THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

25 DECEMBER 2022

 

            Our Scripture readings tell us of those who encountered the mystery of Christmas:  God taking on human flesh.  Joseph obeyed the message received in a dream and trusted that Mary had conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He obeyed the order of Caesar Augustus and traveled to Bethlehem with his pregnant wife to be counted in a census.  Shepherds in the area responded to the message given by the angels and encountered the child  born in a stable.  Astrologers from the east encountered the child and gave precious gifts.  All of these original witnesses were profoundly changed by their encounter.

            However, all of them returned to the same unchanged world after their encounter.  The Roman emperor continued his work at managing the world, completely unaware of what had happened in a backwater part of his empire.  Joseph and Mary were still under the tyrannical rule of King Herod.  The shepherds returned to a society that disregarded them.  Considered by the religious leaders of the day as equivalent with tax collectors and prostitutes, no one would trust their witness.  The magi returned to a solidly pagan world.

            We too encounter this Mystery as we gather to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord.  The Mystery occurred in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread” in Hebrew.  We encounter his real presence at this Mass, as ordinary bread is transformed into the Body of Christ, and ordinary wine into his Blood.  But like those original witnesses, we return to the same world unchanged by Christmas.  The dysfunctions in our families remain to cause pain.  Our society is still bitterly divided.  Despite the presence of the Prince of Peace, the war in Ukraine rages on, along with violence and bloodshed in our streets.  We might be tempted to ask ourselves a question.  What difference does Christmas make?

            The shepherds and the magi were profoundly changed by their encounter.  We do not know what they did after they left the manger.  But we do know what Joseph and Mary did.  They took the child to the Temple and listened to Anna and Simeon, who had waited their entire lives to encounter this child.  Joseph obeyed another message in a dream and took his wife and child as migrants in a foreign country.  We can only presume that Joseph taught his stepson the trade of carpentry when they returned to Nazareth.  Mary stood with her son, even when people began turning against him.  She stood at the cross as he was cruelly executed.  After her son had been raised from the dead, she joined the apostles in the upper room for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Because of the Mystery of the Incarnation, Joseph and Mary faced the realities of daily life with the firm conviction that God was dwelling in their midst.

            The same can be true of us.  We too can be changed by our encounter with the newborn Christ.  Our encounter reminds us that God continues to dwell in our midst, no matter what happens in our daily lives.  Confident that the Lord dwells in our midst through the ongoing Mystery of the Incarnation, we gather here on Sundays to hear the Lord speak to us in his Word.  Throughout this Liturgical Year, Jesus will invite us to become more intentional disciples, as he invited the original disciples to follow him.  He feeds us with his real presence in the Eucharist.  He sends us forth to conform ourselves to his person and his message.  With his indwelling, we can be confident that we can make a difference in our world, despite the many circumstances that will remain completely out of our control.  We can also be confident that the Lord has shared in our humanity, so that we can share in his divinity.

            We have encountered him here.  As he sends us forth, may that encounter transform us to be disciples of hope in a very dark world.  Merry Christmas!

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

11 DECEMBER 2022

 

          John the Baptist is in prison.  As awful as modern prisons might be, they cannot compare with ancient prisons.  John has been lowered by ropes into a dark stone pit, sitting alone in the dark, awaiting execution.  The question sent by his disciples to ask Jesus a stunning question gives some insights about his emotional state.  He is the cousin who leapt in his mother’s womb for joy at the Visitation.  He had pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and baptized him in the Jordan River.  Now, he asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”  In the darkness of that cell, is he so depressed that he has lost his faith?  Is he impatient, because his cousin, the Messiah, had not delivered him from his terrible fate?  Or are his expectations of a Messiah crushed because Jesus is being compassionate instead of hurling judgments at sinners?

            Jesus does not answer his question directly.  Instead, he sends John’s disciples to tell him what they hear and see.  Blind people regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.  Unlike so many of the religious leader who are finding offense at him, John is “blessed” if he recognizes that these results of his ministry had been prophesized by the Prophet Isaiah centuries before.

