Happy New Year! (Round 2)

And so we begin the countdown for the final hours of 2013. 

My year, like so many people's , was filled with much joy, many blessings, some frustrations, and moments of sadness. And while I am happy to welcome in the new year, I am, in some ways, sad to see 2013 go. Even with the ups and downs, it was a wonderful year of a deeper sense of growing into my vocation as a priest. (Of course, I can say that for 2012 and 2011, too.) 

For 2013, I never made any definitive resolutions. I know that I won't keep them. That's not to say I didn't try to better myself. At the beginning of the year, I chose five areas of my life that I needed to pay particular attention to and to improve in my life in various ways. The list included:


- Prayer;

- My Attitude;

- Relationships with My Family & Friends;

-  My Health; and

- Time for Reflection


All in all, I don't think that I did too bad in following through on my commitment in trying to increase my focus in these areas, yet I know that I failed miserably at times in paying attention to these items in my life. I know that I'll be doing a similar list for 2014, and the majority of items will be back on the list, for those are the things in life that I know I need to focus on. And I know that at certain times, I'll do well in focusing on those said items, and at other times I will fail miserably once again. I'd be lying to myself if I believed that 2014 would be the year in which I became perfect. (Because perfection won't be reached until I'm dead.)

Yet, as 2013 comes to a close, I'm glad to have all the experiences, joyful and frustrating, that passed through my life. I'm also to be glad and thankful for all the people who have passed through my life this year - family, friends, parishioners, strangers - for they have all shown me a glimpse of God in this world.

Blessed, Happy, and Joyful New Year 2014 to you all!



 And because we all need to sing this tonight . . .



Enjoy the journey . . .

Five Golden Virtues

Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family
of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
29 December 2013

“Mankind is a great, an immense family . . . This is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas.”

        This quote by Blessed Pope John XXIII really seems to hit the nail on the head for our celebration today. The indescribable joy that we feel at the birth of our Savior is a feeling that we simply do not feel as mere individuals, but, collectively, as the whole human race. Yet the only way we understand this world-wide joy within the hearts of humanity is because of the joy that we first experience in our individual families.

        As we celebrate today the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we acknowledge that while perfect on so many levels, the Holy Family was first and foremost a family, with many of the same joys and struggles that we all face. The members of this family were not always the statues that we have in our churches and homes; no, they were people like you and me, just with a distinct supernatural calling that set them apart.

        As we continue to celebrate this Octave of Christmas, we have this wonderful opportunity to reflect upon how the Holy Family is for a model to live our lives as a family, no matter what any individual’s particular family situation looks like, for this reflection also applies to how we live within that great, immense family of mankind. And since [tomorrow / today] we celebrate that fifth day of Christmas with its five golden rings, I thought we could think about five golden virtues that Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived out in their family life that continue to be great examples for us to emulate.

1.  The Holy Family was Holy: It’s hard NOT to be holy when two-thirds of your household is perfect. Yet to be holy is not to be an automatic saint; rather, to be holy is to be striving for that life of blessed perfection that God calls us to. The universal call to holiness is something that the fathers of the Second Vatican Council reminded us that is the job of each person – every member of the human family is called to holiness, and as members of that great family, we are called to help others attain that holiness, just as Jesus, Mary and Joseph called upon each other to help keep God as the focus of their lives;

2.  The Holy Family was Humble: Humility is the antithesis and remedy for pride. Pride holds us back from loving one another in an authentic way, as well as having authentic relationships with one another. In practicing humility, the Holy Family was able to give of themselves completely to and for one another – something that Jesus later teaches us from the Cross. As we practice the virtue of humility, we drop the masks and personas that we wear to protect our vulnerability, and learn to become that authentic person that our God created us to be, for He made us in His image and likeness – an image of authentic love –, and our pride keeps us from that authenticity; humility allows us to love and to be love in that authentic sense;

