The Greatest Love Story Ever

Rembrandt's Dream of Joseph

Today at sunset begins the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, the festival of lights.   If you have Jewish friends, you might want to wish them a happy Hanukkah.

This fourth Sunday of Advent is also a particularly festive time of year for children excited for the arrival of Santa Claus and Christmas Day. The symbols of this season can invite us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas: Emmanuel, God-with-us.

A TREE: the green color symbolizes hope. AN ANGEL: angels sang the glorious news of the Savior’s birth. Look for the good in yourself, in other people in every situation in life. A STAR symbolizes the fulfillment of God’s promise of a Messiah, a Savior. Let’s keep our promises. A CANDLE: the candle symbolizes Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who scatters the darkness all around us. SANTA symbolizes good will. Be generous with what we have.

In Sunday's word of God, Isaiah describes the Hebrew King Ahaz in a quandary: mighty Assyria threatens his kingdom. Should he join an alliance? Or trust in God’s providence?

Isaiah begs him to “ask for a sign from God.” The king refuses. So, Isaiah prophesizes that God will give a sign. A woman will bear a child, Emmanuel or “God-with-us.” Isaiah's point: God never reneges on His promises. Eight centuries later, early Christianity saw the prophecy fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, whose name means “he will save.”

Paul in his letter to the Roman Christian community, introduces himself as an apostle called to deliver a message from God: the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus Christ is gloriously alive, and because He lives, we live, forever. The community, Paul emphasizes, is beloved by God and called to be holy, consecrated to continue the ministry of Jesus until He comes again with glory at the end-time.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Mary is pregnant with a child by the power of the Spirit. Joseph faces a dilemma: it's logical to conclude Mary must have committed adultery, punishable by death according to custom.  But Joseph is not about to let that happen. Then, he has a dream, an overpowering experience of the Divine, that convinces him to take Mary as his wife.

Joseph and Mary especially are two people of extraordinary trust in God’s love. Somehow, the power of God broke into Mary’s life, asking her to believe that she would bear within herself a special child. And because Mary was so attuned to God's presence in her daily life, she replied with great faith: may it be it done to me as you say.

These words are easy when things go our way; but not so easy when what is happening is the opposite of what we want. Such turns in life can test our trust in God's unconditional love.
But Mary’s “Yes” gave us the Christmas story: the greatest love story in the history of civilizations.

This Wednesday, remember: Christmas means not simply God in Bethlehem centuries ago, but God within us today. That is the reason for this holy season: to celebrate God's presence in the Christ child and through this God-man, God's presence within us.

Joseph's Dream

Murillo's Nativity

Advent is a season of hope. We can spread that contagious hope.

In the word of God, Isaiah speaks about an ideal leader. Isaiah might be asking us how we exemplify these baptismal gifts in our everyday lives: wisdom (to recognize what truly matters), intelligence (to see what's true), courage (to stand up for what's right), empathy (for the needy), good judgment (to do the right thing for the common good), and wonder and awe (to worship the great God of this universe).

St. Paul in his letter to the Christian community in Rome calls for reconciliation and harmony. Paul asks us to practice virtue: the key organizing principle of a good society!

In the Gospel according to Matthew, John the Baptizer appears with a message of immediacy. He proclaims a turning away from a self-centered to an other-centered, God-centered life, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He says, to the many people coming to him, “I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Our mission – the theme of Advent -- is all about preparing for the messiah by living a God-centered, other-centered life.

During Advent the Word of God focuses on Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary. All three, in their experience of God, delivered a special message.
Isaiah spoke about a liberator, a savior for us.
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The lamb, of course, references the Passover meal. Jesus is the Lamb who through his death and resurrection creates a future for us, transforming us.
The Virgin Mary is the living temple of God, the ark of the covenant, because she carried within herself the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us.

Joseph also appears briefly in Advent in the infancy narrative. Joseph had a dream in which the angel said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

Think about what couples dream when they learn they will be parents. Their first dreams are usually for a safe birth, a healthy child. Then, that their son or daughter will excel. Along the way, dreams may change. Mom and Dad may pray for their child to pass tough courses, recover from an illness, overcome an addiction. Sometimes disappointments or tragedy may change our dreams. But as Joseph learned, the most important things we can dream for children are that they will know we love them dearly, we accept them unconditionally, and we are always praying for God’s grace.

As we prepare for the birth of the Eternal Word of God at Christmas, let us pray for the grace to see God’s presence in all things; to do things as best we can; and to accept people as a gift from God (even if they're not quite the gift we hoped for).

Beginning the Advent-ure

Advent: a season to prepare for the birth of the Messiah

Today we begin Advent. Advent in Latin means “coming.”

Advent is all about hope in a glorious future. It invites us to reflect on the threefold coming of Jesus. Yes, Jesus came to us centuries ago; He comes to us now sacramentally; and He will come again with great power and glory at the end-time to transform this universe into a “new heaven and a new earth.”

The prophet Isaiah spoke about hope. He proclaimed that people everywhere “shall go up” to the Temple in Jerusalem not only to hear but to do the word.  Everywhere there will be peace. Do we trust in God’s unconditional love for us? And yes, do we try to do the right thing?

Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Rome wrote about his earthly life drawing closer to the end every day. So too is ours. Stay awake, be ready, live in the light, writes St. Paul. Practice virtue. Care for one another, pray earnestly, and please God.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus speaks to us about watchfulness or readiness.  Jesus may come to us suddenly, when we least expect Him. And so, live each day with purpose.

The Advent season can be captured in one word: “waiting,” anticipating the Messiah.
Folks in ancient Israel often waited for the Messiah to rescue them from their hardships, from the follies of their kings, from their exile, from their many occupations by a cruel foreign power.

We, too, often pray to God to rescue us from a crisis of one kind or another. Some would say that this is the story of everyone. Where was God when a loved one was in harm’s way? Why didn’t God protect them? There are no answers that satisfy us. Yes, we pray for God to rescue us. And yet God can seem silent, hidden. But is God silent? Is God hidden?

