A Cult at the Core

 

Understanding the deepest religious roots of culture

05/05/2026

John 14:27-31a Jesus said to his disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, 'I am going away and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me, but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me."

Today on Cinco de Mayo – literally in Spanish May 5th – many Americans celebrate in some fashion the Mexican culture, but very few Americans understand its real roots. For starters, most of us mistake Cinco de Mayo for Mexican Independence Day, thinking its equivalent to the American July 4th.

But Mexico’s independence is celebrated on September 16. By the way, that is why our parish celebrates the Hispanic cultural festival in mid-September. Sadly, most of our Anglo parishioners don’t know the roots of that September celebration either. Who cares? It’s just an excuse to throw a party!

Let me give you a quick history lesson about today’s real roots. On May 5, 1862 the Mexican army, with only 4,500 soldiers (many of whom were common farmers with pitchforks), defeated the larger and more professionally trained soldiers of 6,000 French troops in Puebla, Mexico.

The invading French hoped to conquer the Mexican nation and establish a pro-French monarchy to rule it. The Cinco de Mayo battle was not the final conflict between Mexico and France, but the unexpected victory gave the Mexicans hope they could eventually overthrow the occupiers, which they did 5 years later in 1867.

But I believe even deeper roots of what occurred on Cinco de Mayo go back over 300 years earlier to 1531. On December 9 of that year Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego and converted an entire nation to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church. In other words, at the heart of every “culture” is a “cult” as you can even tell from the etymology: cult forms the principal part of the word culture.

The deepest roots, therefore of the Mexican people’s identity – later manifested in military exploits like on Cinco de Mayo – plunges into their shared religious experiences. Before any true culture can declare its independence from other nations, it must declare its dependence on God.

This suggestion that religious roots are the deepest roots of a culture raises the question of what are the deepest roots of our American culture? Even a C-student of our modern American society can perceive in the “culture wars” raging today a fight to assert the roots and foundation of our culture.

In a sense, all Americans are asking: are our roots religious (and if so, which religion?) or are our roots non-religious with perhaps a vague feeling of God but with no clear idea of who he is? In other words, the roots of the culture wars we witness and wage in modern America is trying to answer the question is there a cult in American culture? What are America’s real roots?

Now, those questions are too big and too speculative for us this morning at 7 a.m. Mass, so let me make it more personal. What are our deepest roots as individuals? Since you are sitting here at Mass, that should be a no-brainer. You roots are religious, namely, in the Catholic religion. But what about your children and grandchildren – what are their deepest roots?

Another way to ask the question is: what is your children and grandchildren’s culture? Does their personal culture have a cult at the core? Do they believe in God, and do they know who he is, and does that knowledge evolve into a lived relationship with him and make any daily difference? That might be a good conversation to have with them: is there a cult in their culture?

Maybe you could have that conversation with them this summer on July 4th while you enjoy hotdogs and hamburgers. Why? Because before any true culture can declare its independence from other nations, it must declare its absolute dependence on God. We can learn a thing or two on Cinco de Mayo about the Mexican culture, and maybe even something about our own American culture.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Living by the Calendar

 

Emphasizing religious rather than secular feasts

04/29/2026

John 10:22-30 The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

Do you live by the calendar? What I mean is are you counting the days till the next holiday or vacation? I know I did as a school kid: we got out for a couple of days at Easter and the next break will be summer vacation. You may have already made plans for Memorial Day, then the 4th of July, and don’t forget Labor Day will come soon after that, and Thanksgiving is not far behind! Sometimes the holidays on the secular calendar dominate our lives and so we live from holiday to holiday.

Today’s gospel from John 10 begins by mentioning one of the holidays on the Jewish calendar, namely, the Feast of the Dedication. We read: “The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter.” Now, what did the feast of the Dedication commemorate? Back in 164 B.C. the Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes had desecrated the Jerusalem Temple and altar, and the Maccabees had led a revolt to expel the Greeks and rededicate the Temple for sacred purposes. It is also called the feast of lights or Hanukkah because the Temple’s seven-candle menorah was relit.

