December 30, 2012

Bulletin: Holy Family December 30, 2012

1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28; 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24; Luke 2:41-52
What was family life like with Mary, Joseph and Jesus? The custom of the time had their parents living with them; I wonder if Joseph and Mary did? What was my family like? What was the holiness in my family? Every family has God present…and if God is welcomed, there is holiness. So what was holy about my family? Did I accept it or was I concerned with me and what I wanted, most kids are, and I was not an exception. So how much of the holiness was absorbed with me not getting my own way or because of the ‘disputes’ between my sisters and my brother?

Diane Bergant and Fr. JamesWallace CSsR, two noted scholars in “Living the Word” say this,

“If you were to choose an adjective to accompany ‘family,’ what would it be? Holy? Or is it more likely to be ‘dysfunctional’? …

And yet, granting that every family, like every person, is imperfect and on occasion wounds each other in both small and big ways, we do find holiness in families. It is the holiness that we see in Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, who cared for and respected each other, a holiness that witnesses to the power of God’s grace at work in hearts open to it.”
So am I open now to God’s grace working through me to help family, extended family, close friends who are really family to me? The bottom line is that it’s tough to be family. It’s tough to model lives on the Holy Family. As one author said, “In trying to live a life of family love, we are reaching beyond the stars to become like God.” So what is there in me that prevents me from ‘reaching beyond the stars? It’s a simple answer; it’s me! What was that famous Pogo line, I have met the enemy and he is I. The actual quote is, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” And I think the real enemy is that I just don’t love me the way that God loves me…and I might add I don’t think that God could love me when I don’t love me. This is a constant battle I wage within myself.

One author says the Dennis Linn & Matthew Linn‘s book on ‘Healing Life’s Hurts; Healing Memories through the Five stages of Forgiveness’ is the most complete book on inner healing that he has ever read. I quote from the Linn’s book, “All Americans suffer some emotional instability. Some psychologists say that seventeen out of twenty of us are neurotic and one in five will be treated for mental illness because Jung is right. Even illness which seems to be organic, as illness that is hereditary or due to an imbalance of endocrine secretions, is often triggered and prolonged by a lack of self-love.

Unfortunately, when we don’t love ourselves, we behave in a way that makes it harder to love ourselves. We cover our insecurity by broadcasting our success, criticizing whoever isn’t present, renting a dark corner for our shyness, becoming overextended and unable to say ‘no,’ criticizing ourselves to get sympathy, taking no risks that might final, and agreeing with those who like the weather and those who don’t. It’s a vicious circle in which we become less lovable the less we love ourselves.

Lack of self-love is the root of all sin. I get proud and stand on my soapbox when I am frowning at myself inside. When I am angry at myself, I jump down another’s throat. Lust attacks when I need intimacy to assure myself that I am lovable. Sloth anchors me when I feel I have little to give. The graph of when I loved myself most and least in my life matches the graph of when I sinned most and least. When I most need to experience God’s acceptance, I feel He is most distant because of my sin.”
And God absolutely loves me all the time and this was why He sent Jesus: to let me know and each person know that I am loved, that we are loved unconditionally, all of the time. I have a sign in my office given to me by my sister, “Remember … Ask God how much He is loving me right now … “ I have found that I have to repeatedly have to look at this…reflect on it…and be still…so that I can un-busy myself and L I S T E N !!!
So I go and look at Jesus and how He showed His love and how I need to show love in His family of all people:
Mark 6:56…”Whatever villages or towns or countryside He entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him that they might touch only the tassel on His cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.” Do I go to Him when I’m sick over myself and my sins? He does love me.
Mark 10:13…”And people were bringing children to Him that He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them, When Jesus saw this He became indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.’ Then He embraced them and blessed them, placing His hands on them.” And He does this to me…embracing me in love…so why is it difficult to love me when God loves me?
Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” How can I not come to the Lord who is absolutely this in love with me?
Matthew 6:25-26: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you eat (or drink) or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? ... If God so clothes the grass of the field which grows today and is thrown into the over tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?” This is the God who cares for me all the time; is totally in love with me. What is my problem with me?
Luke 4: 40…”At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to Him. He laid His hands on each of them and cured them.” Each person is important; He’s saying the same of me.
Luke 15:11…The Prodigal son…the lost son “went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.” Jesus is telling that this is how the Father looks on each person…sinner or saint; so do I come to receive His love?
John 10: 11ff…”I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.” Every time I say Lord, God knows it is my voice calling and He comes in love…in mercy…in compassion. This is what it means to be in God’s family and how God loves me and all.  

Christmas

Bulletin: Christmas 2012

Vigil Readings: Isaiah 62: 1-5; Acts of the Apostles 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1: 1-25

Mass during the Night: Isaiah 9:1-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14

Mass at Dawn: Isaiah 62: 11-12; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:15-20

Mass during the Day: Isaiah 52: 7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18

I’m sitting here and remembering. Rarely did I write a message just for Christmas only when the feast fell on a Sunday. I feel a little bit like the Dickens’ mood of Christmas past; Christmas present; and Christmas future.

I’m remembering my very first Christmas in Virginia in 2002 living with Bishop Sullivan at the Cathedral in Richmond. He was so very special to me and to so many others. He always made me feel welcomed, important and special. He didn’t have to pretend, or put on airs, he just was just naturally a good priest and a priest’s priest. So many have shared stories about Bishop Sullivan and I have many myself; I have always valued our friendship and his specialness. Well that first Christmas in Virginia I was far away from family (those who lived in Virginia were quite a distance away). It’s hard being away for the first time from family. I felt a little bit like Mary and Joseph felt, forced to be away from family and having no idea that what happened was the “First Christmas.”

When did Christmas start? The encyclopedia says that it was by the early to mid fourth century, the Western Church had placed the celebration of Christmas on December 25. The original date of the celebration of Christmas in the Eastern Church was January 6.

I remember when I was young one of the priests of the parish said that the loneliest place on Christmas day was the Church; no one came after the masses to Church to visit the crib. In those days the churches were kept open most of the day. I did venture and go to Church twice maybe on Christmas afternoon and it was quiet, eerie even: no one was there, the lights weren’t on even over the crib and it was still except for the wind and snow outside. I left quickly probably because I was afraid, but why should I be afraid at the crib?
I’ve never forgotten that message and maybe have said it once or twice myself; and I always remember the dark, lonely scene in the Church of my youth. But I have tried to remember and celebrate the ‘manger.’ I was fascinated with my first visit to the Holy Land in 2002. It was toward the beginning of January and in every Church we visited the manger scene was up. There was very little difference in the figures but for the most part there wasn’t any ‘cave’ or ‘shed’ where the Holy Family gathered. For the most part the figures were in the open; maybe under an open air shed; the ground was very hilly and rocky with the figures standing at different available spots. And the figures were definitely Eastern in appearance, not northern European.

So how do I celebrate the manger? I now situate the manger in direct sight from ‘my chair’. I look at the figures and whatever one takes my attention, I just let the mind wander. It travels down memory lane to the manger of my youth, to family celebrations, to reflections on who the ‘visitors were’; what they came to see and what they said and did when they left. Many times I just doze off looking at the manger and feel that it’s no problem because I’m sure Joseph did the same. They probably didn’t stay in that place that long, because I’m sure when a more hospitable living quarters came along, Joseph moved Mary and Jesus there. They had to have some spending money since they asked at inns if there was any room. So now I look at the room that I have for them during this season within myself.

The message I give myself is that I give myself permission to let my mind wander on this scene of the first Christmas and go wherever it goes and I give myself permission to reflect on these wanderings. It really turns into a special reflection. There always seems to be time on Christmas Day especially to do some reflection even when I’m at the family gatherings with the many kids ‘doing their own thing.’ It might be involved in watching the presents being opened; or to give thanks at the meal; or listening to the stories and memories of past celebrations and traditions. I don’t have to be involved in the discussions but I do treasure the reflections. And I look and marvel at the homes and their decorations especially the places they have for mementoes and religious figures. It all comes back to God and His love. Of course the love is shown in His being crucified, dying and rising for me and for each person. “Greater love than this….no one has…but to lay His life down….for His friends... (And I love this part a few verses down in John’s gospel) ‘AND YOU ARE MY FRIENDS.”



So I’m grateful and I reflect:

• What Christmas hymns or carols touch me most deeply this season? Am I taking a few moments to reflect on them? This could be Jesus’ message to me this year?
  
• One image I read says, “Jesus is like a present with packaging that makes you expect something very different from what is actually there.” Do I let God surprise me?
  
• There a lot of powerful words at this time, ‘I love you…I’m sorry…Let’s try again…Don’t worry about it’…That was beautiful…You are precious’. Do I use these or more importantly do I avoid any of these? Why? The answer to that question can help me get in touch with Christmas.