We profess that God is indeed in our midst. Not in a manger -- that was centuries ago in Bethlehem. Where is God today? All around us! In nature, in people, yes, even in our beloved pets. God is with us, as we ache with all sorts of growing pains. God is especially with us in the mass, where we sacramentally encounter the living Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity.

Saint Paul wrote that God’s favor, God’s grace has been revealed in Jesus. And so, we wait and sing in Advent, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

Let us pray this Advent season that the Spirit of God who through the Virgin Mary brought forth the Word made flesh, will reenergize us. Yes, fire us up so that we, through God’s grace, can go forth to help those who doubt to find faith; those who despair to find hope; those who are weak to find courage; those who are sick to find healing; those who are sad or depressed or angry to find joy; those who wander to find the way; and those who are about to die to find eternal life. Amen.

A Purpose-Driven Life

Caravaggio's Conversion of Paul

The middle ages’ festive games on All Hallows evening, before All Saints Day, gradually became associated with “hallow’een.” Irish Americans popularized Halloween as we know it, asking for treats or threatening tricks. Dressing up and eating treats can be surprisingly unifying.

God’s word in the book of Sirach is about the art of living well in the best sense of the phrase. Hard work, honesty, integrity, compassion, responsibility, courage, and faith in God are the true measure of character. The author says God definitely hears our prayers. It doesn’t seem so sometimes. Yet, our faith challenges to trust in God’s unconditional love for us, his desire for us to turn all toward goodness.

In the Gospel according to Luke, we have the odd couple. The pharisee is full of himself: he thought that his laundry list of deeds made him pleasing to God. But he was ego centered. EGO stands for “easing God out.” On the other hand, the prayer of the tax collector was God centered. He is a model of prayer for us, says Jesus.

Paul, in his letter to Timothy, uses sports imagery to describe his own life and ministry: “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” Despite obstacles, Paul stays the course, preaching the Gospel. He urges us to do likewise.

What fascinates me is St. Paul’s reflections about his life. He was well educated in philosophy. He had been a persecutor of Christians. But Paul became one of the greatest evangelizers in Christianity. This religious genius established faith communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean, authored letters shaping the history of Christian thought, and eventually was beheaded by Nero.

Paul had keen insight into what makes human beings tick. Everyone yearns for happiness. But we often do things that we think will make us happy, only to discover that they end up making us miserable. We confuse “pleasure” with “happiness.”

Etched into Paul’s vision of human beings were Jesus’s words: “I have come so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” For Paul, discipline is the path to the fullness of life. Think about it. When we eat well, exercise often, and sleep regularly, we feel more fully alive physically. When we love, when we give of ourselves to help others, we feel more fully alive emotionally. When we study the marvels of the human spirit in various cultures, our world expands, and we feel more fully alive intellectually. And when we take a few moments each day with God in prayer, humbly and openly, we experience more fully the transcendent dimension of our lives, the spiritual.

Discipline sets us free to attain our ultimate purpose: life with God. Freedom is the strength of character to do what is good, true, noble, and right.

Paul grasped this and preached that Christ came to reconcile us with the Father, and in doing so, Christ satisfies the craving for happiness that preoccupies our human hearts. It is ultimately a yearning for friendship and intimacy and relationship with our Creator. Christ, for Paul, is indeed “the way, the truth, and the life.”

Give Thanks to God for Newman's Life

Sketch of a Young St. John Henry Newman

Sunday's word of God takes us back in our imaginations to the ninth century before Jesus, to a man of God by the name of Elisha. And a foreigner, a Syrian army general, begs the prophet to heal him. To the general’s surprise, Elisha simply suggests that he bathe in the Jordan River. The Syrian does so, is cured, and this foreigner praises the God of Israel.

Paul, in his letter to Timothy, speaks about the hardships he has endured. Paul invites us to give thanks for the gift of God’s life, bestowed upon us in the waters of baptism, nurtured in this liturgy, and ours forever in a transformed heavenly life.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus heals ten people of leprosy. Only one, a foreigner, returns to give thanks to God.

Gratitude is a theme in today's word of God. I would like to highlight the grateful and faith-filled life of John Henry Newman, whom Pope Francis canonized in Rome today.

This nineteenth century Englishman spent the first half of his life as an Anglican (aka Episcopalian here) and the second half as a Roman Catholic. Newman influenced the so-called Oxford movement, an intellectual effort to return to the resources of our faith--the Bible, the sacraments, belief statements, authority in the Church and apostolic succession.

Newman's research eventually convinced him to join the Catholic Church. Two years later he was ordained a Catholic priest. Returning to England, Newman founded Oratory houses in Birmingham and London and then served as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, which inspired his landmark book The Idea of a University. Newman wrote 40 books and 21,000 letters that survive.

The fullness of revelation, Newman emphasized, resides in the person of Jesus Christ. Belief statements try to capture, but never fully, the inexhaustible reality of the God-man. Hence, Christianity must develop over the centuries as we grow from childhood to adulthood. And there must be an authority on the truth or falsity of such developments.

Newman was a supporter of Christian unity at a time when Christianity was divided and religious bigotry commonplace.

In particular, he emphasized the active role of the laity: the “Spirit dwells in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple.” Newman's writings prefigured the spirit of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). The Church is always reform-able, holy yet made of sinners.

Revelation is a person. In other words, God reveals himself to us in Jesus and we describe this revelation in belief statements. The Eucharist is the font from which all the Church’s power flows. From this we go forth to love and serve.

I highlight two awesome prayers by John Henry Newman: the first about purpose in life:
“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but...I shall do His work...Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever, wherever I am.… If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him...God knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

The second prayer holds one of my favorite images of God: light. Newman’s poem “The Pillar of the Cloud,” written while he recovered from a severe illness, was made a hymn. Here is a very recognizable verse of the poem:
 “Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me...
So long Your power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on” into God's eternal light.
Amen!

Recipes for Good Relationships

Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper

Today's word of God from Amos, an eighth century BC prophet of Israel, challenges us to deal with people compassionately and fairly. Amos here speaks up against rigging prices, inflating currency, and cheating consumers. Too few were getting richer, he declared, and too many were getting poorer. Does that slogan sound familiar? Amos especially scolds those who are so greedy that they will even cheat the poor. Amos might ask us whether we treat people fairly and compassionately.

I would like to focus on a theme in Amos--relationships. And so let me begin with a movie titled "Babette's Feast," a 1987 Academy award winner from the book by Karen Blixen.

Babette, a Parisian chef, finds herself in a small Danish town where strict and puritanical religiosity makes people cold-hearted, wary of enjoying life. Babette wins a lottery and spends all her winnings to prepare a huge, delectable feast for the townspeople. As they begin to taste and enjoy the meal, they start to communicate good-naturedly. They even dance! The meal transformed themei into warm-hearted human beings.

Babette models self-giving, and elicits joy in people, a foretaste of heaven. The toast at the end captures, I think, why Pope Francis likes the film. Here's a paraphrase:

“There comes a time when your eyes are opened. And we come to realize…that mercy is infinite. We need only await it with confidence…and receive it with gratitude.”

As I thought about this movie, I began to ask about our own relationships, especially family relationships. Certain recipes nourish good relationships.

Happy families have a good sense of togetherness. They care for each other. They keep in touch; they’re hospitable and concerned. They celebrate special milestones. They set times to eat meals together and share good news as well as bad. They keep their word and thereby build trust. And importantly, they avoid negative name-calling and finger-pointing; that undermines a relationship. In the end, we may agree to disagree. That's OK.

St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians asks us to be imitators of God, to live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. Paul gives us, in chapters 4 and 5 especially, at least five ingredients:

• Be authentic, speak the truth, try to live a life of honesty and integrity.
• Be passionate about what's right. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, had a passionate hatred against discrimination that led him to champion civil rights. Jesus had a righteous anger about the money changers in the temple. Anger should result in righting wrongs.
• Paul encourages the Ephesians to get an honest job so that they can help others. Work in itself is useful, as well as giving resources to help others.
• Watch the way we talk. Have a positive, can-do attitude.  Be mentors and coaches. Words can build people up or tear them down. Use words for encouragement.
• Be gentle. Forgive one another as quickly as God forgives us. God's vision is a community of disciples welcoming all: especially people who need a place where forgiveness abounds. The church, to paraphrase Pope Francis, is a field hospital where wounds are healed.

With those ingredients, God can work wonders through us.

God Never Gives Up

Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal  Son

The word of God carries us back to the thirteenth century before Jesus. On Mount Sinai, Moses is conversing with God like a friend, praying. But at the base of the mount, the Hebrews, just liberated from their oppressors in ancient Egypt, are breaking the covenant they just renewed with God, by worshiping replicas of false gods.

Sometimes, we create idols—money, power, status. We forget who we are—mere creatures totally dependent upon an all-good Creator. Moses intercedes for the people in prayer and asks God to forgive them for their wrongdoings. And God does! The author challenges us not only to ask God for forgiveness but also the grace to live a life worthy of our calling.

St. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, confesses he fiercely persecuted Christians; he was the worst of sinners. And yet God graced him, to become one of the greatest evangelizers in Christianity. Paul challenges us to be grateful to God.

In the Gospel, we have the famous parable. The younger son asked for his inheritance and then squandered it. Then he “came to his senses.” An incredible phrase! He realizes his true identity as a beloved son. He wants to be in a good relationship with his father, who unconditionally forgives and loves him and gives him a welcome-home party. The story emphasizes God’s unconditional love for us.

This parable may move us to ponder forgiving someone who has wronged us. If we can’t seem to forgive on our own, pray for the grace to participate in the forgiveness of Jesus, who pardons those who are truly sorry and try to start their lives afresh. The parable invites us to see ourselves in the characters. Are we the forgiving parent? The repentant younger son? Or the resentful older son?

Let me illustrate forgiveness with a favorite book of mine, The Hiding Place, in which the author, a concentration camp survivor, describes how she lectured in post-war Europe about the need to forgive one another. After one of her talks, a former SS guard came up to her. She recognized him. Suddenly, she remembered the laughing guards, the heaps of clothes on the floor, the frightened face of her sister. And so, when this repentant person extended his hand, she began to have angry thoughts. Then she remembered: Jesus Christ died for this man and forgives him. “Lord Jesus,” she silently prayed, “forgive me and help me to forgive him.”

She tried to smile, to raise her hand. But she couldn’t. Again she breathed a silent prayer: “Jesus, I can’t forgive him for what he did to my sister and so many other people. Give me your forgiveness.”
Christ doesn’t ask us to forgive on our own. He simply asks that we participate in his gift of forgiveness. Forgiveness is possible when we trust in God to bring forgiveness and healing and reconciliation. God never gives up on us.

Persevering in Discipleship with Jesus

The Call of Jesus to Discipleship

The word of God highlights the transitory nature of human life with its limitations and shortcomings. But, says the author, take courage; God gifts us with wisdom to help us discern what’s the right thing to do. Some of today’s so-called gurus and pundits seem to marginalize God. God’s word challenges us to anchor our lives in wisdom: to do the right and love goodness and walk humbly with God.

We also heard St. Paul, in a letter from prison, asking a slaveholder to welcome back a runaway slave as a brother in Christ. Now some may ask, why didn’t Paul specifically condemn slavery? Others, of course, argue that the society and times then were different. In any case, Paul sees the dignity of every human being and asks us, do we love others as brothers and sisters of Jesus?

