Sacrificing the Innocence of Children

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Innocents, whose death was ordered by Herod.  When Herod  “realized that he had been deceived by the magi…[h]e ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi” (Mt. 2: 13-18). Imagine the terror that came over Bethlehem, the mothers desperately trying to save their children to no avail. Having been warned in a dream to “flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you,”  (Mt. 2: 13-18),  Joseph flees with Mary and Jesus during the night to escape Herod’s wrath.  Imagine Mary’s sorrow, as those young mothers whose babies were snatched from their arms were probably friends of Mary, young women with whom she grew up in the streets of Bethlehem.   Also imagine the holy family fleeing during the night and the hardships of that journey into Egypt and becoming refugees in a foreign land.

The slaughter of innocents continues to this very day. Little children sold into the sex slave and the labor force; children fleeing with their parents away from war-infected cities, trying to escape rebels shelling their homes and “playgrounds,”  children hiding in closets while their parents scream at each other or threaten to harm one another, children whose living rooms have become places where drugs are exchanged and a child’s play is silenced!

Yes, to this very day “A voice…[is] heard in Ramah [in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Connecticut, Colorado, Texas, and so many other U.S. cities and cities throughout the world], sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel (insert the name of a woman you know] [is] weeping for her children and she would not be consoled, since they…[are]no more” (Mt. 2: 13-18).

Who will deliver us from this insanity?  Jesus, the Son of God, disguised to our human eyes in the body of an infant will sacrifice his life on the cross so that we will, in truth, overcome the evil that seems to have taken hold of the world of today just as it had in the days of Herod! “Take courage,” Jesus tells us in Jn 16:33, I have overcome the world.”

The Feast of St. John, the Beloved Disciple

Today we celebrate the feast of St. John, the youngest of the apostles and the only one who did not die a martyr’s death.  However, he was exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation.  Recent scholars point out the relationship between the Book of Revelation and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If interested in this development, I recommend that you read Scott Hahn’s book entitled “The Lamb’s Supper, The Mass as Heaven On Earth.”  When participating in the Mass—standing, as it were, beneath the cross of Christ, as St. John did, “we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord; venerating the memory of the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until He, our life, shall appear and we too will appear with Him in glory” (The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy as quoted by Scott Hahn in The Lamb’s Supper).

Thus the Gloria and the “Holy, holy, holy,” the Lamb of God” and “Happy are those who are called to this Supper” prayers offered during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We join with all of the angels and saints in heaven as our Warrior God proclaims battle upon Satan prowling the world in search of souls. In Jesus’ name and through His once and for all sacrifice on the cross, Satan will be overcome. We will ultimately triumph over evil, as Jesus did on the cross, where He took on sin to destroy it forever.  He descends from heaven to earth in every liturgy, inviting us to “Take and Eat; this is my body given up for you,” and “Take and drink; this is the blood of the New Covenant,” shed once and for all for the salvation of the world. You are a part of that saving act in every Eucharist, as John was a part of the first Eucharist, when, at the Last Supper, Jesus said those same words to the apostles at that last meal of Jesus on earth. He would not eat it again until the heavenly and earthly liturgies unite as one.

Feast of St. Stephen, the first Martyr

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first person to give his life for his faith in Christ Jesus.

In the Gospel, Mt. 10: 17-22, Jesus tells us not to worry about what we might say when confronted for our faith, when we are challenged by pagans, non-believers, and/or oppressors because “[y]ou will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”  Stephen, filled with the wisdom of the Spirit, was no match for his debaters, St. Luke tells us in the first reading of today’s liturgy, Acts 6: 8-10; 7: 54-59.  Stephen “was working great wonders and signs among the people. Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freemen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia, came forward and debated with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.”

The Spirit that willed Stephen is also within our very beings. We, too, have access to the Wisdom of God, who comes to us in Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist and through grace available to all who call upon the name of the Lord.  May you and I, today, experience that power at work within us and around us and within and around others as well. May our eyes be opened to the wonders of the Lord worked by others, by the signs God’s gives of His love’s transforming power.

