Today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.

 

THIRD SUNDAY IN OT C 2025

 

We have all now heard his Inaugural Address.  He outlined for us what his priorities and emphases will be for the year.  He told us where he intends to focus his energies and efforts.   He challenged us to join him in achieving these goals.  The Inaugural address of which I speak is not that of the President of the United States.

It is the inaugural message of Jesus Christ as presented in today’s Gospel.  The message proclaimed by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is, however, every bit as much an Inaugural Address as were the words spoken by President Donald Trump.

 

Luke presents us with Jesus' first public speech at his hometown synagogue in Nazareth.  Luke presents a summary - here at the very beginning of his account - of what Jesus and his ministry will be about: his vision, his priorities, his goals.

Like presidential inaugural addresses that include quotations from the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, the inaugural address of Jesus harkens back to founding principles.  He quotes two different places from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.

The Lord has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To let the oppressed go free,
And to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

 Jesus clearly spells out where this new ministry he was beginning would be directed:  He would proclaim good news to the poor who - in his time or ours - only seem to hear bad news.  He would be about the business of freeing captives and giving sight to the blind and helping the oppressed break free of all that held them bound.  He would show people what an acceptable time to the Lord looked like.

In his Inaugural Address, Jesus clearly announces that his Gospel
…will be social,
…it will be focused outward on others,
…it will seek to build the Lord's justice.

Jesus then sits down, and, in words that launch his great mission of liberation, he says: ‘This text is being fulfilled today in your hearing’ (Lk 4:21). The words of Isaiah serve as Jesus’ manifesto. He has come to replace the old Jewish love of law with a new law of love and inaugurate the greatest revolution in human history.

 

Jesus’ mission leads him to challenge head-on the values of society. The afflictions of the poor, then as now, were, in large measure, caused by repression, discrimination and exploitation by the rich and powerful, the upholders of the status quo. Jesus directs his mission to those who had been ignored or pushed aside: to the sick, segregated on cultic grounds; to tax-collectors, excluded on political and religious grounds; and to public sinners, despised and rejected on moral grounds. In his compassionate outreach to these outcasts, Jesus embodies God’s kingly rule. This is good news for them as it means the end of their misery and the introduction of a new order of social relationships that includes them. Indeed, for Jesus no one is excluded from the love of God ‘who causes his sun to rise on bad people as well as good and sends rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike’ (Mt 5:45).

 

Some theologians have argued that Jesus did not have a social or political agenda, that he wanted to change hearts not social structures. However, as the noted Scripture scholar, Tom Wright, points out, in the Judaism of Jesus’ day religion and politics were inseparable. As his contemporaries would have expected, Jesus sought to bring God’s kingly rule to bear on every aspect of human life. In the ‘Our Father’ he taught his disciples to pray: ‘Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Mt 6:10). The Kingdom proclaimed and enacted by Jesus was not merely the personal reign of God’s spirit in the souls of individuals. Jesus was launching a spiritual and social revolution that would turn Israel and the world up-side-down. He wanted to establish God’s reign of justice, peace, truth and love in Israel and (through Israel) among all peoples.

 

Jesus lived, died and rose again in order to establish God’s loving rule on earth, and the task of his disciples is to continue that work. In the words of Pope Francis, the mission of the Church is ‘to proclaim and establish among all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God’. This mission entails the integral transformation of the world in which we live.

 

But we do not carry out this mission as isolated individuals. As our Second Reading from St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians reminds us, we are the Body of Christ, and it is as the Body of Christ that we continue Jesus’ mission. The different gifts received by the members of the Church from the Holy Spirit complement one another, and, when properly used, build up the unity of the Church and serve its mission. The synodal process, launched by Pope Francis over four years ago, and which must be continued, provides us with a graced opportunity to deepen our sense of being the Body of Christ, and to collaborate more effectively with one another in the service of the Church’s mission. It is only when the Church really functions as the Body of Christ – when all its members are truly open to the divine Spirit and to one another – that it becomes a credible sign and instrument of God’s reign of love and justice.

 

This week we celebrate Catholic Schools’ week.  In particular, we celebrate St Joseph’s School whose mission is to educate our children after the mind and heart of Jesus.  We believe that education without God is an incomplete education.  At our school, we celebrate the spiritual dimension of life.  Each day our students pray with much gratitude for the blessings of their life.  They are missioned to be kind, to be loving, to be forgiving.  My favorite part of going to Wegman’s is reading the sign above their suggestion box:  We listen, we care.  So too, our students are taught to listen and to care for one another in a way that values the human dignity of each student who is a beloved son or daughter of God.

 

So, we pray: ‘Lord, make us instruments of your peace, justice and love in our deeply divided and wounded world.’

 

Have a Blessed Day.

 

 

Do whatever He tells you.

 Second Sunday in OT  C  2025A

This first miracle of Jesus at the wedding feast of Cana is a very human story and tells about the relationship of Jesus and his mother.    Mary does not even need to ask.  She knows her son and even if she does not know fully how everything will play out she knows who he is and why he has come. “They have no wine,” is all that she needs to say. Then she simply tells the stewards:  “Do whatever He tells you.”

Wow!  There is no uncertainty in Mary’s trust that Jesus will respond and will take care of this need so that the celebration will continue.  What about our relationship with Jesus and our trust that Jesus will accompany us in our hour of need?  Note well with this miracle we are not talking about the most significant event affecting the Jewish people at that time.  We are talking the joy of a wedding celebration and the potential embarrassment to the bride and groom. Mary indeed is our guide and our mother who leads to trust more fully in Jesus. The message is that Jesus is very much invested in the ordinary moments of our day.

With Mary as our spiritual mother and example of discipleship, I call your attention to two trusting prayers of Mary that characterize her deep trust and faith in Jesus:  First at the Annunciation, Mary says:  “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to  your word.”  And now at the Cana wedding feast, she simply says:  “Do whatever he tells you.”  These two statements indicate the deep faith and trust of Mary.

I invite myself and all of us to speak these trusting words of Mary in the circumstances that we find ourselves in today.  “They have no wine”  are all the situations in our life in which we are anxious and troubled about. 

Like Mary, we are to invited to bring our needs and concerns to Jesus with trust.

Today’s Gospel account at the wedding feast of Cana is indeed a great revelation of God’s presence and activity in our midst.  We see God revealing himself again in what Jesus does in this wedding scene. 

In the Gospel, this lavish response to a simple human need is a vision for us of the abundance of God's kingdom. It challenges us to respond generously when confronted with human need today. We respond as best we can, fully confident that God can transform our efforts, bringing the Kingdom of God to fulfillment among us.  On Monday we celebrate the national holiday honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.  We pray that all we do and say will reflect our desire to have the grace of God bless us and continue to transform the water of our human initiative into the wine of the kingdom of God.

The Gospel presents to us the first miracle performed by Jesus at a wedding.  A wedding is a time of abundance and celebration. From the food and wine that are served to the music and dancing that follow, weddings overflow with the goodness of life.  At a deeper level, weddings speak about love, compassion, and unity.  Wedding feast of Cana is a sign of God’s love and compassion. Here Jesus takes care of the family who is about to be pushed into a state of embarrassment. At the same time, he accepts the word of Mary to do a good act and present the family things in abundance.

The action of Jesus turning water into wine is the first of the seven signs that Jesus performed and recorded in the Gospel of John.  On the surface, signs appear to be miracles but John presents them with a particular purpose.   These miracles have a strong symbolic significance that tells us about Jesus and also his messianic work.  

We are at a wedding feast in Cana, Galilee. The wine has run out. We witness that Jesus is able to transform water into the very best wine, just as the Father can change a forsaken people into ones that are his delight.

For example, the first reading gives us the celebration of Joy over the restoration of the relationship between God and his people. Years of exile had made Israelites realize their foolishness and now they consider it a privilege to serve the Lord God. God comes to them as a special gift.  God had remained silent for a long period of time because of the sins. Now God’s people will be obedient and trustful to God who is their Savior.  The reading begins with God breaking the long silence measured by years of exile following the collapse of the kingdom. During that time pride and arrogance lost their hold on the people. Now they are ready to accept God’s plan for them.  Israel is now given royal status and the nation shines like the glorious crown, a royal diadem in God’s hands. God honors Israel with the new name, my beloved, my espoused one. They are now God’s people.  This wonderful transformation is not for the benefit of Israel alone. All the other nations shall benefit from it.

In the joyful hymn of Isaiah, we see how God prepares for His remnant people, the ones who had remained faithful to him, good gifts, and more particularly his own presence. God and his people will be joined together in the New Covenant. 

As at the wedding feast  of Cana, they have no wine symbolizes those situations for us when we have no hope that come from the anxieties and setbacks that we all experience.  At one time or another, we are in the circumstance of having no wine when we are without hope.

In these discouraging moments in life, may we too be mindful of the words of Mary:  “Do whatever he tells you.”  It is always God’s desire that we experience life in abundance.  May we have the trust of Mary that Jesus is for us Lord and Savior. When we can trust in Jesus, of course, water will become wine.

 

Have a Blessed Day.

This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

 

BAPTISM OF THE LORD  C 2025

 

Today’s feast celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.   As Jesus was baptized, the Spirit, like a dove, descended upon Him.  And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 

With the voice from his heavenly Father, his baptismal identity is being staked out.  “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”  God the Father is declaring that Jesus is more than a prophet.  He comes from God; he is the Son of God. With the presence of the Spirit and the voice of God the Father, the mystery of the Trinity is being revealed.

Along with his identity, Jesus inaugurates his baptismal mission to teach, to heal, to forgive, to love, to save us from our sins, and to give us share in His Risen Life.  Jesus is our Lord and Savior.  He has come to save us from our sinfulness and to give a share in his risen life.

This feast invites us to see the connection between the Baptism of Jesus and our own baptism.

I call your attention to the front entrance of our Church.  As you come in the front entrance of the Church, you bump into the baptismal font.  This is not a design fault that the baptismal font is in your way as you come into Church.  It is placed at the front entrance as a clear reminder that our life in Christ, our spiritual journey begins at Baptism. 

As we come into Church, we bless ourselves with the water from our baptismal font to remind us of the day of our Baptism when we received the life of Christ Jesus and when we first became of member of the Church – the Body of Christ.

You will notice that the baptismal font is positioned on a direct line to the altar of God.  This is symbolic that our spiritual journey goes from the baptismal font to the altar of God where we give thanks to the Lord our God and are fed and nourished at the Table of the Lord.

In our Baptism, we claim our baptismal identity.  We become God’s beloved son and God’s beloved daughter in whom the Father is well pleased.  We claim who we are and whose we are.    We are sons and daughters of a loving Father; we are brothers and sisters to each other; we are welcomed into the Church, the Body of Christ.  Such an incredible grace we receive in Baptism, and the grace of Baptism is lifelong.  In the spiritual journey of each of us, we need to ask ourselves the question:  Do I claim my own baptismal identity as a beloved child of God?   When I am stressed out, when I am fearful and a bit anxious, am I claiming my baptismal identity as God’s beloved?   The words spoken to Jesus are words that are spoken to us as part of our baptismal identity.

May you hear this day and every day these words spoken to you by our loving God: “This is my beloved son; this is my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.”  These are spoken not because of our worthiness; rather these words are spoken because of God’s unconditional love for us.  May you always be able to recognize this voice of God in your life.

Now it is true that throughout all our lives, a cacophony of voices will attempt to drown our attentiveness to the voice of God.  There’s the voice of Wall Street calling us to find our security in stocks, bonds and mutual funds.  There’s the voice of Madison Avenue alerting us to unnecessary needs and undue desires.  There’s the voice of Rodeo Drive warning us not to be out of style, and the voice of Broadway luring us to the superficial aspects of contemporary entertainment.

Amid the clamor of all these voices, it may be difficult to hear the voice of God and grasp the hand of God.  Nevertheless, that voice and that hand are ever near, and God’s grace is ever at the ready to keep our hearing acute and our understanding full and clear.  The question for our prayerful reflection this day is: Whose voice will you listen to? 

In today’s Gospel, after the baptism of Jesus, a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son: with you I am well pleased.”    As we pray over these words, may we ask ourselves:  What actions of ours this past week is our heavenly Father well pleased with?

 

 

Baptismal mission   We are to embrace our baptismal identity and our baptismal mission.

Sacrament of Baptism -- not just a Church ceremony.  It is your life as a disciple of Jesus.  Baptism is your lifelong call that commissions us to service in the name of Jesus. We are co-creators with God in building up the kingdom of heaven on earth.

When we are baptized into Christ Jesus, there is no part of our life that does not belong to God.  There is no part of our life that God is not present.

We are drawn into the very life of God.  We no longer live for ourselves in an individualistic fashion.  We are connected with each other.  We are connected with all baptized people across the centuries.  We are the community of the baptized.

The grace of baptism is lifelong.  We are always and forever the community of the baptized.  We are always and forever missioned to give witness to the love of Jesus in our lives.   Our mission is to bring the peace and love of Jesus into our world.   Our mission is to bring healing and love and dialogue into our political process.

In the baptismal identity of each one of us, we are given a charism or charisms for the building of the Body of Christ.  Your charism is your particular giftedness given to you by our loving God for the building of the Body of Christ, for making a difference in our world.  Our charisms are not to be buried into the ground, but they are to see the light of day and to be used in the service of others.

As we celebrate this feast day of the Lord, I invite you to name the charism, the giftedness that is given to you and ask if we have used our God given giftedness to bring the love and the healing and the compassion of Christ into our parish and into our world.

We are the community of the baptized.  We are God’s beloved sons and daughters.  We are missioned to be brothers and sisters to each other; we are missioned to wash the feet of God’s poor; and our first requirement as a baptized disciple of Jesus is to love one another.

Have a Blessed Day.

 

EPIPHANY 2025

“When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews saying, ‘we saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.’”

The journey of the magi is central to this feast.  These wise men from the East, guided by a star, sought the newborn king of the Jews.  They weren’t part of the Jewish faith, nor were they looking for a political ruler nor an earthly king.  Instead, they were seeking something greater—a divine presence, a light that would lead them out of darkness.

In celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany, the story of the Epiphany may be our story as well.  We are today’s magi who come to discover and encounter the Christ child.

The magi followed a star with faith, not fully knowing where it would lead them, but trusting that the light would guide them to truth.

It’s a journey that mirrors our own.  We too, like the magi, are called to seek Jesus, to follow the light that has been revealed to us.  But just as the magi had to leave behind their comfort and security to make the long journey, so too are we called to leave behind what is familiar in order to encounter Christ in a deeper way.

The magi symbolize what is restless in the human spirit seeking for a greater depth of meaning and purpose in life.  They left behind what was comfortable and safe and took considerable risk in traveling to another country in search of the Lord.  The magi speak to our restless human spirit seeking to discover the spiritual meaning and longing for that which ultimately satisfies us.

May each of us be in touch with our restless human spirit that is looking for something more in our spiritual journey.  How is the Lord calling us to move beyond our comfort zone and follow a star that will lead us to that deeper relationship with Jesus that we seek?  The grace of Epiphany invites to come to know Jesus in a deeper relationship.

My hunch is that the Lord is placing a star in our life on this Epiphany dayEpiphany Day that we are to follow.  That star may not be in the sky but possibly be the star that is in the heart of someone you are called to love and to help and to serve.  That star may be in the hearts of the poor who we are called to reach out to.

The star in our life, strange as it may seem, may be a struggle, a loss, a disappointment we have experienced.  The grace of this experience may make us realize that we are not fully in control of our lives; this star event may lead us to trust more fully in the hand of God for our lives.

When the magi finally arrived in Bethlehem, they worshipped the infant King and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  We are called, too, to present our gifts to Christ, though they may look different than the Magi’s.  We offer our lives, our talents, our prayers, and our love.  We recognize, as they did, that Jesus is worthy of all that we have and all that we are.

Please note the sharp contrast between the Magi and King Herod in the Epiphany Gospel.   Herod sees the promised child as a threat. He'sHe is afraid the coming baby will crimp his style, will challenge his power and lower his status.

The Magi see the promised child as a wonderful gift. They'veThey have humbled themselves to travel a great distance to a strange culture that speaks a different language, in order to embrace this baby who fulfills God's love.

Herod’s selfishness fueled by his fears leads to his downfall. The Magi's worship of the Christ child leads to the salvation of all the nations. Today more than 2two billion people call themselves Christians, in some way the result of the humility and the seeking spirit of the Magi.

We see the hostility of King Herod to the notion that he would have a rival to his kingship.  Moved by jealousy, he hatched a murderous plot that was foiled by the non-cooperation of the magi.

Before we simply reject the treachery of Herod, we need to acknowledge that there is a Herod within each of us that keeps from following Christ more fully.  What are the demons within us that make more self-centered than Christ-centered?  How radically do I share with those in need?  What keeps me from listening more fully to another’s point of view?  Do I make time for God in the way that I live?

Yes, we all need to confess that we are sinners, and there is a bit of King Herod in all of us.  But thanks be to God, the Bethlehem infant has come to be our Savior and Lord.  We seek the grace of allowing ourselves to be loved by the Christ child.

In our discipleship of the Lord Jesus, we are the magi – seeking to encounter the Lord Jesus more fully in our lives.  In seeking to encounter the Christ child, In one perspective we are the magi seeking to discover the Lord.  From another perspective we ask who the magi are we are meant to encounter.  Who are the magi?  They may the strangers whom we meet this coming year who have followed a star in search of the Christ child that is within each of us.  May we welcome that strangers with the hospitality that the magi received at the Bethlehem crib.we come to a universal truth that brings great promise to us all.

On this feast, we are reminded that Jesus came not only for the Jews but for all people, regardless of race, culture, or background.  The Epiphany marks the opening of God’s kingdom to the entire world, and we are invited to be part of that great revelation.

 

It’s revealed that there are no outsiders at the Bethlehem crib.  There was no racism.  All were welcome.  Jesus welcomed everyone – the ox and the ass, the shepherds and magi, poor and rich, the Jews and Gentiles.  He came for us all.  He would reject no one, as he would accept the unique gifts of each.  As we pray over this epiphany account, we too are to affirm that there are no outsiders in our Church and in our world.  All are welcome.  We are to love our neighbor, no exceptions.

 

Notice well, the magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they departed for their country by another way.  Of course, they would return by another route.  Their lives have been changed by their encounter with Jesus.  May we too with God’s grace have our lives changed by our encounter with Jesus.  We cannot go back to our old way of living -- with our fears, our anxieties, our addictions, our grudges, our pettiness.  We are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Have a Blessed Epiphany Day.