Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Christmas blessings to you and your family! We hope this reflection will encourage and inspire you. If you have enjoyed following these reflections, please consider contributing your own reflection to our Lenten series! 

The Sunday that follows Christmas is celebrated as a feast to honor the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.This feast comes at a time of year when we are naturally thinking about our families. During the Christmas holiday season, we might be merrily enjoying each other’s company, reliving our favorite traditions, or getting on one another’s last nerves - or, the most likely scenario, some combination of all three.

In any case, we might also use this time to reflect more deeply on what it means to be a family united by faith, and how our faith can strengthen us to care for our families more lovingly. This Sunday’s readings provide plenty of inspiration. We hear the story of the day to day life of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in Nazareth. We hear encouragement in the advice of Sirach: “He stores up riches who reveres his mother … Whoever reveres his father will live a long life.” We hear inspiration in the exhortation of Paul: Put on … heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.” The reverence for one another that Sirach encourages and the spiritual gifts that Paul names are essential for harmony in the home. While at times it can be quite challenging to treat one another with compassion, humility, and reverence, at many times the love we feel for our families makes forgiveness and understanding second nature.

In reflecting on these readings, I feel the true challenge lies in extending these graces to those outside our family and in changing the way we define what it means to be a family. How to we extend compassion and reverence to strangers in our communities? As a Fordham community, how do we welcome newcomers into our “Ramily?” We have many opportunities to do this, from offering international classmates a meal for Thanksgiving to explaining Fordham traditions to new coworkers, from sharing a swipe at the caf to becoming acquainted with our off-campus neighbors here in the Bronx.

We can extend our care and compassion even farther. Each year, the Catholic bishops in the U.S. sponsor a National Migration Week around the time of the Feast of the Holy Family. It takes its inspiration from the Holy Family’s journey to Egypt to escape Herod’s persecution. National Migration week provides an opportunity to learn about and to advocate for the many families today who find themselves in the Holy Family’s shoes, leaving their homes to escape persecution or find stability. To learn more about National Migration Week, including how you can pray for and support migrant families, visit the home page.

May you and your families, near and far, be blessed with spiritual graces and great joy this Feast of the Holy Family!

Katie Anderson Kuo
Asst. Director of Campus Ministry for Liturgy

Fourth Sunday of Advent

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/122114.cfm

Every year during Advent, my thoughts turn to Mary and Joseph and my imagination is captured trying to picture all the details of their daily reality - the sights they encountered in Nazareth, the sounds of day-to-day life, the smells of food and sweat and animals that must have been their norm.  Before you continue reading, take a moment to pause and imagine Mary and Joseph in Nazareth for yourself, entering into today’s Gospel reading as if you are there.  Perhaps this song can help: Breath from Heaven (Mary’s Song) - Amy Grant.

It is amidst this nitty-gritty routine that the unimaginable took place.  How must Mary have felt when the angel appeared to her and then told her she is to bear God's very self as her son, as we hear in today's Gospel?  How must Joseph have reacted when he heard the news from Mary and then from the angel?  Both of them, entrenched in the cultural and religious traditions of their time, must have felt a great deal of fear.  How would their families react?  Would anyone believe them?  Would they be welcome any longer in their own hometown?  Yet amidst this fear, they found the courage to say, “yes” to God and to one another.

How did they find such courage? This Advent, this question has been my prayer, which I've directed toward Mary and Joseph directly.  "How did you do it?" I've asked.  "Where did you find the courage and faith to say, 'yes'?"  

I can’t claim with certitude to know the fullness of the source of their courage and commitment, but one potential answer has emerged through my prayer – Mary and Joseph were able to not only say, “yes”, but to live out their “yes” because it came out of a deep sense of authenticity rooted in faith.  Through faith they knew that the only genuine response to this invitation from God – specifically to them – could only be “yes”; that this was the way God was calling them to be their best selves and to meet the needs of the world in their time.  It was their authentic vocation.  In this deep sense of knowing and of faith, Mary and Joseph were able to trust that God would give them the tools, that is to say the grace, they would need to endure the challenges that would lie ahead.

