Thoughts on the call to obedience

It is an unfortunate reality that we live in a skeptical age that is skeptical of God and of His Holy Church. Indeed, even though nearly 90% of Americans say that they believe in a Higher Power, nearly half of those people don't attend Church regularly. Some surveys have suggested that among the younger generation, the number of people skeptical or even in denial of the existence of God is much higher, and certainly the devil-may-care attitude reflected in modern popular culture reflects what Walter Cardinal Kasper has called "cultural atheism." In other words, our culture behaves as though God does not exist whether we say to ourselves or to others that He exists or does not.

Many people are rationalizing that because the Church has been rocked in the past decade by the priest sex abuse scandal and other singular abuses, that the Church somehow does not have the authority to command obedience to morality in the name of Jesus Christ. Truth does not change merely because some of those who have proclaimed it in the past have fallen into sin. It does not change even if the whole of those who have proclaimed it give themselves over to sin and the wiles of the devil. If such faulty theological logic had any merit, the Church would never have survived the first week after Our Lord was crucified. After all, with the exception of the Apostle St. John, all of the original 12 abandoned Jesus, one even openly denied him and did so three times. Yet it was the weak one who denied Christ three times who was chosen to lead the Church after Our Lord ascended to the Father. One of the remaining Eleven after our Lord rose again even refused to believe, yet Christ allowed that one to see as well as believe, he didn't reject him or tell him that he had no authority. Christ instead breathed the Holy Spirit on these imperfect men and told them to go forth and proclaim the Good News. Christ promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church, but He certainly never promised that the Church would be composed of perfect people or that some of its leaders would not ever fall into serious sin or scandal themselves.

Catholic readers will recall, I am sure, the case of Father John Corapi, who stood accused of having an affair with a woman who worked with him, and was even accused (not, apparently, without some cause) of having multiple affairs with multiple women. Corapi left the priesthood, at first saying that without doing so, he would be unable to prove his innocence in a legitimate fashion. His religious community said that he was not fit for public ministry, but they didn't ever say "Father Corapi isn't welcome to return." Indeed, he was invited to come live in community with the rest of priests and brothers of his religious order, the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). It was when he openly refused to obey this order which was given in accordance with his religious vow to obey those placed in religious authority over him that SOLT said that Father Corapi was "unfit for public ministry" as a priest.

Many good Catholics were and remain rightly scandalized by the case of Father Corapi. This is because so many people were brought into a deeper relationship with Christ and with Our Blessed Mother through Father Corapi's powerful witness, teaching, and preaching, and two of those people included Nicole and myself. We didn't just watch Father Corapi's programs on EWTN, in 2005, we attended a day of reflection with Father Corapi in Kentucky. I was deeply moved by his powerful witness of fidelity to the Church and his own conversion story. He was keenly aware of his own past, however-he returned to the Faith from a world of drug addiction, worldliness, pleasure, and, to hear his own description, the worst forms of sin and vice imaginable in our modern secularist culture, and he said "if you ever pick up a newspaper and read that Father John Corapi was found dead in a crack house somewhere, it might very well be the truth, because the devil is always at work, and don't you think the devil doesn't know my addictions and weaknesses." I remembered Father Corapi saying this, but it didn't make his decision to leave the priesthood sting any less. His disobedience to and disregard for the authority of the very Church which he had preached for 20 years
that the rest of us should obey spoke volumes about the unfortunate path that he seemed to have chosen.

Since that time, Corapi seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. Indeed, many people who used to follow the work of his former ministry now have no idea what has happened to him. Like some of them, I too pray that he has come to obedience and that he has repented, returning to his religious community. Wherever he is, if he has not repented, I pray that he does so.

