Vatican II said that this world is to be renewed through the Paschal Mystery. What role are we willing to take up in the "passion play" taking place every day in our midst?

Pat Anglin - Amityville
Mary Ann Collins - Blauvelt
Alice McCoy - Caldwell
Nancy Garson - Elkins Park
Maureen Sullivan - Hope
Kathy Logan - Sparkill

I Addressing questions of a junior high student brought back memories of my youth one Lenten Season. My student's questions: "What am I supposed to do for Lent?" "Am I supposed to give up something?" "Would you tell me what to give up" were humbling. Allowing time to reflect and to respond to these questions, I prayed with Isaiah's message of being chosen and of being God's servant and asked what type of servant is God pleased with and what type of servant was I portraying.

I responded to my student, with myself in mind, that our Lenten reflection in not about "giving up" but about sharing yourself with those more in need. Textbook as it may be, my student's next question became my truth.

Sharing the words of Isaiah with this student, I described for her the qualities of being God's servant.

These words were heard and these words were felt as this student's eyes welled up with tears. Her reply and a reply for all to hear was: "I have to be a better servant!"

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Little did Israel know, even in her darkest days, the Lord called her by name even before she was born. The same is true of me. God has a plan for me, despite my weakness and failings.

If God were asking something of me, would I notice? If there was some change in my life that God was asking me to make, how would I know? If I am honest with myself, I will know when I am truly open to whatever God wants of me.

In the gospel, we meet two people Judas and Peter. Each was asked to do something and did it quite differently. As soon as Judas had taken the piece of bread he went out - thus on his journey to complete his task. On the other hand, Peter said he would lay down his life for Jesus, but Jesus knew better. "Before the cock crows you will deny Me three times." His task would be accomplished at a later date.

In my own life, I strive each day to live up to my faith belief in Jesus. This is my task in life. To be honest with myself and grow more open to the Word of God that lies within me. How about YOU? What is the task that Jesus is calling you to do?

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"Not I, Rabbi, surely?" are the words uttered by Judas in Matthew's Gospel after Jesus said that He would be betrayed. Yet, these words of Isaiah applied to Judas: "The Lord Yahweh has given me a disciple's tongue…Each morning he wakes me to hear, to listen like a disciple" (Is. 50:4). Judas was one of the chosen twelve. He was privileged to listen to Jesus each day. He was a disciple as we are Jesus' disciples. Yet, something happened to Judas - he listened but didn't hear.

Each morning the Lord wakes us to hear, to listen as disciples. We have many opportunities each day to listen to the Lord through our Dominican Praise, the Liturgy of the Word at Mass, and through the people we serve. But do we always listen? Do we always hear what the Lord is saying? Are there times that we neglect to listen and to really hear those who need us the most: the poor, the homeless, the children, the women who are being trafficked, the immigrant?

Pray that we will always be open to hear what the Lord is saying to us so that we will never utter the words of Judas," Not I, Rabbi, surely?"

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Today is Holy Thursday and there are two major celebrations on this day. One is the Chrism Mass which is celebrated at the cathedral with all the priests attending and renewing their priestly service. The second is the Evening Mass of the Last Supper.

In our scripture for the Chrism Mass, Jesus comes home to Nazareth and reads the passage in the scroll of Isaiah announcing his priestly service of bringing glad tidings to the poor, proclaiming liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and letting the oppressed go free.

In this year of presidential elections we will see the politicians go to their hometowns to announce their political platforms. They tell us how they will serve the public and what they will do for the country. We become very skeptical because we've heard this all before.

Jesus' announcement is quite different. We are all invited into this priestly service by virtue of our baptism. When we do this in remembrance of Him, we participate in his Godly mission and we are made holy because we are bound to the very source of holiness.

Let us bring the good news to the world that God is in our midst and living and acting within and among us. Let us be true to what we say we will do in memory of Him.

