Jesus is Condemned to Death

Jesus, you stand all alone before Pilate. Nobody speaks up for you. Nobody helps defend you. You devoted your entire life to helping others, listening to the smallest ones, caring for those who were ignored by others. They don’t seem to remember that as they prepare to put you to death.

As a child, sometimes I feel alone. Sometimes I feel that others don’t stand up for me and defend me when I am afraid. Sometimes I don’t feel like I am treated fairly, especially if I am scolded or corrected.

As an adult, sometimes I feel abandoned and afraid as well. Sometimes I too, feel like I am treated unfairly or blamed for things unfairly. I have a hard time when people criticize me at home or at work.

Help me be grateful for what you did for me. Help me to accept criticism and unfairness as you did, and not complain. Help me pray for those who have hurt me.

My Jesus, often have I signed the death warrant by my sins; save me by Thy death from that eternal death which I have so often deserved.

Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Messiah?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Let him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.

- Matthew 27: 22-26

As the Easter Season is almost upon us, I thought it would be important for all of us to begin to reflect on the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Imagine the terrible pain and anguish our Lord endured for us – for our salvation and redemption. Even though we know that the Lord suffered greatly for our sins, we continue to participate in acts that are sinful because of our humanity. It is important for all of us to turn to the Lord, asking Him for assistance and help to deal with the temptation to sin and for mercy and forgiveness for the times we have given into that temptation.

Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

- 1 Peter 2:21-24

As the season of Lent comes to a close, may we follow the example of Christ. Do not insult when you are insulted; do not threaten when you suffer. Rather, hand yourselves over to the Lord, the Divine Healer, asking him for pardon, mercy, and forgiveness. Only through Christ can true healing be found.

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading the Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis. As we journey through the season of Lent, one particular chapter struck me and I thought it would be important for me to share it with all of you. It is important for all of us to have our eyes fixed on Christ, our High Priest. As we begin to ready ourselves for the celebration of Easter, I thought this brief examination of conscience would be something that would interest everyone.

The Examination of Conscience and the Resolution to Amend

The Voice of Christ

ABOVE all, God’s priest should approach the celebration and reception of this Sacrament with the deepest humility of heart and suppliant reverence, with complete faith and the pious intention of giving honor to God.

Carefully examine your conscience, then. Cleanse and purify it to the best of your power by true contrition and humble confession, that you may have no burden, know of no remorse, and thus be free to come near. Let the memory of all your sins grieve you, and especially lament and bewail your daily transgressions. Then if time permits, confess to God in the secret depths of your heart all the miseries your passions have caused.

Lament and grieve because you are still so worldly, so carnal, so passionate and unmortified, so full of roving lust, so careless in guarding the external senses, so often occupied in many vain fancies, so inclined to exterior things and so heedless of what lies within, so prone to laughter and dissipation and so indisposed to sorrow and tears, so inclined to ease and the pleasures of the flesh and so cool to austerity and zeal, so curious to hear what is new and to see the beautiful and so slow to embrace humiliation and dejection, so covetous of abundance, so niggardly in giving and so tenacious in keeping, so inconsiderate in speech, so reluctant in silence, so undisciplined in character, so disordered in action, so greedy at meals, so deaf to the Word of God, so prompt to rest and so slow to labor, so awake to empty conversation, so sleepy in keeping sacred vigils and so eager to end them, so wandering in your attention, so careless in saying the office, so lukewarm in celebrating, so heartless in receiving, so quickly distracted, so seldom fully recollected, so quickly moved to anger, so apt to take offense at others, so prone to judge, so severe in condemning, so happy in prosperity and so weak in adversity, so often making good resolutions and carrying so few of them into action.

When you have confessed and deplored these and other faults with sorrow and great displeasure because of your weakness, be firmly determined to amend your life day by day and to advance in goodness. Then, with complete resignation and with your entire will offer yourself upon the altar of your heart as an everlasting sacrifice to the honor of My name, by entrusting with faith both body and soul to My care, that thus you may be considered worthy to draw near and offer sacrifice to God and profitably receive the Sacrament of My Body. For there is no more worthy offering, no greater satisfaction for washing away sin than to offer yourself purely and entirely to God with the offering of the Body of Christ in Mass and Communion.

If a man does what he can and is truly penitent, however often he comes to Me for grace and pardon, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live”; I will no longer remember his sins, but all will be forgiven him.

The Imitation of Christ; Book 4, Chapter 7

This weekend, the seminary community sponsored a Vocations Awareness Weekend. It was an opportunity for men throughout the Ecclesiastical Province of Miami (Dioceses in the State of Florida) to experience a little bit of seminary life and to recognize God’s love for them on a deeper level. Even though the weekend was geared towards the guests who think God is calling them to discern the priesthood of Jesus Christ, it was also an invaluable experience for the seminarians. For myself, this weekend allowed me to recall the events that led me to enter into a deeper conversation with the church about the priesthood of Christ and the possibility of entering the seminary.