Like Mary and Joseph, living an authentic life does not mean choosing the path of least resistance, but following the path that brings us a deep sense of peace, commitment, and excitement even knowing that there will be challenges.  We say “yes” trusting God will equip us with the grace to endure difficulties and to live our vocation fully and to the best of our ability so that we can help meet the needs of our world today.

In these remaining days of Advent, what is God inviting you to say "yes" to?  What graces do you need to overcome the fear and resistance that hold you back from giving your full "yes" to God?  If you’re not sure where to start, perhaps you too can ask Mary and Joseph for some guidance.

Let us pray…

Erin R. Hoffman

Assistant Director of Campus Ministry for Spiritual Programs

Third Sunday in Advent (Gaudete Sunday)

Why is it so dark in here?

Last night, as we gathered in the University Church (in unusually dim light) to celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent—Gaudete Sunday—many asked this question.

Why is it so dark in here?

And isn’t that the same question Advent asks of us? As the sun sets earlier and earlier, leaving us literally “in the dark,” this season leaves us waiting for the light, longing for the light—for the coming of Christ, the true light, into our world.

And truth be told, sometimes our world is dark. Really dark. Wars rage. People are shot and killed on our streets. Friendships, relationships, and marriages fall apart. Most often, we persist in the little sins, the drama and little hurts that tear us apart.

Take a moment, right now, and call to mind those things. Call to mind those darknesses that you’re dealing with right now.

Name them. Face them. Hold them in your heart.

Why is it so dark in here?

But this Third Sunday of Advent—this Gaudete! Sunday—calls us to REJOICE!

Because even in darkness, we invoke the light that has come into our lives! We symbolize that ever-growing light with candles—one, then two, then three, then four—that symbolize our growing hope, our anticipation of the coming of Christ.

That for which we long has come and will come again! 

But don’t get me wrong—that doesn’t mean everything is okay. Quite the opposite.

Why is it so dark in here?

Christ, the true light, dwells within and among us. And although those are words we say a lot, we need to consider the full depth of their meaning. These words are a command! Because Christ is present in us and through us, we are called through prayer and action to make our joy known to the world, that all “may have life, and have it more abundantly!” (Jn. 10:10). 

The First Reading gives us pretty specific ideas of what it means to bring this light to the world:

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.

To ask, “Why is it so dark in here?”  is to ask “How do I make it light?”

Rejoice, People of God, and work to make it light!

Paul J. Schutz

PhD Candidate in Systematic Theology, Assistant Director of Music for Campus Ministry

Second Sunday of Advent

Advent is a time of joyful anticipation – a time when we await the coming of the Lord and the beginning of the fulfillment of the new covenant with the birth of Jesus. With joyful voice, we hear that anticipation proclaimed over and again in today’s readings. We hear of God’s comfort and forgiveness, compassion and care and a deep, patient and resounding love.

In the Gospel, John the Baptist speaks of one who is mightier than he who will come after him – one who will baptize not with water, but with the Holy Spirit, which will pour out into the world.

As we prepare for the birth of Jesus, God’s magnificent outpouring of love into the world, we are invited to “prepare the way” – to purify our hearts - to level the mountains and fill the valleys, making a highway through the wasteland - and to proclaim from the highest mountain – God is near!

How do we prepare the way today? Worldly preparations for the Christmas season seemed to have started early this year, with decorations and carols making their appearance in stores and shops well before Thanksgiving. Yet I wonder if the real preparation, or perhaps the preparation for the preparation, doesn’t begin earlier, in the quiet moments of our lives; those moments when we are invited by God to know God’s love and compassion, God’s forgiveness and God’s overwhelming desire that no one be excluded from the banquet of the Lord. Advent is a time to prayerfully acknowledge our own mountains and valleys, and joyfully make even the inner-road. In our preparations, we are equally invited to turn our gaze outward as well. Just as the Israelites waited in eager anticipation for the coming of the Messiah, there are many in our world today who today also await in anticipation – those on the margins who look to be brought into the center, those who have suffered pain who look to be healed and those whose hearts cry out for God’s mercy, justice and love. God was welcomed into the world in a humble manger. As we prepare to welcome God into the world today, what kind of world do we prepare?

