Living Sacrifice: Growing in Faith Through Scripture and the Mass

In Baptism, Jesus raises to new life all who believe in Him and gives us new and everlasting life.  He establishes a friendship in which we can believe and trust in Him, spend intimate time with Him and share in union with Him the in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Baptism is the gateway to life in the Holy Spirit, the door through which we enter to encounter the sacramental life and all that God has in store for us.  The healing of the man born blind is an image for us, anointed and washed, and growing in a deeper relationship with Christ on the way towards Easter. 

Jesus encounters the woman at the well, seeking her and the Samaritans.  He unites us to Himself and calls us to fulfill our responsibilities as His Bride, the Church.  He gives us His body and blood to united Himself to us, now and in eternity.

The Father speaks to us in Sacred Scripture, announcing "The is my beloved Son, in who I am well pleased; listen to Him".  We can listen to the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, in our suffering, in silence and in His sacrifice.  

Through the transgression of the Divine Law, Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world.  Through His gracious act of love, Jesus has brought life and salvation to us.  This Lent we seek to allow Christ to live and move in us as we face temptations and trials. 

Over 1,000 times in Sacred Scripture, the heart is named as the place of encounter between God and humanity.  Christ desires to change our hearts and to prepare them for that encounter with Him that will enable us to live the Christian life with faithfulness and joy.  

The Church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, preserving the culture from corruption and illumining God's plan for all humanity.  Jesus challenges us this weekend, because "a city on a mountain cannot be hidden."

God sees our suffering and looks upon us with great compassion.   But He sees much more than just suffering; He sees the blessed life that we are being called to and already gives us a share in that beatitude, right here, right now.  

Jesus, the Lamb of God, offers Himself as a sacrifice of love on the altar of the cross.  Uniting ourselves to His sacrifice in the Eucharist, we can make an offering of ourselves as a sacrifice to God.

Christ came to "save his people from their sins" (MT 1:21).  In the Baptism of the Lord, He teaches us how He will accomplish that salvation.  Christ descends in to our humanity and raises us up to new and everlasting life.  

The Light of Christ which illumines all Israel now shines out to all the nations, represented by the three Magi.  We are called to follow the star and arrive at the place they did, adoring our Lord and being totally transformed by Him.

St. Joseph teaches us the virtues of family life.  He is attentive to the voice of God, even in his sleep; he promptly obeys what God reveals; he tenderly and devoutly cares for the child Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We seek to imitate him as we follow Christ.

God invites us to walk through Bethlehem, the "House of Bread," to see the Child born in the Manger and to feed on Christ His Son in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

The closer we come to the mystery of the Incarnation, when heaven comes down on the earth in a new and amazing way, the more we see the activity of the angels in the Scriptures and in the Liturgy.  The angels teach us how to worship God, how to carry the message of the Gospel and how to fight for virtue as we enter more deeply into the salvation God won for us.  

Even the natural world anticipates the coming of Christ.  When God becomes man, we are also reawakened to the beauty of creation and to the God who reveals Himself to us in the Eucharist.   

The Church's vision for peace entails more than the absence of war and the absence of conflict.  Peace is an "active and demanding gift" (Pope Leo XIV).  St. Augustine defines peace as "tranquillitas ordinis", the tranquility of order.  Christ comes to bring us that peace.

God calls us to watch and wait for the coming of Christ.

Christ, our King, reigns from the cross and in the Eucharist.  He comes in poverty and humility to win our hearts and make us His bride, the Church.  

In the fires of adversity, God teaches us to live well the Catholic faith, to be purified so as to be available for others, and to persevere.  

We celebrate this weekend the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us as the Temple of God.  Just as Christ was pierced with a lance and out flowed blood and water, even so the Church is nourished by this saving stream and equipped to bring the healing power of Christ to the world.

Every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a remembrance, a memorial of the passion and death of the Lord Jesus that is offered anew to the Father.  We remember all the faithful departed in this Holy Sacrifice and pray that they may rise to new life with Him.

Sirach teaches us that "The prayer of the lowly pierces the crowds," and Jesus says that "all who humble themselves will be exalted."  God listens to our prayers when we approach Him with a humble and contrite heart.

Prayer and growth in the spiritual life is a battle, a daily struggle.  How can we surrender ourselves more completely to Christ so that He can win the victory in us?

God greatly desires a deep, personal relationship with each one of us.  When we approach Him with humility, gratitude and worship we come to realize that "The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power" (Psalm 98).

Jesus calls us to trust and have faith that He will provide for us and care for all our needs.  Having faith, we grow in virtue and in integrity.   As God speaks through the prophet Habakkuk: "The rash man has no integrity, but the just one, because of his faith, shall live."