Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

1. Lectio

God makes a covenant with Abraham—
not a contract of equals,
but a promise of presence:

“…to be your God…”

The Psalm reminds me that God remembers—
even when I forget.

“Not once, not occasionally—
but forever.”

And then comes the warning:

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

For the voice will come—
but the question is whether I am listening
or merely speaking to myself.

And in the Gospel, Christ confronts the deepest illusion:

“Who do you make yourself out to be?”

And answers with divine simplicity:

“If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing.“

2. Meditatio

Recently, I heard someone say, quite calmly,

“I don’t think of myself as being religious.”

And I must admit—
I cringed.

For I immediately thought of myself:

Daily Mass.
The Liturgy of the Hours.
The Rosary.
Lectio Divina.

If these are not the marks of a religious man,
then what, I wondered, could possibly qualify?

My instinctive response rose up,
almost with comic force:

“Of course I am religious.”

But then came the quieter voice—
far less flattering,
and far more truthful:

“Why?”

Why do I do these things?

Is it, perhaps, to make something of myself?
To build a certain image?
To reassure myself
that I am, indeed, a man of faith?

For if so, then Christ’s words strike with uncomfortable precision:

“If I glorify myself,
my glory is worth nothing.”

Which is a devastating thought—
that one could spend a lifetime doing holy things
for unholy reasons.

And yet, the same voice offers a strange liberation:

If I do these things not to glorify myself,
but to know Him—
to be known by Him—
to belong to Him—

then perhaps I need not call myself religious at all.

Perhaps I may simply say:

“I am trying, however imperfectly,
to love.”

3. Contemplatio (Chestertonian Synthesis)

Chesterton might say that the greatest confusion of the modern man
is not that he thinks too little of himself—
but that he thinks of himself too often.

We are forever making something out of ourselves—
an identity,
a reputation,
a story.

Even our virtues become props
in the theater of self-importance.

But Christ does something extraordinary:

He refuses to glorify Himself.

Which is, paradoxically,
why He is glorious.

For the man who seeks to make something of himself
ends with very little—
while the man who forgets himself
finds that God remembers him entirely.

The covenant is not built on what I make of myself,
but on what God makes of me.

And that is a far more reliable arrangement.

4. Oratio

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

Paying attention to this manifestation, we learn to see ourselves in relation to all other creatures: “I express myself in expressing the world; in my effort to decipher the sacredness of the world, I explore my own”.[59]

Laudato si’ §85

authentic human flourishing is not self-centered,
but rooted in relationship—with God, with others, and with creation.

Today, I will step outside of myself:

• I will listen more than I speak.
• I will serve without announcing it.
• I will recognize Christ in others rather than reflecting on my own virtue.

To walk synodally
is to walk together—
not as individuals performing for one another,
but as persons accompanying one another.

For communion begins
when I stop making much of myself
and start making room for others.

6. Song Pairing 🎵

🎶 “All by Myself” – Eric Carmen🎵

7. Movie Pairing 🎬

🎬Movie: “Me, Myself and Irene” (2000)

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