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We see him without the grandeur of a victory parade–without the chariots, the horsemen, the soldiers–returning triumphant in battle. The same people who now celebrate his entry into Jerusalem with palm branches will soon shout for his death, plaiting him a crown of thorns and nailing him to the wood of a tree. The vanity that once struck Qoheleth is personified in today\’s pomp and circumstance which will soon change to the greatest sacrifice that can be conceived. All things in this world are passing and will fall away–this King too will become a victim of sin\’s cruelty. Those who did not know him, did not care, will forget him in time. 

However, for those who bravely believe, who took the Lamb as their Redeemer, the end of his life was a new beginning. It would continue in the words, \”Do this in remembrance of me\”. St. John Mary Vianney once said that the savior comes to us still as he did on that fateful day of procession with palms. He lives–meekly, humbly, a King giving himself in poverty, coming under the form of bread and wine. It is our task to welcome him, to cast down our palm branches sincerely, and welcome him into our lives to reign there with the peace that surpasses understanding.

Last night, we were privileged to see a live Stations of the Cross put on by the youth group from St. John the Evangelist Church in McAlester, Oklahoma. The high school students were reverent in their presentation and we were very moved by the experience. The evening began with a short, wordless presentation of the Passion story, and then moved into the stations of the cross.

The second station: Jesus accepts His cross

The twelfth station: Jesus dies on the cross 

As you can see in these pictures, the stations were presented with minimal costumes, props and lighting. The students also used youth-oriented meditations which help bring the drama of Christ\’s Passion into the lives of the young people who see and participate in the stations–and into our lives too. This group travels to different parishes each Lent to offer these stations, and choose a religious community to visit each year. We are grateful they thought of us! If you have a chance to see these stations at your parish, we encourage you to do so. Thank you so much to the pastor and students at St. John\’s for this wonderful presentation. We will always remember it!

 Scripture doesn\’t tell us much about Saint Joseph except that he was a just man. But knowing what the Jews meant by \”just\” actually says a great deal.

When we think of \”just\”, of course that involves the virtue of justice which is \”giving to others what is due them\”. So we can conclude that he was a fair tradesman with his customers and any helpers he may have had. 

We know he did not want to condemn Mary to death as an adulteress, for he believed her to be virtuous. Yet, he didn\’t know what had happened to her and he knew he was not the father of her child, so he believed the \”just\” thing for him to do would be to divorce her quietly.

But there is much more to Joseph being a just man. He must have been deeply religious for a \”just man\” was not so only before people, but especially before God. A tzedakah was/is not only outwardly religious and devoted to the Torah, but passionate, encouraging others to study and keep Torah. 

The Jewish word tzedakah  means to be charitable, generous and kind. In fact, it comprises a vast array of virtues. It all boils down to the fact that we, too, must be saints! Amen!

In today\’s Gospel, some people bring an adulterous woman to Jesus and ask him to pass judgment on her. Jesus\’ response is a multilayered revelation of just who Jesus is.

Little do the women\’s accusers realize that when Jesus says to them, \”Let the one without sin be the first to cast a stone at her,\” that he is indeed the only one among them who meets that qualification. But rather than take advantage of this prerogative, Jesus challenges them to reconsider their accusation against her and they, one by one, decide to let it go. Just as in civil law, when a victim refuses to press charges against an adversary and so allows them to go free now Jesus uses the silence of the woman\’s accusers to allow their charges to be dropped. If they do not accuse her, then neither does Jesus. What does this say to us about the times we have held on to supposed or even real wrongs with the mentality that \”they\” were wrong and deserve to be punished? If we insist on their punishment, very likely they–and we–will feel its weight, but if we forgive, then they–and we–are set free, so that even Jesus is in a sense bound by our decision. 

But there is more to this scene: Jesus is indeed the \”one who is without sin\” but he is also the one whom \”God made to be sin\”, so in another way he is one of those who cannot cast the first stone. He has so identified himself with his brothers and sisters that he accepts the limitations of our sinful condition to such an extent that, as the Letter to the Hebrew says: \”He is not ashamed to call them brothers\” (Heb 2:11). Those people who presented the sinful woman for judgment slipped away in shame when their own sinfulness was exposed, refusing to be identified as her brothers. Jesus, on the other hand, was not ashamed to remain there with her–the sinner and he who was made sin! Who is there that we are ashamed to call our brother or sister? 

As John said, Jesus had come unto his own–to sinful human beings, and many of them received him not. They even tried to stone him too! (John 8:59)

We are truly filled with great joy at the announcement of our new Pope, Francis!

We pray for God\’s blessing on Pope Francis and his ministry to the Church and the world. 

May God grant him many years!

Are you looking for our website? Some months ago we changed to a new website (with a new domain name). We encourage you to check it out! The address is www.lufkintxnuns.org. Some of you have been making donations via PayPal on our old website, and we are extremely grateful for them. If you want to use PayPal for donations to our monastery, please notice that you can donate from this blog. You can also donate safely and securely using a credit card on our website. Again, we hope you will check out our current website. Thank you so much!