Wednesday - Advent Week 4

Gospel

LUKE 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.  Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.”  But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. 

Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?" For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

Question

What does it mean to say Jesus himself is the new temple?

Reflection

From the beginning of revelation, mankind in general and Old Testament Hebrew times thought and prayed spiritually but expected answers that were physical in form. Good health, freedom from bondage, wealth enough to comfortable or safety from enemies. The temple built by the ancients and rebuilt Herod served as a physical reflection of God on earth. It was where the holy of holies was held in solemn separation. The prayers of sabbath and ritual were sang within the temple. The economic engine of Israel hummed within the walls of the temple because of the need for money changers and purveyors of sacrificial holocausts. The temple is where the heart and soul of Judaism resided. Destruction of the temple the first time was catastrophic and it took centuries for the Jews to recover and reconstruct what was lost and ironically the temple that existed in the first century had been rebuilt by Herod, a faux Jew detested by the population. 

Jesus was the new temple, a human connection to the divine where true spirituality existed. The temple of Jesus is timeless, perfect and enduring. In him is the completion and fulfillment of all things but the buying and selling of goods for sacrifice ended and what was asked for by God was conversion of the heart and soul that in turn changed to focus from the things of passing value to the priceless pearls of salvation. All humans are welcome in the temple with the only price for entry being desire. 

Wednesday - Advent Week 3

Gospel

LUKE 7:18B-23

At that time, John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” 

When the men came to the Lord, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”

At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits; he also granted sight to many who were blind. And Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight,  the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

Question

What does this gospel say about the importance of the physical as well as the Spiritual in God's eye?

Reflection

The question is a little scary for me. Yes, Jesus was all about physical healing but he used physical healing as a means of calling attention to and providing legitimacy to his core teachings. Scripture reveals to us everyone to whom he offered healing was healed. Without exception. This was the message sent to John, Jesus was the real deal. He healed the human body, the human heart, and the human soul. Jesus was not a magician or wizard. He did not ask for payment or try to sell potions or pills. When he offered to heal he did not say "Go forth, your sight has been restored." Instead, he said, "Go forth, your sins have been forgiven" or "Your faith has healed you." His focus was not on a withered hand but was on the withered heart of the person with the withered hand. 

What makes me nervous is that while the physical is important, after all, we must be able to grow, learn, share, and offer our gifts of service using the physical charisma blessed on us. He offered miracles as a sign of His identity to those he encountered while he walked the land of Israel. Today we don't need to have miracles to call him to us. We know Him. He knows us. We know what he wants for us but what we don't know with certainty how to follow the plan he has for us. 

Today we can pray for healing of illness, restoration of function, or some other physical outcome but there is no guarantee the prayer will be answered affirmatively. Miracles happen all around us but it is not for us to understand where the miracles come and when the cry for a miracle will be answered differently from what we have in mind. 

It is the nature of humanity after the fall that randomness and free will brings good health and bad. There is no certainty of miracles but there is a certainty whatever happens to us will offer us opportunities to follow his will. We are not taught to pray for the miracle but for the strength to bear burdens we have encountered and the wisdom to learn what lessons we are to learn from them. An extreme example was Lazarus who died and was buried long enough for a great stink to come on him before he was called out of the tomb. It was a miracle to be sure but Lazarus eventually died a second time and had to wait to be called into the presence of God just as we all do.

We can be sure of this. If we believe and act on our belief by professing faith, we will be forgiven and we will be called into his presence after physical death. The message is the body is temporary but the soul is eternal. That is the certain thing. 

In the end, we are reminded that we both a soul with a body and a body with a soul. Someday we will be reunited body and soul when we are glorified as Jesus was glorified. As all of these things come to mind, peace returns and my anxiety has faded. God loves us body and soul.

Sunday Advent - Week 3

Gospel

JOHN 1:6-8, 19-28


A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light so that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to testify to the light.

And this is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?”

He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?”

He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’” as Isaiah the prophet said.” 

Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”

John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Question: 

The question from Bishop Baron: What is different about Jesus that sets him apart from just another teacher, prophet, or seer?

Reflection:

The first word that comes to mind is "Completion." A second word is a "Fulfillment." In first-century Palestine, there was a prophet, teacher, or seer behind every rock. It was a time of growing and universal sense of time of great change. The various self-called messengers each had a different message and offered a wide variety of promises. 

Only John is mentioned in Scripture because his ministry pointed the way to Christ. John was the last prophet because he directly pointed to Jesus who was the completion of all that had been prophesied before. Jesus is a prophet but he fulfills his prophecy for himself.  He is a teacher but what he teaches is the nature of himself as the Son of God. He is a seer who sees a future transformed by his death and resurrection. He is the left hand and the right hand. He is the beginning and the end and beginning after the end. 

I suggested two words in the first paragraph but we can add adjective after adjective, noun after noun, or description after description until we run out of words and finally come to realize, grasp and embrace that he is not just words but he is the "Word" and through Him, all things will come to be now and forever. 

Advent week 2 Wednesday

Gospel

Mt 11:28-30
Jesus said to the crowds:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Reflection

The question from Bishop Barron:
Being yoked to Christ means we turn all control of our lives over to him. can you do that? Do you want to?

