Free Republic

Finding the Good in Good Friday By: Msgr. Charles PopeWhen I was younger, and through my seminary years, I had usually seen the crucifix and Jesus’ suffering on the Cross in somber tones. It was my sin that put Him there, had made Him suffer. The Cross was something that compelled a silent reverence and suggested to me that I meditate deeply on what Jesus had to go through. I would also think of Mary, John, and the other women beneath the Cross mournfully beholding Jesus as He was slowly and painfully dying. These were heavy and somber notes but...

Spy Wednesday and a Reflection on the Sins of the Clergy By: Msgr. Charles PopeWednesday of Holy Week is traditionally called “Spy Wednesday,” since it was on this day that Judas conspired with the Temple leadership to hand Jesus over. He would not accomplish his task until the evening of the next day, but this day he made the arrangements and was paid.One way to reflect on this terrible sin is to consider that Judas was among the first priests called by Jesus. We see in the call of the Apostles the establishment of the ministerial priesthood. Jesus called these men to...

See What the End Shall Be – A Palm Sunday Reflection By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe Passion which we read in today’s liturgy is too long to comment on in detail. We are only able to take a portion and examine it.The usual villains such as the Temple leaders, Judas, and the recruited crowd, which shouted “Crucify him!” are fairly obvious in displaying their sinfulness and are unambiguously wicked. But there are others who participate in the Passion accounts whose sinfulness, struggles and neglect are more subtle, but still real and contribute significantly to the Lord’s sufferings on Good Friday....

What Is Serenity and How Can We Grow in It? By: Msgr. Charles PopeDuring Lent, a gift to seek is greater serenity. The word comes from the Latin serenus, meaning clear or unclouded (skies). By extension it thus means calm, without storm.Serenity has become more used in modern times with the advent of many 12-Step programs, which use the Serenity Prayer as an important help to their work.Perhaps the closest Greek word to serenity is ãáëÞíç (galene=calm) and it is used most specifically to describe the incident when Jesus stood in the boat and rebuked the storm, bringing about a great calm,...

Beams of Heaven As I Go – A Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent By: Msgr. Charles PopeWhat is it that gives hope, peace, and serene joy to the Christian life? Briefly, it is the vision of glory, a glimpse into the Promised Land of Heaven, which the Lord can and does give to His people. Today’s gospel shows forth a kind of process wherein the Lord lays the foundations of hope, peace, and joy for His disciples and for us. Let’s look at four aspects of how the Lord lays this foundation.I. The Paradoxical Prelude - The...

Out of Pride and Into Humility: A Lenten Meditation on a Teaching by St. Bernard of Clairvaux By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn yesterday’s post, we considered the twelve steps of pride set forth by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. In escalating ways, the twelve steps draw us to an increasingly mountainous and enslaving pride.St. Bernard also enumerates the twelve steps to deeper humility (I am using the list from Vultus Dei HERE)  and it is these that we consider in today’s post. As with yesterday’s post, the list by St. Bernard is shown in red, but the commentary on each step is shown in...

Choice and Consequences By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe themes of early Lent are pretty basic. The ashes of Ash Wednesday announce the simple truth that we are going to die and  thereafter face judgment. Hence, we need to repent and come to believe the good news that only Jesus can save us.Another early reading from Thursday after Ash Wednesday featured Moses laying out the basic reality that all of us have a choice to make. He says to us,Today I have set before youlife and prosperity, death and doom …I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:I have set before you life...

Becoming the Beatitudes – A Lenten Meditation on the Gift of the Life Jesus Died to Give Us By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn the Beatitudes, and indeed in the whole Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8), the Lord is painting a picture of the transformed human person. The Sermon on the Mount is the Lord’s great moral treatise. But it is not to be understood so much as a list of things to do (out of our own fleshly power) but as gifts to receive from God’s grace. This is what happens to the human person in whom the Lord...

Archdiocese of Washington The True Rainbow in the Sky – A Reflection on the Readings of the First Sunday of Lent By: Msgr. Charles PopeOn the first Sunday of Lent, the readings have a very baptismal theme. It makes sense, for it is common on this Sunday that the catechumens report to the Bishop for the Rite of Election, wherein they are recognized as elect (chosen) of God in these final weeks before their baptism.In today’s readings, there are many themes that form the “spokes” of a wagon wheel, and baptism is the central hub around which they turn. And arching over...