Sacred Space 2013 says:

• The Word lives among us. I let this truth sink in more deeply, giving time to allow joy and gratitude to be my response to God’s act of faith in me.
• Among all the lights of this Christmas, I cherish the light that prayer brings to me. I am reassured by the assertion that darkness does not overcome the light, and pray that all who celebrate this feast may experience light and joy.”    

December 23, 2012

Bulletin December 23, 2012 4^th Sunday Advent C

Micah 5:1-4; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-47

What a wonderful set of readings to prepare for the great feast of Christmas: “God with us.” Not only is God with me and each person every second of our lives; everything works out in accordance with His plan. So am I conscious of God’s movements or am I hung up on the way I want things? I remember a former bishop once giving me some advice when a certain set of people were very controlling … he said, “It’s like when we were kids and playing with some friends…everyone was having fun…but one said, “I want to do this…if we don’t I’m going to take my ball and go home.’ So the bishop said, let them go home with their ball and you enjoy the people you’re with, not those who only want it their way.”
In being ‘tuned in’…‘aware’…’open’ to look at things that happen in my life with eyes on God’s presence and providence, I can see how He is always drawing me closer to Himself and His love and leading me closer to the person He created me to be.
I see in the readings today how God ‘surprised’ the Jewish people with His plans for the coming Messiah. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah; very little is known about him but that he came from a very obscure village in the foothills. The introduction to his writing says “With burning eloquence he attacked the rich exploiters of the poor, fraudulent merchants, venal judges, corrupt priests and prophets.” His writing is short: seven chapters, seven pages. His prophecy today shares how the messiah will come from an insignificant village rather that the Royal City of Jerusalem. This new ruler will rule like a shepherd who leads, protects and provides for those in his care. I look back at my life and the many directions it has taken and the times that I thought, ‘I’ll just never get through this?’ And I did…God was so present…yet how often I just complained and didn’t express my gratitude. Now I look at His way…and it was definitely right…and He led me, protected me and cared for me each step of the way. God’s way enabled me even in the hurts and sufferings to be strong and to touch others with ‘I know how you feel.’
Reginald H. Fuller’s acclaimed work ‘Preaching the Lectionary’ beautifully explains Paul’s epistle today: “This reading is also used on the feast of the Annunciation (March 25), a day with which this Sunday has much in common. It is one of the most important passages in Hebrews, for it defines Christ’s sacrifice as the offering of His body (that is, the instrument of His will) in obedience to His Father. This, says, the author of Hebrews, building upon Psalm 40), is the whole raison d’être of the incarnation. Christ took a body so as to have an instrument by which to offer this perfect obedience to the will of God. The choice of this reading today is a salutary reminder, needed particularly at this time of year, not to dissociate the incarnation from its supreme goal, the atonement. Bethlehem was the prelude to Golgotha.” Paul is telling me that doing God’s will is supreme in my life. Jesus came into the world to do His Father’s will. So what is God’s will for me… to be in heaven forever with Him. How do I accomplish this…by living, by loving, by being Jesus to each person and situation that God places me in? God is where I am at now…the present is the way I am brought to salvation; not the way I would like it to be. And the ultimate example of this is Mary.

She certainly didn’t plan on being the mother of God; she certainly didn’t envision the circumstances around His birth. I’m sure she thought they would live in this nice little house in Nazareth around family and friends. Going to Bethlehem, giving birth surrounded by animals with no creature comforts, and then having to pull up roots and run away from a tyrant who was jealous and watching out only for himself wasn’t part of her thoughts. The predictions by Simeon of the pain and horribleness of what would be offered no comfort I’m sure. But she knew and trusted that God would not desert her; would not embarrass her; would be leading, protecting and caring for her, Joseph and Jesus every step of the way. She comes to Elizabeth to shout out her joy and gratitude to God. Elizabeth is so inspired that she proclaims her faith in the child that Mary is carrying. She realizes that she is in the presence of God and she expresses her joy. How often do I realize that I am in the presence of God? I could say that it happens in church or in joyful celebrations or in the amazing beauty of God that surrounds me. But God is just as present in the street person holding up a cardboard asking for money. He’s in the leper I saw in Haiti that I had such a hard time in embracing; He’s in the beautiful great grand niece that I just christened; He’s in Jesus on the cross with his bloodied body and dying for me and all.

Mary asked for help every day to keep her focus on God and His plan. Did she understand it…NO…did she want to peek in to the future…maybe…but she stayed focused on the now where God showed Himself. These next day’s I’m entering into the stories surrounding the birth of Jesus. God’s Son came into the lives of ordinary people and transformed them. God made these people part of His plan for the salvation of the world. Somehow I’m a part of that plan too; that’s the only way life makes sense. God’s loving plan continues to be worked out in and through me. Am I open to God’s plan? Am I asking for the help that I need to live through each moment of His plan? Do I trust as Mary trusted that God will not desert me, will not embarrass me, but will be leading, protecting and caring for me? So I reflect on thoughts from Sacred Space 2013:

• Do I realize that God is with me each moment but even more importantly God is within me?
  
• So I have the ability and giftedness to share God’s life-giving presence in my body, in my mind, in my heart and in my interaction with others. This is how I envision Mary…do I do this or do I hold more of myself in just for me?
  
• God loves me just the way I am now. Do I love others that come into my life just the way they are ‘now’? What do I need from the Spirit to let this happen?
  
• “When I encounter someone for the first time, do I perceive and respect that person as a son or daughter of God? What about the people I meet on a day-today basis?
  

Sandy Hook Elementary School disaster

A Blog on the Sandy Hook Elementary School disaster

The Catholic Church this weekend is celebrating what is called Gaudate or Rejoice weekend. In looking at the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I’m not very joyful at all. Just imagining the scene with the pain, suffering and the deep losses puts me in another mode with Christmas around the corner. And it seems that the first question that comes out of people’s mouths is ‘Why’; why did God allow this to happen? Why, when we hear the cries of the little ones repeated, ‘I don’t want to die; I just want to have Christmas.’
As I look back on my life I see that God just doesn’t seem to answer ‘why’ questions. He asks ‘what’ questions: What do you believe? What do you need from Me? What do you want Me to do for you? Do you trust Me? And my trust is shaken. On the God side, God has enveloped each precious one who died in His loving arms in heaven where there is no more pain; no more suffering…just love with God forever. I know this but I am still confused.

And I have trouble with why questions myself: why did I fly off the handle; why did I get mad; why do I want to get even; why am I the one that is stepped on? In reflecting on these I see that somehow there is always a failure to love: either, ‘I’m not being loved’; or ‘I’m not loving’; and just about always, ‘I’m just thinking just of me.’

And God loves me…and God loves each person…all the time and He sent His Son to show that love...and He died in a horrific way too. His death showed God’s love. And I continue to struggle in loving and am constantly learning love. And God is patient, persistent and loving. I must continually get out of myself and love; this is probably one of the most important lessons I have learned from the many ‘Christmases’ of my life.

What am I do when I see people so desperately suffering and in need? Definitely pray. The people asked John the Baptist this question and he said to give and share and be conscious to others. Paul told his readers ‘to rejoice in the Lord always’ and then says, “Everyone should see how unselfish you are.” When I am in touch with how God loves me, I open myself to loving those God loves, which is everyone.

I love the story Mother Teresa tells, “One night a man came to our house and told me, ‘There is a family with eight children. They have not eaten for days.’ I took some food with me and went. When I came to that family, I saw the faces of those little children disfigured by hunger. There was no sorrow or sadness in their faces, just the deep pain of hunger. I gave the rice to the mother. She divided the rice in two and went out, carrying half the rice. When she came back, I asked her, ‘where did you go?’ She gave me this simple answer, ‘To my neighbors; they are hungry also!’ I was not surprised that she gave…poor people are really very generous. I was surprised that she knew they were hungry. As a rule, when we are suffering, we are so focused on ourselves; we have no time for others.”

I take a few moments and ask for the grace to be focused on the gifts God has blessed me with and my need to love as God loves; that will get me in touch with the peace and love of God.
And then I reflect on:

• Are there times when Christianity seems inconvenient? Why? Do I give in to the dictates of what the world wants me to do?
  

• Do I really understand the true value of the gift that I have been given this Christmas season, the gift of God Himself each moment of each day?
  

• How important is my faith in my life at this tragic time?
  

• What will be uppermost in my heart these next days and on Christmas itself? Does this involve that I am to be more active in my loving? Shouldn’t I do this each day?
  

• Share the wonderful gift of Jesus…Lord help me with this!
  