However, Corapi's apparent lack of repentance and his scandalous behavior do not negate the work of the Holy Spirit or lessen the power of the truths he was previously teaching, for we all have concupiscence. The decision by many folks to declare the entire Church corrupt based on the public actions of some smacks as much of a desire to find an excuse not to obey the Church as it does of any genuine personal scandal someone might feel about the actions of many priests and others in the Church who, like Father Corapi, fell into serious sin and shame. The reality is that we live in a culture that does not like obedience, especially if the power commanding our obedience is ultimately of Divine origin, which the Church is. The reality is that many Catholics want to call themselves Catholic but not bear the mark-and sometimes bear the cross-of obedience to the authority of the Church upon earth.

As an Aspirant who feels called to the deaconate, I have willingly placed myself within the Church's Divine authority in a very direct way. Those who are in formation for a vocation to the deaconate, the priesthood, or the religious life do this knowing that none of us are perfect, and that even our bishop is not perfect, but that, through the authority of the Church, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he may tell us when and where, or even whether ever we may minister to others in the Church's name. My willingness to obey the Church is reflected not only in my developing call to the deaconate, but in an understanding that while the Church, including her leaders, are imperfect human beings, her authority comes from Christ, who gave her all power in Heaven and on Earth. All of us who are Catholics, whether laypeople or ordained, are called to accept the Church's teaching authority on faith and morals-she is mater et magister.

Those who know to do so and refuse to remind me of of the famous verse of scripture describing the errant children of Israel who refuse to accept Divine authority in Judges 21:25: 

In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.

April formation thoughts

I have to confess that I am going to miss His Excellency Bishop Joseph Martino. Admittedly, this is partly due to the reality that he has dealt largely in a subject that I love (history) and in a subset of that subject which could prove invaluable to any future teaching ministry I may have as a deacon-Church History. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last two months, and I have soaked it all up like a sponge. I left wanting more, and was pleased to learn that when the time comes for our teaching set on Ecumenism, that Bishop Martino will return to instruct us further.

We were also told quite a bit more about what next year's schedule would be like. Sister Mary Timothea Elliott, RSM will return-this time for what I am certain will be a spiritual extravaganza in two parts on the Old Testament. If Sister Timothea's teaching on the Old Testament is anything like her incredible knowledge and devotion to the Psalms, I won't want that to end, either, like I didn't want Sister's teachings on the Psalms and the Liturgy of the Hours to end-I left that weekend hungry and wanting more in a big way.

If there was one thing that I could say that I found disappointing about this past formation weekend, it was learning the news that after a great deal of anticipation, we won't be required to do pastoral work over the summer after all. This is because Deacon Tim Elliott, our Director of Deacons, was not able to land firm assignments for everyone. Initially, this news was greeted with the typical alleluias one would expect by virtually the entire class. However, almost immediately after hearing the announcement and even saying an alleluia or two myself, I became quite disappointed as I began to reflect on the fact that I wouldn't have a summer assignment. I spent some time in advance of class reflecting on what my assignment might be and how I would carry that assignment out with a mixture of excitement and what I might call "holy concern." In the end, not having a firm assignment left me feeling something of a void.

I was pleased that we are being given something of a summer option: If we can come up with appropriate pastoral work by means of our own initiative, perform that work 10-15 hours per month, and then be able to write a short description of the work we did, we will still receive credit for that pastoral work. If we are able to take this option, we are also free to take a future formation summer off of our choosing. I'm going to try and coordinate with the deacons, lay ministers, and pastor of my parish to see if there is any pastoral work that I might be able to undertake this summer (other than attempting to learn some passable Spanish, which seems to be an increasing necessity both in our parish and our diocese).

The first full weekend of May will be our final formation weekend of this academic year, and it will be taught by several of the current active Deacons of the Diocese of Knoxville, including my Spiritual Director Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey. The topic: The Ministry of the Deacon.

Formation Weekend

Today I depart for Lenoir City for another weekend of formation, this one the final of two with His Excellency Bishop Joseph Martino, Emeritus of Scranton. It is regrettable, because if this month is anything like last month, I will greatly miss Bishop Martino and find myself hungering for more of his teaching on Church History. I really admire the holy commitment of this man to orthodoxy, and a willingness to stand up for, promote, and advocate for orthodoxy and for what we might call the Church's "big T" Traditional teachings.