In a sense, the Jews also lived by their calendar: not from secular holiday to holiday but from religious holy day to holy day. How so? Well, they celebrate three major pilgrim feasts in which they had to travel like pilgrims from wherever they lived to Jerusalem: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. But in addition to these major pilgrim feasts they also observed minor feasts like Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, and today’s feast of Dedication. Just like school children in America go from Spring Break to summer vacation, so the Jews lived by their calendar from holy day to holy day.

Being aware of these milestone feasts is especially important as you read the gospel of John. Why? Because in a sense John’s gospel also lives by the calendar and details events of Jesus’ life occurring during different feasts. John makes a point to explain to the reader (you and I) it was Passover, or it was Tabernacles, or today, it is the Dedication. But for John, Jesus did not come simply to celebrate the Jewish feasts, he came to replace them with himself. Henceforth, these feasts would not point to past events – like the Exodus, or the law at Mt. Sinai – but to what Jesus has done and continues to do today and forever.

My friends, I think we Catholic Christians should also live by the calendar. Now I don’t meant jumping from holiday to holiday – Memorial Day to July 4th – but from holy day to holy day. It’s kind of funny but I guess Roman Catholics, like ancient Jews also have 3 pilgrim feast when they travel to the temple (the church) each year, namely, Ash Wednesday, Easter, and Christmas. That’s the only days of the year some Catholics darken the doors of a church. But the same Catholics would never miss a celebration on the secular calendar. How ironic that holidays are sacred and holy days are optional.

On the feast of the Dedication, the Jews celebrated the expulsion of secular powers that had desecrated the sacred temple and the Greeks had actually made it a gymnasium. In other words, the Greeks wanted to replace the sacred with the secular, while the feast of the Dedication observed the opposite: the Jews replacing the secular with the sacred. Now, please don’t misunderstand my point. I am not advocating for prayer in public schools or placing the 10 Commandments in every public school classroom. The public domain should be free from any particular religious expression or dominance, which is the gist of the First Amendment.

What I am urging, however, is that our hearts should be the home of prayer and where we place the 10 Commandments. And our lives should reflect the priorities in our hearts. I couldn’t disagree more with people who say, “I don’t have time to go to church.” That statement is simply not true. We always make time for what is important to us. People should rather say – if they are honest – “Going to church is not important enough for me to make time for it.” We all live by the calendar. We jump from holiday to holiday, or from holy day to holy day. It’s just a matter of what’s important to us.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Your Report Card

Learning how to be a leaders at church and home

04/27/2026

John 10:11-18 Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”

One of my favorite authors on leadership is John Maxwell. Many years ago my brother introduced me to him and suggested I read a book called “Developing the Leader Within You.” John Maxwell has one simple definition of a leader. He writes: “Leadership can be summarized in one word, ‘influence,’ namely, influencing people to follow you.” Then he gives this humorous corollary: “If anyone thinks he’s a leader and doesn’t have any followers, he’s just going for a walk.”

We can apply Maxwell’s simple leadership principle to Jesus in today’s gospel. Is Jesus a good leader who influences others to follow him? Oh yes. He’s not just going for a walk, but as the Good Shepherd he leads his sheep into green pastures. And today we learn he takes the final step of true leadership and lays down his life for his sheep. Another catchy saying of Maxwell’s summarizes Jesus’ leadership style: “A leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Jesus is the ideal leader because today he has over one billion followers.

I have learned after 30 years in the priesthood that leadership in the Catholic Church can be further specified beyond simply influencing followers into 3 unique categories. That is, Catholic leaders, specifically pastors, are called to be priests, prophets, and kings. In the Old Testament these three offices were divided among different people. The same person never presumed to be all 3, priest, prophet, and king. When Jesus arrived, however, all three positions were rolled into one, namely, into our Lord and Savior.

