Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

When he was 3 ½, my son Charlie stunned Stephanie and I by announcing that when he grew up, he wanted to be a fireman, an astronaut, and a librarian- all at the same time! Of course, all kids look forward to being something in particular when they grow up. And most parents look forward to what their children might grow up to be as well.

Some parents want their children to choose specific professions. Maybe they want them to follow in their footsteps or take up the family business. Some hope their children will grow up to be a priest or a religious brother or sister. Most parents, however, are probably more concerned not with what their children become, but with whom they become. A few will imagine their children leading a so-called “perfect” life of wealth, fame, success, and beauty. The majority of parents, however, are far more realistic. They know their children won’t have “perfect” lives. But they still want good things for them.

            A recent Google search revealed that parents want a variety of things for their children. They want them to grow up to be happy, healthy, safe, strong, independent, and confident. They want them to feel good about themselves, enjoy inner peace, find a purpose and meaning in life, learn from their experiences, respect nature and humanity, feel successful and significant, and to be loving people who are loved in return.

I would imagine that many of us here want or have wanted such things for the children in our lives. And it has to be said that most of those things are, in and of themselves, good things. However, as Christians, we should want something more for our children. Over and above all everything else, we should want our children to grow up to be holy; we should want them to become saints of God who live to serve him and build up his kingdom. Saints are what God created them to become. Saints are what we should want them to become.

Today is the Church’s feast of Mary, the Mother of God. As we continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we celebrate in a special way today the motherhood of Mary. The gospel appointed for this Mass, as he heard, spoke of the entire Holy Family- Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. They were gathered together in the stable at Bethlehem, when all of a sudden, shepherds burst in with the wonderful news that angels had proclaimed their child to be the savior, Christ and Lord. For her part, we’re specifically told that Mary “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

In other words, Mary, Jesus’ mother, made it a point to think about what God had created her child to be. Today is a good day for us to do the very same thing. We should reflect on what God wants our children to be- and this includes not only our sons and daughters, but also our grandchildren, our godchildren, our nieces and nephews, and in fact all the children of our parish, because since we’re all one big family in Christ, we all have a responsibility for each other. We should ask ourselves: Do we want these children to become saints? Or have we been aiming and working toward something less?

At the end of today’s gospel, we’re told that eight days after Jesus was born he was circumcised and given his name. This, of course, is an ancient Jewish custom. We might think of our Catholic practice of infant baptism as being a rough equivalent to this. At a Catholic baptism, parents and godparents promise publicly, before God and the Church, that they will do everything in their power to raise the newly baptized child in the faith, so that he or she might greet Jesus with joy on that day when he comes again in power and glory.

Many of us have made such a promise at some point. The question is: are we keeping that promise as best we can? If not, then maybe we need to make some New Year’s resolutions. First of all, let’s resolve to worship at Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. Let’s resolve to pray together every day: not just at mealtimes and bedtimes, but other times as well. We can regularly go to confession together, perhaps once a month. We can read the Scriptures together. We can place Catholic symbols in our homes to identify it as a sacred space where God’s children dwell. We can teach our children about the saint or feast of the day in the Catholic calendar. We can share with our children what our faith in Jesus means to us and talk with them about what God has done in our lives. We can celebrate the anniversaries of our children’s baptisms or their special saints days. And we can make our best effort, with God’s grace, to model for our children the virtues of faith, hope, love, forgiveness, patience, generosity, compassion, gratitude, affirmation, simplicity of life, and self- sacrifice.

Experience has shown that parents are four times more effective than clergy, and ten times more effective than teachers in passing on the faith to children. The reality is that these days, the burden of this responsibility seems to fall upon the shoulders of mothers. But dads need to do their share too. One study concludes that if the primary religious influence in the home if the father, 93% of those children will follow into that faith as adults. Yet if the primary religious influence is the mother, only 17% will follow.

I would hope that everyone here today would say that they love the children in their lives. But what is love? Love is doing whatever is necessary to help those we love to become what God create them to be. We know that he made them to be saints. If we really love them, that’s what we’ll help them to grow up to be.

Seventh Day of Christmas

Christmas is often described as a season of song. Carols, hymns, and popular tunes surround us this time of year, and we all have our favorites.

Today's gospel presents us with what we might call one of the first Christmas carols. The evangelist took an ancient Christian hymn or poem, and made it the prologue to his entire work.

This hymn celebrates the light and life brought to us by the Word of God, who made his dwelling amongst us as a fellow human being, that those of us who believe, might be born again as children of God. In other words: God became a human being, in order that human beings might become united with God.

And that, without a doubt, is something worth singing about!

