Tag: #alaskapriest

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Advent – Hope and Joy!

You know, in my life as an Ecumenist, both on the theological and the practical side, I have worked with folks from every denomination and major world religion.  One of the side effects is that when one enters into dialogue with others, you gain a real appreciation for your own tradition.

…I really like being Catholic. 

One of the great things about being Catholic is that how we see every part of life as touched by Almighty God. We sanctify everything: people, places…and time. As we enter int Advent this week, I’m going to concentrate on how we sanctify time.

We have holy hours, holy days, (ergo the word “Holiday”), Holy Week, and holy seasons.   In many ways this makes us counter cultural. 

While secular America has just entered “the Holiday Season”, we enter into the Holy Season of Advent. For us Catholics and many protestants, the Christmas season proper does not begin until the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and continues until the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord. on January 12th.

But before we get there, we have this wonderful season of expectation, preparation, repentance, and hope. 

Most people may know that the Advent season focuses on expectation and think that it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. This is part of the story, but there’s so much more to Advent.

       The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia (παρουσία). During the 4th and 5th centuries in Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians in January on the feast of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ’s humanity and divinity by the visit of the Magi to the child Jesus, his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and his first miracle at Cana. During this season of preparation, sometimes called St. Martin’s Lent, since it began on November 11th, the Feast of St. Martin, early Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration.

       By the 6th century, however, the Church in Rome had tied Advent to the coming of Christ. Pope Gregory the Great in the late 6th/early 7th century composed many of the prayers, antiphons, and psalm responses. But the “coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in glory at the end of the age. It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas.

       These days, the first three weeks of Advent focus on our preparation for Christ’s second coming in glory. Then, in the last week of Advent, we shift the focus to our preparation for his first coming in humility.

       The readings each Sunday reinforce this. Today, we hear the prophet Jeremiah remind us that the days are coming when the Lord will fulfill his promise to send the Messiah

       Paul exhorts us to conduct ourselves in a way that is pleasing to God.

       And finally, Our Lord himself tells us that when he comes again in glory, we should stand erect and raise our head, for our redemption is at hand. Indeed, the trials and tribulations that he mentioned seem all too present sometimes. Thus, we need to remain vigilant so that we may recognize him at his coming. 

       And he may find us waiting in joyful hope.

How we keep the Holy Season of Advent not only helps us do so, but it can be a lot of fun.

Be counter cultural! 

This year, why not make Advent something special.  Here’s some ideas

  • Get an Advent Wreath. 
  • Celebrate the Sundays of Advent and the major saints and feasts:
  • St. Andew’s Christmas Novena
  • St. Nicholas Day, 6 December
  • Immaculate Conception, Holy Day Dec. 9th
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 December
  • St. Lucy Day, 13 Dec
  • Go to Confession!  Get your spiritual house in order.
  • Fun stuff to do in Advent
    • Advent Wreathes
    • Jesse Trees – an example in the Narthex
    • Advent Calendars
    • O Antiphons
  • Have the Wise Men travel across the living room a little each day, until they finally reach the manger on January 6th.
  • Once you’ve set up your Manger, (of Baby Jesus won’t go in there until Christmas), have a little pile of straw nearby. Every times someone in the house does a good deed, put a piece of straw in the manger so that Jesus may have a comfortable bed when he arrives .
  • Clean out your closet and give something to the Warm Clothing Drive.
  • Go to Formed.org for videos, podcasts and Advent resources.

Advent is a time of expectation, preparation, repentance, and hope. 

      For the first three weeks we prepare for his second coming in glory at the end of the age. In the last week, we shift our focus as we prepare to celebrate his first coming in humility. 

      Be counter cultural! Get ready!  Have fun! So that when Our Lord comes…

however he comes,

he may find us ready to welcome him

standing erect, with our heads held high,

filled with hope and joy.

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Ask Fr. Leo – Christians in the Military? Why only Pilate in the Creed?

Dear Fr. Leo,

     Can a Christian be in the military?  What about the fifth commandment?  – G

Dear G,

     The quick answer is, “Yes, but only for the right reasons.”  Christian soldiers do not wage war indiscriminately. Rather, they are the agents of peace in the maintenance of legitimate self-defense. 