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus challenges us to make discipleship our first priority. In the two parables here, Jesus cautions us not to naively rush into discipleship without gauging the cost. If discipleship with Jesus our priority, then all of our other relationships will thrive. God will bestow upon us the grace, power and energy of the Spirit, to persevere in a life of discipleship with Jesus, who is our way, our truth, and our life.

If we commit ourselves to worthy goals, if we persevere, we can achieve many good things.
We have many examples, religious as well as secular. I give you one: Mother Teresa of Calcutta whose feast day we celebrated last Thursday.

Mother Teresa is a model of perseverance in faithfulness to God, prayer, and love. She joined the Sisters of Loreto and began teaching in India. Seventeen years later, she felt the calling to work among the poorest of the poor. Eventually she studied the basics in nursing, and began to care for the poor, sick, and dying on the streets of Calcutta. In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, whose numbers expanded to over 4,500 sisters in more than 600 missions in 133 countries today. There is also a male branch and an association of Lay Missionaries.

Mother Teresa showed us what holiness is: doing whatever our life's work is as best we can. Through a life of prayer despite her own “inner spiritual darkness,” and through a desire to meet people’s basic need for love, Mother Teresa taught us the priority of prayer and service in realizing one's true self as a son and daughter of God our Father.

There are many examples of perseverance in trying to do our life's work as best we can. In light of the Gospel theme, let us ask God to grace us with the energy and power of the Spirit to persevere in our life of discipleship with Jesus, to let the beatitudes in Matthew Chapter 5 be our spiritual guide so that we can indeed be grateful coheirs to the kingdom of God.

Experiencing God

James Tissot's "He sent them two by two."

The sixth century before Jesus was a catastrophic time for ancient Israel. Yet the author of Isaiah speaks about a bright future. Jerusalem will prosper again. A miracle! Centuries later in Jerusalem, Jesus brought new purpose in life—another miracle! Yes, our citizenship is in heaven. The author of Isaiah may be asking whether our lifestyle and behavior reflect our citizenship.

Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, proclaims that the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the tomb is our salvation, eternal life. Paul celebrates that God through the life-giving waters of baptism has transformed us into “new creatures,” living temples of God, alive with the breath or life of God in us.

Paul writes that the power of God enabled him to endure all kinds of hardships for the sake of the Gospel. That same power of God enables us to practice a life of virtue.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus sends forth disciples to continue his saving and healing work. They are to trust always in God's unconditional them for them. They reported back how they witnessed to the power of God with healings of the sick.

Now what does it mean to witness? I’m a witness not simply by seeing or saying something is true but if I actually experience it.

The disciples were witnesses to Jesus in that sense. They walked, talked, ate and prayed with him.
Peter, for example, reached out for Jesus’s hand in the Sea of Galilee. Doubting Thomas put his finger into Jesus’s side in the Jerusalem upper room.

We too are called to be witnesses. We testify to our core Christian beliefs: the triune God, the incarnation, the death/resurrection of Jesus, the dependable Spirit, the global community of disciples, life eternal. But what men and women look for, expect from us, is some visible sign that we have experienced what we believe.

We will evangelize effectively if we are a sort of sacrament, a symbol, an outward sign of God’s grace/presence in us. We must not simply know about God; we must experience God.

The heroes and heroines of Christianity knew/experienced God in their lives: Augustine, Francis and Clare of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Mother Teresa, and many more.

Faith from God empowers us to have a right relationship with the triune God as creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Faith is richer and deeper than belief. Faith calls us to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, to follow Jesus who illuminates the darkness around us as we journey toward our heavenly home. Faith is about our relationship with God that we nurture, especially in the Eucharist.

Belief, on the other hand, is a statement about the essential truths of our faith that we proclaim e.g., in the fourth-century Nicene Creed.

From faith comes a confidence and purpose in life. We trust in a God who is always near to us. Successes convince us that it is possible to succeed. Our failures show us it is possible to survive and proceed.

We are in the hands of an all-good God. And with a can-do, faith-filled spirit, we can overcome the  challenges we face in life.  Why? Because God loves us unconditionally, because God is always near to us and because God ultimately will achieve His purpose for us and for this universe.  And to this divine providence, and to Jesus Christ, gloriously alive, our way, our truth and our life, we joyfully witness in our daily lives.

The Purpose of my Life

Rublev's Icon of the Trinity

Happy Fathers Day! The word “father” or “dad” evokes various images and traits. I think of qualities my father possessed in abundance (qualities all good fathers possess): Love, commitment, communication, spirituality. We spent time together. And my father had a good sense of humor.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the feast of the triune God, the fundamental and distinctive truth of Christianity. We begin every liturgy “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” and are sent forth at the end with the blessing of the “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

Now when we hear the word “God,” what images do we think of? The Bible gives us many. A walking companion. As loving as a mother. A God who wants to share his wisdom with us. The parables of the good shepherd and the prodigal son are balanced with the parable of the last judgment.

The images cannot capture fully the inexhaustible reality of God.

And no human relationship can completely satisfy us. St. Augustine wrote, “Thou hast made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.” Yes, we were born to live in relationship with God -- the triune God.

The book of Proverbs personifies wisdom as a woman, as creative energy, as a playful companion of God who witnesses the mighty acts of God. The early Christians saw Jesus in this wisdom image, God’s Word made flesh among us. St. Paul waxes eloquently about the saving work of Jesus Christ. Through him we have a right relationship with God.

In the Gospel, Jesus alludes to the mystery of the triune God: The Spirit that comes through Jesus and the Father will guide us into all truth.

The mystery of the triune God (one yet distinctive in modalities or movements of "persons"--Father, Son, and Spirit--none is the “other”; a God who is love) invites us to reflect upon our relationship with God and one another.

We are forever trying to make better sense out of our lives. Especially in moments of crisis, people often ask fundamental questions: What is the purpose of my life? Where is my life going? Through the cycle of our own human development, at times, we wonder. We accomplished so little, and now it is almost over. What was it all about? Life seems marred by too many tragedies.

We also have awesome experiences. A starry sky, the joy of friendship, the golden rays of a sunrise or sunset, the accomplishment of a goal. Such experiences can take us out of ourselves and into the presence of an awesome power. We begin to experience the transcendent dimension of our lives.
Yes, a purposeful and gracious God is responsible for this magnificent universe and for our very lives. Yes, this God became flesh in Jesus and is alive among us by the power of the Spirit.

This triune God, the model of self-giving love, empowers us to reach out in love to one another with compassion, forgiveness, a ready smile, a kind word, a helping hand.  And in reaching out in love, we become like the triune God in self-giving love.

Pray for the grace today, to quote the musical Godspell, to see God more clearly, love God more dearly and follow God more nearly in our daily lives. Amen.

Prayer: Conversing with God as a Friend

Rembrandt's Stoning of Stephen

This Memorial Day weekend, we remember again the men and women who died in the wars of our country.  The total number slain is staggering: some 1.2 million killed during America’s eleven major conflicts. Let's pause to pray for these brave men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion, per Lincoln's Gettysburg address. May God grant them eternal life.

The word of God takes us back to the beginnings of Christianity. The question then was: do Christian non-Jews have to observe Jewish practices? Paul and Barnabas discussed this with the apostles. Together they came to a compromise to avoid scandal. Yes, Gentile Christians should observe some Jewish practices, but they don’t have to observe all Jewish practices to be disciples of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus alone through his dying and rising renewed our relationship with God. He is our way, our truth, our life.

How do we resolve tensions or conflicts? Like most things we have to work at good relationships.

The Gospel according to John takes us back to the farewell address of Jesus at his Last Supper. Jesus considers how his community will continue after his departure. The disciples should be faithful to his words, especially his new commandment—to love one another. But the community will need guidance. Jesus promises to send the Spirit, who will energize and guide this community of disciples, the Church, into the fullness of God’s kingdom.

The book of Revelation describes a mystical experience, an awesome new vision of reality.

This Easter season, we have met different biblical personalities. Today we introduce Stephen. A Spirit-filled leader, a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian, Stephen worked signs and wonders and proclaimed courageously that Jesus is the fulfillment of the messianic promises made to ancient Israel. Stephen had a visionary experience of the glory of God, outraged Jewish authorities with his claims about Jesus as gloriously alive, and was dragged outside Jerusalem and stoned to death.

Stephen was the proto martyr of Christianity. His death was like that of Jesus, in the sense that he forgave his executioners and cried out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Would that all of us could make that cry at the end of our life.

I believe Stephen had an intense relationship with God, nurtured through prayer. Now, what is prayer? We wake up to clock radios, watch TV at breakfast, listen to the car radio; check Facebook, Instagram, iPhones, e-mail, and so forth, all of which distract us from hearing God’s voice in our lives. There’s so much noise we can’t hear ourselves think.

For Jesus and the heroes and heroines of Christianity, prayer was their top priority. Not only at mass or the Eucharist, but quietly and alone as well. As Mother Teresa put it, “God speaks to us; we listen. We speak to God; He listens.” Prayer is a two-way street.

And does God answer our prayers? Put simply: Yes, but not always as we like.

The Spirit-filled Stephen invites us to pray, to converse with God as we would with a true friend, a friendship based on God's unconditional love for us. May we nurture our friendship with God through daily prayer. Amen.

Jesus Christ is gloriously Alive

Delacroix's Christ on the Sea of Galilee

Happy Mother's Day! I remember my mother as one of my best cheerleaders. Moms encourage, mentor, teach, and patiently listen. And the most important thing a mother can give? Unconditional love! We can never fully measure such love. Thank you for all you do on behalf of family life.

The word of God describes St. Paul’s first missionary journey through the country we know as Turkey. Paul and Barnabas first told the Jews the good news: Jesus Christ is gloriously alive and because He lives, we live forever.  This good news outraged some in the synagogue.
Then Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the Gospel to the Gentiles, the non-Jews. God gifted these people with faith in Jesus. They repented, were baptized and focused their lives on God.

This Easter season, we have been meeting different biblical personalities.

Today we meet Paul, also known by his Jewish name, Saul. Born in Tarsus, southeast Turkey, he was well educated in Judaism and Greco-Roman philosophy. He was by trade a tent-maker. But he was a rabid persecutor of Christians.

Suddenly, enroute to Damascus, Paul was struck by an amazing visionary experience of Jesus, gloriously alive. This turned Paul’s life upside down. He became one of the greatest evangelizers: established Christian faith communities, authored letters shaping the history of Christian thought, and eventually was beheaded by order of the emperor Nero.

Paul and the apostles lived and died for their communities. Our response is gratitude to God for our community, which gives a virtuous purpose to our lives. A few good reasons why I’m grateful:

 We are a worldwide community, a diverse family that celebrates the presence of the living Christ in our liturgies and especially in our Eucharist. Yes, the triune God abides in us, and we abide in God.

We are people of the good news, servants of God’s people. My favorite image of the Church is Peter’s fishing boat. We’re on a journey, with a map, stormy weather, people slipping overboard, survivors, mutinies, sometimes off course, attacked. And a boat of course needs a captain: if everybody grabs the wheel, we’re all in trouble.

 We are a community with splendid heroes. Consider the litany of saints. These men and women lived the beatitudes. They recognized who they are (creatures of an all-mighty Creator); they sought God in their daily lives. They were peacemakers, bridge-builders.

We are a community moved to serve the basic needs of the poor. Think of Jesus’s many examples and teachings, for example Matthew chapter 25. Yes, we are the mystical body of Christ attempting to meet people’s needs.

Alas we are also a community of saints and sinners. Some people behave scandalously; they make a mess out of their lives and the lives of others  So, we have to muddle through as best we can and stay true to Jesus who is our way, our truth and our life.

The word of God, for example the Acts with its narrative about the missionary journeys of Paul, prompts us to thank God for the heroes and heroines before us, and for the faith community to which we belong. Yes, be grateful and confident, and invite others to the spiritual resources, the “living waters” of this faith-filled community of service.

God's Gift of Forgiveness

Pieter Bruegel's Christ and the Woman  Caught in Adultery

How many followed this year’s NCAA championship basketball games? Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. As the saying goes, what’s important is how you play the game, and how you live with what you learn.

Today’s word of God takes us back to Ancient Israel in the 6th century before Jesus. Babylonia had conquered the Hebrews; destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple; and deported many Hebrews. Yet God fired up the Hebrews with hope for the future. Set free by Persia, they returned to their homeland to rebuild. The author proclaims God will breathe hope into the Hebrews. Yes, God will usher in a new age, and a newly created people will praise God.

The author may well ask you and me: When have we breathed hope into the life of someone who is “down and out” with encouragement or a helping hand?

Paul writes his letter to the Christian community in Philippi, Greece from an unknown jail cell, perhaps in Rome. And what motivates Paul?  Paul proclaims that Jesus Christ “possesses” him. Yes, years before, Christ had turned Paul’s life “upside down” on the way to Damascus. And ever since, proclaiming the good news--Jesus Christ is alive.  And because He lives, we live-- was Paul’s one passion in life. And so Paul sets his eyes on “what lies ahead”: eternal life.

In the Gospel of John today, we hear that Jesus meets a woman who had been caught in an adulterous relationship. I wonder if Nathaniel Hawthorne read this Gospel story before he wrote The Scarlet Letter.

Anyway, Jesus says to us in the Gospel story, “Don’t be so negatively judgmental about other people.” All of us need forgiveness. That’s why Jesus came: to forgive, heal, transform us, to save us from death and propel us into a glorious future, like Jesus did to this down-and-out woman and to her accusers. And what about the man in the adulterous relationship, who was as guilty as the woman?

This story invites you and me to reflect on our own willingness to forgive people who have wronged us, intentionally or unintentionally. Jesus says forgiveness is a primary characteristic of discipleship.

We have to forgive ourselves as well as others so we can move forward with our lives. To forgive as Christ forgives sometimes seems impossible to do on our own. It calls for a humility, a generosity, a spirit of compassion. But Christ doesn’t ask us to forgive on our own. He simply asks that we participate in his gift of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an act of the will that overrides negative feelings about someone. Forgiveness is possible, not when we try to forgive, not on our own, but when we trust in God to bring healing. As God constantly searches out the lost and the stranger, so should we. Forgiveness can be a long journey, but at the end lies freedom and new life.

Trusting Always in God

"Do not be afraid; I am with you always."  Rembrandt's Storm at Sea

The word of God takes us back to the sixth century before Jesus. Jeremiah contrasts those who trust in God against those who simply trust in their own resources, e.g., money or power. The author says we have a choice: either trust in God's unconditional love for us and flourish; or trust in your own resources and become like a barren bush in the wasteland.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth speaks about our future. Jesus Christ, once crucified, is now alive. And just as God transfigured the earthly Jesus into a new kind of spiritual embodiment,  so too will God transfigure us in a life beyond this earthly life.

 In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus tells us of blessings and woes. Blessed are they who acknowledge with gratitude their total dependency upon God; who seek God in their daily lives; who endure hardships for the sake of Christ. Rejoice! The kingdom of heaven will be theirs. And then the woes? Woe to those who have "so much" and yet do nothing for the needy, the hungry, the sick and dying.

It’s not always easy to trust in God's unconditional love for us, especially when what's happening to us is the opposite of what we want to happen. Sometimes our prayers are answered. Other times, you and I may pray and find silence. We may even feel like giving up on God; or thinking negatively about ourselves.

I invite us not to get “bogged down” in negative feelings but to rise above them by reflecting on certain faith themes:
1. Let’s re-examine our image of God. Some think of God as a judge. Maybe we copy that sometimes. However, the bible, holding the religious experiences of so many, offers a collage. God is depicted as a walking companion in Genesis. A debater in Job. An anxious parent and a comforting mother in Isaiah. A father of a prodigal son in the Gospels. What is our image? God is our ever-faithful companion.

2. Remember God’s providence. Like a skilled pickpocket, God is present to us in many ways and we don’t always know it, except by evidence afterward. He may seem absent, but our faith says he’s in our midst.

3. Be angry but don’t stay angry. Yes, to demand an answer is to take God seriously, to acknowledge God’s care. But we ultimately have to let go of our anger and move forward; otherwise anger will poison our relationships.

4. Know that you are in good company. Even prophets and saints have argued with God. The point is this: keep praying. God is the best solution. God’s ultimate purpose is to satisfy our deepest needs.

The great 16th century Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila, gives this perspective:
Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing dismay you;
all things pass;
God never changes;
they who have God find they lack nothing:
God alone suffices for us.

What's Life All About

It’s Super Bowl Sunday again! Who is rooting for the Patriots? How about the Rams? I especially enjoy those $5.5 million ads.

Today’s word of God takes us back in our imaginations over six centuries before Jesus, traumatic times for ancient Israel. In this passage, God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, to speak on God’s behalf. Jeremiah describes how the Hebrews were unfaithful to their promises in the covenant; and then he proclaims a new covenant and urges the Hebrews not to fight against the ancient Babylonians.

Jesus in the Synagogue

How unpatriotic and outrageous of Jeremiah to say this, many Hebrews said. Yet, because Jeremiah believed God was with him, he continued to speak God’s message courageously. The author may asking whether we stand up for what’s right, or do we simply go along to get along.

Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Corinth, poetically describes the many facets of love. Love, Paul wrote, is not showy. It is not envious or rude or irritable. Nor does love insist on its own way. No, love is like a prism that reflects the myriad characteristics of love:  patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, forgiveness, compassion, self-discipline, peace, joy. Above all, love never ceases because God is love.

Paul may be asking whether we reflect these characteristics of love in our everyday attitudes and behaviors.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus pursued his mission uncompromisingly. He proclaimed that the kingdom of God was breaking into our midst, and that all people can share in this kingdom by living a life of discipleship, of virtue.

That God would include all people – even non-Jews -- shocked and outraged many in the synagogue. Jesus encountered opposition even from his own townspeople. And yet, because God was with him, Jesus continued his mission in life.

Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus had one passion in life: to speak God's message. That message fired them up.

The question for us is, what energizes us? Where do we find purpose in our lives? Some argue convincingly that we find meaning in a mix of what we do, what we experience, and our attitude toward our own inescapable suffering and dying.

Life indeed is worth living to the end. This raises the question, what are human beings meant for? What is our life all about?

Most of our finest thinkers hold that we are meant for something greater than merely existing. Something far beyond mere animal instincts, beyond acquiring and spending, beyond the economic feats and engineering marvels of this world.

What is that “something?” The answer points to something transcendent, beyond ourselves: the human spirit. Always open to a relationship with an awesome God and to one another.

Yes, our purpose in life, no matter what our profession or how old we are, is to be in relationship with God and one another forever. Something to think about and do in light of the word of God.

Seeking Unity in Diversity

Praying for Unity within Diversity: January 18-25

Today we begin Catholic Schools Week.  And we salute our teachers/staff who educate our youngsters for life: excellence in academics and virtue in character.

The word of God takes us back to the fifth century before Jesus. The Jews who returned to the ruins of Jerusalem were rebuilding their lives, much like many of our ancestors did in the aftermath of the 1840s Irish potato famine, the 1870s German kulturkampf, or the two World Wars.

Ezra gathered people together to renew the covenant God had made with them centuries before—a covenant summed up in a moving phrase: “You are my people; and I am your God.” The people who heard Ezra cried out, “Amen. Amen” -- So be it. They will not only be hearers of God’s word but also doers of that word.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece, addressed many problems: squabbles, moral misconduct, personality conflicts, cliques. Paul’s metaphor of the human body describes how different parts—eye, ear, voice, hands, feet—have different functions, yet they all work for the good of the whole body.

Paul championed unity within diversity. We are one with God our Father. God abides in us, and we abide in God within a grace-filled community.

In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus began his public ministry. He went back to his hometown and walked into the local synagogue on the Sabbath, and from the parchment of scripture—in particular, the book of the prophet Isaiah—he read from the magnificent passage:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me … he has sent me to bring glad tidings ….”

Concluding, Jesus said, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” This was a bold and shocking statement. In a real sense, this was the “inaugural speech” of Jesus, proclaiming freedom from what enslaves us, vision from what blinds us, and healing from what breaks relationships.

Jesus then set about giving hope and purpose to those who had found little or no meaning in life.
And Jesus prayed that his disciples “may all be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you.”

In the week of prayer for Christian unity (January 18-25), we pray that the Spirit will make all of us one, for together we profess that there is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.
Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther's call for reform spread like a divisive contagion. Until the 20th century, when Angelo Roncalli was elected Pope John XXIII, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants generally emphasized what divided them. Good Pope John XXIII realized that for people to discuss division, they have to get to know one another. He moved Christians from diatribe to dialog.

The 1964 “Decree on Ecumenism” encourages conversations about what unites us, what divides us, and how we can cooperate as a “united”people with common goals. That courageous task remains for us today.

Working Together to Achieve a Greater Good

MLK Jr.'s "I have a Dream" Speech at Lincoln Memorial

During the weekend of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I reflect upon King’s dream of "sitting down together at the table of brotherhood." And why not? We are all created in God's image.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth, notes the many gifts we have for the common good, for building up community. Yes, people working together can accomplish so much. An airplane involves teamwork. So does our Catholic community. And our legislators might benefit from St. Paul’s advice to seek the common good in their deliberations.

In the Gospel according to John, the first sign Jesus worked was in the town of Cana in the region of Galilee. There are different levels of meaning in this story. On one level, Jesus, his mother, and the disciples have simply been invited to a local wedding. Mary, in some ways, could be a wedding planner.

On another level, Mary appears as our mediator, interceding with her Son on our behalf.

On a third level, the water made wine symbolizes the breaking in of the kingdom of God—the symbolic wedding banquet at the end of time.

And on a fourth level, this first sign is one of seven in which the author points to Jesus as “the revelation” of God to us.

Yes, there can be many levels of meaning in scripture.

In light of the wedding at Cana, I would like to reflect briefly upon the sacrament of marriage. Often people are looking for the perfect this or that and forget that life is not perfect. I doubt there’s such a thing as the “perfect” marriage. Marriage is a work in progress.; we're a work in progress.

Marriages can be described in three stages: first the honeymoon; then disillusionment; and then the initial partnership can either break up or become true love. Their relationship can become a covenant where they live for each other, for God, and for others (e.g., their children). And that is true love.

True love can emerge only if we forgive, work out compromises, disagree without being disagreeable, compliment each other regularly, accentuate the good, clarify our essential core values, accept differences (our way isn’t the only way), and communicate regularly.

Don’t let children eclipse our primary vocation to love one another. Try to find balance, between work, family, and personal time.

When sorting through an argument, always distinguish between behavior and negative judgments about that behavior—for example, you’re late for the birthday party (behavior) versus you’re the most inconsiderate person I know (negative judgment). Name-calling will not bring us closer.

As with most things in life, we continually must work at good relationships—sticking together in tough times and  with confidence that times will get better and we’ll reemerge closer.

The wedding of Cana invites not only husbands and wives but all of us to reflect upon our relationships with one another. How can we cherish and support and re-energize that?
Above all, make room for God.

Merry Christmas

Rembrandt's Adoration of the Shepherds

Every year we relive the wonderful Christmas story. The Gospel according to John summed up this magnificent story in a single line: The Word became flesh.