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Poor ol’ Charlie Brown. In his TV Christmas special, he has to contend aluminum Christmas trees, his sister’s greedy letter to Santa, Snoopy’s tacky decorations, and a true lack of “good will toward men” on the part of his friends. Finally he cries out in frustration: “Can anyone tell me what Christmas is all about?” Whereupon Linus calls for a spotlight, and beautifully recites the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke’s gospel. This familiar story warns us of the danger that the commercialization and stress associated with Christmas can sometimes obscure the fact that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”

            However, you and I face another danger too. Not that the season’s distractions will drown out the Christmas story, but that we’ve heard it so many times that it no longer touches our hearts. It’s become so familiar to us that we’ve become jaded and indifferent. We hear the Christmas gospel proclaimed and think: “Tell me something I don’t already know.” It’s become to us like a song we really liked when it first came out, but then it got overplayed. When we hear it now, we don’t turn up the volume, we roll our eyes and change the channel.

            I would imagine that many of us have felt this way, even if just a little bit. So maybe today, like Charlie Brown, we should take a good hard look at what Christmas really is all about. Let’s put aside for a moment all the shepherds, angels, wise men, mangers, and stars shining in the East. They’re all important- don’t get me wrong! But at the heart of Christmas is the amazing, astounding, breathtaking truth that, in Jesus, God became human. God- all powerful, all knowing, the creator of a cosmos billions of light years across- became a fragile, weak, tiny, and completely helpless baby on the first Christmas day. By his own choice, he became one of us.

            The proclamation of this wonderful truth struck those who first heard it as a lightning bolt- both the Romans and the Jews. The Romans had their gods of course- Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and the whole lot. But by Jesus’ day, no one really cared about or believed in them. There were temples and religious holidays, and people went through the motions, but there was very little in the way of personal faith and devotion. These gods failed to inspire because they were too human, in the negative sense of the word. Their number included murderers and rapists, and they all fell prey to the whole range of human temptations- pride, envy, anger, jealousy, lust. Many Romans understandably found the God of the Jews- our God- as far more attractive. After all, there was only one of him. He was an ethical God who commanded respect, and was worthy of worship and obedience.

            Unfortunately, by the time of Jesus’ birth, God was seen as being very far removed from everyday human life. Keeping the law and religious traditions were important, but that had become burdensome and oppressive. There was little appreciation of a personal relationship with God who involved himself in human affairs. God was silent. God was remote.

            But with the coming of Jesus, everything changed. In Jesus, God was born, lived, worked, sweated, made friends, had enemies, experienced joy, knew disappointment, laughed, suffered, and died. In Jesus, God became a member of a family- the Holy Family- Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, which we remember and celebrate today. Jesus was fully human! But he wasn’t human in the sense that the Roman gods were human. Jesus was perfectly human. Through the life he lived, he showed how God wants us to be human.

            Deep down, this is how all of us want to live our lives. We could see this reflected in a fad from a few years ago in which people created “avatars”- animated characters- to represent themselves in popular computer games. Through their “avatar,” a person playing the game could become anyone he or she wanted to be. Nevertheless, most players created characters that were simply better versions of their real selves- the people they would like to be, or wish they were, in real life. This, I think, is evidence of a desire we all have to be our best selves. And this is what Jesus has shown us how to do. To be the best we can be, we need to live in imitation of Jesus.

            However, Jesus does much more than show us how to be human. He shows us, and enables us, to become like God. Did you catch that? God the Son became one of us so we could become like God. In Jesus, God united himself with our humanity so we could be united with his divinity- for all eternity. Because of Jesus, it’s our hope that in heaven we’ll not only be with God, we will be one with God, and share the same nature. “For the Son of God became man,” wrote St. Athanasius, “so that we might become God.” How amazing is that? How awesome is that? Yet that’s the truth that lies at the heart of our Christmas celebration.

The Washington Post once ran a nice story about how the cloistered Carmelite nuns in Southern Maryland celebrate Christmas. One nun, Sister Clare Joseph, said: "I just want to tell people, 'Don't you realize God became a man? Do you realize how astonishing that is?'” Then she lamented: "I don't think people even think about that. . . in our society."

She’s right. And sometimes we in the Church are guilty of the very same thing. So perhaps we all need, this Christmas season, to think about the true meaning of Christmas, and reflect on the magnitude of what God did for us when he became human in Jesus Christ. Because if we do, we won’t yawn with boredom. We will fall on our knees with awe.

           

December 23

Zechariah and Elizabeth's neighbors knew something wonderful was happening as the events of John the Baptist's birth unfolded before them. As today's gospel tells it, at first they rejoiced; then they were amazed;   and finally, they were filled with fear because they could see that the hand of the Lord was at work.

