Father Kevin A. Codd

The opening lines of the ancient Irish prayer, "The Breastplate of St. Patrick," reminds us of how for earlier generations of Christians, the Trinity was not just a theological or doctrinal notion that just had to be accepted, it was a truth that undergirded their lives. They bound themselves to the Trinity!  How? Why? Because they experienced it in their lives!

The Jewish feast of Pentecost, ("Shavuot"), has much to teach us about our own Christian Pentecost. The new Law of the Spirit, not imposed from above, fills us with grace from within and sends us fearlessly into the world to share the good news of Jesus' own Passover from death to life. 

The eyes of Jesus' disciples are fixed on the heavens as Jesus returns to his Father. But it is Earth with her many miseries that needs their apostolic attentions now. 

"Oh, what a beautiful city!" That wonderful opening line to one of the great African-American spirituals calls to mind the image of the New Jerusalem come down from heaven found in the Book of Revelation. The hope that that hymn rejoices in calls us all to hope in the ultimate victory of God in our world. 

Grief is hard to bear almost always. It is all the more difficult when the grief is for someone who dies before his/her time...and still more difficult when the death is a terrible injustice. Such was the grief of the disciples of Jesus. The Easter mysteries open their eyes and hearts to something greater than their grief, greater than the grave. 

Father Kevin was honored to be invited to offer a reflection to the priests of the Diocese of Yakima during a day of prayer in advance of the annual Chrism Mass in which the priests renew their ordination promises. He chose as his text the story from Luke's Gospel of the three temptations faced by Jesus in the desert at the beginning of his public ministry, retelling the story then making a simple application to the lives and ministry of parish priests today. 

A stone is a stone is a stone...but once picked up by one of us, it can become something much more...even an instrument of execution. This story from Luke's Gospel of a woman about to be stoned, but rescued by Jesus' words, "Let the one who has not sinned cast the first stone," reminds us of just how important it is for all of us to drop our stones as well.

Jesus tells a story, the lessons of which continue to speak to us and prophetically challenge us to take stock of how we treat one another and how well we share the blessings we receive in this life.

To understand how Jesus understood and knew himself, this extraordinary parable is the key to his opening his mind and heart to us so many centuries later! 

In this fourth installment of Father Kevin's Lenten Reflections, we go deep into one of the great stories of John's Gospel, the healing of the Man Born Blind (John 9). Through the compassionate opening of his eyes, he comes to see the Light of the World, even as those around him sink ever more into the darkness of spiritual blindness.