As was Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, how is it for us when we have been led by the Spirit of God's love into the wilderness?

I call your attention to the first sentence in today’s Gospel:  “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.”  Jesus finding himself in the desert being tempted by the devil was not the result of bad luck or being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sometimes we can find ourselves in the desert of disappointment or failure, not led by the Spirit of God’s love but rather they are the result of bad choices we have made.  Our desire for pleasure, power, or greed can sometimes get the best of us and lead us into the wilderness.  In fact, none of us want to be judged just on the basis of the dumbest choices we have made in life.

But with Jesus, he is being led by the Spirit of God’s love into the desert to be tempted by the devil to use his power in ways that are not in God’s plan.  The devil was tempting Jesus to become the Messiah without the cross.  The devil was tempting Jesus to take the short cut to achieve his power as the Messiah.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be humbled, to be tested and tempted, to struggle with the forces of evil and thereby fully trust in God’s plan for His life.  The Lenten journey of Jesus was for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert wrestling with the forces of darkness.

My question for you and for me is what desert have we been led by the Spirit of God’s love to be humbled, to be tested and tempted to validate our faith and trust in Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives?

As you have grieved the loss of someone you dearly love, as you have dealt with illness in your life and the in the life of a dear family member, as you have been hurt and your confidence has been betrayed, as you have had to deal with more than your fair share of challenges, can you see these experiences as being led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  Can these life wrenching experiences be example of how you are being led by the Spirit into the desert?

This I know:  God’s loves you with an everlasting love.  You are precious and glorious in the sight of God.  Yet, as with Jesus himself, the cross and the desert are a part of your life and mine.

A fundamental temptation for us is forgetting the Lord and the ways He has blessed us.  All of us wrestle with the Lord a bit on our spiritual journey.  In one moment, we turn our lives over to the Lord.  In the next moment, we are tempted by food or power or recognition.  We can too easily lose our spiritual footing.

The way the tempter dealt with Jesus is how the tempter deals with us – offering us discipleship of the Lord Jesus minus the cross in our life.  The cross is part of who Jesus is, and it is an enduring sign of His unconditional love for us.  The Lenten season invites us to recognize the cross in our spiritual journey.

The Stations of the Cross describe the stages of the suffering and death of Jesus.  As we experience the stations of the cross of illness, of death, of brokenness in our own stories, may we too get the help of Simon of Cyrene and be strengthened by the love of Mary our mother.  As for Jesus, our own stations of the cross are our way of discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Lord God, it is risky to let ourselves be led by the Spirit.  We make an act of trust in you today, letting ourselves be guided by you, confident the devil will eventually leave us and angels will appear to look after us.

Lord, our faith community of St Joseph’s also is led into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  We would like see more people in the pews each and every Sunday; we would like to have more robust social justice initiatives; we would like our youth to be more involved in our faith formation initiatives, and so forth and so forth. 

We would like simple solutions to each of these challenges – perhaps just a simple resolution of the parish council -- preferably without the cross and the accompanying struggle.  May we always remember that we are led by the Spirit into the desert.  There is a method to the divine madness.  As with Jesus, we need to trust in God’s plan even when we lose a bit of control in the outcome.

You may ask why in the world need we to choose spiritual disciplines in the Lenten season as our life circumstances provide us with enough desert experiences that are not of our choosing. 

The Lenten journey of our choosing is a quiet, humble, simple journey that was begun with ashes being placed on our foreheads. 

These Lenten disciplines help us to encounter Christ and to live our lives trusting in God’s plan for us.  Discipline and discipleship go together as surely night follows day.  May we value each of the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. 

As disciples of Jesus, our prayer is our conversation.  It is being in the presence of our God.  It is the gratitude we express for the blessings of life we enjoy.  May your Lenten prayer include a desert solitude – simply slowing down, being quiet, being still in God’s presence, and prayer without words.  May our Lenten prayer include the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which we return to the Lord our God.

May we embrace the discipline of fasting to simplify our lives in some way – through fasting from food or fasting from some activity – in order to more fully rely on Jesus being the nourishment that we seek and the moral compass of our lives.

May we embrace the discipline of almsgiving to share what we have been given with those in need. Our discipleship of Jesus can never be divorced from the needs of God’s poor.

For the desert experience that we choose in this Lenten season and for the desert experience that has been chosen for us, may we be led by the Spirit of God’s love to trust more fully in God’s plan for our lives.