December 16, 2012

Bulletin: December 16, 2012

3^rd Sunday of Advent C Readings

Zephaniah 3:14-18; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-16
“What should we do?” This question was asked of John the Baptist by the people who came to see this prophet. The buzz in the crowd was this strange man might be the Messiah or at least a prophet; he talked that way. How many times have I asked this question? I asked numerous times: I asked this to instructors in Pastoral Counseling classes so I could learn how to help people who come with difficulties. I’ve asked this of Chancery officials down through the years; I asked this of people in the Marriage Tribunal to help with people with their Annulments.
Today the people came to John asking how they are can apply his teaching in their lives. So what did John teach them before this passage? In verses 7-10, “He said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers? Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruits as evidenced of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Now John was not unknown to the people. Some had heard the wonderful things connected with his birth; his father Zachary and mother Elizabeth were too prominent for this to be forgotten. And he went to the desert, not following in his father’s footsteps. He was a hermit and a prophet who spoke with new and independent authority. He told people that they could turn their lives over by repenting for the past and to bring religion back into their life. He took the old baptism ceremony of sorrow, forgiveness and reform and gave it a fresh significance. Now his words were direct, forceful, to the point. For John, there was a war on with the evil forces and with those who made religion a soft practice and who did not understand the commands that God gave Moses.
The group that came to hear him today were a motley collection: people not overly religion, common people, tax collectors who were looked down upon, soldiers who were restless and discontented yet whose position gave them the opportunity for every kind of evil; poor Bedouin people from the countryside, not very intelligent, yet who wanted to know; people who lived hard lives working the land and even those who were rejected by most. They wanted to be better and they came to John for hope and to be appreciated maybe even loved; and they had heard that he ‘said it as it is.’ John did that: he changed his tone; he spoke to them as ‘sheep without a shepherd’ and imposed on them no burden heavier than they could handle. He said to follow the duties of their state in life: to be generous with others, to shape up their business practices and to be content with their pay.
What am I to do? Do I add, ‘What is enough?’ John’s injunction is to give my extra coat. Well how many coats do I need? Do I collect and accumulate or am I generous and compassionate? Do I qualify my giving thinking, these people should have worked for what they need…maybe there just lazy and depend on me? So what if they do; does that prevent me from being helpful and aware of their need? No matter what their circumstances are, I have more than they do.
These self discovery questions lead me to deeper introspective questions about my spiritual development. What obstacles do I place within myself in finding this God who loves me always and wants me to love? What reluctances do I place in my daily life in reaching out to others to be Jesus to them? The first step toward removing obstacles is discovering them. I have to name what is happening to me. I have to see that I am not the ‘be all and end all’; it is not about me, it’s about God and how I am being Jesus to those God places in my life. I have to see my life as an instrument for God and of God. To do this I have to change from the old—my way—and live the new way—God. So how do I do this?

John Shea a wonderful author and spiritual guide shared these thoughts: “The crowds asked him, ‘What should we do? Glad you asked. Pick a value. It must be a transcendent value, one that is grounded in God. Not one of those contemporary whims that pass as values, like ‘keeping in touch.’ I mean a real value, like compassion or forgiveness or reconciliation or peace or justice. Something that has some bite in it and will be around long after you’re gone. Something moths and rust cannot consume and thieves cannot break in and steal. For example, let’s take compassion.

Now take ten minutes a day in the morning and meditate on it. Clear your mind of others thoughts and distractions. If they continue to intrude, just notice them and let them go. Return to compassion. It is good to have a phrase to repeat silently and mindfully. Some Buddhists think equality is the path to compassion, and they suggest a phrase like ‘Everyone wants to be happy and doesn't want to suffer,’ As you slowly and silently repeat this phrase that makes you equal with everyone else, pictures of people you know may enter your mind. Simply use their name in the next phrase, ‘Joan wants to be happy and doesn't want to suffer…Frank wants to be happy and doesn't want to suffer,” and every so often say, ‘I want to be happy and don’t want to suffer.’ Now you are in the human mess with everyone else. When you have done this for about ten minutes, get on with the day. Don’t evaluate how the meditation is going. Dismiss all questions like ‘did I do it right? Why am I doing this? Did I waste my time?’ Just continue to do it.

Also you should read some stuff on compassion. Meditation is not enough. Over the long haul it will heighten your awareness of opportunities for compassionate action. But, in itself, it won’t make you much smarter about compassion. You need to read and ponder, to reflect on what you are reading.” And I must work and work each day on my spiritual values to continue to convert and be aware of God leading me closer to Himself. So I reflect on”

• How serious do I feel is John’s scolding to share what I have with the poor and unfortunate? Should what I share come from my excess or from my own need?
• Why do I say that Jesus is the Good News? How important is it for me to reach out to others and share Jesus with them? How can I best do this?
• Do I feel prepared for Christmas? What within me is blocking me?
• Oprah Winfrey has encouraged her viewers to keep a gratitude journal and each day list five things for which they are grateful. She has kept one herself and says that it has changed her life? What am I doing with gratitude?
• Sacred Space 2013 says, “Preparing the way for the Messiah is not simply a matter of belonging to the Jewish nation, John insists. It comes about through repentance: changing the way one thinks and changing one’s lifestyle in practical ways.” How am I doing?
  

December 9, 2012

Bulletin: December 9, 2012

2^nd Sunday of Advent C Readings

Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6
The Lord is bringing each person, each day closer to Himself. Today’s readings help me see that this journey is one that is dependent on me. What am I doing? How am I preparing? Where am I pleased with myself? Where do I find myself lacking? What does God feel about where I am at and how am I progressing? It is so easy to beat myself up for lack of direction and progress. But the Lord isn't ;  He’s just always present; always caring, inspiring, leading, affirming waiting for whatever openings I allow Him to make Himself known.
Jeremiah introduces his secretary, Baruch: “In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Israel, Judah, and all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, in the days of Josiah, until today. Perhaps, when the house of Judah hears all the evil I have in mind to do to them, they will turn back each from his evil way, so that I may forgive their wickedness and their sin. ‘So Jeremiah called Baruch, son of Neriah, who wrote down on a scroll, as Jeremiah dictated, all the words which the Lord had spoken to him.” (Jeremiah 36:1-4)
Like Jeremiah, Baruch would have witnessed the collapse of the kingdom and the destruction of Jerusalem. I’m sure he had thought that if only the King and the people had listened to the prophets, they would have been spared such a tragedy. They didn't. Now I would have imagined that Baruch’s message would be full of doom and gloom but it isn't. As the Reading guide in the Catholic Study Bible says, “Baruch, like Tobit and Wisdom, turns out to be the book for people who are separated or lost, physically or emotionally, from their normal environment. True, many aspects of life today in alien or foreign territory are too unique to our own time to find a witness in Baruch. Yet Baruch helps people, displaced physically or mentally, to get established and going in the right way at pace with God and their neighbors.” What a wonderful message for this season. Baruch is reminding the people that God has not forgotten them; God would bring their sons and daughters back from exile. He would level out a highway to facilitate their return. This promise was fulfilled in Jesus.
Sometimes it seems with all my busyness and craziness that God just isn’t around for me. Not true, I know this; but where is God. God has not forgotten…God remembers me always. It’s nice to be remembered, even in a small way. This is a beautiful thing that someone cares and God cares about me and every person. Not only does God care, but I matter to Him because I am His precious son; each person is a precious son or daughter. This is the good news of God that John the Baptist was sent to announce.
John the Baptist was a fascinating individual. He came from a priestly family and we never hear about his home life; he appears in the desert wilderness. He did his preaching where Moses had ended his journey and Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan to the Promised Land. This crossing became a symbol of their entrance into a new land and new life. God had been with them each and every day of their journey; and so often they ‘did their own thing’ and rejected God. How easy it is to ‘do my own thing’ and not realize God’s presence and love. How easy it is to say that I know what Scripture says and I know and preach God but at the same time I can fail to recognize God when He reveals Himself. God’s own Chosen People believed that they would recognize the Messiah when He came but most of them did not. The name ‘Christian’ means ‘believers in Christ’ yet I and many others can be skeptical when we hear of miraculous happenings or messages from prophetic people. So the reflection for today is how can I recognize God’s presence and action in my life today?
Baruch and John the Baptism help today with this; in reality they are telling me to ‘dress myself up’. This is an unusual but effective way to describe their messages. Baruch tells the captivity people to take off their robes of mourning and misery and put on the ‘splendor of glory’. They have been mourning long enough. Now is the time to put on garments more festive and appropriate. He doesn’t mean to put on ‘your Sunday best’, but show others the splendor of God that is ever so present in my life and each person’s life. God has lifted me up countless times; He has put the right people in my life at the right time to get me back on the right track. He has corrected me and honored me; and loved me at all times. Do I celebrate this? Do others see this in me? Do I show this God who loves me? Am I grateful and do I tell God this?

