes and words. In these many ways of acknowledging Jesus as way, truth and life, we will indeed be transfigured.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent 
Mt. 20: 17-28

“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Today’s Gospel selection once again reminds all of us that it is not all about me. This is the point Jesus makes to James and John and their mother in the Gospel. Selfishness is a big problem in our society. It leads directly to greed where there is no such thing as enough and a few end up with all. We have said many times in these homilies over the years I have been writing them that I believe we are all born with a selfish bent. When I am a young child, it is all about me and if I don’t get what I want, I’ll cry and holler and stomp my foot until I do. This early selfishness might just be a key to early survival but we have to get over it. We are a social people. We must relate to others and serve others with our gifts and talents and there is no place in this arrangement for selfishness.

I read a nice little story in a meditation book about a world statesman who was an honored guest of King Edward VII at his coronation in 1901. When the man returned home, people asked him what it was that had impressed him the most at the coronation. His reply, however, had nothing at all to do with the coronation experience. He answered, “I was returning to my hotel one night, when I saw a boy huddled in a doorway with his tiny sister. It was cold and the boy had taken off his coat and wrapped it around his little sister to keep her warm. This sight was more impressive than anything in the coronation.” This is the way of Jesus.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Luke 16: 19-31

Today’s Gospel gives us the very meaningful story of Lazarus the poor man and Divis the rich man. It ties in with what we said yesterday about selfishness. Divis didn’t do anything wrong necessarily in this story. He was rich and enjoyed it with fine clothes, food and living conditions. It’s what he did not do that was his problem; he did not share the riches he had with the poor man who did not have anything, not even a scrap of food to eat. If Divis had invited Lazarus to come and sit at his table and eat with him and maybe provided him with some clean clothing, he would have been praised and avoided all the trouble his selfishness caused him.

Putting yesterday’s and today’s Gospels together and reflecting on them, do I see any semblance of selfishness going on in my life by preferring things, even such things as my time and my work, over other people? If so, what can I do to remedy the situation?

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Second Week of Lent, March 25 
The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

The Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord celebrates the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to Mary and announcing to her that she would be the Mother of God. We celebrate her acceptance of God’s will for herself. This feast was originally a feast of our Lord, but now it is regarded as a Marian feast. The feast dates back to the 5th century and the date of its observance, March 25, was determined by the feast of Christmas nine months later on December 25.

This feast is truly a hinge in God’s plan for our salvation. It puts the whole thing in motion. Mary is referred to by the Fathers of the Church as the New Eve. Through her obedience, her “fiat,” she repaired the damage caused by the disobedience to God’s wishes in the Garden of Eden by the first Eve. Mary opened the door for the fresh new air of the Incarnation to come to be.

This feast gives a very clear example of the results of obeying God vis a vis the results of not obeying him. Obeying God, as we have seen many times, brings accomplishment, growth and happiness. Things are the way they are meant to be. The latter brings sorrow, grief, misery and one big mess.

Mary had a choice. She chose the will of God. We have that same choice time and time again in our lives. Let’s ask God to give us the strength to always choose his way.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent 
Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

Today’s Gospel presents us with the Gospel story of all Gospel stories: the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This is a parable showing us the magnificent forgiveness of God for our wrongs. The Prodigal, upon his return to the Father, had prepared his admission of guilt: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” The father paid no attention at all to these words. It is as though he didn’t even hear them. All he cared about was that his son had returned home to him. It was for this reason that he killed the fatted calf and threw a big party: “Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and he has come to life again.”

This is what Lent is all about. Like the Prodigal, we turn from the path we have chosen mistakenly to follow and make our return to the Father. And then there is joy – in heaven and in our hearts. Let’s all ask the Lord to help us partake in this joy of returning, of coming back to him.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The First Week of Lent 2011

First Sunday of Lent 
 Mt. 4: 1-11 

The Gospel chosen to be read on the First Sunday of Lent always has the same theme. The Evangelist changes for each Liturgical Cycle (A-B-C) but the topic matter is always the same: Jesus’ encounter with Satan in the desert and the temptations of Jesus.

Temptation is a tendency to act on something that is appealing to us. The tendency or act itself does not have to be sinful necessarily, but usually, in the adopted sense, it carries with it a negative connotation. I can be “tempted” to eat a banana split and there is nothing per se wrong about that. Normally, however, when we speak of temptation, we are referring to the tug of our human nature to do something wrong. So it was with the three temptations of Jesus in the Gospel for today.

The first temptation of Jesus probably embraces the general idea of temptation: gratifying one’s own human pleasure or desires. For example, I walk past a nice looking piece of jewelry in a store in the mall. It is shiny and sparkling and would look nice on me. Gee, I really would like to have that. It costs $150.00 which I don’t have, so I steal it.

Jesus’ second temptation had to do with the desire for an ostentatious show of power. Here we get into temptations involving our pride. How great I am! I’m not like others! I’m God, don’t you know? I think I should be captain of our bowling team because I have the highest average. And on and on and on.

Jesus’ third temptation has to do with the misuse of power. Being tempted to embezzle money from an office you hold would be an example of this. Any abuse of a child by a parent or teacher would be such a misuse of power. Like a police officer taking advantage of people because he wears a badge and a gun. We are to put our power to responsible use.

Temptation happens to all of us. It happened to Jesus in his human nature and it will happen to us. Scripture tells us in I Corinthians 10: 13, “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.” Now aren’t those comforting words from the Scriptures!

No temptation will ever come to us that we must surrender to. We will never be tempted beyond our strength. God will give us a way out of it. This is another one of the guarantees from God to us. He is always there with us in the time of temptation. Let’s remember to ask for his help, for Pete’s sake! All we have to do is say that one word prayer: HELP!!! Then the devil will leave us and angels will come and minister to us.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the First Week of Lent 
Leviticus 19: 1-2, 11-18. Mt. 25: 31-46

“Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” Lev. 9:12

“Come, you who are the beloved of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Mt. 25: 34

Be holy! I used to look at that word “holy” and run the other way. And well I should have, I guess, because I wasn’t very holy at that time. Let’s not let that word scare us off. Being a holy person is not that difficult and, you know what, it feels good! It really does.

Do you feel good today, are you in a good mood, are you on top of things? If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you are holy! To be holy is to be whole, complete, fulfilled, meaningful, making a difference, serving others, smiling, serene and peaceful.

Run toward it, embrace it! Don’t run away from it or fear it.

Holiness is doing the right thing that we talked about not too long ago. The “will of God” for me comes into play here. What does God want me to do? What gifts and talents did he give me to do it? Am I doing what he wants me to do or am I pushing it aside? If I can give positive answers to these simple questions, I am whole, complete, fulfilled and happy. If I respond in the negative, I am in a discombobulated state, there is chaos and darkness in my life, I am broken, not whole. I am not a happy camper. Then we have to stop and pull the loose ends together and get things back where they belong. A good question to ask ourselves often during this Lenten Season: Do I consider myself a holy person most of the time?

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent 
Isaiah 55: 10-11

“So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

If you are talking to someone and use the phrases “God told me so,” or “God has spoken to me,” there are going to be some people who are very skeptical and if you ask them why, they will probably answer, “Well, he never talks to me!” In that case, maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t seem to have spoken to that person because they were not listening.

I truly believe that God does communicate with his creation. When I think of this, my mind instinctively focuses on the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer when he says that God wanders through the world speaking to us through our family members, relatives, friends, enemies and even through total strangers. Suffice it to say, an instance such as this saved my life in 1974 when a little old lady, a stranger, confronted my shameful alcoholism – and I listened to her. The very next day I was in a treatment center and went on to grow into what I am today, a person I truly appreciate and am very, very grateful to God for. The secret: I listened to that woman. And I still try my best to keep listening to people who tell me whatever. But I have to work at this and I know I miss listening to other people many times every day.

I believe we all have to work at listening to what others tell us, even children whom we sometimes dismiss as knowing nothing. They know more about us than we think. We must sort out what is said to us and keep what is wheat and let the wind blow away the chaff. But we will never learn, never grow, if we do not listen to God speaking to us though other people.

A good Lenten practice for all of us: Try to listen more attentively.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent 
 Jonah 3: 1-10

What a beautiful first reading for today’s Liturgy from the Prophet Jonah as a sequel to what we said yesterday about listening to others through whom God speaks to us. I didn’t know this reading was coming until I turned the page of the Lectionary for today’s readings and saw it. Thank you, God.

In the reading we notice the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. The first time God asked him to go with his message to the Ninivites, Jonah chickened out because of his fear for the Ninivites and ran the other way. Because he didn’t listen to the Lord and do what God wanted him to do, he got himself into that mess in the storm at sea, being swallowed by the whale and spending three days in the whale’s belly. All because he didn’t listen to God.

The second time “Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s bidding.” The people to whom God sent his Prophets usually didn’t pay any attention to them and ended up abusing or killing the Prophet. But, lo and behold, this time the Ninivites listened to Jonah. And they ended up happy because they had escaped the punishment of God. Things turned out well for Jonah and the Ninivites when they listened to what God had to say. The message for us here is as clear as a bell.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the First Week of Lent 
Book of Esther 12: 14-16, 23-25

First of all today, let us all pause a moment to pray for God’s blessings for the people and country of Ireland on this feast of St. Patrick. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!!!

“O Lord my God, save us from the hand of our enemies and turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness.”

What a beautiful Lenten prayer we find in this quote from Queen Esther in today’s first reading. Turn our mourning ….. let us remember what we said a while ago about the word repent meaning to turn and how fitting it is for us to find ways to turn our lives more toward God in this Lenten Season. Esther asks to be turned from mourning to gladness. And again let us remember what we said on the Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time about the virtue of prudence, how prudence means to do the wise thing, the good thing, the right thing as opposed to choosing the wrong way to do something. And we have said that the way to do this is by listening to God whatever manner he chooses to speak to me and then putting his words into action.

Let’s remember these words as Lenten words: turn, repent, prudence in choosing the right way, listening to God. Let’s call these words to mind often. They fit this Liturgical Season so well.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the First Week of Lent 
Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 18: 21-28

“If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him.”