In the birth of Jesus we are invited to experience an outpouring of God’s love that is so generous, so powerful and so wholly gratuitous that the only truly appropriate response is to continue to pour out that love. In Advent we are invited to let God’s love pour into our hearts, our lives, our labor and our world and prepare the way for a world where God’s love reigns supreme.  We glimpse that world in the today’s psalm:

Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.

Indeed Lord, we pray, in this time of Advent as we prepare the way, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation. Amen.

Conor L. O'Kane

Associate Director, Campus Ministry

Director, Interfaith Ministries

Advent Reflection - First Sunday of Advent

Readings from the First Sunday of Advent: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/cfm

Today marks the first day of Advent - the beginning of the church’s liturgical year. For many centuries, it was understood as a penitential season, akin to Lent, in which fasting and abstinence were its chief features, as the church prepared for the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  Although increased fasting and prayer are still encouraged, and purple vestments are worn to signal the penitential overtones of this liturgical season, many of us get lost in the secular and commercial nature of this time.

In the first reading we hear Isaiah wishing that the people of Israel might be caught doing what is right, but more often it seems that is not the case. So they blame God for giving them too much freedom and for not coming through with awesome signs, which would make doing the right thing so simple! They sound like a pathetic lot!  If we are honest, we can recognize some of our own projections onto God.  How easy it is to blame others or to blame God for moving away from us and for hiding from us.  The Psalmist pleads, like a child, “Lord make us turn to you”.  (I can almost hear myself or a sibling plead to our parents, “Make her do this. Tell them to do that.”)

Paul reminds us that we don’t need to blame others or God. Through Christ we already have the grace we need to live in fidelity to the covenant. We are invited, not forced, to do what is right. The message is this: Wake up, people!  Wake up to your potential! Wake up to your calling to live in the light.

Advent is about presence, not  presents. Instead of rushing about searching for presents, we are invited this Advent to take seriously the quality of our ‘presence’ to one another and to God. May we be fully present to the One who longs for us to take seriously God’ presence revealed in Jesus’ incarnation.

Joan Cavanagh

Director of Campus Ministry, Westchester

Sunday, April 20, 2014- Easter Sunday

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042014.cfm

We rightfully look on Easter morning as a day of supreme joy.  And that is as it should be.

But those who experienced that first Easter morn were confused and astonished.  Mary of Magdala approaches the tomb before dawn on that Sunday, and is horrified to see the tomb open.  She rushes back to Peter and John, the beloved disciple, with the news that someone has taken the body of Jesus, the one whom they so loved.  Peter and John rush to the tomb.  John arrives first but awaits Peter before entering the tomb.  And Peter is as confused as Mary.  It is John who first understands.

The resurrection is not a resuscitation of the crucified Jesus.  His death was just as real as our own shall be.  But our transformation shall be just as real.  The apostle Paul likens it to a small seed—our present lives—which shall fall into the ground and die.  But from that tiny seed a great tree shall emerge, as different from the seed as we shall be from whom we are today, to whom we shall be in the resurrection.

Peter and Mary, of course, came to understand.  As we hear this morning from the Acts of the Apostles, we “ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”  And so we too do, each time we gather for the Eucharist, and recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread.  Alleluia!

Fr. Robert Grimes, S.J.

Dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center

Saturday, April 19, 2014- Holy Saturday

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041914.cfm

“He has been raised from the dead!”

Tonight, Catholics all across the country, after braving through seven long readings from the Old Testament, each with their own Responsorial Psalm, and an epistle, will finally rejoice at hearing the Good News we have been waiting all of Lent to hear. That is what today is about: waiting. No masses are celebrated commemorating Holy Saturday, it is a time of quiet reflection and anticipation. 