            As we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s first coming at Christmas and to prepare for his second coming at the end of the world or at the end of our lives, we too can find ourselves stuck in some kind of prison.  Our prisons can take many forms.  We can be immersed in doubt when it seems that the Lord does not respond to our prayers.  We can be so paralyzed by fear that we cannot open ourselves to any encounter with Christ or other people.  We can be drowning in an uncertainty that robs us of any confidence in the faith we profess at Mass.  Confined in those prisons, we can easily ask John’s question to the Lord: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

            Jesus does not get angry with John for asking his question.  Instead, he praises him for his heroic role in taking the attention away from himself and pointing to the coming of the Messiah. Neither does he dismiss our questions.  Instead, he gives us the same answer.  He urges us to open our eyes to see the ways in which the Lord is present in our darkened and divided world.  People who have lost their spiritual sight are beginning to see, especially in many of our adult education offerings in the parish.  Some who have been separated from their families are walking back to be reunited at Christmas.  Some who have been forced to the fringes of society are being welcomed back.  Many are hearing the Word of God for the first time in this Season.  Some who have been at death’s door have recovered.  Many poor families who have received the good news that we care about them through the gifts they received from our Giving Tree.

            We call this Sunday “Gaudete Sunday,” because we are invited to rejoice and have hope, even in the midst of a very dark world.  The Letter of Saint James speaks of the importance of patience in keeping the faith.  Like a farmer who trusts the rhythms of nature to provide a harvest, we must be patient in looking for the Lord.  We encounter him not by complaining about one another, but by seeing our encounter with each other as an encounter with Christ.  Like the prophets who did not see the results of their challenging words, we do not always see the results of our good intentions or actions.  Saint James tells us to be patient.  He does not define patience as resignation.  Instead, patience is the fruit of a loving faith that is content to discover God’s gifts in the manner and the moment the Lord chooses to reveal them.  With that loving faith, we can see the ways in which the Lord comes to us now.  As disciples learning to be more patient, we can maintain our hope that the kingdom is in our midst now, but not completely yet here.  

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

4 DECEMBER 2022

 

          The Jesse Tree is all about the kingship of David, whose father was Jesse.   It is a reminder of the promise that the messiah would come from his house.  But the Prophet Isaiah is honest about the state of that tree in his time.  The kings had not been good successors of King David.  They had trusted the appearances of those who clamored for favors.  They had believed rumors and had gone to wars needlessly.  They had ignored the poor, and they could have cared less for the land’s afflicted.  They focused their energies on their own needs.

            That stately tree has become a stump, Isaiah says.  Yet, he gives hope to his people.  He says that a shoot would sprout from that stump.  God would keep his promise.  With the gifts of wisdom and understanding, the promised Messiah would have the intelligence to rule rightly.  With the gifts of council and might, he would have the practical ability to govern.  With the gifts of knowledge and fear of the Lord, he would have the piety to be the Lord’s anointed one.  The kingdom of this Messiah would usher in the peace of the Garden of Eden.  It would be a peace so profound that natural enemies will live together in absolute harmony.

            We believe that this prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  During Advent, we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas.  We prepare for his second coming at the end of time.  We believe that his first coming has ushered in the kingdom of heaven in our midst.  But non-believers scoff at that.  Where do those natural enemies of nature live in peace?  Where is that perfect harmony promised in the kingdom of heaven?  It is true.  War is raging in Europe and other areas of conflict in our world.  The Mideast continues to be in turmoil.  We see strife and division and racism and hatred in our own country.  Even within our Catholic Church, there are tensions and divisions.  Where is the absence of harm or ruin promised by Isaiah?

