FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

18 DECEMBER 2016

          Ahaz was the king of Israel eight centuries before the birth of Christ.  Like his fellow Israelites, King Ahaz was not a deist.  Our founding fathers were deists, who believed that God created the universe and remained distant as his creatures tried to work things out.  The people of eighth century Judah were convinced that God was not distant.  God was involved in their lives and the life of the world.  That is why signs were so important to them.  Signs were not events that defied the laws of nature.  Signs were outward demonstrations of God’s activity in the world.  Signs ranged from the rising of the sun in the morning, to the birth of a child, and to any event – ordinary or extraordinary – that showed forth God’s presence.

            God’s presence did not protect King Ahaz and his kingdom from difficulties.  Kingdoms allied with the Empire of Assyria had attached Judah.  Now, Ahaz had decided that he would enter into an alliance with Assyria.  But, the prophet Isaiah brings him a message.  He tells him that God does not want him to do anything.  To show the king that Isaiah is speaking for God, he offers him a sign.  King Ahaz refuses in a very pious way.  He refuses the sign, because he has already made up his mind.  But Isaiah gives him a sign anyway.  The virgin shall conceive and bear a son.  He even tells him to name the child “Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” In the context of the times, Isiah’s words were fulfilled in Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, who became king.

            Saint Matthew recalls the words of Isaiah and applies them to a member of the House of King David.  Joseph of Nazareth is also a deeply religious man, trusting that God is involved in his life.  Joseph had been betrothed to Mary, probably for many years.  Marriages in that culture were arranged, and couples had to learn to know and love one another once they were married.  Joseph must have been devastated when he heard the news that his future wife was with child.  As a righteous man, he knows the Law of Moses.  He could have Mary stoned to death for committing adultery.  But he is also a deeply compassionate man and decides to divorce her quietly.  He will step aside and allow the father of the child to come forward to claim the child.

            Centuries before, God had spoken through dreams to Joseph, the son of Jacob.  That Joseph had trusted what he heard in his dreams and saved Egypt and his own family from starvation.  Now, the angel of the Lord speaks to this descendant of Joseph in a dream, telling him how the Lord had fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah in ways that no one could ever have imagined.  Joseph trusts what the angel says:  do not be afraid and name the child Jesus (“God saves”).  Joseph trusts what he has been told.  Without fear, he takes his wife into his home.  Combined with Mary’s passive trust of what she had been told by the Angel, Joseph’s actions set the stage for the Mystery which we will celebrate next Sunday.

            God continues to be involved in our lives.  That is why Christmas is so important for our faith.  Through the Incarnation, God took on human flesh and dwells among us.  Christmas is not just a one day event.  It is a continuing unfolding of that presence in our world and in our lives.  As we spend this final week preparing to celebrate this great Mystery, we can learn from Joseph.  We can listen attentively to the voice of God speaking to us – maybe not so much in dreams, but more in the way that God speaks to us through the Scriptures.  We can spend time in quiet reflection, pondering what the Lord says in the Scriptures and reflect on the ways that God is already active in our lives.  We can imitate the righteous man of Nazareth and pattern our lives more closely upon the Law of God showing us the way.  We can imitate his compassion and be merciful to those around us.  In preparing to give gifts to those we love and cherish, we reflect the greatest gift ever given – God taking flesh in our midst.

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

11 DECEMBER 2016

          Last Sunday, we met a bold and confident John the Baptist.  He drew people away from the Temple in Jerusalem, where they had encountered God for centuries.  In the barrenness of the desert, he told them that they would encounter God in the person of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah.  They needed to repent and change their lives in order to recognize him.

            Today, John is neither bold nor confident.  If anything, he is impatient and despondent.  He sits in the darkness of a prison cell, because he had the courage to tell Herod that he should not be living with his brother’s wife.  We can only guess why he is so impatient.  Maybe, Jesus is not acting like the Messiah whom John had expected.  He had not gotten rid of Herod and his rotten cronies.  He had not removed the threat of execution hanging over his head.  He had not been calling down fire and brimstone from heaven.  Instead, Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners and talks about a Kingdom of mercy and compassion.  So, he sends his disciples to ask Jesus the question:  “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

            Jesus does not directly answer his question.  Instead, he tells John’s disciples to report to him what they hear and see.  What they hear and see are the messianic signs described by Isaiah.  Those who encounter Jesus are being changed.  The blind regain their sight.  The lame begin to walk.  Lepers are cleansed and reunited with families.  The deaf hear.  Dead people are brought back to life.   Most importantly, the poor have the good news preached to them.

