SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

10 DECEMBER 2023

 

          In this section of the Prophet Isaiah, the Prophet speaks a word of comfort to his people.  They need to hear it.  They have languished in captivity in Babylon for five decades.  Everything they had cherished had been destroyed – the city of Jerusalem, their temple, their leadership, and their future.  The Prophet gives them hope.  It is not a hope based on wishful thinking.  It is a hope based on God’s faithful promises in the past.  This hope is based on God forgiving them for their infidelity to the Covenant, as God had done many times in the past.  God will make straight paths for them in the desert, as he had done for their ancestors in leading them through a desert from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.  Unlike their human leaders who had served themselves, God will be a loving shepherd leading them back to Mount Zion, where they will once again proclaim tidings of good news.

            That is why the Lord has led us into this Season of Advent.  No matter how messed up our troubled world may be, Advent invites us to renew our hope that the Lord will come again to make all things new.  At the Second Coming, there will be no more brutal wars and disrespect for the dignity of the human person.  No matter how difficult our personal lives may be, Advent invites us to peer through the darkness and see the light of Christ’s love.  This hope is not wishful thinking, like hoping that the Chicago Bears will turn things around and start winning more games.  It is a hope based on God’s action in the past.

            We hear the beginning of the Gospel according to Mark.  He proclaims incredibly joyful tidings.  Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Anointed One, the long-awaited Messiah.  He is the Son of God, not just another human being speaking for God.  Throughout this new Liturgical Year, we will hear from the Mark’s Gospel.  Mark has already given us the truth about Jesus Christ that people will gradually come to know.  With this truth in mind, we can wait to celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ in a couple of weeks.  We wait in hope to celebrate that birth will make Christmas much more meaningful for us.  Our waiting renews our hope that the Mystery of the Incarnation makes a difference in our lives.  Our waiting also renews our hope that we will be prepared for second coming of Jesus Christ at a time we do not know.

            Saint John the Baptist gives us some hints on how to wait for the Coming of the Lord.  He does not proclaim his message in the sacred temple or on the crowded streets of Jerusalem.  He goes to the barren desert, where he points the way to the promised Messiah.  Mindful of the food consumed by his ancestors in the Desert, he eats locusts and wild honey.  Like Elijah, the first prophet of ancient Israel, he is clothed in camel’s hair.  We don’t need to eat locusts and honey.  We don’t need to go shopping for camel’s hair clothing.  But, the Baptist invites us to withdraw from the hectic pace of the “holiday season” to spend some time in quiet prayer.  When we take a few moments each day to reflect in prayer, we can be more aware of the ways that the Lord has come into our lives.  Our hope is based on the Lord’s faithfulness to us in the past.  Getting to know him better now prepares us for his Second Coming. 

            The Baptist also calls us to repent.  In quiet prayer, we become more aware of the times we have chosen to ignore the Lord’s presence or deny him by our actions.  Instead of carrying our guilt on our shoulders or blaming other people for our problems, we can bring them our sins to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and give them over to the Lord.  In this Sacrament, he truly takes away our sins.  He gives us the grace to move forward and do what the Baptist did – point away from ourselves and draw attention to Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  That is our hope.  We will not be disappointed.

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

3 DECEMBER 2023

 

          We live in a culture of speed, efficiency, and action.  We connect with each other through instant messaging.  We consume fast food and use microwave ovens to get our meals done faster.  At this time of the year, we are encouraged to get out there and do everything we can to enjoy the “holidays.”  Our Scripture readings today are counter cultural.  They tell us that waiting is important.  We wait to celebrate the first coming of the Lord at Christmas.  We wait in joyful hope for his second coming at the end of time and at the end of our lives.  Waiting is difficult.  But just as cooking together exposes the wonderful aromas of the food we are preparing, waiting also makes the meal we share together much more enjoyable.  If we wait through Advent to celebrate Christmas, that Mystery will have much greater meaning in our lives.

            Waiting also opens our minds and hearts to recognize the presence of Christ in our lives now.  The Lord came the first time as a vulnerable infant born in a stable.  He comes now in the form of ordinary bread and ordinary wine.  He speaks to us in ordinary human words.  In telling us to watch and wait in today’s Gospel, he is not giving us a guide to calculate a deadline.  He is giving us an inspiration and warning to live our lives at each moment as we wait for his coming.  In waiting and watching, we are more apt to recognize the surprising ways he comes to us in the people and events around us.

