Monday of the First Week of Advent
Believe it or not, Advent of 2011 has begun! For some of us it may feel as if this preparatory season with the hope of Christmas on the horizon couldn’t come soon enough. For others, we may feel that time has simply flew by as if we were taking down the lights from last Christmas just a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, Advent has arrived and we begin to ask ourselves one very important question, “Am I ready?” But before we can answer this question, I find myself asking another, which is, “What does it mean to be ready?” Because if being “ready for Christmas” is simply sending cards in the mail or getting gifts bought in time, I think we’d all agree that we’d be missing the point. Rather, are we ready for Jesus Christ to once again be born in our lives? This is by far a much more challenging question. Am I prepared to accept Jesus? Am I ready to receive Him? Am I ready?
First Sunday of Advent
Just today, I buried two young people who were killed in a car accident. Corey Cooper was only 18 years old and Christina Jackson was 20. When they left home the night of November eighteenth, no one thought that this would the last time they saw their family; when they got into the car that night, no one thought this would be their last car ride; when they sent their text sitting at the red light early morning of November nineteenth, they did not think that would be their last text ever sent. Like a flash of lightning, their brief lives were over. “Watch therefore,” Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, “you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.”
Saturday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Appropriately, on this final day of the liturgical year, we have reflections about the apocalypse, or the second coming of Jesus. “Apocalypse” in Greek literally means “revelation” or “pulling back the veil” (Hence the title of the last book of the Bible). We generally talk about “revelation” as the way that God makes Himself known to us—in Scripture and preeminently in Jesus Himself.
Friday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
This week's scripture readings have been apocalyptic - focused on the end of times. The readings are deeply symbolic of what the author thinks will happen in the future, but the symbolism is often unclear. Take, for example, today's first reading (Daniel 7:2-14). Get fifty scripture scholars in a room and you would not have the same interpretation. Indeed, get fifty people from our single parish and I doubt we'd have the same interpretation of all the symbols. Who are the beasts and what do they represent? What does it mean that one of the beasts is told to get up and devour much flesh? And whose flesh is it? Depending on the way one reads, these scriptures can seem personally terrifying (perhaps the beast means to devour us!) or personally comforting (perhaps the beast will devour all that is evil in the world).
Thanksgiving Day
I think it’s safe to say that most of us have heard or read today’s gospel story (Luke 17: 11-19) many, many times in our lives. The Healing of the Ten Lepers is a very familiar story, which, as a result, can cause us to skim over it quickly and not reflect deeply, being tempted just to say, “Oh, I know that one,” and move on. I encourage you to read it again and take a closer look at it with me today on this day of giving thanks.
Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The title of today's reflection, a play on the line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, illustrates the dichotomous light we may need to illuminate our own actions. Although the readings speak to the end times, a more overwhelming message rises to the top as we quickly approach Advent. Simply put, the times of trial and persecution will lead us to testify to our faith, in other words, to glorify God.
Memorial of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr
This year has been a crazy one when it comes to political alliances (and dis-alliances). The European Economic Union seems poised to break apart, and heads of state that I never thought would be gone (at least not this year) have been dethroned because of the economy. The Arabian Spring brought in several other new leaders, and civil war elsewhere will may bring some new heads of state before year's end. Political alliances are being re-forged, and whatever new relationships come will surely have an affect on the economy and our lives in some small way - but in what way, exactly? This we do not know, and so anxiety sets in.
Memorial of The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple. Though not mentioned in Scripture, some apocryphal writings, the Protoevangelium of James in particular, tell of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Ann bringing her to the Temple to live at the age of three. This was in fulfillment of a promise made by St Anne before Mary’s conception. The theological importance of the feast stems from its emphasis on Mary’s total dedication to God from before her birth through her childhood.
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ The King
I have heard this story many times, but it never ceases to touch me. So I would like to repeat it for you. On a cold day in December in New York, a little boy was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady who noticed him, approached him and asked him what he was looking at. “I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes.” The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. She took the little boy and removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with the towel. By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes. She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said asked him to go along on his way. As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears in his eyes, asked “Are you God's wife?”
Saturday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus interacting with representatives from some of the various schools of Judaism of His day (of course, we must remember that Jesus was a Jew who observed the requirements of the Jewish Law). Since Jesus was known as a rabbi (or teacher), it would have been customary for him to debate the interpretation of the law with other Jewish leaders. Not surprisingly, these debates often included attempts to undercut and outsmart the other, especially if the authority of opposing party was suspect.