            Jesus does not criticize John for doubting or being impatient.  Jesus knows that John is a human in a fallen world, like the rest of us.  So he praises him for his critical role in Salvation History.  John pointed to the Messiah.  As great as John is, anyone who embraces the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.  In other words, anyone who performs a simple act of faith in the name of Jesus Christ is as great as the prophetic action of John the Baptist.

            By the time Saint Matthew recorded these words of Jesus, his readers needed to hear this message.  Many in the community were being persecuted for their faith and shunned by their fellow Jews.  The Romans were still in charge.  The promise of Jesus that he would come again in glory had not been realized.  That is why Matthew quotes John in the plural – are we to look for another?  He speaks for his community.  Through his Gospel, Jesus says the same thing to them 50 years after he had delivered these same words to John the Baptist.  Look around yourselves, he says, and see what happens to those who perform simple acts of faith in his name.

            Jesus says the same thing to us today.  In the darkness of our world, it is easy to get impatient.  Having faith in Jesus Christ does not take away the problems that beset us.  People still get sick and die.  War and hatred continue to destroy the lives of many.  Our country remains divided and distrustful of each other.  That is why Jesus tells us to open our eyes to see and our ears to hear signs of the Lord’s presence, even in the midst of darkness.  Those who encounter Jesus Christ can be transformed.  Enemies can be reconciled and begin to walk to each other.  Those who have been rejected by families can be welcomed back.  We proclaim the resurrection of the Lord at every Mass.  Thanks to the example of Pope Francis, the poor have the good news preached to them.

            We wear rose vestments today, because we can see signs of his presence in our troubled world.  We wait to celebrate his first coming in two weeks.  Saint James tells us to wait with patience.  Being patient does not mean that we simply resign ourselves to whatever happens.  Being patient is the fruit of a deep faith that continues to look for ways in which Christ manifests himself in his own way in our individual lives.  We don’t need to look for another.

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

4 DECEMBER 2016

          In Israel 2,000 years ago, those who were seeking to encounter the presence of God went to the Temple in Jerusalem.  That is where the Pharisees and the Sadducees held court.  The Pharisees were the lay spiritual leaders, while the Sadducees were the officials in charge of Temple activities.  But that is not where people are going to encounter God in today’s Gospel.  They are going past the Temple to go down into the desert.  The desert is a place where there are very few distractions.  With few distractions, the desert had always been a place of testing and encounter for the children of Abraham.  Moses and Elijah had encountered God in the desert.  Moses led his people out of slavery into the desert, where they encountered God at Mount Sinai and were tested for forty years. Jesus himself went into the desert and was tested there. 

            By drawing people away from the Temple and into the solitude of the desert, John the Baptist is proclaiming a completely new reality.  The Temple will no longer be the place where people encounter God.  They will encounter God in the person of Jesus Christ, whom John will baptize.  John is dressed in the same rough garments worn by the prophet Elijah.  He eats desert food – locusts that speak of God’s judgment and honey that speaks of God’s mercy.  He bluntly tells people that they will be unable to accept the new reality of Jesus Christ unless they repent.  The Greek word he uses is metanoia, which implies a complete change of direction.  He points to Jesus Christ as the shoot sprouting from the stump of Jesse.  Just as that great tree traced back to the father of King David had been cut into a stump, he insists that they use spiritual axes to cut away anything that stands in the way of encountering Christ.  Claiming to be children of Abraham will not be sufficient, because even the Gentiles will be called to encounter the person of Jesus Christ.  That is why he calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers.”  He knows that they have no interest in changing their lives.  They have come out of curiosity.  They are too invested in the Temple and all that the Temple stands for.

            On this Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist is speaking directly to us.  He tells us to prepare for the coming of the Lord.  The Lord has already come, and we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas.  The Lord will come again at the end of our lives and at the end of the world.  John is inviting us to go to where there are no distractions to encounter the Lord.  Without distractions, we will understand that we must also repent.  We must let go of whatever separates us from the Lord Jesus Christ, as ancient farmers would hurl the newly combined wheat into the air with their winnowing fans, allowing the wind to blow away the chaff.

