On the Threshold of Holy Lent

He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! On Tuesday of Holy Week, all of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston gathered with Archbishop Henning for the Chrism Mass, and we renewed the promises made on the day of our ordination. Seated to my right was a priest ordained only three years ago. Directly in front of me was a priest in a wheelchair who was ordained over fifty years ago. All of us share in the gift of the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. Also, at that Mass the Archbishop consecrated the sacred oils that will be used throughout the Archdiocese until the next Chrism Mass. Thus, all of the baptisms, confirmations, priestly ordinations, and anointings of the sick in every parish throughout the Archdiocese will be linked to the ministry of our Archbishop. On Holy Thursday five brother priests joined Fr. Sijo and Fr. Patrick and me for an early dinner at our rectory. Holy Thursday is a day of great significance to all Catholics, but it holds special meaning to priests because it is the day on which Christ instituted the priesthood. It is the day that our vocation was born. It was wonderful to have a nice mid-day meal together and to build up our priestly fraternity. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday this year was one of those liturgical moments in life when I felt as though I had been taken up out of the 02180 zip code and transported to the Upper Room. It was, for me, one of those moments when you realize that you have been given a pure gift. When we enter into the Liturgy with faith, obedience, liturgical humility and docility, attentiveness, and with charity, we become better receptive to what the Lord wants to do. We do our small part and then God does something beyond our natural capacities. Being in the Upper Room with all of you on Holy Thursday was an amazing gift to me. On Good Friday, Fr. Patrick, Fr. Sijo, and I were scheduled to hear confessions for two hours. We went non-stop for three hours. Similarly, on Holy Saturday the confession times had to be extended because of how many of you were there. In the confessional, we stand beneath the Cross of Christ and His Mercy pours out upon the sinners He came to save. What an amazing thing it is to spend hours listening to people humbly acknowledging their sins, sometimes after carrying heavy, crushing burdens for decades upon decades. What a gift it is for a priest when he is able to help those persons experience Divine Mercy. The Devil wants to imprison people in shame, guilt, and in the past. Jesus comes to set captives free. Hearing long hours of heavy confessions is completely exhausting and completely life-giving and amazing. Thank you all for coming. Congratulations to all of those who were weighed down and are now free! Blessed Be God! We had, I think, a beautiful Lent and Sacred Triduum together. I am grateful to all of those who made that possible, particularly our ushers, musicians, and all who served at the altar. I thank our clergy–deacons and priests–and the whole parish staff for their outstanding work. In particular, I thank Deacon Frank who was on top of every last detail (of which there are many)! This year, throughout the Triduum and on Easter Sunday, I felt that people were hungering for and receptive to the Word of God. There was an openness and a desire to be drawn more deeply into the mysteries of Christ. As I finish this letter, we have now received word that the Holy Father, Pope Francis has died. Easter Day is celebrated as an Octave. It is kind of like there is so much joy over Easter, that it can’t be squeezed into a twenty-four hour period, so the Church celebrates Easter Day for eight days. Pope Francis died within that Octave. May he share now in the everlasting joy that Christ’s resurrection brings. I think a good telltale of whether Lent and the Sacred Triduum went well is by how exhausted you are at the end of it. I can’t speak for the rest of the clergy and staff, but I know I am exhausted! Happily exhausted, but exhausted! I am grateful for living these mysteries with you. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! That is an ancient greeting that Christians use during the Easter Season to greet one another. One person says, “He is Risen!” And the other responds, “He is Risen Indeed.” (Or, He is Truly Risen!). During the Easter Vigil, the Church sings the following words: “The sanctifying power of this night dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners. O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to the human.” Even though we are only at the very beginning of the fifty-day Easter Season, my heart spent all of Lent already crying out, “He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!.” I cannot adequately express what joy it brings to the priests of our parish that we were swamped by confessions this Lent. The world needs mercy. We need less harshness, less bitterness, less resentment, and less unforgiveness. We need less wickedness. The heart longs for forgiveness, for cleansing, for restored innocence, and for joy. It seems like an impossible wish list. The darkness that afflicts the world can seem indomitable. But what seems even more indomitable is death itself. Today, however, we proclaim that Christ is risen from the dead. He defeated even death itself. And He comes back carrying with Him the remedy for all of us. He gives to us what seemed impossible. He opens the way for us to be free, to be innocent, to be forgiven, and to live a new life. All Lent long people previously condemned by the twisted lie that there is no way forward, walked into the confessional. There, in the tribunal of truth, they humbled themselves before the Lord. And there, they encountered the Risen Christ. They encountered Mercy. There are so many times as a priest hearing confessions I have thought, “If this one confession was the only thing I ever did as a priest, it would be enough.” To be an instrument of the Lord’s Mercy and a witness to Christ setting someone free is extraordinary. Every penitent sinner who receives sacramental absolution is a sign of the victory of Christ. Easter may begin today, but its evidence is always around us, especially in the Sacraments. Every sincere confession and absolution that took place here this Lent could be described this way: “He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!” On behalf of priests, deacons, pastoral and administrative staff of St. Patrick Parish, I wish you extraordinary graces during this Easter Season and I thank you for being such a wonderful parish family. I feel very privileged. He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed! Fr. David Barnes