Oh, yes. I want to turn control over to Him to be freed from the tyranny of self, the little jealousies, hurts, desires, and impulses that plague my days despite strengthening spiritual practices aimed at creating free spaces in my essence where the truth and the word can seep in and fill even the smallest of margins, where e can be more and I will be less

When Christ to the crowds, he was referring to the burden of Pharisee dominated interpretation of the law. There was no freedom to chose or evaluate the choices of even the smallest measure. The offer was to lay down all of that burden, the overwhelming demands of the law to take up only two rules. One, to love God and the other to love your neighbor as yourself.

That gives us the freedom to chose how to serve those two laws. Is it to be of community service? Is it to be available to listen to a brother with a wounded heart? Is it to honor your family as Jesus honors us? Is it to be a good example for others? The list of questions goes on and on to a point beyond 7x7 or 49x49. There is no limit to what we can do that reflects the spirit of the Lord working on, in, and through our beings.

Can I yield complete control? For a moment, yes. Do I want to? Yes, every time the question is posed to me or if I think of it. In this matter, however, there is like all other issues of faith and belief, only progress and not perfection.

Advent - Week 2 Sunday

Gospel
MK 1:1-8

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.

A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”
John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.
John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. 

And this is what he proclaimed:
“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Reflection:

The question today is: "How does believing Jesus Christ is Lord affect your opinions about the leaders of the world?"

Now here is a toughy. It is hard for me to address this question without giving way to bitterness and anger. It would be all to easy to sound off against both the incoming and outgoing presidents. I could easily verbally light up any ship carrying Trudeau, Johnson, Macron and just about any other leader including the Prime Minister of New Zealand. I would also torch the leadership in Holland where the fine line between assisted suicide and involuntary euthanasia is quickly being erased. How about in Oregon where a person with terminal cancer is denied treatment that is considered experimental but is, instead, offered the option of assisted suicide. 

I have stop here and bring myself back from the cliff and remind myself that political leaders are not religious leaders and cannot be trusted on to make decisions based upon moral truths. For that matter I can't trust myself to make the right decision on such matters on a consistent basis during the course of the day. 

Israel begged for a king. They got one and it the eventual outcome was disastrous. What if we were to magically evolve to a faith based leadership. Who would we trust to put in charge? The same bishops who buried decades of horror until the Holy Spirit refused to allow to allow the evil stay locked upon behind chancery doors? That is not the answer either. 

I believe that Jesus would remind us to give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and give unto God what is God's. Our leaders cannot create the kingdom of God despite their insistence that can do so or, worse yet, insist they are not responsible for helping with the creation. The best we can expect is they won't get in the way of those of us who might follow the gospel as Jesus would have us do.   

Advent Week 1 - Thursday

Gospel
MT 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”

Reflection:

Here is the question posed by Bishop Barron for the day:

"On what, precisely, is the whole of your life built? Is your foundation strong and solid?"

I wish it were possible to say in response, "I was confirmed into the church on May 20, 1973 and from that day to to this, I have lived my life in harmony with the gospels, with total obedience and a unwavering faith." The truth is no one can make such a claim. We don't have the luxury of only having to lay the foundation once and that build up a towering spire over the course of our lives.

Instead we have to begin again each day. There is no guarantee the work we did yesterday or over the last week is still steady and still. The Lord, for his part, is still there and is ever ready for us to lay down our burden of rock and pain and to great us reward for our effort but we are not so dependable.

Some days we build a good structure, tall and straight that rises several story high. Other days we are lost to the flood of uncertainty and we fail to build something of value. Overtime we can become more adept at using faith to help keep our days centered and on him and filled with good things that honor his expectations of us.

Today started well enough but this afternoon ill winds of my own making have pushed against my work and there is some unsteadiness to the structure.

I pause to reflect on the importance of building with faith.

Advent - Week 1 Wednesday

Gospel
MT 15:29-37

At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee,
went up on 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.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole,
the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus summoned his disciples and 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.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.

Reflection:

Bishop Barron asks: 

"Do you notice any change in your life when you don't receive communion for awhile? "

This publication was planned long before Corona 19 was a thing. The reflections come from homilies given by the Bishop over a period of years. The question posed could have no way presaged the events of this year so the impact of the question could never have been anticipated. Within 3 weeks of the shutdown, I had gone the longest period of time without attending mass since conversion to the faith. From that day forward, we are in unknown lands. I never conceived there would come a time when the norm for us sitting in front of a TV screen watching a life streamed or recorded Mass where we can participate only virtually in the liturgy of the Eucharist. I have received the body in hand perhaps 5 times in 8 months and given the current spirally numbers of infection, it may be months more before I can again receive in person. 

There is great value, I have learned, however, in watching while in a proper disposition while Father Jeff Fleming prays an entire Mass without another person present. I gain comfort watching the Mass life streamed from Mt. Angel Abbey and there is real mystery from watching a Mass "As Gaeilge"  from Glenstal Abbey in Ireland. These are worship and celebration opportunities that would have never occurred to me as being normal ways to spend Sunday morning. 

The thing is, the decision to stay home on Sunday is mine to make. I am not forced to take these options but the church has deemed it wise to make in person attendance optional but then to make other avenues of participation possible. 

What we have now is not perfect but just as the earliest Christians had to be creative to celebrate the eucharist, we are now called upon to do the same. I don't like it. No one does. I am, however, grateful to be in communion if if I am not at Holy communion.