Daily update/reflection from Fr. Gratton (21 MAR 2020)

Hi Everyone,

What a beautiful day, today! After getting in all of my prayers, I took a long drive up one of my favorite roads (OLD VT RT 100). I drove through Rochester, past Hancock, all the way to Waterbury, and back home via secondary roads. I stopped a couple of times just to stare at the beauty of God's creation, and to let the fresh air into my lungs. I gazed upon bubbling streams, and a world that looks as if it is beginning to wake up from a deep sleep. It was a great way to get away from "cabin fever", and it also let me sing along to some of my favorite music for a good 2 hours (show tunes, 90's country, Styx, etc.). It was a refreshing day, especially since I just fought off a stomach bug for the past couple of days--it felt like I, too, was coming back to life today. :)

- Today's Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered for all of the Intentions of our Parishioners.

----------------------------

Reflection on the daily Mass readings (http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032120.cfm):
These Lenten readings are SO GOOD for us to hear these days, with all that is going on around us. They are written by prophets who were going through their own trying times, when it felt like the Lord had abandoned them. In our first reading we find the Prophet Hosea reminding the people that the Lord would not leave them forever--that He was always making plans to come back to save them from themselves. It is a beautiful foreshadowing of Easter Sunday during this time of Lent, but it also hits close to home with all of us now that we are not able to receive the Sacraments, publicly, for some time. Hosea is reminding us that the darkness never lasts forever, and that God is already making His moves to bring the light back into our lives--and it will be better than ever!

The Gospel, on the other hand, focuses on a different aspect of our Lenten journey. Whereas the first reading focuses on where God is in relationship to us, the Gospel focuses on where we are in relationship to God. This means going deep within ourselves to see the faults and sins that we allow to cling to our hearts. The Gospel shows a man who thinks he is right about everything, and, in a way, thinks he is on the same level playing field as God. He looks over at this sad, sinful tax collector and thanks God that he is not sinful like him. But this righteous man misses the entire point! He is so consumed with seeing all of his good qualities--and noticing all of the bad qualities in the people around him--that he has lost the entire reason why the Messiah comes to earth: to SAVE us from our sins.

It is a good reminder for all of us during these confusing times to see our own sinfulness and unworthiness of God's love, instead of focusing on all of the "problems" and "mistakes" of everyone around us. It is so easy to see real world problems and blame them on other countries, government officials, administrations, media, the person down the street, the person sitting next to us right now, etc. It is too easy to throw the blame at others and to claim always being in the right. That is NOT what God asks of us during this time of Lent. The Gospel makes it clear: forget about the mistakes and sins of the people around you and focus solely on your own unworthiness and need for God. That is exactly what the tax collector did in the Gospel. It doesn't even say that he is aware that the righteous man is standing next to him. It simply says that he keeps his eyes down, humbled before the Lord, and asks for God to save him. And as Hosea reminds us--that is precisely what God intends to do for those who are humbled before the Lord!

------------------------------

Love you all, and God bless you!

In the Father's Perfect Plan,

Fr. Gratton