The witness of these neighbors can challenge us as we commemorate the north of our Lord. It's easy to trivialize and sentimentalize Christmas and fail to appreciate how awe-inspiring the Incarnation truly is.

We can forget that in Jesus, God-made-man, the creator of the universe shivered in straw; that the all-knowing had to learn how to crawl and walk; that he who needs nothing became dependent upon a mother; that the all-powerful became helpless; that the all-holy dwelt amongst the unholy; that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords entered our world in obscurity and poverty; that divinity joins with humanity.

This Christmas, let's reflect on these things, and see if we aren't filled with joy, amazement, even holy fear- at the magnificent deeds of our all-holy God.

December 22

Music is one of the things that makes the Christmas holiday so special. More than any other season, Christmastime is filled with song, and we all have our particular favorites.

            We just heard what might very well be the first Christmas song- Mary’s Magnificat. Interesting thing for a Christmas song, however: Christ isn’t even mentioned. Mary sings about herself a little bit. More specifically, she sings about what God the Father has done for her. But most of all, her song is about what God the Father is does for all of us.

            Mary’s Magnificat is a celebration of God’s breaking into the world, in order to stand the world on its head. God comes in Jesus to remake the world in the way he intended it to be in the first place, before we messed things up. The mighty are cast down; the humble are exalted. The hungry are fed; the rich are sent away hungry.

            This is a hopeful message but it’s a challenging one too. It’s hopeful in that it celebrates God’s coming to set things strait. But it’s challenging to those who might need to be set strait- especially we who are citizens of the world’s richest nation, living in the most powerful city on earth.

            So often our Christmas songs are comforting, but that’s only half of Mary’s message. Her Magnificat recalls that while God came to comfort the afflicted, God also came to afflict the comfortable.

December 21

Traveling out of town to visit relatives; family members of different generations coming together; children getting excited over all that’s happening. Many people- perhaps many of us- will be experiencing these things over the next week and a half, just as Mary and Elizabeth did in gospel story of the Visitation. As we heard, when Mary arrived from out of town to visit her older relative Elizabeth, the infant in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy. Indeed, everyone in the scene is filled with joy.

Most of us, I imagine, hope to experience joy at Christmas. However, as we all know, there are many things this time of year that can rob us of joy. There’s the stress of trying to get everything done; the family baggage that can get unpacked; the headache of holiday travel; relatives that ruffle our feathers; worries about money; and the disappointment when our plans for a lovely holiday don’t exactly pan out.

When these negative forces bear down upon us, we need to take a cue from Mary and Elizabeth. When they came together, they spoke about their faith, the wonderful things God had done for them, and the coming birth of Jesus. It is in these things that they found their joy. And the same should be true for us. So if the holiday blues come knocking at our door this year, let’s let our faith be our focus, and hold on to that simple truth that Jesus is the reason for the season. At Christmas there is indeed “joy to the world,” but it’s only because “the Lord has come.”

December 20

My first ancestor to come to these shores was Ebenezer Hurd, back in 1742, I think. When my son was born and I called my mother to inform her that we would be naming him Ebenezer, there was a profound silence on the other end of the line. I was joking, of course- my son’s name is Charles- but her response reflects that child is named is very important.

This is especially true of the child whose birth we will commemorate in just five days time. Ultimately, this child would wind up with many names. I remember seeing a poster once that listed about sixty of them: names like “The Great I AM” and “Alpha and Omega.”

Today’s Scripture readings and the Alleluia verse before the gospel give us five of the names that this child is called:

1. “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”
2. “Key of David,” which speaks of kingly authority;
3. “Jesus”- Hebrew for “God saves”- because he would save us from sin and death;
4. “Holy,” because of his perfect virtue and righteousness; and
5. “Son of God,” because he is by nature divine.

A traditional Christmas carol asks us, “What child is this?” His names provide the answer: He is our great and perfect king, God himself who came to live with us, that we might live with him forever.

           

Third Sunday of Advent

“If you want to make God laugh,” said St. Teresa of Avila, “just tell him your plans!” What God laughs at
is when we put our cart before our horse. We make our plans, we do whatever it is we want to do, and then
we expect God to accept our decisions, bless them, and help them to be successful. As Christians, what we
should do first is ask what God’s plan is, and then pray for the grace to carry it out.


