Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
With the beginning of the New Year, many people choose to make resolutions. Some people decide to eat healthy, exercise more, read more, get more sleep, save more money… the list goes on and on. In today’s gospel Jesus calls us (actually He commands us) to repent. Repent means to feel remorse for wrongdoing and sin, but it also means to have a change of heart and mind- to turn away from our sinful ways and towards God and His love. As we enter into this New Year, may we hear the words of Jesus reminding us to turn to Him, so that by the way we live we may bring the Kingdom of heaven to the world around us.
The Epiphany of the Lord
Scripture Readings
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany literally means manifestation. It is the feast of the manifestation, the revelation, presentation of Jesus to the world. If this is true, then, is it not truly amazing that the magi saw a mere child and recognized the Divine? Today gospel says that “ they prostrated themselves and did him homage.” If I was one of them, I probably would have been disappointed that the spectacular star had led me only to a mere child. Perhaps, that is why, they, unlike me, are known as three wise magi.
Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
It seems that whenever John the Baptist comes up in our readings, I write about humility. I’m not saying that is bad, I’m just noticing a trend. Let’s not break a good tradition when John’s brief coverage in the New Testament is a wellspring of wisdom about humility.
Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God
For most adults in the U.S., the Christmas story is old and familiar and it comes associated with old and familiar traditions, comfort food and a retelling of all the favorite stories and songs. By contrast, New Year is treated differently than Christmas is. Here is the fresh start, the time to resolve that this year will be different, the time to shake things up. There are a few traditions – Auld Lang Syne, dropping the lighted ball in Times Square, perhaps some traditional New Year’s foods (new potatoes, black eyed peas, cornbread). But by and large, the new year is all about the opportunity to start fresh, to think differently, to get started on the weight loss program, a habit to save money, a new venture.
The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Today’s Gospel is what is known in the traditional Latin mass as the Last Gospel. This reading is read, after the dismissal, at the close of each mass, every single day. Each day this reading offers a reminder of who Christ is, the word made flesh. This word is truth and this word is light. And this word who has been with and part of God from the beginning of time, chose to dwell among us - and to show us the way, if we make the choice to believe in him.
The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
As our Christmas season continues our celebration has lost none of its fervor. Yet the secular world in many ways has packed Christmas away for the year. The contrasting celebrations are striking. What seems even more incredulous is that the world has focused more on the sensual side of the season. While gift giving and decorations can be important, their position is of little relevance if the celebration is not rooted in Christ. In fact, radical discipleship demands we recognize Christ here in this season and year round. Today’s readings encourage us to remember this.
The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
The first reading (1 John 2: 3-11) makes a connection between two themes not related anywhere else in the scriptures – light/darkness and brotherly love/hatred. John is very logical as he lays out what he terms a “new commandment” (1 Jn 2:8). He begins by suggesting that relationship with God (John calls it ‘knowing’ God: 1 Jn 4-5) necessarily involves keeping the commandments/word. Then he proceeds to suggest that the commandment he is talking about is the commandment of love. Finally, he draws the connection between light/darkness and brotherly love/hatred. The seriousness of John’s final statement must not be missed: “Whoever hates his brother is in darkness” (1 Jn 2: 11a). The source of this darkness lies inside the human person – an internal blindness caused by a refusal to be obedient to the commandment of love (1 Jn 2: 11b) The bottom line is this – all hatred as darkness is incompatible with the light of Christian life.
The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
The first reading (1 John 2: 3-11) makes a connection between two themes not related anywhere else in the scriptures – light/darkness and brotherly love/hatred. John is very logical as he lays out what he terms a “new commandment” (1 Jn 2:8). He begins by suggesting that relationship with God (John calls it ‘knowing’ God: 1 Jn 4-5) necessarily involves keeping the commandments/word. Then he proceeds to suggest that the commandment he is talking about is the commandment of love. Finally, he draws the connection between light/darkness and brotherly love/hatred. The seriousness of John’s final statement must not be missed: “Whoever hates his brother is in darkness” (1 Jn 2: 11a). The source of this darkness lies inside the human person – an internal blindness caused by a refusal to be obedient to the commandment of love (1 Jn 2: 11b) The bottom line is this – all hatred as darkness is incompatible with the light of Christian life.
Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
Today the Church recognizes the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Whenever I think of the babies who were killed by order of Herod at that time, I always think about ‘Limbo’. Growing up, we studied the Baltimore Catechism and were expected to memorize the questions and answers word for word. One of the questions was “where will persons go who—such as infants—have not committed actual sin and, through no fault of theirs, die without baptism? (BC # 3 Q. 632) Paraphrasing the answer to this question, ‘persons who die without having been baptized could not enter heaven, but rather went to some place similar to Limbo where they experienced no suffering but could not experience the happiness of heaven’. This answer never made sense to me; I could not imagine why God would not welcome innocent infants immediately into the fullness of heaven. It was many years later that I realized that this particular explanation, even though part of our catechism at the time, was not official Church doctrine. The God of mercy and love I have come to know could never be limited to this.