Sometime during the Lenten Season, I think it is a good idea to be reconciled with God through the Sacrament of Penance. I would suggest we all take the time to go to confession to express our sorrow to God for doing this our way and ignoring his way. And when we go, I also suggest we keep the quote just given above from the Prophet Ezekiel in mind. Remember that it is God himself speaking to us through Ezekiel. This quote reminds us that our confession, our inventory of ourselves, is not a history. We take an inventory of what is on the shelf right now, not of the can of beans and bacon we sold 15 years ago. I say this because I am still running into that idea of general confessions by the people. They come in and say, “Father, I would like to make a general confession of all the sins of my life.” They are kind of surprised when I won’t go along with it.

Where this idea of making a general confession came from, of calling back to mind all the sins of our life that have already been confessed and forgiven and confessing them all again, I don’t know. This idea is contrary to the Scriptures, the Word of God that tell us over and over and over again: When God forgives a sin, God forgets the sin, let’s it go, he does not remember it, it ceases to have existence!!! Amen, for crying out loud. For our part, let’s take God at his word, believe him, believe what he says. This is God talking! Hello!!!

Confession during Lent? Yes, a good idea and a reminder to turn from our faults, a reminder to do what we can to love both God and our neighbor is a better, more complete and intimate way.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the First Week of Lent, March 19 
Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary, the Mother of God

Today we interrupt our Lenten homilies to celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Husband of Mary. I was just thinking to myself when I remembered that today was his feast day, that St. Joseph is someone I definitely want to meet when I get to the pearly gates or wherever. The Scriptures don’t tell us too much about his person but concentrate more on what his part was in our salvation history.

We do know from the Scriptures that he was a just man, a good man. He was faithful to what God asked him to do and to be. He certainly listened well to what God said to him, he deeply loved Mary, his wife, and he was a true father figure to Jesus and gave him his name from the line of David. We don’t know how big he was, how old he was, what he liked to eat, where or when he died, what he specialized in in his work as a carpenter, and all the other myriad of details about his life.

But what we do know about St. Joseph is enough for us to look up to him and to imitate him for the betterment of our own spiritual lives and relationship with the Father.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 2011/2020

Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time 
Mt. 7: 21-27

Often times when people come to me for confession, I begin by asking them if they are happy. If they answer “yes,” that is a clue for me that they are on the right track, they are OK, they are doing things the right way, the way of the Lord. If they answer “no,” or “not very,” or something like that, I know there is something amiss and then let’s talk about it.

The last part of our Gospel (Mt. 7: 24-27) for this Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time is about the virtue of prudence. St. Thomas Aquinas defines prudence in 3 Latin words: recta ratio agibilium = the right way of doing things. The prudent man in today’s Gospel is the man who built his house on rock. The winds blew, the floods came, but it didn’t bother the home at all. It was solid. The other man, the fool, built his house on sand and when the rain and floods came the house washed away. The prudent man is wise, good, smiling, because he is doing things the right way. The imprudent man, the fool, is probably scowling with no smile in sight because he is doing things the wrong way.

Every human being with the use of human reason has at their very core what is called the natural law. Human beings are presumed by law to have this by the age of 7. The natural law is the law of our very nature, part of our essence, our whatness. And it is from the natural law that we learn what is right and what is wrong. Then, we have a choice – to do the right or to do the wrong. This law is universal. Every human being has it in their heart, their inner soul. You can’t escape it. To follow it equals a smile, not following it equals a scowl. What is contained in this law? For me it is very simple: Do unto others as you would have them do to you. The good old Golden Rule. The great philosopher, Thomas Hobbs, complicated matters a bit and lists 19 laws in the natural law. Obviously we cannot go into all that here. But if you go to Wikipedia, you can find them listed and discussed if you are interested. I prefer to keep it simple.

The important thing to remember is that this law is present in all of us. We do know what is right and what is wrong, we know that 2+2=4. Our choice is sometimes affected by ignorance but one way or the other we do know the difference between right and wrong.

Don’t get into all that gobbledegook about maybe, perhaps, possibly, etc. If you have a doubt about something, resolve it. Acting in the state of doubt is stupid and foolish like the imprudent man in the Gospel. Doing what is wrong is selfish, darkness. Doing what is right is love, serving others with our gifts.

So the choice is up to us because of our God-given free will. I can choose to do wrong and end up weeping and miserable. Or I can choose to do the right and end up smiling and happy.

What is my choice? What is yours?

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 12: 1-12

“They will respect my son.”

Today’s Gospel selection is the parable of the Leased Vineyard. An owner leases his vineyard to others and then goes on a trip. When he returns, he wants his rightful share of the harvest. He sent his servants a couple of times to receive his share but both times the ones who had leased the vineyard beat or killed his servants. Finally, the owner sent his son sure that they would respect him. But they rejected and killed the son also.

We can see in this parable the parallel of God the Father, the owner of the vineyard, leasing his kingdom to Israel, and sending the Prophets to remind them to give God his share of the harvest for what they had received. They killed the Prophets and also the Son whom he sent after the Prophets. This parable also gives us the opportunity to look at the idea of respecting God and our Neighbor in our daily living.

The word respect comes from the Latin respicere which literally means to “look at again,” to look back, to regard. It is an act of giving particular attention of high or special regard. Respect is a beautiful virtue and one that is necessary for any relationships with others. It means that I think enough of the dignity and worthiness of God and Neighbor to look back at you again and again. Respecting someone means they are special to us. This certainly applies to God and to every living creature, human and beast, that we come in contact with. Respect is the complete opposite of prejudice, hatred, war, capital punishment and a lot of other nasty things that hurt others.

It also seems to me that our respect goes out too to animals and pets. They are not to be abused. God gave them to us as gifts. They all have the precious gift of life which we should all respect.

Let’s all take the time today to think about the virtue of respect in our lives. Am I totally satisfied with the respect I have for God, Neighbor, animals, the environment and the beautiful world in which I live? Where can I improve?

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 12: 13-17

After what we just said yesterday about the virtue of respect, up pops the Pharisees and Herodians in today’s Gospel “sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech.” Obviously, they did not respect Jesus’ person.

From the very first time I read it, I have always been in awe at the response given to the Pharisees and Herodians by Jesus when they asked him if it was lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not. Jesus told them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Do you suppose we could use this Scripture quote in favor of the separation of church and state? Anyhow, the Pharisees and the Herodians “were utterly amazed at him too.” I only wish that their amazement was enough to bring them to respect Jesus, but we know it didn’t. They went on and on, playing their little games with Jesus and becoming more and more frustrated at his seeing through them.

A thought for today out of all this? Do we play games with God through our alibis, excuses, rationalizations, delusion, denial and manipulation?

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 2011

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 
February 27, Mt. 6: 24-34

“Do not worry about your life.”

“Do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’”

“Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life span?”

“Do not worry about tomorrow.”

With all this talk about worrying in the Gospel selected to be read on this Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, one might just come to the conclusion that Jesus doesn’t want us to worry. Four or more times in this Gospel he tells us to avoid this pesky little habit we all blunder into from time to time. And some people spend the greater part of their lives worrying about this or that. They have the “what ifs?” What if this goes wrong? What if this breaks? What if? What if?

Yet, when you come right down to it, there are few things more useless than worrying. No one — not one person — has ever accomplished anything by worrying about it. Worry is an absolute waste of time. We all know this! And yet all of us take the time occasionally to worry about what is going on in our lives, our relationships, at school, at work, and so on.

I started poking around the internet with the word “worry” in mind to see what I could find. Right away I ran into a blog on Google (God’s website) that presents four good reasons why we should not worry. Let’s list them here for our perusal on the subject.

1. Worrying accomplishes absolutely nothing. So why in the world, pray tell, do we spend so much time doing it. My dear Mother was a worrier. She would sit in her chair with her fingers never stopping going around her rosary and worry, worry, worry about things. I used to say to her, “Mom, if you are praying why are you worrying. And if you are worrying, why are you praying.” That didn’t sit too well or help matters any.

2. Worrying is not good for us. Worrying can be a mental burden for us and even cause physical illness! Eventually it can lead to depression, which is no small thing. It can become an obsession. It’s the only thing in our mind. When we become tense and uptight because of worrying, we don’t eat right, sleep right, live right. Everything is a little bit out of sorts.

3. Worrying is the opposite of trusting in God. We have written so much in these homilies about the virtue of surrender, perhaps the number one spiritual principle. I have quoted the 3rd Step of the 12 Steps here until I am blue in the face: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as I understand him. Giving things to God for him to carry is a good spiritual practice. He can carry all these things, no sweat. And most of us pray to the Lord about our concerns. Like I used to say to my Mom, if you are praying why are you worrying? The two just don’t go together.

4. Worrying points your focus in the wrong direction. Worrying is a negative thing. Worrying is delusion. We worry about what could be, might be, what I would like to have happen, the way things should be and are not. All on the negative side of the ledger. God has given each of us a beautiful, positive plan for our lives and he has given us the gifts and talents to accomplish the plan he has for us. That is positive all the way. And we miss it, do not grow, stay pretty much in the same place, when we worry about it.

This is, by the way, something that with God’s help we can stop. A simple “Here God, you take this” is the way to do it. In view of this Gospel this morning let’s all say to ourselves today: I am going to follow the advice of the Lord Jesus and not worry anymore. I am going to stop it!

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 
Feb. 28, Mark 10: 17-27

The shortest month of the year ends today with a rather sad Gospel chosen for the Liturgy. This one is not for those who enjoy happy endings. A rich, young man asked Jesus what he had to do to be saved. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The young man responded that he had always done this. Then Jesus told him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” And the Gospel continues to tell us that at that statement the young man’s face fell and he went away sad for he had many possessions. I have always felt rather sad for the young man in the parable. He made his many material possessions the sole form of his happiness. How sad!