This was a lesson king David had to learn in today’s first reading. He had decided that he would build for God a great and beautiful Temple in Jerusalem. This seemed to everyone, including the prophet Nathan, like a good and worthwhile and noble thing to do. The problem was that this was not God’s plan for David. God did have plans for David- very great plans that included a covenant with David’s family that would culminate in the birth of Jesus. Nevertheless, God wanted David’s son Solomon, and not David, to be the one to build a Temple. So David had to surrender his plans to the plans of God.

This is what God calls us to do as well. He asks us to surrender our plans and take on his. Consider Mary. I wonder what plans she had as a young girl. Did she want to have lots of children? Did she imagine growing old in the company of a husband and a big family? We’ll never know, but it’s possible. However, whatever plans she may have had all came to an end when the Archangel Gabriel appeared and announced that she would conceive and bear a son named Jesus.

Mary might have said no. She was a free person who could make her own decisions. Some of the earliest Christian writers spoke of all heaven and earth holding their breath, sitting on pins and needles as they awaited Mary’s decision. But of course Mary did say yes. “I am the handmaid of the Lord,” she proclaimed. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary had surrendered her plans for God’s. As the Opening Prayer for today’s Mass said, “…the Virgin Mary placed her life at the service of (God’s) plan.”

In a word, Mary was obedient. Her obedience is an example to us of how we should be obedient to the plan of God. In fact, in a certain way Mary’s obedience made it possible for us to be obedient. In today’s second reading, from his letter to the Romans, St. Paul told us that the Jesus’ revelation of God was made “to bring about the obedience of faith.” Yet that would not have been possible without the obedience of Mary.

Mary willingness to surrender her own plans for the plans of God presents a challenge to us. Mary challenges us to think about whatever plans we’ve made and dreams for the future we have. Consider, for instance, the plans you have for the new year about to begin. Plans about your job, your family, your relationships, your education, your home. Think about the purchases you plan to make, the vacations you hope to take, the volunteer commitments you expect to accept, any medical or health procedures you intend to undergo. Then ask yourself: Is it really God’s will that I do these things? Have I placed these decisions before the Lord? Did I ask if they will help build up God’s kingdom and help me and or my family grow in holiness? Were my plans prayerfully made? Did I ask for God’s help and direction when I made them?


We can’t automatically assume that whatever we’ve planned is consistent with God’s plan, even if our plans were made with the best of intentions. That’s the way King David thought, and he wound up being surprised. We need to have the openness, and the humility, to accept that some of our plans may not necessarily be the same as God’s. As has often been said, our God is a God of surprises and he acts in mysterious ways. Just ask a guy who wound up being a married Catholic priest. Or better yet, ask my wife!

Another question we should ask ourselves is: Am I willing to surrender the plans I have to God? Am I
willing to give them up if he wants me to? For instance, what if our  health changed and prevented us from
carrying out my plans? What if we had to suddenly care for a sick relative? What if God blessed us with a
new child? What if our circumstances changed or the money just wasn’t there? What if a long-time plan
and our conscience came into conflict? Would we be willing to give up our plans with peaceful
resignation? Or would we resist, run away, make bad compromises, or sink into anger and bitterness? If
that’s the case, then we don’t just have a plan. We have an idol.

It can be hard to surrender. Surrender involves sacrifice; saying “Yes” to God often means saying “No” to something else. Sometimes our pride gets in the way. We want to call the shots in our life. We believe we know what’s best for us better than everybody else, even God. At other times, our fears hold us back. We’re afraid of the unknown and we don’t like moving out of our comfort zones. Surrender can require a lot of courage and trust and love. Even Mary had questions. And Gabriel had to tell her not to be afraid.

Thankfully, God always gives us the strength we need; his grace is always sufficient to the task. As we heard St. Paul say: “To him who can strengthen you…be glory for ever and ever!” Gabriel assured Mary, “nothing will be impossible for God.” And nothing will be impossible with God. God may indeed laugh at our plans. But he smiles when we embrace his.


Readings for today's Mass:http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121811.cfm

Friday of Advent 3

A big change has taken place in my household: no longer do plain white lights hang on our Christmas tree. They’ve been replaced by good old-fashioned colored lights- big ones! And I love it.

            We see lights everywhere this time of year. That’s why it’s sometimes called a “season of light.” But all these lights should serve to remind us of the great light who entered our world at the first Christmas. All other lights point to him.

            Jesus said as much in today’s gospel. He spoke of those who rejoiced in the light of St. John the Baptist, whom he described as a “bright and shining lamp.” But then Jesus explained that John’s light was meant as a beacon for the greater light which he came to bring. A light which, as Isaiah told us in today’s first reading, revealed God’s salvation and justice, and extended God’s covenant of love to people of every race and nation.