The infant Jesus, God among us, continues to this day to come in disguises and in ways that, many times, pass us unawares. Our efforts to seek the Lord each day make it more likely that we will recognize Him in the daily events of the day: in our children, our young people, the elderly, our own family members and relatives, our priests and deacons, in the signs of the times (the disasters around us that invite us to call upon the Lord and put our faith in God, not in material things or even in humankind. God alone saves!

 

O Blessed Christmas Morning!

MERRY CRISTMAS!

As I reflect upon the meaning of Christmas, I am speechless. “How, I asked myself, am I to share any of my thoughts?”  My mind seemed blank, as I sat in silent contemplation of today’s liturgical readings. The words that came to me were: “I adore you, O Christ, and I bless you because by your holy…[love], you have redeemed the world.”   How to imagine that our God came into this world as a tiny, vulnerable infant--God hidden within human nature:  the infant Jesus, the little boy Jesus, the adolescent Jesus, the man Jesus as Immanuel with us. How awesome!  Why would God, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, ever leave heaven to come to earth, to enter our existence and become a human being? Love and mercy beyond all telling. For all eternity, once sin entered this world, and even before humankind turned against God, a plan was already in place to mend a broken relationship, to restore unity between God and humankind, to bring us back to God, from whom we strayed.  What love! What mercy! That tiny, vulnerable baby is God come to save us, God fulfilling an eternal plan to reconcile us, to heal us, to make us whole again, to reopen the gates to Eternal Life.  Imagine the angels, unable to contain their joy in heaven, breaking through to earth to sing God’s praises at Bethlehem, at every Eucharistic celebration, at every baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion,  and celebration of Reconciliation, at every marriage, at every Anointing of the Sick, at all ordinations. God with us in all the ways that grace is received into our lives—a reality that began when God becomes human like us in all things but sin so that  we, through grace, could, ultimately, become like God in holiness.

The Birthday of Jesus, the Christ

We are nearing the birthday of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  What a sight!  The Son of God leaves the glory of heaven to take up residence here on earth and embrace all that it means to be human.  God becomes incarnate, an infant dependent upon Mary and His foster father Joseph for everything. He, the Creator of the Universe, enters our existence as a newborn child. What humility!  He comes to show us the way to the Father. That way is the way of  obedience, learning such throughout his childhood and adolescence as any child does, and through his sufferings here on earth to the point of his crucifixion. Jesus learns the way of humble  service, the way of self-giving, self-emptying through the example of Mary and Joseph.  Like any small child,  Jesus is taught to love by His parents, loving him into existence and into fullness of life that is experienced in being loved, cherished, affirmed, directed and guided by one's parents, one's teachers and, in Jesus' case, the rabbis of his day.  Through Mary and Joseph, and other adults,  Jesus is taught to respect, honor and love himself, to cherish and appreciate his God-given talents and gifts as a human being. He is nurtured and strengthened by the love and the guidance of his earthly parents in the same way that responsible parents today provide the proper environment for their children to know, love and serve God in this life and be happy with God eternally.

Lord, may I appreciate your generosity and humility in coming to earth, in becoming God incarnate living among us!  May I fall on my knees when I think of You leaving the glory of heaven to embrace the not-so-glorious realities of human life and then, to top it all off, fall into the hands of the Scribes and Pharisees, the leaders and elders of your people who, during your public ministry, did everything possible to find ways to put you to death, to remove you from our midst because they saw you as a threat to their powerful positions and their worldly pursuits!  God have mercy! We are still trying to remove any remembrance of you from our lives today!

God's Visit

Today's Gospel tells the story of the Annunciation, when the angel of the Lord announces to Mary that she has found favor with the Lord and will conceive a child in her womb who will be called holy, the Son of the Most High God. He will assume the throne of David and rule over all and  His Kingdom will have no end, totally unlike any earthly kingdom. 

Imagine this happening to you. You are engaged to be married. You and your fiancee have not engaged in sex. Both of you believe that that is a sacred gift reserved for marriage, for persons in a committed relationship to one another and to God.  Suddenly, in the quiet of your room, no one is around but you,  a heavenly messenger appears to you and says:

"Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you."