Thanks to Scott Maentz for this great picture of Bishop Martino.

My allergies are really going haywire this week, so I really hope I can get to feeling a bit better through the weekend.



I am told that we may learn some more this weekend about what our summer service assignments will be. I am looking forward to mine, whatever it is, but I am a little nervous. I have no idea what it will be and I hope that whatever it is, the logistics work out. Then again, so far on this journey, the Lord has provided a way every time, and I know He will yet again.

The Lord Is Truly Risen, Alleluia!

Genesis 1:1-2:2:

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,
while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

Then God said,
"Let there be light," and there was light.
God saw how good the light was.
God then separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."
Thus evening came, and morning followed-the first day.

Then God said,
"Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,
to separate one body of water from the other."
And so it happened:
God made the dome,
and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.
God called the dome "the sky."
Evening came, and morning followed-the second day.

Then God said,
"Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin,
so that the dry land may appear."
And so it happened:
the water under the sky was gathered into its basin,
and the dry land appeared.
God called the dry land "the earth, "
and the basin of the water he called "the sea."
God saw how good it was.
Then God said,
"Let the earth bring forth vegetation:
every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it."
And so it happened:
the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed-the third day.

Then God said:
"Let there be lights in the dome of the sky,
to separate day from night.
Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,
and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth."
And so it happened:
God made the two great lights,
the greater one to govern the day,
and the lesser one to govern the night;
and he made the stars.
God set them in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth,
to govern the day and the night,
and to separate the light from the darkness.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed-the fourth day.

Then God said,
"Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,
and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky."
And so it happened:
God created the great sea monsters
and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
"Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
and let the birds multiply on the earth."
Evening came, and morning followed-the fifth day.

Then God said,
"Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds."
And so it happened:
God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
God saw how good it was.
Then God said:
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground."
God created man in his image;
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
"Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth."
God also said:
"See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food."
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed-the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished
with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.





Genesis 22:1-18:

God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am, " he replied.
Then God said:
"Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a holocaust
on a height that I will point out to you."
Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey,
took with him his son Isaac and two of his servants as well,
and with the wood that he had cut for the holocaust,
set out for the place of which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham got sight of the place from afar.
Then he said to his servants:
"Both of you stay here with the donkey,
while the boy and I go on over yonder.
We will worship and then come back to you."
Thereupon Abraham took the wood for the holocaust
and laid it on his son Isaac's shoulders,
while he himself carried the fire and the knife.
As the two walked on together, Isaac spoke to his father Abraham:
"Father!" Isaac said.
"Yes, son, " he replied.
Isaac continued, "Here are the fire and the wood,
but where is the sheep for the holocaust?"
"Son," Abraham answered,
"God himself will provide the sheep for the holocaust."
Then the two continued going forward.
When they came to the place of which God had told him,
Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
Next he tied up his son Isaac,
and put him on top of the wood on the altar.
Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD's messenger called to him from heaven,
"Abraham, Abraham!"
"Here I am!" he answered.
"Do not lay your hand on the boy," said the messenger.
"Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son."
As Abraham looked about,
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram
and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.
Abraham named the site Yahweh-yireh;
hence people now say, "On the mountain the LORD will see."

Again the LORD's messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:
"I swear by myself, declares the LORD,
that because you acted as you did
in not withholding from me your beloved son,
I will bless you abundantly
and make your descendants as countless
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;
your descendants shall take possession
of the gates of their enemies,
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing—
all this because you obeyed my command."

Exodus 14:15-15:1:

The LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me?
Tell the Israelites to go forward.
And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea,
split the sea in two,
that the Israelites may pass through it on dry land.
But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate
that they will go in after them.
Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army,
his chariots and charioteers.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
when I receive glory through Pharaoh
and his chariots and charioteers."