            I hope we enjoy all the lights we see this season- white and colored, blinking and not. But let’s not forget that the light we rejoice in above all others is Jesus Christ. Because in Jesus, to steal a phrase from today’s psalm, God let his face shine upon us.

Memorial of St. John of the Cross

Latin men have a reputation for being romantic lovers. That’s why it’s somewhat ironic that the most cherished love poetry in the Spanish language has come from the pen of St. John of the Cross, a simple monk who lived a life of chastity and celibacy.

            There was indeed an important woman in St. John’s life: St. Teresa of Avila, with whom he enjoyed a close friendship and helped renew the Church in 16^th century Spain. However, St. John’s love poem, the Spiritual Canticle, was not about St. Teresa or any other woman. It was instead about the love between a Christian and God, who in his poem are represented by a bride and groom.

            The Spiritual Canticle, along with St. John’s other works, The Dark Night of the Soul and The Ascent of Mt. Carmel, led to his being named a Doctor of the Church. Because his works are concerned primarily with prayer and the spiritual life, he has come to be known as the “Mystical Doctor.”

            In his teaching, St. John stresses the need for every Christian to spend time in quiet, solitary prayer, so that the distractions of this world don’t lure us away from God. St. John may have used beautiful, romantic language to tell us of God’s love. But when it comes to our telling God of our love for him, wrote St. John, “the language he hears best is silent love.”

There are many things this time of year that can easily distract us from God. Perhaps then it might be good for us to heed St. John’s teaching, and make time to speak to God the language of silent love, as we prepare to celebrate God’s coming to us, one silent night.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

 On a small hill outside Mexico City nearly a half a millennium ago, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s appearances to St. Juan Diego were a sign of the birth of Christianity in the Americas. It’s for this reason that she appeared as an expectant mother, wearing a traditional native maternity belt. And that she appeared as a young Aztec woman, a member of a conquered and oppressed people, was a sign that through the Christian faith there was hope for unity and peace between the recently-arrived Spaniards, the native peoples of Mexico, and those of mixed ancestry- three groups who were separated by animosity, prejudice, and the wounds of history.

This hope for unity and peace is as needed today as it was back then. Hostilities, divisions, and prejudices between peoples is found on every continent, sometimes simmering under the surface, at other times erupting in open conflict, even combat. This is as true of the Americas, whose patroness is Our Lady of Guadalupe, as it is anywhere else. Thus, the message and the mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe is both universal and contemporary.

The hope Our Lady of Guadalupe came to bring is grounded in love. As she explained to Juan Diego, she came to “show and make known and give all my love, my compassion, my help, and my protection to the people.” In our broken world this day, we cry out to Our Lady of Guadalupe, that the love she came to bring, may heal and unite was hatred and ignorance has driven apart.

Third Sunday in Advent

Today is a day for us to rejoice! Of course, every Sunday is a day of rejoicing because it’s the day on which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. On this third Sunday of Advent, however, joy and rejoicing are special themes that run throughout the prayers and Bible readings appointed for today’s Mass. That’s why today is traditionally called “Gaudete” Sunday, from the Latin word for “rejoice.” And that’s also why the candle we lit on the Advent wreath today is pink, a more festive and joyful color than purple.

Joy is something that all of us long for and search for. Deep down, every one of us wants to be a joy-filled person. “God made us for joy,” said Pope John Paul II. That’s why it’s important, I think, that we give careful consideration to what today’s scripture readings suggest that we do. For instance, the first reading, from the prophet Isaiah, doesn’t tell us simply to rejoice. It tells us instead to rejoice “in the Lord.” That’s a critical distinction, because so many people today try to find joy in something other than the Lord.

Yet that’s a hopeless quest. Because while there are many things in our world that can bring us some passing happiness, true and lasting joy can only come about through a personal, life-giving relationship with the Lord. As Isaiah said, “In my God is the joy of my soul.” This means two things. First, joy is God’s gift to us when we’re in relationship with him. Second, if we want to be joyful people, we need to work on our relationship with God. Joy, then, is something we need to cultivate.

One way we can cultivate joy is to remember, on a regular basis, all the wonderful things that God has done for us. We heard Isaiah do this when he rejoiced that God had clothed him with a robe of salvation and wrapped him in a mantle of justice. And we heard Mary, the Mother of Jesus, do the same in today’s responsorial psalm, which is a selection from her Magnificat, the song she sang after Jesus was conceived in her womb. “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior,” she sang. “The Almighty has done great things for me.”

Attending Mass frequently, even daily if possible, is an excellent way we can remember the great things that God has done for us. In fact, this is one of the reasons why Jesus gave us the Mass. “Do this in memory of me,” he said. And every time we honor that command, we recall Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension- all done out of love for us, for our salvation, and for our joy.