3.  The Holy Family was Sincere: Since the Holy Family approached one another and others with humility, they were able to practice sincerity. To be sincere with each other is to speak and act without pretense, to impart to the other that the emotions we are showing are genuine, and we are not people of duplicity. The honesty that comes from living a life of sincerity allowed Jesus, Mary and Joseph a greater opportunity to enter into that authenticity that God called them to, and we, now, have that same opportunity. How we treat each other is a mirror of how we wish to be treated, because our sincerity (or lack of it) shows others our authentic self, whether we realize it or not. Sincerity allows the Heart of God to guide all our thoughts, words and actions, and allows God, Himself, to be at the heart of all things;

4.  The Holy Family was Generous: Generosity is not just doing something with that little extra bit of money we have from time to time, but, rather, is giving from the very heart of who we are. The Holy Family was generous because of their sincere concern for their fellow man. They gave of themselves – their time, talent and treasure – for the betterment of humanity. So, too, are we called to be generous not just with that little extra that we may sometimes have, but to freely give of what we have whenever the situation arises for us to do so. To be generous doesn’t mean that we don’t take care of ourselves, but to make sure that the other’s needs are met before our own; and

5.  The Holy Family was Loving: Yes, they were loving! That seems like a "no-brainer" when you think about it. However, the Holy Family was loving because, when you get down to it, Love dwelt in their midst. How much more would our families, how much more would our world be loving if we were allow Love, Himself, to dwell in our midst? Now, I’m not saying that we don’t have any loving families, but am recognizing that the tension, frustration, angst, anger and discontentment exists in our families and in our world because, at moments, we refuse to allow Love to dwell. Jesus, Mary and Joseph used the love that dwelt among them to be the basis by which their generosity, sincerity and humility could be enacted within their family and within the larger community, and so growing deeper in their relationship with the Father. And so, with us, we must now allow that love to be the basis by which our families and communities are built, for love is that bond of perfection which we are all seeking.

My brothers and sisters, we continue to hold up the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as that model family for they hold the key to what it means to be a family centered in and held by the Heart of God. Each of our individual families, as well as the family of mankind, would do well to remember that, at the end of the day, the Holy Family was still a family, with all the struggles and joys that come with it. Yet at the heart of this particular family was Love, Himself – that same Love which beckons to cross the thresholds of our homes, of our world, so that our joy may be complete.

Those words of Blessed Pope John XXIII continue to ring true to this very day. Mankind is only that great and immense family because our individual families look to the great model of Jesus, Mary and Joseph to understand what it means to be a family rooted in the Heart of our God.

Let us pray:

We bless Your name, O Lord,
       for sending Your own Incarnate Son,
       to become part of a family,
       so that, as He lived its life,
       He would experience its worries and its joys.

We ask You, Lord,
       to protect and watch over [all families],
       so that in the strength of Your grace
       its members may enjoy prosperity,
       possess the priceless gift of Your peace,
       and, as the Church alive in the home,
       bear witness in this world to Your glory.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

Born In Our Flesh

Somewhat the same homily from Christmas Eve, but tried to center it more on the Gospel for the Mass During the Day - the Prologue of John (John 1:1-18). A different Gospel deserved a little different focus, I thought.

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Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
Mass During the Day
25 December 2013

Stars flung like diamonds against the black sky,
Bethlehem sleeping as evening sails by,
Silent as sunrise caressing the Earth,
Deep in the silence a child comes to birth.

Just one of many born lowly and poor,
Prey for the hunger that waits at the door,
Born in a stable where strangers must lie,
A poor son of Adam, born but to die.

Born by the power that comes from above,
Born in our flesh to give flesh to God’s love,
Light for the blind, life for the dead,
Broken for us as the famished break bread.

What shall we call Him, this child of our dreams,
Israel’s beacon through many dim years,
The promise of ages, the long-waited dawn,
The future we cherish in God’s only Son!