You're thinking: "Oh, my God! Who is this? What is this all about?"  You begin to tremble with fear. "Am I hallucinating? What is happening to me? Oh, God help!"  The angel notices that you are terrified and says: "Don't be afraid. You have found favor with the Lord. I have great news for you. You will conceive a child in your womb, a son, whom you will name Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High God.  He is going to ascend the throne of the greatest rulers whoever governed any nation on this earth.  In fact, He will rule forever with justice and right judgment and His Kingdom will never end."

"What? How is this going to happen? I'm a virgin. My fiancee is a virgin.  I have never had a sexual relationship with anyone."

"Don't worry! Nothing is impossible with God."

"I know! But how am I to conceive a child without having a sexual encounter with a man?"

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God....for nothing will be impossible for God."

Recognizing the truth of all of this and that you belong to God above anyone self,  you respond: "Be it done to me according to your word."

As with Mary, so, too, with you, God breaks into your life in profound ways, sometimes frightening ways.  On the day of your baptism, confirmation, first confession, first Holy Communion, and Confirmation and any sacrament received since you died and rose with Christ in your baptism, something profound, something holy is happening.   As with Mary in the Annunciation, you are completely changed by God visiting you, not through a messenger, but directly through the sacraments.  As you cooperate with grace, as Mary did, you will never be the same. God has broken into the ordinariness of your life and made it extraordinary. By God's grace you give birth to Jesus whenever you do the good God calls you to do, whenever you fulfill your mission on earth just as Mary did; namely bringing Christ to every encounter and to every event of your life.

Barrenness Transformed into Fruitfulness

In both readings of today's liturgy, Judges 13: 2-7, 24-25a and Lk 1: 5-25, an angel appears to announce that two couple will bear a child: Manoah and his barren wife and Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth, also barren and way beyond child-bearing age.  Both children, Samson and John, will be prepared to play a significant role in salvation history. Samson will deliver the Israelites from the military power of the Philistines. John the Baptist will prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah.  The Spirit of the Lord "stirred" Samson, who was consecrated in the womb. John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother's womb".

Both the barrenness and the fruitfulness are gifts from the Lord and will reveal God's power at work in those who believe and in those who do not believe.  The wife of Manoah and her husband and Elizabeth believe in the angel's announcement. Zachariah does not. "How am I to know what you are talking about when my wife is barren and unable, at this point in her life, to conceive a child?"  Neither our barrenness nor our lack of faith stop God from accomplishing our salvation or the work He plans to accomplish through us. Without divine intervention, we remain barren.  With divine intervention we bear fruit. All is through the Holy Spirit, either stirring us or filling us!  Blessed be the name of our God!

What in me is barren and in need of being "stirred" up or "filled up"with God's Spirit? What in me, through the Spirit, is bearing fruit?

Exiled by choice--God's Justice

In today's first reading, Jer 23: 5-8, Jeremiah is prophesying to a people exiled from the Promised Land.  The day will come, Jeremiah tells the people,  when you will proclaim God's justice: "As the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of the house of Israel up from the land of the north---and from all the lands to which I banished them; they shall again live on their own land."  God is just. He allowed the Chosen People to suffer the consequences of their idolatry--their choosing to worship pagan gods. Consequently, they ended up in exile, physically separate from their homeland and spiritually separated from God.

God is also just with us.  When we choose to worship the gods society holds out to us, we are also exiled. We lose our way. We become confused, restless and empty, longing for true peace, longing desperately to find God.  God will leave us in the desert we create for ourselves until such time, that we truly repent, recognize our wrongdoing or our misguided choices and beg God to turn us back to Himself. The choice is ours, as God respects our free will.

What We Can Learn from the Genealogy of Jesus

Today's Gospel, Mt. 1: 1-17, presents the genealogy of Jesus, "the Son of David, the son of Abraham."  Jesus is a king whose kingdom will last into eternity.  As Jesus says to Pilate, "Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here." Pilate answers: "So, then you are a king?" Jesus respond, saying: "It is you who say that I am a king, I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice" (Jn 18: 36-38). 

Lying in that manger on Christmas day if our King, the one who came into this world to testify to the truth that God is lo0ve, that God is merciful, that God is compassionate, that God is true to his promise to bring salvation, not just to the Jews but to foreigners, as ell, and to all peoples, the great and the small, public and private sinners, those despised and those acclaimed by all. 

In Jesus' genealogy, the "skeletons" are let out of the closet: David, an adulterer and a murderer; Rahab, a prostitute of Jericho who sheltered the spies and was admitted to the company of the Chosen People; Tamar, who deceived her father-in-law Judah into an incestuous union; and Bathsheba, who with David, committed adultery; and many others, males and females, of varying decrees of infidelity. There are "skeletons" in the closets of our families as well and in our personal lives also.  All are invited into God's Kingdom, into God's light to be purified, made whole, healed of their "infirmities." 

What in me needs the light of truth; what am I hiding from the Lord and others? What/who in my family is hiding from the Truth?  God excludes no one and no part of me from knowing the Truth and being set free! That is Christmas' gift!

Standing Up for Truth

In today’s Gospel, Mt. 21: 23-27, the chief priests and the elders of the people get caught hedging the truth. They dodge Jesus’ question, afraid of the crowd and of being politically incorrect.  John the Baptist is the very opposite.  He stands his ground, preparing the way for the Lord, calling the people to repentance and pointing out Jesus to the crowds: “Look, the Lamb of God. “  Neither is John the Baptist afraid of confronting Herod’s sin of incest with his brother’s wife.

How often do you and I hedge the truth, say whatever needs to be said to assumedly remain popular, to avoid offending anyone, or to assure that we are politically correct!  Standing up for what we believe, speaking the truth, being honest and open when asked a question about our faith:  many times that calls for the courage to go against the crowd.  It means having the courage and the faith of Mary when asked to bear a son prior to the consummation of her marriage to Joseph, or Joseph’s courage to take Mary as his wife, or having Mary’s forte at the wedding feast of Cana when she instructed the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to do. It also means having the strength to obey as the apostles did when called to leave their fishing boats or the tax collector’s lucrative business to follow Jesus or to join Him when He dined with sinners.  It means following the example of Jesus who was unafraid to dialogue with the women of His day or having the courage of the woman at the well who was unafraid to encounter Jesus at the well and then return to her country proclaiming the Good News of the Messiah. It means trusting the Lord’s authority to proclaim the resurrection, as did Mary of Magdala when commissioned by the Risen Christ to go tell the apostles that He truly was risen from the dead. She proclaimed that truth unflinchingly even though the apostles treated her with scorn, disbelieving such a proclamation coming from a woman.  Truly, like all of the faith-filled persons before us, we, too, are challenged to believe in the authority of Jesus and act upon the authority He gives to us as Christians to proclaim our faith even when it is politically incorrect to do so.

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.   The Gospel reading is Luke 1: 26-38, which recounts the angel’s appearance to Mary.  We all know the story well.  We know the angel’s message and we know Mary original reaction—she is extremely troubled—and her final statement: “Be it done to me according to your word.”  And the angel leaves her.

There she is pregnant out of wedlock. She could be put to death once this word gets out, yet she only asked how is she going to conceive a child since she has had no relations with a man.  And the angel, matter of factly, informs her that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and the child will be the Son of God, whose Kingdom will have no end. Mary surrenders to the will of God, knowing in faith that nothing is impossible with God. Once the angel left her, she takes recourse in her cousin Elizabeth, who is part of God’s plan of salvation (God includes women).  Mary has just exhibited unbelievable strength and faith as a woman.  In the words of the psalmist (Psalm 113), God has raised “the poor from the dust and lift[ed] the needy from the dunghill to give them a place with rulers, with the nobles of…[God’s] people.” 

 

What if  God, today, asks the impossible of me? What if God, today, asks something of me that would turn my life upside down and put my life, as I know it, at risk.  What would I do? How would I respond? Would I have the faith of Mary?

