Second Sunday of Advent_A - Advent - Getting Right with God_120725

Deacon Tom Writes,

Advent - Getting Right with God

Second Sunday of Advent, Year A

“Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand,” John tells us. Repent from what? There was a book out in the ’70s that was very popular. It was called, “I’m OK, You’re OK” by Dr. Thomas Harris. Catchy title isn’t it! It gives us the sense that all is well; I don’t need any fixing. I/m not the hot mess that people think I am! And, by the way, you are OK too! Oh, if only that were true! Unless we are suffering from some deep phycological prob I think we know in our hearts that nothing could be further from the truth.

We are all sinners. As St. Paul penned, “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23) We carry the scars and wounds of those numerous times when we have wronged God, others and ourselves by not living up to the to the high standards Jesus taught us. The memory of those failures festers deep within our innermost being. Our psyches are damaged as a consequence of the guilt those sins have spawned with us. We have much need to repent, but our pride often gets in the way and prevents us from coming to grips with the sinfulness of our thoughts, words and deeds, and even for those things that we should have done but failed to do.

 

In search of a remedy to their troubled consciences, the people of antiquity went out into the desert to hear John preach and to be baptized. In the solitude and isolation of the stark desert, people were able to grasp the notion that they needed to repent, to change the direction and focus of their lives in order to experience a spiritual rebirth as children of God.

 

This awareness of our sinfulness for the wrongs we have done or the good that we have failed to do is a prerequisite for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Christ Child into our lives. We need to be like John who testified, “He must increase; I must increase.” (John 3:30) That is, we must empty ourselves of our own self-centeredness, those driving ambitions, emotions and desires the place ourselves above others in order that we may be filled with the desire, the willingness and the passion to do God’s Will, to be the instrument of his joy, peace and hope in our world today.

 

These few remaining weeks of Advent are a special time to reflect on the way we treat others and ourselves. It is a time to get right with God, to turn away from sinful behavior and await the new life that God has in store for us, an abundant life and one promised to last forever.

 

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading: Blessed Among All Women by Robert Ellsberg is a collection of devotional meditations highlighting the wisdom and courage of holy women throughout history. Some holy women you will encounter are Mary Magdalene, Teresa of Avila, Dorothy Day, and Flannery, O’Connor. Together hey draw us into the mystery of the beatitudes – mercy, purity, poverty of spirit, and the courageous struggle for peace and justice. A good read for this advent season.

 

Recommended You Tube: a short reflection on “Stillness and the Fruit of Attention” by Fr. Lawrence Freeman, OSB that encourages us to develop the practice of contemplation in our lives.

First Sunday of Advent_A - The True Ascent of Advent: Preparing for His Coming_113025

Deacon Tom writes,
The True Ascent of Advent: Preparing for His Coming

 

First Sunday of Advent, Year A

The Season of Advent marks the beginning of a new Liturgical year—a time of waiting, expectation, and preparation.

Expectation is what the Prophet Isaiah envisions as he looks forward to the glorious end of the age. He pictures a time when people from every nation will make their way to Jerusalem, their final destination, the place where their journey comes to an end as they:

“…climb the mountain of the Lord and arrive at the house of the God of Jacob, where they learn his ways and walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:3)

For many people today, the Advent journey feels like drudgery. It is a time of going to the malls and wandering through a maze of stores and kiosks. For the tech savvy, it is endless hours of searching online and calling upon retailers for overnight delivery of our digital shopping bargains. Is it any wonder that the real meaning of the season is lost in the busyness of buying gifts and preparing for the “Holidays?” The sheer exhaustion from this pace leaves little energy or time for reflection on the profound meaning of the Incarnation—the gift from God Most High who is eager to enter our world and the recesses of our hearts from his divine realm.

These words of the Prophet Isaiah as we begin this Advent season encourage us to reclaim the true journey of Advent—a pilgrimage not to a geographical Jerusalem, but to the center of our own hearts.

We don't have to pack our bags and head off to Jerusalem. Instead, we can use this spiritually enrich time as a spiritual ascent, a time of reflection to identify and resolve to overcome the obstacles that limit our growing closer to Our Lord, surmounting the mountains, if you will, that keep us from experiencing the depth and totality of God’s love for us.

This path of self-improvement and peace is our vigilance. The Gospel calls us to "stay awake" (Mark 13:33) and not let the anxieties and cares of this life make us drowsy to the Lord's coming.

The journey to overcome the hurts and scars others have caused us and to forgive them may be more difficult than climbing the highest mountains. How very difficult is it for us to change our mindsets and be open to the ways of peace as Jesus taught throughout his ministry?

Isaiah invites us to do just that in the image he presents today of recasting spears into pruning hooks.

Can we use this holy time to seek all that is necessary to find interior peace within ourselves for all that is troubling us? Can we find the time this holy season to consult and listen to the Holy Spirit to direct our lives and heal our troubled consciences for all the wrongs we have done, and all the hurts we have caused others?