Here where our hatred comes to an end,
Here where the stranger is brother and friend,
No longer abandoned by nation or race,
Here in our midst we touch God’s human face.

        This hymn-poem, entitled A Christmas Carol, written by Michael Joncas, has always been one of my favorite pieces when I think about the celebration of Christmas. Not only is there painted for us a quiet fulfillment of our anticipation of the coming of the Lord, but there is also a moment in which the reality of the situation at hand is truly made present.

        What is that reality? The reality that is present stands even before us now: That God continues to enflesh Himself through His manifestations to us, especially through the Sacramental life of the Church. The reality of the situation is that Christ was “born in our flesh to give flesh to God’s love.”

        In the Gospel we just heard the Word that spoke creation into being quietly slips into the realm of time and space. But it was about this baby that John reminds us that He existed from the beginning, and that “He was with God, and that He was God.” Yet Jesus Christ had to take on flesh so that we would ultimately know of the depths of the love of God for us. He had to become like one of us so that, in due course, we could become like Him.

        The Incarnation took place because God needed us to see, through His workings in the flesh, how far He would go to make His presence known – even to the point of death. We must remember that this “poor son of Adam [was] born but to die,” to be “broken for us as the famished break bread.”

        We don’t often recognize God’s presence working in our midst, most often in those moments of life where we are broken and suffering, where death has us in its hold. Nevertheless, it is in the majority of time that God works quietly in our lives, “deep in the silence”, where we don’t realize the immensity of His actions. But then there are moments where God truly makes His presence known, and He wants us to know about it. We celebrate the fact that today Jesus Christ becomes incarnate, enfleshes Himself, so that we may become incarnations, enfleshments, of God’s love in time and space.

        Yet, there is a reality we must face as well: The hungers of this world will feed on each one of us as prey if we are not careful. If we stop becoming enfleshments of the love of God, then we allow the hungers of the world to overtake us, to consume us.

        To be Christian is to incarnate the love of God in all things. To be Christian is to rejoice that our God continues to dwell among His people through Word and through Sacrament. To be Christian is to recognize that, not only on Christmas but throughout the entirety of the year, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”; that, truly, Jesus Christ was “born in our flesh to give flesh to God’s love.”

        Now that we have encountered our God in the flesh, it is now our responsibility to enflesh that love of God: to be those feet that bring glad tidings, announce peace, bear good news and announce salvation. It is up to us to recognize how powerful the world’s hungers are, and how our human flesh, our human weaknesses can be a prey to their teeth. Nevertheless, as Frederick Buechner reminds us that “the place God calls [us] to is the place where [our] deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” It is there, “deep in the silence”, where we encounter our God. It is in that deepest place where we begin to enflesh the love of the Divine.

        My brothers and sisters, during this joyful and busy time, as we gather with family and friends to celebrate the ecstasy of the Mystery of the Incarnation – the fact that our God became like one of us in all things but sin –, we should not forget to spend some time in that silence where the Lord beckons us to encounter Him. And as important as it is to encounter Him daily through prayer, we can never forget the importance of encountering our Incarnate Lord in Word and in Sacrament when we gather each week as His Body, uniting our flesh to His through the worthy reception of the Eucharist.

        For it is here, in the flesh, that Jesus Christ calls us to come closer to Him. It is here, in the flesh, where the promise of eternal life begins. It is here, in our flesh, that our deepest gladness and the world’s deepest hunger meets. It is here, in our flesh, where Heaven kisses Earth in the eternal embrace of the Divine Love which was made manifest for our redemption and salvation.

        We have “been born in our flesh to give flesh to God’s love.” Yet this will be impossible if we, ourselves, have yet to encounter Jesus Christ in the flesh, especially through Word and Sacrament. For if it is “here in our midst [where] we touch God’s human face,” then we must make every encounter with God an intimate encounter with the Divine, so that, in the deepest place of our being, the joy we celebrate this day of our Lord’s Incarnation can be that starting point for Love, Himself, to rule and guide our lives.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

Here In Our Midst

Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord
At the Vigil Mass
24 December 2013

Stars flung like diamonds against the black sky,
Bethlehem sleeping as evening sails by,
Silent as sunrise caressing the Earth,
Deep in the silence a child comes to birth.