Jesus alone is the perfect paradigm of a leader and fulfills the offices of priest, prophet, and king par excellence. We human pastors, by contrast, can perform one or two tasks well, but never all three. Have you noticed this about your pastors? I don’t mean just here at I.C. but also the pastor of our diocese, as well as the pastor of the universal church. We might call these three offices of leadership a pastor’s report card. He might make an A in one or two subjects, but he will invariably make a C or D in the third subject.

Now, what do these three positions do so we can grade our

pastors accurately according to the criteria of Catholic leadership? A priest is a leader who introduces us to the sacred, especially in the sacraments. You have probably noticed some pastors are very natural around the altar, at the baptismal font, in the confessional, and at the hospital bed. Those pastors who help you feel particularly close to Christ when they celebrate the sacraments would get an A in the office of being a priest. Not jus the priests who say the fastest Masses.

The second subject of a pastor’s report card is being a prophet. Think of St. John the Baptist, the greatest and last human prophet. A prophet, therefore, is the pastor who preaches the hard truth, the unpopular truth, the truth that makes people squirm in their seats and say, “I’m going to Mass somewhere else (like Barling), where I hear what I want to hear.” A prophet pushes us out of our comfort zones and silences our echo chambers so we can hear what Jesus has to say on any given issue. Only an unpopular prophet earns an A on the pastor’s report card.

And the third subject is being a king which requires a host of skills of management, budgeting, coordinating schedules, people skills, mentoring, casting a vision, planning for the future, etc. By the way, this role of king is what they least prepare us for in the seminary, and why most pastors tend to be poor administrators. Can you think of any of your pastors who hated to be in the office and complete the daily grind of office work and paperwork? Administration is not the sexy part of being a pastor, but it is a third of his leadership role, and why most Catholic pastors probably get poor marks.

This threefold description of leadership – priest, prophet, and king – can be applied to all leaders, including parents who must lead their families. Oh, now we’re talking. Think about your mom and dad, or look at yourself in the mirror as a parent. What kind of grades would your children give you first as a priest? Did you introduce them to the sacred by family prayer and Sunday Mass, and reading the Bible and family rosary? What grade would you get as a parent who must be a priest to your family?

How about fulfilling your role as a prophet to your family? Did you teach, preach, and push your children to choose the hard road or did you let them follow the easy and wide road, the path of least resistance? And how did you fare in being a king or queen and administer your household, your domestic kingdom? Some parents neglect their boring and banal domestic chores so they can do the more sexy stuff, like plan parties, vacations, shopping sprees, etc. What grade would you get as a king or queen?

Folks, leadership is not just for a few people who run countries, companies, and churches. We are all called to be leaders. And we should look to Jesus for the model of perfect leadership and attempt to emulate him who alone is the flawless priest, prophet, and king. We all fall short as leaders - no one fulfills all three offices perfectly - so at this Mass as we come forward to receive Holy Communion may the Good Shepherd help us to be better shepherds and improve our grades on our report card.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Sniffing Jesus’ Finger

 

Seeing how the sacraments point to grace

04/13/2026

John 3:1-8 There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

I believe C. S. Lewis’ rather obscure essay, “Transposition” can shed considerable light on Nicodemus’ dilemma in the gospel today. You should read that essay one day before you die. At root Lewis’ explanation requires giving more than “one meaning” to some common experiences. For example, young people these days use the slang word “Bruh,” which originated from “Brother,” but now means a close friend or to express disbelief, frustration, or shock. You see easily enough with “Bruh” how one word can carry more than one meaning.

C. S. Lewis uses the better example of the art of drawing. He writes: “The problem here is to represent a three-dimensional world on a flat sheet of paper…we must give more than one value to a two-dimensional shape. Thus, in a drawing of a cube we use an acute angle to represent what is a right angle in the real world. The very same shape which you must draw to give the illusion of a straight line receding from the spectator [think of railroad tracks reaching the horizon] is also the shape you draw for a dunce’s cap.”