            The key to successful waiting is to spend quality time in prayer.  In addition to Sunday Advent Masses, we offer special liturgies every Tuesday evening to give ourselves the space to wait in joyful hope, instead of frantically rushing around in the “holiday spirit.”  On this First Sunday of Advent, we are all invited to renew our commitment to stewardship of prayer.  Please read the materials we send home.  But for now, please listen to Stephen Jagla, who will talk about his own commitment to the stewardship of prayer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Father. My name is Stephen Jagla, I’m married to my wife, Grace, and we have 3 beautiful children, Josie, Sophie, and Luke. We’ve been parishioners here for about three years.    

So, Fr. Bill asked me to consider speaking to you. I asked, ‘what would you like me to talk about?’ He said Prayer. And I said ‘Father! I have three kids under the ages of four! Do you know what my prayer looks like nowadays? Our Mass experience is somewhere between holy contemplation and WWE WrestleMania… mostly the latter! And I’m lucky if we get through one decade of the rosary before our two-year-old starts using our couch as a trampoline!’ 

It’s true, prayer looks completely different for me than it ever has before. Having once discerned priesthood, where daily holy hours were a fixture in my life, this new, more distracted form of prayer seems different. That’s why I’m encouraged by the Church when reading the Catechism’s section on prayer. One paragraph struck me most: Regarding distractions it says, “To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart…a humble awareness before the lord should awaken our preferential love for him”.  It’s this humble awareness, this consistent turning back to the Source, that I know is prayer. 

In teaching our kids to genuflect it’s often very distracted and very cute. One, genuflects toward the back, probably because there’s donuts back there, the other doesn’t quite get the knee thing yet, so she just squats toward Jesus. Imperfect, but so beautiful, their little efforts. And each time, as a dad, I’m totally in love with them and these efforts. Because despite the distractions, I feel like I know their little hearts. If I, as a sinful father know this, how much more does our perfect Father know and love us and our efforts to pray? This is the essence of stewardship. Give yourself to a Giver who has already Given. Let yourself be loved by Him through prayer.

Now, when I think about stewardship, prayer hasn’t always been the first one that comes to my mind. After all, I’m a fundraiser for a living, a “professional beggar” if you will. But as I’ve grown in my faith, and especially as a father, I’ve come to see that being strong in prayer is the single most important thing I can do for my children, my parish.

As much as it’s easy to put off prayer when you’re busy, to say ‘I’ll pray more when the kids are older… when I’m sleeping through the night, nothing makes our family happier or more peaceful than when we’re in the habit of our morning prayer, our nightly rosary.  

And that’s why I’m especially excited to have recently joined St. Pius’s new ministry, Eucharistic Praise and Worship where, once a month, we gather in the evening to sing to Jesus in adoration. And if you’re tempted to think you’re too busy, look no further for inspiration than Teresa Chase, who leads the ministry, playing piano, all while her five kids under the age of six run around her. 

I’m just thankful to be part of a parish that provides so much opportunity for prayer and I encourage you to consider joining a ministry in this new liturgical year, a kind of liturgical New Year’s resolution. But for right now I pray that we might give ourselves completely in this, holy mass, the greatest of prayers, and trust in Him as His beloved little children, distractions, and all.

 

 

OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

26 NOVEMBER 2023

 

            Both those on the Lord’s right and left side are surprised.  Neither was aware of what their actions mean.  Those on the right did not recognize the Lord when they fed the hungry, or gave drink to the thirsty, or welcomed the stranger, or clothed the naked, or cared for the ill, or visited a prisoner.  At the end of time, they receive a surprising judgment of praise and affirmation.  Those on the left did not recognize the Lord either.  But in refusing to respond to the needs of those who sought their help, they failed to respond to Christ.  They receive a harsh judgment and are consigned to eternal punishment, living forever in what they have failed to do.

            We are the sheep of the Lord’s flock.  It might help us understand how this parable applies to us if we look at the Greek words for “sheep” and “goats.”  The Greek word that is translated as “sheep” can mean any small grazing animal, even small cattle.  The Greek word that is translated as “goat” is the diminutive of a Greek word “wool,” as in “little wooly creatures.”  They are less desirable, because they are not fully grown or have not reached their full potential.  The parable challenges us to behave like fully mature sheep of the Lord’s flock and recognize the Lord in the people we serve.  We cannot be one of the little wooly creatures who care only about ourselves and our own welfare and ignore the needs of others.