Everyone in the City can identify with this sense of waiting. Through a particularly difficult and bitter winter, every day in February and March I would wake up and check the weather app on my phone, hoping for a promising change in the weather forecast. Each day, as disappointment would come, I would nostalgically recall the warm spring days of years past, renewing my excitement for the inevitable turn in the weather. 

In a similar way, I think that is what today is about. After the disappointment and heartbreak that comes with Christ’s passion, remembered on Good Friday, we spend Holy Saturday waiting for His return in the Resurrection. As we do we recall God’s infinite goodness.  The plethora of Old Testament readings read tonight, that anticipate the Gospel of Jesus’s resurrection, detail some of the most famous moments of God’s goodness in the life of the Israelites: creation, God’s promise to Abraham, God’s liberation of the Israelites from the Egyptians, etc. These readings are supposed to remind us of the many times that God has been good to His followers, culminating in God’s greatest act of love and redemption found in the resurrection. As we spend today prayerfully waiting, anticipating the Good News of Easter, take a moment to recall a time you have felt God’s blessing in your life, and offer it up in thanksgiving of God’s greatest gift of all: His son.

Greg Pfeiffer
FCLC 2014

Friday, April 18, 2014- Good Friday

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041814.cfm

“Help me, Brian.  Help me.” 

Nelisiwe’s words continue to pierce my heart.  A beautiful, bright-eyed young woman in her early 20’s, Nelisiwe was ravaged by AIDS.  As I held her hand at the hospice in South Africa, she repeated those words to me over and over again.  She writhed in pain upon the bed, upon her cross.  What could I possibly do to help?  Unable to take away her pain or heal her from this incurable disease, I sat by her bedside.  In the early hours of the following morning, she passed away.  It was Good Friday.  Those were her last words to me.

Nelisiwe’s death and her words mirror Christ’s Passion in my life.  Every year when Good Friday comes, I think back to that final day with her.  I remember her pain and suffering, her plea for help, and my own inadequacy.

As we enter into the Triduum today, let us spend time with Jesus on the cross.  Pray with the Gospel story of Christ’s Passion and enter into the scene.  Hold Jesus’ hand.  Walk with him to the cross.  Stand by his side.  And listen closely.

What does Jesus have to say to you from the cross?  I hear his words, echoing in my mind.

“Help me, Brian.  Help me.”

Brian Strassburger, S.J.
Missouri Province Jesuit Scholastic 

in Studies at Fordham University

Thursday, April 17, 2014- Holy Thursday

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041714.cfm

On this day, Holy Thursday, we recall the very significant events that took place around the table at the Last Supper. At every Mass we attend, during the Consecration we are reminded of the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. In today’s second reading from I Corinthians, Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” On Holy Thursday, these words are particularly meaningful to read and to hear spoken at Mass.

In the Gospel reading from John 13, we read that Jesus knew that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father and also that He loved his own in the world and He loved them to the end.  Jesus was sharing a meal with these friends He loved while facing his crucifixion and death.   He must have felt great sadness as well as dread at what was to come very shortly.  In spite of this, He took the time to minister to His friends – the friends He loved.  In an act of humble service, He washed the feet of his disciples.  He explained to them that even though they called Him teacher and master, He did not consider it beneath Him to do this for them.  He asked them to follow his example:

            I have given you a model to follow,

            So that as I have done for you, you should also do.  (John 13:15)

The model that Jesus gave the disciples on Holy Thursday night is a model for us as well.  In fact, His whole life was a model -- and a gift -- for all of us.   

Judy Kelly

Assistant to the Dean
Fordham College at Lincoln Center    

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041614.cfm

Betrayal is a horrifying reality that strikes the heart and injures our relationships.  Betrayal is the risk we wage when opening ourselves to another, letting our guard down, and trusting intimate moments with a person we hold dear.  Many of us have confided in someone only to be disappointed to learn that our investment flopped.  Perhaps we have been the one to betray another …

In this selection of the Gospel of Matthew, we learn of the betrayal of Jesus by a close friend: Judas.  Judas became enthralled in the possibility of gaining power and wealth – turning his back on Jesus for the sake of selfish advancement.  Judas wanted to believe that he would not betray the Lord: Not I, Rabbi?  How often do we rationalize a wrong to a right?  How often do we allow the desires of the world to corrupt our own vocation? 

