Today the Catholic Church celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception--yes, we believe and the Catholic Church has proclaimed that Mary was free of sin from the moment of her conception! Jesus took on humanity in her pure body!
Mary was conceived without sin. You and I were redeemed from sin. We open today's liturgy with a prayer of praise concerning the gift of salvation: "I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation, and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bride adorned with her jewels." How generous is our God! God's intent is that we are one with Him forever. Satan's intent is to bar us from eternal life with God. He began his pursuit of that goal in the Garden of Eden, where he tempted both Adam and Eve. Both fell to his lies of becoming like God and that the limits of not eating of a certain fruit were foolish. God's instruction: "You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil; when you eat from it you shall die." Cunningly, Satan approached Eve and asked: "Did God really say, 'You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden?" After placing that doubt in Eve's mind, Satan says: "You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.' The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom, so she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." The rest of the story is history and Satan has been at work ever since, doing to us what he did to Adam and Eve and every day people get caught in Satan's trap!
Satan may be powerfully cunning, a liar who sets traps for us and gets us, many times, in our weakest spot, our desire to be a god, to be subject to no one, to rely totally on ourselves as "know-it-alls" who put our hands over our ears when someone tries to awaken us to the wrong in which we might be engaged.
God knows our vulnerabilities and that is why God clothes us with a "robe of salvation" and wraps us "in a mantle of justice." Through Mary's intercession and by virtue of Jesus' death on the cross to save us from Satan's power, may you and I, now and forever, be cleansed of our sin and embrace salvation as it is offered to us over and over again, especially when, like Adam, we know our nakedness and hide from God, recognizing that we have fallen for Satan's lies!
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Friday, December 7, 2018
Rejoicing in the Lord, our God
In today's first reading, Isaiah 29: 17-24, Isaiah prophesies about a time when "the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see. The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the tyrant will be no more and the arrogant will have gone; all who are alert to do evil will be cut off, those whose mere word condemns a man, who ensnare his defender at the gate, and leave the just man with an empty claim."
On that day, the humble, those alert to do good, those who are ready to forgive, those who show mercy to others, those who support justice and do not set snares to bring down the just "shall have nothing to be ashamed of, nor shall [their faces] grow pale. [Those who] see the work of...[God's] hand in [their] midst, they shall keep my name holy; they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob, and be in awe of the God of Israel."
As I listen to the news each evening, I often hear about evil being perpetrated by "the tyrant," by those "alert to do evil," and by "those whose mere word condemns a man [and those] who ensnare [a] defender at the gate and leave the just [person] with an empty claim." I pray that our Savior comes to all of us, transforming our hearts of stone to human hearts, whereby we become alert to doing good, to supporting justice, to removing "booby traps," and to referencing the Lord, our God!
On that day, the humble, those alert to do good, those who are ready to forgive, those who show mercy to others, those who support justice and do not set snares to bring down the just "shall have nothing to be ashamed of, nor shall [their faces] grow pale. [Those who] see the work of...[God's] hand in [their] midst, they shall keep my name holy; they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob, and be in awe of the God of Israel."
As I listen to the news each evening, I often hear about evil being perpetrated by "the tyrant," by those "alert to do evil," and by "those whose mere word condemns a man [and those] who ensnare [a] defender at the gate and leave the just [person] with an empty claim." I pray that our Savior comes to all of us, transforming our hearts of stone to human hearts, whereby we become alert to doing good, to supporting justice, to removing "booby traps," and to referencing the Lord, our God!
Thursday, December 6, 2018
God's Parental Love
In today's Entrance Antiphon the Lord says to us: "I will look after my sheep...and I will appoint a shepherd to pasture them, and I, the Lord, will be their God." Let us personalize this statement to read: "Dorothy Ann (your name), my daughter, I look after you. I pasture you. I, the Lord, am your God."
Let us ponder being God's daughter/son! Could we possibly have any parent greater, more loving, more compassionate, more understanding, more caring, more protective, more merciful, wiser, more comforting than God Himself? Often I watch a little child, a preschooler, relate to his/her parent. Little children cling to their parent, want to be picked up, cuddled. That child will lay his/her head on its parent's shoulder, will grasp a parent's leg and hang on. The parent will whisper into the child's ear, caress its face, correct the child, give it instruction--some times received and some times rejected--and even in those latter times the child looks to the parent for comfort or the parent automatically picks up the child and caresses it! See God relating to you in the way of a loving, caring parent and see yourself relating to God as a toddler relates to its parents!
"Dorothy Ann (your name), I look after you! I pasture you. I protect you. I love you. I care about you. I, the Lord, am your God, who created you, brought you into existence and sustain you every day. It is I who awaken you very day for another opportunity to know my love, my protection, my compassion, my caring! I love you more than you could ever know and am closer to you that you could ever imagine!"