I believe that it was the grace of God that allowed this Vocations Awareness Weekend to take place this particular weekend. Many of you may recall that March 16, 2008 was Palm Sunday. I can tell you that this date will never be forgotten by me because it was when I heard God’s call to re-open the book of vocations in my life. On that particular evening, I was just finishing my prayers and not looking forward to getting up the next morning and going to school. As I was “flipping through the channels” looking for something on television to put me to sleep, I had this tremendous feeling that God was in my presence and that He was communicating something to me. Our heavenly Father was answering a prayer that I raised to Him a few weeks prior.

At the beginning of the 2008 Lenten Season, my parish sponsored a Lenten Retreat, where all of the parishioners were invited to attend a series of evening meetings led by Fr. Michael Sullivan, O.S.A. The Sunday the talks were set to begin, Fr. Sullivan was the main celebrant at the 7:30 a.m. Mass. As he was going through his homily, Fr. Sullivan was calling upon different people within the congregation to stand up and answer some questions. Being the altar server at that Mass, I was prime for the picking because I was sitting right up front. Sure enough, he asked me to stand and began asking me all sorts of questions. In the course of the questions, Fr. Michael looked me in the eyes and asked, “Tom, have you ever thought about being a priest?” I was speechless!! I couldn’t believe that this was coming up…again!

When I was in the 8th grade, I began thinking about serving God through the ministry of the priesthood. But throughout high school and my first year and a half of college, the desire for a family and a career in law enforcement and politics consumed me. I thought I had my life planned out. Did I ever get that wrong?! The saying goes; if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Well, He clearly had a good laugh at my expense.

Through the course of the next few weeks, I spent each night praying for the Lord to show me what He wanted me to do with my life. I was grappling with making a decision to follow my desire to be a police officer or to follow the Lord’s call to the priesthood. March 16, 2008 was when God provided me with the answer. The next day, I contacted my pastor, Fr. Thomas Barrett (Former Vocations Director for the Diocese of Orlando), telling him the story of my experience the night before. He told me to get in touch with Fr. Miguel, the current Vocations Director, and schedule a meeting with him. In our email and phone conversations, Fr. Miguel reminded me that we, as a Church, were entering into the most profoundly spiritual week of the year and encouraged me to take time to sit with the Lord, a piece of advice I took to heart. A couple of weeks later, I began the application process to be accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Orlando.

As I reflect on this past weekend, I am thankful that the Lord was able to allow me to recall the events that led up to my decision to enter seminary. As each day passes in formation, I am reassured that this is the path the Lord is calling me to take. Each day, I wake up with a renewed vigor that the Lord is present in my life. As we go about the remainder of the Lenten season, I encourage all of you to call to mind an experience you had where you knew the Lord was present in your life. Thank Him for that and allow that experience to carry you through Lent, to the Easter season.
May God bless you and may He continue to bless the Catholic Church. Bye for now…

Date: April 3, 2009

Time: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Location: Blanchard Park | East Orange County

The event “Operation Deliverance III,” consists of area churches and ministries volunteering at least one hour to pray in a designated area for forty straight days without interruption.

For this event we have partnered with the Blanchard Park YMCA located on Rouse Rd. The times will be 6:30-7:30 pm (Mon-Fri) and 2:30- 3:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday. All we ask is that you select a day between the dates of February 23- April 3, 2009.

There is no doubt that prayer is a strong tool to reach peace, hope and harmony. Doctors encourage patients and relatives to use prayer as part of the healing process for their patients. Our nation and communities are suffering some very tough times with the economy, families are losing their homes, their jobs and there are lot’s of uncertainty of what the future will hold. We too could use prayer as a tool to bring peace, harmony, hope and the end of violence in our communities.

This is a prayer event, music instruments are welcomed but not loud speakers or megaphones. You are encouraged to bring church bulletins or brochures to hand out. Through you we want to invite others to pray for the community and get involved. This event has been conducted in other parts of Orange County and the City of Orlando and it has been very successful.

- Excerpt of a letter from Sheriff Jerry Demings and Deacon (Captain) Miguel Pagan

http://www.visionorlando.org/news_items/news030209.htm

April 3rd is fastly approaching! I encourage all of you who live in Orange County to come out to Blanchard Park to pray for the end to crime throughout our community. It is important for us, as a community, to come together and show our unity amongst our diversity, praying to our heavenly Father.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the Orange County Sheriffs Office at 407-254-7000.