December 28, 2014

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph B

Genesis 15: 1-6; 21: 1-3; Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19; Luke 2: 22-40

Today is a reflection on the Holy Family…was it easy being a member of that family? I remember so many times hearing that the Holy Family stands as the example for all Christian families to pattern their lives upon. The thought came to me when I was young, ‘Well, they certainly don’t live in my family?’ being the youngest, there were times that I felt ‘left-out’; times that I felt all alone; times that I felt that I wasn’t appreciated; times that I felt my family was the greatest; times especially after Christmas that I felt ‘persecuted’ because the ‘present’ that I really wanted wasn’t under the tree. It’s so hard to do any sort of comparison with the Holy Family. What can be said is that they trusted God. How is my trust? What is my trust based on…having my own way…sacrificing…’offering it up’…loving…respect? I imagine that the Holy Family based so much of their ‘trusting in God’ on prayer. I look at the families that have touched me down through the years and they have been characterized by putting God first in their lives. This has been exampled to me by their loving and supporting one another and by praying and going to Mass together and as a family. Fr. Peyton started his mission on “The Family that prays together, stays together.” These families have been outstanding examples to people in the parishes I have served and they never felt that they were doing anything exceptional. I have been blessed by their love.

The New York Times edition on May 8, 2014 published an article that is worth repeating on this feast; it was entitled “Promises that can bend without breaking”

“They have been married for 28 years. Theirs has been a happy life, filled with wanderlust and wonder. They both had fulfilling careers: he is a college professor, she is an accomplished weaver and textile artist.

Their near-perfect life came to an end a year ago when they sold their home and moved into an independent living apartment for the elderly. He is only 50. She is 49.

She is the reason they are now living in this situation. A series of seizures and strokes revealed brain tumors. Over time she became more absent-minded, more forgetful. Her lucid periods are fewer and fewer. After the two surgeries and a painful recovery, he and she talked about the future and what they would do with their lives – but with the new, sobering realization that they would not live forever.

Her dementia is comparable to mid-stage Alzheimer’s. She rarely steps outside the surety of their apartment; he often has to remind her who he is and that they are married.

He now remembers for them both:

In the past we’d had fun with ideal questions about the future: I we could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Or what would we do with a million dollars?

This time it was more serious: What will we do if you don’t remember who I am? We agreed that staying together was the most important thing . . .

Sometimes I think about the vows my wife and I made to each other, 28 years ago and then again last summer. We’re different people than we once were. Does that make the promise easier?

Last summer I said to her: You can trust me. I’ll always tell you the truth about what’s happening. Today I tell her small, comforting lies. Some promises, though, aren’t just things you say or intend to do; they’re about what kind of person you are. That makes it easier to decide what’s right . . .

When I look at my wife I still see the lovely younger woman in our photos and in my memory. Sometimes she looks back at me and smiles. Even though she may not know who I am.”

Today’s feast reminds me that my life is a journey full of challenges and changes and it is the love and care of family that I experienced way back when and in my sister and brother today that enables me to weave my way through those changes, rough roads, hills and valleys. As in those way back early years as now, living encompasses the unconditional love that Christ has for me, each member of my family and for all both in good times and in bad. The Holy Family is a model for me. They loved…they hurt…they had so many crises that threatened their stability and peace yet they trusted in God. What do I have to do today to trust? God is always loving me, so I go to Him, in humility and trust and love.

Reflect: Sacred Space 2015 for the week December 28 – January says, “Something to think and pray about each day this week:

CHRISTMAS, as Told by a Contemplative

The message of Christmas is simple: God is with us. ‘You shall call Him Emmanuel, which means, ‘God is with us.’’ So says the angel to a bewildered Joseph, who must have spent the rest of his live pondering the implications of that statement.

If God is with us in this radical way, what is our response? Are we with God? What does it mean for us, to be with God? Is it impossible for ordinary folk? Do I want to be face-to-face with God?

Drawing from reflections in the Christian contemplative tradition, we can discern two things: first, how simple it is to be with God, and second, the world-changing power of being with God.

What about a New Year resolution for the Sacred Space community? I suggest this: that we would step out confidently into our chaotic world with the firm belief that simply by being with God we are helping to transform it. God, who sees our hearts, will bless us as we go!”

Reflect:

• I feel that God’s presence is constantly in my life and that there are no flukes or coincidences. I try to spend time each evening looking at my day…can I do that more frequently these next days so that perhaps a good habit will form?
• Do I acknowledge in my life that the celebration of Christmas marks the beginning of God’s promise of everlasting life? Do I live this?
• How do I model Mary’s loving acceptance of God’s will and trust in my life?
• When people see and hear me do they see a reflection of the gift God gave through the life and death of His Son? How?
• How are love and forgiveness featured in my life?

A Prayer from Sacred Space 2015:

“Loving Father of good beginnings, You start anew with us in all the stages and circumstances of our lives. We thank You for being always present for us in Jesus.

With Jesus we look forward eagerly to being sharers throughout 2015 in a confident message of faith, of peace, and of hope for our world.”

December 21, 2014

4^th Sunday of Advent B

2 Samuel 7:1-5; Romans 16: 25-27; Luke 1: 26-38

With Christmas celebration a few days away, it is difficult to set a little time apart to reflect on God and ‘me’. God understands this, but do I understand this? Do I continue the rushing around and adding ‘more’ to my Christmas preparations? ‘I forgot … and they just gave me a gift? I’ve finished my shopping but this little item would be just perfect for … and maybe I didn’t give them as many presents as I gave that person. It seems that I can come up with all sorts of reasons and so many of them very valid, for not taking time to reflect on God and ‘me’.

The main point of the readings today is that God ‘BROKE INTO’ the lives of David, Paul and Mary. Am I allowing Him to break into my life?

David wanted to ‘do something really nice for the Lord by giving Him a fitting dwelling place’. Certainly this was a really nice gesture but God has eternal plans. God is providing an eternal house that David could never imagine: God will establish David’s lineage and his descendant will become heir to a throne that will last forever. God will build the house of David.

In Paul’s conclusion to his letter to the Romans, he summarizes various themes from the letter. The bottom line is that if we are looking for God, look to Jesus. As Jesus said, ‘If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.’ Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings says, “The Old Testament is the story of God viewed from the perspective of God’s people. The New Testament tells the story from the encounter with God’s Son. Through teaching and healing, in living and loving and dying, Jesus demonstrates for us what God is like. God is our companion from the moment of conception to our final breath. And that’s only the beginning of the companionship, as Jesus makes clear. If we want to know the rest of the story, we have to follow Him through the doorway to new life.”

Today’s gospel gives another example of God ‘breaking into each person’s life’ in the story of Mary. Just imagine a teenage girl living a quiet life with her own hopes and dreams and along comes an angel who says that he is God’s messenger. The message is that she is to be the mother of God’s Son who is to be the Savior of the World. It sounds like a Hollywood script, yet no human author could have written a script so stunning and brilliant. Mary was a real girl who received this visit and message. She was a prayerful person who loved God and was faithful and obedient to Him. She was totally open to God working in and through her although she had NO IDEA of what the future would hold. SHE REFLECTED… Scripture repeats a few times that Mary “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19). What did her reflection bring? Certainly an affirmation of her faith and trust in God and the courage to continue on with God’s plan, knowing nothing about where this would lead her. One of the spectacular places that I have visited was the house of Mary at Ephesus where she lived with John after the crucifixion and death of Jesus. It is an ‘L’ shaped house with two rooms both very small. There are a few statues, icons, paintings and candles and incense all around. The feeling of awe and holiness permeated me as I entered. There was a long line coming into the site and as soon as people entered it seemed to me that all were overcome with being in the presence of the holiness of Mary and of God.