            Jesus invites us to grow in maturity as sheep of his flock.  Over the years, I have grown in understanding my role as a sheep called to serve the needs of others.  When I was first ordained, I served as an Associate at Saint Matthew Cathedral, where there were lots of people in need in that neighborhood.  One homeless man kept coming to the side door and asking for the young priest.  He did not want to see Bishop Crowley, the pastor, who clearly had his number!  I would always give him cash, because I did not want to be one of those goats going to hell for failing to recognize Jesus Christ in him.  One day while visiting Memorial Hospital, I heard him yelling for the “young priest” to come to his room.  He had a few of his toes amputated, because he had turned my gift into alcohol and fallen asleep outside in the cold, freezing his toes.  Instead of being a fully-grown sheep, I was for him an enabling wooly creature.        

            Our parish offers many opportunities to be mature sheep and practice the corporal works of mercy.  You can make casseroles for the Homeless Shelter to feed the hungry.  Or you can join the Saint Vincent de Paul Society or bring food for their pantry.  The refugee resettlement program can always use more volunteers.  Or you can be a minister of hospitality and welcome the stranger coming to Mass.  Our giving tree program provides clothing.  We have many parish outreach programs for the sick and homebound.  Our new prison ministry program is getting off to a good start.  Over time, the Church has added a seventh corporal work of mercy – burying the dead.  Our bereavement ministry can always use more help.  There are many local opportunities to become personally involved in serving the poor.

            Some generous parishioners have donated stained glass windows to be placed in the three rose windows of the church.  The rose window in the nave will depict the Beatitudes from Saint Matthew’s Gospel.  The seven corporal works of mercy will be in the window on one of the transepts, with the seven spiritual works of mercy on the other side.  That window will be a constant reminder that we must continue to become more mature sheep, mindful that in serving those in need, we are serving Jesus Christ himself.  It will also remind us that we must become more aware and receptive to the day-to-day needs of those around us.  If we form a pattern of dying to ourselves and responding to their needs, however big or small, we will avoid being those little wooly creatures who spend eternity stuck on themselves.  

 

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 NOVEMBER 2023

 

          The master in today’s parable is extremely generous.  One talent is eighty pounds of silver or 6,000 denarii.  Since an average laborer earned one denarius for a full day’s work, one talent would give a worker 83 years of labor to invest.  In today’s dollars, he gives some forty million dollars to the three servants in various amounts.

            The master is very confident.  He never questions his servants’ trustworthiness, ability, or integrity.  He seems to have absolute confidence that leaving these huge chunks of money is a wise and prudent decision.  He is so confident that he goes away and probably sleeps well at night on his journey. 

            He has high expectations that his servants will use his gifts wisely.  His expectations are obvious when he praises the first two servants who invested his gifts well.  They had met his expectations fully.  But the third servant does not.  He has buried his talent out of fear.  Unlike the other two servants who obviously love their master, he does not.

            Jesus tells this parable to us, who are his disciples. He has been extremely generous to us.  He has emptied himself for us in the Mystery of the Incarnation, when he took on our human flesh and became one with us in all things but sin.  He has entrusted the fullness of his love to us in his teachings and in the gift of the kingdom of heaven in our midst.  He has given himself out of sacrificial love for us in his death and resurrection.  After he had accomplished his mission, he ascended to the right hand of the Father and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He has been extremely generous and has withheld absolutely nothing from us.

            We became his disciples when we were baptized.  He chose us, not because of our abilities or trustworthiness or integrity.  He has confidence in us, simply he loves us as his sons and daughters.  He is confident that we can live our baptismal promises in order to share in the fullness of the eternal gifts he has so generously given us.

Like the master in the parable, Jesus has high expectations.  He expects us to return his love by dying to ourselves on a daily basis to share in his rising.  Not only does he expect us to imitate his dying, he is gives every one of us certain gifts to various degrees and abilities.  He expects us to invest those gifts in specific ways by giving humble service.  He expects us to imitate his example of washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper.

When he comes again in glory at the end of time, he will reward us for the ways in which we have imitated his sacrificial love and the ways in which we have invested our gifts in humble service.  He warns us that fear is the greatest obstacle to being good stewards.  We may fail to die to ourselves when we are afraid that those deaths will have no reward.  We can neglect to be humble servants, because we are afraid that no one will notice the sacrifices we make.  When we refuse to invest the talents we have been given, we bury those talents in the ground.  When the Lord comes again in glory, there will be a judgment.  He will expect a return on his investment.