            That is why Advent is so important.  His kingdom is here, but not yet perfected.  The end of time will usher in the fullness and absolute peace of the kingdom of heaven.  Advent invites us to catch glimpses of that kingdom already in our midst.  We can catch a glimpse if we slow down and express gratitude for those people whom God has brought into our lives.  We can catch a glimpse of his kingdom when we can finally let go of a difficult hurt inflicted by someone we once considered a friend and confidant. We can catch a glimpse when we see the abundant fruits of this year’s Giving Tree and its impact on so many of our needy brothers and sisters.  We can catch a glimpse when we allow our children to teach us what it means to be “childlike.”   

            In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist points another way to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of heaven in our midst.  He calls us to repent.  He wants us to acknowledge the ways in which we have turned our backs on the kingdom of heaven with our sins.  He invites us to examine the ways that we have failed to allow the kingdom to be more evident through us.  We can do that by encountering the Lord’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Come to the Advent Penance Service a week from Tuesday, or make a good Confession during the week before Christmas. 

Saint Paul says that we can maintain our hope in the presence of the kingdom of heaven and its fulfillment at the end of time by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures.  The Scriptures we hear during this Advent Season give us hope.  Encouraged by what we hear, we can repent and resolve to encounter the Lord more clearly in our daily lives and see him in our encounter with others, especially with those we do not like or with whom we disagree.  If we can make these efforts, then Christmas will be different.  It will be more than one day that will pass into our collective memory.  It will be an authentic encounter with the essence of Christmas: The Mystery of the Incarnation.  Christ truly dwells in our midst.  He will keep his promises.    

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

27 NOVEMBER 2022

 

          The opening prayer at the beginning of Mass is called the “Collect,” because the priest “collects” the individual prayers of the people of God and prays a communal prayer on behalf of all present.  Today’s Collect sets the tone for Advent: “Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming.”

            The Season of Advent focuses our attention on the Lord’s coming.  It helps us to prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas.  But it also prepares us for his second coming, either at the end of the world or at the end of our individual lives.  Jesus says that no one knows when that will happen.  That is why Saint Paul urges us to throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.  The best way to prepare for the Lord’s second coming is to commit ourselves to living our baptismal promises.  If we put on the Lord Jesus and die daily to ourselves and to our selfish interests, we can conduct ourselves properly in the light of Jesus Christ.

            If we follow his advice, then we do not live in fear of death.  Instead, we embrace the challenge offered by the Prophet Isaiah.  In our very divisive time, it has become customary to deal with our enemies with swords and spears.  We are tempted to use these rhetorical weapons against those with whom we disagree.  Instead, Advent invites us to turn these weapons into tools of agriculture.  We can use plowshares to prepare our hearts for listening.  We can use pruning hooks to dismantle our prejudices and tendencies to demonize the opposing forces.

            The Collect implies that we run forth to meet our Christ.  We may be running forth like crazy getting things ready in this “holiday season.”  But, the more important part of running forth is the action we take arm ourselves with righteous deeds.  Ironically, this type of action is accomplished only through time spent in prayer.  We do not need to back away completely from the holiday activities.  Instead, we can carve out time to enter into Advent prayer.  We can participate in the Advent prayers here in church.  We can also make a commitment to Advent prayer alone and with our families in our domestic churches.      

            Please pick up one of the guides to prayer as you leave church today.  Be sure to read the mailing we have sent about renewing our commitment to the stewardship of prayer, the most important element of living stewardship as a way of life.  But now give your attention to Mike Molnar, who will speak of the ways he has embraced prayer in recovering from his life-threatening injury and is running to meet the Lord today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Molnar - St. Pius Witness Talk – November 26/27

 

When I got a call from Father Bill asking me to speak at mass, my immediate reaction was this would be out of my comfort zone.  My second thoughts were what an honor and opportunity.  Plus, it is very difficult to say no to Father Bill.