     The question is one of the oldest moral conundrums in the Church. It came to the fore in the early 4th century soon after the emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 A.D. By the beginning of the 5th century, Christianity was the official religion of the Empire. Things came to a head after the pagan armies sacked Rome in 410. Many had written on the subject before, but it was St. Augustine, in his classic work on religion and civil society, The City of God, who gave us the definitive articulation. Augustine said that Christians actually make the best soldiers because they only fight in just wars. Augustine’s articulation of what constitutes a just war still sets the context for public policy today. (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2302-2317, Safeguarding Peace.) The taking up of arms for legitimate self-defense is only justified if all of the following conditions are met:

– the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;

– all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
– there must be serious prospects of success;
– the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. the power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition. (CCC, par. 2309).  

The catechism goes on to say that only those with legitimate authority, namely, national governments have the responsibility of determining if these conditions are met. By the same token, governments may impose upon their citizens the obligations of defense. In times of national crisis, they can draft people into military service. In doing so, “Those who are sworn to serve their country in the armed forces are servants of the security and freedom of nations. If they carry out their duty honorably, they truly contribute to the common good of the nation and the maintenance of peace.” (CCC, par. 2310) 

     At the same time the Church is very clear that governments must also make allowances for those who in conscience cannot take up arms. However, “these are nonetheless obliged to serve the human community in some other way.” (CCC, par. 2311)

     In sum, Christians can and do serve honorably in the armed services, but they do so, not as “hawks” or aggressors, but under certain conditions and according to a strict moral code. Nations have a legitimate right to self-defense, but war is always the last resort when all other peaceful means of resolution of conflict have been exhausted. In the meantime, we all have an obligation to work actively to build up a more peaceful world, in our homes, in our parishes, our schools, and our communities so that armed conflict becomes not only unnecessary, but truly unthinkable. 

Dear Fr. Leo:

     Why is only Pontius Pilate named for his role in Christ’s crucifixion in our creed?  Why are the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes who persecuted, plotted, and paid blood money for Christ’s crucifixion not named?  – T

Dear T,

     That’s a good question. In fact, we could even take it even a step further. Why not name all of us other sinners as well? If you think about, we all had a role to play in the sufferings of Christ. That being said, I like the distinction you make that it was the religious authorities at that time, and not the whole Jewish people, who had a central role in the Passion of Christ.

     But in point of fact, the wording of the Nicene Creed has less to do with what went on at the time of Jesus than what was going on at the time the Creed was written. When the bishops met at Nicaea in 325 A.D, they were faced with the first major dogmatic crisis in the Church. The priest, Arius, a good Greek well-versed in the Greek philosophers, could not get his head around the notion that Jesus was truly human and truly divine. As a result, he rejected the divinity of Christ. He gained quite a following and caused much confusion and conflict in the Church. To resolve the matter, the emperor called a Council. Long story short, with the help of St. Leo the Great, the council fathers affirmed that while truly human, Christ was at the same time “of the same substance” as the Father. Furthermore, it was the whole Christ, not just half of him, who redeemed us by his suffering on the Cross, and who glorified us by his resurrection. I suspect that since Pilate was the legitimate Roman authority who gave the order, he was named in the Creed as a way of including all those involved. And, if you think about it, all of us are included a little earlier in the Creed with the phrase “For us…and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.” Thanks for the question!

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To Serve

Here in Alaska, we are blessed every year by over 2.7M people who visit us every year.  The average stay is about eight and a half nights. Every one of us either has or knows somebody who has waited tables or tended bar, or worked in some aspect of the hospitality industry.  I think everybody should at some point. You learn a lot of good, subtle skills.

I’m reminded of the man from Wisconsin who walked into a bar. While he’s sitting there, he hears a little voice say, “Hey, I like your hair that way.” He looks around and sees no one. As the bartender brings him his drink, he hears the voice again, “Hey, that color looks really good on you.”  Puzzled, he asked bartender, “Are you speaking to me?”  The bartender says, “Oh no, that’s the peanuts.  Their complimentary.” 

Chris and the peanuts understand what Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, meant when in  1825 he said: To welcome a guest is to be answerable for his or her happiness so long as he is beneath your roof.

In short, it is a very profound, indeed a sacred thing to be at the service of another person.

And as we learn in the readings given us today, it is an essential part of being a follower of Jesus.  You cannot be a follower of Jesus without being a servant to others. 

We get a hint of this in the first reading where Joshua confronts the people at the end of their journey to the promised land.  There, with the people who have joined them, he essentially exhorts them, “Choose now! Whom will you serve?” 

This sense of service emphasizes the transcendence of God. The servant subordinates him- or herself  to the one being served.  In the context of Joshua and the people, it is a statement of faith, an acknowledgement that God is greater that we are and that our lives only make sense in service to him.  In short, it is an embrace of primary tenant of true religion:

       God is God…and you are not. 

Paul emphasizes this idea of subordination in his Letter to the Ephesians that we hear today. The first thing we hear him say is:  Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ.

       Do you see the subtle shift here? 

       Q: Jesus Christ is Lord.  But how are we to serve the Lord?

       A: By being of service to one another. 

Paul then gives some examples of what that might look like in the culture of his day.

       For Paul, and for us, to be a Christian is to be one who serves others. 

Q: Where does Paul get this idea? 

       A: From Christ himself. 

Today we come to the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse.  It is a moment of decision, not unlike the one with Joshua and the people we heard earlier. 

Up to this point, having seen the miracles, having been fed by the loaves and the fishes, those in the crowd are great fans of Jesus, but they are not yet his followers. The teaching that Jesus has just given is hard. They don’t know what to make of it. But what an interesting question Jesus asks them: “ What if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?”

When we realize who Jesus is and when we understand what he has done, the implication here is inescapable and utterly stupefying.  Put simply, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the Eternal Logos, he who is truly divine made himself subordinate to us. He came to serve, not to be served, so that we might have life and have it abundantly. 

It is fitting that the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse ends by reminding us that to be a follower of Christ means to be a man or woman who serves. 

Even today, Jesus has many fans but few followers. One can be a believer without being very believable. 

So many in our increasingly secular society see Jesus as a cosmic therapist who is there simply to make them feel better. 

Nothing could be further than the truth. 

To be a follower of Jesus is to serve the Lord by serving one another. In our Eucharist, which he left us as an everlasting memorial of his passion death and resurrection, we do four things. 

       We gather

       We share our stories

       We break and share the Bread of Life

       And we are sent into the world to be of service to the world

              And if not the whole world, then at least that little part of the world with which we will come into contact.

Let me conclude with the story of the Ten-Foot Chopsticks.

There was a man who died and went to the Pearly Gates. St. Peter greets him and says, “Hey, good to have you here! You are in. Would you like a look around?”

The man replies, “Sure, what is there to see?”

“Anything you want,” St. Peter replies.

“Well,” says the man, “I’m in right?”

“Sure,” says Pete.

“Uh…this may seem a bit strange, but do you mind if we see hell first? I’m just really curious.”

“No problem,” St. Peter replies, and off they go.

When they arrive in hell, the man is stunned to see a huge banquet table with every imaginable kind of food and delicacy heaped upon it in abundance. Yet around the table are thousands and thousands of damned souls. Everyone is emaciated and starving.

“This is awful!” the man says, “Why are they all starving?”

“Well,” explains St. Peter, “There is only one rule in the afterlife. You have to eat with ten-foot chopsticks.”

“I can’t take this anymore,” the man says, “Let’s get out of here.” And off they go.

When they arrive in heaven, the man is shocked to see that it is exactly the same setup. Again, there is a huge banquet table with every imaginable food and delicacy in abundance. But in heaven, everyone gathered around the table is well-fed and happy. People are chatting and laughing and generally having a great time.

“Oh, thank God!” the man says, “I’m sure glad that ten-foot chopstick thing doesn’t apply here.”

“No,” says St. Peter, “Actually it does. Same rule. Everyone in the afterlife has to eat with ten-foot chopsticks.”

“I don’t get it,” the man says.

St. Peter replies, “The difference is that here in heaven, we feed each other.”

May our thoughts, our words, our deeds show that we are not just fans of Jesus, but followers as we serve the Lord by serving one another.

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Who Touched Me?

One of the common topics in Christology is how much did Jesus know and when did he know it? Christ was truly divine and truly human.  How much divine wisdom and knowledge could fit in his little human brain or be articulated by our feeble human vocabulary?

We won’t know on this side of the veil, of course, but the question does come up when we read gospels like our passage from Mark 5:21ff about the woman with the hemorrhage. Did Jesus really not know who touched him or was he just saying that to get the woman to reveal herself so the miracle could be acknowledged? It could be a little of both.

But the question that is asked is a good one.  “Who touched me?” 

Anybody who has ever been involved in any kind of ministry in the Church, whether ordained ministry or as a catechist or as a lector, usher, eucharistic minister to the homebound, etc., can tell you. Sometimes reflecting on a visit to a home or washing someone’s feet at Brother Francis Shelter, one sometimes asks the question, “Just who was ministering to whom?” I can’t tell you how various people have touched my heart in a special way or inspired me or gave me hope or an amazing example of faith in my 30 years of priesthood. 