At the very beginning of the Gospels, Jesus began calling his disciples. He invited them to follow Him. He invited them to leave the familiar behind and to trust Him. “Come and see.” “Go out into the deep.” “Follow me.” Those first disciples must have long remembered that initial encounter and that first, “Yes,” that they gave to the Lord. Their discipleship, however, was only beginning. Every moment of every day after that, the Lord was inviting them to affirm that initial, “Yes.” They had set out on the life-long adventure of discipleship. As we draw towards the end of Lent and enter into this Holy Week, my heart is filled with gratitude for the many ways in which you said, “Yes” this Lent. We added an extra daily Mass during Lent. You said, “Yes.” We added more confession times. You said, “Yes.” We had a Lenten retreat day. You said, “Yes.” We had a three-night series on learning to pray. You said, “Yes.” There was a group that met each Tuesday evening during Lent to grow in faith and prayer. You said, “Yes.” Young couples and families prayed Stations together each Friday and then had a meal together. They said, “Yes.” It is so easy to get distracted from staying on the path of discipleship. Various concerns, anxieties, worries, memories, fears, resentments, temptations, and problems clamor for our attention. We can easily allow these things to occupy too much of our thoughts and energy, and then we drift off course. This is why having companions on the road is so critical. When we walk in the company of people who are saying, “Yes,” to Christ, our life is reordered back to discipleship. When we see others who are following Christ, it awakens in us a greater desire to remain faithful to Him. Yes, the problems and difficulties of life are important, but the presence of other disciples reminds us that we live these problems and difficulties in a new way. We are walking with Christ. We sometimes make idols out of our worries, burdens, anxieties, fears, and problems. We spend too much time worshiping them by giving them too much time and energy. The presence of companions on the road reminds us that these problems are not everything. The Christian friend awakens in us confidence that we are not alone. It awakens in us courage to move forward. Today we begin Holy Week. It is the week for us all to be together. On Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday we walk together. We enter Jerusalem today with Christ. We enter the Upper Room together on Holy Thursday. We go to Calvary together on Good Friday. On Holy Saturday, together we wait. On Holy Saturday evening and on Easter Sunday, we go to the tomb together to rejoice in the Resurrection. I look forward to living this week together with you. In seeing you and in walking with you, I come to see the power of the Christian, “Yes.” In seeing you live out your discipleship, it saves me from yielding to the cacophony of distractions that are part of life. An image came to mind for me about our parish during this Lent. You all were like a tree with your roots stretched out. No matter how much water was offered, you drank it in. You kept saying, “Yes.” I am grateful for that. Your drinking in what Christ has offered will undoubtedly produce great fruit. The week ahead offers so many graces to us. I hope that you keep drinking them in. Seeing your example encourages me to stretch out my roots and to drink also from Christ, the Living Waters. Together, on the Road with You, Fr. David Barnes

St. Paul in his First Letter to the Thessalonians writes, “Encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thes 5:11). I remember some years ago hearing a priest say that every week when a particular parishioner would leave Mass, she’d tell him how wonderful his homily was. One particular day, he knew he had not preached particularly well, and as the woman was approaching him, he thought to himself, “Please don’t let her praise my homily, because if she does, I’ll never be able to believe another single compliment she ever gives.” When the woman approached with her usual smile and joy, the priest braced himself, but she said, “Father, those vestments are absolutely beautiful!” True encouragement always has to be rooted in the truth. Telling someone who just struck out each time at bat that he really hit the ball well is patently untrue. As such, it doesn’t really encourage the person. In that situation, perhaps true encouragement might be more like, “Tough game, but I admire your perseverance and how you get up at each bat and give it your all.” Encouragement goes a long way in the Christian life. Encouragement points out the ways in which someone is responding to the graces that the Lord is giving to that person. We should never encourage a person to commit sin or to remain in sin. That is always a disservice to the person. That would be like the Good Samaritan seeing the person beaten up by the side of the road and saying, “You’re fine.” That is patently false and unhelpful. Instead, true encouragement stops and acknowledges the wounded person. The man left by the side of the road for dead was in a bad situation. But, the Good Samaritan offers hope. He not only shows the wounded man that there is a way out of his situation, he brings him to a better place. True encouragement helps us to move forward by showing a way forward. The way forward is often identifiable by pointing out where the Lord is present here and now. This is especially true in the confessional. Probably one of my most often repeated phrases in the confessional is, “No discouragement.” Sin is bad, but discouragement is worse! There is always a way forward from sin. A person is never locked in the past. The confessional shows that there is a way forward. Mercy moves us forward. Step by