Now John tells me to ‘dress up’ the inside of me; that’s what his baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins means. ‘Repentance’ is the translation of the Greek work metanoia; which literally means ‘going beyond the mind.’ What does this mean? When I look at my sins, there is something in my mind that wants me to ‘hold on to’ certain sins; my ‘favorite’ sins that I like to call on when I’m angry or lonely or disturbed or when things didn’t happen the way I wanted them to; so I can ‘strike back’ with ‘my sin’. In fact these are the sins that I ‘love’. John is saying that I am preparing for the Lord; I’m on a mission and I have things to do. I have to look directly at my sinfulness and stop, with God’s grace and help, and ‘change’ me. John Shea, a popular writer and theologian, puts it this way, “There is an adhesive quality about sinful experiences. They stick. We remember the beatings, the humiliations, the hateful glances, and the mocking words. The wronged done to us are available to memory in a way neutral and even positive experiences are not. Although the experience of sin begins with being sinned against, we are quick learners in this way of being human. We soon learn to wound others. We engage in hitting, lying, cheating, betraying, etc. We need to protect and promote ourselves at all costs.” The mind focuses on all these things and how do I react; often in the negative. The other side of this is the unconditional forgiveness of God. I have to let God forgive me and help me forgive myself. So what do I have to let go of? So I reflect on:

• I must go beyond the question ‘Will God forgive me? To “How can I go beyond the mind that clings to sin, even though God has forgiven me?
• How do I ‘dress up’ this Advent for Christmas? What needs to be taken off? What needs to be put on?
• My life is full, is it fulfilling? What is overwhelming me? How do I work on my yearning for peace, wholeness and simplicity?
• What does it mean for me to put on the glory of God? How would I be different?   

December 2, 2012

Bulletin December 2, 2012

1^st Sunday of Advent C Readings

Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21: 25-28
Today is the beginning of the Advent season and the gospels this season are taken from Luke. He starts out by defending Christianity against false accusations before a sympathetic audience. Luke’s goal is to put his writing into a more historical perspective, which is all of salvation history. God’s divine plan for the salvation of the world was accomplished by Jesus who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies; and now in His death and resurrection He saved everyone. Luke emphasizes that Christianity is a legitimate form of worship in the Roman world, a religion that is capable of meeting the spiritual needs of the Roman Empire. In this light he depicts Pilate declaring Jesus innocent of any wrongdoing three times. At the same time he argues in his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, that Christianity is deserving of the same toleration and freedom that Judaism received from Rome.
Now the people at the time of Luke’s gospel were waiting for the second coming of Christ which would usher in the end of the world. They had witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and so many had fled. They thought this was the beginning of the end. Luke wants to shift everyone’s attention away from this ‘doom and gloom’ thinking. He wants people “each day”, a phrase he uses frequently, to be concerned in living the Christian life. He tells me and each person to do this by identifying with Jesus, who is “caring and tender toward the poor and lowly, the outcast, the sinner, and the afflicted, toward all those who recognize their dependence on God but who is severe toward the proud and self-righteous, and particularly toward those who place their material wealth before the service of God and His people.” (Introduction of Luke found in the Catholic Study Bible).
This has helped me put today’s gospel into perspective. Luke still expects the Parousia will be a reality but he is much more concerned in how I am acting and living as a Christian. The previous verses to today’s reading have this comment in the footnotes, “The actual destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in A.D. 70 upon which Luke and his community look back provides the assurance, that, just as Jesus’ prediction of Jerusalem’s destruction was fulfilled, so too will be His announcement of their final redemption.”
I was reflecting as I was meditating on this gospel what the people who witnessed the horrors of hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York and places near to the eye of the storm were thinking. I was especially trying to place myself with the street people who live under bridges and in alleyways and then the so very poor who live in conditions that I have seen but would never be able to live in. Did they think this was the end? Did they think that they could possibly survive? What about when those whose ‘life packages’ were wrenched from their arms and they had no more belongings, did they have hope? What about the horror of having babies blown away or trampled or swept away in the raging wind, rain and waters? This gospel was for them ‘here and now’; where did they feel their God was? Or what was God doing and why? Questions that came to me and I’m sure there are many more. I was so thankful being spared the fury; I was blessed. Others lost loved ones, their possessions, homes and hope. This gospel is for me to be present to them.
I think that so often I concentrate on my weaknesses, failings and sins instead of concentrating on that I was created in love to be love. I was created to make a difference to those who are in need and that could simply be the one, of any age, who comes in front of me crying, misunderstood, lonely, abandoned, lifeless, hopeless etc. What do I do, worry about the future or reach out and in my stumbled response? So very often when I do this, I am given direct help from God in the words, gestures and care that I give to help these unfortunate people. And I had no idea where it came from; it wasn’t from me…and God cares for every one of His creation, and gifts me to do the same. How blessed I am by God; how grateful I must continue to be.
I read this in ‘Living the Word’ which gives a scriptural reflection for today’s readings: “In Thornton Wilder’s play The Skin of our Teeth, Mrs. Antrobus tells her husband George, that she didn’t marry him because he was perfect, that she didn’t even marry him because she loved him; she married him because he gave her a promise. And she gave one to him. And over the years, as their children were growing up, that mutual promise protected all of them, moving them into the future together.

A promise can open up into an unexpected future, marked by new life. God’s promise spoken in today’s first reading offered hope to a people who had little reason to hope. The hope of a restored Jerusalem, of a descendent of David who would do what is right and just—such promises began to be fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

With Jesus a new age began that promised to bring the old order of chaos and destruction to an end. With His birth a new power entered the world, making it possible to live in love, and allowing men and women to ‘increase and abound in love for each other and for all,’ as Paul writes to the Thessalonians. Total fulfillment of God’s promises remains in the future.

But beginnings offer hope. A new church year calls on us to live as a people of hope in what God can do in our own day. Advent invites us to renew our relationship with the promises of God made visible in the person of Jesus Christ.”
So I reflect on

• If the world would end today, what would be my priorities in those last hours?
  
• What would be important and critical for me to accomplish in the time that was left?
  
• Would part of this be spent on reconciling any anger harbored towards anyone? If so, why did I wait this long? Have I ever asked God to help in this?
  
• How do I contribute through my words and actions to the goodness and harmony of the world in which God placed me? Have I thanked God for His gifts in doing this?
  

Fr. Anthony Kadavil sums it up in this way “Advent is a season of anticipation --- as we await and pray for our God to come to us in a new way this Christmas, transforming us and accompanying us on our journey --- each and every day until we meet Him face to face at the end of time. Now that doesn’t sound so scary, does it?”

November 25, 2012

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33-37
Thanksgiving has ended so also Black Friday; and today is the feast that now is called, ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe’. This is also the last Sunday in the Church calendar year. So often in my memory it seems that the Sunday after Thanksgiving was the 1^st Sunday in Advent, but not so this year. So I reflect on this feast celebrating Jesus as King and say what does it mean to me?
I’m not familiar with kings or queens throughout the world; yet when questions are asked about royalty, I know the answers. How did the US come into existence? By throwing out the king of England. In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue…what royalty was responsible for sponsoring this Italian sailor? Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. What king was not happy with the Catholic Church and has his wife beheaded? Henry VIII. Who are the entertainers called king? Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley…How about the biggest king in NYC’s history on the big screen? King Kong. (A pop quiz from Fr. Michael Hayes).
Now when I look at the life of Jesus, everything in His persona didn't fit into the traditional idea of king. He rejected the idea of being made a king; a crown on His head would be totally out of place because He was surrounded by the poor and the sick; and by those who were looked down upon by society: sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes and gentiles, non-believers. It would be uncomfortable for me to envision Him in a huge castle surrounded by the wealth, trappings and servants all over the place plus the ornate outfits of the court officials. This just wasn't Jesus. But do I honor Him as my King? Is Jesus the King of my heart? He certainly came to conquer hearts; do I let Him be my heart?
The gospel sets a very vivid scene: Jesus in front of Pilate. Jesus was all alone; His followers had all abandoned Him; even those influential people who were won over by His goodness, healing and teaching were nowhere to be seen or heard from. Pilate on the other hand was a powerful man; the chief Roman official of this province. He had the power over the life and death of every person. He had thousands of soldiers at his beck and call. His house was a tribute to his position. So this scene has a supreme ruler and a ‘king’. Yet Jesus was no doubt the greater of the two. And as the scene is played out, Jesus is the one who is in control. Do I place myself in this scene as one of the crowd…one of the accusers…or as Pilate? I think it would be good for me to be there as Pilate. Why…well like Pilate I think I know what is right; I’m in control; my way is the best way; I have education and experience. Yet I fumble, am embarrassed and fall as I try to be the person Jesus showed me and needs me to be, a person of love.
For the Jewish people, the King of the Jews was a messianic title. Those who brought Jesus to Pilate were afraid of losing their power and influence over the people so they wanted to get rid of this upstart who was a threat. Pilate also considered Jesus a threat to Rome and his comfortable position. And Jesus speaks about His kingdom. Pilate and the Jewish rulers had a right to be concerned about Jesus’ claims. Jesus was speaking of God and who God is and what God wants to do for every person: eternal life with Him forever. Jesus says this in the last sentence of today’s gospel: “For this was I born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” What is this truth? John reminds me of this in his most often quoted words of Jesus (Jn 3:16) that God so loved the world that the Father gave His only Son, “so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” So the kingdom is for me? Yes and for each and every person! But what is my response to His rule over my heart?
Fr. Flor McCarthy shares this: “Pilate had power over people; Jesus had influence on them. Jesus made His presence felt simply by the kind of person He was. There was a quiet authority about everything He said and did. And He did speak of a kingdom – the Kingdom of Heaven. His Kingdom represents all those things that the world does not stand for but for which it longs for - all that is right and true, all that is beautiful, just and good. His Kingdom will have come when God’s will for us and creation will be done.”

