Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

1. Lectio

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.”

Matthew 5:17-19

The task laid before us is not to stop digital innovation, but rather to guide it and to be aware of its ambivalent nature. It is up to each of us to raise our voice in defense of human persons, so that we can truly assimilate these tools as allies.

A possible alliance

If the Centennial pillar of Communion calls me to raise my voice for the dignity of the human person, am I helping guide technology so it serves communion—or am I remaining silent while these tools shape our relationships instead of helping fulfill our call to truly encounter one another?

2. Meditatio

I once bought a horse trailer even though I do not own a horse.

This is the sort of sentence that sounds ridiculous until one remembers that human beings frequently acquire tools for purposes that have not yet appeared in their lives.

The immediate reason was a boar named Quasimodo who needed transportation. The deeper reason, I suspect, was optimism.

Unfortunately, my optimism collided with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

It turned out that my excellent bargain was not registerable, which transformed the trailer from a useful instrument into a very expensive paperweight.

But Providence, like a good humorist, has a way of turning paperweights into parables.

For the grandkids discovered the trailer.

And within days the useless horse trailer had been magnificently transformed into a castle, a playhouse, a fortress, and occasionally a pirate ship.

What had utterly failed to fulfill its intended purpose suddenly succeeded far beyond expectation.

Eventually I did manage to navigate the bureaucratic labyrinth and make the trailer legal. Now it occasionally carries livestock guardian dogs to the vet or sheep to processing.

Perhaps someday it will even transport an actual horse.

Yet I cannot shake the suspicion that the trailer has already fulfilled its highest purpose when the grandkids are visiting The Glenn.

For a thing’s true fulfillment is often discovered not in its original plan but in its unexpected joy.

And perhaps that is what Christ means when He speaks of fulfilling the law.

The Pharisees believed the law’s purpose was obedience.

Christ reveals that the law’s purpose is life.

The commandments are not abolished—but fulfilled when they become something living rather than merely something legal.

3. Contemplatio (Chestertonian Synthesis)

Christianity does not destroy ordinary things—it makes them extraordinary.

A law becomes love.
A command becomes a calling.
A cross becomes salvation.

The genius of Christ is that He fulfills everything by making it more itself.

Spending a life serving the poor, forgiving injuries, and trusting that charity settles accounts is far more effective than justice alone.

The law was never meant merely to regulate human behavior.

It was meant to lead humanity into communion with God.

And Christ fulfills it not by tightening the rules but by revealing the heart behind them.

4. Oratio

5. Actio — In Light of Laudato Si’ and Synodality

When all these relationships are neglected, when justice no longer dwells in the land, the Bible tells us that life itself is endangered. We see this in the story of Noah, where God threatens to do away with humanity because of its constant failure to fulfill the requirements of justice and peace: “I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them” (Gen 6:13).

Laudato si’ §70

Human creativity can transform even what seems useless into something life-giving when guided by love and responsibility. Synodality invites us to listen to one another so that our gifts—like unexpected trailers or unexpected people—can fulfill their true purpose in the community.

Today I will notice one ordinary thing or responsibility in my life and ask how it might serve others more creatively.

6. Song Pairing 🎵

🎶 “Fulfill Your Need” — Smokey Robinson🎵

7. Movie Pairing 🎬

🎬Movie: Big (1988)

My Story

• Bishop Matthiesen, who rode the white horse of public activism even as he brought abusive priests into our diocese such as John Salazar—wounds that still mark us today. I spoke with him often, pleading with him to reconsider his “no regrets” about bringing those priests here…
• Bishop Yanta, who sought to enforce the Dallas Charter even when Bishop Matthiesen resisted him, and who bore the personal and pastoral cost of doing so. I met with Bishop Yanta about Bishop Matthiessen’s “no regrets” stance. He listened. He believed me. He acted where he could. And when he retired, he urged me—quietly but firmly—to keep speaking out.
• Bishop Zurek, who told the Diocese of Amarillo he had “no facts” about the Philadelphia report even as Amarillo’s connection to that tragedy was headline news. When I continued to speak out, as Bishop Yanta had once urged me to do, he later wrote that I was not among the faithful and loyal disciples whom the Lord Jesus desires.
• Bishop Daniel Cardinal DiNardo…

While we recognize your thoughtful suggestion for a renewed dialogue on Bishop Matthiesen, the present circumstances do not present an opportunity for it. I think it would foster division not dialogue. We remain confident in God’s providence and hopeful for what the future may bring.

from a letter dated March 5, 2026