Laboring and Carrying our Burdens in the Strength of the Lord

Jesus says to us in today’s Gospel, Mt 11: 28-30, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”    In the first reading, Isaiah 40: 25-31, Isaiah reminds us that God “does not faint or grow weary” and that “his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.”  There is nothing about you or me  that God does not know.  He knows when you or I have grown weary. He knows when we feel faint and overwhelmed by what we are facing in our lives, in this very  hour.  He knows exactly where you and  I are on this journey to the Promised Land. He knows whether we are in “inclement weather,” buffeted by storms too much for us, whether  we are on a smooth path or a rough one, whether we have encountered an “enemy,” or are approaching a hostile or a friendly environment.  He also knows whether we are “armed” for the battle or ill-prepared.  “Why,” God asked, “do you even think that your “way is hidden” from me or that your rights are “disregarded” by  me? “Do you not know or have you not heard, Isaiah asks, that the Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth, that God “does not faint nor grow weary,” that “his knowledge is beyond scrutiny,” that he “gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound.”  Do you not know  that those who “hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.”  Yes, if we come to Jesus, in good times and in “bad”, we will know all these things!

God Comes with Power

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 40: 1-11, Isaiah reminds us that our God comes with power; that he “rules by his strong arm.”  We are about to celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Savior. God came to us as a powerless infant, was subject to Mary and Joseph as a child, assumed his public ministry at around the age of 30, clashed with authorities of his day and was put to death.  Where is the power, we may wonder.  Our God rules very differently than the kings of this world. God does not use power in the same way we do. Jesus’ power  is His humility and his obedience to the Father’s will.   The mounds of evil were leveled on Calvary, where Jesus, in His obedience to the Father’s will unto death, destroyed Satan, crushed His head.

 God continues to enter our lives humbly in the Eucharist and through the quiet voice of the Spirit speaking and working in the depths of our being and in the depths of the hearts of others as well. We don’t see God at work most of the time because we are looking with eyes other than those of our deepest God-self.  We see as the world sees, not as God sees.  Most of the time, like Peter,  who rebuked Jesus for making it clear “that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day” (Mt. 16: 21),  we think, “not as God thinks but as human beings do” (Mt. 16: 23).
Yes, the “Lord Yahweh [is] coming with power, his arm maintains his authority,” (Is. 40: 10), the authority that put Satan to death on the cross, that put Satan to death by His obedience to the Father unto death, that put Satan to death by His humility.

By whose power to I overcome evil? By whose power do I triumph? Certainly not my own but God’s grace quietly transforming me from within and empowering me to “love tenderly,  act with justice and walk humbly with our God” (compare Micah 6:8).  God is transforming the world one person at a time by our cooperation in His work of redemption. 

Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing in Heaven

The second reading of today’s liturgy is from Eph. 1: 3-6, 11-12.  I invite you to read it, addressing the Lord and reading it in the first person, inserting  your name. I did and it reads as follows:

“Lord, God, You have blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heaven, as You chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before You.”  You “clothe me with a robe of salvation” (Is 61:10).  The price You paid for that robe was the death of Your Son on Calvary.  “In love You destined me for adoption to Yourself through Christ Jesus in accord with the favor of Your will for the praise of the glory of Your grace that You granted me in the beloved.”

“In Christ [you, Dorothy Ann, were]… chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplished all things according to the intention of his will, so that you might exist for the praise of God’s glory.”

Wow, what a loving God! What generosity! What a gift!

I thank you and praise you, Lord, God.  May my awareness of Your love deepen. May I not take the gift of salvation for granted!  You sacrificed your Son that I might have life and have it eternally!

And this Christmas we celebrate your birthday—the day your entered into our way of life to transform it, to redeem it, to bring us back to God by your death upon the cross, when you were crucified on Calvary, being obedient to the Father unto death to undo our disobedience, our choosing our own wills in place of Yours.  O God, have mercy upon us each time we rebel and go our own ways.

Jesus' Heart Was Moved to Pity

In today’s Gospel, Mt 9: 35-10: 1, 5a, 6-8, we read that Jesus “went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Jesus, I believe, is very much moved with pity when he sees children abandoned, left without guidance and expected to make right decisions without parental  or adult supervision or direction; when parents  and adults are bent more on increasing their wealth  or accumulating material things than on nurturing a child’s or each other’s faith, building a child’s or one another’s confidence in themselves and trust in the Lord. I believe that God is moved with pity when we are so engrossed in ourselves that we do not spend time listening attentively and respectfully to others, when we do not take time to assist others in problem solving and/or being with them in times that are troubling to them.  Jesus, I believe, longs for us to seek His help in living as He did, engaged with those in need of healing, sharing meals with each other in our poverty as Jesus  invited Pharisees  and the poor to a meal with him. I believe that Jesus is moved with pity when we fail to share other people’s joy in events that are significant to them, as Jesus participated in the wedding feast of Cana.