And I have a role, a big one. I am gifted to bring about in my own way His Kingdom of justice, love and peace. Often this is in places that are not the easiest or the most comfortable places to be. God is present where human need is the greatest and so often He places me there to be Him. Fr. Edward Hayes has a great conclusion for today’s feast: “The values that govern His Kingdom are seen in the lives of those who respond from the heart to the needs of the poor, the powerless, the vulnerable, and those on the margins. What His kingdom is like is glimpsed in the lives of those who, without giving it much thought, reach out to someone in need. It may be family, neighbor, friend, or stranger. No training is required for this. No academic qualifications are necessary. No knighthood. All it takes is an eye to notice, heart to respond, and a will to act, no matter how small the action may seem. So if you seek the Kingdom of God, look around you and be ready to stand by and with Him.” So I reflect on:

• Sacred Space 2012 gives a powerful message: “For Jesus the red carpet is the tattered flooring in a poor house, and the crown is the headache He got from the sufferings of His people. In Jesus, the king, we are all brothers and sisters in the image of God. God is so big that we’re all like Him. What does that mean now? This is the big act of faith that we will soak ourselves in during Advent—that God became one like us, one of us, was born, lived, suffered, and died like the rest of us. The real God is found in real people.”

• Fr. David Knight suggests these reflections: “Which would you rather have? Jesus as King or Jesus as intimate friend? Don’t be too quick to say ‘friend.’ Would you rather have Jesus use His divine power to impose order, justice and peace on earth, or would you rather He just revealed Himself to your heart? Would you rather have Him do for you what a king does or just be for you what a friend is? Would you prefer a God who grants all your requests or a God who simply shares all His thoughts with you?”

• Do I want God to be the lover to me that He wants to be?  
  

November 18, 2012

33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13: 24-32

Last week’s gospel was about the poor widow who gave such a beautiful example of putting money in for the upkeep of the Temple. Then Mark starts the 13^th chapter, these 23 verses are not in today’s reading but are a help to understand it. It’s a wonderful scene: Jesus had just left the temple with His followers and they were looking at the beauty and magnificence of the temple that still was not completed. It was completed seven years before the Romans destroyed it by fire in 70 AD. Well the disciples I’m sure had seen the Temple before but none of them lived in Jerusalem and were not frequent visitors to the capital city. They were in awe and one expressed it in this way, “’Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.’ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple area, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end?’”
Jesus had predicted the destruction of the Temple. Today’s passage starts at the 24^th verse after Jesus had told of more warnings of persecutions, sufferings and false prophets trying to lead people away from His example and teachings. It seems there is always a concern as to when: when will the hurricane hit; when will he propose; when will the world end; when will my life span on earth end and I go on to the paradise that Jesus promised. It is so easy to get caught up in the when. I do; is it curiosity or just wanting to know and not be in the dark. The far more important question for me is what: what am I doing as I live today, as I live my life toward the Lord. If I get caught up in speculation, I don’t pay attention to what the Lord needs me to do with the people in my life right now. At the end of the reading, Jesus says that ‘no one knows when the world as we know it will end, “neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” So what am I afraid of; that is the question? How am I living my life as a follower of Jesus today? I must be continually converted away from my way and to the Lord’s way. Am I doing this?

Fr. Michael Hayes wrote this about today’s passage, “A Japanese airliner crashed and 520 people perished. In the debris, the search group found a pocket calendar of a Japanese businessman with hastily written notes. ‘We’re not going to make it;’ I’m sad,’ To his family he wrote: ‘To think that our dinner last night was the last time we would be together.’ To his three children he wrote: ‘Be good, work hard, and help your mother.’ The end came suddenly like a thief in the night.

The point of Jesus’ remarks today is the same. None of us knows when the end of our life, or all of life on earth, will come. Therefore, we must be prepared always. We accept that, in a general sort of way, but it really doesn’t bother us. Our concerns are more immediate. Somebody once said that for every person who is worried about the end of the world, there must be at least 10,000 who aren’t. This is probably accurate. The challenge facing most of us is how to deal with life as it is, right now, today.”
So the question before me now is: am I walking around in fear or do I realize that Jesus has redeemed me and everyone? Do I realize that temptations will always be a part of my life but through the grace of the Spirit these can make me stronger in my belief and love of Jesus? Do I want to continue in my sinning ways, especially those ‘favorite sins’ of mine or do I realize that the way to closer union and intimacy with the Lord is by total conversion from my ways and living the Lord’s ways?
The point is that whether or not I live to experience the end of the world described by Jesus, I will face trials in my daily life. Some of these are the usual aches and pains of age or of relationships. Some are big, much bigger; but even in these, I am never alone and the Lord is there helping me choose Him. Do I acknowledge my gratitude and ask for help or do I fall back on ‘me’ and my way of selfishness, pride and all the rest? Do I go back to Jesus and see His comforting words that I am and all Christian believers are God’s chosen people, if each is in fact choosing to live lives for the Lord. If I do, I will be saved…whoever does, will be saved. And the Book of Revelation 21:1 shares those comforting words that all of God’s faithful will be resurrected in glory, to live in the new heaven and new earth.
In the ‘Meditations on the Gospel of Mark’ it says, “As we journey along the way, we should never hesitate to cry out to Jesus when we are in need. He who has promised to care for us even through the worst tribulations the world has ever know will see us through our own difficulties. He will not abandon those who have asked Him into their hearts. There He will reside, experiencing both our sorrows and our joys. We have nothing to fear with Jesus by our side.” It is better to realize that Jesus is within…the Trinity is in each person every moment of every day. I and each person are that important…it can only be that way since each was created in love and maintained in God’s love. So do I go within to be with and be filled with the Lord? So I reflect on:

• Sacred Space 2012 sets the tone of my reflection in today’s suggestion: “It is good to find something in life that cannot pass away. We want that: we want it in love, in our friendships, and in our trusting in the future.

The Word of God spoken in love, always a light in life, will never pass away. Prayer is our inserting of ourselves into the reality of that Word and that love.”

• Why do I think that God created me to spend eternity in heaven? What do I think my role will be there?
  
• Which teachings of Jesus can I use to measure how successful I have been at living a good Christian life?
  
• As the end of the Church year comes with next Sunday’s feast of Christ the King, how do I feel about my faith growth this year? There have been a lot of changes in my life each year, there always are; what are my plans for my faith journey as I prepare for Advent and Christmas and next year’s journey?
  

November 11, 2012

32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time B

1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
As I sat down to read the first reading, I looked at the miracles that have been a part of my life and I took a few moments to thank the Lord for them. My mind when back to the time of my birth, or better…the stories I heard growing up. I was in the hospital for one month after birth and it was thought that I might not make it. I’m sure prayers were offered up near and far and here I am 71 years later sharing this miracle and my priesthood.
Then I went and spent time looking more in depth at the readings and reflecting on the marvelous examples given to me as to how I should be grateful and live my life. The first reading from Kings tells of this non-Jewish woman who, being very realistic thought that the end of her life and her son’s was imminent. There had been a severe drought, and she was at the end of her food chain. She was a widow and there was no one to take care of her in this patriarchal society.
There is so much to the story: Elijah comes on the scene. He was sent by God to King Ahab. Now Ahab had lost any sense of spirituality and gratitude to God because of his wife Jezebel who had no respect for the Jewish faith. She instead promoted the cult of Baal, the Canaanite rain-god. So Elijah pronounces that there will be no rain until God sends him word to provide rain. This didn’t move Ahab at all; in fact Elijah had to flee from the anger of Ahab and Jezebel. What does God do to provide? God arranges a widow in Jezebel’s homeland to care for Elijah. In providing her last oil and flour and making the cake; she believed and trusted in the prophets words: God will provide. How much God has provided for me down through these years! My parents and siblings remember my infant hospital stay and prayed and they were answered. So many times, countless times I have prayed and been answered. The prayers have been answered in retrospect by realizing God’s absolute care and love for me. So often I didn’t get what I prayed for; but I did, because it brought me to where I am today: a redeemed sinner; a trying-to-be lover of God and a grateful transmitter of God’s presence and care.
The woman in the gospel tells me where I have to be and what I have to do to be forever grateful and a disciple of Jesus. The scene is the temple in Jerusalem which was the pride of the Jews both in its magnificence and enormity. The huge blocks of cut stone gave it an overwhelming sense of grandeur and permanence. Jesus is teaching his disciples about how to be real disciples by being grateful and self-sacrificing in their care. He contrasts this with the behavior of some of the scribes who liked being ‘looked up at’ and ‘respected’ because of their position of honor, training and accomplishments. Jesus is looking at those in the gospel scene who are hypocritical, phony and showy. I would imagine that these wouldn’t put anything in the treasury if they weren’t being watched. What they gave certainly wasn’t a sacrifice. Yet at the same time they urged the widows to give more to support the magnificence of the temple.

