Dear Friend,

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Reflection by Rev. Msgr. Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D.

The end of the second week of Lent takes me back to the beginning – to the first line of the first reading on the first day, Ash Wednesday: “Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart” (Joel 2:12). It is perfectly coupled with the Gospel passage for today, the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). In these readings, I hear Jesus saying to me, “Joseph, let me reclaim your heart – for me, for my purposes, with my love.”

The entirety of Lent is a reminder of who has the first claim on our hearts, yours, and mine. Our hearts are invited to recall that the love of Jesus doesn’t simply call us. The love of Jesus also brings us back. The love of Jesus is always reclaiming.

Reclaiming our mistakes.

Reclaiming our missteps.

Reclaiming our misunderstandings.

Jesus desires to make us his own again … and again, even with our poor attempts at returning to him. He shows us “an excess of love” (Cardinal Mendonca) and invites us to allow his merciful love to transform us, rebuild us and reclaim us.

As we make our way next week into the second half of the Lenten Season, may we give Jesus our fears, our hesitations, our sadness, and our grief. God’s love alone frees our hearts from anything and everything that holds us down.

And so, we trust. We trust the One who first claimed our hearts. The One whose face beams with an excess of love for you and me.

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Rev. Msgr. Joseph Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., Vice Provost for Academics and Catholic Identity Seton Hall University and Rector/Dean Emeritus, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. He holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum, Rome, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Fordham University. He has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, the Archdiocesan Vocations Board, and the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University. Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain to His Holiness in 2005, with the title of Reverend Monsignor. In 2016 during the Holy Year of Mercy, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization sought priests who were living signs "of the Father's welcome to all those in search of His forgiveness." He was the only priest from the Archdiocese of Newark formally commissioned as a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis.