There is an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes in the family life of each of us.

In this beautiful Christmas season, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  The power of God was revealed as a tiny infant -- the Bethlehem infant born of Mary and Joseph.  God was revealed in the life of this Holy Family.

As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, we give thanks to God for the families of each one of us.  As we discover the mystery of God's love in the midst of our family life, we affirm that indeed our family is holy as well.  We first come to know the mystery of God's love  from our family.   Even though there is a considerable distinctiveness in the family life of each of us, God is present in each of our families.  And thus, may we fully embrace the holiness of our family life.

Families are the school of love.  We have the capacity to love and be loved because we have been loved into  life by our parents and all in our families who love us.  It is in all the ways we love that we are known as the disciples of Jesus.

May we always be grateful for our families.  Yes, there are some green pastures and dark valleys in the family life of us all.  There is some messiness, but there also much love.  For that we give thanks for all the ways our family life has been blessed.

There is an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes in each of our families.  We are missioned to be the bearers of the mystery of Christmas.  May this light that is within our families shine forth to make a Christ-like difference in our community.

Mary is our best Advent guide to discover Jesus in the inn of our hearts.

FIAT  -- May it be done.  Fiat is a simple and powerful Biblical word.  From the first pages of the Bible in the creation account from the Book of Genesis, God said:  “Fiat Lux.”   Let there be light.  And there was light.  In the act of creation, God said:  “Fiat.”  Fiat Lux.  And the sun was created, and there was light to rule the day.

In the Gospel account today of Mary’s Annunciation, Mary spoke that creative word of God:  “FIAT."    Let it done to me according to your word.  Here we have Mary echoing the creating word of God.  When Mary said Fiat to the will of God in her life, she was not speaking of her ability, but rather her openness, her availability to the plan of God for her life.

From the moment Mary spoke these words:  “I’m the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.”  Her life was changed.  She had given herself over to God’s designs for her life.

This past Wednesday Evening I was visiting a parishioner in the surgical intensive care of Strong Hospital.  A week ago she had serious cancer surgery and was now experiencing complications in the recovering process.  She was on a respirator fighting for her life.  I was praying with her husband and her daughter and anointed her once again.   With much faith and a heavy heart, her daughter Laura simply said:  “Let God’s will be done.”  FIAT.  Such a courageous word spoken by this 20-some year old as she stood by the bedside of her mom holding her mom’s hands.

Laura was taking ownership of Mary’s prayer.  In so doing, Laura was entrusting to God the person she loved the most.

This prayer of Mary in the Annunciation has been known as the world’s greatest prayer.  It is the prayer that brought God down from heaven to dwell in the soul and body of a lowly young woman.  It is the prayer that brought about the greatest event in human history, God becoming human in Jesus.  It is a prayer that changed forever the course of human history some 2000 years ago. 

The prayer of Mary is so very different from what has been called the world’s most common prayer, the prayer in which we try to get God to do our will.  The world’s most common prayer says:  “My will be done,” whereas the world’s greatest prayer says, “Thy will be done.”

What does the Annunciation say to us as we prepare for Christmas?  The Gospel reminds us of God’s desire to dwell in the midst of humanity.  As Christmas draws near, Mary reminds us that the best Christmas, in fact the only true Christmas, is that Christ be born not in the little town of Bethlehem but in the inner sanctuary of our hearts.

The best possible Christmas gift to us and to all is God’s continual promise that I will be with you.  God’s presence in our life is the meaning of the mystery of Christmas.  God is with us.

Throughout the Old Testament, God said to Isaac:  “I am with you…I will not desert you."

To Jacob:  “Go back to the land of your forefathers, and I will be with you.”

God said to Moses when he objected to God’s plan:  “I will be with you.”

To Mary the angel Gabriel said:  “the Lord is with you.”

Surely this is the secret of the celebration of Christmas, that in the birth of Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem, God comes to us.

Do you remember what Jesus told us on the 1^st Sunday of Advent:  “Stay awake.”

Do you remember the words of John the Baptist on the 2^nd Sunday of Advent:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.”

On the third Sunday of Advent, Jesus said:  “Happy is the person who does not lose faith in me.”

What we know and deeply believe is that God is with us.  The important questions that remains is:  “Where are we with God?”  Are we awake?  Have we repented with the Sacrament of Reconciliation?  Have we kept the faith?

The message for us, as for Mary, is that God continues to want to do with us what has never been done before.   Of course, Mary didn’t understand what she was doing.  She couldn’t possibly imagine the implications of her assent. 

As we enter the prayer of the church in Advent, how inspiring it is to contemplate that the Word of God is also coming to us. 

Advent is our time to ponder the promise that God is among us, that the Word is asking our consent to become flesh in our lives.  Mary invites us to share in the mystery she carried and bore in her human life.  The angel Gabriel invites us to say yes and to entrust ourselves to God’s plan for our life.

And our answer will be….

Our joy is found in the ways we help and are helped by one another.

In ten words, St. Paul expresses the message of Gaudete Sunday on the third Sunday of Advent:  “Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks.” 

Our prayer is to express the joy and the gratitude that is in our hearts as we prepare for the birth of the Savior.  “Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks.”

The way Pope Francis expresses the Advent joy is with one of his favorite expressions:  “Evangelizers must never look like they have just come back from a funeral.”  In this Advent season, we prepare with much hope and joy in our hearts.   

This past Wednesday Evening the Knights of Columbus gathered at Joey’s Pasta House for our annual Christmas party.  A great time was had by all.  Gaudete.  Rejoice.  Indeed there was a very joyful spirit enjoyed by all.  Now you may remember on Wednesday Evening we were hammered with a good amount of snow.  Everyone was cancelled but this Christmas party.  On the way home, yours truly got stuck in the parking lot under a pile of snow.  This had the potential of being a very unjoyful ending to a great Christmas gathering,   The front wheels of my car were spinning and going nowhere.  Thanks to Vince Cammarata and Bruce McDermott and others, my car was towed out of the snow bank.  Thanks be to God.  My point is even in a situation of being trapped in a snow bank, my joy was increased by the effort and generosity of Vince and Bruce.  May we rejoice and give thanks in the ways we help and are helped by one another.

This week John the Baptist is our Advent guide.  In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist was attracting crowds;  he was changing lives and touching hearts.  The people from Jerusalem asked John:  “Who are you?” John knew clearly his identity.  He knew who he was and who he was not.  John responded:  “I am not the Christ.  I am not Elijah…I am the voice of one crying out in the desert….I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worth to untie.”

The Pharisees wanted to know who John was, but John wanted them to know who Jesus was.  Emphasizing that he was not the Messiah, John identified himself as the herald of Christ.

We also ask the question to Jesus that was asked of John:  Who are you?  We wish to be able to recognize the presence of Christ in our midst. 

We ponder this question as we reflect on today’s Scripture readings.  In the first Scripture reading, Isaiah exulted in telling his beleaguered contemporaries that their rescue and restoration was at hand, not because they had merited these blessings but because God is faithful.  Paul assures the anxious Thessalonians that they can relax and celebrate their blessings without worrying about the unknown future.  Why?  Because God can be trusted.  Likewise, in today’s Gospel, John’s announcement of Jesus’ coming into the world should be met with great  joy because in Jesus, God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness have become flesh and blood, and God has chosen to speak to us with human heart filled with love for us.

Mindful of the words of the Baptist that we can fail to recognize the holy one who is in our midst, we seek to root our trust in a God who is always faithful.

What expectations help you to recognize Christ’s presence?  What expectations blind you to recognizing Christ?  Expectations can blind us.  We might be so intent on something that we miss the gem right before us.

John was filled with a faith-filled vision in recognizing Christ.  John lived his life deflecting attention away from himself so that the focus of faith and hope might be fully and directly on Jesus.  I am not the one; there is, however, one among you whom you do not know.  John had plenty of time to focus on Jesus because nothing else mattered to John.

May we in this Advent season exercise a John-like role directing attention away from ourselves and witnessing to the Christ who is in our midst.  May we find joy, Gaudete, in helping others recognize the presence of Christ in our midst.  It is my prayer that my preaching can help others know Jesus in their lives.  Yours is an even more important witness.  You are to preach without words.  How?  By pulling someone out of a snow bank or by a simple smile that communicates friendship, we witness to the mystery of Christmas --  our God is present to us in human flesh – in your human flesh and in mine.

The mission given to us at our Baptism is the same mission that was given to John.   We are to witness to the presence of God in our midst.  John preached a baptism of repentance; may we preach by the example of our lives a baptism of healing and forgiveness and love.   When we listen with patience and with much love to another, we are affirming that God-given dignity.  We are affirming that indeed the Spirit of God dwells in those we reach out to.

 In so doing, we rejoice.  We rejoice even in the midst of the violence that surrounds racial conflict and the threat of terrorism that we live with.  We rejoice because it is God’s call and command to us.  How could we not.

When the question is asked of us that was asked of John in the Gospel:  “Who are you?”   May we witness to the reality that the Spirit of God is upon us.   When we as the faith community of St. Joseph’s are asked:  “Who are you?”  May we respond with the words of St. Paul that describe our way of life:  “Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In all circumstances give thanks.”

Where are you? This was God's question to Adam and Eve. This continues to be God's question for us as well.

We are in the season of Advent, the season of waiting and hoping, waiting and hoping for God, waiting and hoping for the Second Coming of Jesus.  As much as we are waiting and hoping for God, can you imagine how much more God is waiting and hoping for each of us, waiting and hoping that we will turn to him during this season of grace, Advent?   Do you ever think about God’s love searching for you, longing for you?

Often, when I preach on Advent, the focus is our call to be patient, to wait with a joyful sense of hope as we anticipate the coming of Christ Jesus into the inn of our hearts.  This continues to be an important part of our Advent spirituality.

In this blog, I invite you to experience the Advent message with the eyes of God.  God is waiting for you in a joyful spirit of hopefulness.

Recall the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they ate of the forbidden fruit.  Adam and Eve were hiding in the garden after eating the apple so God went searching for them.  Adam and Eve were nowhere to be seen.  They have gone into hiding after doing what he told them they were not to do.  They have lost themselves in the shadows.  How strange this seems.  Do we not sometimes complain that God is hiding from us?  That God is nowhere to be seen. 

In the Garden of Eden account, if our hearts had not known the burden of sin we would never have wanted to hide:  we would be out in the open and ready to walk with God.  And then God asks the question of Adam and Eve:  ‘Where are you?’  He is the one who begins the search.  We think of ourselves as searching for God and forget that it is God who is searching for us.  Why should God bother to do so?  Simply because HE LOVES US.  He has been searching in every century -- throughout the Old Testament times until he came at last with a human heart that could suffer for want of our love.

In the Advent season, Jesus invites us to come out of hiding and to walk with him:  his suffering has earned us forgiveness of sin.  “Where are you?”  We can see the intimacy that God wants between Him and us in the first Scripture reading today.  From Isaiah:  “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”

Imagine being held in the arms of God and leaning against his breast!  This is the intimacy God wants between you and him.  So during this season of Advent, let us ask ourselves is there anything keeping us and God apart?  Is any sin of any kind in our lives keeping us separated from God? 

Also in the first Scripture reading, we hear a beautiful prophecy about God liberating the Jews from captivity in Babylon:

            “Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord.

            Make a straight highway for our God across the desert.”

That prophecy has great meaning when we apply it to our own hearts.  It is in our hearts that we need to prepare a way for the Lord.  It is in our hearts that we need to make a straight highway for God.  It is the valleys of sin in our own hearts that are to be filled with God’s mercy and healing.

In the second Scripture reading from Peter:  “The Lord is patient with us, not wishing that we should perish but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.”  This Scripture gives us a warning.  God is patient with us now in order to give us time to repent but the time for repentance will not last. 

We are living now in this time of mercy when we have the opportunity to repent.  Let us receive as much grace as we can from God during this time of Advent.  The Lord has no limits to what he wants to give us.  It is we who put limits on what He wants to give us. 

God's 

God is searching for us and wants to hold us against his breast.  “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock:   in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.”

Will you allow God to pick you up and hold you?

Advent spirituality can see in the dark and can find hope in dark places.

In the Gospel for this First Sunday of Advent, we are given the directive:  “Be watchful!  Be alert!  You do not know when the time will come.”

Even though we do not know the day or the hour, the clear message for us is to be watchful and alert.  The Lord comes to us in ways we may least expect.  The truth is all of our life is salvation history.  All time is sacred.  The Lord comes to us in the experiences and the relationships of life.

To be fully alert would be to recognize the hand of God in all that is during the Advent season.

In our spiritual journey, I caution all of us against the temptation of thinking there are two approaches to Christmas.  There are the Christmas parties, the Christmas shopping, Christmas cards, gift wrapping, and, of course, Santa Claus on the one hand; and there is our Advent prayer which prepares our hearts for the coming of Christ in Bethlehem and in the inn of our own hearts on the other hand.  We juggle between these two worlds and ending up feeling guilty because our prayer life gets short-changed.

Absolve yourself from this way of thinking!  We do not live in these two worlds.  We live in one world and the Lord is in our world continuously.  The Advent spirituality the Lord calls us is different from a dualistic approach to Christmas.  The whole Advent season is part of our salvation history, part of our sacred time.

The question is not whether our Christmas shopping gets in the way of our Advent prayer.  Rather, the message is discover the hand of God, the presence of God in the Christmas shopping we do and the Christmas parties we enjoy.  In other words, love everything that is part of this Christmas season.  May all you do be done with great love and with the spiritual-sightedness to recognize and to be alert and watchful how God calls you to do all with great love in your heart in the service of one another and to the glory and praise of God.

Lest you think I’m not smelling the coffee at times, yes there can be a tension between the world’s idea of Christmas vs. our Christ-centered heart’s desire for peace, hope  and serenity in this Advent season.  But may our Advent spirituality not call us to a win-lose proposition in thinking the world’s idea of Christmas to be totally foreign to the true meaning of Christmas.  The truth is to have the serenity, the centeredness, the prayerfulness to recognize the joy of celebrations and the spirit of Santa Claus.  All become sacred; all becomes a win-win when we can see the hand of God in the expectancy of children and the socializing that comes in this season.

Again, all time is sacred.  God is always present to you.  As to our Advent prayer, our Advent prayer helps us to be aware and to alert so that we recognize God is present to us every moment of the day.  Prayerfulness helps to be aware of what is – how God is present to us in all the moments of the days.  We certainly don’t want to be in such a rush during this Advent–Christmas season that we are not watchful and alert to God in our lives.

For example, as I reflected on celebration of Thanksgiving, we had a beautiful and prayerful celebration of the Eucharist on Thanksgiving morning.  I love starting this day of Thanksgiving celebrating with you the sacred celebration of the Eucharist.  Then I spent eight hours Thanksgiving afternoon and evening at my brother John’s with our family.  There were 49 of us gathered, and I must say that I was the oldest of our 49 family members.  We had much to eat, drink, and celebrate; had a family football game; and spent time with each other.  It was a bit chaotic at times, no doubt.

But my point is the whole day was sacred – not just the hour spent in Church celebrating the Eucharist.  Our family gathering was very sacred and spiritual as well – not that we were engaged in formal prayer (we did do grace before our Thanksgiving), but I was experienced the wonder of God’s love for me in holding my grandniece in my arms, in talking with siblings, nieces and nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews.

So it is in this Advent season.  Be alert to how God is present to you in all of your Advent comings and goings – both those that are formally spiritual and in all other movements.  Do them all with great love and a keen awareness that all time is sacred.

I call your attention to the great Advent image that is in the first Scripture reading from the prophet Isaiah:  “Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter:  we are all the work of your hand.”  Let us rejoice in an Advent spent on the potter’s wheel, being shaped by loving hands into a truer image of the Christ who comes!  That is such a beautiful image of the meaning of the Advent season.  May we know that our loving Father wishes to shape us in this Advent season into a truer image of Christ who comes! 

Advent spirituality can see in the dark and can find hope in dark places.  If we really believe that all time is sacred, we can even embrace our mistakes, our crosses, the dark places of life where we experience the brokenness of depression, the brokenness of relationships, the brokenness of the losses and setbacks in life.  Yes, God is present to us in the darknesses of life.

Advent spirituality can see in the dark because we believe in the God of all hopefulness, the God of all joy.  This God who accompanies us in the darkness is the same God who promises that the light of Christ is coming into our lives and into our world.

Indeed, there is both an introverted and extroverted side to our Advent spirituality.  May our Advent spirituality become that needed rhythm of quiet prayer and welcoming hospitality.    Every moment is this Advent season is a sacred time for us to be aware of how God is revealing His love to us.

When judgment day comes for us, we know ahead of time what the Lord is going to ask of us on our "final exam."

Many moons ago in the 1980’s, I was the rector of Becket Hall, our diocesan discernment house for candidates to the priesthood.  There was a potential candidate named John who was both spiritual and troubled.  Regrettably, all of his energy needed to focus on himself to keep him on track.  He had significant mental health issues that did not make him a good candidate for the priesthood.  In fact, to this day, he has considerable difficulty with any kind of job responsibilities.  Although for all the world, physically he looks like he should be a capable person in the work force, he is trapped within himself by some fears and anxieties.

I have prayed many times over the way John and I have kept in touch with each other over these many years.  Come judgment day for myself, the Lord is not going to be overly impressed by my homilies, the fact that I am the pastor of two parishes, or the credentials after my name,  the first question the Lord is going to ask me:  “How is my friend, John?”

I invite you to consider that the first question the Lord is going to ask you on judgment day.  Who is the person or persons who are the Lord’s friends that he is going to ask you about?

On this the last Sunday of the liturgical year, the Feast of Christ the King, Jesus lets us know very clearly what is going to be on the final exam for each one of us.  We will be graded on how well we have responded with compassion to those in need.

The Gospel describes the Last Judgment scene.  “The king will say to those on his right. ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.  Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food…The righteous will respond, ‘Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you…And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers or sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

There is nothing mysterious or difficult to figure out about today’s Gospel.  Each of us will be judged upon our performance of the simple works of mercy, we hear in the Gospel.  For me, I need to spend less time behind my desk as the pastor and more time being with people in need.  To show me that God has a sense of humor, as I was preparing this homily at my desk this past Wednesday evening, I received a call to go to the emergency department at Strong Hospital to anoint and to provide pastoral care to a family that was grieving.   The person died but the family and I with much faith entrusted him to the fullness of God’s eternal life and the family shared beautifully and with much faith prayed for her husband, their dad, their grandfather.  God’s presence was experienced in this family gathering.

As we gather on Sunday to celebrate the beauty of our liturgy Sunday after Sunday, the Gospel reminds us of the liturgy of life without which all other liturgy in Church has no meaning.  Plain and simple, if we are not focused in the liturgy of life in our service of one another, all other liturgy, no matter how beautiful it is, is pointless.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.  This is ironic because Jesus never acted like a king.  He embraced poverty, not wealth. He taught humility, not arrogance.  He emphasized service, not domination.  He chose a cross, not a palace.

Kinship, instead of kingship:  This is what Jesus is truly passionate about.  Kinship with “the least, the lost, and the last."

Jesus doesn’t even use big words like justice or democracy to explain what is going to be on our final exam.  He simply talks about food, clothes, water, shelter – the basics of life.

As we pray over today’s Gospel on the last judgment scene, there are obviously two groups of people – the righteous on the right hand side of the king and those on his left who will suffer eternal punishment.  It is obvious which group we would like to be with – those on the right who were responsive to people in need.  We see ourselves as helpers to the hungry, the thirsty, and the naked.

In our prayer, may we take a second look at this Gospel to see if are missing a most important message.  There are not just two groups of people in the Gospel account.  There are three.  There were the people who helped, and there were the people who refused to help, and there were the people who needed help.  That last group can be easily overlooked.  And yet, these are the people with whom Jesus chose to identify himself.

Jesus took his stand with the needy people of this world and said in effect:  “This is where I live.  These are my people.  I belong to them, and they belong to me.  Jesus not only cared about the needy and sought to help the needy. He completely identified himself with the needy.  There was His hunger.

That’s where you and I belong.  It isn’t as if the needy are people who need help, and we are the people who give help.  We all belong to the fellowship of the needy.

None of us are self-sufficient.  I need your help, and you need mine.  This is not an exclusive club.  Everybody is a member.  We need each other, whether we ever get honest enough to admit or not.

Who are the needy?  I am; you are; everyone is.  Today I may help you, but tomorrow I may need you to help me.  We are members of the same family, sharing our love, sharing our resources, sharing our needs.

Again going back to the Gospel, in His last words to us in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is telling us in advance that when we each stand before our God, we won’t be given a test that will be confusing or difficult.  It will instead involve only the most practical questions:  Did you feed the hungry?  Did you shelter the homeless?  Did you care for the sick?

And our answer will be….

Have we buried our God-given talents in the ground or have we used them to make a difference in the lives of others?

Today’s scripture readings prepare us for the end of the year and challenge us to understand our life in terms of its ultimate purpose.  On this the second last Sunday of the liturgical year, our prayer centers around the accountability the Lord will ultimately ask of each of us.  In terms of the Gospel parable of the various talents given to the three servants, we too have been generous recipients of blessings and talents from our loving God.  Have we buried our talents in the ground or have we used them to make a difference in the lives of others?

The second Scripture reading from St Paul tells us the Day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night.  We know not the day or the hour.  But what really matters on the Day of the Lord is not weather is know the day or the hour but what we are doing with the graces and talents that have been given to us.

In today’s Gospel, the master went away for a while after entrusting his servants with various talents.

For us as well, Jesus appears to have gone away for a while after he ascended into heaven.  He does not leave us orphans.  We have been blessed with talents and blessings.  Our prayerful question is one of accountability.  What are we doing with the talents God has given us?

For me, I was baptized at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church when I was just three weeks old.  At age 14,  I entered St. Andrew's Seminary and began my 12 year path in the seminary that led to my ordination to the priesthood on June 1, 1968.  Bishop Fulton Sheen ordained me a priest.  

As important to me as the day of my ordination was, a far greater blessing for me was the day of my Baptism.  I received the life of Christ for the first time.  I was welcomed into the family of the Church.  I became God’s beloved son.  I was missioned to share the love of God that was given to me.

For many of you who have celebrated the Sacrament of Marriage and the blessings you enjoy as a husband or wife, and as a dad or a mom, yet it was on the day of your baptism that you received your most significant talent – the life of Christ Jesus that is within you.

The question for all of us is have we buried the love of God within us or is the mystery of God’s love that is within us the defining talent of who we are as a disciple of Jesus?

As we fast forward to the present moment in our lives, many years may have passed since the day of your baptism.  What kind of accountability will we give back to Jesus on the coming of the Day of the Lord for us?

Have we recognized and claimed and valued our God-given giftedness?  Do we live our lives knowing we are God’s beloved sons, God’s beloved daughters?  Is the source of our confidence and self-esteem flow from the reality that we have within ourselves the wellspring of eternal life?  God goes with us 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Yes, we all live busy lives.  We are consumed by so much stuff to do; we all have our own set of fears and anxieties; we have trouble balancing the priorities of our lives.  The challenge for all of us to place God first in our lives.  It’s too easy to bury our baptismal talent in the midst of a life that is filled with activity from one moment to the next.

This past week on Thursday I was at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore as one of our seminarians, Jorge Ramirez, was receiving the rite of candidacy for the clerical state – an important step on his way to priesthood.  It made for a bit of a hectic schedule but the challenge for me and all of us is to keep a center to our lives in the midst of life’s busyness -- that center is found in the mystery of God’s love that is within us.  May all of us keep our inner compass of leading God-centered lives

I must say that I am at the stage in the life cycle that I really have to work at it to stay in reasonably good physical shape.  It doesn't just happen naturally anymore.  So, I try to stay committed to regular exercise and watch my diet.

So too, in the spiritual life, we need to remain committed to using the talents and the blessings we have been given.  It just doesn't happen naturally.  The Gospel message speaks of accountability.

So, we ask ourselves have we buried in the ground any of our God-given talents – perhaps out of fear that something might go wrong.  So we do nothing.  This is the story of the servant in the Gospel who did nothing with the talent given to him?  In what ways have we not gone out of our comfort zone to reach out in the service of others?

Where have we doubled the investment that God has made in us in the blessings we have received?  We can rightly say that being here at Mass is our beautiful way of giving thanks to the Lord our God for the blessings of life?

But in all honesty, this one hour a week is only the beginning of what the Lord asks of us.  Love is the first requirement of ourselves as disciples of Jesus?  For example in our parish life, we have developed six leadership teams in the various areas of ministry.  We would most welcome you using your talents on one of these leadership teams.

In the Gospel parable, we are told that we cannot just sit back and wait.  We are called to give and to share the talents that have been given to us.  We are called to serve not only in the life of the Church, but in our community.  May we continue to develop outreach initiatives that serve our wider community.

The grace we ask for this weekend to for us to make an investment in our Church, an investment in the service of others, and, most of all, may we make an investment in God -- the God who has loved us into life.

Do you not know that you are the temple and the spirit of Christ Jesus dwells within you?

I was baptized at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on Brooks Ave in Rochester in April of 1942.  Seven years later I made my First Communion at Our Lady of Good Counsel, and a few years after that I was confirmed at this Church.  Then on June 2, 1968, I celebrated my first Mass as a priest – of course, at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church.  This was my spiritual home as it was the spiritual home of my family and my parish family who supported me on my journey to the priesthood and, even more importantly, witnessed to me how to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus.

The church of Our Lady of Good Counsel was not memorable as an architectural masterpiece.  The building still stands but it is no longer a Catholic church.  This Church is very memorable to me not because of its brick and mortar but because it was the spiritual home of our family.

In 2010 we celebrated the 150^th anniversary of St. Joseph’s Church.  Our parish Church is our spiritual home and it has been for many, many families over the last 154 years.  We have a great history.  The most important thing we have done as a parish community over the last 154 years is that Sunday after Sunday after Sunday we have gathered to give thanks to the Lord our God in the mystery of the Eucharist.  We have celebrated the presence of Christ among us.  We have been fed and nourished at the table of the Lord with Jesus’ Body and Blood.  

We are proud of the bricks and mortar of our Church building, the beautiful stained glass windows, the baptismal font where we receive the life of Christ Jesus for the first time, and our altar which is at the center of our life in Christ.

However as beautiful as the architecture of our Church, it is only the building that houses the Church.  The Church is ourselves, the people of God, you and I  are the living temple of God’s presence among us.

Jesus did not live and die for this building, as beautiful as it is.  Jesus lived and died out of love for us who are made in his own image and likeness.  It is we, each and every one of us,  we who are messy, sinful, a bit off-centered at times, who are the beloved of God.

St Paul in the second scripture reading proclaims:  “You are God’s building… Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? The temple of God, which you are, is holy.

As I now look back at my first spiritual home at Our Lady of Good Counsel -- by the way, I am so grateful that the example and the intercession of Mary has always been a most important part of my spiritual journey, but as I look back at my first spiritual home, I now recognize more fully that the building is not what was most important.  In fact, the building is no longer part of my life.  But Good Counsel, that is the people who loved and supported me and who I loved were my spiritual home.

 

I see more clearly that 72 years later here at St Joseph’s Church in Penfield that my spiritual home has not changed.  Our spiritual home is all of us who are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus and who pray together to God who is the Father of us all.

My spiritual home has been has been and will always be being a member of the community of the baptized, the disciples of the Lord Jesus who live in gratitude for the ways our life has been blessed and who seek to share the love we have been given by our merciful and loving God who is the Father of us all.

All of this is a long introduction to the feast we celebrate today – the dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome.  It is the cathedral of the bishop of Rome and mother church of Roman Catholicism.  I have had the opportunity several times to pray at this magnificent Basilica of St John Lateran.  My nephew Jason studied at the Lateran Seminary on the campus of this great basilica.  You could fit many, many St Joseph Churches into the nave of this expansive basilica.

But the point of this feast is not to be edified by the magnificence of the architecture, but rather to reflect on how it is through Rome that we Catholics connect with all other Catholics throughout the   world.  Pope Francis at St Peter’s Basilica and the more ancient St John Lateran are the source of our unity in Christ Jesus.  Yes, Rome’s failures are our failures, and Rome’s glories are our glories.  We are family connected in Jesus Christ to one another.  It is Pope Francis seated at the Basilica of St John  Lateran who is our center of unity.  As Roman Catholics, we are one people despite our many native languages, our diverse races and ethnicities, and the different and diverse ways our lives are gifted.  We are united as one family

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This feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica is a feast that celebrates unity and the diversity of the whole people of God – the young and old, men and women, the ordained and the lay, the rich and the poor, black and white, urban, suburban and rural, Latino and all other cultures, gay and heterosexual, into one people of God.  We are all family.  We celebrate both our diversity, our uniqueness; and we celebrate that we are family, a people of God united in Christ Jesus with God as the Father of us all.

None of us want to be orphans.  We long for home.  We long for family.  We wish to be loved and to love.  This longing for family is deep-seated within all of us.  This is a spiritual longing that all of us share.

The other day I was talking to someone who recalled very vividly being alone in the emergency room of the hospital at night with no one by his side and facing an uncertain medical diagnosis.  By all accounts, this was a frightening situation to be in.  And yet, it was a profound moment of grace for him.  He had a deep awareness that he was not alone.  Jesus was by his side.  He didn’t have to be afraid.  As I listened to his story, I knew it was the real deal.  He was a man who knew Jesus.  He knew the invitation and the words of Jesus speaking to him:  “Make your home in me as I make mine in you.”   He was spiritually at home with Christ Jesus in the midst of an hospital emergency room.

He lived the words of St Paul who said:  “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

On this feast of the Lateran Basilica in Rome, we pray for two graces:  that we know deep in our hearts that the Spirit of God dwells within us, and that we as Catholics of St Joseph’s parish value our own personality, but we value that we are connected to, in fact, we are brothers and sisters, to all other Catholics throughout the world.  We are family – the family of God.  Thanks be to God.

What happens when we die? ... In dying we are born into eternal life.

On Thursday, October 9, I visited my sister, Mary Elizabeth, who is 13 months older than myself, she had just entered home hospice and has been dealing with MS for 45 years.  It was clear she was soon going home to the Lord in a few days.  I anointed her, sharing with her the Sacrament of the Sick.  I kissed her and told her I loved her.  My sister, in her frail body and beautiful eyes, expressed her love for me.

The following Thursday, October 16, I celebrated her funeral liturgy entrusting my sister to the fullness of God’s eternal life.  To preside and preach at my sister’s funeral liturgy, while very difficult, is what my sister wanted and I certainly counted it a privilege to pray my sister into the fullness of God’s life.

 I prayed with her husband Don of 52 years, her children, Donna, Mary Ellen, and Mark, and her seven grandchildren, my brother, and my sisters that we would experience the peace that only God can give as we mourned my sister Sue (that was her nickname) in her going home to God.

My sister’s death confirmed in me once again that faith in Jesus does not make death easy, but makes it meaningful if viewed with the eyes of faith.  For those who believe, death is not the end but a beginning of a whole new kind of life.  It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Today we celebrate the Feast of All Souls.   We have celebrated Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and now we celebrate All Souls Day.  On Halloween our question was:  Who am I going to be on Halloween.  Yesterday on All Saint’s Day, we ask:  “How am I going to be a saint?  How am I going to live as a disciple of Jesus?  Today on All Souls’ Day, we wonder, “What happens when we die? Where do they go?”

While we naturally have questions about what happens when we die,  today’s feast is about the hope we have in God’s promise of eternal life.  How does my Catholic faith sustain me in my time of loss?  And how does your Catholic you  in your time of loss?

We gather on this Feast of All Souls to remember our loved ones who have gone home to God.  Yes, we need to face the reality of death.  Death of a loves leaves an emptiness.  We experience a loss that deeply touches our hearts and our spirits.  We also stand as a people who believe in life, the life of Jesus Christ.  With a faith that comes from the life of Jesus that is within us, we are a witness to hope and to love that are gifts of the Risen Lord to us.

In today’s first Scripture reading from the Book of Wisdom, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.  They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing way was thought an affliction.  But they are in peace.  For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worth of himself.”

Yes, it is our faith that says the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and they are at peace.  And for us, the psalmist says:  “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want…Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.”

Yes, death can seem like the darkest of the dark valleys of life, but the word of the Lord is to fear no evil as the Lord is with us both in the green pastures as well as the dark valleys of life.

There is the wonderful story of a young boy who was watching a sculpturer working on a large block of marble.  The chips of marble were flying in whatever which direction.  The boy became bored after a while and went away.  A week later the boy returned and saw a magnificent lion that was formed out of the block of marble-- the work of the sculpturer.  The young boy then asked the artist:  How did you know the lion was inside the block of marble.

The genius of the sculpturer was that he could see the lion in his imagination and in the block of marble.  In a similar way, we, in faith, view the reality of death and see in it the possibility of new life.  Death is not a defeat.  With a spiritual sightedness, death is the birth into the fullness of eternal life.

As I looked at the frail body of my sister Sue, I knew this was not the end.  She was soon going to be home with God.  Indeed, this a greater miracle than the genius of the sculpturer who could fashion a beautiful lion out of a block of marble.

In the Gospel, Jesus said:  “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me…  For this is the will of my Father,  that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day.”

The God revealed by Jesus is not a vengeful God.  Rather, God the Father is a loving God.  He even sent His Son to live and die for us, showing us his infinite love. 

Jesus declares, far from rejection, resurrection and eternal life await anyone who comes to me.

As we gather to celebrate the Eucharist on this Feast of All Souls, we gather as a people who are reminded again and again that our future is full of hope. This is God’s promise to us.  We gather to rejoice in God’s infinite mercy and unconditional love.

 

In this Sacrament of the Eucharist, we gather to celebrate the paschal mystery – the mystery of the Lord’s dying and rising.  It is through the experience of the cross and death that Jesus enters into the fullness of His Risen Life.  So too for us who are the disciples of Jesus, the fullness of sharing in the Lord’s risen life is preceded by the experience of the cross and death.

It is in the Eucharist that we now experience the power of the crucified-risen Jesus.  He helps us realize that Christian death results in heavenly life.  Earthly sadness will be transformed into eternal joy.

The two great commandments are the guts of Catholic morality.

One of the Pharisees, a scholar of the law, tested Jesus by asking:  “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

The humoroous part of this Gospel was that this particular scholar of the law was giving Jesus a religion exam and using a trick question to catch Jesus in an embarrassing theological mistake.  As in last week’s Gospel in asking Jesus:  “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not,” the Pharisees seek to engage Jesus in debate and to win the argument.  Good luck with that.

Jesus responded:  “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and first commandment.  The second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

These two commandments are the currency of God’s kingdom, a currency completely different from last week’s Roman coin and completely  different from the self-centered transactions that too often characterize our contemporary way of life.

Jesus summarizes in the two great commandments  the two stone tablets on which God was said to have engraved the ten commandments.  The first tablet set out the three laws concerning the love of God – such as the command not to take His name in vain; the second tablet contained seven commands regarding love of neighbor, such as stealing and adultery.

Love is the hinge that binds the two tablets of the law.  For we can’t love God, whom we can’t see, if we don’t love our neighbor, whom we can see.

Jesus is not attempting to do away with the law and the prophets by reducing everything to the so-called new commandment.  This commandment becomes the lens through which everything is to be seen.  It is the interpretative key for understanding all of revelation.

The love command is the guts of Catholic morality.  Church practices and rules are there to help us avoid everything that is opposed to the “love command.”  Sin in our lives is when we do not live up to our baptismal commitment, to our discipleship witness of loving God and our neighbor.

If you ask yourself, what does God want of us, what is God’s priority for us?  God’s priority for us is that we love our neighbor as ourself.  For Jesus, our neighbor is anyone and everyone, unconditionally, no exceptions.  To say again, for Jesus, our neighbor is anyone and everyone, unconditionally, no exceptions.

Jesus teaches that we only love God as much as the neighbor we love the least.  Since Jesus teaches that we only love God as much as the neighbor we love the least, whom do I need to begin looking at differently this week if I hope  looking more – and acting more – like God?

We can recall the story of the Good Samaritan to remind us that our neighbor is everyone who is in need in any way.  This is a call to universal love.  It is not an invitation to try to figure out those whom we don’t have to love.  Our Church is still struggling with how to love those who don’t follow the rules, how to love who do not conform, how to love those who reject the teachings of our Church.  This is all part of learning how to love.

May the next rosary we pray be for those it is difficult for us to understand and for those it is difficult to love.

In a family or in a religious community or in a parish community, it is not easy to love those who reject the way of life of the family, of the religious community or of the parish.  Loving these people does not mean rejecting the way of life handed down by the Lord.  It does mean seeking ways to love those who reject it.   This is part of the ongoing challenge of following Jesus Christ.

Indeed, the love we are called to is far more than a simple affection or warm sentiment.  We must give ourselves totally to God – loving with our whole beings, with all our heart, soul and mind.  Our love for  our neighbor must express itself in concrete actions.

In the second Scripture reading, Paul speaks to the Thessalonians about being examples for others.  He see that the Thessalonians have followed the example of Paul and Jesus, and have themselves become examples for all other Christian communities.  We don’t do it for our own glory, but we also don’t want to put  this light under a basket since it may inspire others to do more.

A beautiful example in our parish life of showing love in concrete terms is our baby shower benefitting the Focus Pregnancy Help Center.  We need to help people choose life with concrete actions so that they choose life giving solutions rather than abortion.

Our generosity with the diocesan Catholic Ministries Appeal helps in a concrete way for the Church of Rochester to respond to the needs so many needy people.

When we see our neighbors as God sees them, we will treat them with the clarity of God’s compassion.  How can I see my neighbor as God sees them?

The law of love has compassion at its base.  Compassion means feeling or suffering with others.  Unless we have some sense of the needs of our neighbors, the sufferings of our neighbors, we cannot really be compassionate.  We can give because this is what we are told to do, but my hope for us today, is that we can be compassionate as God  is compassionate, love as God loves, and show that love by treating everyone as we would want to be treated were we in the same situation.

May we be transformed by God’s grace, who desires us to care for all among us who are in need, not just because particular laws govern us but because the love of God and love of neighbor burns in us.

In the divine economy, money is not the currency of God. Rather, love is the currency of God.

As we reflect in today’s Gospel on how the Pharisees tried to entrap in speech, we ask the simple question:  Who in their right mind starts a debate with Jesus and expects to win?  It isn’t going to work.  On second thought, maybe I try to debate with Jesus when I seek to adjust the demands of discipleship to suit my own way of life. Can anyone honestly say we do not debate with Jesus a bit when it comes to the Gospel demand to love even our enemy, to be willing to forgive seventy times seven, and when it comes to the words of Jesus:  “Go, sell what you and give to the poor, and then come and follow me.”

The Pharisees’ henchmen try to trap Jesus by entering that dangerous territory of mixing politics and religion and so they asked what they thought was a “gotcha”  tax question:  “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”    Answering this question usually is a no-win situation.  For example, do you know any candidate for political office this November whose campaign message is to raise taxes?

Jesus responds by asking them to show Him the coin used to pay the census tax.  Showing him the coin, Jesus then asked:  “Whose image is this and whose inscription.”   They responded:  “Caesar’s.”  Jesus then narrows his response to the need to pay the census tax.  “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” 

Then note carefully the second half of Jesus’ response:  “And to God what belongs to God.”  There is one crucial question for us to reflect upon that is not asked in the Gospel conversation.  If Caesar’s image is on the coin, where do we find God’s image?  For we are to give to God that which bears the image of God.  What do I owe to God?

We will find God’s image in all of creation, on each human person and each human work.  All of us are made in the image and likeness of God.

Speaking very personally, this past Thursday I celebrated the funeral liturgy for my sister Sue who was just 13 months older than myself.  My sister Sue courageously and lovingly lived with the illness of MS for 45 years.  Clearly she was made in the image and likeness of God, and the cross of her life – MS – was a very visible dimension of her discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ.  For me, clearly the image of God was imprinted in who she was. 

The fact is there are many Sue’s in the world – people living with illness and struggles and deprived of many of life’s blessings we take for granted.  To the question, to what do I owe to God and to what do you owe to God.  My sister and anyone else who lives with some limitation bears the image of God’s love.  In the divine economy, money is not the most important currency.  The currency God expects of us is love and the sharing of our talents with all who bear the image of God in their hearts.

 Our parish theme for the next few weeks is to rediscover our Catholic Faith.  A key part of this rediscovery is to be mindful of the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching.  This is rooted in our deep belief that every single human being on planet earth is made in the image and likeness of God.  We are to have a profound reverence for the dignity of all human life – life in the womb of a mother-to-be and life after birth in all its stages.

A key role for us as Catholics in the midst of a chaotic and consumer-driven society is always to ask the question:  How are the poorest and most vulnerable among us being treated?  If, in good conscience, we cannot say that our society is doing all it can to feed the hungry and provide shelter to the homeless, then we have work to do!  I think it’s safe to say, we have a lot of work to do.  Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is continually challenging us to be mindful of the poor.

Moreover, all of God’s creation bears the image of God.   Our care for our environment, our stewardship of the earth is giving back to God what belongs to God.

Even though none of us enjoy paying taxes, in the big picture, giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s is not the demanding component of today’s Gospel.

Where we are challenged is:  Giving to God what is God’s.

You may ask then:  Well what then doesn’t belong to God?  This is such a good question.  There is no aspect of our lives that God is not present.  There is no aspect of our life that God is not present, and there is no dimension of our life that does not belong to God.

It is important to note that the response of Jesus:  “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” can be taken out of context and be used to justify a “two-kingdom” theology, which divides life into two autonomous realms, the secular and religious.  While the separation of Church and State can be a very useful principle in our Bill of Rights as Americans, it is essential that we seek to be very aware of the spiritual dimension of all of life.  The truth of our lives is that there is no dimension of our lives in which God is not present.  This is not to say we are always aware of God’s presence, but may we seek to be more and more aware of the God dimension of all of life.

The image of God is found in all of life and in all of creation.  If we are to repay to God what belongs to God, we need to be mindful of the pastoral care and love we provide for each other in our parish community.  We are not a group of isolated individuals who come to worship on Sunday.  We are called to be a community of faith who love and support one another.  We are all made in the image of God.

But, as beautiful as this is, it is not enough.  The social outreach dimension of our parish life demands that we repay to God our commitment to God’s poor, to God’s anawim anywhere and everywhere. 

As stated in our Catechism:  God created everything for humanity, but humanity in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him.  To the question what do I own God, is a one hour commitment on Sundays enough?  The Sunday Eucharist is essential but it is only the beginning of what we owe back to God.  As long as the Lord loves and forgives and heals us from day to day, from moment to moment, we are to give back to God by loving and honoring all those who bear the image of God in their hearts, and by the way we reverence and serve all of creation that is God’s precious gift to us.

In what area of your life is Jesus not yet Lord?

My sister Sue went home to God. Alleluia, Alleluia.

This weekend I am participating in my annual retreat at the Linwood Spiritual Center in Rhinebeck, NY.  This beautiful retreat center is in the Hudson Valley with a magnificient view of the mighty Hudson.  It is an eight day silent Ignatian retreat with my retreat director being Fr Jack Repolgie, SJ.  I need this time to be still and to increase my awareness of our loving God's presence in my life.

My retreat experience was cut short by the sad news that my older sister Sue had gone home to God Sunday morning.  I immediately left the retreat to be with my brother-in-law Don and their three children, Donna, Mary Ellen, and Mark, and my brother John and my sisters Anne and Jean.

My sister Sue has been dealing with MS for over 40 years.  She has experienced the cross in her life.  She has always been a giving, loving person.  She and her husband Don have shared a beautiful love story of marriage for 52 years.  She is a mother and a grand mother.  Her children Donna, Mary Ellen, and Mark generously share their love for their mom and dad in ways that show their gratitude for the love that have been given to them.

I look forward to presiding at my sister's funeral liturgy this Thursday at 10:00 am at St Joseph's Church and to celebrate my sister's sharing in the fullness of God's eternal life.  I have celebrated the funeral liturgy for my mom and dad and my brother Bill and will now do for my sister Sue.  I will once again affirm the deep truth that death is not a defeat.  Death is not the end.  Death is a birth into the fullness of God's eternal life.


My retreat continues...in a different sort of way.

Our real treasure is not in what we possess but in what we give away.

Today’s Scripture readings use the imagery of a vineyard to describe God’s love for us.  In the first Scripture from the prophet Isaiah, the house of Israel is God’s vineyard.  In the Gospel parable the vineyard is the reign of God.  God goes to great length to prepare wondrous blessings for the vineyard.  But the tenants to whom the vineyard is entrusted got greedy and wanted everything for themselves.  The message is that God’s reign will be transferred to new tenants -- both Jews and Gentiles.  The Gospel states the God’s blessings will endure, even if bestowed on other people.

A key message to this Gospel parable is who are the tenant farmers with closed and greedy hearts?  Who are the people that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from and given to other people who will produce its fruit?

It’s easy to identify the tenant farmers as the chief priests and the elders of the people in the time of Jesus – the unfaithful Israelites?  But we also need to recognize ourselves in the Gospel parable.  In our prayer where are we in this Gospel parable?

How about the vineyard of our own lives?  Just as God cares for the vineyard in Isaiah, so God cares for the vineyard of our lives.  We are nurtured by God’s Word, fed at God’s table, helped by the commandment of love.  All we need do is let God tend us and bring us to produce good fruit.  All we need do is be faithful; God will take care of the rest.

My question for your reflection: What is the produce from your vineyard?  How do you give it back to God, the landowner?

The following are some questions for us to ponder as we reflect on the vineyard of our own hearts that God has blessed.

This is RESPECT LIFE SUNDAY.  In the words of Pope Francis, each of us is a masterpiece of God’s creation.  Do we stand for the dignity of all human life?  Do we clearly and unmistakably stand against abortion as the unjust taking of precious human life?  Do we stand for the dignity of human life before birth?  Do we stand for the preciousness of human life after birth as well -- in all its forms?

Today the Extraordinary Synod on the Family begins in the Vatican.  How do we as individuals and as a parish support family life?  Do we everything possible to encourage families to come together to worship at our Sunday Eucharist?  How can be even more family friendly?  In our faith formation programs, how do we encourage family prayer and family faith formation? How can we do it better than we do?  Is our parish known as a family friendly parish?

Bishop Matano has called to be financially generous in supporting the diocesan Catholic Ministry Appeal (the CMA).  Again, going back to the tenant farmers in the Gospel parable, are we greedy and want to reject our support of the vineyard of the kingdom of God or do we wish to give back to the God who has generously loved us?   How we use our financial resources is very much a spiritual question.  All we have been given; we have been given to share.

In today’s second Scripture reading, St Paul writes:  “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.

Ask for what we need, and ask with a thankful heart….Jesus insists that gratitude must be an accompaniment to our prayer, and that if we approach him with a grateful spirit, God's peace will keep our hearts and minds safe.

The diocesan theme for the CMA is taken from the spirituality of St. Paul.  We are to live life with an attitude of gratitude.  We are to give to the CMA with an attitude of gratitude.  We are to support  pro-life values from birth to death with an attitude of gratitude.  We are to prayerfully support the Vatican Synod on the Family with an attitude of gratitude.  Our family life is a precious, precious gift that has been given to us.  We gather at Eucharist so that we can give thanks to the Lord our God.

Our lives are a vineyard that God entrusts to us.   Each of our lives, each of our vineyards, is richly blessed.  The voice of God’s son calls out to us to share our talents, our riches, our giftedness with those around us and with those who have less.  We may we be conscious that like the tenant farmers in the Gospel we are tempted to be greedy and provide only for ourselves.  When we excuse ourselves from generous sharing and love of others, when we become more interested in security rather than a Gospel commitment to sharing, we fail to respond to the call of God in our lives.  The vineyard of our own heart is ripe for the harvest, and God calls out to each one of us:  “Come, share what you have and discover that the real treasure is not in what you possess but in what you are willing to give away.

  

Do we say YES or NO to doing god's will in our life?

Now if I were our singing deacon Don Germano, I would begin by singing Frank Sinatra’s “I did it my way.”  “And more, much more than this, I did it my way.”  There is something life-affirming about doing it “my way,” charting one’s own path, following one’s conscience and not compromising one’s values along the way.

And yet, when we think about it in the light of today’s Scriptures, we are called not to do it my way but to “Do it God’s way.”  Doing it God’s way is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.   Jesus in following the path of the cross chose to do it God’s way.

In the second Scripture reading, Paul begins his beautiful hymn to Christ by encouraging the Philippians to have the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose as did Jesus. 

“Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.  Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; he humbled himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For us, even when we lose our way and fall into sin, the mercy of God is on display in the Gospel parable.  In the parable, one son says no to the father’s request to work in the vineyard but later changed his mind and his ways. He started out doing it his way but experienced the conversion of changing direction and then did it God’s way.

In the Gospel parable, the first son said:  “No” “I will not.”  It’s too hot out there.  Locusts may destroy it tomorrow.  The town is a lot more interesting than the vineyard.

What are today’s versions of saying no to the will of God in our lives?  I can’t bother with religion.  I’m too busy getting ahead in life.  I’m too busy having fun.  The Church has too many defects.  Or I have nothing against organized religion, but I really don’t need it to have a relationship with God.

Later the first son changed his mind, as do many Catholics today.  Some reasons:  wanting the sacraments for their children; the gentle, respectful influence of another person; increased maturity; a close encounter with death or serious injury; recovery from a serious illness.

I invite you to reflect upon your conversion story and hopefully you can discover God in the changes of your life.  What does conversion mean to me?  Our first response is not always the best.  Thanks be to God, conversion is a lifelong journey.

I have been struck by the words of Mark Twain who once said:  “When I was a boy of 14,  my father was  so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

Just as Mark Twain had a conversion experience about the wisdom of his dad,  so too, we have a conversion experience about the meaning of our discipleship of the Lord Jesus. 

The conversion I have experienced as a priest.  As a young priest, the illusion I sometimes lived under that everything depended on me and my ability.  The older I get I recognize more clearly this is God’s work.  Everything depends on God’s grace working in me and in others.

As we reflect this weekend on our commitment to the diocesan Catholic Ministries Appeal this weekend, does the CMA tie into the Gospel message of conversion or is Father Jim just going to force this situation in asking your support of the CMA.

I would suggest that how we use and share the blessings we have been given is a significant component of our conversion story.  Like the sons in the Gospel, are we saying yes or no to God’s way in our life.  How we use the financial resources we have is a very spiritual question.   Jesus is very clear on the Gospel message that we have been given, we have given to share.  Love is the first requirement of being a disciple of Jesus.  Love is shown in the actions of our life.  Are we aware and responsive  to the poor and to those who are in need?  I have never met a person in my 72 years who regrets being generous in the ways we love one another.

Discipleship is placing Christ first in our lives  -- first in regard to finances, relationships, use of our time, and in all other ways.  Just as a young child has a hard time learning how to share his toys, so too we as adults can have a hard time sharing from our financial resources.  

In the Gospel, Jesus said:  “Amen, l say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.”  Because the tax collectors and prostitutes accepted the forgiveness Jesus offered them, they were able to change in ways that would have been unthinkable before that.  We too will experience conversion as we accept the forgiveness God offers us.

In the Gospel the two sons were told to go out and work in the vineyard today.  As you pray over this Gospel, into what vineyard is the Lord sending you today – the vineyard of your family, of your neighborhood, of your parish, the vineyard of supporting the CMA 

I dedicate myself to the task of being all the things I want my parish to be.

A PARISHIONER’S PRAYER

My parish is composed of people like me.

I help make it what it is.

It will be friendly, if I am.

It will be holy, if I am.

Its pews will be willed, if I help fill them.

It will do great work, if I work.

It will be prayerful, if I am.

It will make generous gifts to many causes

If I am a generous giver.

It will bring others into its worship, if I invite and bring them.

It will be a parish of loyalty and love,

Of fearlessness and faith,

Of compassion, charity, and mercy,

If I, who make it what it is,

Am filled with these same things.

Therefore, with the help of God,

I now dedicate myself to the task of being all the things

That I want my parish to be.  Amen.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the exaltation of the crosses we experience.

Before or after our liturgies, I find most beautiful and most sacred the simple gesture of a mom teaching her son or daughter to make the sign of the cross from the water of our baptismal font.  The sign of the cross is a simple and most significant prayer for us as the disciples of Jesus.  Even though it is far beyond a child’s capacity to understand, the sign of the cross represents the power of God and the gift of eternal life.  This simple sign reflects the mystery of God’s unending love in the life of this beautiful  child.

Equally it is profoundly moving for me at the beginning of the baptismal rite to welcome the child about to be baptized into the Christian community. I say:  “In its name I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of the cross.  I now make the sign of the cross on your forehead and invite your parents and godparents to do the same.  And so, the child to be baptized is five times blesses by the sign of the cross  -- this most central symbol of our Catholic faith.

Today’s Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross embodies a great mystery.  Like the people of Israel in the first reading, we are called to a long journey to the Promised Land of Heaven.  Like them, too can lose patience and fall into sin.  Like them, our only hope for salvation is to cling to God’s unending mercy and love.

The Gospel for this feast reminds us of the meaning of this great mystery:  God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that might be saved.   As said in the children’s book THE LITTLE PRINCE:  “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.  What is essential is invisible to the eye.”  Our parish message this Sunday and in the upcoming Sundays is YES “it is only with the heat that cone can see rightly.  The conversion we seek as the disciples of Jesus is a conversion of our hearts.

That conversion happens in our prayer over the mystery of the cross – this sign of God’s self-giving love for us.  The mystery of God’s emptying and self-giving love for us is seen in the mystery of the cross.

The conversion of the heart that we seek is to keep the eyes of our hearts fixed on something that gives us life.  It is no longer the snake, as for the Jews, who gives life and saves us from death, but the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.  With the eyes of faith we do not see the cross only as an instrument of torture, but a symbol  of God’s self-giving love.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus says:  In my Father’s house there are many mansions and I am going to prepare a place for you.  Jesus’ promise of a home for us means a communion of life with Him.  This communion of life with Jesus has begun to be realized from his pierced side on the cross.  Indeed, this is a great mystery for us  -- a sign of hope and a sign of exaltation.

St Paul expressed this great mystery in the second Scripture reading:  “Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.  Because of this, God greatly exalted him.

The tire hits the road for us in our discipleship of Jesus is when we experience the cross in our lives  -- the cross of illness, the cross of death, the cross of the brokenness of our spirit, of loneliness, of depression, not experiencing the love we seek and we need.

Jesus emptied himself and accepted and embraced the cross out of love for us.  How does that work for us.  Are there we accept and embrace the crosses of our lives?  In fact, embracing the cross leads us to deeper life in Christ and the mystery of God’s love.

There was a time in my life when I was a big-time runner.  I use to run in marathons and running was part of my daily routine.  On many Saturdays, I would run in 10 k races.   It was physically and spiritually energizing.  In time, running took a toll on my knees.  To the point, I could no longer run and in fact needed knee replacements in both knees.  Indeed this was a cross to bear.  Did I accept and embrace this weakness and use it as an opportunity to unite myself more deeply with the cross of Christ.

I would be overly pious if I said this was beautiful and I embraced this cross in life.  The truth is most of us do not choose the crosses of life that come our way.  It takes a long time to process suffering. However we are not to stop living when crosses becomes part of our life experience.   And certainly, there are far worse life experiences than knee replacements.  But for me and for all of us, I need to play the cards that are dealt.  The truth of our lives Jesus accompanies us in the pain and the losses of our lives.  The truth is Jesus promises the fullness of life.  The sufferings we experience, the losses and struggles we endure do lead us to a deeper life in Christ.  Through them we become more aware of who we are, people who stand in need of God’s healing grace.  We carry within ourselves the dying and rising of Jesus.

St Paul says:  “Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and distress for Christ:  for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  It is though the experience of the cross of life that our discipleship of the Lord Jesus becomes very genuine.  At some point in the life of the young child whom mom is teaching to make the sign of the cross from our baptismal font, at some point the cross is going to become real in this person’s, I pray that this person will be able to see with the eyes of a faith-filled heart to be able to embrace this cross and so become more trusting in God’s unending love.

Today w celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Indeed, Jesus was exalted as he hung upon the cross -- exalted because of his self-giving love that led to his glorification by his heavenly Father.  We too are exalted when we join our cross with the cross of Jesus who leads us to a deeper sharing in God's unending love for us.