The widow woman doesn’t know any of this and doesn’t pay attention to Jesus or the scribes. She just came to give honor to God; and really she showed her absolute trust in God that He would take care of her. What she gave amounted to a penny; but that was a lot on many a day. But Jesus isn’t looking at the amount; He is looking at how I evaluate myself and what is important. This woman “gave from her want, all she had to live on.” Fr. David Knight puts it beautifully when he states in ‘Living God’s Word’, “Jesus isn’t just saying here that the lady was generous. He is saying that what really matters to Him is not what she gives, but what she is. What matters to Jesus is not what we do for Him but what we become as persons during our time on earth. The only real and lasting value in anything we do is found in what it helps us or other people become. This is what life is all about. This is what Jesus teaches.

Nothing lasts forever except people. And the joy God takes in His creation is in what human beings become through their responses to the world, to other people, and to Him. Everything on earth was created for us, to help us grow to the full likeness of Jesus Christ. And all that we do on earth, all that we contribute of our time, our talent or our treasure, has no other lasting effect except its effect on ourselves or other people because nothing last forever except what we or other people become. The teaching of Jesus about ‘productivity’ or accomplishments is that we should look, not at how much we do or how much we give, but at what we become through the act of doing it or giving it.”
So why did God respond to the prayers of so many at my birth…so that I could be Him during my life and now. So I take this time to reflect on my journey and how I can continue to grow and love more and be filled with gratitude.

• Am I growing each day in my knowledge of Jesus by becoming familiar with His words and His example? Am I opening up the Gospels…am I putting myself in the scenes…am I listening to the Spirit speaking to me? Am I living what I’m reading?
  
• Am I becoming familiar with Jesus’ words and examples and patterning my life on everything He said and did? I preach that everything else I do should flow out of this, but am I doing this?
  
• The best contribution I can make today and each day is that I grow in likeness to the heart of Jesus. This is my gift to the Father; this is my gratitude for living, for priesthood, for ministry. Is this my motive… do I reflect on this each day?
  
• There will be doubts; there will be times of drought; there are times of tiredness even laziness…so I pray, “Lord, You gave me the gift of life and all that goes with it. Show me how to give myself to others and to You.”
  

Sacred Space 2012 says: “Jesus often pointed out that religious appearances can be empty and hypocritical. Let me reflect on that this week.”

November 4, 2012

Bulletin November 4, 2012 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28-34
Jesus directly answered the question of the learned scribe today and His response just tells me what following Him is all about: love God and love my neighbor who includes everyone in my life and everyone in all of God’s creation. So how am I doing with these ‘love commands?’
This was not a ridiculous question or one that was trying to trap Jesus as so many of the scribe’s contemporaries where trying to do. Moses brought the Ten Commandments from God to the Jewish nation and all people. The rabbis had analyzed the Law and determined that it consisted of 613 distinct commandments; 248 were positive and 365 were negative. So the scribe was very sincere when he asked, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” And Jesus did not hesitate at all as He quoted what Moses had written in the Book of Deuteronomy in today’s first reading, “The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Jesus was not saying that the other 613 interpretations were unimportant but He was saying that all of these are summed up in this first great commandment. Now the interesting part is that Jesus did not stop there for He added, “The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” This is from the book of Leviticus. So is there one or two? Sometimes my mind wants me to think this way.
In reality there is only one; the two are as one. St. John in his first letter puts this bluntly: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (I Jn 4:20-21)
So the question comes down to me as to how am I loving? And just as important, do I love myself? These are the questions Jesus is asking me to think about and reflect on. So I can ask how can I tell if I am loving others well? I can compare that with how I love myself but I must be aware of being too pompous or too humble. When Jesus says ‘as you love yourself’ He is guiding me to discover His reflection in me. The old phrase, ‘God doesn’t make junk’ is so true. There is nothing in me that God doesn’t love. Each day He is helping me to see His own reflection in the world around me and in the world inside of me. When I go out of myself and share me with someone, I am sharing God if it’s about His love and His gifts to me. When I do this, maybe I might do it in an outstanding way or maybe I might stumble throughout but if I’m giving of the giving, loving me, I am giving God.
As Msgr. Eugene Lauer, an author who ran the sabbatical program at Notre Dame University said, “This is not vanity. It is in no way a self-seeking vainglory. Rather, it is a healthy realism, openness to the wonder of God in the created universe. What better way could there be to praise God than to have a wildly loving response to the divine imprint everywhere, including the divine imprint inside one’s own being. A false humility crept into the Christian way of thinking about self, especially in the Middle Ages. This false humility in some cases became a despising of self: ‘I am of no value…the lowliest of creatures…’ There is nothing Christian about thinking or speaking poorly of oneself. Such language seems to indicate that God made a mistake in creating ‘me.’ We don’t dare accuse God of that!”
When I understand that I am a creature especially loved by God, how can I not be grateful? And how can I share this loving God with others? I certainly look at wonderful gifts and blessings, but I also see the weaknesses and sins. Jesus sees these too. But He says don’t dwell on them because they could easily draw me to ‘use’ other people and things for my own interests. Jesus knows that if I learn each day to reflect on loving Him within me, than I can be infinitely capable of loving each person who comes into my life and everyone. Why? Because each person is loved in this same way by God; He shows no favorites He just loves and loves.
And Jesus told the scribe, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” It is certainly evident in this wonderful exchange in Mark that this man knew which were the two most important commandments; that’s the first step. The second step for him and for me and every person is to put them into practice. And every time I do it this way, God’s way, I’m not far from God’s Kingdom and this is the same for every one of God’s creation. So I reflect on:

• Jesus takes the scribes question seriously and points me to an interior religion, one of the heart, not of rule keeping or ritual. Do I have the same emphasis?
  
• How is love of God a transforming power within me?
  

From Tom and Karen Sink authors of “This Sunday’s Gospel” I reflect on:

• “What does it mean to love you? Is this kind of love narcissistic? How can love for you be a humbling experience? Why is love of self necessary in order to truly love your neighbor?”
  
• How is your love for yourself and for your neighbor a fitting gift to God? If you believe that you are created in God’s image and likeness, can you ever ignore those around you in this world?”
  
• Do I go to God for what I need today and each day to be a person of love?
  
• Jesus challenges me and every follower to be great lovers. This love is more than a feeling; it is wanting what is best for someone and being willing to do whatever I can, for that person. Now for the person I don’t like, do I pray more often? I should... what holds me back?  
  

October 28, 2012

Bulletin October 28, 2012 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52
“What do you want Me to do for you?” What a wonderful question from Jesus. I believe that it is the one of the key passages that has been a part of my spiritual development and is just as important for each person trying to get closer to the Lord; let me explain.
The scene says so much about Jesus and what it means to be His follower. In Mark 8, Jesus predicts for the first time His passion and death; He repeats this prediction in Mark 9 and a few verses before today’s passage from the 10^th chapter. In each of these Jesus tries to explain His mission but without success. The disciples just wouldn’t listen; they wanted Jesus…the Messiah…to be what they wanted Him to be. They are in opposition to the blind Bartimaeus who wants to see; who wants to know. Also earlier in the 10^th chapter, Mark tells of the rich young man who came to Jesus and asked, “Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus told him to keep the commandments; the young man said that he keeps the commandments but he knew there was more, he just wanted to get closer to God and His love. Jesus told Him that there is one thing lacking if he wants this closeness: ‘Give up your riches; these are too important to you, give them up and you will be able to see God and His love and His calling you closer to Him.’ The man was sad and left because as Mark says, “…he had many possessions.”
So Jesus is asking me, ‘What do you have that is blinding you from Me?’ What is more important to me than striving to live so that I can be in heaven for all eternity?
Mark does not say anything about Bartimaeus outside of his being a blind beggar, and the son of Timaeus. Jesus came along and Bartimaeus ‘cried out’; you would think that the apostles would be sensitive to his needs, but they were insensitive and Mark, writes that they “rebuked him, telling him to be silent.” But Bartimaeus wisely and courageously “kept calling out the more.” Every day the Lord asks the same question of me, ‘What do you want me to do for you’; my response really has to be to cry out that I want to be healed, to be loved, to be helped, to feel God’s intimacy. I can’t understand why the crowd didn’t want Bartimaeus to get to Jesus. It doesn’t matter really because what is wonderfully shocking is that not only does Jesus hear the blind man calling out but He stops and wants to talk to him. Jesus wants this encounter with me and each person every day.
Then the man “threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.” This may not seem like much, but being a beggar, I’m sure this was the only cloak he had to protect him from the elements and he threw it aside. He would also store the coins that he received from his begging in the pockets or folds. So throwing this aside, risking the change that someone would grab it and run, he really gave up possibly everything to respond to Jesus’ invitation. And Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” I look at my own blindness: in my busyness, do I become blind to the people who mean the most to me and to the pursuits that bring joy and meaning to my life? In the craziness of my life do I stop seeing the possibilities for doing good and affirming others? Jesus is always present and comes to restore ‘my sight’ enabling me to realize His presence and to make me aware of the opportunities to be Him. Bartimaeus said, “Master, I want to see.” Don’t I want to see God’s compassion and forgiveness, His mercy and justice in my life and the lives of those around me? To do this I have to stop, throw off the ‘comfort zone’ I am in and disregard the ‘precious things’ I have and be willing to follow and trust Jesus. Do I trust that the Lord is leading me the way I should be going? What do I have to do to throw off whatever shackles me and come to Him?

