Fr. Matthias Neuman's Homily for the 2nd Sunday in Lent

Readings: Gen. 15:5-18; Phil 3:17-4:1; Lk 9:28-36

In the post Vatican II revision of the Lectionary great care was taken in the selection of Scripture readings for the Sunday Eucharistic celebrations. Particular attention was paid to the Sundays in Lent where the gospel passage gives each Sunday a special theme. In addition, the whole group of Lenten Sundays are linked by a progressive development of themes. The first Sunday of Lent picked up after the Baptism of Jesus when he goes into the desert to face his temptations. After the glory of the Baptism Jesus’ desert experience is one of struggle and trial; the gospel tells us that he was weak and tired after it. This second Lenten Sunday gospel features the experience of the Transfiguration and serves as both a reinvigoration of Jesus as well as a reaffirmation of his divine mission. We hear once again the message of the Baptism: "This is my Beloved Son. Listen to him!"

This Sunday therefore focuses on spiritual rebirth—in the life of Jesus, but also in the lives of his followers, in our lives. It isn’t unusual over the course of a life to have periods of success and effectiveness alternate with stretches of stagnation or less than successful activity. On the public scene we read of movie stars or athletes who have successfully re-ignited their careers after a stretch of failures or poor achievements. The same happens in the lives of ordinary people. We can be quite successful in a position for several years, then move to another where things just don’t work out. Everything bombs and we may drag on for years until another opportunity comes along and gives us a chance to re-spark, to experience a rebirth, to know a Transfiguration.

The same kind of dynamic frequently occurs in our spiritual lives. We can be doing quite well, feeling very alive in our spirituality, our relation with God and in the religious actions of our lives. And then, for whatever reason (there are many of them), all that religious aliveness dries up. Prayer becomes a drudgery. We have little inspiration and energy for any religious activity. In fact, anything religious makes us seem tired and even angry. We need a Transfiguration experience. It’s right to hope and pray for one.

Lately I’ve been reading about a young woman who had just such a Transfiguration experience: Gertrude More. Gertrude (nee: Helen) was the great, granddaughter of St. Thomas More. She grew up as a vibrant, happy and deeply religious young woman; she was tremendously gifted with a wide range of abilities. With great zeal at the age of seventeen she decided to join a newly-formed house of English Benedictine nuns in Brussels (Belgium). Such houses were not permitted in Anglican dominated England. But soon after she arrived at the new house, she began to become miserable, lethargic and sad. Many things bothered her, but she struggled greatly with the style of regimented Jesuit spirituality being forced on the community. This distress continued for a whole year even while she made vows at the end of that year. Her sarcasm was affecting the whole community, which had enough "beginning problems" of its own as any community might. She got her Transfiguration experience when she met Fr. Augustine Baker. He taught her a method and practice of contemplative prayer that turned her whole monastic life into an experience of loving, loving God and loving her sisters. Listen to her description of the change: "I found myself in fifteen days so quieted that I wondered at myself. This change took place as soon as I had received from him some general instruction...that I must give all to God without any reservation. .... He told me that my way must be by prayer. He gave me some instructions. Having done this I found presently that course of love which I so much desired." (Medieval Women Monastics,p. 266-67) She was able to continue that loving attitude for the remainder of her short life serving her community in a variety of leadership positions which she carried out with great love and care. Sadly she died at the age of twenty-seven in a smallpox epidemic.

This gospel story makes us consider the course of our lives, our stretches of success as well as our down times. We should be thankful for our Transfiguration moments, those experiences of invigoration that jump start us again. Perhaps we can take a few moments now to think of some people we know who are very much in need of a Transfiguration experience in their lives right now....and pray to God for them.

Bishop Paul Etienne..."Truth in Love" Blog

My brother, Bishop Paul, started his own blog, "Truth in Love." Here's a sample of his writing.

It is my earnest desire with this site to have a regular means of communicating with the people of the Diocese of Cheyenne. In many ways, I wish to use this as a virtual pulpit, to “get the WORD out” by sharing my own insights from prayer and thoughts regarding current topics in our culture and church. As my motto states, I have a deep love for the Truth proclaimed by Jesus Christ, accompanied by a deep love for those to whom I am sent as a bishop and shepherd. In the many articles to come through this site, I hope to share that Truth and Love with all who choose to visit here.