Friday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
My Jewish friends would groan if they ever saw the title for this scripture reflection, because they tell me Christians make way more of Hanukkah than even Jews do. It has come to be called the "Jewish Christmas" so that their kids don't feel left out of all the commercial hoopla - but, as my friends tell me, Hanukkah has traditionally been a rather minor holiday, especially by comparison to Passover or Rosh Hoshanna.
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
There are some strong emotions in today’s readings, and it’s not the reader’s feelings I’m talking about. The first reading (1 Maccabees 2:15-29) tells the story of Mattathias' and his sons’ refusal to succumb to the attacks on their Jewish faith and pressure to obey the king’s commands against their religion. Mattathias, in his zealousness for God’s law, ends up killing the king’s messenger who was forcing Jews to sacrifice and another Jew who was obeying the king. “His heart was moved and his just fury was aroused.” (This killing was justified by the Jewish law and showed his great zeal for the law.) He then led his sons and all who stood by God’s covenant out of the city and up into the mountains to “live according to righteousness....” So, here was a righteous, law-abiding man who stayed true to God’s covenant even amid persecution. (If the killing is a problem for you, don’t worry; we’ll come back to that later.)
Wednesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Consider for a moment, what may have been one of the most traumatic things that has ever happened in your life? Creating such a list may seem like running our nails on a chalkboard. But consider for a moment that even without making such a list, we most likely to have survived and forgotten many traumatic events. As a teenager I recall asking the girl I liked to a dance, only to be turned down. I had liked the girl for many years and felt heartbroken. Although my world was shattered, my life continued. Eventually I realized there would be other girls to ask new dances. Looking back I am grateful that I did not allow those moments of mental anguish to paralyze me or cause me to give up.
Tuesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
The readings for this week look forward to the Solemnity of Christ the King on November 20 and to the season of Advent starting November 27. Advent is a time of expectation, of waiting in hope for the birth of the Christ child in our lives. It is a penitential time, a time of self-examination, meditation, and reflection. Advent is also a very busy season, and it sometimes leads people to feel a lot of stress. It can be easy to forget, amid the many holiday celebrations, the shopping, and the gift giving, that the person whom we are expecting with such eagerness and whose advent we are celebrating is Jesus himself.
Monday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
As Catholic Christians we are called to live out our faith both in our personal life, and also in our life within our society. This can be a challenge at times particularly when we are faced with difficult issues such as immigration, affordable health care, and the death penalty. During this season of political campaigning this is brought even more to the forefront of our daily living. So as Disciples of Christ, how are we supposed to live out our call to follow Him on these issues?
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Two of today’s readings contain passages that are my least favorite. The parable especially, I am not very fond of it. And I will tell you in a moment why. But, it is not my intention to make you dislike the parable. The first half of my homily, then, is about how I do not want to approach the parable and the second half of the homily is a more acceptable vantage point to understand the parable.
Memorial of Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr
In today’s gospel, Jesus gives us a rather odd parable to illustrate the necessity that his disciples pray constantly. There are two important aspects of it, however, that perhaps we might miss on a first read—both are common features of Jesus’ parables in general and both help us to understand the story a bit better.
Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, bishop
It amazes me, despite passages like today's gospel (Luke 17:26-37), how much time people spend trying to predict the exact moment when Jesus will come again. We saw this most recently this year with the Project Caravan group and the followers of Harold Camping. I tend to think that if you wanted to, you could read the Book of Revelation and predict that tomorrow is THE day.
Memorial of Saint Leo the Great
If you’re like me, then you are in somewhat of a hurry and are reading this reflection without having read the readings beforehand. It’s a temptation, I know; I’ve done it myself. But today, I really want to encourage you to take the time to especially read the first reading, which is from the book of Wisdom (7: 22b-8: 1). Read it slowly and more than once. Maybe even try reading it aloud.
Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome
We celebrated the birthday of a coworker at work today. He said it was good that we celebrate because he has been around a long time. He turned eighty years of age for which he was very proud. For a few minutes, he described his parents and how they worked so hard to raise him in the faith. I almost wept as he described how important the sacraments were to his mother and how deeply she desired her whole family to participate in Eucharist. For his mother, mass was foundational to living as a Catholic and she wanted her children to grow up with the same belief. It made me stop and consider how my own parents raised me and how they brought me up in the faith.