News - March 2023 RSS Feed

Palm Sunday ushers in Holy Week - a time of unique solemnity in the Church year. I remember that even as a young child, I knew there was something special and unusual about Palm Sunday - not the least of which was the very long reading of the Passion! We begin this week with acclamation and glory, betrayal and arrest, suffering and death - only to end it in victory and glory again one week later on Easter.

Last month we reviewed St. Ignatius Loyola's 14 Rules for Discernment of Spirits for Week One of The Spiritual Exercises. This month we consider the 8 Rules for Week Two. Once again, I have attempted to be faithful to St. Ignatius' thought and intent while putting these Rules in understandable language and concepts. And also, once again this month, I respectfully dedicate this to the Memory of Fr. Harold Cohen, SJ, who taught me and directed me in the Rules for Discernment of Spirits.

The past two Sundays we have seen the themes of water and light. Today is that of life, specifically new life. The prophet Ezekiel refers to restoration and life. In the gospel, Jesus proclaims resurrection and life. The role of the Spirit to bring new life is brought out, especially in the second reading. It calls to mind the saying of Jesus, "It is the Spirit who gives life" (John 6:63).

Just as water was the theme that flowed through the readings last Sunday, so today, the theme of light shines forth in the liturgy. St. Paul tells us that we are "light in the Lord" and Jesus proclaims that he is the "light of the world" as he heals the man who was born blind.

In high school - a very long time ago - we studied a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge called "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," with these lines: "Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink." I was reminded of that by today's readings which speak a great deal about water.  We thirst for natural water but even more so for the water of eternal life that Jesus alone can give us.

The Second Sunday of Lent is always "Transfiguration Sunday." The gospel depicts the Lord Jesus giving his three apostles a "taste of glory" to prepare them for what is to come. The first readings on Sundays during Lent this year take us through salvation history in the Old Testament. Today we hear how God calls Abram to leave his ancestral land - Ur of the Chaldees - to go to the land of Canaan.

Are you serious about wanting to follow the Lord and receive His direction? If so, you would probably agree that it's not always easy to hear the Lord or to figure out exactly what to do in the concrete circumstances of life. If there is an acknowledged expert in this whole area of discernment, it would have to be St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, whose masterpiece, The Spiritual Exercises, contains specific Rules for Discernment of Spirits.