Fifth Week of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

VIDEOS - FIFTH WEEK OF LENT

MASSES

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent 4-4-2020


Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent 4-3-2020


Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent 4-2-2020


Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent 4-1-2020


Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent 3-31-2020


Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent 3-30-2020


Fifth Sunday of Lent 3-29-2020


Quinto Domingo de Cuaresma 29-3-2020


ADDITIONAL PRAYERS

Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary


Stations of the Cross


Additional video prayers posted at:
www.facebook.com/davidjenuwine and www.facebook.com/fatherdavidjenuwine.com

5th Sunday of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT (YEAR A)
MARCH 29, 2020
ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASS



Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. This causes someone to pay more attention and assign greater credence to ideas that support their current beliefs. That is, people tend to cherry pick evidence that supports an idea we already believe in, and ignore evidence that argues against it.

It is a type of cognitive bias, and is based out of a systematic error of inductive reasoning – in effect, assigning factual basis to something which is only probable. This is played out in such things as selective memory, alternative facts, or perhaps even fake news.

Confirmation bias leads to an overconfidence in personal beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence; resulting in poor decision making in various organizational contexts.

Today is the Fifth Sunday in Lent.



It is customarily the beginning of what is called Passion Week. We begin this week with Jesus’ greatest miracle – the raising of Lazarus. At the end of the Gospel we hear that:
Many of the Jews who had … seen what he had done began to believe in him.

Earlier in the Gospel Mary says to Jesus:

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

In this, Mary reflects or perhaps dwells in the past. Jesus tries to draw her into the present, telling her:

Your brother will rise.

To which she responds,

I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.

This time, Mary jumps into the future.



Jesus again tries to drag her into the present, telling her:

I am the resurrection and the life … Do you believe this?

She affirms that he is the Christ, “who is coming into the world.”

Expressing an indeterminate time, as if there is nothing going on right now.

St. John narrates that “[Jesus] became perturbed and deeply troubled,” and then proceeds to perform this, the greatest miracle of His ministry to date.

The key take-away from this is “Do you believe this?” Oftentimes we find it easier to believe that God has acted in a mighty way in the past, or that God will work great miracles in the future. But somehow, we dance around that fact that He wants to come into our lives right here … right now.

“Do you believe this?”

Ezekiel prophecies this 2,600 years ago declaring: “I will open your graves / and have you rise from them.” And St. Paul assures us in the Letter to the Romans that, “the one who raised Christ from the dead / will give life to your mortal bodies also”.

“Do you believe this?”

Few events change things in an enormous way. We might think about the Twin Towers, or the Moon Landing, or the Assassination of JFK ... or a worldwide pandemic.



But the Incarnation – God becoming a human being … changes everything. And then after walking the Earth for 33 years, God the Son is nailed to a cross – for our sake.

For the rest of the week, the readings become more and more intense. And as the tension rises, we will find ourselves on Palm Sunday with the reading of the Passion.

Holy Week then leads us to Easter Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because while He took on our sins and died on the Cross … death has no power over God.

And this, too, changes everything.

“Do you believe this?”

As we continue with this Holy Mass – re-presenting the offering of Jesus Christ to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit – Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity – let us pray to recognize the immensity of God’s love for us. Demonstrated in His plan of Salvation … the high point which culminates in the Incarnation of the Son of God as a human being, and continues with the death and resurrection of Christ … Do. You. Believe. This? … Let us ask God for a deepening of our Faith … through the infinite graces flowing from this altar today. So that, without hesitation we might readily say:

“Yes, Lord … I believe.”

