All of us get angry.  It is a part of being human.  Unfortunately, when I was a child, I was taught in religion class that to be angry is a sin.  That is baloney. Having angry feelings is a part of being human and we can’t keep them from coming.  What is important is how we handle the anger and what we do with it. There is destructive anger and constructive anger. Let’s look at them:
 
Destructive anger: if someone cuts me off in traffic and almost causes me to hit parked cars, I am going to feel angry.  I have been threatened and anger is a natural response.  There is no sin in that.  It is what I DO with the anger that is important.  If I engage in road rage, if I get out a gun and shoot the person, that is allowing the anger to be destructive and is sinful.  But if I manage to control myself, if I can remind myself that I have done stupid things in the past, and if I manage to say a prayer for the person, I have channeled my anger to be constructive. Bottom line: anger isn’t the sin, but rather what we do with it.
 
In our Gospel, Jesus gives us another example of constructive anger, that is, being angry that the poor and vulnerable are being abused by those in power.  The poor had to bring doves for sacrifice.  Upon
inspection, they would be declared imperfect and the people would have to buy other ones at an exorbitant price. They also had to exchange their money for special temple money, again at exorbitant prices.  And, of course, this was allowed because the religious leaders got bribes or kickbacks.  Jesus displayed constructive anger in our Gospel, doing his best to stop the scamming of the poor. It was the last straw that led the religious leaders to have him arrested and crucified.  A modern reflection of this is those whose anger at racial discrimination led them to participate in the civil rights movement.
 
My friends, it is important to understand that anger is not the problem: it is what we do with the anger.  When someone confesses to me that they were angry, I ask them “why” and “how did you handle it?”  That gets to the crux of the issue. When someone confesses that they got angry and hurt someone, I know they are understanding the real issue.
 
I invite us to reflect this week on how we do at handling anger.  We all will get angry; there is no way around that.  Making sure we respond in a constructive way is the challenge we have to rise to, as disciples of Jesus. With the help of God, we can do it.
 
Church sign of the week: Love difficult people. You are one of them.

Every first Sunday of Lent is a version of Jesus being tempted in the desert (HE IS HUMAN); the second Sunday is a version of the Transfiguration (HE IS DIVINE). In all three biblical accounts of the
Transfiguration, Elijah and Moses appear with Jesus.  They obviously represent the law and the prophets, telling us that Jesus came to fulfil the law and the prophets.
 
But it struck me this year, as I was reflecting on what I wanted to say in the homily and this reflection, that Elijah and Moses also represent something else.  Elijah was looking for God in a fire or an earthquake or a mighty wind, but God came to him in a tiny, whispering sound.  Is that reminding me that I will find God in the silence of my heart, when I take quiet time to be with the Lord? Moses, on the other hand, was the instrument God used to give the Israelites the commandments and laws governing how they should treat one another, how they should honor and respect others and not steal, kill, or hurt them. Is that reminding me that my relationship with God, strengthened when I hear the tiny, whispering sound, has to be lived out with respect and loving concern for others?
 
These two things are what faith is all about.  We need to honor God, recognizing His place in our lives, while building a personal relationship with Him through listening and sharing.  He wants to be a personal friend, not someone we simply adore. But that personal relationship needs to flow into how we treat other people: obeying the commandments so we don’t harm them, but also reaching out to share the gifts of time, treasure, and talent that the Lord has given us.
 
Going to Mass, observing fast and abstinence laws, etc., are important. But they are not ends in themselves: they strengthen us to go out of ourselves and serve others.
 
Lent is a time to slow down, be reflective, and make sure our priorities are correct.  Am I using the sacraments, the Word of God, and the community, as well as quiet time with the Lord, to help me build a strong relationship with the Lord?  A relationship which leads me to treat others with respect, while sharing with those in need? That is what our faith life is all about.
 
As we struggle to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, let us support each other in prayer. God bless.
 
Church sign of the week: Save money on gas: walk with God.

God is always calling us to grow, to change, to live Gospel values more fully.  Lent is a special time to pay attention to this call for metanoia.  But, if we are to change and grow, we need to make the effort to do so.
 
One important aspect of change is to spend quiet time with the Lord, allowing the Lord to speak to us.  Quiet, meditative time also helps us see ourselves more clearly, discerning what is good and what needs to change in our lives. Changing oneself is difficult; I think it becomes
almost impossible without quiet time to reflect on who we really are, allowing God to influence us.
 