Fr. John Dear wrote a beautiful book, The Questions of Jesus. He says about today’s passage, “The blind beggar shows us our proper disposition before Christ and His question. We too are poor, blind beggars. We too need to come before God in our brokenness, helplessness, blindness, and poverty. We too need to call out to Christ to take pity on us. If we dare renounce our egos and selfishness and beg for God’s help, we too will hear God ask, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’

The question is beautiful because it not only shows God’s desire to help us, but it reveals the very nature of God. In Jesus, we have a God who is humble, loving and generous, a God who longs to serve humanity, especially in its brokenness, poverty and blindness. Jesus came ‘not to be served but to serve.’ With this question, we see once more how serious He is.

Like all the questions of Jesus, this one requires reflection, not a hasty response. Do we want to sit beside God in heaven in powerful domination over others, like the selfish male disciples did? Do we want eternal life as if it is our rightful inheritance, as if we deserve it, as if we are the great, worthy elite? Or do we recognize our poverty, brokenness, helplessness, and blindness—our need for God, our need for vision—and want simply to see again, to see God face-to-face?

If we come before God as the broken beggars we are, we can trust that Christ will restore our vision, and, like Bartimaeus, we will see God.”
So I reflect on…all the questions I have asked and these:

• Bartimaeus was referred to as the son of Timaeus; the fact that this was stated means that he remained with the early Church community. He wasn’t just cured and went off, how could he? Every time he opened his eyes he could see what God has done for him. What faith; how is my faith? Am I filled with gratitude like this?
  
• Is there really a thing called ‘blind faith?’ If there is one thing in life that isn’t blind its faith. True faith doesn’t always give immediate answers, but it gives meaning and direction. The apostle Thomas ‘saw and believed’; Bartimaeus believed and then was able to see. Where am I in this process of living with God?
  
• What does my faith allow me to see?
  

“Lord Jesus, You heard the cry of a blind man and answered his plea, giving him a new life with You. In our blindness, we sometimes fail to remember how near you always are. Remove any obstacles that prevent us from calling out, trusting in Your mercy and love.”

October 21, 2012

Bulletin: October 21, 2012

29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Isaiah 53:10-11; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45
I have heard the answer to this many times, but I still ask, ‘Why do good people suffer?’ Coupled with this are other questions, Jesus was so good a person why did He have to suffer? Did the Father make Him suffer on purpose? My mother use to say so often when something negative happened to me, “Offer it up for the poor souls in purgatory?” When it was about food that I didn’t like to eat, it was always “think of the poor starving children in China.” At which I volunteered to send them my spinach or fish; that response always got me in trouble. So I have questions, questions and questions, and if I ‘really’ listen, today’s readings can help tremendously to answer them.
What is the role that God plays in suffering is a big question. I can see being punished for what I did or should have done, but what about when I did nothing wrong? What about Jesus; He was all good why did He suffer, and why for ‘little old me?’ Today’s reading from Isaiah is so special to me and to all; in fact it is the most celebrated of Isaiah’s oracles portraying the Suffering Servant of God. Most commentators have understood the servant to be either a real individual or a symbolic figure created to represent the best ideals of Israel. Fr. Lawrence Boadt, an Old Testament scholar, says that today’s passage “expresses in moving language how God uses the undeserved violence against His servant to save other guilty people. It is the only instance in the Old Testament of vicarious suffering. This is the famous ‘Suffering Servant of Isaiah. It is a remarkable passage because it suggests more clearly than anywhere else in the Old Testament that God accepts one individual’s suffering to atone for the sins of others.” The Jewish tradition in the Talmud says that this servant is Moses who suffered as he led Israel through the wanderings in the desert. Early Christian interpreter’s (Acts 8:32-35) identify this Suffering Servant as Jesus.
What can be said is that Jesus throughout His life suffered ridicule and hatred from so many around Him. Ultimately He was put to death, thinking that this would ‘end it all.’ But Jesus did this as an example for me and for everyone. He did this to show that the gift of life was granted by God, not to promote my own interests but God’s. The Fall as seen in Genesis says it all: God said this is My plan, “Adam and Eve’ agreed, and then they wanted it their way. It’s not about my way but God’s way which is the only way that brings me and each person to Him in heaven forever.
Paul tells this in Hebrews saying that Jesus is everyone’s model and strength. His triumph gives me and everyone confidence that each one will experience the mercy and help that is needed, if I do it God’s way.
The Gospel solidifies this: Mark gives the example of two very close to Jesus who wanted it ‘their way’. Sure the others were upset, maybe because they didn’t think of it first or were just jealous. James and John wanted honor and glory; they were looking out for themselves. I wondered if these two brothers bickered among themselves before they decided who would be on the right side and left side of Jesus (maybe Secretary of State and head of the Military). Jesus says importance is found in service not in wielding authority over others. These two said they understood this, but it just shows how little they understood; they couldn’t even understand that Jesus had to suffer and die. He had just made this prediction (His third) in the previous passage (Mark 10:32-34). ‘Will you die for Me? Sure I will!’ I couldn’t say this in truth because I struggle each day in dying to my own selfishness, pride and a host more of things.
Donald Reeves in Sunday Homily Helps says this: “Let’s return to today’s Gospel to listen again to what Jesus has to say. A) Upon hearing His disciples argue over who rates the best seats, He told them they had things all wrong. ‘Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant, whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.’ B) Such teaching is radical, revolutionary, upsetting to the attitude of the culture then and now. But, it is a basic premise of Jesus’ teaching. C) Interestingly, some businesses have apparently recognized the wisdom of this teaching and urge their higher-ups to practice what is called ‘servant leadership.’ D) If corporations can recognize the wisdom of this lesson, surely Christians will have no trouble seeing it and more importantly implementing it. – Would that such was the case! CONCLUSION - Anyone who aspires to greatness must serve others. Quit lobbying for special accommodations in the hereafter. Instead, bend down to help others. Strange as it may seem, that is the way to climb. TRANSITION TO LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST - We continue by moving to a place at the table of the Lord. We can be confident and pleased that there will be no bickering for places.”



So I reflect on:

• When am I tempted to ‘lord it over’ someone else? What do I do? More importantly, why do I do this?
  
• Jesus was tempted and tested in every way and didn’t sin. When do I find this hard to believe?
  
• Do I go the next step and say I have to get rid of sin in my life? Why not? Jesus didn’t mince words on how I can get to heaven—give up my way and do it His way: serve and love…all…at all times.
  
• What does it mean to be humble? Can someone in a leadership position be humble and still be a good leader? Does being humble bring a sense of being weak into today’s society? Why do I have to take credit?
  
• “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Joseph Donders says “A ransom is the price you pay to free someone. The ransom paid here is Jesus’ blood, the receiver is God the Father, and we are the ones freed.” Where is my gratitude or is it still about me?  
  

