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.                                                            

Hodie Christus natus est.

There are many, many books that describe the Christmas story.  But no Christmas story holds a candle to the original masterpiece found in Luke’s gospel.  In 320 words, the evangelist Luke tells us the story that is ageless, that needs to be told again and again, and needs to be remembered, for it is the story of our salvation.

“Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son.  She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

We gather today to honor and worship the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying a manger, the one announced by the angel as the Savior, who is Christ and Lord.  We worship Him who gives meaning to our lives.  The power of God comes to us as a tiny infant.

The first Scripture reading from the prophet Isaiah proclaimed:  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light:  upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.  You have brought abundant joy and great rejoicing.”

This is a wonderful, wonderful way of describing the Christmas mystery.  The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

We are indeed a people who wait in joyful hope not because the darkness is over, but because the Light is with us now, and the Light will overcome the darkness.

We are well aware of the darkness in which we live:

 The massacre that is taking place in Syria that has destroyed the once thriving city of Aleppo, the darkness of violence in which there are too many streets in our cities that are not a safe place to walk, the brokenness experienced in too many family lives, and who of us would not say that there is darkness in our spiritual journeys.

In our world there is both darkness and light.  We know that the darkness isn’t over.  But we gather as a people of hope and promise because the light of Christ overcomes the darkness of life.

God’s gift to us is the Christmas mystery  --   Hodie Christus natus est.  Today Christ is born. Hodie.  Today.  You see, for all its uniqueness, Bethlehem is not an isolated experience.  Christ is born in the stable of Bethlehem but Christ is also born in every child born of God’s love.

In each child I have the privilege of baptizing, Christ is born again.  

It is good for us to remember who planted the seeds of faith within us.  It is also good to remember who brings us and who to we bring to listen again to the Christmas story. 

Who first held you and shared with you the Christmas story and who holds you today with love, encouragement, and affirmation as you live now the wonder and the mystery of Christmas.

A story:  In World War II a soldier was on duty Christmas morning.  It had been his custom to go to Church every Christmas morning with his family, but now, in the service on the outlying districts of London, this was impossible.  So, with some of his soldier buddies, he walked down the road that led to the city as dawn was breaking.  Soon they came upon an old, gray, stone building over whose main door were carved the words, “Queen Ann’s Orphanage.”  So they decided to see what kind of celebration was taking place inside.  In response to the knock, a matron came and explained that the children were orphans whose parents had been killed in one of the many bombings that took place in London.  The soldiers went inside just as the children were stumbling out of bed.  There was no Christmas tree in the corner.  There were no presents.  The soldiers moved about the room wishing the children Merry Christmas and giving them whatever presents they had in their pockets.  The soldier noticed a child alone in the corner -- looked a lot like his nephew back home.  And you, little guy, what do you want for Christmas?  The lad simply replied:  Will you hold me?  The soldier, with tears in his eyes, picked up the little boy and held him in his arms very close.

The Christmas mystery continues when in our journey of faith we are held by people who love us and we, in turn, hold others in their faith journey.  In my 48 years as a priest, I am most often in the sanctuary presiding and preaching.  I have been richly blessed in my priesthood.  But I must confess that I was filled with joy yesterday when I was merely in the pews.  I felt held by our school children as they led an inspiring Christmas prayer service.   Is it not a most precious for you and for me when our children teach us the faith lessons that we have taught them with our deepest love and faith.  The students of St Joseph’s School touched my soul.

As was illustrated so beautifully by the soldier in World War II, we also need to share the Christmas mystery with the poor and the needy in our midst.  We can never be a gated community.  We are taught in the original Christmas story that the birth of the Savior was first announced to shepherds – folks who live on the margins of society.  These shepherds are God’s kind of people.  These shepherds are God’s beloved just as the children in that orphanage without a Christmas tree and without Christmas presents are God’s beloved.

We are to hold with great love our own children.  We also are to hold with great love all children.  They are God’s beloved.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Doing it "my Way" needs to give way to "doing it God's way."

It was back in 1969, when Frank Sinatra originally composed and sang the haunting lyrics to:  I DID IT MY WAY.  The song seems so powerful, so masculine, and so confident.  We looked to Frank as a person who knows how to live life.

Yet, the message I DID IT MY WAY is in contradiction to the message of today’s Gospel.  The Gospel gives the infancy account of the birth of Jesus according to the evangelist Matthew.  This account tells us about Joseph.  His profound dilemma was whether to do it my way or to do it God’s way.  Joseph is our model for us to realize that “doing it my way” needs to give way to “doing it God’s way.”

The Scriptures tell us that Joseph was a righteous man.  That meant he was “law-abiding.”  Tell me what the rules are, and I will be a faithful rule keeper.  The laws in Joseph’s time were very strict.  If you found out that the woman you were engaged to was pregnant and you were not the other party to the pregnancy, you were to cancel the engagement, and the woman might be stoned to death.  Did I mention that the laws in Joseph’s time were quite strict!

With a compassionate heart, Joseph was unwilling to expose Mary to shame, and so he wanted to divorce her quietly.

It was then that the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said:  “Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.  For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”

“When Joseph awoke from the dream, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do.”

In a word, Joseph did it God’s ways.

It is worth reflecting on the discernment-conversion process that took place in Joseph and then to wonder how and if we are to model this discernment in our own lives at times.

For Joseph, “the black and white” decision making was clear.  The rules clearly said to divorce Mary over this pregnancy issue.  Through the guidance of the angel of the Lord, Joseph moved beyond the letter of the law and embraced the spirit of love and followed the mystery of God’s law in his life.  Following the mystery of God’s call in  his life meant not being too tied down to the letter of the law, but rather to be open to the mystery of God’s call leading us to live by the higher law of love and being open to the spirit of God leading us in unexpected ways.

Like Joseph, we need to be open to the mystery of life, however life challenges us and calls.  True religion is open to mystery.  We need a Church lit with the light of God, as Joseph was.  His burden was lifted when he was open to God, to take Mary home as his wife, no matter what others might think.

In the life of the Church, there will always be very strict rule keepers ready to be severe and judgmental about all the folks not keeping the rules.  Their worry, at times very fairly considered, is that we will fall into a slippery slope that if you don’t keep some rules, then this means there only be chaos in the life of the Church.

I was talking to a parishioner recently even concerned about Pope Francis.  In her opinion, the Vicar of Christ seems to be a little lax on enforcing some of the rules of the Church.  After Pope Francis was elected to the papacy in 2013, during his first Holy Week as pope, he went to a prison for young people for the annual liturgy of the washing of the feet.  He raised a few eyebrows and opened the eyes of even some clergy, when he not only washed the feet of Catholics, he also washed the feet of Muslims and women in the ritual.  Previously this washing of the feet was reserved to Catholic men.

Pope Francis has captured the imagination of the world and breathed new life into the Church as he has extended the compassionate love of Jesus to one and all.  For Pope Francis, more than keeping rules, we are to be faithful to the commandment of love that Jesus has given us.

Going back to the Gospel, the angel of the Lord led Joseph to be open to God’s plan for his life.

How does that play out in our lives?  When does "doing it my way” need to give way to “doing it God’s way,” even when this requires us to trust in God’s grace for us?

Have you ever broken the letter of the law in order to follow a higher law?  How do you share your unconditional love for your children and the merciful love of Jesus for your children even when they are not keeping the rules you would like them to keep?  Are all of your children and grandchildren and extended family members going to Church Sunday after Sunday after Sunday? 

What would be an example of letting go of my way in order to be open to God’s plan for us?  This was the life and commitment of Joseph in today’s Gospel?  I know for myself as a priest becoming the pastor of Holy Spirit parish is being open to God’s plan as expressed through appointment I received from Bishop Matano?   When did or do have you have deal will illness in your life or someone you love, when you have to deal with death in the life of someone you love, how is it for you when you need to let go of your children in their growth and development process, and what happens for you when someone you love betrays your trust?

What I do know for myself and for you is that God has a plan for us.  The problem is that sometimes God’s plan doesn’t look like a gift we like to receive.  It requires far more trust to accept what God gives that what Santa gives.   May we pray for the openness to listen with a trusting heart and then to live out God’s plan for us.  Doing it “my way” needs to give way to “doing it God’s way."

Have a blessed day.

In our parish life, do people experience healing, joy, hope, and is the Good News of the love of Jesus preached to one and all?

