Dear Parishioners,
The third temptation in the desert stands out to me this weekend: for Jesus to throw himself off the temple and see if God or his angels will “catch” Jesus. Jesus’ response is enlightening: “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
It wasn’t that God wouldn’t have caught Jesus; that the temptation by Satan was a trick to have Jesus kill himself. God would have provided. Just like when Jesus invited Peter to come out onto the stormy sea and walk on water. Peter was able to walk. God provided for Peter.
It’s that Satan’s proposal is an offer to doubt. Satan didn’t care about Jesus flying, just like he didn’t care about Jesus’ hunger being alleviated (the first temptation) or Jesus being given power (the second temptation). Satan wanted Jesus to question whether God would actually come through.
This is a temptation we are all faced with constantly. Will God deliver for us?
We often feel we’ve been led to the parapet of the temple, so to speak. We are in a challenge and Satan is whispering in our ear to see if God will really take care of us. You felt called to a marriage and now the marriage is rocky. You felt called to have children and now you are stressed and overwhelmed. You felt called to take a particular job or to retire, and you aren’t satisfied. You are waiting for more clarity and for more of a connection from God in your prayer life. Whatever the challenge might be, you wonder if you should “jump” and force the issue. Maybe that will wake up God to your cause.
Don’t jump. Don’t let yourself fall, but, rather, lift your heart up to God. Stay firmly planted and surrender. Or, as Richard Rohr titled one of his recent books, “fall upwards.”
I think of that song from my childhood by the band Third Eye Blind, “Jumper.” One of the lyrics goes: I wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend…you could cut ties with all the lies that you’ve been living in…
Think of that song when you aren’t sure if God is with you. He is. You might not feel it. And just because you have uncertainty doesn’t mean God isn’t doing something meaningful in your life right now. Stay in the uncertainty. Lean into the difficulty of the moment and you’ll see that God actually has been carrying you all along.
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A reminder we will have a Family Mass in the Holy Family Chapel this Sunday, March 9th at 10:30am. The next Family Mass will be next weekend, March 16th at 10:30am. A special note that due to Palm Sunday, Easter, and Spring Break, there will be no Family Mass in the month of April.
Stations of the Cross on Friday, March 14th at 7pm in the upper church will be hosted by our CRUX teen group. All are welcome.
Next Saturday, March 15th is the First Communion Retreat beginning at 9am in the Holy Family Chapel with a teaching Mass, and followed by a baking bread exercise in the gym for the parents and children. A special thank you to Anna Mae Parkhill and her team for organizing this wonderful event. The next date for the retreat will be April 5th.
Over the past month you’ve probably noticed some construction going on in the church in the belltower, as well as outside the upper church sacristy window in the back of the rectory. We also closed part of the parking lot this past week. We’ve been replacing the chiller unit in the church. The old chiller, which was from 1950 and is located in the belltower, has been removed. This was a substantial project and required a bit of demolition. We also created a new door in the roof above the sacristy so the new unit can be accessed more easily and safely. The new unit is set to be installed in early April. We will keep you posted on the plans and any possible disruptions. A special thank you to our maintenance team and some dedicated parishioners who have been helping oversee the extensive project.
Finally, in case you missed the news from last week, I have been appointed the administrator of Our Lady of Ransom Parish in Niles, in addition to maintaining my responsibilities as pastor of St. Paul of the Cross.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. James Wallace