I hope this is not too much to ask of you at a 7 a.m. Mass before your second cup of coffee and a donut. But I trust you can detect that in some important instances we can find two meanings for the same experience. Lewis offer this additional humorous example: “You will have noticed that most dogs cannot understand pointing. You point to a bit of food on the floor: the dog, instead of looking at the floor, sniffs at your finger. A finger is a finger to him and that’s all.”

So, I’m praying that at this early morning Mass you are smarter than a dog or a dunce, because you need to be in order to catch precisely the difficulty in Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus. Jesus speaks of Baptism and says, “one must be born from above.” But Nicodemus hears the word “born” and immediately retreats to his simplistic understanding of natural birth and answers: “Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” Nicodemus might just as well as have said, “Bruh, that’s impossible!” and sniffed Jesus’ finger.

And this exchange of a two-level conversation is not a one-off in the gospel of John, but is its veritable leitmotif, the golden thread that runs from the first to the last page. For example, here in John 3, the dual meaning revolves around being born as a pointer to Baptism. In John 4 Jesus discusses with the Samaritan woman how water is a pointer to the Holy Spirit. In John 9, Jesus helps the blind man understand the dual meaning of seeing as a pointer to faith.

In John 11, Jesus raises Lazarus and teaches the double meaning of sleep as a pointer to death and waking to eternal life. And finally in John 19 at his crucifixion, Jesus’ agony and death serves as a pointer to true glory. In each and every case, therefore, Jesus is pointing to a deeper meaning of earthly experiences – birth, water, sight, sleep, and suffering/death – and hopes we don’t just come and sniff his finger like a dog or a dunce.

My friends, dealing with dual meanings is not just a difficulty that C. S. Lewis and Nicodemus had to wrestle with, but one that confronts every Catholic Christian. How so? Every sacrament uses ordinary human experiences to point to an extraordinary supernatural reality. The washing of Baptism points to the removal of original sin. The anointing of Confirmation points to the anointing of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The eating of bread at Mass points to the eternal banquet of heaven. The joining of the bodies of bride and groom point to the consummation of the world at the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

This difficulty might also explain why so many Catholics leave the Church, maybe your kids have. We become so obsessed with facts that we no longer care to look into their meaning. When moderns speak of Baptism as being born again, they (like Nicodemus) immediately retreat to the natural, normal experience of human birth, “just the facts, ma’am.” And fail to use their faith to see the deeper significance symbolized by the facts.

The modern mentality sniffs at the finger and doesn’t understand the notion of pointing. Too many modern Christians prefer to reside at the level of facts, or even on the level of feelings (attending churches that make them feel good), and refuse to rise to the level of faith. Like the dog and the dunce we cannot see how “The very shape which you must draw to give the illusion of a straight line receding from the spectator is also the shape you draw for a dunce’s cap.” In other words, come to the sacraments and stop sniffing Jesus’ finger.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Mercy In My Mouth

 

Learning how showing mercy blesses twice

04/12/2026

John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Today on Divine Mercy Sunday I want to share with you one of the most sublime speeches on the subject of mercy that’s found in Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice.” Maybe you have heard it? It begins beautifully: “The quality of mercy is not strained; / It droppeth as gentle rain from heaven / Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; / It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”

I love the phrase “It is twice blest; / It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” Why? Well, because when we deal with mercy, the world is no longer divided among “winners and losers,” the haves and the have-nots, which is how we usually think. Instead, mercy makes everyone a winner, and everyone has: blessing both he who metes out mercy as well as the one who receives it. We don’t lose anything when we show mercy, we become more God-like. As Shakespeare said later in that speech: “And earthly power doth then show likest God’s when mercy seasons justice.”