Let us ponder being God's daughter/son! Could we possibly have any parent greater, more loving, more compassionate, more understanding, more caring, more protective, more merciful, wiser, more comforting than God Himself? Often I watch a little child, a preschooler, relate to his/her parent. Little children cling to their parent, want to be picked up, cuddled. That child will lay his/her head on its parent's shoulder, will grasp a parent's leg and hang on. The parent will whisper into the child's ear, caress its face, correct the child, give it instruction--some times received and some times rejected--and even in those latter times the child looks to the parent for comfort or the parent automatically picks up the child and caresses it! See God relating to you in the way of a loving, caring parent and see yourself relating to God as a toddler relates to its parents!
"Dorothy Ann (your name), I look after you! I pasture you. I protect you. I love you. I care about you. I, the Lord, am your God, who created you, brought you into existence and sustain you every day. It is I who awaken you very day for another opportunity to know my love, my protection, my compassion, my caring! I love you more than you could ever know and am closer to you that you could ever imagine!"
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
God's Compassion and Ready Response to Human Need
In today's Gospel, Matthew 15: 29-37, Jesus "went up the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them...."
Every time we take time for prayer, for participating in the Eucharist, we, too, ascend the mountain of the Lord. Whenever we "go up that mountain," let us take with us and lay down at Jesus' feet the lameness, the deformities, the blindness and deafness, and any other "diseased" parts of ourselves, of our world, of other people that need healing. Jesus will heal all in need of healing, if we acknowledge our brokenness and the "dis-eases" that cause divisions in our families, our nation, our world and within ourselves.
We are told in the Gospel that when Jesus looked out at the crowd that had gathered before Him and simply stayed with him he said: "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat (think of Jesus in the tomb for three days following his death and then coming back to life)." He would not not dismiss the crowd without giving them something to sustain them on their journeys back home. The disciples ask Jesus how they could possibly feed so many. Jesus asks: "'How many loaves do you have? "Seven,' they replied, 'and a few fish.'" And we know the rest of the story. Jesus took the loaves and the fishes, "gave thanks, break the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn game them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over--seven baskets full."
Scripturally, seven represents an abundance. It also reminds us of the seven sacraments whereby God's abundant blessings flow into our lives, sustaining us and making us whole, as God, now, as then, "is moved with pity" for us and does not want us to collapse on our way to the Kingdom! He wants us to arrive safely! He wants us to be well fed for the journey!
Obviously, this is not just about Jesus reaching out to human needs, it is also a call to us to go and do likewise!
Every time we take time for prayer, for participating in the Eucharist, we, too, ascend the mountain of the Lord. Whenever we "go up that mountain," let us take with us and lay down at Jesus' feet the lameness, the deformities, the blindness and deafness, and any other "diseased" parts of ourselves, of our world, of other people that need healing. Jesus will heal all in need of healing, if we acknowledge our brokenness and the "dis-eases" that cause divisions in our families, our nation, our world and within ourselves.
We are told in the Gospel that when Jesus looked out at the crowd that had gathered before Him and simply stayed with him he said: "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat (think of Jesus in the tomb for three days following his death and then coming back to life)." He would not not dismiss the crowd without giving them something to sustain them on their journeys back home. The disciples ask Jesus how they could possibly feed so many. Jesus asks: "'How many loaves do you have? "Seven,' they replied, 'and a few fish.'" And we know the rest of the story. Jesus took the loaves and the fishes, "gave thanks, break the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn game them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over--seven baskets full."
Scripturally, seven represents an abundance. It also reminds us of the seven sacraments whereby God's abundant blessings flow into our lives, sustaining us and making us whole, as God, now, as then, "is moved with pity" for us and does not want us to collapse on our way to the Kingdom! He wants us to arrive safely! He wants us to be well fed for the journey!
Obviously, this is not just about Jesus reaching out to human needs, it is also a call to us to go and do likewise!
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
A Just Judge is God
In today's first reading, Isaiah 11: 1-10, Isaiah prophesies about the Messiah. "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a Spirit of counsel and of strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide right for the land's afflicted."
Women, in Jesus' culture, were treated unjustly, oppressed and poor--women and children counted as nothing in Jewish culture and still do in some Eastern countries. God chose two women to hail the coming of the Messiah: Elizabeth, who gave birth to John the Baptist, the precursor of the Lord chosen to make way for the Messiah, and Mary, who gave a human nature to God Incarnate. Mary recognizes God's openness to the poor and the lowly in the Magnificat when she prays: "....He [God] has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly [in this specific case, Mary and Elizabeth]. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.....
In the Gospels, Jesus often points to the poor and lowly, seeks them out, dines with them, protects them. If we want to enter Jesus' kingdom, He asks us to become like little children (children, along with the poor, such as shepherds, were discounted in Jesus' culture). Another example of Jesus' openness to the oppressed is his response to the good thief on the cross: "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." The poor, the oppressed, the outcasts have a special place in Jesus' heart! Do they in yours and mine? What in me or about me, what in you and about you, do I, do you, oppress or treat unjustly, despise?