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
The Feast of the Holy Family is a relatively new feast compared to the two thousand history of the Church. The Coptic Church has always had a devotion to the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph because of the biblical reference to their flight to Egypt. In the Western Church, however, devotion to the Holy Family dates back only to the early sixteenth Century. The Feast of the Holy Family as a liturgical celebration was established by Pope Leo XIII as late as 1893. It was the time when the very structure of the family, its identity and its role was being radically transformed by unbridled and rapid industrialization.
Our families, as we find them today, is a direct result of the impact that the industrial age has had on the family. Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, I am sure our minds are drawn to our own families. May I offer three points for us to reflect upon.
Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
Here we are, the day after Christmas. This is a time for joy, cheer, good company, and martyrdom. Yup, the day after celebrating the nativity of adorable little baby Jesus we have the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr (makes sense why Good King Wenceslaus is a Christmas carol now). This begs the question, “What’s the deal Church? Why celebrate the feast of the first Christian martyr the day after Christmas? Can’t we just get a couple days of cute baby action?” Obviously the answer is no, but I want to spend our reflection this morning exploring why the Church might celebrate the feast of Stephen the day after Christmas.
I was there when the first ray of light broke through. I AM the light.
I was there when the first word was spoken. I AM the Word.
I was there when life took shape. I AM the life.
I was there when the first breath was taken. Breath and I are one.
I was there when grace was first needed. I AM grace
I was there…. I AM…
I am the Light of the World. I am the Word Made Flesh. I am Breath of Heaven. I am Grace.
I am Love run rampant.
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
I would venture to guess that we all have dynamics of our lives that displace us from our comfort zones a bit – financial challenges, family dynamics, the nature of our work, societal injustices, noisy neighbors, allergies, to name a few. In today’s first reading we hear of God’s reminder to King David of how David was displaced from his work in the pasture to be commander of the people of Israel. God sends Nathan to remind David of this, but also to remind David that he needs to build a place where God can dwell. Within the text, this reminder seems to come at a time where David is finding great comfort in his palace and the protection that God has provided, but yet again God encourages him to rise from that comfort and make Israel a place filled with God’s presence. Placing myself in David’s shoes, I’d feel great frustration that I am consistently pulled from areas of comfort to discomfort in order to serve God.
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
He will be called John. Imagine a woman who was barren and believed she would never have a child, now pregnant. What must Elizabeth have thought? Like Mary, how can this be? After having waited for perhaps decades for a child, God gave her the gift of a son. And after all that waiting she had to wait again only this time for nine months.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
When you were a small child, do you ever have the experience of someone picking you up, turning you upside-down, and holding you there by the legs as your pockets emptied? I have a few memories like this, as both the one over-turned, and later as the one doing the flipping. It was a favorite way for older cousins to bond with younger ones while we were playing outside at family events. Sometimes there was a lot of tickling and snorting and laughter involved. It’s a moment when power wasn’t misused, but instead was a source of joy.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
The gospel passage today is one of my favorites. Luke tells about the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth who are both pregnant expecting their first child. At the sound of Mary’s voice, John the Baptist leaps for joy within Elizabeth. John recognizes the coming of Jesus as an occasion for great gladness and celebration. As Christians, if we contemplate and try to fully comprehend the mystery of Christmas, I think we would also be leaping for joy. To know that God loves us beyond our imagination, that He came down and lived among us sharing in our humanity, and He invites us back into relationship to live forever with Him- there truly could be no greater joy than this good news! Once we are convicted of God’s love for us, then the joy of Christ not only causes us to leap with joy, but it sends us forth to share this joy with others.
Fourth Sunday of Advent
How big do you think is heaven? I think of heaven as limitless, unbounded, unfathomable. In fact, everything that we imagine about God and eternity is unimaginably big and boundless. God has no beginning and no end. So is eternity. The created universe too is an endless expanse. Creation is magnanimous. So what about the small? Is there room for ‘small?’ After all, if we put human life in perspective, we are like a speck of dust. In fact, we are so small that if tomorrow any of us dies, nothing will change. Life will go on. What about the small?
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
We live in a noisy time. Between cell phone calls, whatever we have playing through Pandora, and the constant stream of noise that can come from the TV, we don’t get much silence. We even demand silence before our noise. You know the cheesy “turn-off your cell phone and don’t talk to the person next to you” video that plays before a movie starts. And we only notice all that noise if we can hear it over the sound of our own voices. All this noise makes Zechariah an interesting person to reflect on today.
Friday of the Third Week of Advent
Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
In today's readings we hear the recounting of the lineage of Jesus' family, the makings of the Jesse tree, the family tree of Jesus. What is interesting to me is that this lineage is the lineage through Joseph, not Mary. This means that this is not actually the blood line of Jesus, but rather the lineage of the family in which he was adopted into.