Yet every now and then you will read in the paper about some rich eccentric person wanting to be buried in his Cadillac. As though he is going to be able to take it with him wherever he goes. How silly! This reminds me of the words of Scripture: What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world and suffer the loss of their soul? Not very much, I’m afraid.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 
March 1, Mark 10: 28-31

There is kind of a funny sequence of thought running between yesterday’s Gospel and the one chosen to be read today. It’s almost like Peter read yesterday’s Gospel, gave away all that he possessed to the poor, and then, in this moment of triumph, he began to doubt if that was the smart thing to do. Lord, are you sure, do you mean it, when you tell us that we will receive a hundred fold if we leave what we have and come follow you? Let’s talk about this. We have all left everything to follow you; now name me some of the rewards I’m going to receive for having done so. I want to hear them.

I believe all of us disciples of the Lord have preferred Jesus to our material possessions. Just what have I received for having done so? I have received that wonderful feeling of contentment that I have made the right choice and see that things really work out the way Jesus said they would. I have received happiness, joy, peace in my life. I have the necessities to live the life to which I feel I have been called. I have a nice home to live in, good friends, the rewards that come from serving others. I believe I can say that everything is OK today. I am happy most of the time. And by golly, these are the things that make life worth living. I believe I made a good choice. How about you?

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time 
March 2, Mark 10: 32-45

“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whomever wishes to be first among you shall be the slave of all.”

In our Gospel for today, Jesus is telling his disciples that if they want to be great in the Kingdom, they must live the role of being a servant to others. This is a good Gospel for us to reflect on just how much we are helping others. Do you have a job, a vocation, that is just naturally one of service? Or do you have to make a special effort to make it so? There are many professions that lend themselves to service. A few I can think of right off the top are nursing, social work, teaching, spiritual ministry, parenting. And there are some professions where we kind of have to figure out how we are going to serve, for example, the CEO of a large company. How can he daily serve others? It takes a bit of thought to figure that out.

My profession is one of service by its very essence. If I am not serving others as a Franciscan Friar, I have really missed the boat. I often tell others that the best service job I ever had was that of being a hospital chaplain. I was working or on call 24/5. You never knew what was going to come at you next but inevitably it would be an opportunity to serve others. I found it to be a job where I really made a difference. You meet people at a time of crisis in their lives and do your best to comfort them and assist them.

Look at your own calling today. Reflect on it. Are you serving others by what you do? Does this come easily? Do you feel good doing it? I hope all of us can answer “yes” to all these questions. A “yes” answer is very important for our own happiness and for the happiness and welfare of others.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
March 3, Mark 10: 46-52

In today’s Gospel, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, is sitting by the roadside doing his thing. He hears that Jesus is passing by and he hollers out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” And he keeps it up and keeps it up, much to the distress of those around him. The people tell him to shut up but he just hollers all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me.”

There is just no way that Jesus is not going to hear and help this man. We know that before we read the rest of the story. Bartimaeus was cured of his blindness. He could see again! We all know Jesus will help him because we are all well aware of the great compassion Jesus has for those in need.

Let’s take a little time today to reflect on my own compassion for others. Am I sometimes too busy to get involved with others? Do I prefer my time to be used for me and my pleasure or am I ready to drop everything and help another? Where am I with the virtue of compassion in my life?

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
March 4, Mark 11: 11-26

There are important words for us to reflect on right at the end of the Gospel selected to be read for today’s Liturgy: “When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in time forgive you for your transgressions.”

Jesus’ advice here: Pray to forgive those who have hurt you in any way. There is a lot of wisdom in that sentence. I love to share a story with alcoholics who are having trouble getting rid of their resentments for other people. It is the story of Bill W. walking down the street and meeting a man who was a member of the AA Program. They stopped to chat and Bill asked him how things were going for him. The man replied that he was doing well except for a resentment he had for one person in his AA group. He told Bill he felt like killing the ….. Bill told him to calm down and pray daily for that man. A couple of weeks later they met again and when asked about how he was getting along with his resentment, the man replied, “Well, Bill, I’m praying every day for the …. just as you asked me to. He still didn’t like the person but he was praying for him and it wouldn’t be long before the resentment would be gone.

Try praying twice a day for anyone you resent and see if this doesn’t make for a positive solution.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
March 5, Mark 11: 27-33

Years ago there was a billboard you seemed to run across no matter where you went. It showed a man holding up a pack of cigarettes. He had a noticeable black eye and was quoted as saying, “I’d rather fight than switch.”

This seems to have been the attitude of the scribes and elders in today’s Gospel concerning the authority of Jesus and from whence it came. They would rather fight than switch. Stubbornness is the name of this attitude.

I guess we are all stubborn to a point toward what we believe and we have to be careful that we do not close up completely because of it. Jesus was constantly bemoaning people who had eyes but didn’t see and ears but could not hear, would not listen to what others had to say. Any of this in us? Do we get so attached to our opinions that we adamantly refuse to change them, that we close our eyes and ears to the opinions of others? Can I find an area in my life where I need to open up a bit and admit that I may possibly be wrong?

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 2011/2020

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time 
Mt. 5: 38-48

Today’s Gospel for this Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time goes right back to the antitheses we spoke of in last Sunday’s Gospel. We said then that these sayings urge us to change ourselves, to become better than we are, to raise the bar, to raise the level of human consciousness. These antitheses exemplify the reason Jesus came as man: to change the law, not to abolish it. He came to make all things new. And it is no wonder we are urged to do the same thing two weeks in a row. Repetition is good here because we need to be prodded and prodded some more to change ourselves. As we all know, we are not very good at doing this.

Bill Wilson, when he began the program of AA, realized the self-evident truth that if alcoholics desire quality sobriety they would have to change. And he suggested this change take place in the form of progress. Progress comes from the Latin word progressus = advance, from the verb progredi = to go forth, from pro =forward and gredi = to go. So progress means to go forth, to go forward, to move ahead. Progress is not the same as perfection. Progress can be described as a pilgrimage down the road of my potential. It is a wandering, back and forth, to and fro, east to west. Progress is not straight-line activity. It goes ahead, then turns to the side, then may go backwards a while, then pick up a forward gait again. This is the human way of doing things. We might strive for perfection but all we are going to get out of that is frustration. The very best we can hope for as human beings is progress. Bill Wilson wrote in the 5th chapter of the Big Book: We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

A good example of this can be taken from the virtue of patience. If I had a nickel for every time I have heard someone tell me in confession: I am impatient — I would be a rich man. It seems like everyone wants to be more patient, bearing all things calmly, and no one ever comes close to perfect patience. The most laid-back person in the world is going to become ticked occasionally.

The closing sentence of today’s Gospel causes more trouble for people than can be imagined: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Please do not take these words literally. God is perfect. That’s why he’s God. We are imperfect. That’s why we are human. I guess we will be perfect in the life to come. I don’t know, but it sounds logical. In the meantime, let’s continue to try and realize the potential we have in our God-given gifts and talents and continue to be better people.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 9: 14-29

Our Gospel for today’s Liturgy is another Gospel about healing. Jesus drives an unclean spirit from a man. In this Gospel, Jesus places great emphasis on the importance of faith and prayer in the healing process: “Everything is possible to one who has faith.” “This kind can only come out through prayer.”

Prayer is an act of faith and humility. I am humble when I pray because I realize I am not God and I cannot do anything by myself. I am a creature dependent upon my Creator and so I pray to him, I ask him for help. This is one of those areas where Jesus gives us guarantee: “Ask and you will receive; knock and the door will be opened to you.” With these words of Jesus, how can we continue to do things our own way?

Lord, I humbly ask you today to heal my shortcomings and weaknesses. Lead me to the progress I desire.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 
Feast of the Chair of Peter

The cathedral, the throne, the chair of Peter. Today’s Feast gives us the opportunity to thank God for establishing his authority here on earth in the person of our Holy Father, the Pope, and reminds us to pray for him, for his welfare, for his guidance.

There are a couple of reminders of this Chair of Peter in the Major Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome. One is the golden chair sculpted by Bernini that sits high on the back wall of the Basilica. This one is supported by four Fathers of the Church. I used to know who they were, but now I claim a Senior Moment. The other one looks like a rather ordinary dining room chair and is affixed to the wall on the right side of the Basilica as one approaches the main altar. This is the one where the faithful walk by and touch or rub the one leg of the chair with their finger. This leg has been rubbed smooth by the millions of people who have touched it over the centuries.

All of this reminds us of the Successor of St. Peter, Our Holy Father the Pope. Human like us, yet robed in the majesty and power of his office. His job is tremendous: to guide the Church of God here on earth. Let us pray for him daily that our Lord and Savior will be with him always.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 9: 38-40

There are various degrees of unity, oneness, in the Church as well as in schools, companies, sports teams and so forth. One of the marks of the Church is that it is one – one with the values and teachings of Christ. We are all aware that there are other Christian Churches, denominations, besides the Roman Catholic Denomination. The Churches that sprung up at the time of the Reformation are just as Christian as the Roman Church. The Lord Jesus is their Savior and Redeemer. And they too have the means to overcome the darkness of evil, they too are the light of the world. All of this is clearly stated in the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

When I was younger, it was rather the common thing to focus on the differences between the Roman Catholic Church and the other Christian denominations. Now the tendency is to focus on the oneness, the sameness, they have with one another. Once again, we are the better off when we keep things positive rather than negative.

Let us continue to pray for our separated brothers and sisters in the other Christian denominations that their gifts and charisms may make our world a better place in which to live.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 9: 41-50

This Gospel for the Liturgy today contains certain extremes we should not take literally but they do make a point: Get rid of whatever it is that is threatening your relationship with God or your neighbor in any way. We have spoken about this before, about getting rid of whatever it might be that is preventing a closer, more intimate relationship with God and neighbor. This focuses on the relational paradigm we are in in our spiritual lives at the present time in our Church.

Once again, if we want to follow Christ, we must raise the bar, shoot higher, than the so-called average human being. It might seem like cutting off a limb to give up watching the NFL on Sunday afternoon and devote that time to family betterment and fun. But if that football game is getting in the way of our family life, it has to go. Little things — but the little things involve big results in the long run.

