Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
The first scripture reading for today, from Isaiah, talks of a sign. There are a few different things to note about signs. First, signs are intended to get people’s attention. Think of the way a stop sign gets our attention with its bright color drawing attention to its important message. Second, signs are a kind of proof pointing to something beyond themselves. For instance, NASA is currently looking for signs that life may have existed on Mars. Or think of an archaeologist who takes fragments of clay and stone as signs that ancient people lived in a particular area. In a similar way, the Catholic Church views the sacraments as signs that show God’s action in our lives. They go beyond the actions performed and the words that are said to mediate graces but also to reveal something about God. Third and finally, a sign helps us to understand things and help us discern what is important for our lives. A sign therefore is not a mere symbol. It is more than what it appears to be.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Like many Catholics and other Christians who were baptized as infants, I don’t remember it. I don’t recall what I wore or if I cried as the water saturated my dry hair. I can only trust that my parents responded to questions such as “Do you reject Satan?” with a fervent and loud “I do!” on my behalf. But I don’t remember. Nevertheless, in that moment, I was forever changed. To borrow a line from the Catechism, I no longer belonged to myself, but to Him who died and rose for us. (CCC 1269) In that moment, I was born again (John 3:5-7). In that moment, I was consecrated to God.
Fourth Sunday of Advent
I was talking to a dearly beloved parishioner yesterday. And she was talking about how her knees and her hips were beginning to give her problems. Obviously, she was very scared. She loves dancing, skiing, and being with her grandchildren, and she is afraid that she might have to stop doing the things that she loves to do. She talked to me about a healing mass she participated in. She genuinely wanted her ailment to be gone. When the priest anointed her with the laying on of hands, he prayed in words like, “Lord, please heal her of her pain but if it is your will that she should carry this pain, then give her the strength to endure it.” She said, to me yesterday, “But that is not I wanted to hear.” When I asked her permission to share this story, she said “I was being silly, but I meant what with all my heart!”
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
As we enter into the final days of preparation for Christmas, we are presented with two types of fear– a holy fear of the Lord and a prideful fear of losing earthly power.
In her great Magnificat, Mary sings of the greatness of the God who “has mercy on hose who fear Him in every generation.” Mary would have known well the song of Hannah that we have for today as the responsorial psalm.
Friday of the Third Week of Advent
My daughter's been begging me to read a lot of stories about Jesus lately. These aren't scriptural stories. They're fictional stories, but each one of them is telling something true about who God is for us. There's one about a clown, for example, who juggles; everyone laughs at him, but Jesus does not. In fact, in the story, Jesus delights in this juggler who juggles with all his might. Or, there's a story about a little mouse who plays a little acorn drum for the baby Jesus. In this story, the little mouse is looked down upon by his other animal friends, because he is so tiny, but it turns out that he and his joyful playing of a drum end up being the most captivating for Jesus.
Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Jesus asks some rather pointed questions in the gospel reading today (Luke 7: 24-30) as he is addressing the crowds of people about John the Baptist. His words have a somewhat sarcastic “get real” tone to them: “What did you go out to the desert to see – a reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine garments?” Clearly he is making a point about the fact that they went out to see John the Baptist, but perhaps he was not what they expected.
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross
Today, we keep the memorial of the great contemplative, John of the Cross. John had a heart for reforming. Upon meeting Teresa of Avila, John convinced him to remain within his religious order and become true to its original rule. Many people we drawn into this re-invigorated approach to the faith. However, these reforms were not welcomed by all. He was eventually thrown into prison by his own order. Ironically in the darkness of his prison cell, John saw the light. In the midst of his sufferings, he received visions that helped, in a mystical way, understand the cross of Christ. From prison, John found himself connecting his suffering to the cross of Christ. Paradoxically, the experience led him to understand more fully the resurrection.
Memorial of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr
In the gospel today Jesus tells the story of two sons. Each is given a task to do by his father. One of them initially says “no” to his father but later changes his mind and does what his father has commanded him to do. The other immediately agrees to do what his father asks, but he does not end up doing it. Only the first is to be commended for what he did. Jesus applies this to the people of his time. The Pharisees are the ones who initially said “yes” to God but do not follow through. He names “tax collectors and prostitutes” as examples of those who initially said no to God but changed their minds. They became receptive to the promptings of the Spirit, perhaps because they recognized that they needed to be saved. In this they demonstrate humility and an openness to God’s grace in their lives.
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. And what joyous Scripture! I am taken aback by what God accomplished--and continues to accomplish-- through the cooperation of our Blessed Mother. Especially dear to us as Patroness of the Americas, Mary brought over 20 million souls to Jesus as a result of her appearance in Guadalupe! Even now, Jesus continues to come to us through Mary.
Third Sunday of Advent
Scripture Readings
We are mid-way through Advent. And my question to you is, “How is it going?” The first Sunday, I invited all of us to step-back, examine our lives and ask God for a renewal. Last Sunday, I suggested that the God was offering us comfort, a challenge and a responsibility. It is my hope that each of us is preparing, as John the Baptist would say, a highway for our God. And so I am asking you again. “How is it going?” The answer to the question can either take us deeply or superficially into the message of the God’s word in this third week of Advent.
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
In the tradition of Jewish hope for the Messiah, the one who would come and restore God’s reign, there was an expectation that the great prophet Elijah would come back as a forerunner to the Messiah, an indication that the one who came after was indeed God’s servant who will save His people from oppression. In the first reading, we see a recitation of this expectation of Elijah’s return, “You were destined, it is written, in time to come to put an end to wrath before the day of the Lord.
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
A story is told about one of my favorite saints, Teresa of Avila. In order to comprehend the story, you need to know that she is the founder of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, a very strict order in which people do a lot of fasting and other ascetic acts. The word “discalced” means “unshod,” and these Carmelites walk around barefoot or in sandals, again as an ascetic practice, and also as a witness to the fact that Jesus himself was poor and did not have shoes in the way that we do. Teresa advocated lots of time for prayer and contemplation, a very difficult thing to do. So, imagine the surprise of her nuns when they encountered her in the kitchen one day eating partridge, and clearly enjoying it. The nuns exclaimed that she wasn’t fasting, but Teresa said, “When I fast, I fast, and when I partridge, I partridge.”
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On this, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the readings begin with the story of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3: 9-15, 20) and how they disobeyed God and sinned. It is a story about human weakness and sinfulness. Once they disobeyed God they became aware of their nakedness and were ashamed. They tried to hide themselves from God in their shame.
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the Church
Advent is a season of preparation for the Lord’s arrival at Christmas. Christmas celebrates Christ’s original coming in Bethlehem and his second coming at the end of time. Thus our preparation takes place on more than one level. Yet the activities in which we find ourselves involved at this time of year are often less than spiritual. While these happenings are important in the material world, the busyness which accompanies them can preclude us from finding rest in Christ. The real trick would be if we can bring our spiritual nature into all these activities.
Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent
Sometimes it seems like human beings really need a leader. I’ve heard it said a lot recently that there is a need for leadership in the world. There is a need for insightful leaders, since so many of the problems that we are facing today are much bigger than any one person can address. In my life, too, I find myself needing a shepherd. I want more guidance on how to live my life. It’s not always clear where life is going. In modern times there are few certainties, and it often seems that people are looking for someone or something to give them assurance that they are doing things the right way. The scripture readings for today present us with the idea that ideal leader is Jesus, because he is willing to do all that he can for the sake of those who are in his care.
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
Have you ever had the experience where you were looking forward to a particular event so much so that you were happy and excited just thinking about the future happening? Maybe this event was a vacation that you had planned for some time, or maybe a family reunion that you were looking forward to gathering with loved ones. Perhaps it was the upcoming birth of a child that brought this great sense of excitement and joy. Today’s readings speak of this same joyful anticipation.
Second Sunday of Advent
Last week I began with the story Corey Cooper and Christina Jackson who died in a car accident. Ever since the accident, not only have I offered my comfort to the families but I have also wanted to reach out to Robert Finkley, the man who caused the accident. On Thursday, I made a visit to the jail and spoke with him for about half an hour. He did not know that I was coming, who I was or what to expect. He came to the window holding a Bible in his hands. The man I met was unspeakably regretful and filled with inexpressible sorrow. He wanted me to convey to the families how incredibly sorry he was for his actions. As Robert said, “What I did was more than a mistake.” I have rarely seen such hopelessness or sense of despair. I asked him not to give up on God, on faith, and not to lose hope. May be, he could become the greatest campaigner against driving under the influence.
Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest
We usually think of Christmas, not Advent, as the time of giving—but, really, all times are times of giving. Although we may not always realize it, we receive everything that we have as a gift from God. As the Creed insists, we believe in the God who is “creator of heaven and earth, of all that is- seen and unseen.” If we allow ourselves to seriously contemplate our own Faith, we find that we believe that everything stems from God’s giving. If this is true, then all of our experiences find their origin in God, who continuously sustains all things. Everything that we are and everything that we have- all of our lives have their source in the LORD God Almighty, who is the beginning and the end of everything that was, and is, and will be.
Friday of the First Week of Advent
Words do things - significant things. There are very few times that "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" holds true; words can drip with violence and incrimination, making a person feel terrible for that day and many other days to come. Donald Trump only has to utter two words - "You're fired" - to dash the hopes of his future employees.
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
Which house would you want to live in? The one built on rock or the one built on sand?
In today’s gospel (Matthew 7:21, 24-27) we have the closing of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been preaching to his disciples and is calling them to greater conversion. Some of his followers were performing works of healing and exorcism in Jesus’ name while living evil lives, not doing God’s will. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus uses the lesson of the two different foundations for building a house to make his point.