The bottom line is what the readings tell us…each of us is a temple of God…and since God is with each of us all the time, we are holy. Do I act this way? Do I take time to be with God in gratitude and in expectation? Can I readjust my ‘schedule’ from now to Christmas and ‘put God there’?

Reflect: We are the body of Christ. How can I be the fragile receptacle for God-life today?”

SOME THOUGHTS ON CHRISTMAS Fr. Richard Rohr in his, Preparing for Christmas, Daily Meditations for Advent shares this reflection on John 1:18, the Gospel for Christmas Day.

SOMEONE TO SURRENDER TO

“On this Christmas Day, let me begin with a quote from twentieth-century writer G.K. Chesterton: ‘When a person has found something which he prefers to life itself, he [sic] for the first time has begun to live.’ Jesus in His proclamation of the kingdom told us what we could prefer to life itself—and it would work! The Bible ends by telling us we are called to be a people who could say, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (Revelation 22:20), who could welcome something more than business as usual and live in God’s Big Picture. We all have to ask for the grace to prefer something to our small life itself because we have been offered the shared Life, the One Life, the Eternal Life, God’s Life that became visible in this world in Jesus. We do not get there by being correct. We get there by allowing the connection. It is like a free wireless connection!

The kingdom is finally to be identified as the Lord Jesus Himself. When we say ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ on this Christmas Day, we are preferring His Lordship to any other loyalty system or any other final frame of reference. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not! If Jesus is Lord, then the economy and stock market are not! If Jesus is Lord, then my house and possessions, family and job are not! If Jesus is Lord, than I am not! That multileveled implication was obvious to first century members of the Roman Empire because the phrase ’Caesar is Lord’ was the empire’s loyalty test and political bumper sticker. They, and others, knew they had changed ‘parities’ when they welcomed Jesus as Lord instead of the Roman emperor as their savior.

What we are all searching for is Someone to surrender to, something we can prefer to life itself. Well here is the wonderful surprise: God is the only one we can surrender to without losing ourselves. The irony is that we find ourselves, and now in a whole new field of meaning. This happens on a lesser level in every great love in our lifetime, but it is always a leap of faith ahead of time. We are never sure it will be true beforehand. It is surely counter-intuitive, but it is the promise that came into the world on this Christmas Day, ‘full of grace and of truth.’ Jesus is the gift totally given, free for the taking, once and for all, to everybody and all of creation. This Cosmic Risen Christ really is free wireless, and all we have to do is connect.

Henceforth humanity has the right to know that it is good to be human, good to live on this earth, good to have a body, because God in Jesus chose and said ‘yes’ our humanity. Or as we Franciscans love to say, ‘Incarnation is already Redemption.’ The problem is solved. Now go and utterly enjoy all remaining days. Not only is it “Always Advent,’ but every day can now be Christmas because the one we thought we were just waiting for has come once and for all.”

“Reflect: Today just “taste and see the goodness of the Lord”’ (Psalm 24:8)!”

December 14, 2014

3^rd Sunday of Advent B

Isaiah 61: 1-2, 10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24; John 1: 6-8 19-28
Ten days from today is Christmas Eve. For the most part by the end of that day all our shopping will be done; cards written, meals planned, the house more or less cleaned up and maybe just the wrapping of presents left. Eleven days from today is Christmas.
When I was young, the celebrations began on Christmas. We all went to the midnight mass, and then had a big breakfast with a few very close friends. The rule in the house was that when everyone was up on Christmas day, the presents were distributed by dad and then could be opened. The wait was interminable. I was the first up, and it seemed that it was many hours before the rest of the family gathered around the Christmas tree. Everyone was thankful that this moment had arrived and different degrees of exhaustion set in. Still there was left all the preparations for the annual Christmas dinner feast.
It seems strange that the Church labels this third Sunday in Advent as Gaudete Sunday, which means ‘Rejoice’ Sunday. There is so much left to do; it certainly isn’t time for rejoicing is it? The readings today are about rejoicing, in fact they are insistent that everyone is to rejoice.
In the first reading the prophet Isaiah is rejoicing in regard to the restoration of Israel. They had been conquered. Previous rulers over Israel had brought only suffering and hardships upon the people because of their not being faithful to the practices of their religion. As a result they were in exile living as captives and prisoners in a foreign land. Today Isaiah is telling them that ‘the anointed one’ will bring liberty and freedom for the people because He rules by heaven’s standards. The beginning of today’s passage were the words that Jesus used to begin His ministry. Luke 4:18 share when He was in the synagogue in his home town, Nazareth, and was handed the scrolls of Isaiah, He found this passage and used it to describe His mission. Now the Old Testament hopes and dreams have been fulfilled in Jesus. A time to rejoice, give praise and be thankful.
Paul writes to the Thessalonians and is overwhelmed by all that God has done. As a result he shares that each Christian is to live in God’s presence every moment, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” The question for today is, ‘How am I to do that?’ How can I live continually in my more than hectic life every moment with an awareness of God? Am I living in gratitude for His love and His gifts?
How can I not be happy and rejoice when I look at the people who have brought me to this moment? I look at my parents from whom I learned love mostly by watching their love and devotion to each other and to the five of us children. I see my siblings…each had their own personality and hang-ups. Each had their hopes and dreams and each touched me and each other in so many ways. I learned that love meant forgiveness and ‘turning the other cheek.’ I learned that love meant being a real person and a person of love.
St Teresa of Avila had so many wonderful words of wisdom to live by…one of my favorites is her prayer: Lord, deliver us from silly devotions and sour-faced saints.” This season of busyness calls each person to pause to recall why they are so busy. If I dwell on the busyness and inconveniences than I can become sour-faced. Pope Francis warned Catholics not to become ‘sourpusses’. At this time of year it is more important than ever to acknowledge God’s total goodness to me in all circumstances of my life. Dorothy Day, the twentieth-century social activist put this so beautifully when she wrote that when we act lovingly we begin to feel loving, so certainly acting joyful brings joy to others---this makes us feel joyful. She lived by the maxim that each person is called to the “Duty of delight.” As Living the Word states, “When we bring joy to others, even and perhaps especially when we do not feel particularly joyful ourselves, we are like a mirror that reflects God’s joy in Creation. Like John the Baptist, we are not the light, but bear witness to the light. Yet even as we bear witness to God’s joy, we come to share in it ourselves, caught up in what we reflect.”
The bottom line is that this season is about love. So often in my life I examine how I am loving. It seems that at this time of year when I ask this question, I feel good because much of what I do is about loving others in gift selecting, card writing, special baking and being present to others. When I love, I am doing what God does: love. This love is a selfless love if I am loving in the way God loves. So in these ‘love acts’ that occupy the busyness of this season, I am ‘God-like.’ Do I take time to reflect on this? Do I take time to just stretch my busyness to include an awareness of the gifts and generosity of God?
Brother Lawrence was a 17^th century French monk who tried all sorts of devotions and prayers to get close to God and to realize His love. He found that all of these were not right for him until he learned to practice the presence of God at every moment in his life. His two writings are The Practice of the Presence of God and Spiritual Maxims. I have found tremendous wisdom and direction from these. He wrote, “The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen…I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.” What was his secret? I have found it in this little prayer of his:
“Before beginning any task I would say to God, with childlike trust: ‘O God, since You are with me, and it is Your will that I must now apply myself to these outward duties, I beseech You, assist me with Your grace that I may continue in Your Presence; and to this end, O Lord, be with me in this my work, accept the labor of my hands, and dwell within my heart with all Your Fullness…When I had finished, I would examine how I had performed my duty: If I found well, I gave Him thanks; if ill, I asked His pardon, and without losing heart I set my spirit right, and returned anew into His presence, as thought I had never wandered from Him. Thus, by rising after every fall, and by doing all in faith and love, without wearying, I have come to a state in which it would be as little possible for me not to think of God, as it was hard to discipline myself at the beginning.”
God is always with each person. It does not matter how I feel about myself. John said that ‘God is love’ so God is always loving me. There are so many times that I need to know this…do I ask God how much He is loving me now? He does, always.
So I reflect on:

• Is my life characterized by joy? What things make me joyful?
  
• What can I do to cultivate joy? St. Theresa the Little Flower said that she has found her ministry, “O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love.”
  

Sacred Space 2015 adds:

“Does anyone think of me as witnessing to the light by the quality of my life? I listen to Jesus as He tells me that I am meant to be a light for the world.

I ask humbly that He may illuminate me more. Perhaps I ask Him to place His hands on my head in blessing so that I may be more lightsome.”

December 7, 2014

2^nd Sunday of Advent B

Isaiah 40: 1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8
What is our God like? He created each for heaven. He gifts each to work on getting themselves and others into heaven. With our preparations for Christmas beginning to pile up what is the message God wants deeply implanted in each of us? It seems to me these are the questions that are answered today and they come with a powerful directive.
The words that Isaiah uses today show us some of the most poetic and evocative images of God’s compassion. I spent time and reflect on them as in imagine our loving God filling Isaiah with these words which tell me what God is like. “Give comfort to my people”… tells me that right now, even though I feel fine, God is surrounding me with His presence and love. I do not have to do anything to receive it, just be open and receptive. There is never an activity that God’s comfort would not be welcomed and more so when I am feeling down or lost for whatever reason. God is active and giving and I am His; that’s the meaning of ‘MY people’. “Prepare the way of the Lord”…I am not a passive agent, I have a role. It is very complimentary not only that I have been called but that there is something for me to do; this implies trust and that is affirmative. “Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.” There is no fear attached to this and it is a very comforting event to wait for the revelation of the God’s glory.
Now the powerful directive comes: “Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice…” The height of the mountain signifies that this message is huge and is for all. I can personalize it because I am the one, as each person is, to be the conveyer, the proclaimer of the message. What is the message: “Here is your God! Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by his strong arm; here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.” There is no confusion, I am to spell out who God is and what God wants. His message is for all and it is what Jesus proclaimed as the ‘Good News’: God is love and God loves each person all of the time. Isaiah continues telling us what God is like by using an example known to all: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.” The words are so tender and caring: ‘he feeds his flock in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care. God is showing all that not only is the message to be shouted out but that He is caring for each person in all of their idiosyncrasies’ and worries and fears and enabling them to be His messengers.
Psalm 85 continues the directive conveying the message with the prayer: “Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.” What do I need when I am on a mission, kindness and trust? God is giving these and more.
Peter continues the qualities of God and the details of the mission when he says, “The Lord does not delay his promise, but he is patient with you…” How important it is to be patient, so very often I am impatient with myself and as a result I do too much ‘rushing’. And Peter continues that the Lord wishes that I and all “should come to repentance. “ How important it is that I see that it is all about God’s plan and not mine. So often I become so absorbed with myself that I do not even realize that ‘others’ occupy my universe—I want what I want. I need to come to the Lord in humility and ask for His grace. Peter continues how I should be acting “conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion…Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.” At peace…how important that is…no matter what happens to disturb or distract my living this message, I am to realize that it is all about the Lord and be at peace with that and the Spirit will continue to fill me with God’s peace.
With Christmas coming, the Gospel sets the stage by giving the opening verses of Mark’s Gospel. It is often overlooked but look how Mark introduces this: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” Only the emperor was called the son of God. But Mark is also referring to the prophecies of ancient Israel. The message is clear: a mightier one is coming who will baptize in the Holy Spirit. The time for the fulfilling of God’s plan for the world has arrived. God has chosen me and each person to be part of that plan. My part was to be born at this time, in this culture with these parents and people surrounding me to touch me and influence me in realizing the gifts of God to me. Now the plan comes: I am to use these gifts to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. Am I doing that? John the Baptist is presented in today’s gospel as a model of one who boldly cries out to proclaim the coming of God. Again, am I doing that?
A wonderful book is the Apostolic Exhortation from Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel. Pope Francis gives a powerful message about each person’s role. In Article #127 entitled Person to Person he says, “Today, as the Church seeks to experience a profound missionary renewal, there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers. This is the informal preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation, something along the lines of what a missionary does when visiting a home. Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.

In this preaching, which is always respectful and gentle, the first step is personal dialogue, when the other person speaks and shares his or her joys, hopes and concerns for loved ones, or so many other heartfelt needs. Only afterward is it possible to bring up God’s word, perhaps by reading a Bible verse or relating a story, but always keeping in mind the fundamental message: the personal love of God who became man, who gave himself up for us, who is living and who offers us his salvation and his friendship. This message has to be shared humbly as a testimony on the part of one who is always willing to learn, in the awareness that he message is so rich and so deep that it always exceeds our grasp. At times the message can be presented directly, at times by way of a personal witness or gesture, or in a way which the Holy Spirit may suggest in that particular situation. If it seems prudent and if the circumstances are right, this fraternal and missionary encounter could end with a brief prayer related to the concerns which the person may have expressed. In this way they will have an experience of being listened to and understood; they will know that their particular situation has been placed before God, and that God’s word really speaks to their lives.”

This is certainly a challenge but it is my responsibility and each follower of Jesus.
I reflect on what Sacred Space 2015 says:

“I mingle with the crowds listening to John the baptizer. I know he suffered a violent death. Where is the ‘good news’ in that?

The good news is that he plays his part in the plan of salvation and bears steady witness to the light. In the wilderness of my life, I ask that I may always witness to light and truth and love.”

November 30, 2014

First Sunday of Advent B

Isaiah 63: 16-17, 19; 64: 2-7; 1 Corinthians 1: 3-0 Mark 13:33-37
My wanderings…Isaiah used the word ‘wander’ in the first reading and it seems to fit my spiritual journey. I wander in my readings trying to keep focused…I wander in my prayers…I wander in meditating and trying to be still before the Lord. I wander. So I look to the readings to help me today in in the journey I’m on.
The whole book of Isaiah is attributed to an eighth century court prophet from Jerusalem called Isaiah. Scholars say that he is only the author of the first thirty-nine chapters. Two other anonymous prophets writing in the same style and tradition of this Isaiah wrote Chapters 40-55 and Chapters 55 – 66…now referred to as Second Isaiah and Third Isaiah. Today’s reading comes from the third author who begins and ends with the Jewish people addressing God as ‘our father.’ The people had come a long way: in the first book they had wandered far away from their God and God had complained that the ‘children’ He had raised were rebellious. In today’s reading, they had returned to the Lord. And they are wondering why they had arrived at such a sorry state. Why had God allowed them to wander so far away? Why had God allowed their hearts to ‘become like stone’ and not able to respond to His call? They are pleading with God to return to them. How often my sins make me feel the same way…I have chosen my own way and was the one who abandoned God…and like the Israelites I keep coming back. But I come back with sorrow and not a very good feeling about myself. I view myself as being a traitor and hypocrite…why have I given in to temptation and abandoned my journey to the Lord?
The Israelites today know that they are unworthy, and describe themselves as ‘unclean and polluted’. They say that they ‘have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.” But they have not given up…they have hope. If God would return, He would find them living their lives in accord to His will, committed to the ways and teachings given them. How do they know this? Because God has created them; they are the works of God’s hands; He has formed them and they are now prepared to let God shape them as a potter creates. They are open, ready and willing to give up self and let God be God to them. The last sentence is their confident plea: “Yet, O Lord, You are our father; we are the clay and You the potter: we are all the work of Your hands.” In spite of all of their wanderings and unfaithfulness, in spite of all the sins and ‘turning God off’ and turning into themselves and their selfishness, God cares about them. God cares about me; God cares about all people. I wonder sometimes if it isn’t my projection that God is ‘angry’. When I did things wrong growing up at home, or in school or whenever someone was disappointed did I project that God had to be angry with me? Why can’t I view that I am a treasured creation of God and He loves me?
Paul brings this out in writing to the Corinthians: “I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in Him you were enriched in every way, with all discover and all knowledge as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end…” Paul is telling them that they have been blessed with all the spiritual gifts they need to endure until the Lords’ coming. Paul is sharing what God is like, that God has and is filling me with all that I need. Am I aware of this? Am I aware that I have been chosen, as each person has, to be God’s instrument of love? When I feel that I am unlovable because of my unfaithfulness and sinfulness I give up hope. But God is constantly reminding me that I have to be patient and watchful and He is always with me; this is the theme of Jesus’ message in the Gospel.
Both Mark (student) and Paul (teacher) felt that the end of the world would come in their own lifetime. Jesus had told His disciples that it would take place but there is no indication of the exact time. So Mark doesn’t think that it is helpful to have all this wild speculation as to when this will come so he cautions patience and watchfulness. He compares it to man leaving his servants to keep watch until he returns form his travels. The servants do not know when he will return so they have to be totally prepared. As they continue their daily jobs they have to be alert and ready. It’s like my life: it has its ups and downs. I can’t presume that I will live past today. I need to live my live according to the faith commitments I have made. Do I have to be anxious, no? If I am living each day as best I can and somehow managing to get through the assaults of the devil then I am doing all that I can. I’m waiting on the Lord and opportunities to love.

Preaching to Adults, Teens, and Children share these insights on today’s readings: “Because of society’s emphasis on Christmas, Advent is a countercultural liturgical season. The somber tone of this Sunday’s readings seems to clash with the bright lights and evergreens that sprout on every corner. Because Christmastime celebrates the ideal time, when everyone is happy and at peace, Christmastime also highlights what is unhappy and unresolved, particularly for families.

Loneliness and alienation are part of the Christmas experience too, and the first reading from Isaiah touches those themes. In the face of sin and the consequences of sin, God’s promised return provides hope. Isaiah promises things will be different because God the Creator can reshape everything as a potter reshapes clay.

Anyone who hopes for something better is on the watch for the slightest sign of improvement. Those who are attuned to the arrival of the reign of God strain to see signs of its coming…Jesus’ return is like having an unexpected guest arrive for a surprise visit. Is the house clean? Was an argument just beginning? Is there enough food to share?”
So I reflect on:

• When I’m waiting what do I find myself doing? Whom do I look forward to meeting? What if it were the Lord?
  
• What hopeless situations do I face? How do I deal with them?
  
• Do I find it easier to live a good Christian life when I am in the company of other good Christians? Do I seek out people who I identify as being people of faith?
  
• Where do I go to build up the gift of faith God has given me? To whom do I go to do this? Am I willing to share my faith journey to a fellow companion?
  

In God’s time, the Son of Man will come. In the meantime, I as well as all His followers must be vigilant, and I have plenty of work to do.

November 23, 2014

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17, 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26, 28; Matthew 25: 31-46
Today’s feast of Christ the King brings us to the last week of the Liturgical calendar. Next week begins the preparation for Christmas with the beginning of the Advent season.
The question has come to me and I’m sure to a lot of people…what I should be getting those special people in my life for Christmas. Why do I give gifts? It is a custom that I learned from my parents. It is a way to realize and give thanks to the many people who have been special to me, who have touched me with love and caring, who assist me in my daily journey to the Lord. This is what it is all about: helping me to realize that my life is a gift and I am to be a gift through the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given me. Am I doing this? Do I realize the importance of this commission and that it is a duty assigned me by the Lord? This is the import of the readings today and they come with an urgency that Christmas giving is a giving that should and must really occupy my daily life. At the end of the day it is good to ask who the important people in my life are. Did I treat them as being special? Who did I interact with today, did I treat them as important people since each person is important to God? Who were the people who just appeared in my life today? Did I avoid them, or respond to them? Was love seen in me?
Fr. Basil Pennington, one of the spiritual masters of our age explains,
“If each day a word of the Lord can truly come alive for us and can form our mind and heart, we will have that mind of Christ.”
One of Fr. Pennington’s beautiful books is Seeking His Mind in which he picks forty passages from the life of Christ and makes each a special meditation from the fruits of his own lectio divina. Today’s passage from Matthew is one of them, I now share this meditation:
“St Benedict of Nursia ends his Rule by asking: ‘What page, what word of the new and old Testaments is not the truest of guides for human life?’ If this is true of every word of life that our Lord Jesus has given us, it is certainly true of these five words: ‘You did it to Me.’
Back in the seventies, there was a popular musical on Broadway called Godspell. With a certain amount of humor, the play enacted the Gospel of St. Matthew. As this particular scene is played out and Jesus speaks the painful words of condemnation, one of the condemned ‘goats’ pop us and says: Lord, if I had known it was You I would have taken you around the corner and bought you a cup of coffee.’
A big if.
Hearing Jesus’ words here, we have little excuse. He makes Himself very clear, drawing out His teaching with a striking portrayal. True, it would have had even more impact on His agrarian audience than on urban Americans today. But still we have no difficulty imagining the scene.
If we took to heart the final words of Jesus as He pronounced His judgment, how different would not our whole life be? ‘You did it to Me.’ If we realized and were constantly conscious that whatever we do to each other, to any human person, we do to Jesus, to the Son of God, to our beloved Savior, how then would we act?
If we realized we are talking to Jesus—even when we are talking to our children, to somebody who is rude to us, to someone who has hurt us, to a subordinate, to the vendor on the corner, to the panhandler—would we say some of the things we say? Or would we speak otherwise?
If we realized that Jesus is in need of clothing, would we leave all those unused or rarely used clothes hanging in our closets? If we knew He is sick, would we put off visiting a sick acquaintance in the hospital? If we knew He is everyone who needs help, would we not perhaps consider giving some of our spare time to prison ministry or to visiting a children’s hospital to hold and comfort a little one who desperately needs more human touch? Would we be more generous in stocking the parish food pantry, find time to lend a hand at the soup kitchen?
If we really realized the impact of these words, ‘You did it to Me,’ would we not consider it a privilege to serve the poor and needy in whatever way we can? If we really loved our Lord, would we not be eager to have this chance to care for Him? It is this realization that drove Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who clearly saw Jesus in each person no matter how wretched the least one was.
Stop for a moment. One after the other, let come before your mind’s eye the face of each person who is an intimate part of your life. As you see each one, let his or her image fade into the face of Christ. It is the Lord. Then let there come to your mind’s eye the face of some of those you have encountered of late: the woman at the checkout counter and the lad doing the bagging, the beggar on the street with his pleading eyes, the person who banged into you as you were trying to leave the elevator or subway. And let each become the Lord. Did we interact with them the way we would really want to, knowing that in responding to them we are responding to our Lord?
‘You did it to Me.’ These five little words can be a true guide for our lives. Living them can transform us. Someday Jesus will say to you and to me: ‘You did it to Me.’ How will we feel then? Which side will we be on at that moment? Will we lamely say: ‘Lord, if I had known . . .?’
The Gospel reading puts the judgment at the end-time in its proper perspective. The ‘King’ judges on the basis of how closely I have modeled my life on the way that Jesus acted. Have I stayed to myself or have I sought out the hungry, thirsty, the stranger and the lost welcoming them, clothing them? The hungry and thirsty encompasses those who are in need of spiritual help, physical help, emotional help, a helping hand, a smiling face, a listening ear and a kind word. It all comes down to me and my living the Gospel of life as Jesus showed me. The way to proceed is from one needy person to the next. How many acts of kindness did I do today? Where did I see God? What did God do for me today? I offer gratitude for all these opportunities to see how much love God has and how much I am loved and how this love is needed.
So I reflect on:

• Based on my life this past week, would I be among the sheep or the goats? What have I done for others without thinking of myself?
  
• When have I been cared for by someone when I was ill, confused or discouraged? How did I feel toward the one who cared for me?
  
• If Christ became pastor of my parish, what would be the first thing He would do?
  

Sacred Space 2014 adds:

“This dramatic story calls me to conversion to my sisters and brothers who are in need. With Jesus, I look at my life. Do I put myself out for others and share what I can?

Jesus identifies with the needy. Everyone I meet is a sister or brother for whom Christ died, as St. Paul says. I may not be able to do much for others, but I can show them the respect and dignity that they need most of all.”

November 16, 2014

33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Proverbs 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6; Matthew 25: 14-30

As the Church year winds down, the readings always give the opportunity for each person to examine their own lives and to judge how one is living as a disciple of Jesus. How am I preparing for the life in heaven? Do I feel that I have plenty of time to prepare or do I see the immediacy of the situation? If I am ‘delaying’ why am I doing that? Am I enjoying the comfortable life and not wanting to change because I know that change is necessary if I am to live as Jesus?
I continue to look at myself and to judge my actions, my plans, my responsibilities , my gifts and my daily living and ask: in what have I invested this past year? What projects am I excited about and enthusiastic over? Have I a place for God in my future plans? Am I providing space for my spiritual development?
Is any of my hesitation due to fear? Do I realize that Jesus has redeemed me and gives me grace to be the person He needs me to be?
I look to the wisdom in the readings to help me in my judging. It may be strange to hear the first reading from Proverbs and thinking that these are the qualities of an ideal wife or virtuous woman and it doesn’t have any meaning to me? The first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs, Wisdom is personified as a woman who invites all to seek true ‘Wisdom’. The remaining chapters contain a collection of proverbs and wise saying that are very useful in living a successful life. The book closes with today’s first reading where ‘Wisdom’ is going to the streets seeking followers while this woman stays at home attending to all the household needs. The many proverbs challenge each person to search for wisdom, the wisdom of God. The underlying theme is that His wisdom and success are available to all, regardless of their gender. So am I seeking the wisdom of God in living my daily life as best I know how in light of His teachings and guidance?
The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians puts my future into definite perspective: “…You yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.” For people who refuse to believe in Jesus, their last day will come as a ‘thief in the night’. Paul says that they will suffer disaster and be lost in the darkness. Now Paul and the early Christians believed that the risen Jesus would return and this would be the end-time. They believed that this return was imminent and would definitely happen in their own lives. When Jesus returned He would judge the living and the dead and how they lived their lives; their actions would decide their fate. The Thessalonians asked Paul “When,” and he responded “when you least expect”…”like a thief in the night”. Paul asked, ‘So what are you doing…how are you preparing for this…how are you living your lives…are you living as Jesus showed you…or are you enjoying the good life…do you think that Jesus was serious or are you playing ‘Russian roulette’? Today is the day to act!
Then Matthew shares Jesus’ parable; He delivers this just before the Palm Sunday procession and Holy Week. Jesus had left the temple in Jerusalem and was teaching end-time thoughts to His disciples. The titles of these in the New American Bible are as follows: The Destruction of the Temple Foretold: The Beginning of Calamities, the Great Tribulation; The Coming of the Son of Man; the Lesson of the Fig Tree; The Unknown Day and Hour; the Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant; the Parable of the Ten Virgins; and todays, Parable of the Talents. Each parable is alerting His disciples and me to the urgency at hand: to live today as Jesus so that I am prepared for my last day and my first day in eternity.

Matthew, A Devotional Commentary gives a beautiful reflection for me and I share it, “Jesus will come again. We don’t know when or how, but He has promised that He will return in glory to establish a new heaven and a new earth. We who live in the time between Jesus’ ascension and His return are called to vigilance and resourcefulness as we await the coming of our king.

Just as an industrious wife takes initiative in caring for her household (today’s first reading), so the church is called to manage her affairs wisely and prudently. During this time of anticipation, we are called to use our resources to spread the gospel and to ensure the spiritual prosperity of the church. We are called to serve our Master and please Him in all of our actions. Our vigilance affects the way we live. By walking as ‘sons of light and sons of the day’—through obedience to God’s commands and a life of prayer and love—we attest to our faith in Christ’s return (today’s second reading).

Every day, we have many opportunities to use the gifts God has given us. As the parable of the talents shows, two servants took risks with the money they were given; they invested it and earned a good return. The third was afraid to take any risks, and so he hid the money and returned it to his master at the first opportunity. Like the first two servants, we are also called to take risks for the kingdom of God, stepping out in faith and watching to see God move as we trust in Him.

God does not give us gifts and talents so that we will hide them or turn them to selfish ends. Every one of us has been uniquely constituted by the Lord to play a role in the advancement of His kingdom, using all the resources He has given us. Whether it be money, abilities, time, or training and background, nothing is irrelevant. We can be assured that any initiatives we take to use our gifts will be blessed. Remember: God’s desire for His people is always much greater than ours; He will do everything He can to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth.

As we give of ourselves, we will see God’s power and glory revealed. Our active involvement in this life is truly an adventure, filled with opportunities to use all that God has given us and to see Him work wonders as we do. This is our high calling. Let us accept it with gratitude and joy.”
So I reflect on:

• If the final judgment of the world would happen tomorrow, would I be ready? What do I need to do and change in my life so that I could be ready? Would it really be that hard to do? Or would it be more ‘swallowing my pride’ and just being more of the God person God has touched me to be?
  

Sacred Space 2014 shares:
“I take a few moments with Jesus to review my talents and be grateful for them. Then I ask Him if I am using them in ways that respond to the needs of those around me.

It is a wonderful thing that I should be able to bring joy to God. Jesus set out to please His Father (John 8:29), and my life takes on new color when I do likewise.”

I have found that it’s all about living in the presence of God now. How am I doing? Am I allowing God to help me with this? He loves me that much!

November 9, 2014

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

Ezekiel 47: 1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Corinthians 3: 9-11, 16-17; John 2: 13-22
Several times during the Church cycle, the dedication of this church or that church is celebrated. It is good to remember history and to see how each person is a part of that history.
Did you know that the Diocese of Richmond was formed from America’s first diocese, the Archdiocese of Baltimore and that it is among the nation’s eight oldest Catholic dioceses? Pope Pius VII on July 11, 1820 decreed the Diocese of Richmond into existence which encompassed the entire state of Virginia including West Virginia. Bishop Patrick Kelly from Kilkenny, Ireland was the first bishop and the first Cathedral was St. Peter’s Church which was built in 1834. The present Cathedral of the Sacred Heart was built in 1906. Bishop DiLorenzo is the twelfth Bishop of Richmond being installed on May 24, 2004.
If the question is asked ‘What is the Cathedral Church of Rome’ most would answer ‘Well St. Peter’s of course.’ This is wrong. Today marks the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral Church of Rome, St. John Lateran. The Emperor Constantine shortly after he legalized Christianity in the early fourth century gave the land owned by the Laterani Family to the Church to build a basilica. It was dedicated as a place of Christian worship on November 9, 324. So this is the ‘HOME’ church of the Bishop of Rome, the pope. On its façade are is the words of Pope Clement XII (1730-40) saying that this basilica is the ”mother and head of all churches of Rome and the world” It was the residence of the popes from the 4^th century until their moving to Avignon in 1309 and it was the site of five ecumenical councils. The present structure was commissioned by Pope Innocent X in 1646 and under the high altar rests the remains of the small wooden table which tradition says St. Peter celebrated Mass on. The original church was dedicated to the Savior and later on to St. John the Baptist.
So what is the importance of today’s feast to me and to Christians as we celebrate today’s feast? The readings help us with this.
The first reading is from the prophet Ezekiel and in his writings the temple of the Lord is a big part of his visions. Before the collapse of the kingdom, his visions predicted God’s abandoning the temple because it had been made so unclean by the sins of the people. Ezekiel envisioned a new temple constructed by God and not humans. It represents the ideal place where God and every person ever created come together. His 43: 7 states it so dramatically, “The voice said to me: Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among the Israelites forever. Never again shall they and their kings profane my holy name with their harlotries and with the corpses of their kings [their high places].” So God’s presence brings new life, this is symbolized by a stream of water flowing from God to His people. The water brings new life in the form of all kinds of living creatures. Trees have fresh fruit as food and as medicine and this is year-round. This prophecy is adding another vision which is seen in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
Paul shares that the foundation of ‘this building’ is Jesus, Paul calls Him a master builder. Now the big point is Paul is saying to the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are is holy.” Do I consider that ‘my body is holy’? Do I know why it is holy? Because the Spirit of God is always with me and every person.
In the Gospel Jesus makes it obvious that He has come to bring an old belief system to fulfillment. The temple had become a marketplace where people were selling animals for sacrifice. NOW Jesus was talking about the temple of His body and alluding to His own death and resurrection. The people listening thought that Jesus was referring to the Temple in Jerusalem. But He was talking about His body, which has now replaced the temple. We no longer need a building, we no longer need to put faith in a temple. Everything that the temple was understood to provide for the Jewish people is now understood to come from Jesus. And as Vatican II so very frequently expressed…WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings explores this phrase “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” She says, “One last question on this feast of sacred places: what’s a temple? The term implies a sacred precinct, the most famous of which was the Temple of Jerusalem built to honor the God of Israel. Biblically, it was understood to be more than a house of worship, but rather God’s temporal address. The community around Jesus were shocked to hear Him speak of the Temple’s destruction: historically, it had happened once, at the time of the Babylonian invasion in 587BC, and took the core of life out of the nation.

Jesus of course was referring to Himself as the residence of divine indwelling. St. Paul celebrated the phrase as the truth about all believers. God’s spirit of holiness lives in us as authentically as it does in consecrated places and sacramental signs. The sacred encounter happens wherever we are.”

So I ask am I the presence of Jesus? Have I been the presence of Jesus so far this day? This past week? Am I ‘living proof’ that God is alive and spreading His love through me?
So I reflect on:

• Have I been at Church today? This week? Have I been at my place of worship recently? What makes this place, sacred for me?
  
• As I look at my spiritual journey, I remember the places that has been places of pilgrimage; what experiences of God touched me?
  
• Alice Camille asks, “Being God’s temple is an honor, a surprise, a responsibility, and a challenge. Which reality is most present to you now?”
  
• When I hear the word ‘church’ what first comes to me: a building or a community of people?
  

Sacred Space 2014 says:

“Jesus is angry as He sees the lack of respect the people have for His Father’s house, the place of prayer, the place of presence. The people are blind to who Jesus is and deaf to His message.

How patient you are with us, Lord, as we stumble and weave our way through life without the realization of Your silent presence waiting for us to awaken to Your unfailing love.”

November 2, 2014

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

Isaiah 25: 6-9; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 5:1-12
Seldom is All Souls day, November 2 on a Sunday; when it is we have the special honor to celebrate the feast of people that we knew, who were important to us, whom we loved and who loved us deeply.
One of the great privileges that I have as a priest is to celebrate the funeral liturgies of people who have passed on to the Lord. Many times, I get a chance to talk to the families and to find out more about the person who has passed. Given the chance, I ask two questions: what was special about the person who passed and what will you miss most of all about that person. Tears come, stories are shared, treasured memories come out in the open and there is a celebration of the person’s life. Some comments usually come up: ‘I thought I would die first’…’I’m so glad that the Lord took him/her, they were in so much pain and now their pain has ended’…’what will I do without him/her?’...’she/he was a beautiful person and I’m sure they are with the Lord in heaven’…’they lived life as lovely person.’ So, I say, they were saints…it takes a while to process this, but the response so often is ‘Yes’.
Now the bottom line is that each person is called to be a saint. Not only that, but God gives to each person the grace, the help and the ability to be a saint. Now If I asked everyone who reads this blog and someone in turn asked me the same question, ‘Are you a saint?’ All would respond, as I would, ‘No!’ Yet that is THE WAY that we get to heaven to be with our loved ones who we honored yesterday on the feast of All Saints and today on the feast of All Souls. Do we realize that God sends us these ‘special people’ who touch us, share with us their love, and show us how to love? Do we realize that each of us being loving people we are on the path to heaven? So the question really is how am I doing in being a loving person? Am I learning from the ‘saints’ God has placed in my life? Looking back, if I was the first person to die, and the question was asked of my survivors: ‘What was special…and what will you miss most of all? The responses would reflect the saintly qualities that our loved ones see in each of us. Each person is on a journey. Are we fighting to avoid the ‘way to heaven’; are we waiting to get on the right road at a later time’; are we putting one foot in front of the other and keep going although sometimes we go backwards? Effort is what is needed, not success.
So how would you describe a saint? Next, who are the saints you have known in your own life? How special were they to you and me and how special were we to them? The one commonality is that they are in heaven because they were beautiful people. So who are the saints: people not unlike you and me? They were people who were able to say ‘yes’ a little more often than ‘no’. They showed us love maybe a little more deeply than we show and forgave when they least wanted to and gave without measuring how much they gave. Were they heroic people? Probably a better description was that they were ‘Real people’. Did they have faults and failings, absolutely…did they mess up, yes; did they always get things right, no. But they were able to do special things with an extraordinary amount of love and perseverance. These are ‘our’ heroes who are in heaven…I believe this…and everyone who is in heaven is a saint.
There is a story that is told about how long it takes to get heaven from the eyes of a middle school student. When the topic came up about heaven one question was asked “How long does it take to get to heaven?” One anxious student had an immediate response: “I know…I know…call on me? His answer was: “It takes 5 days to get to heaven!” That certainly was surprising…how come only five days? “Well, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit when He returned to heaven on Ascension Thursday…and ten days later the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost…so it’s simple five days to get to heaven and five days back.” That ended the questions for the class that day.
Looking back: we were conceived, probably no one is certain when that happened. In God’s time we were born and in God’s time we will die. Important are the promises that Jesus gave His followers:

• “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in Me, even though thy die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” (John 11: 25-26)
  
• If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
  
• “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me and I will not reject anyone who comes to Me, because I came down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of the One who sent Me. And this is the will of the One who sent Me, that I should not lose anything of what He gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes I Him may have eternal life, and I shall raise them on the Last day.”
  
• “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed Me, naked and you clothed Me, ill and you cared for Me, in prison and you visited Me.”…Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.”
  

So I reflect on:
From Preaching to Adults, Teens and Children: “When a loved one dies, the survivors usually deal with the death by telling stories about them, their lives, and those moments they fondly remember. This sharing of stories gives the friends and relatives permission to laugh and to cry. It is also a way to hold on to the memory, to keep the memory alive, and in a sense, to cling to the reality of the life that was lived. It makes the loved one present again in the community. All Souls Day can be a day for telling stories and sharing memories.”
From Sacred Space 2014:
“At that time Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
“Jesus offers us a lifeline: ‘Come to me,’ He says. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? And yet we find it difficult to believe that reaching out to Him can make a difference.
Lord, You invite us to take Your hand and walk with You through this ‘valley of tears.’ But how stubborn we can be sometimes! Help us be open to Your whispered invitation and respond with faith and generosity.”

October 26, 2014

30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Exodus 22: 20-26; 1 Thessalonians 1: 5-10; Matthew 22:34-40
I ask myself the question: What is love? I’ve answered that question in so many different ways: when I was young ‘love’ was somehow associated with the toys or games that I ‘loved’ to play. As I started in school, it was associated with the teacher or subject matter at hand. I loved just about every subject but never writing. I thought I could draw a little but it was unrecognizable and anything using scissors was a disaster. The school lunches were OK but trying to trade a bologna sandwich or a liverwurst one for peanut butter and jelly was hopeless; so I suffered and not necessarily ‘in love’. So ‘love’ was what I liked, what I enjoyed and what I had fun in doing.
Then came the development years and sports and girls. It seemed the predominant teaching on ‘love’ was in telling me, in no uncertain words, that this is love…that isn’t love…you are not the one to decide what love is. Then inserted into these instructions was what Jesus ‘taught’ about love and even this somehow seemed to be influenced more strongly by authorities than by the words of Jesus. All this happened in the later 40’s and the 50’s. Then came the ‘crazy 60’s: Kennedy’s assassination; Second Vatican Council, the music rebellion, folk music, later on Woodstock and in the same year of 1969, ‘Day of Aquarius’ and Viet Nam lasted for 21 years until 1975. And the question was asked and responded to ‘What is love’. I lived in these years and was asked the question…it’s the question of the ages…it’s the question of Jesus today.
The bottom line is that each person will have his or her own definition of love as well as all sorts of different experiences of loving or being loved. For Example: ‘I love pizza; this outfit; these colors; these kinds of people and so on. So it can be asked is love an emotion; is it a virtue; is it chemistry; is it psychological commitment? These so-called descriptions of love distract us from God and what His love is all about.
Paul reflects on the people from Thessalonica who became imitators of him and Jesus by accepting the Gospel. Paul speaks of how they “became imitators of us and of the Lord” both in their suffering and in their joy and therefore “became a model for all the believers.” As Living the Word says, “In other words, love that is genuine takes the suffering, joyful love of Christ and the saints as its model. Godly love not only cares for the vulnerable, but does so both at personal cost and joyfully.” Paul spells this out in his description of love that most wedding couples use in their wedding liturgy. “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, Love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” In light of this I reflect again on what is love?
The reading from Exodus looks at love from a series of prohibitions from God: ‘don’t behave in this way toward others…’ These originated at the Mt. Sinai covenant where the people are covenanted with God. “I will be your God, you will be My people.” The difficulty is that these were directed toward those who were not classified as ‘enemies’. They were part of the 613 injunctions the Israelites were required to follow to have a ‘healthy relationship with God and others.’ God had proved His love: the people were delivered from slavery in Egypt. God loved them for who they were and God saw a value in them that they didn’t see in themselves. This is present in every single person ever created—God’s unconditional love. God was totally compassionate…the people were to be totally compassionate.
All this is leading up to the commands of Jesus to me and to every person when He responded to what is the greatest commandment. ‘You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
The first part of the Gospel injunction is taken from Chapter 6 of the Book of Deuteronomy and is known as the Shema, the prayer that was recited twice each day by faithful Jews (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorpost of your houses and on your gates.”
THEN Jesus says I must love my neighbor as myself. Jesus is telling me that I MUST put my love into action. He tells me that I must respond to those in my life NOW who are most in need. I must always do the best I can to consider the needs of people and not just my own agenda. I am to love because I am loved just the way I am now!

Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings gives this commentary: “Love is the experience most likely to bring us to our knees. Not just in an attitude of prayer, though that happens too. Love makes us vulnerable to change, to grow, to be hurt, to make sacrifices, to be exalted. We’re at our best when we act under the influence of love. In the realm of the ordinary and the extraordinary, love makes us superheroes.

If it’s true that love is so incredible, then why do we ever choose to act from any other motivation? Fear is the most likely culprit. The reward of love is everlasting, but the cost of love is also high: everything we are and everything we’ve got. Some of us aren’t sure we’re prepared to pay that. Worse, some of us have yet to be the beneficiaries of that kind of love, so we may be forgiven if we don’t believe the rumors. For those of us who do know ourselves to be deeply, truly totally loved, there’s only one response possible: to become lovers ourselves.” And she asks: “How many ways have you expressed your love today? Who are the beneficiaries of your love?”
It is all about me realizing that I am loved. Period! Now can I love? God needs me to love!
Two passages have been my mantra for years:
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
Mother Teresa: “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.”
Sacred Space 2014 is beautiful today:

“Why should I love God totally? Because that is how God loves me. Nothing that I do could make God love me more. God’s love shines on me like the sun shines on earth.

Real prayer includes resting gratefully in that love.”

October 19, 2014

29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 45: 1, 4-6; 1 Thessalonians 1: 1-5; Matthew 22: 15-21

I remember being the youngest, and trying to ‘get out of the jobs’ assigned to me. Whatever excuses I tried, I never remember any of them being accepted. My mother would listen and then say ‘do your job’…if dad was present, and mom told me to do something and I hesitated, dad would say, “What did your mother tell you to do”… or… ”what did your mother just say?”…that ended all conversation and even any try for an excuse to get out of ‘my job.’
It seem as I have lived my life I have found more and more people ‘offering excuses’ for not doing what they should. Reasons as…it’s not fair…why me…why doesn’t my brother help…it’s not my job…or the biggie—I won’t do it! (That didn’t work for me and I knew if I even said it, I would be in trouble ‘for life’). So I ask: what excuses do I offer or give to God for not doing something? Even more important, why do I offer these excuses? Why do I engage in a conversation with God to determine what is ‘right or wrong’ for me to do? Once Jesus put an end to such a conversation by asking, “What are the commandments?”
In reality the answers have been given…Sacred Scripture contains a wealth of information and commands that put me on the right track on how to act and how to live. Jesus was very specific in showing me The Way. Am I paying attention not only to what Jesus said, but the life example He lived? Am I seeing that Jesus didn’t give suggestions on how to live but He gave life giving mandates and principles? Do I think that I can pick and choose what is the way a Christian is to live? Do I somehow feel it is up to me? Do I attempt to ‘trap’ God in agreeing that my way is right? All these questions are continuing along the line of the ‘dispute that Matthew shares in the Gospel: The Pharisees produce a Roman coin to Jesus, it has Caesar’s image on it with an inscription. They are trying to humiliate Jesus publicly with their question, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” If Jesus says ‘NO’, the Romans will be more than upset. If Jesus says ‘YES’ then many of the Jewish people will be upset. What is ‘of God’…where is God in my life…is God the center of my life…am I daily or hourly even, showing my love for God? This is really a phony debate but an ATTEMPT, just as I used with my parents, to get out of doing what I didn’t what to do. Even more importantly, it was my ‘job’ to do the chores. Jesus cut to quick: what is really important: paying attention to the things of God! This was at the center of the Jewish faith: everything ultimately belongs to God. This is my faith too…Am I living in this way? I can make up excuses, but the ultimate question is am I living the life and teachings and example of Jesus at each moment of each day? Don’t make excuses.
Sunday Homily Helps: “World events are not only isolated images on a TV news hour. Our spiritual lives are not simply a parallel little world unmoved by the events that surround us. Pope Francis has called us to listen and hear the cries of our world because their cries fashion the shape of our gospel response. They are not merely a bunch of unbelievers from whom we need to separate, but they are the ones whose cries shape our response in grace.”
I can get lost in the coin issue in the Gospel: Is the question, ‘Is it lawful to pay the tax?’ No not really. Jesus asked whose image is on the coin…they said Caesar and Jesus gave the answer, ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to him’. The real shocker is that Jesus continues, “Give to God what belongs to God.” This really was an insult to the Pharisees, they really thought they lived this. Jesus is saying, ‘Well are you living this?’ He’s asking me, ‘Are You living the Way that Jesus taught you?’ God is not forcing me, God is challenging me! God is asking if I’m walking the walk…am I living a life of service? Is my love genuine and unselfish? What is the challenge to me: Am I giving to God what belongs to God? Paul commends the Thessalonians “on their work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus…knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God, how you were chosen.” Is Paul describing me? Where do I have to grow? Am I letting the Spirit of God lead me? Is it my way or God’s way?
Patricia Datchuck Sanchez in The Word We Celebrate states ‘it as it is’:

“Instead of legislating on the matter proposed to Him, Jesus refrained from giving pat answers and provided His listeners with a principle, whose application He left to their responsible consciences.