Just one of many born lowly and poor,
Prey for the hunger that waits at the door,
Born in a stable where strangers must lie,
A poor son of Adam, born but to die.

Born by the power that comes from above,
Born in our flesh to give flesh to God’s love,
Light for the blind, life for the dead,
Broken for us as the famished break bread.

What shall we call Him, this child of our dreams,
Israel’s beacon through many dim years,
The promise of ages, the long-waited dawn,
The future we cherish in God’s only Son!

Here where our hatred comes to an end,
Here where the stranger is brother and friend,
No longer abandoned by nation or race,
Here in our midst we touch God’s human face.

        This hymn-poem, entitled A Christmas Carol, written by Michael Joncas, has always been one of my favorite pieces when I think about the celebration of Christmas. Not only is there painted for us a quiet fulfillment of our anticipation of the coming of the Lord, but there is also a moment in which the reality of the situation at hand is truly made present.

        What is that reality? The reality that is present even before us now: That God continues to make Himself manifest to us, even though we may be unaware of it. The reality of the situation that, even today, “here in our midst we touch God’s human face.”

        In the Gospel we just heard – that wonderful re-telling of the story of the Nativity of the Lord – the Word that spoke creation into being quietly slips into the realm of time and space. Outside of Mary and Joseph, no one else knew how important this little baby was.

        That is, of course, until the angels appeared to the shepherds.

        (And, of course, until the star appeared to the Magi, but that’s another story for another day.)

        But that’s how God works.

        Most of the time God works quietly in our lives, “deep in the silence”, where we don’t realize the immensity of His actions. But then there are moments where God truly makes His presence known, and He wants us to know about it. And He does this so that we can be like the shepherds: To seek to see and touch the face of God.

        Yet, there is a reality we must face as well: The hungers of this world will feed on each one of us as prey if we are not careful. If we stop seeking the face of God, then we allow the hungers of the world to overtake us, to consume us.

        To be Christian is to seek the face of God in all things. To be Christian is to rejoice that our God continues to dwell among His people through Word and through Sacrament. To be Christian is to recognize that, not only on Christmas but throughout the entirety of the year, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”; that Jesus Christ was “born in our flesh to give flesh to God’s love.”

        It is now our responsibility to enflesh that love of God, even as we continue to seek His face. It is up to us to recognize how powerful the world’s hungers are, and how we can be a prey to their teeth. Nevertheless, as Frederick Buechner reminds us that “the place God calls [us] to is the place where [our] deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” It is there, “deep in the silence”, where we see the face of God.

        My brothers and sisters, during this joyful and busy time, as we gather with family and friends to celebrate the ecstasy of the Mystery of the Incarnation – the fact that our God became like one of us in all things but sin –, we should not forget to spend some time in that silence where the Lord beckons us to encounter Him. And as important as it is seek His face daily, we can never forget the importance of seeking Him in Word and in Sacrament when we gather each week as His Body, truly enfleshing our God through our thoughts, words and actions.

        For it is here, in our midst, now, that Jesus Christ calls us to come closer to Him. It is here, in our midst, where the angels announce His birth, It is here, in our midst, that our deepest gladness and the world’s deepest hunger meets. It is here, in our midst, that Heaven kisses Earth in the eternal embrace of the Divine Love which was made manifest for our redemption and salvation.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

The Sign [Revisited]

The homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent is - in all honesty - a simple rewrite of the reflection I gave last Tuesday. I altered it, however, taking out the references to Adoration and changing them for a Mass setting.