Our community is offering two resources to help us this Lenten season. One is the Little Black book, which has two entries for each day.  The page on the right each day will walk us through Luke’s Passion account. The page on the left presents a fact or story, which sometimes, for me, sparks a deeper meditation.
 
The second is something we introduced a couple years ago for Lent. It is the Post Game Review, an exercise based on the Examen of St. Ignatius, which invites us to spend time in the evening reviewing our day.  If you no longer have the card explaining the review, there are
copies on the table in the lobby in the vestibule of church. 
 
I plan to use the Little Black book in the morning for some quiet reflection time and the Post Game Review at the end of the day to reflect on how I am doing and how I might need to change my course.  However you decide to do it, I encourage you to make sure you have goals for Lent, with quiet time set aside to reflect on how you are doing.  That is how real spiritual growth and change will take place.  Dear Lord, help us make good use of this special time of the Church year.  Amen.  God bless.
 
Church sign of the week: If you do what you can, God will do what you can’t.

Our Gospel reading this weekend is the cure of a leper.  The leper approaches Jesus, kneels down in front of Him, and asks to be healed.  Jesus, we are told, was “moved with pity,” stretched out His hand, touched the leper, and cured Him.
 
It is important to note that both Jesus and the leper broke the law: the leper was not allowed to be near anyone; he had to stay at a distance and make a noise to warn people not to approach.  Jesus broke the law by touching the leper, thus becoming unclean Himself.  In other words, Jesus became unclean so that the leper would be cleansed.
 
There are a couple points of reflection that I would like to suggest: once again, we hear that Jesus was “moved with pity” for the man, who not only had a severe physical condition, but was also an outcaste of society, even from his own family.  How often do we hear that Jesus’ heart was “moved with pity”? When I see others in need, is my heart “moved with pity” enough to nudge me to take action?
 
Second, by allowing Himself to become unclean, Jesus brought cleansing to the leper.  Sometimes we have to be willing to risk, if we are truly going to reach out and help others.
 
Finally, notice the importance of “touch” in this story.  Jesus reached out and touched the man, a man who was isolated from everyone else.  That touching, that reaching out, that connection might have meant as much as, or even more than, the physical healing!  Most of us don’t have the power to cure someone’s physical illness, but we certainly have the power to cure loneliness, isolation, and rejection.
 
I invite us to reflect this week on the example Jesus gave us in this Gospel story of how important it is for us to reach out to others and touch them, thus curing isolation, sadness, and despair.  We have a lot of power in us to cure: let’s make sure we are using it.  God bless.
 
Church sign of the week: Instead of pointing a finger, lend a hand.

Our Gospel today contains the very short narrative of Jesus curing the mother-in-law of Peter.  We are told she “lay sick with a fever,” but the original Greek word meant “burning up” or “on fire.”  While it is logical to assume it was a “fever,” maybe it was something else?
 
Peter was a fisherman and he supported his wife and family by fishing.  But, just 10 verses earlier in Mark’s Gospel, we were told he left his boat and nets to follow Jesus to become “a fisher of people.”  Could the mother-in-law be burning up with anger because Peter had “abandoned” her daughter to follow this preacher? If so, then her encounter with Jesus enabled her to let go of her anger and see the
situation in a different light.
 
There will be times in our lives when we will find ourselves in the situation of Peter’s mother-in-law, stewing in anger because of the actions of the other person.  Perhaps we feel betrayed by someone we love.  Maybe a child does something stupid that we warned them not to do, and so on.
 
If so, the message of this Gospel “cure” might be that, if we take our anger to Jesus and be in His presence with it, He will help us let it go.  Anger is a natural reaction and it comes.  No problem with that.  The problem comes when we hold onto it, when we are stewing in bed, as was Peter’s mother-in-law.  That hurts us and helps no one else.
 
I invite us to reflect on whether we have any anger, either raging at the moment or stored up in the background, taking it to the Lord in prayer and asking Him to “cure” us of this debilitating emotion.  He helped Peter’s mother-in-law: He will also help us.  Lord, help me let go of anger and walk forward with you in peace.
 
Church sign of the week: There is no dollar sign on peace of mind.