Women, in Jesus' culture, were treated unjustly, oppressed and poor--women and children counted as nothing in Jewish culture and still do in some Eastern countries. God chose two women to hail the coming of the Messiah: Elizabeth, who gave birth to John the Baptist, the precursor of the Lord chosen to make way for the Messiah, and Mary, who gave a human nature to God Incarnate. Mary recognizes God's openness to the poor and the lowly in the Magnificat when she prays: "....He [God] has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly [in this specific case, Mary and Elizabeth]. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.....
In the Gospels, Jesus often points to the poor and lowly, seeks them out, dines with them, protects them. If we want to enter Jesus' kingdom, He asks us to become like little children (children, along with the poor, such as shepherds, were discounted in Jesus' culture). Another example of Jesus' openness to the oppressed is his response to the good thief on the cross: "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." The poor, the oppressed, the outcasts have a special place in Jesus' heart! Do they in yours and mine? What in me or about me, what in you and about you, do I, do you, oppress or treat unjustly, despise?
Sunday, December 2, 2018
The Lord our Justice
Today we begin the season of Advent, a time of waiting for the coming of the Lord. On Christmas day we will be celebrating the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, as one of us. God stoops down to us to lift us up to God.
In today's first reading, Jeremiah 33: 14-16, the Lord says to us: "The days are coming...when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land." How badly we need this Savior as individuals, as a nation, as church, as family, as municipalities, as countries, as a society--worldwide and otherwise! When the Savior comes, there Lord tells us, "Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: 'The Lord our justice.'" We shall be safe and feel secure in Christ Jesus, our justice, our salvation, no other way and by no other means! You and I cannot save ourselves. Humankind cannot save itself. Our disobedience to our God needs one equal to God to reconcile us to God. Jesus, by being obedient to God the Father into death is our justice! And for that reason, with the psalmist in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 25,we beg the Lord as follows:
Your ways, O Lord, make know to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and for you I wait all the day.
Good and upright is the Lord;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear [reverence] him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
May you and I be among humble, allowing the Lord to lead us to justice and teach us His way. Only then will we be secure!
In today's first reading, Jeremiah 33: 14-16, the Lord says to us: "The days are coming...when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land." How badly we need this Savior as individuals, as a nation, as church, as family, as municipalities, as countries, as a society--worldwide and otherwise! When the Savior comes, there Lord tells us, "Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: 'The Lord our justice.'" We shall be safe and feel secure in Christ Jesus, our justice, our salvation, no other way and by no other means! You and I cannot save ourselves. Humankind cannot save itself. Our disobedience to our God needs one equal to God to reconcile us to God. Jesus, by being obedient to God the Father into death is our justice! And for that reason, with the psalmist in today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 25,we beg the Lord as follows:
Your ways, O Lord, make know to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and for you I wait all the day.
Good and upright is the Lord;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear [reverence] him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
May you and I be among humble, allowing the Lord to lead us to justice and teach us His way. Only then will we be secure!
Saturday, December 1, 2018
The Coming of the Lord
In today's first reading, Revelation 22: 1-7, St. John is shown "the river of life-giving weave, sparkling like crustal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb [Jesus Christ, our Risen Savior] down the middle of the street. On either side of the river grew the three of life....; the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations. Nothing accursed will be found anymore....Night will be no more, nor will [we] need light from lamp or sun, for the word God shall give [us] light, and [we] ball reign forever and ever....Behold I am coming soon [to take us to this Kingdom that last forever and in which "nothing accursed shall be found]."
Imagine! Nothing accursed shall be found in the everlasting Kingdom nor in you or me or anyone else allowed to enter that Kingdom! The gates to that Kingdom were opened for us by Jesus' life, death and resurrection. The blood of the Lamb has purified us white as freshly fallen snow! Our sins are as far from God's mind as East from West. They are remembered no more, as we learn from Jesus' response to the good thief on the cross when he asked Jesus to remember him when He entered His Kingdom. Jesus' response: "This very day you will be with me in Paradise." Jesus says the very same thing to you and me when we turn to Him and ask to be remembered!
May you and I be ready when our last day on earth arrives, be that today, tomorrow or years to come! God eagerly awaits that day!
Imagine! Nothing accursed shall be found in the everlasting Kingdom nor in you or me or anyone else allowed to enter that Kingdom! The gates to that Kingdom were opened for us by Jesus' life, death and resurrection. The blood of the Lamb has purified us white as freshly fallen snow! Our sins are as far from God's mind as East from West. They are remembered no more, as we learn from Jesus' response to the good thief on the cross when he asked Jesus to remember him when He entered His Kingdom. Jesus' response: "This very day you will be with me in Paradise." Jesus says the very same thing to you and me when we turn to Him and ask to be remembered!
May you and I be ready when our last day on earth arrives, be that today, tomorrow or years to come! God eagerly awaits that day!
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