Tom and Kim have been parishioners of St. Anne’s since 1981. They have three fabulous adult children and three wonderful grandchildren. Tom currently is an aspirant for the deaconate, and prays that the Bishop will accept him into the two-year candidacy program this September. He is a local attorney and Kim is his paralegal. Tom recently completed his Certification in Catholic Health Care Ethics through the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and serves on Lodi Memorial Hospital’s Bioethics Committee. He also serves on the Bishop’s Finance Council, the Diocesan Review Board, the Parish Finance Council, the Parish Pastoral Council, and is the Lecturer for the St. Anne’s Council of the Knights of Columbus. Tom and Kim are Knight and Lady Commanders of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Week 6: (Posted: March 25, 2013) Sacrament of Reconciliation
By: Tom Driscoll
The answer to how to redress my separation from God starts with turning to him in humble contrition for what keeps me separated from him. While perfect contrition would no doubt suffice for forgiveness, I wonder, after discovering an impediment I have been harboring for a while and perhaps, for years, which has blocked true relationship with God, how I can assume I have perfect contrition.
Fortunately, included within the Sacraments of the Church instituted by Christ is the often neglected Sacrament of Reconciliation. If I confess my faults, even if I lack perfect contrition, I am absolved of my sins, demonstrating anew that if I but turn toward my Father, he has compassion for me and will embrace me, restoring me to my relationship with him.
Unfortunately, there is a tendency these days to downplay confession of venial sins as they do not permanently separate me from God as do mortal sins. True, I can commit a gazillion venial sins and not permanently separate myself from God. But I need to remember that venial sins nevertheless are faults which separate me by degrees from God. In other words, they are acts and omissions which lead away from virtue and away from God. The more I continue to live in repetitious fault, the farther and farther I become from a life of virtue, separating me from God more and more, and making true relationship with God all the more difficult. This is not what God had in mind.
Like any parent, he does not want his sons and daughters to just get by, to choose the easy way, to become mediocre. No, like the best of parents God wants his sons and daughters to do what is right, to live a virtuous life, which is far more difficult than a life without virtue. I am not called to mediocrity, but to holiness. Confession of venial sins leads to repetitious awareness of my faults, which promotes change.
What am I giving up for Lent? I am going to give up, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, what separates me from God.
Week 5: (Posted: March 25, 2013) Healing from Separation
By: Tom Driscoll
The temptations of Jesus give us insightful help in answering the question what do I give up for Lent. Do I keep God in heaven while my desires are satisfied, my comfort assured, and I appoint God chores to accomplish? The temptations build from satisfaction of sense desires through mental desires for control and avoidance of trials until finally my pride controls and God is secondary. The Devil’s final temptation absorbs the others in that God must prove himself here and now or I may disregard him for a morality of my own preferences. In other words no moral order other than whatever I want. God is not merely disregarded, but excluded, perhaps unintentionally, but ongoing neglect yields the same result.
What really should be given up for Lent is that which separates me from true relationship with God. Lent is a time to honestly recognize my limitations and to “give one up” for Lent. To stop doing something that is not for my best good simultaneously becomes the start of doing something truly good for me: restoring my relationship with God.
How can I do it? Truly changing what separates me from God is difficult. I don’t think I can do it. I have nursed the separation for so long that how can I be forgiven for disregarding God that much, for favoring myself instead of Him? The answers to these questions reveal the awesome goodness of the God from whom I am separated. Is God tough and distant? Does my pride sneak in, suggesting that my separation from God is too great to overcome? None of my fears are accurate. God is not a harsh task master, keeping a demerit list for which I must answer and atone or else, or one who disregards his son’s or daughter’s plea for help. This is not the God of Scripture. God has revealed himself as an infinitely loving and bountiful provider, who knows me more intimately than I know myself: before formed in the womb, God knew me (Jeremiah 1:5; Isaiah 49:1); my Father knows my every need (Luke 12:30; Matthew 6:8, 32); even the hairs on my head are counted (Luke12:7; Matthew 10:30); my humble and contrite heart will not be spurned (Psalm 51:19); however late in life I turn to God’s call (Matthew 20:1-16); and who so loved me despite my faults he gave his own Son to save me from self-destruction (John 3:16).
If I have any doubt about God’s unhesitating welcome if I turn to him, I need only consider the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The son had haughtily demanded his inheritance, but quickly dissipated it on a life of extravagance and immorality. Coming to his senses as a pig tender, the lowest conceivable job for a Jew, the son regretted his horrible deeds, and summoned the courage to return to his father and confess his wrongdoing, seeking nothing but the status of a hired hand as he had determined himself unworthy of sonship. Returning to his father’s home he was honestly contrite, but before his father knew that fact he saw his son in the distance. Just coming to the father was enough to send the father running to his son, “filled with compassion” throwing his arms around his son and kissing him. (Lk 15:20). Not even intentional repudiation of God is beyond forgiveness, so nothing which separates me from God is outside his healing and running embrace if I but turn to him.