I also included a reference to the icon currently placed in front of the ambo: Our Lady of the Sign. From my [humble and quickly done] research, it's to be a reflection of Isaiah's prophecy that "the virgin will conceive and bear a son", it seemed rather fitting that I would mention it this week in the homily, since it is mentioned in the First Reading and Gospel. I'm not too sure if people truly ever noticed the icon (this one, or any of the ones we've been placing there recently), but it doesn't hurt to draw the people's attention to it.

For your assistance, this is the image of the icon:

 

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
22 December 2013

          In my Sacraments course in high school, I was taught that “signs and symbols point to reality.” And while reality is right in front of our faces, we need to somehow validate it, to make sure what we’re experiencing in life is, for lack of a better word, “real”.

          One of these signs we have in our church is the icon of Our Lady of the Sign, which rests in front of me, here, at the ambo. This depiction of Our Lady pregnant with Our Lord is a reflection of the prophecy we heard in our First Reading and Gospel today, where we are presented with the sign announcing the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah proclaims that “the virgin will conceive and bear a son.” Matthew illustrates for us the fulfillment of the prophecy through his description of Joseph’s visit by the angel in his dream. 

This icon depicts for us something that we seek to validate in our lives every day: the presence of Christ in our midst. Our reality somehow doesn’t seem complete unless we have that proof that our Lord is the “Emmanuel”, that God is with us.

          My brothers and sisters, it seems funny that we go out of our way to seek the signs of the Lord’s dwelling among us when, in reality, we have the two greatest testimonies of His presence in our midst: His Word and His Sacrament. Through His presence in the Word, our Lord continues to speak to us about how we are to trust that He is always with us, and what we need to be doing throughout the Advent that is our life journey in preparing to meet Him when He comes again in His glory.

          And, yet, the powerful sign of the Most Blessed Sacrament is also that reality which places before us the everlasting presence of Jesus Christ in our midst. This Sign of our salvation once again points us to the reality that our God continues to abide amongst His creation. This Eucharistic Presence reminds us that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Who and What we are about to receive is the same Emmanuel, prophesied by Isaiah and cared for by Mary and Joseph. He is the Sign that fulfilled the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament.

          Our Lord, through Word and Sacrament, continues to be that Sign in which we come to recognize the loving presence of God in our midst. And in a few short days, we will celebrate that First Coming among us – where all the prophecies and signs all lead to a tiny manger in Bethlehem; where the Incarnate Sign of the love of the Father was made present to the world.

          And while we come before the ineffable presence of God this day, we must remember that Jesus Christ was born, like you and me, into a world seeking a sign of the presence, of the reality of God. However, Jesus never sought the sign because He WAS AND IS the Sign. Now He teaches us not to seek any sign, for the Sign has already been given.

          We must move from seeking the sign to following the Sign.

          We must now follow the example of the shepherds who followed the glad tidings of the angels. We must now follow the example of the Magi who followed the star. We must now follow the example of Mary and Joseph who, after their own unique experiences with the Divine, followed the plan that God had laid out for them. We must now follow the example of the Sign, Himself, Jesus Christ, who teaches us that the wood of the crib must become the wood of the Cross, and both are necessary for our salvation.

          We no longer seek, for the Sign has been given. We worship for He is here, now, pointing the way to the Father. He who is the Fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets makes whole the reality of our lives. This, my brothers and sisters, is why this icon of Our Lady of the Sign has been with us our entire Advent journey: to remind us that the Sign has been given to us by the Father in the Incarnation of His Son, and because of that, we now have the responsibility to alter our reality so that our lives conform to that of Christ’s.

          If “signs and symbols point to reality,” then the Sign sent by the Father through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ truly points to the reality we ought to have: Fullness of joy, light and peace in a world where the wood of our cribs becomes the wood of our crosses, so that, entering into Christ’s Paschal Mystery, we may experience the fulfillment of reality in the Kingdom of Heaven.

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Enjoy the journey . . .