You will recall from last Sunday’s Gospel that John the Baptist was a paragon of austerity.  He wore clothing of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey.  His message was:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 Nobody questioned John’s integrity but few wanted to live exactly as he did.  His lifestyle of fast and abstinence was harsh, reflecting his concept of God.  Jesus, on the other hand, was criticized for eating and drinking, for mixing with all manner of folk.  That mirrored his experience of God.  Little wonder that John’s primary sacrament was a baptism of repentance while Jesus was a communion feast.

So, in today’s Gospel, John, from prison, sent his disciples to ask Jesus:   “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?”    John might have added:  “Because you certainly don’t look like the one I was expecting!”

 Jesus said to them in reply, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.’”

This brings us to Jesus who went in a different direction from John – a direction based on his unique relationship with the God he called Abba, Father.  Instead of emphasizing the wrath of God and the punishment soon to come, Jesus saw everything in the context of God’s great, infinite mercy.

In fact, Jesus introduced a whole new language about God.  He agreed with John that the people needed conversion.  But what he wanted people to see first was not the wrath of God so much as his incredible compassion for all.

Jesus emphasized that God comes to us primarily as a savior, a liberator.  He replaced the Baptist’s austere life in the desert with a lifestyle centered on meals open to everyone, meals in which he could invite people to celebrate this new possibility of total trust in a Father God.

And then Jesus began doing something that John never did.  He healed people whom no one else could heal; he soothed the pain of the “least of these” who lived on the margins of society; he blessed and embraced women and children.  Everyone was invited to the feast of mercy. 

That’s the background to this powerful story we hear in today’s Gospel.  John and his followers are beginning to wonder about Jesus.  What is he doing?  John the Baptist is in a dark place and asks a heavy question:  “Are you the one to come or should we look for another?”

Jesus’s response to all of this is very simple:  “Go and tell John what you hear and see.”

Fast forward to 2013 to the papacy of Pope Francis.  During the first Holy Week after he was elected, Pope Francis raised a few eyebrows and opened many eyes.  On that Holy Thursday he visited a prison for young people where he celebrated the annual washing of the feet.  Not only did he wash the feet of Catholics, he included Muslims and women in the ritual.  This was a big surprise for many Catholics, especially some clergy.  For centuries, the Holy Thursday washing of the feet had been reserved exclusively to Catholic men.

During this past Jubilee Year of Mercy, the pope initiated a custom of going out from the Vatican one Friday a month to perform some work of mercy.   In August the Holy Father went to a home for women recovering from prostitution, many of whom had been victims of trafficking.  If someone were to ask Pope Francis:  “Are you the Holy Father who was chosen for the Church or should we look for another?” 

As did Jesus, Pope Francis could respond: “Go and tell what you see and hear.”

I wonder as new people move into the town of Penfield and as they go Church-shopping for the right fit for their family, how do we respond as people ask whether we, the Church of St Joseph’s, are authentic disciples of Jesus or should we look for another parish?  This is the question of John the Baptist:  “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?”

In our parish life, do people experience healing, liberation, hope, and is the Good News of the love of Jesus preached to one and all?

As we know, the words and actions of Pope Francis have captured the imagination of the world and breathed new life into the Church. 

So too for us the Church of St. Joseph’s, instead of seeming to impose new obligations, may we be a people who wish to share our joy and the joy of the Gospel, who point to a horizon of beauty and hope in people’s lives and invite others to the Eucharistic table of the Lord.  In the words of Pope Francis:  “The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.

As we celebrate the Sacrament of Penance this Tuesday, may we experience in this sacrament an encounter with the healing Lord; may we experience the merciful love of Jesus.

My favorite Advent hymn is:  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Have you ever noticed the paradox that is found in this very familiar hymn?   “Emmanuel” means “God is with us.”  And yet we pray “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”  Advent joy is like this beautiful Advent hymn.  The joy is already given to us, but we long for a joy that is not here yet.

Emmanuel – God is with us.  Yet we are still burdened by the demons of war, of greed, of selfishness, and of deceit.  And so we pray for a fuller coming of God’s presence among us.  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

We pray today that the blind regain their sight and the poor have the Good News preached to them.   May we the Church of St Joseph’s continue the mission of Jesus.  May we celebrate that God is with us  -- Emmanuel.  May we also pray:  “O Come,  O Come Emmanuel.”  We long for a fuller experience of the presence of God among us.