October 14, 2012

Bulletin October 14, 2012

28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B

Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30
What do I want from life? What do I need at this point in my life when the end is a lot closer than the beginning? What do I ask God for at this point in my life?
There was a program on TV that was entitled “The Homes of the Rich and Famous”. I wonder if I just picked one of the rich and famous and asked them the same questions, what would they want from and need in life? Today’s First Reading shows Solomon, certainly one of the rich and famous, he was King David’s son and he was put in the position that he could ask God for whatever he wanted. He responded ‘prudence and wisdom’. What a surprise that is. He asked for wisdom so that he could rule sensibly and thoughtfully. He stated that this was worth more than all the riches in the world. How often I thought that if I had a little more: money or intelligence or persuasiveness or a big position or whatever, I could be better off and could do more. But could I? Maybe the “little more” would be just enough to turn me away from the path God has chosen to bring me closer to Him?
Paul continues this theme in a slightly different way in his letter to the Hebrews. What is most important to him? After God pursued him, he says that the word of God is most important. God’s word is truth; it is what God is all about: it is His love, compassion, and care for each person and His desire that every person He created be with Him in Heaven. God’s word comes to each one as the ‘right way’ to live so that I and each person can respond to His call and live the life that is in accord to His way. And God promises, this is the way to heaven.
Then Mark shares the story of the man in the gospel who ‘had it all.’ He had kept every law of God: ‘Teacher, I have observed all the commandments from my youth.’ Jesus didn’t deny this. But it also brought out a deeper question: can I gain eternal life or is eternal life a gift from God? The thesaurus gives some interesting words for ‘gain’ which makes the statement look like this: can I achieve or acquire or win, or secure or obtain eternal life on my own. And Jesus says NO. He looks at the young man and sees that he is a real good person and he has done what he said. But Jesus always goes deeper into each person; and with this man He knew there was something that was holding him back from giving his all. So Jesus said in response to the man’s question what else can I do; in other words he realized that there was still something missing in his life. Jesus hit the nail right on the head; it was his riches, he was really attached to them; he felt that he needed these. Jesus said, ‘Sell, give to the poor and become one of my disciples. The young man was sad and went away. He just couldn’t give up ‘his way’.
The authors of “Living the Word” say this:

“The wisdom prayed for in the first reading is a gift from God. Perhaps the first question that confronts us today is whether we consider wisdom worth our energy and effort, or whether we are busy pursuing what are considered more ‘practical’ objectives. Consider, however, that the wisdom of God has been described as knowledge of how to do things—in Solomon’s case, ruling wisely.

Scripture also connects the pursuit of wisdom with the pursuit of eternal life that the man is seeking in the gospel. He has come to recognize that eternal life is the supreme value, and he wants to know what he must do to inherit it. Again, wisdom as doing. When Jesus points him toward keeping the commandments, he quickly responds that he’s been doing this ‘from my youth.’

He wins Jesus’ heart with this response, so Jesus invites him to join his disciples, to be part of a new family, leaving behind his property, possessions, and all that binds him to the past. All too much! He walks away sad. ‘Who can be saved?’ asks Peter. ‘Impossible for humans, but not for God. All things are possible for God.’ Which brings us back to prayer. Ask for wisdom, the ability to do what is necessary, and more will be given than you can imagine.

God’s word is spoken of as living and effective, a two-edged sword that penetrates our heart, enables discernment, brings light, leads to right action. What does Gods’ word illuminate today?”
There is an old saying, “You can’t take it with you”; well Jesus goes even deeper making it clear that ‘not only can you not take it with you, but in this life, possessions and wealth cannot give you lasting happiness, much less entry into heaven.’
There is much for me to reflect on today:

• The Gospel reminds me not only to look at what I have but also to realize that what I do have is meant for me to get to heaven by being aware of and responsive to the needs of others. Am I doing this each day or am I looking out for me?
  
• My personal possessions can actually keep me ‘stuck at the gate of heaven’ because I am not letting go and letting God show me the way. Is it my way or God’s way in my life now?
  
• How attached am I to my possessions? Can I have an abundance of material things and still be a good Christian?
  
• Can those who love me sometimes be a stumbling block to living a good Christian life?
  
• There is an old check list that goes like this: “Make a list of your most important material possessions. Then ask yourself, one by one, why you really need that possession and what would happen if it were suddenly taken from you.”
  
• Am I as blinded as the rich young man? Is it about God or is it about me?
  

A prayer from Living the word: “God of wisdom and life, ‘teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.’ Send us Your Spirit of Wisdom and understanding that we may know the difference between what the world holds up as riches and what is of true value in Your sight.”

October 7, 2012

Bulletin October 7, 2012 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time B/.

Genesis 2: 18-24; Hebrews 2: 9-11; Mark 10:2-16
Today the readings are difficult. I do not think that they are difficult because of the content but because so many people, me included, get off on a tangent and misunderstand the message of scripture. This happens when the word marriage comes up, when divorce is mentioned and/or when living in relationships are discussed. Each and every one of us has his or her own sensitivities and feelings; each has seen life at its best and at in its worse, and each has definite opinions especially when the hurts happen to those they love. I do, this is not only natural but expected. And this clouds what God is telling us through today’s scripture readings.
There are two creation accounts in the Book of Genesis: Genesis 1 – 2:4; and Genesis 2: 4-25. Obviously with two mismatched creation stories in the first two chapters, the purpose is not to suggest a scientific history of creation. Today’s first reading is from the second creation story; it begins and God has already created a man, planted a garden, and turned it over to the man. Then this always aware and caring God sees that the man is lonely. It’s so interesting the contrast between this account and the first creation story; because for the first time God says that something ‘is not good.’ So God remedies it by creating animals and tells man to name them. But not one was a “suitable partner”; this word can also be translated as a “fit helpmate.” In looking at it in this way, the Genesis author presents the image of a person alone as helpless. To resolve the problem, God puts the man into a sleep so deep that he cannot watch what is going on. Having created the woman from the rib of the man, God brings her to the man, almost like the father of the bride escorting a daughter to her intended. The man is delighted. It is obvious that Genesis is teaching theology and anthropology, not history. The point is that it is not good for a person to be alone. Human beings are social by nature. Each one is created to be partners and helpers one for another. This passage presents marriage as meeting the need for companionship and equality.
The Gospel passage contains two controversial stories about Jesus. One focuses on divorce and the other on children and the kingdom of God. Over the divorce issue the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus again. John the Baptist had been beheaded by Herod over the question of divorce. While that lurked in the background, rabbis of that day debated the legitimacy of divorce – do we side with the ‘King’ or the Law. They come to Jesus who asks them what Moses “commanded”. They responded by saying what Moses “permitted”. Rather than debate their using the word ‘permission’, Jesus explained that Moses did this because of the people’s hardheartedness. In reality the law about writing a bill of divorce protected women, proving that they were free to remarry. Also at the end of this section of the law, Moses indicated that a man had a duty to his wife, not just vice versa. The big point is that they are questioning the authority of Jesus to teach in the name of God. Who is this upstart! Doesn’t He know that we are the teachers of the Law, not Him, even if He claims to be God?
Then Mark includes an unusual insertion about children who were being brought to Jesus to obtain a blessing. The disciples didn’t like this. Jesus stops then in their tracks by pointing out that the kingdom of God is for people who have the same status as children which are no status at all. This means that no one is to be excluded from heaven. Children were on the very bottom of the social scale; Jesus is saying that the Kingdom is about inclusion not exclusion.
So how can this all be tied together? I find it interesting that the verse right at the end of the Genesis reading (Genesis 2:25) says, “The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.” They had nothing to hide. They were living in unity and love, intimacy and trust. This is a certain glimpse of what heaven is like. And they could have ‘lived happily ever after’ but then came The Fall. They blame each other and cover themselves in their shame. Jesus came to restore order, the order of love. He came to reconcile all people to God and to each other. He gives His strength through the Spirit to live lives according to God’s law of love.
But what happens is that ‘society’ comes in…or my own desires…or my way of doing things and since it ‘feels’ right it has to be OK. Do I let how others think affect how I live God’s message of love? Today is Respect Life Day. This is what Jesus taught that all life is created in love and all life is to be love so that others can see God and come to know God.
Fr. Flor McCarthy, a Dominican priest and noted Homiletic writer from Ireland has some interesting comments in his sermons for this weekend. I quote the ones I feel fit:

• “In marriage God answered the human need for friendship, companionship, closeness and warmth – all those things we pine for but find so difficult. These needs can also be met by belonging to a community. And those who have a close relationship with God are never alone.”
  
• “All of us are wounded by sin and selfishness. To enter marriage is to enter a school of love, a school in which all are slow learners.”
  
• “What are things which weaken the marriage bond? Lack of respect, poor communication, selfishness, and above all infidelity. Respect good communication, unselfishness, and fidelity strengthen the bond.”
  
• “Relationships have to be worked on.”
  
• “God has made us for love – to receive it and to give it. However, the ability to love is not something that is given to the couple on their wedding day with all the other gifts. Love is something that has to be learned.”
  
• “Nothing is easier as life goes on than to grow old in heart, dry and disillusioned, cynical and selfish. Children put us in touch with the gentler and more innocent part of themselves that we may have discarded in the struggle or battle of life. They revive in us too a sense of wonder and it is the sense of wonder above all that keeps us young. When Jesus says to us, “Unless you become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,’ He is recalling us to our lost childhood, so that though old and frail in body, we might be reborn in innocence of character.”
  
• “Children are more suited for the kingdom because they know how to receive a gift. No one can enter the kingdom who is not open to receive it as a gift. “
  

It is all about God…who loves us…gifts us…leads us to Himself and wants us to be Him forever. He didn’t make a mistake in creating me and all of humankind, God doesn’t make mistakes. I do, all do, when they do it their way. So in reflection: Am I listening to God…society…or me?