The angel of God, who had been leading Israel's camp,
now moved and went around behind them.
The column of cloud also, leaving the front,
took up its place behind them,
so that it came between the camp of the Egyptians
and that of Israel.
But the cloud now became dark, and thus the night passed
without the rival camps coming any closer together
all night long.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and the LORD swept the sea
with a strong east wind throughout the night
and so turned it into dry land.
When the water was thus divided,
the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.

The Egyptians followed in pursuit;
all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and charioteers went after them
right into the midst of the sea.
In the night watch just before dawn
the LORD cast through the column of the fiery cloud
upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic;
and he so clogged their chariot wheels
that they could hardly drive.
With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel,
because the LORD was fighting for them against the Egyptians.

Then the LORD told Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea,
that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians,
upon their chariots and their charioteers."
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth.
The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea,
when the LORD hurled them into its midst.
As the water flowed back,
it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh's whole army
which had followed the Israelites into the sea.
Not a single one of them escaped.
But the Israelites had marched on dry land
through the midst of the sea,
with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.
Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day
from the power of the Egyptians.
When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore
and beheld the great power that the LORD
had shown against the Egyptians,
they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses.

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:
I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.


Isaiah 54:5-14:

The One who has become your husband is your Maker;
his name is the LORD of hosts;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
called God of all the earth.
The LORD calls you back,
like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
a wife married in youth and then cast off,
says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great tenderness I will take you back.
In an outburst of wrath, for a moment
I hid my face from you;
but with enduring love I take pity on you,
says the LORD, your redeemer.
This is for me like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah
should never again deluge the earth;
so I have sworn not to be angry with you,
or to rebuke you.
Though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be shaken,
my love shall never leave you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the LORD, who has mercy on you.
O afflicted one, storm-battered and unconsoled,
I lay your pavements in carnelians,
and your foundations in sapphires;
I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of carbuncles,
and all your walls of precious stones.
All your children shall be taught by the LORD,
and great shall be the peace of your children.
In justice shall you be established,
far from the fear of oppression,
where destruction cannot come near you.


Isaiah 55:1-11:

 Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread,
your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,
the benefits assured to David.
As I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander of nations,
so shall you summon a nation you knew not,
and nations that knew you not shall run to you,
because of the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you.

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked man his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.

For just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
and do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
so shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.


Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4:

Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life:
listen, and know prudence!
How is it, Israel,
that you are in the land of your foes,
grown old in a foreign land,
defiled with the dead,
accounted with those destined for the netherworld?
You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom!
Had you walked in the way of God,
you would have dwelt in enduring peace.
Learn where prudence is,
where strength, where understanding;
that you may know also
where are length of days, and life,
where light of the eyes, and peace.
Who has found the place of wisdom,
who has entered into her treasuries?

The One who knows all things knows her;
he has probed her by his knowledge—
The One who established the earth for all time,
and filled it with four-footed beasts;
he who dismisses the light, and it departs,
calls it, and it obeys him trembling;
before whom the stars at their posts
shine and rejoice;
when he calls them, they answer, "Here we are!"
shining with joy for their Maker.
Such is our God;
no other is to be compared to him:
He has traced out the whole way of understanding,
and has given her to Jacob, his servant,
to Israel, his beloved son.

Since then she has appeared on earth,
and moved among people.
She is the book of the precepts of God,
the law that endures forever;
all who cling to her will live,
but those will die who forsake her.
Turn, O Jacob, and receive her:
walk by her light toward splendor.
Give not your glory to another,
your privileges to an alien race.
Blessed are we, O Israel;
for what pleases God is known to us!


Ezekiel 36:16 (17a)-28:

The word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their land,
they defiled it by their conduct and deeds.
Therefore I poured out my fury upon them
because of the blood that they poured out on the ground,
and because they defiled it with idols.
I scattered them among the nations,
dispersing them over foreign lands;
according to their conduct and deeds I judged them.
But when they came among the nations wherever they came,
they served to profane my holy name,
because it was said of them: "These are the people of the LORD,
yet they had to leave their land."
So I have relented because of my holy name
which the house of Israel profaned
among the nations where they came.
Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD:
Not for your sakes do I act, house of Israel,
but for the sake of my holy name,
which you profaned among the nations to which you came.
I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations,
in whose midst you have profaned it.
Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,
when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you,
taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts.
I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes,
careful to observe my decrees.
You shall live in the land I gave your fathers;
you shall be my people, and I will be your God.