As we venture more fully in Holy Week, perhaps we can consider the times we are tempted to betray those who put their trust in us: a friend, colleague, partner, the Lord.  What draws us away from our commitment?  What makes us afraid to be bold and convicted in our calling?  Do we have the courage to return to the Lord, beg forgiveness, and be refreshed in the mercy that is our God?  Let us turn to the Cross of Christ and recognize our sinfulness only to embrace true salvation. 

Ave Crux, Spes Unica!

Joseph Desciak

Assistant Dean, Fordham College at Lincoln Center 

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041514.cfm

“So Judas took the morsel and left at once.” John 13:30

When I was a child, I would poke at minuscule green seasonings in my supper, and ask my mother, “What is this?”  Exasperated, she would say, “Don’t pick it apart, just eat it.”  Nowadays, when cooking for my own children who refuse to eat their supper, I am reminded of my own ingratitude.

In the Gospel today, I am struck by the ingratitude of Judas.  Jesus feeds Judas his Body at the Last Supper and Judas leaves anyway to betray him.  Judas chooses to reject the loving grace of God. Why would anyone do that?  Why do we do it today?

This week, as we remember the Last Supper and as we celebrate Easter with a feast, let us recollect with gratitude all the graces we receive, not only the food lovingly prepared, not only Jesus’ gift of himself in the morsel of the Eucharist, but also in all the everyday graces of our lives.  Let us try not to be ungrateful children in the presence of the God of all graces.

Joseph Creamer 

Assistant Dean, Fordham College at Lincoln Center

Monday, April 14, 2014

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041414.cfm

“I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations”

We are all chosen.  We are all set apart.  We are all called to bring God’s Light to His people. 

In July 2005, I embarked on my journey into the unknown.  I left my family, my friends, my job and my comfort zone.  It was not easy. 

In a unique way, God gave me reassurance.  A few days before leaving, my mother and I went to morning Mass as usual.  Unbeknownst to Mum, on this particular morning, after all was set for my journey, I had the ‘cold feet’ feeling.  I was quiet as we drove down to Mass, not wanting to make her more anxious for me. 

Mass was amazing.  When the Postulants on duty sang a hymn entitled “Be not Afraid, I go before you always” I instantly felt comforted and reassured.  Later on, the priest on duty asked a Jesuit Scholastic (JS) to preach after the Gospel.  He did not know of my upcoming journey, but his homily touched me.   The JS shared how at times God sends us far and wide, to charter the unchartered waters.  He also mentioned that God always goes before us and that we need not be afraid.  At that moment it all made sense to me.  I was not coming to the U.S. alone, He was going before me!

My departure day arrived.  Before boarding my flight, I cried my eyes out.  Surprisingly, God provided guardian angels throughout my trip to The United States.

Since coming to the United States, He has continued to show me His face through so many wonderful people.  My experience as a student has made me feel chosen and set apart with a Mission to be a light for God’s people.  Let us continue to find Jesus in the ordinary events of our lives.  He is waiting for us to anoint His feet, just like Martha did.

Clare Mukolwe

Fordham Graduate School of Business

Friday, April 11, 2014

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041114.cfm

A refuge. A mighty champion. An escape. In all three of today's readings, we hear of God's faithfulness in dangerous times. "The Lord is with me!" cries the prophet Jeremiah. "God has rescued the life of the poor!" The psalmist exclaims, "Praised be the LORD! My God, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!" And in the Gospel, Jesus escapes from danger and returns to the place of his baptism.

But the readings are about more than God's protection. They also paint a scary picture of persecution and betrayal. "All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine," laments Jeremiah. "I have shown you many good works from my Father," Jesus confronts his persecutors. "For which of these are you trying to stone me?" Both Jeremiah and Jesus are threatened because of their courageous honesty - because of the challenge they issue to radical faithfulness to God and God's kingdom. 

