God is in all of life

Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper

The theme of love in the Gospel is an invitation to reflect upon our own life.

During these “stay at home” coronavirus times, which we will hopefully get beyond soon, our regular contacts may have been limited to a smaller number of people. This can be a blessing, if we have the right attitude.

Let me illustrate my point with a true story.  Over a century and a half ago, “diamond fever” struck Africa. Some people struck it rich. Others made a long, arduous, disappointing search.

One man sold his farm and began trekking through the continent, never finding diamonds.

Meanwhile, on the land the man had sold, the new owner found a strange-looking stone. A visitor noticed it and shouted excitedly, “This is a diamond! It’s one of the largest I’ve ever seen.”
They discovered that the entire farm was covered with gems.

Some people never take the time to see the “gems” in their own families.  So “stop and smell the roses” in your family. Look at God’s love for them. Any gem, of course, may need polishing. But the gem’s there.

So what does Sunday's Word of God have to say to us?In the beginnings of Christianity, a deacon named Philip is traveling to the back-water city of Samaria, proclaiming the “Good News” that Jesus Christ lives. And because Christ lives, we live.

Philip had such remarkable success that the Jerusalem community dispatched Peter and John to Samaria so that they could fire up the newly baptized with the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom (to recognize what truly matters in life), intelligence (to discern what's true), courage (to stand up for what's right), empathy and compassion (for the needy), good judgment, and wonder and awe.

The letter of Peter urges Christians to be patient, especially in adversity, and to speak with “gentleness and reverence.” Like Jesus, if they have to suffer, he asks them to suffer for doing good rather than for doing evil. Jesus is indeed our model.  Remember: in the tragedy of the cross is the triumph of Easter.

Jesus in the Gospel announces his departure from the disciples: his close friends. They feel isolated, alone. But Jesus promises that he still will be with them through the Spirit. He alludes to the mystery of the triune God: Father, Son and Spirit. The triune God lives within us and we live within the triune God. This is called the mystery of the indwelling of God. His presence is as real to us now as it was to the disciples then. The challenge is to find God in our daily lives.

The temptation is that we may tend to isolate God to “church” or “temple.” But God is in all of life: in moments of great joy, in periods of dark sadness, in the nitty-gritty of work. The Gospel invites us to look beneath and beyond ordinary appearances and see the reality of God all around us.

Theodore Roosevelt – author, conservationist, historian, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and 26th President of the United States (the youngest president ever at 42) – had some sound advice when he stated, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.”

Roosevelt believed that you found yourself by being involved with everyday life. Like people in the Bible. Yes, let us pray for the grace to find the presence of God everywhere--in ourselves, in other people and in everyday situation-and especially in the nitty-gritty of daily life.

'Tis the Season to Rejoice

John the Baptist Proclaiming Repentance

This third Sunday of Advent is known as “Gaudete” Sunday: a Latin verb meaning “rejoice” because Jesus, the joy of our salvation, will be born.

As we anticipate celebrating his birth, we thank Jesus for the gift of life, God's eternal life. We have so much to be thankful for. Yet many people lack what we take for granted. Yes, this season especially is a time to rejoice and share our blessings.

When you hear the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, remember there’s a story behind it. I share this each year because Christians still are persecuted in some places for their faith.

Catholics in Protestant England could not practice their faith openly for more than two centuries. So someone wrote The Twelve Days of Christmas which has two levels of meaning: one secular; the other, religious. Guess what the numbers symbolize; here’s a hint:
A partridge in a pear tree is…Jesus Christ.
The two turtle doves are the New and Old Testaments.
Three French hens stand for faith, hope, love.
Four calling birds are the four Gospels.
Look up the rest and play a game with children/grandchildren to see how well they can remember.

The word of God from Isaiah takes us back probably to the sixth century before Jesus (the 500s). Jerusalem had experienced immense destruction. Yet the author speaks about new beginnings: the desert will bloom; the wilderness will burst with life. The messiah will come. The author may be asking us: what message do we proclaim through our attitudes and behaviors?

James in his letter urges us to practice patience like the farmer who plants and works with nature to bring forth a harvest of produce. Patience! Even better, perseverance!

In the Gospel, John the Baptizer announces that he is the voice in the wilderness who prepares the way for the messiah. He cried out to the people who came to the waters of the Jordan River, “repent,” live an other-centered, God-centered life. And when Jesus walked along the Jordan, John pointed to Jesus as being the sacrificial Lamb of God, through whose bloody death/glorious resurrection we have a right relationship with God.

John prepared the way for Jesus, the bridge between two covenants that created a special relationship between God and us.

John challenges us to be heralds of Jesus, evangelizers, missionary disciples, in our families, our workplaces our communities by the manner in which we live. We are called to prepare the way of the Lord so that Jesus Christ, gloriously alive, can enter into our “hearts” and those of our fellow human beings.

This season, there’s no better place to begin again than in our own families, by creating an even better sense of togetherness, by cherishing people more deeply for who they are, and by reaching out to one another with a helping hand and praying together – especially at Sunday liturgies.

Family: Always There for Us

Murillo's Holy Family

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Cherish the precious gems you have in your family: siblings, spouse and sons/daughters; recognize the gems in your parents. Notice the gems all around you in your neighborhood and parish community.

We become like God, here and now, by striving to reflect godlike attitudes and behaviors in our relationships with one another.

In the Gospel according to Luke, the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph made a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem. On their way back, Mary and Joseph suddenly realized Jesus was missing. But their anxiety turned into joy: young Jesus was astonishing the rabbis with his wisdom.

This close-knit holy family went back home to Nazareth, where Jesus grew in wisdom and age. For twenty-some years, this family clung together. They fled to Egypt together. They lived in a backwater village and worked at ordinary tasks. Joseph, tradition says, kept his loved ones in daily bread with the skill of his hands. Mary baked and spun, carried water, and taught Jesus to pray. And Mary eventually waved goodbye to Jesus as he set off for his life’s mission. She experienced the empty nest!

What sustained the holy family in Nazareth? What sustains ours? I would like to suggest three virtues: faithfulness, courage, and prudence.

Faithfulness builds trust. Parents need to be faithful to each other and to their children. Children trust that parents will always be there. We all need to know that someone loves us and will always be there for us, especially when we hit a rough patch in life. We need the anchor of faithfulness in our ever-changing world.

Second, families need courage. Courage is about moral character. It defines who we are at the core of our innermost selves. It is an attitude that challenges us, despite our fears, to stand up for what is right and true and good. Many of us would include Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mother Teresa in our list of courageous people. And we probably would include our parents. Parenting, sustaining life, requires courage, always trying to do the right thing even when we’re not sure it’s right.

And the third virtue for families is prudence. It doesn’t mean caution. Rather prudence is the instinct to seek the right thing to do among our many choices, whereas courage is the instinct to do the right thing despite our fears. Prudence and courage go hand in hand. Often decisions are not either/or but both/and. It’s only by making decisions daily that parents become experienced decision makers. Prudence requires continually reflecting on decisions and learning from them.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph lived as a family, a holy family. May God on this Feast of the Holy Family anchor our own families and community in faithfulness, courage, and prudence.