The answer, then, to “how can I do it” is to turn toward my Father.
Week 4: (Posted: March 4, 2013) The Third Temptation
By: Tom Driscoll
Last week we considered the second desert temptation of Jesus as an example of mental temptations for wealth, power, prestige or comfort which may separate me from God.
The Devil’s third and final temptation was to take Jesus to the top of the Temple, and demand that Jesus prove he is God’s son by throwing himself off the parapet so that angels would catch him, just as Scripture proclaims. (Luke 4:9-12.) Again what incredible audacity! The Devil, an angel created by God, demanding God’s proof of what the Devil already knew, Jesus’ divinity. But the temptation addresses more than merely a demonstration of the Devil’s audacity. It demonstrates the disorder of evil, a creature subjecting the Creator to a qualifying test for acceptance, in other words, setting himself up as a god, substituting his will for God’s.
In a word: pride.
Sometimes pride gets the best of me. Pride blinds me to the reality that I have a call from God to perform tasks that no one else can perform. I have failed at times to pray for the grace to understand and accomplish God’s will for me. I haven’t paid sufficient attention to the words of the Our Father, particularly “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Sometimes I pray for help without asking for the grace to accept and understand the answer to the prayer, even if negative, as the best for me. I pray for God’s help only when I need or want something beyond my control, so that it seems I do not serve God, but reverse the positions to God serving me when I have something I want. It seems I prefer my own agenda, living my life without regard to God, keeping him tucked away in heaven outside of any consideration by me, until I have a need or an emergency, a test for God to pass.
Jesus prevailed again. As in the prior temptations, Jesus did not engage the Tempter in conversation, rationalization or a battle of wits. Instead, Jesus quoted Scripture: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Luke 4:12; Deuteronomy 6:16.) The Devil departed at that command. Truth trumped pride. No creature, whether angel or human, can test God. I should consider if my thoughts, words or deeds indicate a lack of faith because I barely consider God in any real way except in an emergency. I should consider if I test God. Does my pride separate me from God? This Lent I should begin restraining my pride.
Week 3: (Posted February 26, 2013) The Second Temptation
By: Tom Driscoll
Last week we considered the first desert temptation of Jesus as an example of physical temptations which may separate us from God.
The Devil’s second temptation was to offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would worship the Devil (Luke 4:5-8.) What an attractive offer to a grossly uncomfortable man after forty days in the desert without food, a bath or a change of clothes. Have everything the world has to offer. The Devil again cloaks his temptation in apparent good.
However, the temptation concerns more than just acquiring actual kingdoms. The deeper temptation: Leave the desert forever! Never endure the trials, tribulations and suffering of following the Father’s will. The glistening, glamorous kingdoms of the world then may be understood as my desire to control life and avoid trials and suffering; my envy, greed for or self-satisfaction with wealth, power, prestige or comfort, or my anger for lacking these luxuries, as preferences separating me from God.
Sometimes my desire for these things is excessive, if not obsessive, out of proportion to legitimate need. My desire for things sometimes leaves no time or funds for alleviating the variety of hungers, nakedness, strangers and prisoners in my world. Sometimes the wealth or prestige I seek has nothing to do with possessions or money, but self-satisfaction with my accomplishments in faith, family or life as though my talents were not gifts from God, which though I developed them, remain gifts for which I should be ever thankful. Sometimes I withhold affection from my spouse, children or others to manipulate satisfaction of my control or prestige. Sometimes I want or use wealth or prestige as insulation against seeing, associating with or helping others. Sometimes it seems the god I worship is my seeming control of the circumstances in which I find myself.
Jesus prevails in the second temptation. Once again, he did not engage the Tempter in conversation, rationalization or a battle of wits. Instead, Jesus quoted Scripture: “You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve.” (Luke 4:8; Deuteronomy 6:13.) Jesus stopped the Devil in his tracks by the timeless truth that the first and foremost desire of every person, whether spirit or human, should be serving God, not oneself. I should consider if my desire for the kingdoms of my world separate me from my primary obligation to serve God and my neighbor for love of God. I should consider if my desires indicate that I have no hope in God’s providence for me so that I must amass as much as I can as quickly as I can. Is there a desire for which I act like the Devil and rationalize into apparent good what separates me from God? This Lent I should strive to give up that desire which separates me from God.
Week 2: (Posted February 21, 2013) The First Temptation
By: Tom Driscoll
Last week, we began reflecting on Lent as a time for transformation in Christ with Jesus’ desert temptations as a starting point in thinking about what may separate us from God. Starting this week, we focus upon each individual temptation as highlighting particular things which may separate us from God.