Jesus spent his time here on earth doing good to all who were receptive to His generosity.  He rejoices when we do the same, when we do all in our power so that another is not abandoned or left in troubling situations.  Yes, we are here to be “shepherds” to abandoned “sheep”, to be sisters and brothers to each other in need and to allow others to respond to us in need as well.

Nelson Mandella: A Person Faithful to the Spirit's Guidance

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 29: 17-24, Isaiah prophesies that Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest! On that day [of salvation] the deaf shall hear the words of the book [the book of life itself]; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.”

Out of the 27 years spent in the darkness of an 8’ by 8’ prison cell, Nelson Mandela’s efforts to confront the injustice of apartheid in South African were finally realized.  Out of gloom and darkness, the injustices  imposed by wealthy whites upon the people of color, a light had shown. The justice of God shown through Nelson Mandela.  As the prophet Isaiah prophesied, the “lowly” found “joy” in the Lord working through Mandela. The “poor” were led to rejoicing in the Holy One of Israel at work in South African through a faithful son, a beloved brother, who was willing to die for justice, integrity and right relationships between whites and blacks, between the rich and the poor.  Through Nelson Mandela, the people of his country witnessed the power of reconciliation and forgiveness, in that Mandela forgave his oppressors, his jailers, those who condemned him to life in prison. Why? Because he stood for truth, justice and right relationships. Grace triumphed over the evils he fought against because of Christ’s victory on the cross where Satan’s head was crushed, where evils were rendered powerless. Because Mandela cooperated with the Spirit of God directing him from within, “Lebanon” was “changed into an orchard, and the orchard [is now] regarded as a forest—an “orchard”, a “forest”  where the dignity and the rights of all people, black and white, are respected.

In cooperation with the absolute and limitless graces of salvation won for us by Christ on the cross in His triumph over death, physical and otherwise, and out of respect for Nelson Mandela ,  may we, too, stand up for the rights of  all people.  May we, like Nelson Mandela,  turn our weapons into plowshares, using reconciliation and forgiveness as weapons  instead of nuclear bombs, drones, and threats of violence. May we have the courage to stand up for truth, justice and the rights of all people even to the point of dealing with the opposition of those who are oppressors of the poor and lowly in the world, in the church, in our societies, in our workplaces; in short, in our personal, familial, ecclesial, social, civic and governmental realities.

A New Jerusalem Being Built by God

In today’s first reading, Isaiah 26: 1-6, Isaiah prophesies that God is building a New Jerusalem. This New Jerusalem will be a home for the poor and lowly and for those who trust in the Lord.  In Isaiah’s words:

“A strong city have we;
He sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.
Open up the gates
to let in a nation that is just,
one that keeps faith.
A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;
in peace, for its trust in you.”

That nation of firm purpose is the nation of God’s Kingdom built upon Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, built upon the powerful foundation of eternal life won for us by Jesus’ giving of His life for the salvation of the world.  God’s Kingdom is strong.  Satan will not prevail against the walls and ramparts of a city built by our God.

What does that mean for you and me? 

“What it means, Dorothy Ann, is that this City already exists.  You have a choice to enter it—the gates are open.

How do I enter in, Jesus?

You enter it whenever you choose to do good and resist evil. The choice is yours to make.

And if I do not make those kinds of choices?

Then, you delay experiencing the power of my resurrection assisting you to make right choices and avoid the temptations that weaken your will and dull your senses.

I delay the experience of how You have redeemed me?

Yes, you delay experiencing your ability to choose good and resist evil.  The grace awaits you. Eventually you will experience My Kingdom within you and around you. Eventually you will come through the open gate because I never close it!  The choice is yours to come through it.  I will wait for you to make those kinds of choices by which you experience the strength of the walls and ramparts by which I protect you from that which is not in your best interest from God’s perspective. And remember, I never let you go.  I paid a great price for your salvation and I will not be denied.