Fourth Week of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

VIDEOS - FOURTH WEEK OF LENT

MASSES

Saturday of the 4th Week of Lent 3-28-2020


Friday of the 4th Week of Lent 3-27-2020


Thursday of the 4th Week of Lent 3-26-2020


The Annunciation of the Lord 3-25-2020


Tuesday of the 4th Week of Lent 3-24-2020


Monday of the 4th Week of Lent 3-23-2020


Fourth Sunday of Lent 3-22-2020


Cuarto Domingo de Cuaresma 22-3-2020


ADDITIONAL PRAYERS

Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary


Stations of the Cross


Additional video prayers posted at:
www.facebook.com/davidjenuwine and www.facebook.com/fatherdavidjenuwine.com

4th Sunday of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
MARCH 22, 2020
ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASS



Amelie Oksenberg Rorty is an American philosopher known for her work in the areas of the Philosophy of the Mind, the History of Philosophy, and Moral Philosophy. She was born in 1932 in Belgium of Polish-Jewish parents. Her family emigrated to the United States, and she studied at the University of Chicago and Yale University. She has written over 100 scholarly articles and edited over a dozen collections of essays in philosophy.

In a 1976 essay in the collection titled “The Identities of Persons,” she identifies a four-layered structure of identity, which she calls: 
(1) character, (2) person, (3) selves, (4) and individual.

The first, character, she says is based on the physical; that is, external appearances, or what a person appears to be.

The second, person, reflects on the etymology of the word person which means “to speak through.” Thus it is based on what a person says and does.

The third, selves, falls back upon roles and relationships. That is what an individual is in relation to society and other people.

And finally, we reach the individual: the very root of someone; who they are on the inside, or in other words their very being.



In passing through Rorty’s hierarchical structure one moves from external appearances, through actions, and relationships; ultimately arrives at being.

She continues to teach, most recently as a visiting professor at Boston University and Tufts University, and is an honorary lecturer at Harvard Medical School.

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Lent and our readings relate to sight and seeing and vision.



The story of God choosing David as king shows that while humans judge by external physical appearances, God judges by what lies inside the heart. What we see … is more often than not … the same as what God Himself sees. God’s vision penetrates into our deepest being.

The Gospel plays this theme out in a dramatic way in the story from Saint John’s 9th Chapter on the healing of a blind man.

This healing of the man born blind is, however, merely a trigger for two contrary movements which occur as the story progresses.



We see the blind man healed by Jesus, and through the 41 verses, the former blind man moves from seeing Jesus as just another man – based on His external appearance; to a prophet – or a spokesman for God – based on His preaching and His ministry; to Someone Who comes from God, based on the power and magnitude of His mighty works; and finally recognizes Him as “Lord,” that is, the Son of God – Who in His Being is worthy of worship.

Meanwhile, the Pharisees go in the opposite direction: moving deeper and deeper into darkness and disbelief.



St. Paul, too, speaks in the context of darkness and light.

The world, he tells us, is darkness; and God is Light. We were once part of the world, and hence we were darkness. In coming into fellowship with God, we are called to not only appear to be Light, but to speak and act according to the Light by living in “goodness and righteousness and truth.” And in our relationship to God in Christ we are to truly become “light … [and] … [l]ive as children of light.”

We have arrived at the mid-point of Lent. These rose-colored vestments mark this turning point … showing us a ‘lighter’ shade of violet … to remind us that as we draw closer to Easter, and the end of Lent … we are coming more into the Light of Christ … which is poured out on us in the graces of the Easter Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray that the light of God may truly dwell in us. May we show His light forth in our daily lives, by what we say and what we do. Let us resolve to live through, with, and in Christ; in His Light … the Light of God … the Light of grace and mercy and love … poured out on us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Third Week of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

VIDEOS - THIRD WEEK OF LENT

MASSES

3-21-2020 Saturday of the 3rd Week of Lent


3-20-2020 Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent


3-19-2020 Solemnity of Saint Joseph

ADDITIONAL PRAYERS

Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary


Stations of the Cross


Additional video prayers posted at:
www.facebook.com/davidjenuwine and www.facebook.com/fatherdavidjenuwine.com

3rd Sunday of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
MARCH 15, 2020
7:30 AM AND 9:00AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES



According to a longstanding Christian tradition, Sacred Scripture can be interpreted in two particular ways. These two are called the literal and spiritual senses of Scripture.