Saint Paul gives good advice.  We know neither the day nor the hour the Lord will come for us.   The Lord will come at the end of our individual lives, as he has already come for so many of our loved ones.  He will come at the end of time.  We cannot live in fear, because we do not live in darkness.  We live in the light of faith, the light that instructs us and connects us with Christ the light.  As we wait, we need to be actively involved in our faith, dying to ourselves and our selfishness each day and investing our God-given talents in humble service.  In the light of faith, we keep in mind the incredible generosity of the one who gave his life for us. 

 

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12 NOVEMBER 2023

 

          During November, while the farmers are harvesting the crops they had planted in the spring, we remember those loved ones whom God has “harvested” in death.  We began the month by celebrating the Solemnity of All Saints.  All those countless men and women, both canonized and those we have known, are interceding for us and giving us examples of holiness.  On the next day, we prayed for all our loved ones who have died.  We continue to pray for them, because we trust in God’s mercy.  They may be going through the process of being purified, with the fire of God’s love burning away what might separate them from God and the saints.

            In praying for the dead, we become more aware of our mortality.  Each of us will be gathered by the Lord, either in our individual deaths, or at the end of the world.  We cannot know the day or time.  This is the concern that Saint Paul addresses in his Letter to the Thessalonians.  They had expected the Lord to return in their lifetime.  However, that second coming has not occurred.  They have expressed their concern to Saint Paul, who tells them to grieve in hope.   Their hope lies in the Paschal Mystery – Christ’s death and resurrection.  Saint Paul promises that those who had died with Christ throughout their lives will share in his resurrection, even though he has not returned in glory.  He says, “then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds.”  He is using symbolic language to assure us that we too will share in the fullness of his resurrection if we share fully in his dying.  He is not talking about what some Biblical readers call “the rapture.”

            Today’s parable directly addresses each of us as disciples of the Jesus Christ.  It is based on the wedding practices of the first century in the Holy Land.  Marriages were arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom, who would go through a time of betrothal.  When the time had come for them to be married, there would be a procession of the bride from her family’s house to the family’s house of the groom.  Sometimes, that procession would be delayed as the fathers made final agreements.  That seems to be the situation in this parable.  The bridegroom and his party have been delayed.  The ten teenage virgins had fallen asleep.  But when the groom and his party arrive, the five wise virgins use the extra oil that they had brought.  The five foolish virgins had not planned ahead do not have enough oil.  They have to run to the local Martin’s and come back too late.  They are locked out of the wedding banquet.

            This parable is addressed directly to us.  We, the disciples of Jesus Christ, the faithful bridegroom, need to be prepared for his coming for us, who are his bride, the Church.  He has already delayed his coming for over two thousand years.  He will come for us at the end of our lives, as he has already come for so many of those whom we love.  We must make sure that we have plenty of oil.  The oil represents our spiritual vigilance, our willingness to put our faith into action by persevering in good works.  Those good works cannot be shared.  The wise virgins are not selfish.  The parable invites us to be honest about how often we are foolish today.  We are foolish when we come to Mass on Sunday and do not put into action in our daily lives the Mystery of the Lord’s dying and rising that we celebrate here.  We are foolish when we refuse to respond to invitations to be humble servants.  We are foolish when we pass up opportunities to be reconciled with those we have offended.  We who are waiting have time to change our ways to become like the virgins who brought extra oil.  The parable is not designed to make us afraid of death.  Instead, this parable and this month of November challenge us to evaluate how much we put our faith into practice.  Armed with this oil, we can be prepared to meet the Lord when he comes, so we can participate in the eternal wedding banquet.

 

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

29 OCTOBER 2023

 

          Today, Jesus is in the temple teaching.  He had entered triumphantly into Jerusalem.  The crowds people welcome him.  But the religious leaders are opposed to him.  He had silenced the Sadducees.  Now, their conservative opponents, the Pharisees try to trip him up.  A scholar of the law, asks what appears to be an innocent question.  It is not.  “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  The Pharisees had developed 613 laws from the Law of Moses.  284 are “thou shalt” commandments.  365 are “thou shalt not” commandments.  The scribe has a formal education in all of these commandments and knows them well.  He is testing Jesus, a rabbi from Nazareth with no formal education.  He wants to expose Jesus as a self-taught teacher ignorant of the Law of Moses.