In the gospel today we see the risen Jesus demonstrating this twice-blest mercy. First, when Jesus appears to his apostles on Easter Sunday, Thomas is absent. Then when Jesus appears a week later on Divine Mercy Sunday, Thomas is present. And instead of reprimanding him for his lack of faith, Jesus shows mercy, saying “Peace be with you.” We see how mercy is always “twice blest” – Jesus of course can’t be more blessed because he is Blessing itself, and Thomas is blessed by receiving the Lord’s mercy. There are no winners and losers when we are merciful; everyone wins and everyone has.

This weekend we will witness two more examples of how mercy is “twice blest.” On Friday Bishop Taylor announced the clergy changes for this year. You’ll be happy to know I’m not leaving (at least I hope you’re happy about that). But the really good news is future Fr. Christopher Elser and another young, handsome priest named Fr. John Paul Hartnedy will be assigned as two new associates for I.C.

I am going to take a two-month vacation this summer after they arrive! And sadly, Fr. Savio will be leaving this summer to work in the Diocese of Shreveport. How blessed we priests are in being instruments of God’s mercy for his people. Every time we administer the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, we mete out God’s mercy and feel unbelievably blessed. “It blesseth him who gives…”

The second example of God’s twice blest mercy this weekend is that 52 young people will make their First Holy Communion spread out over 5 different Masses. Today when they come forward to receive the Eucharist, they will literally put mercy into their mouths, and taste God’s unconditional love for them, and they will never forget it.

I still remember vividly making my First Holy Communion in Hillsboro, TX. I was wearing a tight, hot suit that made me sweat and a tie that was choking me. I knelt in the first pew because my last name begins with an “A” so I was always the guinea pig and had to go first. I still go first for Communion as a priest at Mass, and I am happy about that. And the name of the church in Hillsoboro, TX is “Our Lady of Mercy.” In other words, I first tasted mercy on my tongue at Our Lady of Mercy.

You see, the moment of First Holy Communion is truly a moment of twice blest mercy, because it blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” What greater blessing of mercy is there in the lift of a priest than to feed God’s people with the Bread of Life? And what greater moment of mercy is there for a Christian than to receive the Author of Mercy on their tongue?

My friends, in a few moments we will all come forward to receive God’s mercy in his Son’s Body and Blood. But that Eucharistic mercy is not meant to stop with us, but we must pass that mercy on to others. In other words, Catholic Christians must become instruments of mercy for those we meet – our family, our friends, and especially our enemies – so we can again feel how mercy is “twice blest.”

Just as we priests are blessed to mete our mercy in Church at Mass, so Christians are blessed to mete out mercy because you are called to be priests in the midst of the world. That is where the word “Mass” comes from. The sending forth at the end of Mass in Latin is “Ite missa est,” which means “Go, you are sent forth,” into the world. Sent forth into the world for what?

You are sent to change the world of its fundamental dynamic, from a world of winners and losers to a world where everyone becomes a winner. From a world of haves and have-nots into a world where everyone has. Because when we are dealing with mercy, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Why? Because “earthly power doth then show likest God’s / When mercy seasons justice.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Be Better Than Me

 

Seeing how the Son ushers in a new creation and a new week

04/10/2026

Sequence – Victimae paschali laudes Christians, to the Paschal Victim Offer your thankful praises! A Lamb the sheep redeems; Christ, who only is sinless, Reconciles sinners to the Father. Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous: The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal. Speak, Mary, declaring What you saw, wayfaring. “The tomb of Christ, who is living, The glory of Jesus’ resurrection; bright angels attesting, The shroud and napkin resting. Yes, Christ my hope is arisen; to Galilee he goes before you.”Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining. Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning! Amen. Alleluia.