What are some blocks in my life that are preventing me from loving God or neighbor more? Let’s find them and root them out.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 10: 1-12

Covenants are a coming together of God and humankind. We read in the Scriptures of the Covenants between God and Moses, God and Noah, God and Abraham, God and David. We often speak of the marriage covenant between husband and wife. Covenants, obviously, are not to be taken lightly — they are serious, lasting promises. God spoke of marriage saying: What God has joined together, let no one set asunder. Divorce is not the goal of marriage, though with the divorce rate now approaching or being slightly over 50% today, it is obvious things sometimes do not go as they should.

Marriages should be entered into with great preparation and care — and even when great care has been taken, sometimes things turn out badly and divorce follows. Today’s Gospel should urge us to pray for married couples and for the endurance of their Sacrament. Let us pray for the marriages that seem successful and for those that are on the brink of failure. Let us pray for the many movements and programs in the Church meant to help married couples in their commitment to one another. The moral strength of our Church, our Nation, comes from the strength of our marriages. May God bless our married couples daily.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time 
March 10, 13-16

Yesterday we paused to pray for married couples and for the success of their marriages. Today’s Gospel reading reminds us to pray for the children that come from these marriages. As I look at the society in which we live today, the thought has entered my mind that it’s more difficult to be a child today than it was when I was a child. Our world has changed much since then. More people equal more problems, I guess. When I look at our children today, sometimes I am impressed and sometimes not. And I guess we can say the same thing about adults. Some seem to manage well and others not so well. There are so many different factors, so many ways to walk the paths in light and darkness. Mostly I am enlivened by the young people in the community in which I live. They seem to want to do the right thing and more often than not they succeed. But they need love and affirmation, they need to feel our hand on their shoulder that lets them know we care and will try and be of help to them if needed. Let’s pray that we are able to respond to their needs and help them through the difficult times and problems of growing into maturity.

Lord, watch over all our children and guide them in your way.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 2011

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time 
February 13, Mt. 5: 20-22, 27-28, 33-34, 37

Today’s Gospel from St. Matthew picks up Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount and gives us a look at the so-called antitheses. We have come in contact with these statements of change from Jesus many times before in these homilies. An antithesis (singular) is something that goes against the common trend or the common way of doing things. There is a series of them in the Sermon on the Mount and they serve to show us exactly what Jesus meant when he told us he had come to change the law but not to abolish it. The antitheses are part of these changes.

They are easy to spot because they usually begin with the words “You have heard” and then are introduced with the words, “But I say to you.” For example, “You have heard it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

We have mentioned many times that Jesus came to raise the level of human consciousness. He takes things up a notch. He raises the bar. It only stands to reason that if humankind is going to be saved, redeemed, they are going to have to change, rise a notch, make the U turn of conversion. If we stay the same as we always were, we are not going to do a whole lot of changing.

So, if we really want the redemption, the salvation, the Kingdom, we must change our ways. In the closing lines of today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to be serious about this. We have to desire this change, we have to want it with all our heart, if we truly wish to walk in the way of the Lord. He tells us, “Let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no’.” If we really want to change we will say “yes” I want it, and then do it, go for it. Let’s not play games with Jesus.

The 3rd Step of the 12 Steps puts this in different language: made a decision to ……,: meaning the same thing. The word decision comes from the Latin word “decidere” which means to cut away, do away with. We truly mean to do away with whatever it is in our lives that is preventing the changes we desire.

So, as the old AA cliche goes: Do it, dammit.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 
Feb. 14, Mark 8: 11-13

“The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus.”

If the Pharisees wanted to argue with Jesus, it is easy to see they were still into their own agenda and were not about ready to accept the changes Jesus was recommending. All this stuff about “show us a sign” is just another way of saying, “we do not accept what you say.” They were still only interested in doing things their own way.

There is an old story about a boy and his grandfather walking a donkey down a road. The people saw this and said they were stupid for not riding the donkey. So the grandfather got on the donkey and was criticized for making the boy walk. Then the boy got on the donkey and was criticized for not respecting his elders. Finally, they both got on the donkey and rode and were criticized for being cruel to animals.

It was kind of like this with Jesus and the Pharisees: No matter what Jesus did, he could not win. Is this the way we are in the face of the changes Jesus asks us to make in order to better follow him?

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 
Feb. 15, Mark 8: 14-2

In our Gospel for today the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod represents their bad influence on others. The disciples again lacked understanding. St. Mark does not specify what the disciples should have “seen” about Jesus — perhaps that they had no need to worry about bread when Jesus was there to care for their needs. They had just witnessed Jesus feeding the thousands with a few loaves of bread and some fish and yet they were worried that they had no bread in the boat. The disciples, even after witnessing the multiplication of the loaves, doubted that Jesus would care for them in their need for bread.

The yeast of the Pharisees and Herod, their bad influence, their wanting sign after sign and doubting the works of Jesus had spread to the disciples. They had seen the miraculous powers of Jesus at work and still they doubted. Yeast is that way. One little bit of yeast can affect the whole mass of bread dough. Like one bad apple in a barrel will cause all the apples to spoil.

The evil that is going on in the world today — the greed, the violence, the rage, the lust, spreads to us all. We are surrounded by it. It rubs off on us, if you will. All of us are perhaps more prone to anger and rage today than we were some years ago. This “stuff” spreads through the whole mass. Let us pray that we may be aware of this and make an extra effort to keep this “yeast of the world” from infecting us as we try and follow Jesus.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 
Feb. 16, Mark 8: 22-26

Once again in today’s Gospel, the faith of the people caused the cure of one of their members whom they obviously loved very much. He was a blind man who must have been a good man with many friends. These friends had heard of Jesus’ healing powers, believed, and brought their blind friend to Jesus for help and Jesus cured the man of his blindness.

This Gospel makes me wonder if I have any friends who are in real need of help of one sort or another. I’m rather sure we all could find some if we looked. These are the people who ask us continually for our prayers. Let us “take them to the Lord” on the wings of prayer and ask Jesus to cure them from their malady.

Let’s remember to pray for those who ask us to do so for them and their needs.
Jesus is only too willing to help us all see more clearly.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 
Feb. 17, Mark 8: 27-33

The proof is in the pudding. Remember that old saying? If you want to prove it to yourself that someone is a good cook, try their cooking. If it is good, then they qualify. Simple. And the same thing applies to Jesus and his values. If you have any doubts at all that Jesus is the Son of God, try his values for a while. Try being compassionate, caring, loving, forgiving, serving, prayerful, following his commandments, for a few months and then see if you are not happier, more peaceful, more serene than you were before you started this. The proof is in the pudding.

This is kind of the same exercise we propose to someone who doesn’t believe there is a God. Get them to act as if there is a God for three or four months. Ask them to make a commitment that each morning when they rise they will get on their knees and thank God for the gift of another day and to help them during that day. Then at night, before they retire, do the same thing and thank God for the good and not-so-good things that happened that day. And after the three or four months of doing this, see if there isn’t a notable difference for the better in their lives for having done this. Have them try it.

Act as if. The proof is in the pudding.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 
Feb. 18, Mark 8: 34 – 9:1

“What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

I believe more people should read the quote of Jesus just given above and meditate long and hard on it. I read a little blog the other day of a meeting held in a large U.S. city with nine of the world’s most important people present. They included the president of the largest steel company in the country, the largest gas company, the largest utility company, among others. Twenty-five years after this meeting, where were these powerful men? Three had died penniless, three had committed suicide, two were in prison and one had gone insane. So much for riches, power, and greatness equalling happiness.

We all know this — so why do we keep butting our heads against the wall? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. Let’s try this way — the way we all know will bring us happiness and joy.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 
Feb. 19, Mark 9: 2-13

The Peanuts Cartoon is always good for a daily chuckle and sometimes they even go a little deeper. The one I read recently shows Schroeder, the little guy who sits on the floor playing the piano, carrying a record on Brahm’s Fourth Symphony. “What are you going to do with that?” asks Lucy. “Listen to it,” replied Schroeder. “You mean dance to it, sing to it, hum along with it, tap your foot to it?” asked Lucy. “No, just listen to it,” says Schroeder.“Dumbest thing I ever heard of,” replies Lucy.

In today’s Gospel, God the Father says, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Do we think this is the dumbest thing we’ve ever heard of?

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Fifth Week in Ordinary Time 2011

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 
Mt. 5: 13-16

Today’s Gospel reminds the disciples of the Lord just what they are supposed to be with the two metaphors of salt and light: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. The word You is emphasized here to show the contrast between the Christians and the Jews. It is the followers of Jesus who are salt and light.

Salt and light were essential to life in the ancient world. Salt was used to season, purify, and preserve food. Without various salts, even the earth would lose its fertility. The human being needs light to see, to live, to function. If we tried to live in pitch darkness, life as we know it would be impossible. I cannot even imagine being in a world without light.

Another interesting thing about salt and light is that they do not draw attention to themselves. They are just there, doing their thing. We don’t even think about the salt that is in the good tasting, well-seasoned food we are eating. It’s there, the food tastes good and we eat it. Recently, because of my health issues, I was put on a salt-free diet and now I am more aware of the presence or absence of salt than ever. And we take light for granted. The sun rises and sets giving us the light we need to live along with the humanly produced light produced from electricity.

And so, the Christian, with the Gospel values of love, compassion, forgiveness, and service to others, is the salt and the light of the world. It is up to us to purify, preserve, and season the Christian life we try to follow ourselves and lead others to by the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. We are the children of God.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 6: 53-56

The Gospel selections read daily in the Liturgy, one after the other, do their best to impress us with the healing power of Jesus. If something is wrong or out of order, take it to the Lord. This, of course, is the spiritual principle of surrender, mentioned in the 3rd Step of the 12 Steps of Spirituality. We have spoken many times of the power of this Step: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him.

What is going on in your life today that you would like improved? Are you presently trying to work out the solution all by yourself? Try it the 3rd Step way. Ask the good Lord for his involvement. It is only our faith and trust in him that makes us whole.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 7: 1-13

The story is told of an imprisoned rabbi who used his small allotment of water each day for the ritual hand washing of the Jewish Law rather than drinking it to stay alive. We can read about such goings on and come to the conclusion that the person was either very stupid or he had a death wish. This story shows an external religious practice and rite being pushed to an extreme and, right off the bat, that makes it wrong.

