21 December 2012

Ummm . . . We're still here . . .

So . . . the world didn't end today.

Sorry, Mayans, but you guys can't count . . .

It is a wonderful opportunity to note and reflect upon a number of things:

1. We were alive for a once in a multi-generational opportunity when the sun of our solar system paralleled the center of our galaxy, something that only happens every 26,000 years. The last time that happened, humans had yet to walk the Earth, and, if we're still here in 26,000 years, it will be our great-to-the-nth-degree grandchildren that will alive for this event. I think that's pretty awesome.

2. Yes, the world didn't end and we're still here. Another pretty awesome thing, because now we can continue our lives without the hype of Armageddon predicted to be coming any time soon. For us who live as Christians, we can continue living as God has asked us to, without fear of His coming, and rejoice when He finally comes. (Remember: No one knows the day or the hour. So let's not worry about it.)

3. We've still got time now to truly focus on the important things in life, which, as the saying goes, aren't really things at all. Our families, friends and relationships with all the other people in our lives have the opportunities now to be strengthen in the love of Christ. We have that chance now to strengthen our relationship with God and with one another. (Which includes heading to confession if you haven't been there in a while.)

4. While I'm not a huge fan of snow, I do have to say it looks rather beautiful here at the parish. And since we're getting ready for the great celebration of Christmas, it does make the season more suited to the holiday songs . . . especially ones like "Sleigh Ride" and "Winter Wonderland". I even had the chance to take a picture of the holly tree in front of the car port at the parish, ground-lit for the Christmas season.



I think that I'm finally ready to celebrate . . . 




Enjoy the journey . . .

18 December 2012

What a weekend . . .

We all know of the tragic and horrific acts that happened over the course of last Friday in Newtown, Connecticut. And, I'm sure, we're keeping that town and all who died in our prayers.

Yet, in the calendar of the Catholic Church, we celebrated Gaudete Sunday, a time of rejoicing. However, a number of us didn't feel too much like rejoicing. Nevertheless, we did. And we needed to, for in that rejoicing, we remembered that the Lord is ever near us, now more than ever, and will never leave us abandoned or orphaned. At a time when we, as a nation, were trying to see where God was in the confusion of the chaos that had erupted, we recognize that He was there the whole time.

We continue to ask our Blessed Mother, under her titles of the Immaculate Conception (patroness of our nation) and Our Lady of Sorrows, to continue to intercede for the United States of America and her citizens.

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Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent – 16 December 2012

“Rejoice!” “Rejoice!” “Rejoice!”
           
This is the message of Mother Church on this Third Sunday of Advent, just as it is every year. She calls us to rejoice because the Day of the Lord is near. This “Gaudete Sunday”, as it’s traditionally known, calls us to look forward to the celebration of the Incarnation, which is now just under ten days away.

Yet a majority of us throughout the United States are wondering just how we can rejoice when the events of Friday in Newtown, Connecticut, cast such a sad and frustrating shadow on what is truly a most joyous time of preparation. Most of us are probably like the crowds in today’s Gospel, asking, “What should we do?” Frustrated, we ask the Lord for the answer, and, frustrated again, we may not like the answer we’re given: Rejoice! We rejoice because as Saint Paul reminds us in today’s Second Reading, “The Lord is near!”


Yes, we rejoice because the Lord is near! Not because Christmas is near, but because the Lord – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is nearer to us now more than ever. This is how Saint Paul exhorts us to “have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,” we should always be “[making our] requests known to God.” “What should we do,” then? We need to be in constant communication with God. The more we talk to God, the more His peace will be in our lives – that peace “that surpasses all understanding” will lead us to the full joy of God and a life lived with and for Him.

With this peace, with this joy, does that mean we will live a life full of pain-free happiness? Obviously not. Each person in this church, in this parish, has been struck by fear, frustration, pain and sadness in our lives. But when we allow this peace, this joy to transform our lives, we are able to cry out like Isaiah in our response to the First Reading: “God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has become my savior.” And we, then, confidently remember the words of Zephaniah, that “the Lord is in [our] midst,” and that “He will rejoice over [us] with gladness, and renew [us] is His love.” And it is in this love of our God that we find our peace.

My brothers and sisters, this moment in our national attention to such horrific acts is the paradox of the Cross being lived out right before our eyes. The frustration and anger we may feel now as a nation toward such cruel and violent acts not only against other human beings, but, in a worse sense, the innocence of children, is, in some way, justified. We want answers. We seek justice. However, in the course of things, we also seek that peace which only God can give. We do not rejoice at the loss of human life. We do rejoice, however, at the knowledge that our God is near and is in our midst as we continue to make sense of such a tragic and horrific event in our nation.

My friends, ultimately we rejoice because we know that in the day-to-day living out of the paradox of the Cross, our Lord has already won the war over sin and death. We rejoice because He is in our midst in the Word and Sacraments – most especially the Eucharist, in which we will partake of in a few moments. We rejoice because, despite all the insanity, anger, rage and hatred in our world, He Who is Peace itself makes His presence known through varied ways and means to the people who need it most.

And so, my brothers and sisters, let’s take a moment to truly understand what Saint Paul means when he tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord always!” We do so, in all times and places, because Jesus Christ has overcome all the evil, anger and hate in this world, and He has brought us true peace. But let us also pray for those who are lacking that peace and joy in their lives, and pray for the Lord’s peace to be in the hearts and homes of all mankind – not only on this day or the upcoming Christmas season, but for now and eternity, that we may truly rejoice in the presence of the Lord. For Christ is truly near and truly here in our midst.


Please now join me in a moment of prayer for those affected by the violence in Newtown, Connecticut:
·        Our Father . . .
·        Hail, Mary . . .
·        Glory Be . . .

And for those who died on Friday, and for all who have lost their lives due to acts of violence, we pray:
·        Eternal rest . . .




Enjoy the journey . . .