“Who touched me?” is a question worth asking often. It makes a great spiritual exercise at the end of the day. As you are kneeling or sitting or lying down at the end of the day reflecting on the day’s events, thanking God for the blessings of the day and learning from its mistakes, ask yourself, “Whom did I encounter that touched me in a particular way?”  As you do so, thank God for that person and say an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be in thanksgiving. God sends certain people into our lives at certain times because we need them. Giving thanks for such a gift is a great way to end the day.

– Fr. Leo

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Ask Fr. Leo – Who Gets a Catholic Funeral?

Dear Fr. Leo

My brother’s wife recently died. She was not Catholic, but she sent the kids to Catholic schools and made sure they had all their sacraments. She would even accompany the family to Mass every Sunday.  I’m not sure why, but she never joined the Church. In many ways, she was more Catholic than a lot of Catholics I know. Will she be able to have a funeral Mass in a Catholic church?  – G

Dear G,

I am so very sorry for your loss.  The question does come up from time to time.  Namely, can someone who is not Catholic have a funeral liturgy in a Catholic church? A lot depends on the situation, but it the answer is usually yes. 

There are many ways of being Catholic. Those in the OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, formerly the RCIA) are usually given a funeral Mass, even though they had not yet been baptized or made an act of full communion.  They are very much a part of the Church, even though they have not yet received full initiation. 

Similar to that, there are those I like to call, “Catholics by association.” Although not formally Catholic, they are very much a part of the life of the parish. By your description, it sounds like your sister-in-law was an active part of the parish community, coming to Mass, instructing the children, coming to parish events.  In such circumstances, it can be possible for her to have a Catholic funeral and be buried in a Catholic cemetery in the family plot. 

If it does not seem prudent or practical to have a full funeral Mass, the Funeral Liturgy Without a Mass is a very good option. I did one of these once for a parishioner of mine who had joined the Church, but whose family were all very devout Lutherans. They were not comfortable with a funeral Mass for a variety of good reasons.  So, the Funeral Liturgy Without a Mass made sense in that situation. These usually happen at the parish church but can also take place at a funeral home.

Sometimes, it does not make sense to have a funeral in the Church. For example, there was a parishioner whose family of origin was Muslim. Not only did they not like the fact he had become a Catholic, but they were very uncomfortable coming into the church building itself.  In that case, simple graveside service made sense.  Later, we had a memorial Mass for him with just his widow, their children, and a few close friends and parishioners.

In sum, there are times when a funeral Mass is allowed for someone who is not Catholic.  There also some circumstances where that does not make sense. In those cases, there are many pastorally sensitive options to bring comfort the grieving family, and to commend our departed brothers or sisters into the arms of their Lord.

Dear Fr. Leo:

What is this “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” that Jesus talks about in Matthew 12:31? – J

Dear J,

Good question. It seems simple enough, but it takes a little bit of thought to get to the heart of the matter. First, we must acknowledge the reality of sin. Next, we must contemplate the even more powerful reality of God’s love. When we understand that the Holy Spirit is this very love of God working powerfully in the world, then we can understand what Jesus means when he says that the only sin that cannot be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Sin is an unfortunate, tragic, and a potentially deadly reality of the human condition. Even though the stain of original sin and all particular sins are washed away in baptism, we humans are still have a tendency to sin. We try our best, but sometimes we get selfish and fall into sin. The alternative is moral relativism which is simply hiding one’s head in the sand by denying the reality of the human condition.

The joy of the gospel lies in knowing that “nothing can separate us from the love of God.” (Rm 8:38).  The Catechism of the Catholic Church confirms this when it says: “There are no limits to the mercy of God…” (CCC, 1864.) The good news is that although none of us is without sin, neither are any of us beyond the love of God.

The Church understands that the Holy Spirit is the love shared between the Father and the Son. It is the power of this love that created the world and then redeemed it. There is no sin that is more powerful than this love. 

Nevertheless, we humans have a little thing called free will. If we have even the smallest iota of faith that God can forgive our sins, that can be enough. However, as the Catechism goes on to say, “but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.” (CCC, 1864). 

Such a deliberate refusal to believe in the power of God’s love to forgive one’s sins constitutes a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. God condemns no one to hell. The sad reality is that everyone in hell has freely chosen to be there.