These readings hit a nerve this week because we have just learned that a Jesuit priest, Fr. Frans Van der Lugt, has been killed in Syria. Fr. Van der Lugt left his home in the Netherlands to devote his life to serving in Syria; after 35 years, he thought of Syria as his home and his neighbors in the city of Homs, whether Christian or Muslim, as his family. When civil war broke out, he sheltered some families in his home, and refused to leave Syria when he was offered the chance to flee to safety. His life was a courageous and challenging witness to the love of God, and he was persecuted for it. 

The prophet Jeremiah reassures us that God sees into the mind and hearts of the just and protects those who are faithful. But what to we do when that doesn't seem to happen? How do we make sense of it? Our world today is full of stories like Fr. Van der Lugt's, stories of pain, disappointment, and violence. How do we find God in those stories?

What I appreciate about today's readings is their honesty about the reality of suffering. Neither the prophet nor the psalmist pretend that they aren't upset or in pain. Instead, they are able to see and proclaim God's presence within the pain. 

As we begin to walk through Holy Week, God will be present within pain. God will be present, transforming us, within Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection. God speaks to us in Fr. Van der Lugt's death and powerful witness of love. Though we may not be called to be martyrs, we can also be prophets in our own sacrifices and suffering. 

How can God transform you through the sacrifices that have to make for your faith or for people you care for, or the ways that you suffer?

Katie Anderson
Assistant Director of Campus Ministry for Liturgy

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041014.cfm

“Who do you make yourself out to be?”

This is the question that a group of Jews asks Jesus in today’s Gospel reading. Who exactly does Jesus think He is? Does Jesus really believe Himself to be better than prophets like Abraham?  Is He just possessed? Crazy? Jesus, what’s your deal?

In response to this question, Jesus answers, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’”

With this suave answer, Jesus reminds us that it is God whose opinion matters most. This is something that I forget quite often; too frequently, I find my life becoming a performance for others. I perform good deeds with the intent of receiving praise from an audience so I can pat myself on the back for a job well done. Jesus reminds us here, however, that this is the wrong kind of mindset. Being complimented by other people and thinking highly of myself are nice things, but it is ultimately God who glorifies me.

As I work to be more aware of God’s presence this Lent, I want to remember we are all made in God’s image. I hope to do things always with the purpose of fully reflecting that image and allowing God to shine through me. Let me be content with knowing that God—and not others—will glorify me for my good works. I can thus be happy with myself because God is happy with me, not because others constantly compliment me.

So the next time someone asks you, “Who do you make yourself out to be?” don’t forget that you can always say, “a reflection of God’s image!” If the setting is not appropriate for that kind of answer, just think it to yourself and smile silently.

Nick Endo

FCLC 2016

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Today's Word:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040914.cfm

          My favorite line in the first reading is “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar.”  I imagine all three of them speaking in unity, as if they telepathically were all beamed the same words and timing.  Or maybe one began speaking, another continued and the third finished their thought: a collective evolution of their powerful response.  However, I am inclined to believe that this isn’t what is meant by this sentence.  The three men were together in consensus.  It’s not that one of them was strong and the other two felt compelled to agree as not to look wimpy.  I don’t think they were all totally thrilled with the white hot furnace either.  But I think they saw in each other the intention to be loyal, and used community to find strength.  Community can draw out the strength that was hidden: it doesn’t shame fear or create courage out of thin-air, because it is already inside us from God.  I like to think that because these three used community right, they were saved.

          Another powerful line is the very last one of the Gospel reading: “I did not come on my own, but He sent me.”  I’ve struggled with feelings I can’t control, namely depression.  I have a hard time reconciling it with my faith that God is intentional and benevolent in creation.  I wonder why God is doing this. When I ponder that maybe there’s a mission for me in The Divine Plan, I can be quick to write myself off as pretentious.  And I absolutely can’t say my role in the universe is anything like Jesus’.  However, I can accept self-love easier if I remember my feelings are not my doing, but God’s, and that God has sent me: I’m not on my own.

