As a lover of history, I have always admired James Madison, the fourth president, the Father of the Constitution, and the namesake of our beloved city.
His historic home in rural Virginia, Montpelier, was recently restored to its original look and integrity.
In the course of time, the DuPont family had purchased Montpelier, constructed wings on each side of it, and fundamentally reconfigured its interior plan.
I had the opportunity to tour the home, both during its restoration and after the project was finished. I found it all very fascinating — the painstaking study to ascertain the original look of the house, the careful deconstruction of the innovations, and the profound desire to help visitors experience history as a living reality.
Reflections on the readings
The readings this Sunday are all about restoration.
In the First Reading from Chronicles, we hear how the leaders and people of Israel abandoned the sacred Covenant with the Lord, practicing evil abominations of idolatry.
As a result, the Babylonians invade Israel, destroy the Temple, and take the Jewish people into slavery in Persia.
In the course of time, a new king of Persia, Cyrus, frees the Israelites, sending them home with material help to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
This second Temple was the one existent at the time of Jesus.
This narrative is one we see throughout the Scriptures; the tragedy of sin, death, and destruction caused by a rejection of God.
In both the Second Reading from Ephesians (2:4-10) and John’s Gospel (3:14-21), we hear how our merciful Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue us from sin and death, to restore us to our dignity as beloved children of God.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This verse, a fundamental proclamation of the kerygma, the essential message of the Gospel, is often visible on placards at sporting events as a way to give witness to the Christian message.
When you think about it, our Catholic faith is all about restoration — God wanting to forgive our sins, heal our wounds, and speak His love to us, so that we can live as His beloved sons and daughters, washed in Baptism, anointed in the Holy Spirit, and nourished with the Eucharist.
Think of the Prodigal Son, returning home, emaciated, penniless, dirty, tired, and lonely.
The Father embraces him, dressing him in fine clothes, with a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, throwing an extravagant home-coming feast.
This is what spiritual restoration looks like — knowing we are loved, freed and forgiven, pledged for eternal life, plunged into the saving life of the Most Holy Trinity.
Just like the historians who restored Montpelier, and the architects who rebuilt the Temple, so too we need to study the Scriptures and the Catechism to understand better God’s plan and purpose for us.
How else can we know who we are meant to be? How else can we even arrive at the Father’s house?
This Lent, through our practices of prayer, almsgiving, fasting, penance, and repentance, we are giving space, time, and opportunity to let the Lord take away all within us which is not of Him.
He wants to put back together the broken pieces of our lives which sin has shattered, so that we can truly be His masterpiece!
The mission of the Church is to evangelize, to share with everyone we meet the astonishing Good News of the Gospel, as we hear it in the readings this Sunday.
We do this most profoundly by living the faith ourselves, for once we experience Jesus in His saving power and transformative love, we want for everyone else the promise of eternal life which we ourselves have received.
Rescued people want to rescue others, those who have been healed want to heal others, those who have been forgiven want to forgive others.
Continuing evangelization
Last month at the Rite of Election, 240 catechumens and candidates in our diocese came together to formally prepare for their reception into the Catholic Church this Easter, many of them college students from our campus parishes.
Whole families, Hispanics, young and old, all with a story of how family and friends had witnessed Jesus to them in such a powerful way, that they made the decision to join us in the communion of the Church.
Their joy, excitement, and tears moved all of us in the renewal of our Baptismal commitment. Please pray for them.
I urge all of us to continue to go and make disciples, to persevere in witness to the primacy of Christ and His holy Gospel, so that every person in our diocese comes to salvation through faith in Jesus and membership in His Church.
God so loved the world that He sends us as witnesses to the death and resurrection of Christ, which heals and restores us as beloved children in His house.