Undoubtedly, the rabbi was a very religious man, but he failed in good common sense coming from the inner desire to stay alive. Am I placing any such external religious practices against family necessities or my own well being? If so, what can be done to straighten out this rather perverted order of things?

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
Mark 7: 14-23

The Gospels this week are so far directed to the contention that exists between the external and the internal, the internal affairs of the heart and the external religious rites regarding foods, the clean and the unclean. There are many stories in the Scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament, of people choosing to die rather than fail in the fulfillment of some external ritual such as eating unclean food. In the New Testament, the beautiful parable of the Good Samaritan is an example of the same thing. The priest and the rabbi passed by the injured man in the ditch because of the possibility of becoming unclean by touching a dead person.

I guess this whole thing revolves around our priorities. Certain things are just more important than others. I hope our consciences are formed so as to make the right choices in these instances. Human life is certainly more important than becoming unclean and whatever that amounts to. Sometimes it is hard to imagine ourselves doing such things, but just when you think you have heard it all, something else even stranger comes along.

Let us pray today that the Lord will help us keep our priorities in the proper order.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 7: 24-30

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reportedly wrote: “If you knock long enough and loud enough…..you are sure to wake up someone.”

This quote kind of fits what is going on in the Gospel for today’s Liturgy. A Gentile woman approached Jesus and asked him to drive a demon of one sort or another from her daughter. She was persistent and aggressive in her petition to the Lord, and even when he started teasing her, she kept up her prayer. Because she hung in there, Jesus granted her prayer and told her the demon was gone from her daughter. And the woman found it just as he had said when she got home.

This idea of being persistent in prayer appears quite often in the Scriptures. It follows the old adage: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s the message in today’s Gospel: Keep on praying and the Lord will answer you sooner or later.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
 Mark 7: 31-37

I believe we can say that the Lord gave us everything we need to get through life in rather fine fashion. But nature isn’t always perfect. We rely greatly on our five senses for quality living and if one of them is impaired, we immediately feel the bad results. Our gifts of sight, hearing, speaking, touch, and smell are invaluable to all of us. And all of us know what it is like to lose one of them, even through a cold, the flu or some injury. Living without one of more of our five senses is not easy.

Today let us remember to pray for those who are having a difficult time getting though life because of deafness, blindness, the inability to speak properly and so on. The handicapped are to be prayed for, cared for, and loved. They are special people doing a special job of living despite their handicap.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 8: 1-10

We close out our week with Mark’s Gospel story of Jesus multiplying the fish and the bread to feed the hungry people. All though this week we have seen Jesus caring for his people in one way or another, serving them and loving them. That’s why he became man for us and his purpose has not yet ended. There are many people, unfortunately, who are going through their lives unloved. That must be a terrible way to live.

Let us pray today for the dawn of God’s love to break over them and help them all to realize that God loves them very much, that they are precious to him along with everyone else. Such a realization can indeed be life-changing. A little bit of love goes a long way.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Fourth Week in Ordinary Time 2011

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time 
Mt. 5: 1-12

The Gospel selected to be read on this Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time is Matthew’s presentation of the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Some say Matthew gives us eight Beatitudes, others say nine, making “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven” the ninth. The word “Rejoice” here is in the second person plural and that is the reason for the separate numbering. The scene of Matthew’s Sermon is on the mountain. Luke also gives us Beatitudes in his Gospel, dividing them into four blessings and four “woes”, and they are given on the Plain. Together they sum up all that it takes to be a Christian. Today, let’s just focus on the First Beatitude in Matthew’s listing: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

Years ago I heard a Hindu story that caught my attention. While a little on the strange side, I thought it cleverly makes a good point. I used to use it in a marriage homily but it also fits here with the first Beatitude. The story goes like this:

Once upon a time, there were two very close friends: one was a mud pie and the other was a dry leaf. You may think this is a strange combination for friendship, but so it happened. One day they decided to make pilgrimage together to a holy shrine that was some distance away. They realized that if they went, they would have to take certain precautions, have a plan for their protection from dangers, if you will. They decided that they had two main things to watch out for: the wind and the rain. If the wind blew, it would blow the dry leaf away. And if the rain fell, it would wash the mudpie away to nothing. So they came up with a plan: if the wind blew, the mudpie would sit on top of the dry leaf and keep it from blowing away; if the rain fell, the dry leaf would sit on top of the mudpie so the rain could not wash it away to nothing. Their plan worked fine — until one day the worst thing that could have happened, happened: the wind blew and the rain fell at the same time. The mudpie was washed away to nothing and the dry leaf blew away never to be seen again. End of story!

The moral: We can’t do it alone. There will be times in life when not even our best friend can help us. We will need God. This is what it means to be “poor in spirit” and you can also see how this applies to marriage. Let us remember always Jesus’ words in the parable of the Vine and the Branches: Without me, you can do nothing.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 
 Mark 5: 1-20

The Gospel message for today reminds us of the fact that we are all responsible for the spreading of the Good News of Jesus. Baptism calls us to this. We have spoken of this many times before.

The man Jesus healed in today’s Gospel went to his family “and announced to them all what the Lord in his pity had done for him.” We meet people like this, people God has helped in some miraculous way. We meet them every day if only we listen to their story. God truly cares for his people and assists them in so many wonderful ways.

What has God caused to happen to you that you need to share with others to show how much God loves us? Run and do it today! Don’t just think about it. Don’t keep the Good News to yourself!

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 5: 21-4

St. Mark plays literary games with us in this Gospel selected to be read today. He does this to get our attention. The Gospel begins with the telling of one miracle story, is interrupted with the telling of another miracle story, and then comes back to finish the first story.

My Commentary points out that these two stories are intertwined in meaning. Each one is meant to change some of our common attitudes toward death. Death is looked upon by many as an occasion of sadness and fear, fear of the unknown, fear of what happens after death. If we believe in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, we will not feel sad or afraid at the mention of death. These feelings are OK because one who was loved is seemingly lost forever. But in view of the resurrection we see death as a time of celebration and joy. Some also see death as final and I often used to talk about the finality of death at funerals. But death is final only in regard to this temporal life we are leading. We too will rise again on the last day, as Jesus tells us often in the Scriptures. Death is temporary, as is shown in the Gospel today in Jesus calling the little girl back to life. He will also call us back to life in the life to come.

Jesus often wondered why our faith was so “little.”
I must admit I wonder the same thing about myself.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 
Feb. 2, The Presentation of the Lord and Candlemas Day

The Feast of the Presentation, also called Candlemas Day, commemorates the purification of Mary, Mother of God, which took place 40 days after the birth of Christ as required by Jewish Law. Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem because every first born child was to be dedicated to the Lord. They also sacrificed a pair of turtle doves to show they were poor. Once in the Temple, Jesus is prayed over by Simeon in the presence of Anna the Prophetess. We are all familiar with this story.

The name Candlemas Day comes from the blessing of candles associated with this feast. All the candles to be used in the Liturgies, etc., of the coming year will be blessed today. Blessed candles are sometimes distributed to the people to take into their homes. My Mom always reminded me to bring some blessed candles home on this day. She would burn them in our home during thunder and wind storms throughout the year.

In some cultures, Candlemas Day also predicted weather patterns. There is an old English song that goes:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight.
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

All of this led to the folklore behind “Groundhog Day,” which falls on Candlemas Day.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 6: 7-1

In today’s Gospel we are reminded of our mission to preach repentance and conversion to the values of Jesus. The best way to do this is not to drag an orange crate out to stand on, place it on a busy street corner, and begin to shout the Gospel. You may laugh at our putting it this way, but that is not too far fetched from the way things were at one time.

I think it is a better idea to preach to those around us by our example, by not reacting with anger at the time of an affront, by not being greedy and selfish, by being the servant to those in need and compassionate to those who need understanding in a bad situation.

Have you had an opportunity to preach by your example lately?

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Mark 6: 14-29

Today’s Gospel is the story of John the Baptist’s death at the hands of Herod for standing up for what he knew was right. John was not about to enable Herod as being virtuous in his marriage to Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, Philip. John stood up for the good against the evil and suffered terrible consequences for doing so.

John could have easily said, “It’s OK, Herod. Don’t worry about legalities here.” He could have enabled Herod and saved his own life. Is there any of this going on in our lives where we just let unethical behavior slide by without any confrontation? This is not the way to preach the Gospel by our good example we just spoke of yesterday.

Let’s check ourselves for any enabling we may be mixed up in in our relationships.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 6: 30-34

Have you asked yourself the question lately: Why is everyone in such a big hurry? Where is everyone going so fast? Man, I do. Sometimes I think I’m being passed by everyone in the world. In today’s Gospel selection, Jesus tells his disciples to stop running and working for a while, come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile. Put some silent, restful time in your day!

I sometimes watch the first half of the Oprah Winfrey Show on TV in the afternoon before I switch to Jeopardy at 4:30. The other day, Oprah asked her audience to press a button if they deliberately sought out quiet, silent time in their daily lives. I forget the exact percentage that pressed the button indicating they did, but I believe it was over 40%. I think the number surprised Oprah. She wasn’t expecting it to be so high. In my present situation of old age and not too good health, I have plenty of time for silence in my life. I guess this is one of the good things about being older and in poor health.

How about you? Do you enjoy silent time every day in your busy schedules?
Remember the old adage: Make haste slowly.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Third Week in Ordinary Time 2011

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 
Mt. 4: 12-23

The Gospel for this Third Sunday of Ordinary Time is divided into two parts: the nearness of God’s reign and Jesus’ calling the first disciples. In this homily we are going to focus on the second section, Jesus calling the Twelve, and we do so because this applies to us also.

One of the first words I recall learning in Latin 1 was the word “discipulus” which is translated to mean a pupil or student in English. A disciple is one who is learning how to do this or that. The disciple of Jesus is learning how to be his follower, what this involves, what they are to do and so forth. Being a disciple is a learning experience and one that never ends.