Kathe Gallagher

FCRH 2017

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Today's Word:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040814.cfm

Growing up Jewish, I always heard my friends talk about what they were giving up for Lent, and I watched as some did better than others in their endeavor to commemorate Jesus' fasting in the desert. However, I never really understood the point of all of it. When I was asked to write this reflection, I Googled, "What is the point of Lent?” What I found told me that Lent is a season of self-examination, fasting, and penance.

I understand that the whole process of Lent is so that the renewal of baptismal promises actually means something. I don’t think one needs to be Catholic in order to find meaning in the Lenten season. Recently I have been having these mini-epiphanies about what my personal beliefs actually are. Perhaps if I actually devoted some thought to it, my convictions would become clearer to me. Self-examination takes work, and for those of us who do not have a religious obligation to participate in Lent, it provides a form of motivation to take on the project of self-examination. So this year, instead of giving up cookies from the cafeteria, I will be giving up accepting snap judgments about people as true. My penance will come in the form of the realization that words have meaning and the way I have used words in the past may have caused someone pain. I may not be Catholic, or even particularly religious for that matter, but I believe that I can learn something by participating in Lent this year (and yes, I still am giving up cafeteria cookies).

Hannah Buckley

President of the Jewish Student Organization

FCRH 2016

Monday, April 7, 2014

Today's Word:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040714.cfm

          Today’s reading serves as a great reminder of the need to forgive and be forgiven. This applies to each and every one of us. Without exception. No one but Jesus and His Blessed Mother are without sin. It is for this reason that we have a Savior and for this reason that forgiving another, as Christ forgives us, is one of the most Christian things that we can do. It is true, one who is forgiven, saved and redeemed may find it easier to forgive others, as he or she has been forgiven, not judged, not condemned.

          Jesus is abundantly clear in the Gospel today where He states, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The Lord of the universe is “calling us out" so to speak; he is reminding us that we all fail to live and to love as he teaches. He is reminding us that we are sinners, and that in Him we find the forgiveness, peace and hope that we need to live our Christian lives.  Jesus also reminds us that no one of us is in a position to judge unfairly or condemn another. That is not our place.

          By His example, he models just exactly how we are to deal with one another: embracing, reconciling, forgiving, sharing one another’s burdens and never putting anyone out of the scope of our love. For this we have a great teacher, for this we have a Savior!

Fr. Philip A. Florio, SJ, D. Min.

Assistant Vice President for Campus Ministry

Friday, April 4, 2014

Today's Word:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040414.cfm

          There is so much to take away from these passages that one would not know where to even begin! The phrase that struck a chord within me was the passage “Let us beset the just one, because He is obnoxious to us;.. Reproaches us for transgressions of the law".  I think too often circumstances and behaviors that are normal to us may not always be of the most moral in nature. Behaving justly can be difficult and no one is free from sin.

          In college I struggled with this constantly, sometimes I felt that law and politics in some societies were not in the best interests of humanity; of God’s people. I didn’t know what to believe! However I was in luck, Jesus was the answer and he has set an immaculate example. Our Lord has paid the ultimate price for our salvation and has demonstrated through love and compassion how we must live. Doing the right thing and doing the easy thing are not always the same.  I found that I wanted to learn to live more in the light of God and love all with the depth and consistency God intended. That was my answer.

            

          It is hard to think about how much Jesus would have suffered and sacrificed for us. When I think about this time, I feel overcome with sadness and love. I couldn’t understand how we as humans could allow this, but I feel awe when I reflect upon how the Lord had allowed this for us. Not only was our Lord forgiving but He also loved. That’s amazing! The Lord will confront the evildoers and aid the just. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and the Lord redeems the lives of his servants and those who take refuge in Him. There is nothing but love in the arms of God and I feel so blessed to live a life so filled with this knowledge!

Roshni Patel

Fordham School of Law 2014