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Have a blessed day.

The Gospel asks the question: "why worry?" Jesus responds with a new commandment: Thou shalt not worry.

The Gospel asks the great question of “why worry?”  The wildflowers don’t worry.  The birds don’t worry.   Why should we?  If God cares for them, why would God not equally care for us who are made in the image and likeness of God?  The Isaiah text from the first Scripture reading speaks of God’s tenderness as like that of a mother towards an infant. 

Why worry?  The answer to this is easier said than done?  Parents worry about their children making good choices in life.  We worry about our own health and the health of the people we love.   We worry and wonder about our country and the politics of our country.  Young people worry about career choices and who they are going to live their life with.

I worry when so many people tell me:  “Father. I am not spiritual but not religious.”  What does that mean?  I believe in God but this Church doesn’t touch my soul.  Can you really be spiritual without belonging to a community of faith with all its messiness but with many people who love you and seek to be loved by you and so discover God’s presence in our midst?

Another worry is what many of us have what is called “tragedy fatigue.”  We can’t even remember the latest horrific event given how frequently these tragedies occur.  The sad outcome is this:  we forget the awesome tenderness of God towards us.

The commandment that Jesus gives us today is:  Thou shalt not worry.  If we take this commandment of Jesus to heart, what happens to your anxiety about your children, your anxiety that you will not get what you need for yourself and for your family, your worry about a sick relative, your worry about what the future holds for you?

The Scriptures invite us to ask the question:  what worries do you need Jesus to take from you?  Can you identify a particular worry that is close to your heart that, with God’s grace,  you can turn it over to the merciful love of Jesus?

Again, from the first Scripture reading:  “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?  Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”

As we reflect on that basic Gospel question:  “Why worry?”   We also ask:   What kind of God is God?  What do we expect God to do for us?

I am puzzled and dismayed by preachers who project God as vengeful, full of anger, and ever ready to punish at every opportunity.  Now I was born at night but not last night.  I have come to recognize that we can find whatever version of God we want to find in the Bible.  The devil can quote Scriptures for his own purposes.  But this I know:  Jesus did not come down from heaven to reveal a vengeful God.  God did not make us for his wrath.  He made us for His love.  God cares for what God creates – the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and, most of all, you and I.  This is the God who is the true North Star of our lives.

An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth is an expression that was found in the cultures surrounding the Jews in the time of Jesus.   This kind of retribution is not in God’s thinking.  An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is clearly not found in the heart of Jesus.  He is interested, very interested, in finding that we treasure His love in our hearts and that we are willing to forego the attractions of this world in order to secure “the pearl of great price.”

Yes, repentance and reconciliation are many times necessary for us to return to union with God in our hearts and souls.  This is the profound meaning of the Lenten journey of encountering Christ.  But when it comes to repenting, we need not fear.  His heart calls to our heart,   “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?  Even if she should forget, I, God declares, will never forget you.”

Yes, we need to make good choices and seek first the kingdom of God.  Jesus tells us that spiritually multi-tasking is not a good idea.  The Lord wants our undivided hearts free of the daily preoccupations  of life that cause to lose our centeredness in God.

How easy it is to become a slave of what we own -- even if is only a cell phone.  We are all caught up in the devious attraction of spiritual multi-tasking.  Our hearts desire to be faithful to seeking first the kingdom of God but the lure of the good life of success, of pleasure, of power, and prestige entice us.  You will notice that after proclaiming the Gospel telling us not to worry about what we are to wear and what are to eat, that God will provide us,  I did not then suggest we skip the collection this week.

Yes, we live in a material world but we are not to become slaves we what we own.  What we have been given, we have given to share.  But we all are tempted to make idols out of the mammon of this world.  We like to be comfortable, don’t you know, and we all are capable of becoming a slave to what we own.

The season of Lent provides us with the opportunity to do a spiritual inventory of what are the important values of our life.  We need to honestly ask the question:  What is God’s plan for my life?  What does God expect of us?

To draw a focus on how to answer the big questions of life.  I invite you to meditate on the faith journey of St John of the Cross.  After he struggled with the Dark Night of the Soul in his writings and in his life, he profoundly said:    “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.

Have a blessed day.

Is Jesus a law-breaker or a law-keeper?

Is Jesus a law breaker or a law keeper?

From the perspective of the critique of Jesus against the legalism of the Scribes and Pharisees, in Jesus extending the merciful love of God to sinners, you can say that Jesus dismisses the preoccupation of law- keeping and emphasizes the mercy and the love and the compassion of God.

On the other hand, Jesus is clear in today’s Gospel in saying:  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.  Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.”

The real message of Jesus in today’s Gospel is yes we need to live very ethically and have a deep respect for the rule of law.  The commandments are not just suggestions or guidelines.  We are to obey the commandments.  But Jesus is also saying very clearly that rule keeping is not the end of the story; we are called to be disciples in which we seek to encounter Jesus in prayer and in daily life.

Discipleship of Jesus is deeper than obedience to the law.  Jesus fulfills the law by demanding more in the way of love.  Discipleship demands conversion of heart.

It should not surprise us that Jesus goes beyond the requirements of the laws of the Old Testament, even while saying they need to be observed.  In this section of Matthew’s gospel Jesus fleshes out a deeper meaning and intent of the commandments.  For example, when he speaks of the sin of murder, the taking of another’s life, he speaks of it as including the diminishment of a person’s life by harsh words or actions.

We can keep all the rules but if our hearts are not filled with the joy of the Gospel in the words of Pope Francis, we haven’t experienced the conversion of our hearts.

For example, in living out the Sacrament of Marriage, it is not just a legal contract of an eye for an eye and not committing adultery.  Marriage is a lifelong covenant of love in which two people are called to love and honor each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health for all the days of their lives. 

Today’s Gospel calls us the vision of discipleship that while detail and discipline can train us in keeping the rules, we can only discover how to love through forgiving those who have hurt us irrespective of whether they ask for forgiveness or not,  or are repentant or not.  We can only discover how to love by helping those in need, whether they deserve help or not.  We can only discover how to love by standing with those who are oppressed even if it is dangerous for us.  Yes, we live in complex times in which we wonder about the morality of issues of immigration, of homeland security and the like.  The Lord calls to welcome and to stand people who are in need.  We can only discover how to love by asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds with wisdom.

Discipleship of the Lord Jesus is not taking the easy road of lax morality; rather our discipleship leads us to follow the example of the one who laid down his life for our salvation and out of love for each and every one of us.

We are called to more than just keeping the rules.  We are called to love deeply.  May our prayerful question be not just about rule-keeping but how do I discern to say YES to the plan of God for my life. 

Jesus offers a much more challenging ethic than legalism because we are not able to say we’ve met our obligation as long as anyone goes hungry or suffers oppression or is abandoned and alone.  This ethic requires endless charity. 

Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount presents Jesus as the new Moses, not as a lawgiver but as a guide who shows us a life full of blessing, of joy, and service to people in need.

For me as a priest confessor in the beautiful sacrament of reconciliation, the priest is not meant just to  be a spiritual attorney general determining whether the law has been broken or not, or whether a particular action is a sin or not, rather, the primary ministry of the priest is to communicate the healing, forgiving, merciful love of Jesus.  Yes, the priest can provide needed counsel, but more importantly the priest is to share the merciful love of Jesus with the penitent.

As we celebrate the Eucharist, may we be mindful of today’s Gospel:  “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go and first be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

The lesson for us clear.  This is how seriously God views our human relationships.  We cannot hate our neighbor – no matter who he or she is, no matter whether they deserve it or not – and then say we love God.  For whatever we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to Christ himself.

To give a preview to next Sunday’s Gospel, we are to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.

In the words of Pope Francis, “my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving.   Jesus does not tire of saying to us:  Give them something to eat.”

In the Gospel, we hear no ordinary rabbi interpreting the Torah but One whom we already know to be God’s beloved Son not “going light” on the law and the prophets but going deeper and challenging us to reach beyond the letter of the law to the fulfillment realized only in self-sacrificing live.

May all of us have a blessed day as disciples of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus did not call the best and the brightest. He has called and continues to call people like us out of darkness into the light of His love.

Today we hear the story of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry:  he came proclaiming the Good News; he came healing the sick; and he came and called people by name to be his followers.  If we were to put this in a brief twitter, we would begin with the three words:  “proclaiming, healing, calling.”

What did Jesus proclaim?  The Good News of the Gospel.  We believe that the first gift of our faith is the love of God, the humble God who became one of us in love.  In our faith we need to touch into the love and the call of God.   May we never lose touch of the beautiful reality that the first gift of our faith, the first gift of the proclamation of Jesus is the love of God.

Who first proclaimed to you the love of God – the first gift of faith?

Who are the people in your life who proclaim to you the love of God – the first gift of faith?

Do we in the faith community proclaim to each other the love of God?  Shame on us if we do not.

In proclaiming the love of God, we are not to shy away from the Lord’s message of repentance for our sins.  Jesus challenges us to turn away from the darkness of sin so that we can live in the light of God’s loving presence.   Sin alienates us from the kingdom of heaven.   Repentance demands humility and fundamental change of heart.  Otherwise we cannot truly be Jesus’s disciples.

The Scriptures today call us to move from darkness to light, from the darkness of our sinfulness to the light of Christ.  From Isaiah in the first Scripture reading, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”

In the second Scripture reading, Paul speaks of the reality of the human condition as it was reported to him about the rivalries in the Christian community of Corinth.  Paul writes:  “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.

On Friday we celebrated the inauguration of our 45^th president of the United States, President Donald Trump.  Part of the genius of our democracy is the peaceful transition of power from President Obama to President Trump.  That being said, there have been far too many rivalries, too much division, too much mean-spiritedness among Republicans and Democrats. 

As St Paul writes in the second Scripture reading, there is considerable division in the Corinthian community.  Paul’s prayer for the Corinthians is our prayer for our government leaders that in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that there be no divisions among you, but you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.

Paul knows well the reality of the human condition.  Sin is in all of us.  That includes power, greed, and self-centeredness.  But our prayer and our hope and our trust needs to be focused in our lives, in our Church, and in our government that we need to work together.  We need to collaborate with each other in discovering our better angels and how best to serve each other and how best to serve those most in need.

The coming of Jesus brings forgiveness, healing, renewal, and wholeness.  He calls on us to change lives and minds, and he brings us God’s pardon.  He invites us to a new life, and he empowers us to set out to live that new life.  The God who is close is the God who is gentle and forgiving.

As we reflect on the call of the first apostles in the Gospel account, when Jesus sees Peter and Andrew, he looks them in the eye and says, “Follow me.”  He needs help in gathering the people.

Jesus’ inaugural address to the apostles was rather brief:  “Follow me.”

In choosing Peter and Andrew and James and John, Jesus wasn’t choosing the best and the brightest, but Jesus was developing a team, a team that he would collaborate with.  The first apostles trusted completely in the Lord and were willing to leave everything to follow Jesus.

As we reflect on the call of the first apostles, this leads us to pray over the call each of us receives to be a disciple of Jesus.  In asking ourselves what is our level of commitment to follow Jesus, I share Pope Francis' dream. I dream that we will give Jesus first place in our lives. That we will hear him say, "Follow me." And that we will do our part in gathering God’s people together as the faith community of St. Joseph’s: including those who have become discouraged, those who have drifted from the faith, families with small children, high school students and young adults.

We have tough competition - a consumer society that promises fulfillment apart from God. Because of that false promise, people drift away from active engagement in our faith community.

You and I are called to gather people in the faith community of St Joseph’s; we have a role to play in the big story of the Catholic Church. If we take time for prayer, if we repent and allow Jesus work through us, then by his power we can gather people. Jesus is the light for those living in darkness. Today Jesus still says: "Follow me."

I know of a beautiful story of a woman who had a rough childhood – considerable family issues and some abuse. This person was student at St. Joseph’s School in her childhood.   In her own telling of her story, the way she made it through her difficult childhood was that each morning on the way to school, when she turned the corner, she saw her classroom light on.  Then she knew all would be well.  She experienced at St.  Joseph’s School the strength, the faith and the love that helped her become the woman she is today.  Please God this is who we are as a church and as a school. 

I’ve heard it said that it’s a long winding road from the head to the heart.  As we reflect on the Lord’s call in our lives, “Follow me.” The Lord’s invitation to us calls for a conversion of our heart -- the kingdom of God is not just a promised reality; it is a present reality.  We are called to be a Church of service and love to one another -- not just a hierarchy or a building but we need the repentance that brings real change of heart on the inside.    Lord, we thank you that Jesus is still preaching a message of love and forgiveness. 

Have a blessed day.

Who is Jesus Christ and who am I?

With this Sunday, we begin the Ordinary Time of the Church Year.  In the Liturgical cycle of year A, we focus on the Gospel of Matthew.  But you will notice today’s Gospel is from the Gospel of John.  The second Sunday of the Church Year is always  from John’s Gospel.  At the beginning of the Ordinary Time, the Church in beginning with John’s Gospel wants to orient us with a brief vision of the broader mission of Jesus.  The ultimate mission of Jesus is his passion and resurrection which is symbolized in Jesus as the Lamb of God.  We are also given a moment for us to reflect on the meaning of our own baptism and what it means to be baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus.

As I mentioned, the Church begins with John’s Gospel to orient us to the broader mission of Jesus, the ultimate destiny of his passion-resurrection and also to challenge us to live out in daily discipleship the meaning of being baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection.

I would invite you to reflect and meditate on two questions:

                                Who is Jesus?

                                Who am I?

Who is Jesus Christ?  In the Gospel, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus is the Lamb of God.  From one perspective, it doesn’t seem too flattering to be called a lamb -- a timid animal that others use for food and Pendelton shirts.  But the lamb has much more meaning.  In Jesus’ time, the lamb was used for religious sacrifice. 

You may recall in the Old Testament that Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son Isaac.  In that account, Isaac said to his dad: “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

This Old Testament prefigures Jesus becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by offering his life in sacrifice on the cross.

Then John in the last part of this Gospel account says:  “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”  Jesus is the presence of God in the world.  He is the presence of God among us.  Who is Jesus?  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  He is the Son of God.  He is not just the man from Galilee; he is the very God from heaven.

WHO AM I?    To answer that question, we need to remember our baptism.  Remember your baptism.    It was such an important moment in your journey of faith.

For me, my mom and dad, presumably with my older brother and sister brought me to Our Lady of Good Counsel on April 12, 1942 along with my godparents.  I was less than three weeks old.  Father Nolan who was the associate priest at Our Lady of Good Counsel at the time baptized me in a simple ceremony on Sunday afternoon.  As it happens, my mom and dad, the priest who baptized me, my god parents, and my older brother and sister are all deceased. But the grace and the meaning of my baptism is what still enlivens my spirit to this day.

In the waters of baptism, I received the life of Christ Jesus.  The words spoken to Jesus from his heavenly Father on the day of his baptism were also spoken to me by God the Father:  “You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.  In baptism, I became God’s beloved; I was welcomed into the Church;  I became a member of the Community of the Baptized; and I was given a sharing in the mission of Jesus to witness to the love of Jesus to one and all.

My first encounter with Jesus was at God’s initiative.  I was the recipient of the unconditional love of Jesus long before reaching the age of reason.  I was created by God, for God.  Understanding the grace and the truth of my baptism and realizing its meaning takes a long time, even a life time.  74 years later, I am still seeking to experience more fully the love of God that has continuously been given to me since the moment of my baptism.

On the day of my First Communion, the day of Confirmation, the day I was ordained a priest 48 years ago, each time I celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, each time I celebrate the Eucharist, I deepen the life of Christ Jesus that I first received on April 12, 1942 on the day of my baptism.

It was my parents who made the decision for me to be baptized but with each sacrament I celebrate it is I who confirm the commitment to my discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who am I?  I am a child of God.  I am God’s beloved son.  I am a member of the community of the baptized as a Catholic.  I am missioned to proclaim and witness God’s love in the community in which I live.

I am also an ordained priest that further identifies the mission that I was given at baptism, but I would be quick to say we share much in common as respond to the question WHO AM I?

The identity we all share in baptism is huge.  We are God’s beloved; we are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus; and we all given the mission to witness to the mission of Jesus, to witness to the love of God in the world.

As we remember the baptism of Jesus, may we also remember our own baptism.  Even more important, as a community of the baptized, may we missioned to witness to the love of Jesus in all that we say and do.

As were the magi, we are seekers looking to encounter the Lord more deeply in our lives.

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?”

The magi, the wise men, arrived from the East seeking to find the newborn king of the Jews.  They are called wise men; they are called kings; I would also invite you to see them as seekers.  They journeyed to Jerusalem looking for the newborn king but they did not know where to find him.a

In many ways, so many of us can identify with the magi.  We are seekers who wish to discover Jesus more fully in our lives.  The world is full of seekers.  Some of these seekers are men and women at the end of their rope, desperate for a liberator, longing for deliverance from poverty, some addiction, human trafficking, mental illness, war, violence, or injustice.  Some are seekers are of another sort, longing not for deliverance but for a life worth living, a life with meaning and depth, with purpose and love. 

In our discipleship of the Lord Jesus, we are seekers --  seeking to encounter the Lord Jesus more fully in our lives.

Thanks be to God, Christ has told us where we are to find Him.  Christ Himself has told us where the stars of our life are to be found that will enable us to encounter the Lord.  I would suggest there are many ways of experiencing of the Lord.  In this homily, I would like to focus on two ways the Christ Himself has told us He can be found.

#1.    Christ has told us to seek him among the poor.

I had an inspiring encounter with some of God’s poor the Tuesday Evening after Christmas.  Four of us from St. Joe’s  --  Deb AuClair, Adam Greenly, his son Josh, and myself – joined with parishioners from the downtown St. Mary’s Church on their monthly outreach to the homeless in downtown Rochester.  St Joseph’s both tithes and are active participants in this ministry under Katie Denecke’s leadership.

The wind was howling this particular Tuesday evening and the poor we encountered were grateful for the blankets, for the toiletries, and the food we provided in their flimsy makeshift housing along the railroad tracks near the Genesee River and also in what is called “Tent City” along the fencing of route 490.  In a strange way, we walked on the holy ground of the homeless where they lived calling to mind for me the simplicity and the poverty of the Bethlehem crib.

Two of the homeless accepted our invitation to take them to Motel Six where they would enjoy a shower, a comfortable bed and some warmth for the night.  The hope the following morning is that they will engage with willing social workers to help them help themselves in finding more quality in how they live their lives.  Others thanked us for our friendship and the food we provided but chose to stay where they were in the humblest of human surroundings.  The folks who spoke to us from within these tents were among God’s beloved.

In our encounter with these beautiful homeless people, we were encountering the Lord who once again lives among us in the simplicity and poverty that characterized the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem of Judea.

I was grateful to move outside of the comfort zone of St Joseph’s Church which I am most familiar with to walk and to share with God’s poor who are homeless under the bridges of our city.  We all need to encounter God’s poor in some way.

#2.  Christ has also said that He is to be found where two or three are gathered in his name.  That is to say, Christ is to be found in the Church; Christ is to be found in the faith community of St. Joseph’s.  We are the Church of St Joseph’s  -- not just a bunch of isolated individual Christians who happen to live in Penfield and in the surrounding communities.  Jesus is very clear that he is here among us when we gather together as a community, as a Church in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus is present in the Scriptures that we proclaim and listen to.  Jesus is present in the mystery of the Eucharist in which we encounter in the celebration of the Eucharist.  Jesus is also present in the relationships that we have with one another.

I am so grateful that we gather Sunday and Sunday to give thanks to the Lord our God in the celebration of the Eucharist.  Not in place of the Scriptures or the Sunday Eucharist, but what I would like to emphasize with you that Christ is also present in the informal dimensions of how we are Church, in the more casual ways that we are gathered in His name.  When we simply share a cup of coffee with each other, when we simply exchange our good wishes with each other as well as the times we comfort each other in the grieving moments of life, it is in this context that Christ is present to us as we are two or three we are gathered in His name.

The great St Theresa of Avila said that Christ was to be found among the pots and pans of our kitchen service to one another.  What St Theresa had in mind was to say in the simplest and humblest ways that we serve one another, Christ is present.  There is no dimension of our lives with one another that Christ is not present.

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Pope Francis is forever telling the clergy to get out of the sacristy of the Church and get into the streets.  Pope Francis is telling us that Christ is to be found in our service of one another.  When we think of how Christ is present in St. Joseph’s Church, we are to go beyond the four walls of the Church and to be aware of all the ways we come together in friendship and support of one another.

Getting back to the magi, looking at them as seekers who came to Jerusalem to find the newborn king, may we also see ourselves as seekers who wish to encounter the Lord more deeply in our lives.  We are to be stars to each other in all the ways we lead each other to encounter the Lord.

Have a blessed day.

The life of Jesus began with Mary at the Bethlehem crib. Our 2017 begins with Mary as we celebrate the Feast of Mary the Mother of God.

It’s the time of year when we roll out the old and bring in the new.  It’s the time for making new resolutions, new promised to ourselves.  We resolve to devote more time to family life; we resolve to work more efficiently; and we people decide to become healthier by dieting and exercising.

Our resolutions are filled our dreams and hopes and goals for the coming year.  But the question that the Scriptures today invite us to reflect on:  What are God’s plan for us this year?  Instead of focusing on my resolutions for the New Year, may we be open to God’s resolutions for us this year.

This is such a fundamental spiritual conversion the Scriptures call us to.  Instead of focusing on my resolutions, we seek to open ourselves up to saying YES to God’s plan for our life in 2017.

How do we become more aware of God’s plan for us in 2017?  Instead of naming my resolutions for the coming year, I seek to listen to God’s resolutions for me this coming year.

There is no better model for us than Mary in opening ourselves to God’s plan for our lives.  We know at the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of our Savior and Lord, Mary worked through her fear and confusion and said YES to God’s plan for her.  With such an inspiring faith, Mary spoke these powerful words:  “I am the handmaid of the Lord.  Be it done to me according to thy Word.”

Can we with Mary speak these words at the beginning of 2017:  “I am the servant of the Lord.  Be it done to me according to thy word.”

We begin the New Year on New Years’ Eve. 

New Year’s Eve has an almost carnival-like atmosphere to it.  To celebrate it, we do all sorts of things:  enjoy parties, watch football games, drink champagne, toast new beginnings, wear crazy heats, set off fireworks, kiss and hug old friends, and watch the ball drop from Times Square.

In contrast to the frenzy of our celebrations on New Years’ Eve, Mary pondered in silence and stillness in the Bethlehem crib.  “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

Mary pondered and wondered and discerned about all that had puzzled her in the message of the angels and in the gifts of the magi.  Yes, there was uncertainty and questions for Mary and Joseph as they pondered the messages given to them about their son.  But her uncertainly about the messages given to her by the shepherds and the Magi did not keep her from reflecting and pondering about God’s plan for her life. 

To ponder means more than thinking, organizing, worrying, doing, procrastinating, scurrying, etc.  To ponder means that we pray with a faith-filled heart over the joys and the struggles and challenges of the day.  It means to meditate, quiet down and know we are surrounded by God’s unending love.  We give thanks for the blessings of the day.  May we commit ourselves again to imitating her openness to God’s will and her love for Christ and his Church.

We listen best when we make the effort to go to that quiet place to hear God speaking to us.  We take the side of God in the battle between life and destruction, between light and darkness.

If we want to celebrate Christmas as Mary did, we need to ponder this sign:  the frail simplicity of a tiny newborn child, the meekness with which he is placed in a manger, the tender affection with which he is wrapped in his swaddling clothes.  This is where God is.

What Mary pondered reveals a Gospel paradox.  The Gospel speaks of the emperor, the governor, the high and mighty of those times, yet God does not make himself present there.  He appears not in the splendor of a royal palace, but in the poverty of a stable; not in pomp and show, but in simplicity of life; not in power, but astonishing smallness.  In order to meet him, we need to go where he is.  We need to bow down, to humble ourselves, to make ourselves small.  The newborn Child challenges us.  We need to discover in the simplicity of the divine Child the peace, joy and the luminous meaning of life.

So, in our parish plans for the Church of the Holy Spirit, we hope to increase the number of people in the pews on Sunday; we hope that we embrace more fully a spirituality of stewardship; and we would love it if we have more baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations as a sign of our parish vibrancy.  These are our hopes but much more important than our plans, may we as a parish community be open to God’s plan for our parish life.  Following the example of Mary, may we never lose sight of our need to ponder and discern how God is calling us to listen, to serve, and to pray.

In our personal life with our hopes and dreams for 2017, may we encounter Jesus in these hopes and dreams.  Pondering on the meaning of the Bethlehem crib, we may need to bow down, to humble ourselves, and to make ourselves small.  We need to go where God is.

Jesus enters our life to give us His life; he comes into our world to give us his love.  In 2017 through the intercession of Mary, may we be challenged and called by Jesus.  Let us draw close to God who draws close to us.  Let us pause to gaze upon the crib, and relive in our imagination the birth of Jesus: light and peace, dire poverty and rejection.  With the shepherds, let us enter into the real Christmas, bringing to Jesus all that we are, our alienation, our unhealed wounds, our sins.  Then, in Jesus, we will enjoy the taste of the true spirit of Christmas:  the beauty of being loved by God.  With Mary and Joseph, let us pause before the manger, before Jesus who is born as bread for my life.

The life of Jesus began with Mary at the Bethlehem crib.  Therefore it is most appropriate we begin the New Year with Mary on this her feast day of Mary the Mother of God.  With the example and the intercession of Mary, may our parish life be filled with opportunity after opportunity to say YES to the plan of God for our lives.

Have a blessed day and a blessed New Year.