Romans 6:3-11:

Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him,
so that our sinful body might be done away with,
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.
As to his death, he died to sin once and for all;
as to his life, he lives for God.
Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin
and living for God in Christ Jesus.


Mark 16:1-7:

When the sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
Very early when the sun had risen,
on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb.
They were saying to one another,
"Who will roll back the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?"
When they looked up,
they saw that the stone had been rolled back;
it was very large.
On entering the tomb they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe,
and they were utterly amazed.
He said to them, "Do not be amazed!
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.
He has been raised; he is not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
But go and tell his disciples and Peter,
'He is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him, as he told you.'"

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

John 18:1-19:42:

Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to where there was a garden,
into which he and his disciples entered.
Judas his betrayer also knew the place,
because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.
So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards
from the chief priests and the Pharisees
and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him,
went out and said to them, "Whom are you looking for?"
They answered him, "Jesus the Nazorean."
He said to them, "I AM."
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he said to them, "I AM, "
they turned away and fell to the ground.
So he again asked them,
"Whom are you looking for?"
They said, "Jesus the Nazorean."
Jesus answered,
"I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go."
This was to fulfill what he had said,
"I have not lost any of those you gave me."
Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it,
struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear.
The slave's name was Malchus.
Jesus said to Peter,
"Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?"

So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus,
bound him, and brought him to Annas first.
He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
who was high priest that year.
It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews
that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus.
Now the other disciple was known to the high priest,
and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus.
But Peter stood at the gate outside.
So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest,
went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in.
Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter,
"You are not one of this man's disciples, are you?"
He said, "I am not."
Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire
that they had made, because it was cold,
and were warming themselves.
Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus
about his disciples and about his doctrine.
Jesus answered him,
"I have spoken publicly to the world.
I have always taught in a synagogue
or in the temple area where all the Jews gather,
and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me?
Ask those who heard me what I said to them.
They know what I said."
When he had said this,
one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said,
"Is this the way you answer the high priest?"
Jesus answered him,
"If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong;
but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?"
Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm.
And they said to him,
"You are not one of his disciples, are you?"
He denied it and said,
"I am not."
One of the slaves of the high priest,
a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said,
"Didn't I see you in the garden with him?"
Again Peter denied it.
And immediately the cock crowed.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium.
It was morning.
And they themselves did not enter the praetorium,
in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover.
So Pilate came out to them and said,
"What charge do you bring against this man?"
They answered and said to him,
"If he were not a criminal,
we would not have handed him over to you."
At this, Pilate said to them,
"Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law."
The Jews answered him,
"We do not have the right to execute anyone, "
in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled
that he said indicating the kind of death he would die.
So Pilate went back into the praetorium
and summoned Jesus and said to him,
"Are you the King of the Jews?"
Jesus answered,
"Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?"
Pilate answered,
"I am not a Jew, am I?
Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.
What have you done?"
Jesus answered,
"My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here."
So Pilate said to him,
"Then you are a king?"
Jesus answered,
"You say I am a king.
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

When he had said this,
he again went out to the Jews and said to them,
"I find no guilt in him.
But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover.
Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"
They cried out again,
"Not this one but Barabbas!"
Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged.
And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head,
and clothed him in a purple cloak,
and they came to him and said,
"Hail, King of the Jews!"
And they struck him repeatedly.
Once more Pilate went out and said to them,
"Look, I am bringing him out to you,
so that you may know that I find no guilt in him."
So Jesus came out,
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, "Behold, the man!"
When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out,
"Crucify him, crucify him!"
Pilate said to them,
"Take him yourselves and crucify him.
I find no guilt in him."
The Jews answered,
"We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God."
Now when Pilate heard this statement,
he became even more afraid,
and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus,
"Where are you from?"
Jesus did not answer him.
So Pilate said to him,
"Do you not speak to me?
Do you not know that I have power to release you
and I have power to crucify you?"
Jesus answered him,
"You would have no power over me
if it had not been given to you from above.
For this reason the one who handed me over to you
has the greater sin."
Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out,
"If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar.
Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar."