Looking at our three readings today literally, we get that at some point during the 40 year Exodus in the desert, the people of Israel complained about not having water, Moses prayed, God answered, Moses struck a rock, and water came out of it.

The same can be said about the Gospel. Jesus took a shortcut through Samaria, met a woman, had a “he said, she said” conversation about religion, proceeded to exceed her expectations, and converted a whole Samaritan town; all while His disciples were out grocery shopping.

And finally, St. Paul wrote a letter.



The literal sense doesn’t always give us much to look at, and certainly doesn’t make for much of a homily.

The spiritual sense, however can be broken down further into three divisions.

(1) the allegorical - which are the signs that point to God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
(2) the moral - which tell us how we should or should not act in our daily lives, and finally
(3) the anagogical - which are the signs that point us to eternity.

These are the interesting aspects of Scripture. Where the rubber hits the road. And where, if we dig a little deeper, we get spiritual treasure.

In the reading from Exodus, the Israelites are complaining that they don’t have any water. OK.

They’re in the desert, and they’re thirsty. Sounds logical.



But realize that they’ve already witnessed the Plagues in Egypt, crossed the Red Sea on dry land, seen God defeat the entire Egyptian army, and have been eating Manna and Quail that God sends them daily. Can anyone think of a better option besides complaining?

It’s not like they haven’t been on the receiving end of some pretty awesome miracles. But, nonetheless, here they go again. Maybe it’s just human nature to complain.

In his 1st Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul points out a striking allegory: the crossing of the Red Sea foreshadowed Baptism, the Manna and Quail foreshadowed the Eucharist, and the Rock – which he tells us, not only poured forth water, but followed them around the desert – symbolized Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.



He goes even deeper into moral and anagogical senses, but you can look that up – if you want – it’s 1st Corinthians Chapter 10.

The real beauty in this week’s readings is the Gospel from St. John, Chapter 4: Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. It’s long. Even the short version is long.



I’m sure that we all have some sort idea that the Jews and Samaritans were not friends. Jesus is called a Samaritan by the Scribes and Pharisees; and it’s not a compliment. Jesus, in turn, returns the favor with the Parable of the Good Samaritan – where the Priest and Levite walk right by their own countryman on the side of the road, leaving him there to die, but a Samaritan goes out of his way – and in fact, he goes WAY out of his way – to help not just a stranger, but an enemy.

The division between Jews and Samaritans springs out of what we might call religious purity. Way back, during those various conquests, occupations, and captivities of Israel, the Assyrians purposely settled the area of Samaria with five different pagan groups – each with their own language, customs, and religion. So, in the end, the Samaritans ended up with a syncretic – or a mish-mash religion involving not only the God of Israel, but also a melting pot of other pagan gods.

The Samaritans weren’t welcomed at the Temple in Jerusalem, and so they went and built their own. They edited down the Torah to a bare minimum of only the Five Books of Moses (the first five books of the Bible) purposely ignoring the histories and prophets which condemned what the Samaritans were doing.

So, with this background, we find ourselves in today’s Gospel, in the middle of town, in the middle of the day,  with Jesus, looking for a drink of water. So that’s the literal sense; but what about the spiritual sense? After all, St. John loves to hide spiritual signs and gems in his Gospel, and he doesn’t disappoint us here.

The five husbands – or as the word can also be translated, five “masters” – are the five pagan gods whom the Samaritans worshipped alongside the One True God – the God of Israel. Along the way they had picked up (1) a god of fertility, (2) a god of war, (3) a god of fate, (4) a god of storms and rain, and (5) a moon goddess. These they inherited from those 5 pagan groups the Assyrians moved there several hundred years before.

The one husband who was not her “master” – but whom she needed to take more seriously – and submit her life to – was God almighty … the God of Israel.

She gets it. And she tells Jesus that He must be a prophet – but we just heard that the Samaritans rejected the prophets. So, what is she talking about here? Well, the only prophet mentioned in the first five books of the Bible is the Messiah. And so she proclaims, just like St. Peter does in the other three Gospels, that Jesus is the Christ!

