The Baptism of the Lord -- what part of the mission of Jesus have we embraced in our daily living?

Today we celebrate the Lord's Baptism by John in the River Jordan.  The Baptism of Jesus clearly points to his identity and mission as he begins his public ministry.  As Jesus was coming up from  the waters of baptism, he heard the voice of His Father saying:  "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."  His identity is that He is the Father's beloved Son.

The mission of Jesus is expressed very well in the first Scripture reading from the prophet Isaiah:  "I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness."  The mission of Jesus is to serve, to love, and to proclaim the Gospel of Good News to one and all.

As we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, may we be recommissioned with the grace of our own baptism.  As the community of the baptized, we celebrate our baptismal identity and mission as well.  As with Jesus, we are God's beloved sons and daughters.  Our mission is to share in the mission of Jesus.  We are called to serve, to give of ourselves, and to love as Jesus loved.  We are called to give witness to the love of Jesus in our family and in our world.

On this feast of the Lord's Baptism, we ask ourselves what part of the mission of Jesus have we embraced in our daily living?  As a parish community, how are we better together in proclaiming and giving witness to the mission of Jesus in our lives?

Epiphany Sunday

Who are the magi that arrived from the East?  The magi are searchers, seekers.  They symbolize the restless human spirit.  We are the magi who are searching and seeking for an encounter with the Lord, a deeper relationship with Jesus in 2014.

Like the magi, we need the assistance of the star to discover the Lord.  Who or what are the stars of our life who overwhelm us with joy and lead us to the Christ child.  Thanks be be God for the people in our lives who overwhelm us with joy.  The Epiphany story is that the magi followed the star that was discovered in the midst of darkness.  So too for us in the darkness of our struggles, crosses, and anxieties, may we recognize the star that can lead us to the Lord.  When we have open hands and a trusting heart, the people who love us will be the star that overwhelms with joy.

We don't need to go to the Bethlehem crib to discover the Christ child; we need only to look to the neighbor next door.  In celebrating this Feast of the Epiphany, may the story of the Epiphany be our story as well.

Feast of the Holy Family

This weekend as we  reflect on the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we are invited to reflect on the holiness of our own family life.  What makes a family a holy family?  At a FIRE gathering last evening, Aidan Hood, my grand nephew, wondered if holiness meant perfection.  Answering  insightfully his own question, he suggested families that simply love each other are holy families.

Holy families celebrate the presence of Jesus in their relationship with each other.  God is very much in our family life.  Holy families are families who recognize their own shortcoming; they simply keep on trying in sharing their love with one another.

Joseph in the Holy Family, even when challenged to leave familiar surroundings and to travel to Egypt to protect Mary and Jesus, is an example for us in leaving behind the comfortable and the familiar in responding to God's call in our life.  In what way are you being challenged to let go of something to trust more completely in God's plan for you?

May we express gratitude in our family life.  Indeed, we belong to a holy family

Christmas draws near!

As we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent, our focus turns to Joseph, our parish patron saint.  Often, on Christmas cards and greetings, Joseph is the forgotten person in the Holy Family.  He doesn't make the cut in many Christmas cards featuring Mary and Jesus.  He has no lines in the Scriptures either.

In today's Gospel, Joseph is surprised by God in being told to take the pregnant Mary as his wife.  Her son is conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Joseph provides us with the example of trusting and following the plan of God in difficult and unexplainable situations.

When have we been surprised by God?  When have been challenged to trust in God in the difficult situations of our life.  St. Joseph, help us to stay awake to the plan of God in the challenges of life.

Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday

On this Gaudete Sunday, the joy of Christmas is invading the Advent season.  However, in the Gospel account, the imprisoned John the Baptist seems to be in a dark place when he sends his disciples to ask Jesus:  "Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?"

Jesus responds:  "Go and tell what you hear and see:  the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf are able to hear, and the poor have the Good News preached to them."

Jesus goes in a different direction than John:  instead of preaching about the wrath of God and the punishment to come, he proclaims God's infinite mercy for one and all.

Fast-forward two thousand years, as we move from one location to another, we go Church shopping and ask a similar question to John:  "Is this the parish for me or should I look for another?"  What do we look for in a parish faith community?

Pope Francis gives us a wonderful guide in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium -- The Joy of the Gospel.  Pope Francis says:  Holy Communion is not a prize for the perfect, but powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak and for sinners.

Is our parish the real deal or should we look for another?  Is the Lord's healing and liberation and Good News witnessed to in our parish life.  In the words of Nelson Mandela:  "There is no future without  forgiveness."  May we be a parish community that celebrates God's forgiveness and may we be bearers of forgiveness with one another.

Second Sunday of Advent

This weekend began on Friday evening with our parish children's Lessons and Carols.  As I get older, I am deeply inspired when our children tell us the story of salvation that we have taught them.  In Lessons that proclaimed the Word of God, in music that spoke to your heart, and in acting out the Christmas story (complete with smiling angels), our children enkindled in us the advent spirit of joy and hope.

On Saturday morning, we celebrated First Reconciliation with more than ninety of our youth and their families.  We had two celebrations with which we bathed in the light of God's healing forgiveness.  As we have been shown by Nelson Mandela, forgiveness is the heart of a Gospel way of living.

Our Advent liturgical celebrations continued our theme of staying awake to God in everyday life.  Deacon Bill Coffey preached on the Advent spirit of hope in the coming of the Lord Jesus into our lives and into our world.  Maranatha.

First Sunday of Advent

Advent begins! A new liturgical year begins! A new lectionary cycle begins anchored in the Gospel of Matthew.

Our parish advent theme is:  STAY AWAKE -- staying awake to the presence of God in everyday life.

To stay awake is to stay awake to the spiritual center that is within each one of us.  To stay awake is to pay attention to that which really matters in life -- paying attention to our relationships with each other and paying attention to our relationship with God.  Within us, there is a deeper longing that never goes away.  It is a longing for love.  It is the longing to experience the mystery of God's love in our life.

The Advent season is our spiritual department of homeland security to help us recognize the Lord in our midst coming at a time we least expect.  In fact, Advent is more than a season of four weeks. Advent is a way of life lived in watchfulness to the God who comes -- not just on Christmas but everyday.

Today's first reading from Isaiah contains the compelling yet elusive dream of world peace, words carved on the wall of the United Nations Building in New York.  "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall  not raise the sword against another; nor shall they train for war again."  May the Prince of Peace transform us into being a people of peace,

We also welcomed Nicole Diehl into our RCIA -- the process of welcoming candidates into full initiation into the Catholic Church.

In this Advent season, we as a parish seek to help each other to STAY AWAKE to the presence of God in our midst.