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Holy Spirit 101

A truck loaded with thousands of copies of Roget’s Thesaurus crashed yesterday, losing its entire load.  Witnesses were stunned, startled, aghast, taken aback, stupefied, confused, shocked, rattled, paralyzed, dazed, bewildered, mixed up, surprised, awed, dumbfounded, nonplussed, flabbergasted, astounded, amazed, confounded, astonished, overwhelmed, horrified, numbed, speechless, and perplexed.

     Each year the Church commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Mary and the Apostles in the Upper Room. Pentecost is celebrated as the “birthday of the Church. We dress in red vestments to call to mind the tongues as of fire that rested on the heads of the disciples. We chant, “Come, Holy Spirit!” But who is the Holy Spirit and what’s it all about?

       The first thing we see from the sacred text is that the Holy Spirit is POWER, specifically the power of the love of God active in the life of the Church and in every Christian. Theologically, we understand the Holy Spirit as the love between the Father and the Son. By its very nature, love is procreating animating, and recreating. It is procreative in the act of creation itself. God does not need the universe and everyone in it, but God is love and love creates. So here we are, created in love for love.

       The Holy Spirit is also animating, that is it gives the “anima” or soul that enables the universe, the Church, each one of us to become what we are created to be in the first place. It was the power of the Spirit that breathed over the waters and gave life to all things. It was the power of the Spirit by which the Word took flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was the power of the Spirit that breathed life and courage into the disciples in the Upper Room so that they ceased to be frightened and went forth boldly proclaiming the resurrection and the forgiveness of sins.

       The Holy Spirit is also recreating. Most profoundly, this happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Again, love by its nature leads to ever-deepening communion (unity at the very level of being).  However, because the world and everyone in it has limits, those limits will manifest themselves, sometimes in very hurtful and divisive ways.  It is here that the power of the Spirit enables us to seek forgiveness from those whom we have sinned against and to forgive those who have sinned against us. Forgiveness is the power of the Spirit overcoming our limitations and allowing us to transcend the offense and open the way for reconciliation. There is no sin greater than the power of God’s love to forgive. By the same token, because the same spirit dwells in us, there is no sin greater than our power to forgive.

       In sum, the Holy Spirit is the power of God’s love active in the world and the life of the Church. This love is at one procreating, animating and recreating. It is the power of the God’s love that enables us to love as God loves and so help the world become what he has created it to be.  

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Good to Be Here.

     There are certain places that always remain special. For many of us, it is the house we grew up in, or our hometown, our home parish, our high school, the place where you got baptized, engaged or ordained; church, chapel, or meditative place.

       I imagine Mt. Tabor was like that for Peter, James and John. The vision of Christ transfigured in glory, conversing with Moses and Elijah, must have been pretty special for them, especially in light of what they experienced immediately afterwards once they went up to Jerusalem.

In ancient times, a mountaintop was the place to go to encounter the Divine. It’s seems a bit redundant that the Incarnate Word of God would have to do so, since he was already divine, but Jesus took Peter, James, and John up there for their sakes, not his. From that point forward, they are headed to Jerusalem where he will be mocked, scourged, and crucified. So, he gives them a glimpse of his present and future glory to strengthen their faith when these things happened. 

I think all of us have had similar experiences in our relationship with God and others. There are those moments of insight in prayer and in friendships, when you see things as they are with great clarity. Later, life gets messy, confusing, and sometimes scary. Thinking back on that moment of insight gets us through those moments because we know they are not the ultimate reality. That’s what Jesus did for the disciples and that is what he continues to do for us, especially in the Eucharist where we get a foretaste and promise of the ultimate reality of the Kingdom. It is our Mt. Tabor that gets us through the messiness that life often dishes out. 

It is good for us to be here…to gather, to share our sacred stories, to break the bread, and to be sent into a world in desperate need of clarity and hope.

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Priest, King, Savior – Epiphany, 2023

     Merry Christmas, Day 14! We get 15 days of Christmas this year and I am using them all! I just got my Christmas cards out on Wednesday.

       There’s a meme that says if there were three wise women instead of wise men, they would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts.  There is more, but you get the idea. 

       Let’s talk a little bit about these gifts of the Magi. As the meme points out, they are not  all that practical. Yet, emphasizing them, Matthew is making the point that this little baby Jesus really is the Messiah.