In one fell swoop, the hammer falls, and we get all three spiritual senses at one time. And this is how and where today’s Gospel story should speak directly to us.



Morally: we can have no other gods besides God Himself. Sex, power, luck, weather, time – these are all created things, not gods to be worshipped. God must come first.

Analogically: Jesus alone can save us, and we need to put all of our trust in Him – and in Him alone. For only Jesus Christ can give us the Living Water – the Holy Spirit – which in turn can transform us to truly be His disciples – configured to Him in all things.

And finally, anagogically: whatever walls and barriers that we may think divide us from others – those things that make us “us” and them “them” – are obstacles to our true worship of God – what Jesus calls “worshipping [God] in spirit and in truth.”

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – let us pray to cast aside any created things that stand between us and God; let us cry out to Jesus, our Savior, to “save us”; and let us join together as one body, one Church – united in Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit – to the praise and glory of God the Father.

2nd Sunday of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
MARCH 7/8, 2020
5:00 PM AND 10:30 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES



Born in 1883 in Prague, Franz Kafka is regarded as a major figure in 20th century literature. His fusion of realism and fantasy within surreal and often bizarre circumstances has even coined the adjective “kafkaesque” to describe such predicaments.

One of his best-known works was titled “Die Verwandlung” – translated into English as “The Metamorphosis.” In this novella, the protagonist wakes up one day to find himself inexplicably transformed into a “monstrous vermin” – usually translated into English as “a huge insect.”



This phrase, however, in Middle High German, actually means “an unclean animal not suitable for sacrifice;” which reveals something of Kafka’s heritage as an Ashkenazi Jew, and his father’s own occupation as a kosher ritual butcher.

In the novel, the protagonist’s family initially tries to make accommodations, but this eventually declines into denial, and neglect. His own desperate attempts to cling to and to restore his lost humanity results in increasingly awkward situations and leading to injury, starvation, and death.
Most early interpretations of “The Metamorphosis” were religious, psychological, or sociological in nature. More recently, it has been interpreted through a feminist lens – with the protagonist being sidelined entirely in order to focus on the role of his sister.

Kafka died at the age of 40 in 1924 from tuberculosis. His literary works were mostly unknown in his own time, and only achieved notoriety later in the 20th century.



Today is the Second Sunday of Lent.

The Gospel from St. Matthew is the familiar pericope – “The Transfiguration.”

In both Matthew and Mark’s recounting of the Transfiguration, they use the Greek word “μεταμορφόω” (metamorphoō) – which is where we get the English word “metamorphosis.”

St. Luke, on the other hand, uses a simpler word, “ἕτερος” (heteros), meaning to change.

All three Gospel writers consider this event to be the high point of Our Lord’s ministry. The Transfiguration is one of the several New Testament Theophanies – a Theophany being a manifestation of Christ’s divinity.

We see the others in His Incarnation, Birth, and Baptism; but here there is a turning point  – a change … as recounted in St. Luke’s account, “he set his face to go to Jerusalem” – referring to Our Lord’s “resolute determination” to fulfill His “exodus” – that is, His eventual death on the Cross.



Last week’s Gospel showed our Lord’s triumph over the temptations of Satan in the wilderness – and the prelude to the beginning of His ministry. Our Lord’s victory over Satan stands in contrast to the fall of our First Parents in Genesis – and the deformation of humanity through that primordial sin. Left alone, sin begets sin; and without the power of Christ’s victory, humanity devolves into monstrous acts, unsuitable for those who would claim to know God.

The call of Abraham, and St. Paul’s admonition to Timothy are an invitation to conversion and an opportunity to repent and receive the blessings of grace, mercy, strength, and holiness that can transform us – from our lowly human state – and bring us into “life and immortality” as members of Christ’s Body. The graces we have received in Holy Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist are meant to transform us into living images of Christ – and through God’s power, bring about a metamorphosis – a transfiguration – to free us from the deformities caused by sin and the effects of sin.