The Devil’s first temptation of Jesus was “If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread.” (Luke 4:3-4.) What a masterful
temptation! Just as Jesus is at his limit of endurance, the Devil insinuates himself into apparent good: make bread. What could be more satisfying to a hungry man? This is just like my temptations. When I am at my limit of hunger, frustration, or tiredness I am tempted to think only of myself. But the temptation may concern more than this literal understanding.
The bread also may symbolize the attractions to my senses as preferences to relationship with God, as impediments separating me from God. Does something tempt my sight, hearing, speaking, tasting, smelling or touching away from my relationship with God? Do I prefer satisfaction of
these senses to that relationship? My eating or drinking may be tempted to excess beyond what is good for me. My sense of touch may be tempted into unchaste conduct like sleeping around or “hooking-up,” or other sex experiences outside of marriage. Sometimes my sight is tantalized by what seduces me, by envy for other’s possessions or well-being, for possession for myself or family members of expensive goods, latest technology or fashions beyond moderate needs. My hearing and speaking sometimes is drawn into rumor, gossip, insinuation, deception, desire for personal gain at the expense of another, disparagement or damage to another’s reputation. In other words, my responses to the temptations of my senses may be drawing me away from God, matters in which I prefer the enjoyment of indulging the temptation to my relationship with God, in effect asserting that something else is better for me than God. My responses to the temptations of my senses may also reveal an excessive concern for myself contrary to the virtue of charity as I may disregard my neighbor’s best good in pursuit of my own satisfaction.
With Jesus, the first temptation failed. Jesus did not engage the Tempter in conversation, rationalization or a battle of wits. Instead, Jesus quoted Scripture: “Man does not live by bread alone.” (Luke 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3.) Jesus refuted the Devil’s taunt with the timeless truth that physical senses are not for unlimited satisfaction but for enjoyment as intended by God. I should consider if I have developed my senses virtuously as God intended or whether any of them separate me from God. Is there something for which I act like the Devil and rationalize into apparent good what separates me from God? If something separates me from God, I should use Lent to start trying to give it up.
Week 1: (Posted February 11, 2013) Lent: Transformation in Christ
By: Tom Driscoll
Lent: Transformation in Christ Lent is upon us. To many of us this means responding to the question “What am I giving up this year? Candy? Ice cream? Smoking? Drinking? TV? Facebook?
Are these issues what Lent is really about? Beginning this weekend, the Bulletin will contain weekly reflections on the topic “Lent: Transformation in Christ.” The reflections seek to encourage understanding this period in the Church’s liturgical year as the time for sincere examination of my relationship with God: Is there anything which separates me from God? What should I do to redress this separation? These may not be easy questions to answer. I may never have thought about these questions, or I may have hidden from considering uncomfortable subjects or thoughtlessly ignored the relationship altogether. But if I have identified something which separates me from God, I should work diligently to change it. The weekly reflections are meant to assist this Lenten examination and renewal.
The first several weeks of reflections will emphasize discovering what may separate me from God by focusing upon the desert temptations of Jesus. This week commences the series with a general reflection about Jesus’ desert experience, which will be followed by separate weekly reflections upon each of the three temptations as a way of discovering what may separate me from God. Redressing that separation will be the focus of the final weeks of the series.
Jesus Forty Days in the Desert
The forty days of Lent commemorate the period Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert between his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist and the start of his public ministry. (Luke 4:1.) It is easy to overlook the significance of this event if I forget that while Jesus was truly divine he was also truly human, so he experienced this event as I would have. Without food, a bath or a change of clothes, he was as hungry, tired, gritty, disheveled and weak as I would have been in the same circumstance. It was at this moment of greatest human vulnerability that the Devil began his cunning temptations, attempting to separate Jesus from accomplishing the will of his Father.
In the recitation of Jesus’ temptations in the desert, the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent, the Church invites my honest and sincere introspection regarding what may separate me from God. Isn’t the experience of Jesus in the desert so much like my own? While I have been baptized and confirmed, I am not free from the attractiveness of evil. When I am at my most vulnerable or strung-out is when I am tempted, lured away from virtue and away from the way of God. From this perspective, the temptations of Jesus address the fundamental circumstances of my Christian life: Who am I? What am I to do? These are the essential questions of life through the ages, regardless of sex, age, race, creed, education, wealth or social status. In encountering these questions through the prism of the desert temptations of Jesus, I learn not only about my good qualities, my virtues, but also about my deficiencies. In honestly and sincerely considering who I am and what I am to do, I also encounter God, in whose image and likeness I am created. What does God want me to do? Am I doing it? So in contemplating the temptations of Jesus, I encounter myself and the impediments which could be separating me from an authentic relationship with God. This Lent I should try to give up one thing in my life which separates me from God.