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During lent we have been fed by the Word teaching us who God is and challenging us with our rejections of God in our own life. Today we begin the Sacred Triduum of deep meditation on God's love for us, which has no limits. In the Exodus reading, Moses is instructed to explain to the people how they will find food and protection through the unblemished lamb. Paul then tells future generations how the Lord Jesus gave himself as our food and protection. But it is John, in my understanding, who captures the core of today's feast. "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me." We too must remove our shoes and be washed by Christ. Moses was told to remove his shoes in awe of God's presence before the burning bush; Peter is told to remove his shoes so that the God-Man could serve him! Why does he resist? Why do we resist accepting Christ's unconditional intimate love? What does removing shoes symbolize for me - loss of control, accepting pain or hardship, being vulnerable before God? Whatever we "stand on" for support in our daily lives is what we are asked to remove in order to place our total trust in God's love. Let our prayer today be Ps. 116: What shall I render to you for all your goodness to me? I will drink the chalice of love and praise you who have done wondrous things; I will bear witness to you, O Bread of Life, in the presence of all the people.

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What an interesting beginning for the first reading for today, a day when the whole church is in mourning and the remaining readings graphically portray the sufferings of the Servant of the Lord. How can the readings even suggest one can prosper. Our usual image of prosper is the acquisition of "stuff" or good health or a good job or a good employer. While all this is true on one level, albeit a superficial level, there is another kind of prosper that is the foundation of all that we are and are in the process of becoming. This kind of prosper has to do with our interior, spiritual health and wellbeing.

From the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life, and especially the last week of his life, he seemed to come to understand the need for going through "the mess in the middle" in order to get to the other side. We sometimes need to be reminded that if there had been no Good Friday there would also not have been an Easter Sunday. Each of us has their own "mess in the middle" and each of us assiduously avoids going through it perhaps because our vision and trust in God is not as strong as it could be for on some level we hesitate to believe God is truly present even in the mess. Perhaps today we can reflect on our willingness to seek what Jesus sought and be faithful to the journey as he was so that we too may prosper.

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What marvelous women we have in Matthew's account of Jesus' resurrection. In spite of their fear of Roman authority and temple authorities these women, without those who followed Jesus, went to the tomb hoping that they would be permitted to anoint Jesus' precious body. Nearing the tomb with their minds on Jesus, they encounter a being dressed in light. "Do not be afraid," the women are told, "Come, see where He lay." The women follow and confirm the Good News that Jesus has risen!

Immediately the women respond to the angel's command to tell the others the same Good News. On their way, Jesus appears to them and greets them saying, "Do not be afraid," and instructs them to be the Apostles to the Apostles.

In each of the resurrection stories Jesus tells those to whom He appears not to be afraid. Simply stated, but how? In reality we are all afraid; afraid of the unknown, fearing the incomprehensible and even fearing the God who brings life. We need reassurance as to why we should not be afraid.

Jesus' Good News and His reassurance were shared by those who are left behind. First, by the women who were sent to bring the Good News of Jesus' resurrection to the disciples; then by the disciples who would bring the same Good News to the corners of the earth;

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The Readings for the Feast of the Resurrection are both solemn and frantic. Alleluias abound in the responses, but not in the breathless explanations of the eyewitnesses who have endured a traumatic forty-eight hours. Peter summarizes Jesus' life from John the Baptist to judge the living and the dead; key to the summary in Jesus' death and being raised by God on the third day. While this is the first reading, it is a later understanding, as we shall see.

The gospel is a flurry of activity: Mary Magdalene, Peter and John are running. Surely we would all want to DO something after the events of Thursday and Friday. They ran to the tomb and to their dismay, they found it empty. Details were noted: one cloth was folded and one cloth was rolled up. These might be typical behaviors at a modern day wake. The conclusion of this selection is that Peter and John, as yet, did not understand the scripture, and they returned home.

Often, it is a good to return home and let the facts resonate within us. Surely it worked; Peter was able to proclaim the summary in Acts. The Psalm gives us the "heads-up": "This is the day the Lord has made, it is our joy and happiness."

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