Our own Lenten sacrifices and penances can only be made suitable when we unite them – and ourselves – to the saving Cross of Jesus Christ.



As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – let us resolve to be transformed in Christ through the manifold graces of the Sacraments we have received. And as we progress through Holy Lent, may those graces assist us in our penitential practices; that as we draw closer to Easter, we may more and more conform our wills to God’s Will; and become sanctified through, with, and in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1st Sunday of Lent @ St. Vincent de Paul

HOMILY - FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
MARCH 1, 2020
7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, AND 10:30 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES



The Discovery Channel reality show titled Naked and Afraid follows two contestants – a man and a woman – who are tasked with surviving in a particular wilderness area for twenty-one days … completely naked.

Of course, there are certain concessions granted because of this being television. There is, of course, a camera crew and a site producer. Also, the contestants are allowed one helpful item – such as a machete or a fire-starter – and out of respect for some small modicum of modesty, the contestants are given a cross-body satchel … which is strategically positioned to keep certain things covered during filming.

Despite how bizarre this might sound, the show is in it’s eleventh season over seven years; and despite receiving mixed reviews – from skepticism to outright laughter – was rated the “#1 Ad-Supported program in cable among men” midway through it’s first season.



It has been praised for “celebrat[ing] human strength and fortitude rather than exploiting the frailty and narcissism of those that just want to be noticed,” and criticized for inauthenticity of the dangers presented, and that while being touted as living naked in the wilderness – the contestants are miraculously clean and well-groomed.

Nonetheless, it remains one of the highest-rated survival shows in the history of the Discovery Channel.

Today is the First Sunday of Lent.



The first reading is from chapters two and three of the Book of Genesis, and move from the creation of man and woman directly into the temptation and fall.

It is an almost too-familiar story, as our first-parents move from the bliss of paradise, traversing disobedience, knowledge, shame, and finally fear.

In the two verses that immediately follow the end of todays’ reading, the Lord God calls out to the man asking “Where are you?”



In the face of divine omniscience, this seems out of place. Yet perhaps the point is that with the sudden infusion of ill-gotten knowledge the man is indeed disoriented; and has no clue where he is or what has just happened.

In Hebrew, the word naked – עֵירֹם (ey-rome) – sounds an awful lot like the word עָרַם (aw-ram) – which means to have one’s evil or malice revealed.

And in this case, separated from God for the first time – God may not have recognized His highest creation in its lowest state.



In the Epistle, from Romans chapter 5, St. Paul reveals in one sense that God’s plan hinges on the actions of one man – the man who reigned over a world of sin and death, namely Adam; and the reign of righteousness and life through another man, namely Jesus Christ.

Recognizing the detail that God places into His creation should hopefully give us some insight into our own role as individuals. While Christ came to save sinners, when it comes down to brass tacks it is necessary for us to know that Christ came to save this sinner – me … you – and not some nebulous group of people “over there.”

In that case, the disobedience and transgression of “this one” – me … you – or the obedience and righteousness of “this one” – me … you – raises infinitely the value of our free will and our free choice – to choose Christ and to allow God’s will to be done in us.



In the Gospel, we see played out in Matthew chapter 4 what St. Paul lays out in Romans. In the face of three temptations – placing our own needs over God’s call; seeking to put God’s power at our own command; or taking a short-cut around God’s plan – all are played out in Genesis … badly. And all are played out victoriously in Our Lord’s triumph over temptation in the desert.

As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ – let us choose obedience over disobedience; wisdom over knowledge; righteousness over shame; and divine love – caritas … agape – over fear. And in those things, know that we are choosing Christ – who is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life … and as we wrestle with our Lenten practices to conform us into the image of Jesus and clothe ourselves in Christ … may we realize and know that “where we are” is united to Him in the Body of Christ … the Church of God … in fellowship with all the Saints.