My name is Michael Molnar and I did not grow up a Catholic.  I married my wife Stephanie here at St. Pius in 2011 and through the process I got to know a lot more about Catholicism.  When our first child was baptized, I asked Father Bill to talk because I had some general questions about the Catholic Church.  I think he had been waiting for that talk … he was ready… when I got home my wife asked me how it went… I said, “I think I just signed up for RCIA.” 

On March 26, 2016, I became a Catholic.  Over the next three plus years I traveled around the world for work and when it was Sunday, I would find a Mass.  Bosnia, Thailand, Tanzania, China, to name a few countries I attended Mass at.  While there is nothing like mass at St. Pius, I was always welcomed in and found a sense of being at home. 

On July 6, 2019, my entire world got flipped upside down and my faith was put to the test.  I was involved in a bad boating accident. I had to be flown to Memorial Hospital South Bend which is a Trauma 2 level hospital.  On the way there I prayed that God protect me.  After 10 surgeries, 19 units of blood, and 3 plus years of therapy I can do most things I was doing before my accident.

I believe that a huge part of my survival and successful recovery had to do with my faith and with our community that we have here at St. Pius.  The two doctors that saved my leg… they are parishioners here.  Father Bill coming to the hospital for my first anointing lifted me up when I had doubts.  My Brothers from TMIY, many of whom I did not personally know, where praying for me and once I was able to join them, they prayed with me.  There are so many others who I did not mention, but I was told to keep it to 2 or 3 minutes, and we all appreciate how we finish mass on time at St. Pius.

Today my wife and I are blessed to have 4 children.  We are lucky to be able to send the ones who are old enough to St. Pius School.  Our first born who sparked my desire to get baptized is now in 2^nd grade preparing for her first reconciliation and first communion.  The prayers in preparation that we share together are a special time for our family.

Dedicating time to prayer is challenging at the moment.  I have a very busy house and a busy job.  Sometimes I stop at the grotto at Notre Dame to light a candle and have a few moments of silence.  Sometimes I will say “Our Father” while bouncing our newborn in the middle of the night.  Prayer right now for me, is fitting it in where I can.  

For me the annual anointing of the sick service is a time for personal reflection and prayer.  I challenge you to find a special day or service that connects personally to you.  Use it as a day of reflection and prayer. Usually, I end up with feeling the need to reach out to people who are going through life’s challenges.  To share how much faith can help in challenging times.  To put purpose to the suffering I have had to endure.

Faith and prayer are an integral part of my personal life balance.  I continue to try to grow as a husband, a father, a son, and as a Catholic man.  This church and the community we have here are blessings for me and my family.  We are so grateful.  Thank you for giving me the honor of sharing a little with you today.

 

 

 

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

20 NOVEMBER 2022

 

          According to the Second Book of Samuel, all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, because they want him as their king.  The Kingship of Saul had just ended in disaster with his death in battle.  They come to David for three reasons.  First, they acknowledge their kinship with him.  They use the same words that Adam had used when God created Eve from his rib: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”  Second, they assert the truth that it had been David, and not Saul, who had led the Israelites out to victory and then back again.  Third, they know that God himself had chosen David to be king.  As king, David was certainly not perfect.  But he was the model king for centuries, and the faithful of Israel looked for a messiah who would to be a successor to him.

            In today’s Gospel, we encounter Jesus Christ, not reigning on a glorious throne, but dying like a common criminal on a Roman cross.  Above his head is written, “The King of the Jews.” The rulers of the people, who had demanded that Pontius Pilate condemn Jesus to death, mock him in his weakness.  In mocking him, they actually speak the truth.  He is the Savior.  He has been chosen by God as the suffering servant to save others, and not himself.  He is the Christ, the promised successor to King David. There is only one person who sees beyond the horrific appearances on Good Friday:  the criminal we know as the “good thief.”  He admits his own sinfulness and proclaims Christ’s innocence.  Instead of mocking Jesus in his weakness, he asks him to remember him when he comes into his kingdom.  He seems to understand the distinctions Jesus has made during his public ministry between his kingdom and the kingdom of this world.  In defeating death, Jesus will open the Paradise that Adam had lost through his sin.  The new Adam promises the good thief: “today you will be with me in Paradise.”

            On this last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, we can ask some questions as disciples of Jesus Christ.  When we suffer on our cross, do we side with the mockers and doubt his kingship?  Or do we side with the good thief?  Do we expect him to save us by taking us off our own cross?  Or, like the good thief, do we recognize Jesus’ kingship with us in the crosses we carry?  Do we appreciate that he is bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh and has chosen to experience the trials that are part of every human life, especially the battle that all of us must face with death?  Do we see him as the good thief does in offering us life in his eternal kingdom?  Does our desire to be with him in the fullness of his kingdom override our fear of death?  Are we living and dying on a daily basis in ways that show us to be worthy of his companionship and his kingdom?

            These are tough questions to answer.  But if we are to embrace the saving reality of Christ the King, we must do what we can to respond to them.  Saint Paul gives us a direction in his letter to the Colossians.  He says that Jesus Christ was present at the creation of the world and is present in the world’s recreation through his death and resurrection.  He says that all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Jesus.  That word “fullness” is used in the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish.  After feeding 5,000 people, twelve baskets of fragments were left over.  They are left over for us, who feast on the Lord’s real presence at this Mass.  The risen Jesus who died on the cross is the Lord of all creation and reigns with the fullness of grace.

            Next Sunday, we enter into Advent.  We begin a new Liturgical Year inviting us to deepen our faith in the fullness of Jesus Christ.  We begin a new season of reflecting on the kingship of Jesus Christ, visible only to eyes of faith at the crucifixion on Good Friday.

 

 

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

13 NOVEMBER 2022

 

          In his public ministry, Jesus forms his disciples to give testimony, so that the Gospel will be spread.  At Saint Pius, we have come to understand the power of people who are willing to testify about their faith.  When we invite parishioners to renew their commitment to one of the three legs of stewardship, we invite normal people from the parish to testify about their embrace of stewardship as a way of life.  They speak with more credibility than I can.  Those of you who have participated in a Christ Renews His Parish retreat know the importance of team members testifying about their faith.  It is this testimony that leads others to deeper faith.

            Today Jesus is at the end of his public ministry.  He stands in the temple.  The temple is one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world.  People marvel at its beauty.  But Jesus puts their awe into perspective.  He tells them that this temple will be destroyed.  He warns of deceptive leaders, alongside wars, insurrections, and natural disasters.  He warns his disciples of the personal consequences.  They will be seized and persecuted and thrown into prison.  In the face of all these difficulties, how will they be able to muster the courage to testify to their faith?

            He tells them they will testify with words, but not with their own words.  As the Word made flesh, he promises to reveal the words to them.  Faithful testimony happens by listening for divine wisdom.  He also encourages them to testify with actions, even in the midst of suffering.  He tells them that they can persevere through darkness and trust that “not a hair on your head will be destroyed.”  They must trust in God’s saving action.  Death is not the end.

            In the chapters of Luke’s Gospel after this passage, we will see Jesus’ own testimony.  He will pray for divine wisdom in his final night in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He will persevere through his own persecution, when he will be arrested, when his friends will betray and abandon him, and when the crowds will demand that he be put to death.  Jesus himself will experience the same darkness that he lays out in today’s Gospel.  His trust in the light to come will never waver.

            By the time this Gospel had been written, the Romans had destroyed the temple.  Saint Luke uses the words of Jesus about the destruction of the temple as an image for the destruction of the world at the end of time.  His disciples were persecuted, and many of them put to death.  Those early martyrs testified as Jesus had told them to do, and they persevered to eternal glory. 

            These readings can frighten us, as Jesus’ words frightened his first disciples.  As we come to the end of this Liturgical Year, Jesus tells the truth that the world as we know it will end.  Each of us must face the darkness of our own deaths, as well as the darkness of the deaths of those we love.  Each of us will experience moments of darkness in our lives that cause great pain.  In the midst of all of this, the Lord encourages us to testify to our faith.

            In two weeks, we will enter into the Season of Advent.  Advent provides a wonderful time to practice testifying to our faith in three specific ways.  First, we can listen for divine wisdom.  We can listen by setting aside 5 minutes (or more!) each day in quiet prayer.  In those five minutes, we can set aside distractions to listen to the Holy Spirit.  Second, we can light a candle.  Even a small flicker of flame can brighten these dark days and draw our awareness to Christ, the Light of the World.  Third, we can reflect on the Advent Sunday Scripture readings.  Those readings invite us to empty ourselves of our own preconceived notions and trust that God is in charge, and not us.  In particular, the words of the prophet Isaiah point to the dawning of a new and glorious day.  If we can learn to testify to our faith better during Advent, then we can better testify to Christ’s incarnate love at Christmas.

 

 

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

6 NOVEMBER 2022

 

          There is an expression in our English language that we sometimes use:  “It’s to die for.”  A teenage girl might be looking at one of those glamor magazines and spot a young man.  She can say to her friend, “Isn’t he good looking?  He’s to die for!”  A car specialist might be at a car show and say to a friend, “Look at that car.  I’d love to drive it.  It’s just to die for!” 

            We know that these expressions are exaggerations.  But today, the Book of Maccabees raises the question, “Just what am I willing to die for?”  This book is set in the second century before Christ’s birth.  The Syrian ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes is in control of Palestine.  He has demanded that everyone must follow all Greek customs, including the worship of Greek gods.  His forces have turned the sacred Temple in Jerusalem into a gymnasium.  They are pressuring all the descendants of Abraham to abandon their loyalty to their Jewish faith and customs.  To prove that they have abandoned their faith, the residents are required to eat pork, which is forbidden by Jewish law.  Many people give in to the demand, thinking that it would save their lives and they could continue to practice their faith quietly.

However, for this mother and her seven sons, this is a line that they cannot cross.  They refuse to eat a piece of bacon.  Because they refuse, each son is brutally tortured and murdered, along with their mother.  A couple of centuries later after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, many of his disciples will be called into the public square of their towns and villages to proclaim that Caesar is lord.  Some of them will cross their fingers to save their lives.  However, those who insist on proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord will be put to death.  Centuries later during the Second World War, the German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was fearless in the face of torture and death at the hands of the Nazis.  He said to his captors, “There is nothing you have that I want, and nothing I have you can take away.”

Why have so many people over the centuries been willing to die for what they believe?  Jesus provides the answer in today’s Gospel.  The Sadducees are the Biblical fundamentalists of their day.  They know that there is no specific mention of resurrection in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).  They do not accept later developments.  They know that the Torah allows a widow to marry her deceased husband’s brother, to carry on the continuity of the family line.  They try to trick Jesus with their ridiculous question, making fun of any belief in resurrection.  But Jesus cuts through their trick.  He affirms the reality of the resurrection by insisting that risen life is not a continuation of the same life we experience here.  As he will demonstrate after his own death and burial, risen life is life transformed in ways that we can never imagine.

It is this belief in the resurrection that has motivated so many people to be willing to die, even at the hands of persecutors and murderers.  Martyrs throughout the centuries have trusted in this part of the Paschal Mystery and have gone to their deaths confident that they would share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  At every single Mass, that life-giving death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is made present as we remember it.

During November, we pray in a special way for our deceased loved ones.  We remember them to make sure that they are not forgotten.  But we also pray for them.  Death is not the end for them.  They may be purified by the fire of God’s love to be part of the Communion of Saints.  They are still part of the Church.  The readings remind us that each of us will face our own deaths.  November invites us to deepen our faith in the resurrection.  Maybe we are not being forced to make a choice about dying for our faith.  But we need to die on a daily basis to our own self-interests to share already in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.