Update/reflection from Fr. Gratton (28 MAR 2020):

N.B. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered for All Of Our Parishioners & Anyone Who Is Struggling With Addictions Of Any Kind.

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

Reflection on the daily Mass readings http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032820.cfm

Today’s readings are quintessentially Lenten. We have the prophet Jeremiah speaking about a good man being plotted against, and ultimately being led to the slaughter (another foreshadowing of the Passion of Jesus). We see the Psalmist pleading with God to bring justice and to save us from all of our enemies (enemies without and within). And we have the Gospel where lines are being drawn in the sand on what to do with Jesus—should He be worshiped or destroyed? The fickle crowd seems to be siding with Jesus; the guards do not know what to do; the chief priests and the Pharisees are out for blood; and certain members of these groups, like Nicodemus, are realizing in their hearts that there is truly something special about Jesus Christ.

These readings show us how broken humanity is, and how quick to judgement we can be at times. They remind us of the many gray areas of our lives when we may have faltered in our faith, or made bad decisions with our hearts. If we allow them to, these readings bring to the surface the times where we are truly ashamed of our past—the moments where we found ourselves so far from the Lord’s heart and on the wrong side of the line drawn in the sand.

These past few days I have entered into “retreat mode” or “monk mode.” I have ordered my day around prayer for all of you, those that I serve, for the diocese, and the entire world. I have embraced the silence as a monk would in his cell. I have been listening to Gregorian Chant, which transports me to the divine liturgies celebrated in our monasteries all around the world for the salvation of our souls. One thing about entering into a retreat, however, is that you take the time to let God do His work on your heart. In a word, it means that you allow God permission to take control of your heart and force it to grow in whatever way it needs to grow. The experience can be supremely joyful, and it can also be extremely painful. It can set aflame the wonders and love that God has for us in our hearts; and it can also poke at old wounds that we have been hiding—from the world, from God, from ourselves—for some time.

In the last few days, I have noticed that God has allowed painful and shameful moments of my life to rise to the surface. For those of you who are thinking, “There is no way Fr. Gratton could have a shameful past,” I assure you that I do, and that if you need any confirmation in this, you can simply ask my parents, siblings, friends, etc. They will be happy to give you the inside scoop on my humanity.

But I digress.

When we look at our weaknesses and failures—which the readings of today evoke— it is not fun, nor is it pretty, and it can be painful. Indeed, whenever a wound is being healed it is always painful. When someone has a deep gash in their flesh or a heart that needs surgery, a doctor or nurse must enter into the wound, fix it, make it hurt worse in a way, in order to heal it. The same goes with the spiritual wounds of our souls (those caused by sin and weakness). In order for God to heal us, He must bring the poison that has sat there for so long to the surface. He must open the wound in order to heal it. No one likes it when people touch physical wounds; the same holds true for spiritual ones.

As I was praying through the Mass this morning I, again, had these past mistakes and sins sitting in the forefront of my mind. As I prayed through the readings the sense of my shame and unworthiness became even stronger. And then it happened. There is something called the “antiphon” at Mass (it occurs right before Mass begins and right before Communion, and we say it or chant it whenever there is no music at Mass). The antiphon is a very short scripture verse that is like a “dart to the heart of God.” As I found myself dwelling on the murky moments of my life, I was on my knees, and I began to pray the Communion antiphon for today: “By the precious Blood of Christ, the Blood of a spotless and unblemished Lamb, we have been redeemed” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

This simple verse hit me like a ton a bricks. This antiphon is the summit of these Lenten readings for today, for it brings us to the end point, the final reality: that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to be with us in our darkness, our pain, our mistakes, all of the things we are not proud of…and by His very Blood He redeemed us. The dictionary defines “redeem” as: 1) to buy back or repurchase; 2) to free from what distresses or harms; 3) to change for the better; 4) to repair or restore. That is what our God came to this earth to do: to redeem us, completely.

The pain and the shame of our past/present lives are good to think about during this Lenten journey. It is a good thing to allow God into the knots and crags of our hearts that we have closed off from Him for so long. It can be painful to dig into those moments, for sure. But we need not sit in the pain forever. That is not what ultimately heals us. What heals us is when we can be honest with ourselves about the brokenness of our lives, when we can be humbled to the point where we are truly contrite and sorry for our sins, but the next step is KEY: we must let it sink deep into our hearts that our God came precisely because of our brokenness, and He chose to redeem us knowing it all. He knows are faults, our embarrassing moments, our sins, and yet, He still LOVES us.

He paid the ultimate price. He allowed Himself to be tortured because He knew you and I were worth it. He looks straight into the darkness of our lives, into those wounds that we carry so well deep within, and He says, “My child, you were not made to sit in the darkness forever. You were made for the Light. Let me lead you to where you belong.”

Lent is a time to dig through the thorns and brambles of our lives, as the readings for today remind us. But, as the Communion Antiphon makes clear, those thorns and brambles are not the end of the story. Lent is not simply about being more aware of our sins; it is coming to a place where we truly believe, deep down, that God loves us despite them.

My beloved sons and daughters in Christ, I am so overjoyed this day because I was reminded by that one, simple antiphon, that by His Blood we have been redeemed, repurchased, freed from what distresses us, changed for the better, and restored! He looks deep into our hearts this day and every day…takes a long gaze…smiles…and says, “I still love you, and my love for you is bigger than your sins.” Hear His words spoken to you this day, “I still love you.” Let it sink in how much you are loved by God. Realize how much He is willing to risk to take care of you, just to remind you of how much you are worth it.

That is how much you are loved this day. And that, my friends, is what Lent is all about.

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

Be assured of my prayers for all of you, and may God bless you all.

In the Most Sacred Heart of Christ,

Fr. Gratton