A Shepard's Care
Weekly Column

Welcome to the holiest week of the liturgical year. From Palm Sunday to the Easter Vigil, we accompany our Lord from his jubilant entrance as the Messiah/King into the royal city, though his Last Supper with his disciples, his rejection, crucifixion and resurrection. Each year we are invited to find our place in the greatest story ever told, as it continues to unfold in and through us. Let us journey together with Jesus through his Passiontide, “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection” (Romans 6: 5, Easter Vigil Epistle). Here are a few highlights from the story of this earth-shattering week.

Dear Lord, I read this Sunday’s Gospel story from John on how you raised Lazarus from the dead. I must be honest Lord; I didn’t know at first why you waited a few days before you traveled to Bethany. Mary and Martha’s faith was being tested. I know my faith is tested a lot too. I think it’s because I don’t always understand.

In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, the man born blind progressed through four different names for Jesus. First he referred to him as “the man called Jesus” (9:11); then he called him “a prophet” (9:17); then he spoke of Jesus as being “from God” (9:33); then, looking in the face of Jesus with his newly-opened eyes, he said, “I do believe, Lord!” and he worshiped him (9:38). This narrative challenges our minds to make the same conclusion and our hearts to make the same response (cf. Scott Hahn, Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, John 9:11 footnote.)

I have grown up in this parish; many of you watched me grow up. This parish is my family, and in my love for the Church and zeal for Christ, this place has always been my home. I see your ministries, apostolates, and prayer groups—the places where you dedicate your precious time. I see how each distinctly intertwines to make a beautiful tapestry of love and faith. The effect of that tapestry is visible: it can be seen within our community of Northglenn! I see your hearts, and I am in awe. But now, we need your help.

In my sixteenth summer I had an unforgettable mountaintop experience. In April of that year, I had re-committed my life to Jesus in a personal way. My new Christian friends took me on a few practice hikes in the San Juans Mountains of Southwest Colorado. Then we traveled east to the Sangre De Cristo Range. On a warm July day, we began hiking from the Sand Dunes up into the high country and camped in a meadow beside a creek at the base of Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle. Early the next morning we began crawling up the boulder fields and reached the summit of both “fourteeners” by noon. Perched there at the top of the world, basking in the summer sun with mountains as far as I could see, I felt absolutely blessed. I realized then that “Happiness / blessedness is communing with God in the beauty of creation giving thanks.” Our Creator richly blessed me that summer by revealing his beauty through nature and letting me play in his amusement park. Eventually I came to realize that the most beautiful creation of all is the loving person: friends, family, and especially the family of the Church.

Lent means Springtime, and it certainly seems appropriate to the weather we’ve been having lately. But if we don’t get some rain (or snow) we probably won’t see many flowers this Spring! Spring is a time for new life and the Season of Lent leads us on the path of spiritual renewal. Our readings for this First Sunday of Lent make it very clear that the fundamental way for us to experience spiritual renewal is through obedience to the will of God.

Next week we begin the season of Lent which calls us to renewal in our spiritual lives. We follow Jesus into the desert for forty days of renewed prayer and penance. The Church calls this time a period of “purification and enlightenment” not only for those preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation, but for all of us. So next weekend we will focus on Stewardship of Prayer, and we will do so in a renewed way.

I’m sure there have been moments when you have been in a dark room or driving at night in a rural area where it’s pitch black and you’re trying to find your way. It can be a bit nerve-wracking and you may start to feel uncomfortable. In darkness, we can lose our way. Our senses are heightened because we’re not sure what is around us, so we become anxious.

This Sunday we read the opening lines of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which is the first of his five major discourses in the Gospel According to Mathew (chapters 5 – 7). It takes place “on the mountain,” a setting which recalls the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24). Matthew is presenting Jesus as the new Moses come to fulfill the Law. However, as Scott Hahn points out, “Moses brought the law down the mountain to the people, whereas Jesus delivers his teaching to disciples who have come up the mountain.”

This weekend the Church gives us yet another chance to say “Yes” to Jesus. We are near the beginning of the Gospel According to Matthew which will lead us through the thirty-four weeks of Ordinary Time. Jesus has been baptized by John, then the Spirit led him into the desert where he resisted the devil’s temptations for forty days. Then in today’s gospel, Jesus begins his public ministry. His first words are, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (4:17). Then he calls His first four disciples on an adventure.