       In the Isaiah 60;1-6 we see the nations coming to worship in Jerusalem, bringing gifts of gold and frankincense. This was for a very good reason. The long-awaited Messiah was to be a great priest-king who would reestablish true worship and the Kingdom of Israel. Gold represents the tribute that would be given a king. Frankincense is the proper gift to a priest who would offer it as a pleasing fragrance to God on the altar of incense.

       Thus, it makes perfect sense that the Magi, representing the nations, would bring gold and frankincense to the new Messiah, as befitted a priest-king.

       But the Magi bring something else—myrrh, an aromatic balm typically used in the preparation of bodies for burial. That seems a bit out of sorts until you realize that the gift of myrrh is a foreshadowing of Jesus’ passion and death. What Matthew is saying is that Jesus is indeed the expected priest-king Messiah, but it is by his passion and death that he will win the victory and establish the Kingdom.

       The gifts are symbolic, not practical. They are also a good reminder to us not to get wrapped in our own expectations of what we expect Jesus to be and pay closer attention to who Jesus really is. Seeing Jesus for who he really is allows us to give a more authentic witness of him to the world. 

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Holy Families

[Here’s some thoughts along with a couple of fun pictures from the Christmas pageant last weekend.]

I hate needless distractions.

**SQUIRREL!!!**

 
But alas, that is exactly what happens when St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians is read as we celebrate the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. All too often we forget about the first part of the reading and get distracted by the part about “wives, be subordinate to your husbands, etc.” All too often it turns into “Husbands, elbow your wives and wink. Wives, glare at your husbands. Children, look on in exasperation at your parents.” 

We need to be more noble than that. 

If we learn one thing from Our Lord, it is that whether it be in the Church at home, in the Church at the parish, in the Church at the archdiocese, or in the Church universal, any authority exercised in the Church must be exercised in a spirit of loving service to the other. Otherwise, we are no better than secular society where authority is often wielded like a club to beat others into submission. Our Lord says very plainly, “But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” (Mt. 20:25)

St. Paul shows us how. “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another…” (Col 3:12)

They say that charity begins at home. Nowhere is this more true than in the Christian family. If we want our families to be holy families in imitation of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we need to take a good look at how they lived.

A good reminder is the statue of the Holy Family in our parish church. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, prayer, faithfulness to God and to each other…this is what makes every Christian family a holy family.

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The Source of Our Joy

[Here is the base text, the actual homily has much more. Check it out at: https://fb.watch/o-067RIHvs/]

  If I ever found a religious order (and I just might!), they will not be mendicants, like the Franciscans or the Dominicans, they will be hunter/gatherers. They will hunt and fish and trap and grow big gardens and go berry picking and such so that they can be connected to this land and its people. The habit will also be something special. Based on the Dominican habit, the cowl and hood will be the camouflage that is appropriate for the season. The Capa Magna will also be camo, but be made of fleece lined Gor-tex. In addition to the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they will have to take a vow of joy.

       Our Holy Father, whose 87th birthday is today, has hit the nail on the head when he affirms that joy is a hallmark of those who embrace the gospel. Those who open themselves to the grace of God and seek to do his will cannot help but radiate a holy joy. How fitting that the Church asks us to reflect on holy joy on the Third Sunday of Advent, known as “Gaudete Sunday”, which is Latin for “rejoice” or “be joyful.”

       As we do so, it is important not to confuse joy with mere happiness. Happiness is an emotion. Our secular society talks much about “the pursuit of happiness”, but this is an unfortunately misplaced desire. Happiness is an emotion. It is a symptom, the result of something else. No emotion lasts very long. If someone is always happy, we call them “manic” and refer them to a mental health professional. 

       Joy is different.  It comes from a much deeper source. Much to the perplexity of secular society, the Christian can be joyful even in the midst of great trial, illness, or affliction. Many of the Roman officials were impressed and some converted by the joy they saw on the martyrs faces as they went to a most horrible death. 

       At its heart, joy springs from the state of blessedness (“beatitude”) when the will of God and the will of the human person are in perfect harmony.  I had a religious sister exclaim to me once, “You know, Leo, you just can’t beat doing the will of God!” 

       So the first task of the Christian, and the source of our joy, is to discern the will of God, in general and in particular. To get insight into God’s plan for the salvation of the world, I highly recommend a reading of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, known as Gaudium et Spes. If you want to know what we are all about as the Church in the modern world, read this document.

       Regarding ourselves, discerning the will of God takes time. We need to spend time in silence and prayer. We need to tune out all the noise that seeks to distract or misdirect us, so that we can hear the still small voice that will lead us to know God’s will and therein find the source of our joy.