            John’s message is very counter cultural.  It is counter cultural in the sense that he wants us to take a good hard look into our daily lives, see the evil that eats away at us, and get rid of the chaff.  The best way to do this is to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We will offer our Advent Penance Service a week from Tuesday, and we will offer many more opportunities in the week before Christmas.  His message is also counter cultural in the sense that he invites us to take a break from the craziness of the “Holiday Season.”  There is nothing wrong with hanging lights on trees, shopping for gifts, and preparing for Christmas feasting.  But those activities in themselves cannot draw us more deeply into our relationship with Jesus Christ.  If we are willing to go into the desert of silence and solitude, we will be tested.  But, we will also encounter Jesus Christ and know the incredible peace described by the prophet Isaiah.  Wolves are not guests of lambs in the chaotic and fractured world in which we live.  But God offers us a profound peace that the world cannot give when we know the presence of Jesus Christ, who has come to save us.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

27 NOVEMBER 2016

          After years of study, planning, running a capital campaign, and choosing contractors, we broke ground for our new church in the spring of 2015.  At that time, we chose a date for the dedication of the new church:  just before Thanksgiving of 2016.  According to this plan, we could use the new church during Advent and be ready for Christmas.  We were so confident of our plans that Bishop Rhoades blessed a cornerstone with the year 2016 etched on it.

            As time went on, we began to understand the old saying that “we plan, and God laughs.”  We ran into all kinds of delays – partly due to the weather, partly due to construction materials and laborers committed to other construction projects, and partly due to God’s sense of humor.  So, we came up with a new plan.  In this plan, we will dedicate the new church on March 25, 2017.  Those who are performing their daily tasks in the church have their eyes set on that date.

            On this First Sunday of Advent, our Scripture readings remind us that God also makes plans.  Isaiah speaks to a people who have suffered many bruising military defeats against the Assyrian Empire.  He tells them God’s plans for Mount Zion, where the temple is built in Jerusalem.  That mountain will be the highest place drawing people from all over the world to come and find peace.  At that time, he says, no one will need weapons of war.  Those weapons will be turned into instruments of agriculture.  But he does not say when that plan will happen.

            In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of God’s plan for the end of the world.  He uses the Greek word parousia as an image.  Just as villagers would prepare for the coming (parousia) of an important ruler into their area, so his followers must prepare for his coming at the end of time.  That coming will fulfill all that he had accomplished through the Mysteries of his Incarnation and Paschal Mystery.  His Parousia will bring judgment and peace.  But, like Isaiah before him, he does not say when that plan will happen.

            God’s plan is at the heart of the Season of Advent.  The four weeks of Advent remind us that God is always faithful to his plan. Advent prepares us to celebrate the Lord’s first coming at Christmas.  God was faithful to his plan in a way that no one could have expected.  God took on human flesh as a baby and was born into poverty.  Advent also reminds us that the Lord will be faithful to his plan for the Parousia, his coming at the end of time.  Because we do not know the timing of that plan, we need to follow the advice of Saint Paul.  Paul points out that we passed from darkness into light in Baptism.  As baptized disciples, we put on Christ and wear our baptismal garments, allowing our actions to carry the light of Christ into a darkened world.  Like those hard workers in our new church, we wear our baptismal garments with eyes fixed on the day when the Lord will accomplish his plan. 

Paul gives some practical examples of how to wear those garments.  There is nothing wrong with going to parties, as long as the goal is to interact with people and enjoy each other’s company.  Paul does not dismiss sexual relationships.  But he insists that our gift of sexuality be connected with giving ourselves in love.  Paul knows that Christians will not always agree.  But we have to avoid egoism and ambition.  These three simple examples help us understand that waiting and being watchful are not about fear and trembling, but about living in the light.

            Use this Season of Advent as a time to enter more deeply into understanding God’s plan.  We catch glimpses of that plan in silence and prayer.  Come to the Tuesday night liturgies.  Resist the temptation to celebrate the “holiday season” now.  If we learn to be watchful and alert during this Season, we will be watchful and alert at Christmas in four weeks and at the Parousia when God’s plan will be completely revealed.

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

20 NOVEMBER 2016

            On most Sundays during this Liturgical Year, we have heard from the Gospel of Saint Luke.  Throughout the year, we heard Jesus speak often of the Kingdom of God.  He announced the coming of the Kingdom of God through his teaching and parables.  He demonstrated the power of the Kingdom of God through his miracles.  He has invited all to become part of that Kingdom.  But as much as he called our attention to the presence of the Kingdom of God in our midst, he never identified the word “king” with himself.

            On this final Sunday of this Liturgical Year, he is identified as a king.  Pilate places the inscription “This is the King of the Jews” above his body hanging in shame and utter pain not to honor him, but to mock him.  He is placating the religious leaders who had demanded that Jesus be crucified, and he is warning other potential enemies of Rome not to become a zealot.

            There is a great irony in this situation.  The mockery of Pilate and the negative reactions of those surrounding the cross actually speak truth in a way that they never would have intended.  The rulers sneer at him and tell him to save himself if he is the chosen, the Christ of God.  Jesus is the chosen one, the Christ of God.  But he has not come to save himself.  He has come to give himself to others.  The soldiers jeer and say the same thing.  But Jesus has dedicated himself to serving others and dying to himself.  Even one of the criminals speaks in contempt and wants Jesus to fix this mess like the world fixes things.  He wants Jesus rescue him from the cross.  But Jesus has always insisted that the first will be last and the last will be first.  He is willing to put himself last, trusting in the Father’s promise that he would be the firstborn of all creation.

            The only person who sees the truth in this horrible spectacle is the other criminal.  We know him as the “good thief.”  He sees the truth of the Kingdom which Jesus had proclaimed.  He understands that he is suffering the results of very bad choices he has made.  He is dying because of his sins.  He sees through the mockery of Pilate and the crowds.  He recognizes the image of the invisible God and asks to be remembered when he comes into his kingdom.  At the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, the angels had announced to the shepherds that “today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.”  Now, at the end of the Gospel, Jesus responds that “today you will be with me in Paradise.”

            The “good thief” helps us understand the ways in which Jesus has become king in the line of King David.  A thousand years before the birth of Christ, David united the tribes of Judah and Israel into one kingdom.  Christ the King is the source of the unity found only in the kingdom of God.  David had been the warrior who had defeated the enemies of his kingdom.  Christ the King is the warrior who has defeated the power of sin and death and transfers us from one dimension of reality to another.  David had ruled from his royal throne.  Christ the King rules from the throne of a cross, holding all things together.

            If we understand these realities about the Kingdom of God and Christ’s central place in that kingdom, then we can begin another Liturgical Year next Sunday with great hope.  The Kingdom of God is not about the realities of Pilate, or the rulers, or the soldiers, or the other criminal.  The Kingdom of God belongs to us when we take care of others, when we die to ourselves, and when we put others first.  Even more importantly, the Kingdom of God belongs to us when we have failed to do these things and ask the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness.  As Saint Paul reminds the Colossians, Christ the King has delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of Light.

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

13NOVEMBER 2016

          By the time Saint Luke had recorded these words of Jesus, the reality he describes had already happened.  The Romans had torn down the Temple when they destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70 AD.  There was not one stone upon another in that magnificent House of God.  All that was left of Judaism were the scrolls that contained the Word of God.  But, as those words were proclaimed in synagogues, the followers of Jesus were thrown out, and those who claimed Christ as their Savior were being persecuted.  In the wake of destruction and chaos, many of them were confused, because the Lord had not come again.  To add to the confusion, there were some who were claiming that Christ had already returned in glory.

            When Jesus speaks through the Gospel of Luke to his followers in the first century, he also speaks to us in the 21^st century.  He speaks to us at the conclusion of a long and bitter political campaign that divided families and friendships.  He speaks to us as we face the threats of terrorism and hatred.  He warns us that those most precious possessions of our lives will not last.  He says the same thing to us that he had said to them.  Don’t worry about what we should say.  Trust that the Lord will continue to be the source of our strength and hope.  Continue to persevere in faith, allowing our actions to speak stronger than our words.