I know you are going to enjoy reading his blog. I'm sure it will be a site I will visit often. Continued blessings on your Lenten journey.

A Vocation Essay by Hannah B, 7th Grade

Priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters are very important in our lives. They tell us about God and how God wants us to live forever in His heart. God created us so that we can serve Him. It is our choice if we live the life God wants us to.

Priests are very important because they baptize us and that is like the beginning of trying our best to live a holy life. Also, during reconciliation God gives the priest power to forgive us from our sins and we can start over. Priests also can share their story of why and how they became a priest. They can inspire young men to want to be a priest so they can spread the word of God.
Religious sisters also help us follow God's calling. Some sisters tell us about our faith and why we are on this earth and what God wants us to be, not perfect, but a holy person who can inspire others. Sisters also inspire us to praise God every day.

Religious brothers are not priest, but they still preach the word of God. They teach us to have faith in our religion and to serve God. Deacons also try to guide us to follow God's calling. God sent people like those to show us to Jesus and God. Jesus lived a holy life and God wants us to do that, too.

Priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters tell us that we should know, love, and serve God. These people guide us to live out our vocation and praise God all our lives. It's our decision to go the right direction in life.

In His Midst

Recently, one of our Oblates, enjoyed viewing my winter pictures. The picture posted on this blog entry inspired her to write a poem. She wanted to be known as "Anonymous" so I will not post her name. I do think you will enjoy reading her poem. May God continue to bless us as we strive daily to honor our Lenten promises.

In His Midst

Outside my window
The fury of winter is unleashed
Snow buries the busyness
Burdened but not bothered
The tree longs for Spring Or does it?

Inside my heart
The familiar darkness deepens
Constantly searching, seeking
Envious that the tree endures
Silently suffering, weary, waiting
Always.

In the midst of the waiting
Depleted, exhausted, resting
His presence prevails
His glorious grace breaks through
“Where you are….I Am I never left you
Trust me!”

Fr. Matthias Neuman's Homily for the 1st Sunday in Lent

Readings: Deut 26:4-10; Rom 10:8-13; Lk 4:1-13

This gospel text gave me an opportunity to catch up on research into the accounts of Jesus’ temptation in the gospel traditions. It ‘s been a fascinating study. The gospels as texts were not written down until decades after the life of Jesus and they convey not only historical memories about him but also faith-expressions of who he really was (and is) to his early followers. We see both of those aspects in the gospel traditions of the temptation stories. The gospel of Mark, the earliest of the gospels, remembers only the fact that there was some kind of spiritual struggle for Jesus in the desert after his baptism by John. Mark’s account tells it very simply: "The Spirit drove him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan. He was with wild beasts and angels waited on him." Nothing about what the temptations were about, just that they happened.

The accounts of Matthew and Luke, which we have just heard, represent another tradition, one of faith-expression, which wanted to make some statement about the ongoing significance of Jesus. So his temptations are described carefully in terms of three specific testings by the devil: to use his power (stones to bread), to seek all earthly power (claim all the kingdoms of the earth), to throw himself from the Temple (to force God’s hand). But Jesus overcomes all these temptations, which are patterned after the various trials of the Israelites in the Egyptian desert. The Israelites failed them, but Jesus overcame the temptations. The main point of Luke’s temptation story is a faith-expression about Jesus: that he fulfills the legacy of Israel and shows himself more powerful than any temptations of demonic wiles.

This temptation story allows us to look in a broader context at the very nature of "temptation" in a religious Christian sense. The temptation of Jesus brings up a recurring theme in Judaeo-Christian religion; instances of temptation. The Christian bible is framed by two classic temptation accounts: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus in the desert. In both there is a goal to which the individuals are called and a lesser goal which may be more personally appealing at the present but which turns them from the larger goal. Adam and Eve choose the lesser (more immediately pleasing) goal. Jesus, on the other hand, holds onto the mission he has been given at his Baptism. The reality of temptation is the lure, the attraction of a "lesser" goal in place of a "higher" goal that has already been placed before us and has been accepted.