For that reason, it would be an error to seek in this teaching of Jesus justification for any particular theory of church-state relations. Still, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” has been applied as rationale in various and sundry political contexts throughout the centuries: the medieval two-sword theory, the throne-and-altar theology of Lutheran orthodoxy, the separation of church and state in the North American constitution. Yet, in all these applications, there has been an injustice down the original principle given by Jesus. “Give to Caesar,” difficult though it may be, represents the loyalty one owes to temporal authority. But “Give to God” is a challenge which taps not merely our financial resources or political allegiances. “Give to God what is God’s” is a demand with no limitations.

1. To see and accept the hand of God at work in the ‘least likely’ people is a part of responsible believing (Isaiah).
2. One does not join the church as one would a club; one is called to respond to God in faith within a faithful community (Thessalonians).
3. Within the heart of the one totally committed, there are no compartments labelled secular, sacred, church, state. There can be no dichotomy, therefore, in one’s activities. (Matthew).”
   

So I reflect on:

• What are the idols in my life? Power? Comfort? Security? Or anything or anyone who provides these? Addictions too?
• Do I praise God often? Is it only at formal prayer or in church? Enjoying nature, working on environmental issues, speaking the truth, setting a good example and sharing with the poor are ways to give honor to God. Do I do these?
• Do I ‘worship’ popularity, affluence, attractiveness, or physical strength?

Sacred Space 2014 concludes:
”Jesus remains free and firm in face of the plots against Him. I ask for His courage to stand up for what is true and just.
To be a good citizen and to serve God are not in contradiction because God works though all human systems and institutions to build the final community of love. God needs me to help build good relationships wherever I find myself.”

October 12, 2014

28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isaiah 25: 6-10; Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20; Matthew 22: 1-14
Today’s Gospel is the third parable that Jesus has told to the religious leadership who question His authority. So one would think that it is easy to understand and maybe even that it doesn’t refer to each person reading this blog/ but it has enormous ramifications and leads to much reflection.
When God invites do I respond? When God asks of me, do I put it off? Is God an important part of my life? Is God only important when I need something? Does responding to God only happen when I am available and it is convenient? Does God care how busy my life is and how it is difficult to respond always as a Christian?
Then there are the reflections that come directly from the Gospel: why would God expect only a ‘passerby’, maybe even a ‘street person’ to have the necessary clothes on the spur of the moment to go to a wedding ceremony? And the response is ‘NOW!’ Wasn’t this ‘passerby’ perhaps in his/her charity just responding in ‘love’ to the kings need to have the wedding feast filled with guests? Why the harshness of the king? The parable is obvious in that the ‘king’ is God; if this is so, doesn’t this portray a cruel and harsh God nowhere near the God of love that is heard repeatedly in the accounts of the New Testament? This certainly is another one of those parables where it is difficult to hear what Jesus is saying.
One would imagine that when the servants went out after the first time and found out that those invited had refused to come, then the King would be upset. This was the height of impoliteness. What does this say about me when I refuse to respond to people who ask for my help? Is this part of what the parable is saying? A little bit…and the reflection is a good one…why do I refuse?
Then the second set of invitations went out to “those invited” and tell them that everything is ready, ‘Come’. Again some ignored, others were ‘too busy’ and some took the servants “Mistreated and killed them.” Now this is going too far.” The King has to be upset, God has to be ‘furious’…and I could or would never do a thing like that. The King retaliates, of course. Obviously the parable is meant for the religious leaders who refused to listen to Jesus and all those who were plotting to have Him killed. I think, ‘I would never do that’ so the parable doesn’t apply to me. Then comes the final invitation and the part of the parable so many think is ‘unfair’. Maybe I’m developing my idea of God from a misunderstanding of Jesus words. I find frequently that I REACT to the initial words of Jesus and not see the wealth and beauty in all the words.
Some commentaries have suggested that ‘wedding garments’ could be provided from the closet if needed…like a suit jacket in a fancy restaurant that demands a jacket for a man. Now the ‘guest’ would really be in the wrong if this was the case and they refused to wear it. Other commentaries suggested that the servants carried ‘wedding garment with them to the newly asked ‘guests’. These are reaching quite a bit, I feel.
The bottom line is that the man who refused to wear the garment…the only part of the parable with a ‘problem’, was wrong. The king was not wrong. WHY? There is an important sentence that I have overlooked far too frequently in my cursory reading and it is a sentence that ‘solves the riddle.’ “My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?’ But he was reduced to silence.” Jesus points out the main point of the Parable which puts the blame entirely on the shoulders of the guest. HE WAS SILENT. He didn’t say a word. If he was unjust accused, especially knowing the consequences of this action, he would have spoken up loud and clear. He had nothing to say…no excuse, no explanation and NO PROTEST. His silence branded him as guilty…period.
With this it is good to review the gospel and its meaning for me. Jesus is telling the leaders and all that God loves everyone forever and that Jesus showed this love and will prove it by dying for every single person John 15:13-14: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Now the people who refused, just don’t care about God and evidently don’t feel the need for His love. The one who preferred his farm represents anyone too attached to material things and God is not a priority in any way shape or manner. The others were concerned with fame and money. Those who killed the servants certainly didn’t care. Was it because of excessive greed, selfishness, lust for power and just themselves? Then were the people: the good, the bad, the ugly, the indifferent etc. AND what would be my excuse…my excuse to refusing to change, for refusing to change my ways of doing things, for refusing to want to enter the conversion process?

Matthew A Devotional Commentary says so much to me: “Isaiah and Jesus both emphasized that the Lord’s invitation was not an exclusive, high-society event. All are invited regardless of state in life, position in the community material wealth, race, age or handicap. The mixing of social groups was just as radical a concept in Isaiah’s and Jesus time as it is in ours. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day, for instance, shunned tax collectors and sinners—but these ‘sinners’ often accepted Jesus before the self-righteous Pharisees did. Today, the educated and financially secure often shun the gospel, while the poor and humble embrace it eagerly.

In the sacrament of the Eucharist, God invites all people to taste His great love. As we participate in the liturgy of the Eucharist, God increases our desire and readiness for the heavenly banquet that is to come. How will we respond to the Lord’s invitation to the wedding banquet of His Son? Will we be too preoccupied with worldly affairs to accept it humbly? Or will we respond with hearts overflowing with love and gratitude for the Lord’s gift of refreshment and the opportunity to dwell in His house for ever (Psalm 23)?”
I reflect on:

• How is the invitation to join Jesus in heaven like the wedding invitation in today’s Gospel?
  
• Can I respond to Jesus without giving Him time each day?
  

Sacred Space 2014 says:

“The kingdom of heaven is often presented under the image of a great banquet. With Jesus, the kingdom is already here. Could it be that I am slow to accept the gifts that God offers me now?

Everything that veils and deadens love will be removed in God’s time. I pray that I may play my part in removing anything that prevents people becoming fully alive.”
I continue: Who is welcomed in my home? What evidence is there that I believe God provides for my needs? In the second verse of ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ sung by Harry Chapin, a 10 year boy asks his dad to play ball, but the father is too busy. This connects so much to the gospel parable…do I see it?