            That is the same advice that Saint Paul gives to the Thessalonians.  Some of the members of that community had quit their jobs, because they were convinced that they were already living in the end times.  In their idleness, they were busy talking about everyone else.  Paul tells them to get back to work, because they were a burden on the rest of the Christian community.  He seems to be bragging when he tells them to do what he did.  But, in fact, he is simply reminding them that his hard work brought the Gospel to them in the first place, and that they need to continue the hard work of making a living and bringing it to others.

            The Church wisely presents readings like these to us every year in November, as we come to the end of the Liturgical Year.  It may be disturbing to be reminded of the end of the world and the end of our lives.  But, it is also good news.  In praying for our deceased loved ones, we pray that the fire of God’s love will burn away whatever separates them from God and the Communion of Saints.  We pray that those who surround the throne of God and allow the fire of God’s love to shine through them will intercede for us.  In being reminded of our own mortality and the certainty of the end in each of our lives, the Word of God invites us to submit whatever priorities keep us from loving God and one another to the fire of God’s love.

            In reading the Gospel about the beauty of the temple, my mind turned to the beauty of our new church.  The contractors are working hard for the dedication on March 25.  As you can see from the completed outside, it will be a beautiful and fitting temple for our parish.  Even though we are careful to build it solidly and carefully, we can never predict how long this physical structure will last.  Even though we hope it will serve this parish for many years, the building of that church reminds us that we are living stones, being formed into a beautiful structure that will endure beyond death and beyond the end of the world.  With that in mind, it is time to renew our faith in Jesus Christ, work for the sake of the Kingdom of God in humble service, and persevere in holding fast to those realities that cannot be destroyed. 

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

6 NOVEMBER 2016

          The Second Book of Maccabees takes us back to a very difficult time in the history of Israel.  Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Seleucid Greeks had occupied Israel.  The King, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, decided that he could control a united kingdom by forcing everyone to embrace the same religion.  So, he desecrated the Temple of Jerusalem and demanded that everyone submit to the gods which he worshiped (mostly himself, to be honest).  Anyone who chose to resist would be executed.

            That is the context for today’s first reading.  The king dragged a mother and her seven sons and put them to the test.  If they would eat pork, forbidden by the Law of Moses, their lives would be spared.  However, each son adamantly refused, and each son was brutally tortured and finally executed, along with their mother.  It is a good thing that we are spared those horrible details, because our assembly includes lots of small children. 

            All seven sons resisted, along with their mother, because their faith was incredibly important to them.  They knew in their hearts that the false gods of the Greeks did not exist, and they could not compromise their consciences.  More importantly, they resisted because they believed that death was not the end.  They believed that the true God whom they worshipped would bring justice to those who murdered them and eternal life to all who remained faithful.

            Unfortunately, what happened to the children of Israel two hundred years before the birth of Christ continues in our world today.  We continue to see horrifying images of Christians being executed for their faith.  Last year, the Islamic State marched a group of Chaldean Christians in Libya to a beach on the Mediterranean Sea in orange jump suits.  When the Christians refused to deny their faith, the Islamic militants beheaded them.  Pope Francis recently canonized a 14 year old Mexican boy who refused to deny his faith at the beginning of the 20^th century when the secular Mexican government banned Catholicism.  He was brutally tortured and ultimately shot when he continued to shout “viva, Christo Rey!” (Long live Christ the King).  Father Sryian is at the Mass in the church telling about the persecutions against his religious order as they try to evangelize the people of Sri Lanka.

            The witness of these martyrs reminds us of the critical importance of our faith in Jesus Christ and the need to express it in our daily lives.  But it also reminds us that death will not be the end for us.  As Saint Paul says, the Lord is faithful to us and will share his resurrection with us, if we share his dying on a daily basis.  As the Lord himself reminds us in the Gospel, the risen life is a transformed life.  That is what the Sadducees did not understand.  They saw eternal life as ridiculous, because they imagined it as this same old life which continues in eternity.

            During this month of November, we remember our loved ones who have already passed into death, praying for them and asking the Lord to purify them and share with them the fullness of his resurrection.  In doing so, we reinforce our own faith in the Paschal Mystery for ourselves. If we die to ourselves, we will live with Christ – not in the same familiar patterns of our daily lives, but in the transformed life of the Saints surrounding God’s throne.