Praying the rosary is another excellent way we can bring to mind the great things that God has done for us, because it helps us to reflect upon the significant events in Jesus’ life, and Mary’s too. It’s also essential that we read the Bible. If you don’t do so already, I would recommend, during the week, prayerfully reading and studying the Scripture readings appointed for Sunday Mass.

A second way we can cultivate joy is by counting our blessings. This is what St. Paul tells us to do in today’s reading from I Thessalonians. “In all circumstances give thanks,” he said, “for this is the will of God.” So often, however, we go through our day taking things for granted and being bombarded with materialistic messages. We wind up envious of the things we don’t have, and ungrateful for the things we do. This can rob us of our joy. That’s why we should follow St. Paul’s advice to give thanks for anything and everything. We can give thanks for even the littlest things: A morning cup of coffee, the fact that the toilet flushed, a smile from a stranger. We can even give thanks for difficult and painful things, because they’re opportunities God gives us to exercise patience and forgiveness. If we give thanks for all things, we’ll recall how much God loves us and provides for us, and our joy will grow.

St. Paul also told us today to “pray without ceasing.” This is another way we can grow in joy. Praying without ceasing may seem like an unattainable or unrealistic goal. But ask yourself how much you pray now, and you’ll be sure to find that you can pray even more. One way to pray more is to make it a habit to pray at the beginning and the end of regular daily events. For instance, say a prayer when you first wake up. Instead of saying, “Oh no, it’s morning,” say “Oh God, it’s morning” and then ask for his blessings upon your day. Prayer also when you go to bed at night. We can also pray at the beginning and end of meals, commutes to and from our jobs, and when starting and finishing our work. We can pray when we tuck our kids in, pray when we drop them off at school, and pray when we pick them up. We can pray in the shower, in the car, and while we fold laundry and do the dishes. And many people today pray Morning and Evening Prayer from the Church’s official “Liturgy of the Hours” or devotional magazines.

The bottom line is that we joy for which we seek can only be found through a relationship with God. And anything we do to grow in that relationship will help us to grow in joy. Because with God, we’ll receive the joy of being forgiven. We’ll experience the joy of being unconditionally loved. We’ll know the joy of being promised an eternity of happiness. And we’ll find joy in the assurance that God is in control, that he walks by our side, and that he has a purpose and plan for our lives. Truly, in the words of John Paul II, “Our God is the God of joy!”

Friday of Advent 2

This time of year is an especially noisy one, wouldn’t you agree? Some of this noise we might call “good” noise: Christmas carols, the sounds of our favorite movies and shows, the excitement and laughter of children. Other noise, however, we might characterize as “bad,” namely the full-scale marketing assault we’re bombarded with “24/7.”

The danger with all this noise- both “good” and “bad” is that it can drown out the voice of God- a voice that rarely shouts, but usually speaks in whispers. That’s why we need to make a special effort to listen amidst the hubbub of this season.

Consider today’s gospel. Jesus laments that the people of his generation didn’t make an effort to listen- either to John the Baptist, or to him. As a consequence, they robbed themselves of the wisdom that only they could give.

Jesus dearly wanted them to listen, and he dearly wants us to listen as he speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. Yet in this season, silence isn’t going to find us. We have to go and find it, by making the time for quiet time with God. Just think about it: When were the abiding shepherds able to hear the herald angels sing? In the middle of a silent night.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Have you ever seen “The Family Man,” a film starring Nicholas Cage? Cage’s character is an wealthy businessman who’d made a choice thirteen years earlier to leave behind the woman he was to marry to pursue his professional dreams. But then one day he wakes up to find he’s been given a glimpse of what might have been if he’d made a different choice. He’d married the woman instead of having left her. She’s loyal and loving, and they have two beautiful children and a supportive network of friends. Having experienced this, Cage comes to regret the choices he’d made. So when he’s returned to his real life, he fights valiantly to restore what he had lost, and make a reality the glimpse he’d been given of what might have been.

In Mary, our mother, you and I are given a glimpse of what might have been if different choices had been made, if the choice to sin had never been made, leaving us with a fallen human nature. Through the Immaculate Conception, God preserved Mary from this condition, allowing us to behold in her a life of perfect faith, love, and obedience to God’s will. We see in Mary what we might have been today.

However, Mary’s witness should give us, not only a longing for what might have been, but also a sign for what might yet be. This is because Mary’s Immaculate Conception made possible the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ, who came to heal us, and restore what had been lost. Through Jesus, we can hope that the perfection Mary enjoyed on earth might be ours to enjoy one day in heaven. Which makes our commemoration tonight, not an occasion of longing and regret, but a celebration of gratitude and hope.