Discipleship is not merely an intellectual thing. We are not out to get an A in a course. Jesus invites us to follow him actively. We are called to the same mission as that of Christ, we too are sent by the Father. We learn the values of Jesus, make progress in acquiring them in our own lives and, having done that, we share them with others for their improvement and happiness. Being a disciple of Jesus is a personal thing as well as a sharing the experience with others. In a sense, we are both disciple and teacher.

Discipleship with Christ is primary. It doesn’t take a back seat to anything else, not even to our closest personal relationships. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that it is the one who does his will who is mother, father, brother and sister to me. Doing his will comes first, is primary, and then the other relationships follow. And we should be aware that this arrangement does no harm to the other relationships I have. It only makes them better.

There is a totality in being a disciple. He/she gives themselves wholly to Christ and his way, truth and life. It has always been amazing to me how the Twelve, upon being called by Jesus, dropped everything they were doing and followed him immediately. James and John even left their father, Zebedee, standing all alone with all the work to do. There was no preparation for all of this either. Jesus came, called, the Twelve followed, and that was it.

I just know that all of us try our best to be good and true disciples of the Lord but we always remain defective disciples. The other things, activities, and so on, of life get in the way all the time. They become blocks to our being better disciples. Today’s Gospel is good for us to reflect upon. What do I need to become the disciple of Jesus I would hope to be and that he would have me be? What is blocking me from doing this?

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 3: 22-30

“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of everlasting sin.”

Today’s Gospel makes mention of the so-called “unforgiveable sin.” It is not unforgiveable because of God’s doing, but from our own doing. We make it unforgiveable ourselves. We said in yesterday’s Gospel on discipleship that the true disciple makes the values of Jesus his/her own. We said that discipleship is an active thing. The disciple does what he/she believes. With regard to their sins, the true disciple knows that all they have to do is seek forgivness and it will be theirs. God forgives the wrongs of the disciple and the disciple, in turn, is to forgive those who harm him/her. But the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, the one who shows contempt or lack of reverence and belief for God, never desires forgiveness, does not ask for it because he/she denies the one who gives it, and therefore the sin remains unforgiveable.

As Pogo once said, “We have found the enemy and he/she is us.”

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 16: 15-18

Today’s Gospel reminds me once again of last Sunday’s homily on discipleship. True disciples are going to take the Gospel message and proclaim it to every creature, proclaim it to the world. We have talked about this many times before. The People of God are the people of the whole world. We are all together in the same boat. If one sinks, all sink. We are, as Vatican II tells us, in collegiality with one another. And the true disciple will keep this whole Church in mind and prays for it.

There are some strange words toward the end of this Gospel concerning those who believe. The Gospel tells us, “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents in their hands and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

My Commentary on the New Testament says this, “The power to “tread on serpents” is mentioned in Luke (10: 19), but not the power to pick them up. The power to “drink any deadly thing” without harm is nowhere in the New Testament. (And when those words have been taken literally, they have caused death). In no Gospel does Jesus advocate the seeking of signs.” A word to the wise is sufficient. It goes on to say: “Those signs, etc., here are found in the so-called longer ending of the Gospel of Mark. Sometime after Mark completed his Gospel, three anonymous authors offered other endings to it.”

All of this, of course, causes problems to arise among scholars that we do not have the time or space to discuss here. I refer any interested reader to a good Commentary on the Scriptures for further information.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 4: 1-20

Today’s Gospel presents to us the parable of the Sower. “A sower went out to sow.” When one checks out this parable in the various Commentaries, the explanations of the parable and the interpretations are many. I guess each of us has to ask ourselves what the parable means to me. What do I get out of it? Sometimes I ask myself after reading it how well I listen to what God tells me, speaks to me, in the many different ways he communicates with me.

Today when I saw this parable pop up for the Gospel reading, I thought of my gifts and talents.

What gifts has God given to me for others and how am I doing with this?
Where do I need to improve?
Do I see any selfishness creeping into my relationships with others?
Is it ever all about me?
How well are my gifts and talents fulfilling their purpose for others?
Have God’s gifts to me landed on fertile soil?

All of this makes for a fine meditation on today’s Gospel.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 4: 21-25

“To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Let’s say that someone is a really good golfer. He shoots in the neighborhood of par all the time. Then, because of an injury, he has to stop playing the game for a year. Then he starts it up again — and now, after the lay-off, he finds that he is really just a duffer. His fine game has left him. And if he stops for a longer and longer time, he will lose it all.

The same thing happens in our spiritual life. If all of the sudden, for one reason or another, I cease to be caring, compassionate, forgiving, serving, etc., I will lose those gifts if I keep this up. The old adage that practice makes perfect is pretty true most of the time. In order to possess a gift, I have to continue to use it. Otherwise I will lose my grip on what I really want to have.

Does any of this ring a bell with you and your gifts or talents?

This makes for another fine meditation for out quiet time today.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time 
Jan. 28, Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

Today the Church celebrates the feast day of one of the greatest theologians ever in the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas. Thomas entered the Dominican Order in 1243. After professing his vows, he studied at Cologne under St. Albert the Great. Thomas was nicknamed the “dumb ox” because of his quiet ways and huge size, but in reality he was a brilliant student. Later he studied in Parish and received the doctorate in Theology.

Thomas was a good writer and his greatest work was the “Summa Theologica” which was the standard theology text in seminaries up to 1965 and Vatican II. Thomas died in 1274 and was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius V in 1323.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time 
Mark 4: 35-41

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus and his disciples are in their boat crossing the Sea of Galilee and a storm comes up. Jesus was sleeping in the rear of the boat. Pretty soon the storm gets serious and the boat started to fill with water. The Apostles became frightened and finally woke Jesus and asked him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus woke up and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and it was calm. Then Jesus asked his disciples, “Why are you terrified? Do you not have any faith?”

How do I manage to calm things in the spiritual storms of my own life?
How do I help others to do the same?
Do I bring the matter up to Jesus?
What are the results?

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Second Week in Ordinary Time 2011

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 
January 16, Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6; John 1: 29-34

“I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

The words just quoted above from the Prophet Isaiah are from the first reading in the Liturgy for this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the prophecy God speaks these words to his Son whom he is sending to us, the Messiah, the Anointed One, and through Christ to us who are his ministers and servants. We are part of this mission, this plan of God, to bring salvation, deliverance, to the ends of the earth, to all peoples everywhere. This mission is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (Gen. 12: 2-3: “I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you, and all the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”), and his promise to Moses in Exodus 19: 5: “You shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people.” The salvation of this ministry is none other than the message of freedom and peace.

These words of Isaiah really tell us what we are all about, what our purpose is for being followers of Christ. Our mission, our purpose, is the salvation of all people, of all to the ends of the earth. WOW! This is awesome and we don’t want to forget it. Being Christian, followers of Christ, is more than just raising our own families and assisting those who live in my neighborhood whom I call friends. We must see ourselves as part of a larger scenario. And yet, sometimes we just about reach the end of our rope trying to keep our families and neighbors in good shape. We get so enmeshed in the small picture of our existence that we forget the larger scenario, the ends of the earth, the world of which we are just a very small but important part.

In view of these words of Isaiah that we are reading today during our Liturgy, let us try and keep in mind the larger scene of which we are a part as servants of Christ. Let us try and remember to pray for all people every day, pray that Christ’s message and values will permeate their hearts too. And let us continue to seek to be better examples of Christ’s way, truth and life in our own corner of this big, big world so that others who see our values see the values of Christ. This is how salvation will spread to the ends of the earth. I know it seems like one big impossibility but always let us remember, as we do our part, that God is with us all.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 
Jan. 17, Mark 2: 18-22

An anonymous author once wrote: I can think of only one person who welcomes change — a wet baby.

Ah, yes, good old change. Change in general is something that none of us is too fond of. We kind of like to settle in, get comfortable with things and let it go at that. And that certainly is not what change is about. Change constantly stirs things up and ruffles the nest, keeps us on the move. I think people today are getting more used to having things constantly change. A new whatever is obsolete before I get it out of the store. But I guess it was this way in the generation of my Mom and Dad too. They lived for almost the whole 20th century and during that time their way of living went from the horse and buggy and memorizing the multiplication tables to the moon and computers. Talk about change! And I know all of this was hard for my parents to keep up with. Dad never did stop trying to put new wine into old skins.

Change, I believe, is part of God’s plan for us. God desires us to take our gifts and talents to their full potential. And that involves changing things. Jesus himself told us he came to make all things new. He came to change, not to do away with or destroy. Change is a building, a growing, and that is what Jesus came for. We will see some of these changes instigated by Jesus in the Gospels for the next few days. Watch for them. And let’s examine this whole idea of change as we see it. Do we try and change with the times or is there a constant battle going on within us? Are we still trying to pour new wine into old skins?

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 
Jan. 18, Mark 2: 23-28

In the book of Genesis, when God created the whole world and everything in it, he finally reached the seventh day, the sabbath, and he rested. I guess this is where the origin of making the sabbath, the seventh day of the week, a day of rest. What is good enough for God is good enough for us.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus and his disciples are walking through a field of grain on the sabbath day. The disciples are a little bit hungry and picked some of the heads of grain to munch on as a snack. The Pharisees saw them do this and had a fit. Picking grain was work and you couldn’t do that on the sabbath day! Jesus corrected the Pharisees. He didn’t do away with the idea of resting on the sabbath; he changed it for certain extenuating circumstances, for a change in priorities. “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath,” he told them.

This made sense then and it makes sense now. And look where things have gone today!

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 
Jan. 19, Mark 3: 1-6

In today’s Gospel selection, Jesus heals a man’s withering arm on the sabbath. Kind of a continuation of yesterday’s idea. Before he heals the man he invites him to “come up here before us.” This implies that people who were physically disabled were shunned by the “normal” community. So Jesus is introducing change here on two fronts: working (healing) on the sabbath, and treating disabled people the same way you would treat everyone else, with respect, dignity and understanding.

This brings up another area in our lives where we tend to shun people who are different or disabled. Are they to be avoided at all costs or do I stop and speak to them and assist them if they need or ask for help? We have a tendency to escape from anyone or anything that is different from the ordinary way of being. Does this apply to me?