I doubt there is a more difficult uphill climb than this: finding peace by yielding our thoughts and ways to the One who came to dwell among us. May we all reach higher terrain this holy and grace filled season.

Perhaps that journey begins today, with a simple five minutes of silence, listening for the direction of the Holy Spirit, or committing to a nightly reading of the Scripture for the following day.

Enjoy the day, Deacon Tom

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading:  The Holy Longing by Ronald Rolheiser, OMI probes the question “What is spirituality?”, cutting through the misunderstanding and confusion that can often surround this subject with his trademark clarity.

 

Recommended Web Site: The 1st Sunday of Advent: Gospel Reflection, Year A, Fr. Tim Peters. Fr Tim unpacks the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent – Matthew 24:37-44. A good reflection to enter in this holy season.

Image credit: inapenafrancia360.weebly.com/

 

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Christ the King”

 

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Year C

 

Pope Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King in 1925 in response to the growing sense of secularism that arose in the early 20th century. Germany was experiencing the rise of Nazism and exaggerated nationalism. There were populist movements toward communism, atheism and totalitarian governments elsewhere that demanded total sovereignty over people, substituting a nation or an ideology in place of God. This led Pius XI to institute today’s Feast as a way to make us aware that nations can never replace God in claiming sovereignty over the people.

 

Yet, we know from Sacred Scripture that Jesus rejected the notion of being an earthly king. St. John tells us that when asked by Pilate if he was a King, Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” (John 18:36)

 

So, just what does Jesus’ kingdom that is “not of this earth” look like and how do we show our fidelity to it? The answer to this may be hidden in the choice of today’s gospel that is taken from St. Luke’s account of Jesus’ death on Calvary. (Luke 23:35-43) In Jesus’ perfect surrender of himself on the cross, we get a glimpse of the Kingdom to which we have been called along with a sense of the nature of the Christ’s Kingship. His is a kingship of suffering the insufferable, a kingship of forgiveness in the face of terrible injustice, a kingship of surrendering self and any authority or power we may have in this life into the hands of God the Father. Christ is king for those who live the beatitudes; he is king for everyone who suffers with those who suffer injustice, persecution, victimization, or deprivation; he is king for those who side with the immigrants, refugees, widows, the powerless, afflicted, disenfranchised; he is king for anyone who attempts to bring a sliver of hope to our world where hope is so desperately needed. If our loyalties and fidelity lie elsewhere, be assured, we do not belong to the kingdom Jesus inaugurated and is running its course before our very eyes.

 

It is fitting that the Feast of Christ the King marks the end of our liturgical year. It enables us to move into the Season of Advent anticipating the day when God’s justice and peace come to completion on this earth. That time when all the kings and prime ministers, chancellors, presidents and all who have ever ruled this world, will pay homage and tribute to the one from whom they have received their power and their authority and the one to whom they too must one day render an account. 

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with several Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold of our church… those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius may be the best way to prepare ourselves to receive the Christ Child into our lives this Christmas.   

 

Recommended YouTube Video: Meaning of Life: Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. A Philosopher’s view of Frankl’s Man’s search for Meaning.  prayerful reflection on the people, events and happening of the day and where you met Jesus in them.  

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - The Days to Come_111625

Deacon Tom Writes,

“The Days to Come’”

 

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Seeing Christmas decorations in the stores and hearing the countdown to Christmas since early September is a sure sign that our holiday shopping season has arrived. In the spiritual realm it is a reminder that this current Liturgical Year is drawing to a close. As it does, Sacred Scripture invites us to consider “the days to come”. Today we hear the first of several prophetic warnings about the judgment that will take place in “the days to come”. The Prophet Malachi issues a warning that the proud and evildoers will be punished, and those who fear the Lord and follow his ways will be rewarded in “the days to come”.

 

Jesus, too, sees that in “the days to come” there will be a judgment rendered upon Jerusalem, a day when the magnificent Temple standing before him will be leveled…. “So that not one stone will be left upon another”, a painful image for the people of his day.

 

What Malachi and Jesus both envision for us today is that the days of this world are numbered. The clock is running...tic, toc. History, with its wars, famines, revolutions and plagues will give way to a new chapter in the Creator’s plan in “the days to come”. These readings remind us that everything around us is temporary. The world and all that has been developed over the ages in the course of human achievement and progress will one day fade away. What will not fade away, however, is God’s judgment!

 

In these last several weeks of our Liturgical Year, we are challenged to prepare ourselves for “the days to come” by setting our hearts and minds on the things that matter, on the things that will endure, Jesus and the kingdom he inaugurated. As citizens of God’s kingdom, we are invited to live a healthy and mature spiritual life that leads to a deeper relationship with God; we are encouraged to develop a discerning spirit so that we know how to make the right choices for ourselves and our families; we are asked to conform our lives to Christ’s so that we live and act justly and do what we can to comfort and help the poor and the needy.

