Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
I’ve had many occasions this year to ponder what it means to be merciful. People in my life have shown me great mercy, for which I am deeply grateful, and from whom I’ve learned a lot about being a merciful person. I’ve also witnessed the pain and trauma that people experience when others withhold mercy from them. Sometimes the unmerciful believe that they are following God’s law and the teachings of the Church. They hold to a rigorous interpretation of the rules, and a black and white understanding of “right behavior.” Some, in their quest to be righteous, point out what they perceive as another’s sin and sometimes even shun them because of it. God doesn’t tolerate sin, so neither must I; surely God judges them, so I will, too. Sadly, these folks misunderstand the righteousness God requires of us. God’s righteousness is always merciful. In today’s Gospel, St Matthew describes Joseph as a “righteous man.” We can learn a lot from Joseph’s witness to his faith and his love for God.
Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent
Who is God? Today’s readings delve into God’s slow revelation of what holy power looks like. Judah was promised to be more powerful than his enemies, to be first among his family, and to be given children, and to receive honor from the people of Israel. What results from this good and holy leadership? Peace for the land, good judgment coming from those in authority, and a blessing for all the other nations of the world. This is a test by which we can know whether our leaders are making holy decisions or not; is there peace? Are other cities, states, and nations blessed because of us? Or are we causing more problems than we solve?
Monday of the Third Week of Advent
Today’s gospel is centered around a single question - the question of authority. Jesus is asked by whose authority is he able to teach such lessons? Who, in their worldly hierarchy, gave him the authority to teach others about God? And frustrating as it may be, Jesus does not answer this question - rather he answers with another question.
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Have you ever had a wonderful evening with your spouse, children, or dear friends? Maybe it was more than an evening. It could have been a nearly perfect vacation or getaway. Or if you are like me, maybe you’ve had the perfectly made coffee, dinner, or glass of chocolate milk. In the midst of that experience, a thought always zips through my mind, “Why can’t it always be like this?” That question exists in our spiritual life as well.
Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Have there ever been people in your life who make you feel like you just can’t win, like you will never be right no matter what you do or you will never be good enough? We feel like this as parents sometimes. Our two year old wants to do everything on his own. We tell him to put on his coat and suddenly he wants us to help him. So we try to help him and he pulls away yelling because he wants to do it on his own. Some days we feel like we truly cannot win. But he is two. When adults act like this, it is much harder to accept them, forgive them, and still treat them like children of God. “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard…’ Human beings will always find something to criticize.
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The scene that Luke puts before us today is simply breathtaking and should give us pause. Here we have a young woman in the last few years prior the Common Era who is engaged to be married. She is a virgin, and it’s crucial that she remain that way so that she may enter legitimately into that marriage. One day, as her wedding approaches, an angel (of all things) shows up and says “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!” She responds fearfully and is “greatly troubled” by this encounter.
Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
I let out a Hallelujah over our two readings for today! Get ready to receive a phenomenal blessing as you enter into God’s Word. It’s especially a double-whammy of goodness today! I like The Message translation of the Isaiah text. You can find it here. I also appreciate how the NIV translates it – here. Let the impact sink in as you read the three translations. Pause and consider that God’s promises are true for you. Not just for others, not hypothetically or objectively true somehow, but true for you! Let’s reflect on the reality of God’s identity and attributes and receive God’s promises:
Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent
At our parish, we are blessed with generous people who go the extra mile to take care of a neighbor. Our giving tree is a great example. The supposed common wisdom of our culture seems to frown on this ideal. Instead, we have, “don’t ask for help,” or “do it on your own.” We are often afraid to ask for help because we might seem weak or embarrassed if we request assistance. The flip side of this consciousness is why we seem as a society to be resentful of those who ask for help. We shun the poor as lazy or somehow undeserving of our help.
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
A month after I got married I had an ‘almost’ argument with one of my sisters-in-law. I was wearing a t-shirt that says “To err is human; to arr is pirate.” I personally love the shirt, but I am often a terrible judge of when clarifying comments are needed. So, in my wisdom, I thought our 8 AM drive to go clamming our beach vacation was the perfect opportunity to raise my contention with the shirt. I disagree that “To err is human.” Ironically, I was very erroneous in assuming anyone else wanted to have that conversation early in the morning on vacation. Today though, we celebrate the feast that says, “To err is less than human.”
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Many years ago I fell in love with a children’s book, “Hope for the Flowers” by Trina Paulus. It is a story about life, transformation and hope. When I read the first reading from Isaiah, this book came to mind. The hope for all of creation is joyfully proclaimed in this scripture. As radical disciples of love, Jesus sends us forth to bring hope and healing to people as well as the world we live in.
Friday of the First Week of Advent
As we move closer to the Winter Solstice, when the length of time with the sun in our sky is at its shortest and the night at its longest, today’s readings speak to me on numerous levels. I’ve tended to dread the time change and earlier sunset with less natural light in the late afternoon and early evening, making it seem much later in the day than it actually is. And I struggle to resist the temptation to turn on all the lights to make the house as bright a possible. But I hear today’s readings as a call to enter into the darkness of Advent.
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), said that “love should be manifested in deeds rather than in words.” In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye asks his wife Golde whether she loves him. She answers by saying, “For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes, cooked your meals, cleaned the house, given you children, milked your cow. She asks then, if that’s not love, what is?” Of course love does not simply mean performing a list of duties for someone, but rather love must be wedded to the deed. Love is a feeling that expresses itself in action.
Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
I love Advent! I look forward to the daily readings even more than usual, as they are so full of expectancy and pregnant with life and hope. I pray that each of us can press into the scriptures this month and reap the bounty that is set before us. Advent is obviously a time to anticipate the coming of Christ liturgically, and to celebrate his coming into the world as our Messiah and Lord. Each new Advent is also a time for each of us to anticipate our own unique Advent – the arrival of God into our lives, personally and intimately. An Advent is an interruption, it’s an in-breaking of the reign of God suddenly and profoundly. This month, can we each prepare ourselves for divine intrusions and be receptive to whatever God has for us to help us grow in holiness and to fall more and more in love with Jesus. Any Advent is miraculous; let us prepare for the miracles of God no matter how large or small.
Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
In the first week of Advent, we read in the gospel that Jesus is giving praise to the Father, “Lord of Heaven and Earth, for although You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, You have revealed them to the childlike.” We were all childlike once. But then we learned about suffering; our hearts were broken, or we were let down by people and things we believed in, or we just got tired after years of struggling to do the right thing, or family and friends left us in death. We forgot how to play and feel wonder at God’s creation; we think we understood now the way it all REALLY works, and that ‘understanding’ is weighing us down. We are stuck on the questions of why, as if the divine answers are intelligible to our mortal minds.
Monday of the First Week of Advent
I was in high school when my teacher handed us a composition notebook and told us it would be our scripture/prayer journal. I did not fill it to the brim with notes and reflections on scripture. I’m not sure I ever wrote in it beyond mandatory assignments. However, it did receive a few words about Jesus, a Centurion and a sick servant. Today we get to return to what over the years has truly become one of my favorite passages.
Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
One of the most contentious issues between Roman Catholics and Protestants is contained in today’s Scripture reading from Romans chapter 10: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” One of my friends repeatedly uses this isolated piece of Scripture to assure me that she was saved many years ago, even while admitting that nothing in her life changed until long afterwards. In other words, no matter how you live your life from that moment on, if you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you are saved. Wow, how easy is that? It sounds more like cheap magic than true conversion.
In Matthew’s Gospel today Jesus first approaches Peter and his brother Andrew followed by his encounter with James and John. “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men”, He says (Mt. 4:19). They left the livelihood that supported their families and left their families as well. Those of us who live in situations that support our complete dedication to following Jesus are fortunate. But many of us find ourselves, having fallen in love with Jesus, in situations that challenge us at every turn. Indeed, James and John left everything, including their own father, to follow the Master and Scripture says they did so ‘immediately’. What was it about Jesus that compelled them to do this? I can only surmise it had to do with the ‘heart’. We know well the disciples, each in their own way, stumbled and fell in those few short years of Jesus’ ministry, but eventually their actions and their lives caught up with what they knew in their hearts. We are no different than those very first followers of Jesus. We are called, we respond to the best of our capacity, we stumble and struggle all along the way. Rarely does that initial encounter with the person of Jesus totally integrate our hearts and minds and actions. Conversion is nearly always a lifelong process.
When it comes to following Jesus, for some of us, it takes a while for our hearts to catch up with our actions; for others, our actions don’t seem to reflect the burning desire in our hearts. The point is, whether we are working day by day to align both our actions and our hearts toward this Jesus who has called us, the Jesus we confess with our mouths is Lord. This does not involve magic but rather progress and painstaking commitment—trying our best to cooperate with God’s grace; this is the only way we can possibly travel the road to salvation. This day, may we stay aware of who it is we have dedicated our lives to serving. May we remember our commitment to the Master. And may God grant us the grace to fulfill our calling—just for today. Amen
--Gail Lyman
“The Lord remembered us in our low estate, for his mercy endures forever.” PS 136:23
Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading, Daniel explains a dream he had, with four terrible beasts. He provides specific details about how horrible and terrifying they look. Then he describes the Ancient One coming on thrones, destroying the beasts and causing them to lose their dominion. This made me think of a song from one of our children’s favorite movies, the VeggieTales. In one of the episodes, they sing
Thanksgiving Day
A lot of Christianity right now has a bad name. And a lot of folks are fleeing it as a result. That is why a recent survey by the Pew Charitable Trust reveals that while the largest group of religious people in the US are Christians (whether Catholic or Protestant), the fastest growing (and also very large) group in the US is the “nones”—that is the “non-religious,” or people who don’t identify with any particular faith or organized religion.
Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
As we wind down this liturgical year, and mark the final days of ordinary time, it’s a great opportunity to take stock of our lives, looking over our shoulders and gazing ahead expectantly to Advent and the new Church year. This year 2019 was a remarkable time in my life – full of hardship, challenges, and uncertainty, and also abundantly joyful, filled with adventure, love, and growth. As I look back over the year, I’m mindful that liturgical time is most significant. We mark the calendar; God marks eternity. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart . . . (Ecclesiastes 3:11). As I reminisce on my life in 2019, I also reflect in light of the liturgical year. It’s astonishing to me how many times a profound event in my life occurs on a particular saint’s feast day that has specific relevance to what’s taken place. I consider ways that the rhythms of the Church year influenced my growth, my response to life’s events. Where and how did I experience God in all of it? Part of reflecting liturgically this week involves the concept of perseverance as we complete another year and as we anticipate the end times themselves. As we ponder our lives today, let’s consider how easy or difficult it is for us to persevere.
Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The future is not known to us human beings. And we don’t like that very much. To make it more rather than less predictable, we build structures in our lives—like jobs, schedules, habits, savings accounts, and so forth. These structures give us a sense of security and peace about what the future will be like.