Memorial of St. Ambrose

At celebrations of Mass, two individuals are typically prayed for by name: the Pope and the local bishop, which in our case is “Donald.” This is a sign that Mass is celebrated in union with them. Yet I’ve heard bishops joke that they need to be prayed for at Mass because they need God’s help more than anyone else. And even though they mean this in jest, there’s a measure of truth to what they say.

            To be a bishop is no easy task. Great things are expected of them because they’re successors of the apostles, and great demands are placed on them as a result. It’s a critically important and public ministry. It can lead to stress; it can lead also to pride. And, as one old saying goes, it can get “lonely at the top.” It’s been speculated that, because they’re the church’s leaders, the devil singles them out for special attention. As a result, our bishops need our prayers; they need our support.

            Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, Italy, some sixteen centuries ago. He wrote magnificent homilies and composed beautiful hymns. He gave generously to the poor and lived very holy life. He openly challenged emperors and courageously defended the truth in spite of stiff opposition. And he administered a large diocese with effectiveness and skill. It’s for good reason that he is a saint and one of the original four Doctors of the Church.

            St. Ambrose was a talented man, to be sure. However, we can imagine that he accomplished what he did only because he enjoyed prayerful support of the people of his diocese. Indeed, it was they who called for him to be their bishop in the first place- even before he was baptized- , and they surely lifted him up in their prayers throughout his ministry. Like them, we too should lift up our bishops and our Pope in our prayers. They might just need God’s help, more than anyone else.

Second Sunday of Advent

Recently, while leaving a confessional here on a Saturday afternoon, a person turned to me and said, “Father, I just have to ask: How much business do you get in here?” Thankfully, at St. Hugh’s there are many people who regularly go to confession. However, this person’s question reflects that fact that far fewer Catholics make their confessions today than they did a generation ago.

There are many reasons for the decline in confessions. Some people are too embarrassed, ashamed, afraid, or proud to come. Maybe they’ve had a bad experience in the past with a cold or angry or foolish priest.  There are those who don’t see a need for confession because they haven’t heard it stressed or preached about. Then there are some for whom the “old way” seemed too mechanical or impersonal, and they haven’t bothered to come back. I imagine that some of us here today fit into one of these categories.

            However, one objection to confession sometimes made today is, “I’m basically a good person. I don’t do anything that wrong. So why should I bother?” The implication is that if we’re decent, well-intentioned, fundamentally responsible human beings, there’s no real reason to go to confession. With this understanding, confession isn’t for those who are “basically good.” It’s only for those who are “basically bad.”

It’s true that all of us have our good qualities. Just the fact that we’re here today and not sleeping in says something positive about us! All of the good things we do are signs that, to some degree, we are open and responsive to the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we can celebrate and be grateful for that. However, when we focus exclusively on our good qualities, we can obscure the fact that all of us, without exception, are sinners.

We don’t like to think of ourselves as sinners. It’s easier to think of ourselves as victims of society, bad parenting, unfortunate circumstances, an insensitive spouse, or lousy DNA. In our therapeutic culture, preoccupied with self-esteem, we may refer to what we do as shortcomings, mistakes, symptoms, or even failures, but certainly not sin. Yet Jesus didn’t die to save us from our shortcomings. He died to save us from our sins. As Pope John Paul II once said, “When we forget we are sinners, we forget our need for Christ. And when we forget we need Christ, we have lost everything.”

In today’s gospel reading, St. John the Baptist calls all of us to “repent”- which means we need to turn our lives around! We must turn away from sin and turn toward God. We heard how in his day many people embraced his message by acknowledging their sins. We too need to repent. We too need to confess our sins.

Admitting that we’re sinners isn’t a negative or morbid or self-hating thing to do. In fact, in a certain way it’s an act of healthy self-love! Because when we confess that we’re sinners, we accept reality, we take responsibility for who we are and what we’ve done, and we recall our fundamental need for the love and mercy of God. To say that we’re sinners doesn’t mean that we aren’t good people. We can be sinners and good people at the same time. It’s not a question of either/or. It’s really a question of both/and. The truth is, however, is that Jesus hasn’t called us to be good people. He calls us to be more than good. He calls us to be holy. And that requires a serious struggle with sin.