Have you ever heard or seen the internet meme called “6 or 7”, which was wildly popular in 2025? By the way, it’s no long popular, except to be used in homilies. It’s kind of an inside joke by Gen Alpha – the most recent generation – that really makes no sense, and therefore they call it “brainrot” – things that are funny but do little more than rot your brain. They have no practical value or intrinsic purpose than to be funny.

Today I don’t want to talk to you about the 6 or 7 meme but I want to say a word about the 7 or 8 meme. And that is not brainrot but a brain-revelation. How so? Well, we are currently in the Octave of Easter, which means the 8 days of Easter Sunday. The grand miracle of Jesus’ resurrection cannot be contained in a one 24-hour period, indeed, we need 8 days to celebrate it adequately. That is why every Mass from Easter to the following Sunday includes the Gloria: in effect, Easter Sunday spread over 8 days.

Now here is where the 7-8 meme comes in. In the Old Testament book of Genesis, how many days did God need to create the heavens and the earth? We read in Gn 2:2, “On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.” Hence, in the Jewish calculation of the week, the first day of the week is Sunday and the seventh day is Saturday, the Sabbath, the day of rest, when God, too, rested from creating.

Well, as we know from Jn 5:19, God the Son does what he sees God the Father doing but he sort of “one ups” him. That is, Jesus creates a new heavens and a new earth. And that new creation is symbolized not by the 7 days of the Old Testament week, but by the 8 days of the New Testament week. In other words, the Octave of Easter, the 8 days of Easter, means we not only think about "creation" differently, we think about "time" different. The Father introduced the 7-day week; the Son inaugurates an 8-day week called the Octave.

Here is another application of the 7-8 meme. If you look closely at our baptismal font in the sanctuary (located in front of Mary’s altar), you will notice it has 8 sides. And that is not by accident or simply artistic license; it is charged with significance. How so? Well, when we are baptized, we not only become a new creation, we are introduced into an new order of time. We leave behind the seven-day week of the Old Testament and are plunged into the 8-day week of the New Testament.

You see, every baptism is a reenactment of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Being plunged into the darkness of the water represents death. Rising out of the water into light signifies new birth, indeed, being born by water and the Spirit as Jesus taught Nicodemus in Jn 3:5. And what day did Jesus rise from the dead? Well, it was on Sunday. But if you calculate as a Jew using the original, Old Testament week, what day would Sunday be? It would be the day following the Sabbath, the day following the seventh day.

And what day follows the seventh day? Folks, I’m not very good at math but even an imbecile like me knows what comes after 7 is 8. In other words, we create baptismal fonts with 8 sides not because we didn’t have enough marble to make one with 10 sides. But because 8 – especially the 8th day – is no arbitrary number, but in fact, signifies not only a new creation, but a new week. Jesus’ resurrection has not only transformed matter, it transforms time. A Christian’s week has 8 days.

One last thought about the 7-8 meme. All good parents want their children to be better than them. That’s why my parents came to the United States from India, so their children would have more opportunities for education and careers, to live happier, healthier, and holier lives. That is what I wish for all the young associate priests who come to I.C. My prayer for them is: “Be better than me.” Learn from what I do well, and do it better. Watch my mistakes and avoid them. Be better than me.

I hope this doesn’t sound too sacrilegious but maybe that was God the Father’s desire for his divine Son: be better than me. If I create the old heavens and earth symbolized by 7 days, then you create a new heavens and earth symbolized by 8 days. If I create a 7-day week, then you create an 8-day week. Indeed, Jesus adds in Jn 5:20, “The Father will show the Son even greater works than these.” My friends, there’s an Old Testament and a New Testament, an old creation and a new creation, the old 6-7 meme that was brainrot, and the new 7-8 meme that is a brain-revelation. And all this suggests what every father wants for his son, namely, “Be better than me.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!

An All Time Thing

 

Learning how Lent never really ends

04/03/2026

John 13:1-15 Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” So when he had washed their feet and put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

At some point during Holy Week someone always asks me a question that I bet has crossed your mind, too. If Lent technically ends on Holy Thursday, does that mean you still have to keep making your Lenten sacrifices for the next three days? After all, if Lent is over then what need is there for the sacrifices? Have you ever wondered that?