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 
Jan. 20, Mark 3: 7-12

We read in today’s Gospel reading that Jesus’ actions attracted crowds of people from all over the place. Jesus was something of a sensation. Who is this man who is going around changing the accepted way of doing things, who is healing people and driving out demons? So many people flocked around Jesus that he was afraid of being crushed and had the disciples bring a boat so he could shove off from shore and talk to them from out on the water.

And once again the “Marcan secret” is part of the Gospel: “He warned them (the unclean spirits who recognized him) sternly not to make him known.” Let the people wonder who he was until they finally figured it out for themselves that he was the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.

Have I figured out yet from his actions in my life that Jesus is the Son of God?

Fr. Howard

Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 
Jan. 21, Mark 3: 13-19

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gets into some very important business: the appointing of the Twelve whose ultimate purpose is to carry his message to the whole world. The Gospel tells us that Jesus went up the mountain to do this. This Gospel does not say explicitly that Jesus went up the mountain to pray as it does on numerous other occasions. I think we can assume that he did as he was in the habit of praying before important happenings in his mission. Surely the appointing of the Twelve was of the utmost importance and Jesus prayed before he called them.

Again the reminder is there for all of us. Do we remember to pray before beginning an important part of our day? These times might include our waking from sleep in the morning, at meal times, our being together with a family member for special time, going to work or school, cleaning the house, before retiring at night. All of these are important times of our day and a prayer before doing them acknowledges their importance and asks God’s presence and help. It might be a good idea to tie an imaginary string around our finger to remind us to do this throughout the day. It certainly seems to me that things go better and easier when I do this.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 
Jan. 22, Mark 3: 20-21

“He is out of his mind.”

If I were to say the above quoted words to someone right now, they would think I was telling them they were crazy or coo-coo. And maybe this is what Jesus’ family, neighbors or friends were saying to him at this time. And when you stop and think about it, they probably had pretty good cause to think he was crazy, that Jesus had lost it. He did choose for himself a road that was to lead to his destruction. He left a safe place at Nazareth where he was working as a carpenter to preach a message to the people that was unpopular and to which the people often responded to by being hostile and nasty. He had gone from a safe place to an unsafe place. He challenged and antagonized the religious leaders of the people by seemingly brushing aside their hallowed rules regarding the sabbath day, eating and fasting, and all their many purification rites. He spoke against the system and gave them ample room to think he was possessed or crazy.

So, the people may have been telling Jesus literally that he was out of his mind. On the other hand, there are different ways of translating the Greek word that is translated “out of his mind.” Literally the Greek word means “out of himself.” My Commentary says it was related to the Greek word for “ecstasy.” In using this word, Mark may have intended to say that Jesus had a more elevated consciousness than those around him. Indeed, he came to make things new and this could well mean he came to raise the level of human consciousness which he did by preaching his values of love, caring, compassion, forgiveness, service to others, unselfishness, being peaceful. All of these values were rather contrary to the ordinary way of acting at that time.

Analyzing all of this, I think we can conclude that we should feel good if someone sees us following the values of Jesus and tells us we are crazy for doing so. Indeed, maybe we should feel uneasy if people do not believe we are a little strange as Christians. There are many Christians and other just plain good people who are not greedy, lustful, angry, violent, warmongers, selfish, unforgiving, resentful, unethical in making a lot of money by exploiting the poor and vulnerable people they meet, and other ignorant people who make the wrong choice for lives of crime, addiction and so forth.

Has anyone told you you are crazy lately?

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The First Week in Ordinary Time 2011

The Baptism of the Lord 
 Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7; Mt. 3:13-17

On this Sunday after the Epiphany, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The first reading from Isaiah and the Gospel from St. Matthew are particularly relevant for us on this feast that serves to remind us of our own Baptism and the purpose of it.

In the Gospel Jesus is baptized by John and the first question that we ask is why? The sinless Jesus surely did not need to be baptized. His baptism, we say, is one of affirmation, the affirmation being that God is present to us in a very special way in Baptism. And Jesus’ Baptism by John also affirms the prophecy of Isaiah that “my favor rests on him.”

Baptism was a ritual used by the Jews for people who came into Judaism from some other religion. They needed to be “washed” or “cleansed” from their pagan ways. The Jews themselves did not need baptism. They were the children of Abraham and the chosen people of God.

The words of the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading apply to Jesus and also to us. Just as Jesus came as a “servant”, so do we. One of our main characteristics as followers of Christ is our servanthood. We are servants for God and for one another. In Baptism we are “grasped by the hand of God” and become servants of God. We are God’s chosen, holy people and the elements of servanthood outlined in Isaiah’s 42nd chapter apply not only to the Messiah but to us as well.

Our Baptism is a covenant action. A covenant is a coming together with God, a joining of ourselves and God. We are his special, chosen people whom he holds by the hand and guides. We are to be a “light for the nations,” leading others to Christ by adopting his values and ways into our own lives. Jesus will tell us later in the Gospel that we are the light of the world and that we are to let that light shine for all to see. Indeed, our Baptism is a special grace of God.

We are sent as servants to others to open the eyes of the blind. We have said before that we are all blind in so many different ways. God’s ways are not our ways and it is difficult for us to make his ways ours. This is our job as servants and then to show others by our example how this can be accomplished. We are to show those bound in the darkness of sin that there is another way, that we can be free from this darkness by following his way, truth and life.

In living as children of the light, in grasping tightly the hand of Jesus and allowing him to lead us along the way, we find happiness, joy, fulfillment and peace. We spoke last Sunday about encountering Jesus and surely Baptism is one of these encounters. It brings us the fulfillment of life and helps us to lead others in the same direction.

Lord, help us to be your faithful servants. Help us to remain always close to you and to help others come to you. This is our purpose in your plan and it all begins with Baptism.

Fr. Howard

Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 1: 14-20

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord that we celebrated yesterday brings to an end the Christmas Season. Now we return again to Ordinary Time in the First Week. Ordinary time will continue until March 8, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Lent and Easter time will last until June 13, the Feast of Pentecost, after which we will return again to Ordinary Time. From today until the beginning of Lent, our daily Gospel will be taken from St. Mark. And so we begin.

Ordinary Time appropriately begins at the beginning and we find ourselves in chapter 1 of St. Mark’s Gospel and read the words: “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

My thoughts go back to a homily we just read a few days ago on New Year’s Day that has probably been forgotten by this time. We remarked then that the New Year was a time when we thought of resolutions and we remarked that resolutions and repenting are kind of about the same thing. Both involve making the U turn of change in our lives. And this is not an easy thing to do, as we all know only too well. We said then that we start out this whole process all gung ho and then in a week or two find ourselves right back where we started in the same old same old. And we are left with a bag full of frustration.

The reason for this? Oftentimes we bite off more than we can chew at one time. We say we will never do this or that again. What we should say is: I won’t do this or that today. It is easier to go for one day at a time than forever. And this is what Ordinary Time is all about. It is all about doing the best I can do today. Remember, yesterday is gone and will never return. Tomorrow is not here yet and perhaps it will not be for me. All I really have is today.

Let’s try and lives our lives one day at a time. Makes sense to me!

Fr. Howard

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 1: 21-28

Our Gospel for today begins with the first of three miracles with which St. Mark ends the first chapter of his Gospel. In today’s Gospel Jesus drives an evil spirit out of a man. In the Gospel for tomorrow he will heal Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and on the following day he will heal a leper who comes to him for help.

Jesus’ miracles are sometimes considered “signs.” A sign is something that tells about something other than itself. What the sign tells us is the important thing. The miracle in today’s Gospel was very important to the possessed man. What is here that is important for you and for me? I believe this sign is important for us because it tells us that Jesus had power over evil spirits. Jesus is goodness personified. His action in curing the possessed man shows us that good will eventually triumph over evil. Those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours every day run into this idea frequently in reading the psalms. Oftentimes we become envious of ignorant people who are doing evil things and seemingly benefit from doing so. They cheat, they are greedy, and yet they seem to be happy. This miracle in today’s Gospel tells us they are not happy.

Goodness will triumph over evil eventually. It is the truly good who will be happy, content and at peace with God and themselves. Let us pray today for the strength to continue in the right path we have chosen.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 1: 29-39

My Bible Commentary tells me that Peter’s mother-in-law whom Jesus cured from a fever in today’s Gospel, was the first person in the Gospels to act as Jesus acts. That is interesting! The author says this because of the words “she waited on them.” Waiting on others is the same thing as serving others, which is the primary thing Jesus came to do. Jesus came to serve. Way back in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah we read of Jesus as the suffering servant. This was his legacy. Jesus was a servant to all of us par excellence. Jesus says repeatedly in the Gospels that he came “not to be served but to serve.” Service here is giving of oneself and expecting nothing in return.

This is also meant to be our legacy as followers of Jesus. We are to serve one another with the gifts and talents Jesus has given to us from the beginning. Once again, and let’s underline it, life is not all about me. My selfishness must give way to serving and caring for others.

Let’s take the time today to honestly look at ourselves to see how we are faring in this area of being of service to others.

Fr. Howard

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 1: 40-45

In today’s Gospel a leper approached Jesus and said to him, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” And Jesus, moved with compassion for the man, stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

We have remarked numerous times that lepers were ostracized from the rest of society because of their illness. Here, in this miracle, we run into the so-called “Markan secret” that we hear in many other places in Scripture. Jesus told the leper, “See that you tell no one anything.” But the leper went and told everyone he met that Jesus had cured him. The leper went from a person ostracized from society, lonely and fearful, to a person who was now part of the normal community again and who also had the courage to witness to the healing powers of Jesus.

If we have been healed in any way by the Lord, let us too proclaim it from the rooftops. Perhaps this will help others to call on Jesus for help and also become witnesses of Jesus’ healing power and love for all.