Think of it this way: If we’re concerned with simply being good, it’s tempting to think that all we need to be is “good enough.” And if all we need to be is “good enough,” it’s easy to become morally and spiritually lazy. But God didn’t become man in Jesus at the first Christmas just so we could be “good enough.” He came so that we could become much more. One time a bishop, after a Mass at our local church, stunned Stephanie my wife by walking up to her and saying: “Be a saint!” Yet that’s why God became man in Jesus: so that we can become saints.

We should ask ourselves today: Are we saints? Probably not, which means we have sins to confess. Yet even real saints on earth knew their need for confession. In fact, the holier they became, the more aware they were of their distance from God. That’s why, for example, Pope John Paul II went to confession every week. Just like Mother Teresa.

If you’ve been away from confession for awhile, allow me to challenge you. Sometime this week, take the time you’d spend watching one holiday movie or TV program and review your life instead. Find a quiet place, and call upon the Holy Spirit to help you examine your conscience and bring to mind those things the Lord wants you to confess. If it’s been a long time since your last confession, begin by looking at the past month. This will reveal sinful patterns that you’ve probably struggled with for a long time.

Ask yourself: Where do I need to grow in order to be holy? How have I failed in being a saint? What parts of my life do I need to turn around? What do I need to turn away from? Have I loved God above all else? Have I loved my neighbor as myself? If we’re honest, we’ll uncover selfishness, greed, laziness, prejudices, bad habits, resentment, dishonesty, envy, indifference to others’ needs, pride, and a lack of trust in God which leads to fear and anxiety.

Next, pray for courage and humility and come to confession. Don’t make excuses for your sins, don’t explain them away, and don’t blame them on others. Just confess them receive the gift of God’s healing and forgiving love. Think of it as a little Christmas gift to yourself. Or better yet, think of it as God’s big Christmas gift to you.

Memorial of St. Francis Xavier

Over the past eight years, my parish of St. Hugh’s Greenbelt has changed dramatically. People of Asian, African, Caribbean, and Hispanic descent have begun to fill the pews; different cultures are coming together to form one parish, which is a beautiful thing to behold.

            Sometimes, however, when different cultures meet in the same parish, there is friction, fear, racism, and resentment. Instead of one community being formed, what results is an “us and them” type situation. One hears comments like: “They’re taking over our parish!” Thankfully, a better way for Catholics of different cultures to meet is suggested by the witness of the saint whose memorial we celebrate today: St. Francis Xavier.

St. Francis Xavier was one of the first Jesuits nearly 500 years ago, and a missionary in Asia. Before journeying to Japan, he met a samurai who spoke with him about Japanese culture and customs. He explained that the Japanese wouldn’t embrace Christianity overnight. Instead, they would wait to see if Francis practiced what he preached. He would need to be patient and respect the culture. St. Francis took this advice to heart. He attempted to learn Japanese, he studied Japanese philosophy, and he observed local customs, such as wearing a silken robe. This approach, Francis came to learn, was successful.

Whenever we encounter Catholics from different cultures, we would do well to follow the example of St. Francis Xavier. We can try to learn their languages; we can respect their cultural norms; we can encourage their religious traditions and devotions; we can welcome them instead of ignoring them; we can be patient with them and with ourselves; we can love them as the brothers and sisters that they are.

More than anyone since St. Paul, St. Francis Xavier brought the gospel to those of different cultures; may we live that gospel when Catholics of different cultures come to us.

Friday of Ordinary 1

In one ancient Christian story, a desert monk ordered a disciple to plant a stick in the sand and water it every day. The only water source was far away, so the disciple made a long walk each night to obey the command. After doing this daily for three years, the stick blossomed! The hermit rejoiced and gathered his community to eat what he called the “fruit of obedience.”

Watering a stick in the desert can seem unreasonable, almost crazy. Most of us would probably refuse to do it on those grounds. Maybe that’s what happended in today’s gospel, in which Jesus healed three blind men because they believed that Jesus could make them well. But when Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone, they disobeyed him and spread the news far and wide. We don’t know why, but I’ll bet it’s because they thought it was unreasonable, considering their excitement, and in light of all the questions others surely must have asked.

This gospel story teaches that faith is more than simply believing. Faith also requires obedience to God’s commands and trust that God knows what he’s doing. Even when his commands seem unreasonable.

Do we disobey God’s commands, because we think they don’t make sense? Things like forgiving a hurt, loving an enemy, living simply in a materialistic world? Do we struggle with teachings about marriage, sexuality, medical ethics, or abortion because the world around us says they’re unreasonable, even cruel? Do we fail to persevere in faith when life gets hard, because we can’t understand why we should? Do we do things that make us uncomfortable, but try to convince ourselves that they’re okay?

If so, then today’s gospel reminds us that just because something may seem reasonable, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s right.