            Jesus walks right through his trap.  He quotes Deuteronomy 6:5.  “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  It is a command prayed by faithful Jews every day – the Shema Israel.  Without hesitating, he quotes Leviticus 19:18.  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Then he says, “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

            The brilliance of his answer lies in his radical connection of these two commandments.  The law is very specific about what it means to love God.  Loving God involves the heart, the center of a person’s being.  Loving God involves the soul, the life form itself.  Loving God includes the mind, which gives understanding and strength to make the right decisions.  Those same qualities apply to loving neighbor.  Love is not just a warm feeling or a strong emotional attachment.  Love involves our entire person centering our lives on God and on our neighbors created in God’s image.  Authentic love is the decision to want the best for another for the sake of the other, whether we like the person or agree with the person.

            Our first reading gives two of the 365 “shall nots” from the Law of Moses.  Both have to do with those on the margins of society.  The first applies to aliens, widows, and orphans.  They have no family ties to support them.  God has a special care for them, especially since their ancestors had been aliens in Egypt themselves.  The second applies to the poor.  Poor neighbors must rely on the generosity of those with more resources to survive.  When those with more resources lend money, they look for collateral to make sure that they will be repaid.  For  the poor, the only collateral they have is their clothing.  The commandment insists that clothing cannot be kept as collateral overnight, because that is the poor person’s only blanket.

            As we apply these two closely connected commandments to our daily lives, we too must be conscious of our responsibility to love those who are at the margins of society today.  Many of our ancestors had come to this country as immigrants.  The plight of refugees has become a divisive political issue.  But our parish is sponsoring refugee families who have been properly vetted through Catholic Charities.  On this first weekend of the month, we can support our Saint Vincent de Paul Society in providing food and necessary funds for those who come to us in need.  We support Father Larry and his parish in Uganda, knowing that they will never be able to repay us.  The same support goes to our sister parish of Saint Adalbert and our Palestinian Christian friends in the Holy Land.  When we respond to their needs, either individually or through our parish, we are keeping the greatest commandment, the command to love God and neighbor.        

 

 

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

22 OCTOBER 2023

 

          In the Ancient Near East, pagans regarded their gods as territorial.  Each god was thought to be in charge of a distinct territory.  However, the Prophet Isaiah reminds his people that the one true God is not territorial.  The one true God has remained faithful to his people in captivity in Babylon, even though the temple, God’s dwelling place, has been destroyed.  God remains with his people, even though they had been unfaithful to the Covenant.

            Today, Isaiah speaks in God’s name to tell his people that they have been forgiven.  God will return them to the Promised Land, and God will do it in a completely unexpected way.  The one true God will use a pagan king who knows nothing about God to allow his people to return.  God exercises his absolute power by choosing King Cyrus as the “anointed one” (literally, as the messiah).  God will use Cyrus to reveal to the nations that there is only one true Lord.

            This truth is at the heart of the conflict in today’s Gospel.  Jesus has been teaching in the temple during the last week of his life.  Many of his parables have been very unflattering to the religious leaders of the people.  So, the Pharisees are trying to get even with him.  They are joined by the Herodians, the supporters of King Herod who owes his power to the occupying Romans.  The two groups have nothing in common, except that they are both opposed to Jesus and his teaching in the temple.

            Their disciples approach Jesus and try to flatter him, telling him what a great teacher he is.  Then they pose a question to trap him.  “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”  If he answers that it is lawful, the Pharisees will use his response to deny that he is the Messiah.  How could a Jewish Messiah support a ruthless and cruel occupation force?  If he answers that it is not lawful, the Herodians will turn him over to the Romans and accuse him of sedition.

            Instead of falling into their trap, he asks for a coin that pays the census tax.  He already has the upper hand, because those disciples should not be carrying a Roman coin.  The coin has the image of Caesar with the inscription:  Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, high priest.”  These same disciples charge a hefty fee to worshippers coming to the temple to purchase coins without that image.  In fact, earlier that week, Jesus had overturned the money changers’ tables in the temple area.  He answers by saying, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

            In essence, he is giving the same message that Isaiah had given to his people in exile in Babylon centuries before.  There is only one true God who remains with his people.  God has made everyone in his image, even Caesar.  Jesus reveals himself as the Son of God who will be sacrificed, not on a sacred altar in the temple, but on an execution hill outside the city.  He will be raised on the third day from the dead.  That death and resurrection will reconcile all people made in God’s image to the Father. 

            As Americans, we often interpret this familiar response to speak of the separation of church and state.  Of course, as citizens of this country, we support our government by voting and paying taxes.  However, his answer goes well beyond a separation of church and state.  We are made in God’s image.  Everything we have is a gift from God.  In gratitude, we give back to the Lord a generous portion of what he has given to us.  Does this sound familiar?  It should, because this is exactly what we mean in describing stewardship as a way of life through prayer, service, and sacrificial giving.