Fr. Howard

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time 
Mark 2: 1-12

Mark’s Gospel for today continues the series of miracles he has been narrating. He ended his first chapter with three miracles and now he begins the second chapter with another, the healing of the paralytic. In this miracle, as in most of Jesus’ miracles, Jesus comments about the faith that make the miracle possible to happen. Only in this particular miracle it is not the faith of the paralytic that Jesus comments on but rather the faith of the four individuals who brought him into the presence of Jesus. “When Jesus saw their faith he said to him, “child, your sins are forgiven …… Rise, pick up your mat and walk.”

This brings up a point for our consideration. Is our faith strong enough to enable us to bring others to meet and encounter Jesus? Do we do everything we can to encourage someone who is interested in knowing more about Jesus? Do we perhaps try and arrange to have the person meet Jesus with us? This can be accomplished by praying with the person, inviting them to Sunday Liturgy or to the RCIA classes in the parish. We can also volunteer our services to the RCIA program as a sponsor or teacher.

Let’s try and get involved in somehow showing others the way to Jesus. If we can but arrange the meeting, Jesus will take it from there, as we witness in our Gospel story today.

Fr. Howard

Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time 
 Mark 2: 13-17

In our Gospel reading for today it would appear that Jesus went looking for the worst of the worst to invite them to have dinner with him and listen to his teachings. “Many tax collectors and sinners ate with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed them.”

The people we try to introduce to Jesus do not have to be what we call “holy or good” people, those who maybe pray a lot or read their Bible a lot. It is perfectly OK and even recommended to approach the worst “sinner” you can find and tell them you have a friend you would like them to meet. Then introduce them in some way to Jesus and his values. This is where real saints come from. I can remember a real good story of doing just this and the beautiful results of it all, but I cannot write about it for fear of the person being recognized by some who might read it. Let’s just say it can and does happen and when it does, it is powerful.

Fr. Howard

Father Howard Hansen’s Reflections
for The Epiphany of the Lord

The Epiphany of the Lord 
January 2, Mt. 2:1-12

Today’s Gospel from St. Matthew on this Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord does not give us any of the details of Jesus’ birth but rather focuses on where he was born, in Bethlehem of Judea. The great King David had been anointed King in Bethlehem and Jesus’ being born there shows his decent from David.

The “Magi” in today’s Gospel are the first visitors to the newborn Jesus. Even though some of the Christmas carols indicate otherwise, these Magi were not kings or wise men. Here they appear to have been astrologers who interpret the movement of the stars. Whether these Magi are historically real or made up creations of St. Matthew is open for discussion. Some believe the star they followed to be Halley’s comet, which appeared in 12-11BC. Matthew may have created this idea of the star to reinforce a popular belief that royal births were indicated by astrological happenings. In any event, the Magi are pictured as Gentiles who accept Jesus as the Messiah and, like the disciples, gave him their very lives.

The word Epiphany means a manifestation, showing or revealing. With his birth, Jesus manifested himself to the world. He came to make all things new for those who accepted him. For me, there is little difference between Epiphany and Conversion or Repentance (making that U turn in our lives). They go together like strawberries and cream. The Magi saw and believed. The disciples encountered and experienced Jesus and followed him immediately. And, I believe, it is also like that for you and me.

Each of us has his/her own moment of Epiphany when Jesus manifests himself to us in a very real way and invites us to follow him. For me this happened when I was 44 years old and my drinking problem had reached its pinnacle. That Saturday evening I tried to say a parish Mass while highly inebriated and messed things all up, when a little old lady challenged me with her confronting words, “Shame on you, shame on you!” Later I realized that little old lady was Christ manifesting himself to me letting me know that he wanted me to quit playing games and be the person and priest he had made me to be. Thank God, I listened to him and began to follow him as my way, truth and life. Things have been just wonderful in my life since that day 36 years ago.

How about you? When was your Epiphany, your encounter with Jesus that caused you to listen to him and follow him? When did you “leave everything” to follow him in earnest?

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your manifestation of yourself to us and the invitation to follow you. We thank you, too, for the strength needed to continue in your way, truth and life.

Fr. Howard

Monday after Epiphany, Most Holy Name of Jesus 
Jan. 3, Mt. 4: 12-17, 23-25

On this Monday after the Epiphany the Church celebrates the optional memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus. Through the efforts of a Franciscan Friar, Bernadine of Siena, the Holy Name of Jesus (Yaweh is salvation) was promoted through the monogram of the Holy Name, IHS, and the addition of the name Jesus to the prayer Hail Mary. The letters IHS are an abbreviation of Jesous, the Greek word for Jesus. St. Bernadine of Siena lived in the 15th century. In 1530, Pope Clement V approved an Office for the Holy Name in the Liturgy of the Hours for the Franciscans and in 1721, Pope Innocent III approved this feast for the universal Church.

The name Jesus for most of us is identified with Christ, the name of the 2nd Person of the Blessed Trinity and our Incarnate Redeemer. And indeed it is a very Holy Name. The following prayer is attributed to St. Bernadine of Siena: “Glorious name, gracious name, name of love and power! Through you sins are forgiven, through you enemies are vanquished, through you the sick are freed from their illnesses, through you those suffering in trials are made strong and cheerful. You bring honor to those who believe, you teach those who preach, you give strength to the toilers, you sustain the weary.”

Holy Name of Jesus, we call on you for help.

Fr. Howard

Tuesday after Epiphany 
Jan. 4, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Elizabeth Seton is the first native born American to be canonized a Saint by the Catholic Church. Born in 1774 in New York City, she was baptized in the Episcopal Church and remained an Episcopalian until her conversion to the Catholic Faith in 1805. In 1794 she married William Seton and they had 5 children. While on a trip to Italy around 1804, William died unexpectedly. Elizabeth then joined the Catholic Faith and in 1808 established the first Catholic School in Baltimore. She and two other young women began plans for a Sisterhood and in 1809 she was professed. From this time on she was called Mother Seton. Their Rule was based on one written by St. Francis de Paul. By 1818 the Sisters built two orphanages and another school. Mother Seton contracted tuberculosis and died in 1821 at the age of 46. She was canonized on September 14, 1975.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us.

Fr. Howard

Wednesday after Epiphany 
 Mark 6: 45-52

“They (the disciples) were completely astounded. They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.”

Just what exactly is the meaning of the words: hardness of heart? We see these words rather often in the Scriptures. There is a fine article by Andrew Wommack on the Web about hardness of heart. He equates it with being shocked or angered or surprised at a miracle. It is being cold, insensitive, unfeeling, unyielding. A hardened heart dulls a person’s ability to perceive and understand.

Today’s Gospel takes place right after Mark’s rendition of the miracle of the loaves and fishes (Mark 8: 1-10). In Mark 8: 17, the words hardness of heart are used again: “Do you not understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened?” And then Jesus goes on to explain what he means by hardness of heart in v. 18: “Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember …….?”

So — hardness of heart in a nutshell is not understanding or comprehending something that is really clear — it is having eyes and not seeing what is going on around us, it is having ears and not hearing what is being said. It is like the state of being spiritually deaf and blind of which we have spoken before.

There is a hymn in the hymnbooks that is short and easy to sing and therefore we hear it often. It is titled: Open My Eyes, Lord. This is a short prayer we should all say often.

Jesus, please help us all to see and understand more clearly your marvelous ways and all the wonderful things you do for us every day. Help us not to be insensitive to what is going on around us.

Fr. Howard

Thursday after Epiphany 
Luke 4: 14-22

In today’s Gospel reading from St. Luke, Jesus returns to his home town of Nazareth. He made himself available to the people and taught in their synagogues. He did the reading, most probably chosen by himself, on the sabbath day and we cannot read these words from Isaiah without visioning the Lord, the one who was reading them. It is Jesus who has been anointed to bring glad tidings to the poor, it is Jesus who has come to proclaim liberty to those who are captives of the darkness of sin, it is Jesus who gives light to our eyes so we may see and who frees those who are oppressed and burdened with the things of this world.

Jesus is telling the people then and us now to look to him for relief from our problems and troubles, to look to him for the awakening of our spiritual lives and to be free from the bonds of greed, violence, rage, lust and the other torments of the world of darkness. Jesus is the light, the way, the truth.

There are many times for all of us when things get to be too much to bear and we run in the wrong direction for help. We run away from Jesus to our other idols. I really do not understand why we do this, but we do. When life gets a bit overwhelming, that is exactly the time to run toward Jesus, into his arms, and let him help us.

Fr. Howard

Friday after Epiphany 
Luke 5: 12-16

Today’s Gospel about the “man full of leprosy” puts yesterday’s Gospel into action for us. The man had an overwhelming problem indeed. Leprosy was (and is) a terrible disease. In 1995 the World Health Organization reported 2 to 3 million people disabled because of leprosy at that time. Leprosy can now be cured but in Biblical times there was no cure. Those who contracted this horrible disease were banished from the regular community of peoples and were forced to live in designated areas outside the towns. Whenever they ventured out on the roads to go somewhere, they had to ring a bell to warn people they were around.

The leper in the Gospel knew this only too well and he also knew where to take his problem. He had obviously heard of the healing power of Jesus and when he saw him he fell prostrate and pleaded with him, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” What a beautiful prayer! And Jesus touched him and the leprosy left the man immediately!

Hopefully, we can remember to make the leper’s prayer our prayer when we are in difficulty in any way. Take the problem to Jesus with the prayer, “Lord, if you wish, you can help me.”

Fr. Howard

Saturday after Epiphany 
John 3: 22-30

“He must increase; I must decrease.”

In the Gospel today both Jesus and John the Baptist are baptizing in the same locale. The Gospel stresses the supportive role of John the Baptist. “I am not the Christ, but I was sent before him,” John the Baptist will soon begin to fade from the picture.

The words quoted above are words of great humility and until all of us repeat the same words and mean them, we aren’t going to go too far spiritually. We have commented before about how selfish and self-oriented we are as children. It is quite literally all about me. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the way it has to be at the beginning of our lives to insure our survival. But it cannot stay that way! And this is the point we sometimes miss.

Sooner or later we discover we live in society and it must be all about us and not about me alone. And spiritually it must be all about Jesus who is our way, truth and life. He must increase and I must decrease.

Lord, draw us closer to each other and to you. Life is not all about me!

Fr. Howard