Homilies

2nd Sunday of Lent – Homily (Fr. Smith)

| St. Charles Borromeo

Homilies on the Transfiguration often begin with the acknowledgement that the section we read at Mass begins in midsentence. The missing part, “About eight days after he said this”, may sound inconsequential but the “this” is especially important. Indeed, the events of the last few weeks have made this “this” truly relevant.

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Events, Videos

Community Mass – 2nd Sunday of Lent

| St. Charles Borromeo

On Sunday, March 13, 2022, join us in person or online for the 2nd Sunday of Lent. Daylight Savings Time goes in effect this Sunday – set your clocks forward one hour!

Our current Mass times are:

The readings will be from Cycle C.

Entrance: The Glory of These Forty Days – 481
Readings and Psalm – 1021
Offertory:  Hosea – 484
Communion: Change Our Hearts – 493
Closing: Jerusalem, My Destiny – 492

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .

Scriptual Commentary

2nd Sunday of Lent – Humbly Accepting Salvation from the Cross

| Fr. William Smith

Landscape with Stars, Henri-Edmond Cross,
c. 1905–1908, Met. Museum (NYC)
(About this Image)

The Lord God took Abram outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
(Gen 15:5–6)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the Second Reading
Second Sunday of Lent
Philippians 3:17–4:1
March 13, 2022

St. Paul is a great religious genius. It is incorrect to say that he
invented Christianity, but he understood many of the implications of
Jesus’ teaching sooner and more strongly than others. As the Christian
Church developed, his thought eventually influenced what Christians
everywhere believed. This however took over a century and I cannot help
but ask “What did Christians who did not know the writings of Paul
believe?”

The answer is largely unknowable, but this section from the Letter to
the Philippians gives us an indication of past possibilities and a
prescription for present maladies.

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Homilies

1st Sunday of Lent – Homily (Fr. Smith)

| St. Charles Borromeo

The particulars of Jesus’s temptations in the desert 2000 years ago may not seem especially relevant to our time, but let us look at three contemporary situations.

First at the beginning of the pandemic, Father Grivowich suggested that we would know how we did morally during it by how well essential workers did financially. Although we praised low-wage high-risk workers who held our economy together when we needed them, he questioned if there would be permanent positive effects for them. He told us that if there was, we would have learned the value of every person and the nature of community; if not, then this would have been another nail in the coffin of human solidarity. It is too certain to tell and I presume that the results will be mixed, but I look at myself and my reactions are mixed as well. Although I am told that the rise in prices for Uber and Lyft rides has gone down some, has gone substantially to the drivers, when I’m honest with myself, I want them low. Again higher fees are mostly a minor annoyance for me, but can be a major help for the drivers and their families – a noble result – but I still want them lower.

The Devil taunted Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus was hungry and his desire for food understandable, yet Jesus was preparing himself for his ministry and was fasting for the common good. He responded, “One does not live by bread alone”. Comfort is a good thing, but not the only thing, and not at the expense of others. Many people have done very well financially during Covid, and what does this say about our values if we have not shared this bounty with people who have risked and suffered more than we did with much less recompense.

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Events, Videos

Community Mass – 1st Sunday of Lent

| St. Charles Borromeo

On Sunday, March 6, 2022, join us in person or online for the 1st Sunday of Lent.

Our current Mass times are:

The readings will be from Cycle C.

Entrance: Lord, Who throughout These Forty Days – 479

Offertory:  Remember Your Love – 961

Readings and Psalm – 1018

Communion: On Eagle’s Wings – 691

Closing: Blest Be the Lord – 686

The Gather 3rd Edition Hymnal/Missals are available for use in the church – pick one up as you enter and return it after Mass. Instructions on how to use the hymnal missal are available here: https://www.stcharlesbklyn.org/hymnal-missal/ .

Today’s readings are also available to read online at the USCCB website https://bible.usccb.org .

Scriptual Commentary

1st Sunday of Lent – Needing Both Jesus and Neighbor

| Fr. William Smith

Christ in the Wilderness, Ivan Kramskoi, 1872 (Tretyakov Gallery)

Filled with the Holy Spirit,
Jesus returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days,
to be tempted by the devil.
(Luke 4:1–2)

Fr. Smith’s Commentary on the First Reading
First Sunday of Lent
Deuteronomy 26:4–10
March 6, 2022

Very few sections of the Bible are oracles of a wise teacher from a distant perch. The Jews believed in a God who was involved with their history and demanded that those who would speak for him be the same. Christians hold the same belief, and we find in Jesus most especially a connection with daily life. Although the scriptures emerge from divine commitment to a particular time and place as we discover in all great literature, this makes them more relevant for and applicable to every time. Yet there are some events which will make a certain passage shed an almost uncanny light. Recent events have made today’s reading from the Book of Deuteronomy unfortunately revealing for today, indeed perhaps the very day you read this.

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