Someone texted me that question last night, and here’s how I

answered her: “It’s true that Lent is over on Holy Thursday. But that doesn’t mean you should go back to enjoying whatever you gave up for Lent. Think about it like this: on Holy Thursday the regular season of Lent is over but the playoffs of the Triduum have now begun. The three days of Triduum are not less Lenten, they are more Lenten. Not a time to slack off, but to bring your A game!”

If you are a fan of college basketball’s March Madness, you know it’s down to the final four teams: Arizona, Michigan, UConn, and Illinois. Now, do you think their coaches said, “Hey, guys, the regular season is over, so for the playoffs, just kick back on the couch, watch Netflix, and stuff your face with Crispy Crème donuts!”? Of course not. It’s time to raise their game to the next level.

In the gospel today, we see Jesus encouraging his apostles, his team, to raise their game as well. In a sense, their regular season is over. That is, Jesus’ three years of teaching and preaching, healing and miracles. And the apostles not only witnessed these things, they actively participated by their own efforts at evangelization. And to one apostle Jesus dedicated extra time and attention because he would be the team captain, St. Peter.

So now that their regular season is over, does Jesus tell them: “Hey, guys, just relax and throw back all those macaroons and martinis you gave up because your Lent is over and it’s party time!”? No, quite the opposite. He humbly washes their feet and instructs them: “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should do also.” In other words, it’s not time to slack off but rather raise your game to the next level.

In fact, Jesus will deliver one heck of a play-off pep talk in John’s gospel, which last 5 full chapters, from chapters 13-18, and it even eclipses the sprawling Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, which lasted only 3 chapters. Jesus essentially teaches the apostles what Vince Lombardy told his players when he said: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.”

In other words, there is a real sense in which the regular season of Lent not only does not end at Holy Thursday – when the playoffs begin – but the season of Lent should continue all year long. Now, don’t misunderstand: of course, we should celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday, and all the other feasts throughout the liturgical year. But there is a splinter of the cross of Lent we should carry all year long. Why? Because “winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing.”

I will never forget Scott Hahn saying something that stopped me dead in my tracks. See if you can wrap your mind around this insight. He said: “Jesus did not do anything different when he came to earth to suffer and die on the Cross than what he had been doing for all eternity in heaven. Why not? Because the love of the Trinity that looks and feels like splendor, glory, and majesty in heaven, looks and feels like the crucifixion on earth."

Listen to Coach Lombardy again in the light of that eternity: “You don’t win once in a while you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time.” You see, Jesus’ washing his disciples’ feet looks lowly and disgusting on earth, but that is what Jesus does eternally in heaven where it shines in splendor and glory and majesty. That is why the second half of John’s gospel which is all about the crucifixion is called “The Book of Glory.” “Winning is not a some time thing, it’s an all time thing,” indeed, it is an eternal thing.

So, what’s the take-home message today? Well, Lent is not simply over on Holy Thursday, nor is it entirely over on Easter Sunday. But in a sense, Lent lasts our whole life, and even beyond this life. You see, Lent is not designed for a few temporary sacrifices that we endure for a few weeks and then say “Yay, back to debauchery!” Rather Lent is designed to change us into better Christians, who pray a little more, who give up a little more, and who love our neighbor a little more.

And doing those practices intensely for 40 days should create holy habits we continue all year long. Why? Because the purpose of Lent is to teach us how to love: to love ourselves (by fasting), to love our neighbor (by almsgiving), and to love our God (by prayer). Because what was true for Jesus will one day be true for us: the loving sacrifice we make on earth will exactly be what we do in heaven, except there our sacrifices will shine in splendor, and glory, and majesty. Because being a Christian is an all time thing.

Praised be Jesus Christ!