A God of Abundance

“On this mountain,” we read in today’s first reading, Is 25: 6-10a, the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples…”   In the Gospel, Jesus ascends a mountain.  A great crowd brings the sick, the deaf, the blind, the lame, those with deformities and many other forms of illness to Him. He heals them all!  Imagine the excitement of that crowd! They stay with Jesus for three days.  Jesus “is moved with pity” and is worried that if they are sent away without something to eat that they will collapse on the way. So He inquires of the disciples if anyone has any food.  He is told that one of the persons in the crowd has a few fish and seven loaves (seven in biblical parlance means an abundance—enough for everyone). With those seven loaves and few fish, Jesus feeds the crowd and has seven baskets leftover!  Jesus is the generosity of God, the compassion of God, the abundance of God.

God is no different in our lives today than He was when He walked the streets and roads of Galilee, Capernaum, Nazareth, or Jerusalem as God Incarnate in Christ Jesus, our Lord.  As then, so now.  He walks among us, beside us, and behind us. He has pity on us as He did on the crowd. He feeds us with an abundance of the finest wheat and the choicest wine in every Eucharist and in our sharing of our “bread” and “wine”  when we, in turn, break open our lives in loving service, when we are being attentive to the needs of others.  God knows when we are ready to collapse along the way. He responds to our needs in a way  that outweighs our response to the needs of others. It is for that reason that we are able to be good stewards in sharing our goods with others.

Every time I  am ready "to collapse" and when I ascend the mountain of the Lord to lay my "deformities"at the Lord's feet, I experience His pity.  Every morning, also, I wake up restored.  Throughout the night, the Lord has pity on me and restores my drooping spirits and replenishes my weary body. Yes,  the Lord of hosts is moved with pity but not only moved emotionally but takes action on our behalf day and night.

 

 

The Earth Filled with the Knowledge of God

"There shall be no harm or ruin on all of  my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea, " we are told in today's first reading, Is. 11: 1-10.

What a promise, especially given the fact that the family of Jesse, David's father, has been reduced to "a stump," and appears dead.  How possibly will God's promise of an everlasting Kingdom, where "there shall be no harm or ruin," come about from David's royal lineage?  And happen, it does in Jesus' birth!  The Son of God comes into this world to remind us that God's Kingdom is rooted in human nature, will survive death and last eternally. That Kingdom, through the Spirit at work in the world, at work in each one of us, is removing the obstacles that appear to thwart God's plan of salvation, that seems to be delaying the time when the earth will "be filled with the knowledge of God." 

Blessed, Jesus says in today's Gospel, Luke 10: 22-24, are those who see God's plan coming to fruition, who believe in God's promises and know, in faith, that God's faithfulness has no limitations and no end.  Yes, the day is fast approaching when "justice" will be granted to "the poor," and "the ruthless" will be crushed "with the rod of...[God's] mouth" and the wicked will be slain "with the breath of...[God's] lips" (See Is. ll: 1-10).

O, the greatness and the power and the love and the justice of our God!  Blessed are those who believe when they do not see. Blessed are those who wait and trust in God's coming and acting on behalf of the poor and distraught, the marginalized and the oppressed of this world, of our governmental, societal, ecclesial, familial, and legal systems, for "nothing is impossible for our God" (Luke 1: 37).  Mary believed  and got involved in this Plan in the face of risking her life by stoning.  To what point do you and I believe in God's plan and to what point are we willing to say "yes" to the Lord and assume the mission God has entrusted to us to work along side of and with God, until the time comes when "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea"?

Advent: Some Reflections

As parents, filled with hope, gratitude, and excitement, await the birth of a child, so, too, do we await the second coming of Christ.

Divinely ordained, Jesus leaves heavenly glory to become human.

Vividly obedience to His Father’s will, Jesus enters Mary’s womb to take on human nature,

Even though becoming human meant experiencing the best and the worst of humanity’s treatment of one another, Jeus was obedient to the Father even unto death.

Nobody, not even the Son of God made man escaped suffering and loss; neither will we. Jesus, though, shows us the way to deal with life’s tragedies in faith, in hope and in love.
Today, and every day, may we walk in the way of Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life that will set us free. May we rely upon Christ, whose help we need to remain faithful.