step. The person who doesn’t pray much? Well, I’d want to encourage them by pointing out that here they are in the confessional praying for mercy. The person who confesses pride? I’d want to encourage them by reminding them that they are now humbly kneeling before God asking for forgiveness... What could be more humble than that? The person who struggles with purity and chastity? I’d encourage them by pointing out that in a culture that mocks purity and chastity, what a wonderful grace the Lord has given to them that they actually desire it. To the person who hasn’t been to confession in a long, long time? Isn’t it great that you responded to God’s grace to be here now? To the person who lies? I’d want to encourage them by pointing out that here they are confessing the truth. That’s God’s grace at work. Encouragement is not flattery. Encouragement is to spur someone forward by pointing out the truth that holiness is possible. To encourage someone is to say, “The Lord is doing this good thing in you. I see it. Keep going!” Flattery isn’t about helping the other person. It is about making me look better to the other person. Encouragement, on the other hand, is about helping the other person to move forward. It is for them. Encouragement is not only about helping someone move away from sin. It is also about helping them to advance in the life of grace. Pointing out the ways in which someone is living the Christian life is a source of encouragement for that person. It helps them to remember that they are walking along the way, and that way is Christ Himself. It pulls them along. I am encouraged by all of you. All the ways that the Lord is filling you with His graces and all the ways that you respond to those graces is a source of encouragement to me. It makes me want to follow this Way even more and to never be discouraged by my own weakness. As we draw closer to Holy Week, let us be more firmly resolved to the Way that is Christ. And let us help one another to stay on this Way. “Let us encourage one another and build one another up.” Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes

Recently I have heard from several young married couples how much they love our parish and how they wish they could stay here, but that they cannot afford to purchase a home in Stoneham. Their comments made me both sad and grateful. Sad because I do not want to lose the presence of these beautiful families from our parish. Grateful because all of you, by God’s grace, have made this parish into a place where young families want to come and stay. If you are looking to add something to your prayer list, perhaps pray that more faithful Catholic families might be able to find homes in our community. The presence of faithful Catholic families enriches our parish and is a sign of life. Who knows, maybe a way will be opened up that will allow these families to live here and be a blessing to us? Frs. Patrick, Sijo, and I heard all of our St. Patrick School students’ confessions during the past couple of weeks. I am grateful that their administrators and teachers provide them with excellent formation beforehand which allows the students to be truly prepared to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Learning to trust the Lord with our sins at a young age is an excellent formation for the future. By learning how to make a good confession, a person learns that God’s Mercy is reliable. We can trust God with anything and he will forgive us. It makes me so happy to know that our students are learning this. As Lent draws quickly towards Holy Week, I want to encourage you to go to Confession before Easter. Since November, I’ve lost some weight. Before that, I knew I had gained weight. I knew I needed to do something about it. Every time I saw the scale in my room, I avoided stepping on it because I knew it would be bad news. So, I knew I weighed too much, but stepping on the scale seemed like something to avoid. If I didn’t actually see the bad news, I could pretend like everything was fine. That’s what sometimes happens with Confession. Every Catholic knows that they should go to Confession. Every Catholic knows that they NEED Confession. But, oftentimes they are afraid to step on the scale. So, they pretend like they’re fine. And what happens? The longer they wait to go, the more they carry all this weight around. It gets heavier and heavier. It becomes ridiculous. Now, unlike the real scale that can only tell you the bad news but not fix it, Confession is so much better! When we go to Confession and acknowledge all of our sins, the Lord takes the weight of our guilt away immediately. Sure, we have to commit to doing some future spiritual training and commit to avoiding sin, but the weight of guilt disappears immediately. (Oh, if only the bathroom scale were so powerful!) Now, the longer you put it off, the more difficult it gets. And you play mental games with yourself, but deep down, you know you need to do it. And it is often the case that you carry around all of this anxiety and guilt for so many years, and the longer you put it off, the more you feel guilty about putting it off which makes you put it off even more. And then, a person like that comes to confession and says, “It’s been fifty years since I’ve been to confession” and lists all of these sins that they’ve been carrying around with them forever. They’re embarrassed by some sins. They’re ashamed of some sins. They are terribly guilt-ridden by some sins. Some sins were so long ago and they want the priest to know that they’ve changed since then. And having carried all this weight around forever and been afraid to step on the spiritual scale, they do it. And a lifetime of guilt is wiped away. Gone. There is nothing–absolutely nothing–that you can confess that the priest hasn’t heard before. Don’t let sin and embarrassment hold that kind of power over your life. Just confess it and be set free. I’ve run out of space, but maybe I will write or speak more about confession in the weeks ahead. Either way, chances are, you could afford to lose a few pounds (or maybe a lot of pounds) of guilt weight. I pray that all of us have the courage, the Faith, and the Hope to go to Confession soon. Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes