1st Week of Advent 2024 - Monday - Climbing the Mountain

“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the world and my soul will be healed.” 

How appropriate, that right at the beginning of Advent, we have this profound statement of humble faith of the Roman Centurion. “Lord, I am not worthy”

On one hand, these words confess our unworthiness to receive the holy one. Our lives our full of so many imperfections, so much weakness, that the words of St. Peter would be more appropriate, no? “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” I have so often turned away from grace, turned away from goodness. I am not worthy.

And yet, Advent celebrates that the Lord comes to us, draws near to us, not only despite our unworthiness, but because of it. We celebrate that God desires not that the sinner should perish, but that he might have eternal life. And so rather than turning away from us in disgust, God draws near to us, and becomes one of us.

In the reading from Isaiah, not only Isaiah, but all nations joyfully stream toward the Lord who has made his dwelling upon the holy mountain. During Advent, we celebrate how the Lord draws near to us, but also recognize that we must do our part to climb the Lord’s mountain, in order to draw near to him, and that is a source of great joy.

What are some ways we can draw near to the Lord this Advent?

Like the Centurion, we do well to make a confession of our unworthiness. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a beautiful way to prepare for the coming of Christ. By acknowledging our sins and receiving God’s forgiveness, we make room for His grace.

The words of the Centurion are also echoed in every Mass: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof”. Participating in every daily mass we can is one of the most profound ways we can enter climb the mountain of the Lord during Advent. For at Mass, we hear the voice of the Lord in our Advent scripture readings, and we are able to draw as close as we possibly can to the Lord while we are still on earth, in the worthy reception of Holy Communion.

Isaiah speaks of all nations streaming toward the Lord. We certainly grow in the Advent spirit when we help others draw near to the Lord as well: inviting them to mass, to prayer, to scripture study, and reaching out in love and generosity and small acts of kindness.

Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord, that we may meet the Lord in love and joy, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.


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As we await with longing the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, we raise up our prayers of petitions.

That Christ may visit his holy Church and always find her repentant of sin and watchful in prayer.

That Christ may fill the Pope, our Bishop, and all the clergy with spiritual gifts and graces.

That Christ may guide the minds of those who govern us to promote the common good according to His Holy Will.

That Christ may banish disease, drive out hunger, and ward off every affliction.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Almighty ever-living God, who bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.

 

1st Week of Advent 2021 - Wednesday - Fulfillment of prophecies of old

 There is a beautiful interplay between the first reading and the Gospel throughout the weekdays of Advent. In the first reading there is a prophecy about the Messiah, from Isaiah these first two weeks. Then in our Gospel reading, we catch a glimpse of how that old testament prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus.

For example, on Monday, Isaiah prophesied how “All nations shall stream toward” God, not just the Jews, but all nations shall be instructed by God, and their swords will be beaten into pruning hooks.

Then in the Gospel, we heard of a sword carrying, non-Jewish Roman centurion, who approached Jesus seeking healing for his servant. 

Today, we hear the prophecy of God’s holy mountain, upon which death will be destroyed, the tears of the miserable will be wiped away, and the hungry will feast. And then in the Gospel, Jesus fulfills that very prophecy driving away the powers of death in the lame, blind, and deformed. And he then feeds the multitude through this miraculous multiplication of loaves, after which there is more food left over than when they started. 

As these prophecies were being fulfilled in the earthly ministry of Jesus, you can bet that people were getting excited. The apostles followed him with vigor as they began to recognize who he was. Jews and Gentiles began to recognize that God was at work. Jesus was stirring things up, calling the slumbering to wake up, repent, change your ways, get ready, the kingdom of God is at hand. 

So, too, in this age of the Church Advent should stir something in us. It has the power to enflame the lukewarm, inspire faith in non-believers, rouse the negligent, call sinners to repentant, and deepen the faith of even the saintly. 

But the power of Advent needs to emanate outside of the walls of our churches in the preaching and good works of the faithful. In our generosity toward the miserable, in the softening and warming of our hearts toward the poor and lame, outside of these walls souls can be touched and transformed. 

May we cooperate generously with the myriad ways our Lord wishes to draw souls to Himself for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.

That through the witness and work of the Church, Our Lord will bring hope to the hopeless and joy to the joyless.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That Christ may heal every disease, drive out hunger, feed every authentic hunger, ward off every affliction, and bring peace to the suffering.

For the deceased of our parish, family and friends, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for Edward Yurick. for whom this Mass is offered.

Almighty ever-living God, who bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.

1st Week of Advent 2020 - Wednesday - The ultimate promise

 

To understand the impact of Isaiah’s words during advent, again, it is good for us to consider the context of the people of Israel at the time. Remember, it is the darkest point in Israel’s history. Most of the Jews had been banished from the land of milk and honey, the promised land. They were in exile. Family members had been separated as a way to break their spirits. The Temple of God, where they went to worship and bask in the presence of God had been destroyed.

So, imagine the impact of Isaiah’s message from God, this promise of a holy mountain on which the peoples would be gathered back together again, where they would feast, where tears would be wiped away. Ok. Maybe we can endure our sufferings a little longer, if this is what we have to look forward to. Maybe we will get our spiritual lives in order, so that we can become heirs of this promise.

This is certainly one of my favorite passages from the prophet Isaiah. And it’s no wonder why many family members request this passage to be read at funerals for their deceased loved ones. For it contains a powerful message of hope and peace and comfort at a time when it is desperately needed—a time of loss, separation, grief. The family dinner table will never be the same. 

This promise is so powerful because it speaks not just to the situation of Israel at a particularly dark moment in its history, but to the situation of every human person in relation to God. 

It’s the promise that through the Messiah, all that was lost through sin will be restored. The exile from paradise. The hostility between nations, and families, and individuals. The sorrow and grief. Hunger and disease. Death itself will be destroyed. And the encounter with God which was experienced in the Garden of Paradise will be made possible once again. 

Through the Messiah, as Isaiah promises here, we will behold God, we will see God who is hidden through life, who seems especially hidden in the dark times of our life. Here is the fulfillment of our hearts deepest longing--this really is the ultimate promise.

Advent helps us to mold our souls to receive this promise, helping us get our souls into shape through prayer and penance. So what needs to change in me, what attitudes need to change, what habits need to change in order for God to bring his promises to fulfillment in my life? 

The Lord is moved with pity, as we heard in the Gospel, over our sad, sorry state. He sees that we are spiritually famished for his presence. And we see him in the Gospel, on the mountain, feeding the hungry souls. May we respond generously to Him as he is so generous to us, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.

That through the courageous witness of the Christian Church, Our Lord will bring hope to the hopeless and joy to the joyless.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That Christ may heal every disease, drive out hunger, ward off every affliction, and bring peace to the suffering.

For the deceased of our parish, family and friends, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Almighty ever-living God, you bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church may rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.

28th Sunday in OT 2020 - Invitation to the Wedding Feast

 

To receive an invitation to anything is a bit of an honor.  It means someone enjoys our presence enough to invite us to be with them: a birthday or retirement party, a grand opening, a clambake fundraiser, to which all of you are invited next Saturday evening.  Another nice thing about an invitation is that we are free to accept or decline it.  A family birthday party might seem more of a duty than an option, but we are still free to accept the invitation or not.

Throughout Scripture, God is encountered as one who invites.  God invites us to friendship with Him.  God invites us to trust Him.  God invites us to eternal life in heaven.  God, the Father, sent His only Son, as a sort of living incarnate invitation, inviting us to follow Him in all things. Jesus often speaks of the invitation to follow Him.  

And, In the Gospel today, Jesus tells a parable comparing his Father to a king whose sends out invitations to a lavish wedding party.  A long time ago, all the way back before COVID-19, large groups of people, in fact, felt safe enough to gather to celebrate major events like weddings.   

Well, Jesus uses this image—the lavish wedding banquet filled with rich food, sweet wines, song, music, and dance—to describe heaven, in a way similar to Isaiah in our first reading, in which heaven is described as a mountain-top-feast filled with rich food and choice wine.

It's no coincidence that the Holy Mass, celebrated each Sunday contains some of these elements: food, wine, song, music, in some cultures, dance. I remember being at an ordination in Madagascar, where following the ordination mass, the entire gathering, including the bishop and priests broke out into a sort of conga line to celebrate the ordinations. The saints describe the Mass as a foretaste of heaven, in which God is encountered and joyfully worshipped. 

Outside of times, like our current one, where attending Mass must still be done cautiously, the invitation to attend mass and the invitation to heaven in eternity, virtually coincide. We come to Mass week after week to express our acceptance of the invitation to heaven. And to reject one is to reject the other…in normal times.

What an honor to be invited by God Himself to the wedding feast. To think, we, humanity, who rejected harmony with God in the garden of eden, and reject the invitation to faithfulness over and over in every stage of history, in every stage of life, continue to be invited by God himself into his presence—to communion with Him.

And yet, it’s pretty clear from Jesus’ parable that acceptance of the invitation is not forced on anybody. Christianity is not forced, mass attendance is not forced, heaven is not forced on us. And the choices we make in this life express whether we accept or decline the invitation. For, again, the parable is clear, if we reject the invitation, there will be eternal consequences.  For God will respect the decision to reject his invitation definitively.  

So what do we do about those who appear to be rejecting the invitation? What do we do about those family members who haven’t gone to church in a decade outside the occasional wedding or funeral. Or those in adulterous situations? We cannot change them.  We cannot force them to be here or to repent.  So what can we do?

For one, we can nudge, we can gently remind them of God’s invitation.  Though our society tells us never to discuss religion, Our Lord commands us to go out to all nations, to share the Gospel, to invite.  So we can gently remind family members of God’s invitation back to Church, in our conversations and interactions with them. In fact, it seems God expects us to. With mass attendance down a bit for various reasons, some gentle nudges are certainly needed. Many of our fellow parishioners, too, who haven’t returned to mass because of the virus or for various reasons, too, can be gentle invited back and reassured of the safety of what we are doing here. 

Secondly, every one of us should be praying on a daily basis for family members who appear to be rejecting God’s invitation.  For prayer is so powerful.  There are miracles God wishes to perform as answers to our prayers. So in our daily prayer, to lift up a fallen-away family member to God, to offer that rosary for them, is so powerful. 

Also, mortification and fasting.  Fasting, has been a powerful spiritual instrument in the history of the Church, practiced by the saints, as a means of bringing about conversion.  To fast, perhaps, on bread and water, once a week, for the conversion of a family member, has incomparable power.  

But, perhaps the greatest thing that we can do is to be filled with the Joy of the Gospel.  The witness of a Christian who is filled with joy because of their love of Christ and His Church draws others to God like a magnet. I never met Mother Theresa, but I met some of the sisters who worked along side her, who emulate her spirit, her attitude, her prayerfulness, and care for the poor.  They were brimming over with joy, super-magnets drawing others to Christ. They and so many good consecrated religious remind us that joy is discovered as we pour ourselves out in service. Authentic joy, Mother Theresa says, is a net of love for which to catch souls. One of the terrible thing about these masks is that they cover up joyful Christian faces.

A few years ago Pope Francis warned Christians about having “una cara de vinagre” he says in his native spanish—a face of vinegar.  Meaning, don’t be a sourpuss because it does not attract people to the Gospel.  The Pope offers a real challenge here, because the pilgrimage of the Christian is hard.  We are pilgrims on a hard journey.  And sometimes our own crosses feel terribly heavy.  In these times, then, we are called to turn to prayer and trust all the more, so that we can be refreshed by God, and witness to his saving help. 

For finally, God invites us each of us deeper into a loving and intimate relationship with Himself through prayer, to “spend time in spiritual conversation, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament” of the Eucharist. At the Last Supper in fact, the Lord says, “I have told you all these things so that my joy might be in you, and your joy might be complete.” We believe what the Church teaches, we celebrate it in the sacraments, we follow it in our moral lives, and we engage in prayer, so that we can know the joyful life the Lord wants for each one of us—and again, that joy is a net of love to catch souls, to invite souls.