When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out
and seated him on the judge's bench
in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews,
"Behold, your king!"
They cried out,
"Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!"
Pilate said to them,
"Shall I crucify your king?"
The chief priests answered,
"We have no king but Caesar."
Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself,
he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull,
in Hebrew, Golgotha.
There they crucified him, and with him two others,
one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read,
"Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews."
Now many of the Jews read this inscription,
because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
"Do not write 'The King of the Jews,'
but that he said, 'I am the King of the Jews'."
Pilate answered,
"What I have written, I have written."

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his clothes and divided them into four shares,
a share for each soldier.
They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from the top down.
So they said to one another,
"Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, "
in order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says:
They divided my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
This is what the soldiers did.
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary of Magdala.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

After this, aware that everything was now finished,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
Jesus said, "I thirst."
There was a vessel filled with common wine.
So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop
and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had taken the wine, he said,
"It is finished."
And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.


Now since it was preparation day,
in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath,
for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one,
the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken
and that they be taken down.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first
and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs,
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side,
and immediately blood and water flowed out.
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled:
Not a bone of it will be broken.
And again another passage says:
They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews,
asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus.
And Pilate permitted it.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night,
also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes
weighing about one hundred pounds.
They took the body of Jesus
and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices,
according to the Jewish burial custom.
Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day;
for the tomb was close by.

Church History (Holy Thursday)

It has been awhile-over a month, since I have posted to this blog, and for that I apologize to those off you who are taking the time to read it. I've had a busy month, however, and with Holy Week (Holy Thursday) now having arrived, I think it prudent to share a little bit about what our formation weekend in March was like.

I was very much concerned when class began on Friday evening after we had originally been told that we might have a pop quiz, because Bishop Martino (by his own admission) talks quickly, but this isn't only a matter of habit-I think in his mind he had a good reason to move at a relatively brisk pace through the material. Not only was he being recorded, but he was also merciful enough to us to present us with two very good outlines-one for this past month and one for our session upcoming-of the material we would be covering. Deacon Tim Elliott, our Director of Deacons, told me not to worry about a pop quiz, but to listen to Bishop Martino...for this, I was much relieved.

Since I am admittedly a history nerd, I enjoyed the material greatly, and I just ate up getting a hold of new material that I hadn't previously been familiar with before (and getting a new spin on some things that I already knew. The most impressive and enjoyable thing about the entire weekends, however, was Bishop Martino himself. I was pleased to be able to sit near him (as were the rest of the fellas in the front row) during one of our breaks when His Excellency shared some of his experiences in ministry with us, including his belief-one that I share-that we need to do a better job keeping the interest of catechumens and potential candidates, as we often lose them in waiting for RCIA to begin as much as we might after the process is over. Of course the Obama Administration's ungodly HHS mandate on Catholic institutions was also a matter of discussion, with Bishop Martino saying that he believes we could be entering a time of persecution, or at least a time when it won't be a very popular thing to be a faithful Catholic.

The thing that most exuded from the way His Excellency carries himself is what I would call holiness in humility. He seems grateful that the Holy Spirit chose him for the ministry that he has, he blesses others by the exercise of that ministry, and is a good example of how someone who has been gifted with Holy Orders should be gift to others-in retirement, he is ministering to us in imparting knowledge as well as wisdom to us.

I really look forward to our next session with His Excellency this coming weekend.

I am praying for all of you who read, and all of my Brother Aspirants as I pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day. May you have a Blessed Paschal Triduum.