The devious thing about temptation is that the alternate goal, the lesser one, actually seems pretty good "right now." We lose the bigger picture because of our own desires, usually selfish desires. There’s a very interesting passage in the Letter of James: "When you are tempted, do not think that your temptation comes from God...for God does not tempt anyone. When anyone is tempted, it is by your own desires that you are enticed and lured." (1:12-14) That can happen in many ways. I suppose I will always remember some twenty years ago when Fr. Gavin decided to stop producing stage plays in the seminary at St. Meinrad. He stopped because he could no longer depend on the students to keep their commitments to practice and rehearse the plays. If they got a "better" offer, they would not show up for the rehearsal as they had promised. They yielded to the more selfish choice—to go to a movie, to go out to dinner, to go shopping in Evansville.

Sometimes temptation comes just from our own laziness, our own lack of drive. I dare say that many of us have probably already dealt with that in these first four days of Lent. I know I have. When we think about temptations in our lives, big or small, it should take us back to the "big picture": what are the values and vision that we want to live by? Above all, let me live by my made commitments—even if they are just Lenten resolutions. Jesus did not choose the more selfish way; he remained true to the mission that God had given him. Let’s hope and pray that we do the same!

A Commentary for the 1st Sunday of Lent by Sr. Susan Marie Lindstrom

We began our Lenten journey as a community by going to the desert for a day of silence.

We join Jesus in the desert this Sunday as He prepares to embark on his ministerial journey, one which will ultimately lead to the cross.

Jesus must have felt very vulnerable, having just been baptized, affirmed by God and given a sense of his call and ministry. If we think about vows, jubilees, installations and other special occasions, we can imagine the raw emotion that often accompanies such significant personal experiences of God. Perhaps it is exactly that vulnerability which attracts Satan, hoping that, fatigued emotionally, Jesus might be a bit unguarded, a bit more accessible to temptation.

Satan’s temptations are actually related to Jesus’ impending ministry. Will Jesus use his position to His own advantage? Will He wield power over people? Will He selfishly manipulate things to suit his own needs? This seems to be the devil’s invitation… to make it all about Jesus, to have Jesus put the focus on Himself rather than those He has come to serve… to urge Jesus to be puffed up and smug and self righteous.

Satan underestimated Jesus. Steeped in Scripture, drenched in the Word that has always been His life, Jesus is able to hold on to what he has learned, what he has prayed, what he has lived. These are no memorized trivial responses, no mindless recitation of the law and the prophets. This is certitude in action. Jesus draws strength from the Word that permeates His life. The words that come from His mouth have been deeply inscribed on His heart. Satan is powerless in the face of the Word of God.

Benedict’s life was also steeped in Scripture. It permeates his Rule, not in some contrived manner, but smoothly, flowing from prayer and study that have no doubt been foundational in Benedict’s life. Scripture is the mortar that holds together the bricks with which Benedict builds the Rule. It is a foundation upon which we, too, are urged to build our lives.

We are called as Benedictine monastics to daily lectio, to daily pondering of the Word, of the psalms. When temptations come our way, we too can answer Satan with the words that we have allowed to become part of the very fiber of our being.

Lent calls us to prayer, fasting, almsgiving and holy reading. Lent calls us to mindful immersion in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. When Satan tempts us, when evil thoughts enter our minds or hearts, let us dash them immediately against Christ, who models for us the way to resist Satan’s power

The Word of God is near us. It is in our mouths and in our hearts. What can be more delightful than this voice of God calling to us ?

Christian Conviction Court

If you were accused of being a Christian...would there be enough evidence to convict you? During this season of Lent my 5th grade students are on a mission to prove their classmates are Christians! On Ash Wednesday each student drew a name of one of their classmates. For six weeks they have to document in a notebook kind acts they observe that person doing. They've been asked to keep the name of the person they drew a secret. That just might prove to be the most difficult task of this project! During the Easter season my students will take a field trip to my monastery where we will convene the Christian Conviction Court! The students will try to convince a jury of their peers that the person they observed during Lent is indeed a Christian! Stay tuned...