That takes us back in our imaginations to the beginnings of the human family, in Genesis: when man and woman walked with God, had friendship with God and one another. But somehow man and woman lost that friendship, they fell from grace: they hid from God.

But in the midst of ancient Israel’s fidelities and infidelities to the covenant, God never reneged on his promises. And so the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The Word of God for the Christmas liturgies is like a prism through which is refracted the multiple facets of this great mystery of the Incarnation.

Isaiah proclaims glad tidings: the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Paul writes that the grace of God appeared in Jesus Christ who made us “heirs” to the promise of eternal life. In the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke, the Virgin Mary gave birth to her son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.And the Gospel of John sums up the meaning of Christmas: the Word became flesh. That is God’s greatest gift to us.

Some gifts really transform the lives the people: gifts of teaching, of listening and supporting, of sharing time and experiences, of compassion and forgiveness and affirmation. This begins in our own families and workplaces and communities: enduring gifts that we can always give to one another.

The Word became flesh. That single line changed our destiny. Christmas means not simply God in Bethlehem centuries ago, but God within us. We carry within ourselves Emmanuel, God with us. How? By virtue of the life-giving waters of baptism.We gather to proclaim the awesome Word of God, to celebrate the presence of the living Christ.

That great truth of our faith, God within us, challenges us always to look for the good in ourselves, in other people and in all situations in life.

And who is the ultimate good-finder? God so loved us that he became one of us. Yes, Jesus had a unique relationship. He was God-man. A healer, a teacher, a peacemaker. Think of all the people in the Gospels that Jesus met: the blind, the leper, the lame, the sinner, the forgotten. And Jesus found goodness in all of them where many didn’t.

The promised Messiah has come, He is in our midst mystically in the word proclaimed and the sacrament celebrated, and He will come again in power and glory at the end-time. In the meantime, pray this Christmas season that the Lord will help those who doubt to find faith; those who despair to find hope; those who are weak to find courage; those who are sick to find health; those who are sad to find joy; and those who have died to find eternal life in God.

Tidings of Courage and Joy

Rembrandt's John the  Baptist

The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is a Latin verb which translates as “rejoice”: because Jesus is about to be born. Joyful songs will be heard.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Catholics in England could not practice their faith openly. So someone, the legend goes, wrote “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with two levels of meaning:
The Partridge in a pear tree symbolizes Jesus Christ.
The two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments.
The three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.
Four calling birds are the four Gospels.
Five golden rings are the Torah: the first books of the Hebrew Bible. Etc.

When you hear “The Twelve Days of Christmas” practice your religious education!

The word of God today takes us back to the seventh century before Jesus. The author of Zephaniah proclaims "shout for joy, sing, be glad," because “God is in your midst.”

Paul, in his letter, urges an early Christian community to be joyful and generous, to pray confidently, and not to be anxious.

In the Gospel according to Luke, what caught my attention was the courage of John the Baptizer to preach the good news of the coming of Jesus. John empowered people to help each other. King Herod then imprisoned him.  John the Baptist had the courage to speak truth to power, and he paid with his life. He wasn’t afraid to do the right thing.

A common phrase in the Bible is “Do not be afraid.” Or “Be not afraid.” Between the Old and New Testaments, the phrases appear more than a thousand times. It appears God is trying to get a message across to us.

Psychologists often argue that fear is a dominant emotion. Think about it. We're afraid of failure, of certain parts of town, of criticism. Fear stops more people from doing something extraordinary than lack of ability.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the acquired ability to move beyond fear. Look through history and identify people you admire. Much can be accomplished in one moment of courage. Much can be lost in one moment of fear. 

Courage is an acquired virtue. You learn to ride a bicycle by riding one. You acquire courage by practicing it. Virtues are like muscles—when you exercise them, they become stronger.

Starting a new venture, making a sacramental commitment like confirmation or marriage, coming humbly before God in prayer: they all require courage. It animates us and makes so many things possible. 

We are not alone. God has given us the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the end, a life lived in accordance with an informed conscience and grounded in courage leaves us at peace within oneself: in harmony with God and with our own inner best self.

So, always seek what is right as John the Baptizer did: not what is fashionable, not what is expected by others, not what is merely acceptable, but what is right and good. And having found what is right and good: “just do it.”

Hope and Goodness

A particular gospel phrase stood out for me this weekend: “Stand upright and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

Advent Wreath: Awaiting the Messiah.

How might we celebrate Advent? Some families create a wreath with four candles, and light one candle at the dinner table during the first week, two the second week, and so on. They pray in their own words for the coming anew of the Messiah into their own lives. Other families make a Jesse or genealogy tree to recapture the story of our salvation in the Hebrew bible. Still others have a Nativity scene and invite family members to tell in their own words the meaning of Christmas, God-with-us, Emmanuel. These are but a few customs.

The word of God carries us back in our imaginations to a prophet named Jeremiah who cited the infidelity of the Hebrews to their promises to God. But God is always faithful. And so Jeremiah spoke about hope: God one day will raise up a new king who will do what is right and good for his people.

Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Thessaloniki in Greece urged them not to so much anticipate the future that they forget how to live here and now. Yes, Paul wrote, care for one another, pray fervently, please God and be ready when the Day of the Lord comes.

The Gospel according to Luke speaks dramatically about signs that will signal the coming of Jesus Christ with great power and glory to transfigure us into the likeness of God.

We gather together in his name before the word of God and around the table of the Lord to hear God’s voice in scripture and to re-experience the sacrificial, life-giving death and glorious resurrection of Jesus. And through this mystery, we re-experience the living Christ who has already made us by grace what Jesus Christ is by nature: sons and daughters of God.

That great news of our faith challenges us this Advent season to look for the good in ourselves, in other people and in everyday situations of life. God is the ultimate good-finder. God so loved us that he became one of us.