For, like the servants in the Gospel whom the king sends out into the towns and the streets, Christians are to be God’s inviters. Inviting back the fallen-away and inviting strangers, those out in the streets, in our neighborhood. And yet, we are also the ones whom the Lord invites to be people of greater peace, hospitality, gentleness, and Christian joy.  

As we come forward to receive the most Holy Sacrament today, may our hearts be open to all the gifts God invites us to receive for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

2nd Sunday of Lent 2020 - The dangerous business of going out your door

 One of the great works of literature from the 20th century was written by Catholic author J.R.R. Tolkien. You may have read or watched the film production of his “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy. This fantasy saga about hobbits and elves and wizards and dragons is heavily infused with imagery inspired by Tolkien’s Catholic faith.

The tale begins with the discovery of a magic ring. The main character, Frodo, and his friend Sam are tasked with the perilous quest of bringing the mysterious ring to a group of wise elves who will determine what to do with this dangerous artifact.

I thought of Tolkien’s story in regards to our first reading today. Abraham is tasked by God to leave his home, his native land, and venture to a new place, filled with strangers and enemies. A perilous quest for anyone, but particularly Abraham who was 75 years old.

There is a great scene near the beginning of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, where Frodo and Sam, having walked for about a day and half from their village, reach the edge of field, and Sam stops and says, “this is it…If I take one more step, I'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been.” To which Frodo responds, “Come on, Sam. Remember what my uncle used to say: "It's a dangerous business,  going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no telling where you might be swept off to."

Sam spoke those words with no idea that his feet would take him so far from home, farther than he could ever dream of, and he would do things he never thought himself possible of doing. Like Abraham, like moses, like the prophets, like the apostles and saints. These holy men and women all took a risk of stepping out their front door, and allowing God to lead them to unknown lands, figuratively and oftentimes literally, further from home than they’ve ever been. God invites all of us to trust him, to allow him to lead us into the unknown, into new ways of service and sacrifice,
prayer and evamgelization.

In the Gospel we hear of Peter, James, and John being led up a mountain by Jesus. They had already taken the risk of leaving their fathers’ fishing businesses, following this itinerant preacher and miracle worker all over Galilee. And now, he was leading them up this strange mountain. St. Matthew uses this wonderful word in the Greek for Jesus’ act of leading his apostles up the mountain side. The word is anaphora. Anaphora means to lead up or carry up or bring up.  The word also has the connotation of offering up:  as in the high priest offering up sacrifices for the forgiveness of the sins of the people.

This connection of being led up a mountain and offering up a sacrifice, should certainly make us think of our blessed Lord being led up to mount calvary by the will of his father. And indeed, Christians have always seen the story of the Transfiguration as a foreshadowing of the Lord climbing the Mount of Calvary and also our vocation of following where our master has gone before us.
Peter, James, and John, like their Lord would go on to climb the mountain of suffering for the sake of the Gospel; they “bore their share of hardship for the gospel” as Paul writes to timothy in our second reading. Peter, like the Lord, was crucified. James, was the first to be martyred among the apostles. John, though he died of old age, suffered greatly, he was even boiled in oil, but he survived.
We must all trust the Lord enough to allow him to lead us up the holy mountain. It’s not an easy journey. It’s steep. It’s hard. It requires courage and fortitude. It might even be, like it was for Peter James and John, quite terrifying, initially.

But something happens at the top of the mountain that makes the terrible journey worth it. At the top of the mountain, we encounter God. And that too might be terrifying at first, as it was for Peter, James, and John. But that mountain top encounter with God, changes you, bolsters you, in fact, we long for it. This desire for the mountaintop encounter with the true and living God is deeper than our fears.

Pope Benedict writes, “This letting oneself be guided where one does not want to be led is an essential dimension of our service, and it is exactly what makes us free. In this being guided, which can be contrary to our ideas and plans, we experience something new—the wealth of God’s love.”
There is no doubt, for each and every person here, some place, that God wants to lead us, where we, initially, don’t want to be led. It could be because of our swollen ego, or our fear of suffering, our fear of being rejected by our fellow man. But each one of us, no doubt, is being called by God up a mountain.

That mountain’s name for some of us, might be “forgiveness”, forgiving someone who hurt you deeply. For some, it might be “chastity or self-control”, putting an end to unchaste or spiritually unhealthy habits and actions. For some, it might be “generosity”—learning to trust God enough to give to others more generously. For some, the name of that mountain might be “Confession”. The Sacrament of Confession is sometimes daunting because it requires us to name our failures and seek to change, a very steep mountain indeed.

But, atop each of these daunting, steep mountains, is an encounter with Jesus Christ, which will set you free and bring you joy. In the end, that holy mountain, is the only one worth climbing.
The Eucharistic preface for this second Sunday of Lent, proclaims how the Lord brings the apostles up the holy mountain to show them that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection. We willingly undergo the sufferings of the Christian life because of that promise, that what we suffer leads to the glory of the resurrection.

So this Lent, take a risk. Pray more than you ever have. Read the Bible more devoutly and reflectively. Fast more strictly than you ever have, trust that the Lord will feed you with what you will give you life. And Give like you never have. Take a risk, step out your front door, climb the mountain. Offer him your time, your body and soul.

The early Greek Christians used that wonderful word Anaphora to describe the Mass. And we Romans Catholics too, refer to that part of the Mass as the anaphora, when bread and wine are offered to God to become the flesh and blood of Jesus the High Priest who offers himself to the Father for our salvation.

As the Lord is offered up, may we offer our lives in union with him, and allow him to lead us in holiness, to grant us courage in leaving the comfort of our native lands, further from home than we’ve ever been. It’s dangerous out there, but he is with us, leading the way, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

1st Week of Advent 2019 - Wednesday - Fulfillment of Prophecy Past Present and Future

Yesterday, we heard Isaiah’s prophecy of the heir of the Davidic King who will usher in an era of lasting peace. And then in the Gospel, Jesus explained how he was that heir, how the prophets and kings of old longed to see what he was now accomplishing. So, we had a prophecy from Isaiah, and then Jesus explained how he was the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Today, our readings follow the same pattern. In Isaiah we hear of the promises of a mountain upon which God will provide for all peoples, a feast of rich food and choice wines, that on this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, he will destroy death, he will wipe away tears, on that day we will behold our God.

And then in the Gospel, Jesus is fulfilling those promises: Jesus atop a mountain miraculously cures the mute, the lame, the blind, the deformed, and then he feeds this great multitude, miraculously multiplying seven loaves of bread and a few fish, and has an abundance of food left over.

Jesus continues to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah during this age of the Church: in the Sacraments the sick come to him for healing in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, those spiritually sick and even dead in sin, come to him for healing and new life in the Sacrament of Confession, and he feeds us with supersubstantial food, his body and blood in the Eucharist.

And Our Lord heals the sick and feeds the hungry through the charitable work of Church. Hospitals were invented by Christians seeking to be the healing hands of Christ in the world. And the Church continues to be the greatest of charitable institutions in feeding the starving and clothing the naked of the world.

And yet, these readings still point to the future, to the second Advent and coming of Christ at the end of the age, when we will eat and drink at the eternal banquet feast of heaven and be clothed with glory forever, where there will be no more death or disease, and every tear will be wiped away forever.

Advent certainly helps us appreciate the ways in which the prophecies of old were fulfilled in the earthly ministry of Jesus 2000 years ago, how they are fulfilled now in the present, and how they will be fulfilled in eternity. So what needs to change in us, that we may be more perceptive of God at work in our midst, and more participative in God’s work now, and what needs to change that I may ready myself for the ultimate fulfillment of these promises in eternity?

May the light and life of Christ’s Advent shine in us today and forever for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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We raise up our prayers of petitions, as we await with longing the Advent of Christ the Lord.
That through the witness of the Christian Church, Our Lord will bring hope to the hopeless and joy to the joyless.
That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.
That Christ may heal every disease, drive out hunger, feed every authentic hunger, ward off every affliction, and bring peace to the suffering.
For the deceased of our parish, family and friends, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.
Almighty ever-living God, who bring salvation to all and desire that no one should perish, hear the prayers of your people and grant that the course of our world may be directed by your peaceful rule and your Church rejoice in tranquility and devotion. Through Christ our Lord.