 

Following Christ’s example can be costly, as Jesus makes clear in the gospel today. Being a witness of the gospel can cause us hardship, suffering, and distress. Just try speaking out against capital punishment or advocating the principles of our Catholic Social Teaching. Watch what happens if you welcome a political refugee from Venezuela into your home.  That’s because the gospel stands in contrast to the world around us, a world that is often indifferent, wasteful, unjust and, oh, by the way, passing.

 

As our Liturgical Year ends, we look forward to “the days to come”, when all that is temporary and lacking gives way to the plans that God has in mind for those who persevere in following his ways. Today, we wait in hope for “the Lord to come and rule the earth with justice.”

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it. 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: Letters From an Understanding Friend by Isaias Powers, C.P., draws the reader into Christ's loving care to experience his love and compassion.

 

Recommended YouTube Video  Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI on Catholic Social Teaching. This is an excerpt from his lecture series "Simply Being Good-Hearted is Not Enough: A Spirituality of Charity, Justice, and Prophecy." I hope you will find this very interesting.

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome_C - Holy Space_110925

Lateran Basilica, Rome

 

Deacon Tom Writes

Holy Space

 

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

 

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. It is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, and to Jesus Christ, our Savior. It became the Mother Church of Christendom around 313 A.D. when the Emperor Constantine gave it to the Bishop of Rome. Many Councils, referred to as Lateran Councils, were held within its walls in the early days of the church. It was there that much of the dogma of our faith that we profess today was formulated.

 

I have seen this beautiful church and indeed it is a masterpiece. The architecture, the decorations, the adornments are works of art description. This is true for many of our basilicas and cathedrals. Many of our churches are a sight to behold. Yet, what gives them their real beauty is not the adornments. It’s not the gold and silver decorations, nor the famed renaissance paintings, nor the jeweled sacred vessels. What makes these grand structures so magnificent is the One in whose name and memory these houses of worship were built - the Lord, God Almighty. 

 

We know from our Old Testament history that David desired to build a house for the Lord and that his son, Solomon, is credited with building the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem. But buildings come and go. The temple that God wanted to establish among His people was made of human flesh. It was Christ, the God-Man. Salvation History is the story of God visiting His people and creating within them “holy space” that would be the living, breathing temples of His Holy Spirit.

 

Whenever we enter into this “holy space”, we come into a communal celebration to share in the banquet Christ has prepared for us through His sacrifice on Calvary. We enter into a mystery that is beyond us and that summons within us a faith that rises above our understanding. Within this “holy space” we are joined by other believers to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ and enlivened by the Words of Sacred Scripture. Then, reenergized by God’s love for us, we are commissioned to take our gifts out into the world and share them eagerly with everyone we meet. The gifts we receive inside our “holy spaces” will atrophy and die if we do not bring them to each and every person we encounter; if we do not used them in every situation we find ourselves, if they are not a part of all our decisions and judgments we make in the course of the day. We are the church, the living, breathing, holy spaces God desires to dwell within and fill with His Glory.

 

Enjoy the Day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

 

Recommended Reading:  John the Baptizer by Bonnie B Thurston. This "narrative biography" of John the Baptist, drawn primarily from New Testament texts, introduces the reader to the life of John the Baptist in the Gospels and Christian spirituality.

With more verses devoted to him than anyone except Jesus, John the Baptist appears some ninety times in the New Testament. This book introduces the reader to John's life, especially its importance in the ministry of Jesus, the development of the early church, and his enduring spiritual significance. This is a good read for our upcoming Advent Season.

 

Recommended YouTube Video: What is Contemplative Prayer and Why is it so Needed? with Fr. Richard Rohr "A Long, loving, look at the Real" – If you have not yet discovered contemplative prayer for yourself get ready. Soon you'll want to be doing nothing else! In this video Fr. Rohr dives into the essence of a contemplative inner life, what it is, how to start and its historical context in the Christian story.... Check out his daily meditations at cac.org for more. This particular issue is all on contemplative prayer:

 

 

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day), Year C - All Souls Are Called to Be All Saints_110225

Deacon Tom Writes,

All Souls Are Called to Be All Saints

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day), Year C

 

 

Celebration of the Feast of All Souls had its origin in the Benedictine Monastery in Cluny, France. In 998 A.D. Odilo, the Abbot, instructed his men to pray for the souls of the dead on the day after All Saints Day when the Church honored the lives of holy women and men. This practice was quickly embraced by the faithful and by the 13^th century had spread to Rome. By the 14 century it was a universal feast of the church. Today we celebrate what is officially known as, “The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed”, commonly known as “All Souls” day.

 

The arranging of All Saints Day and All Souls Day back-to-back gives us a great opportunity to reflect on our lives in light of our Christian vocations and our mortality. As we recall the lives of those who have gone before us, we can’t help but know that one day we will follow in their footsteps. What kind of life do we want to live? What spiritual legacy and witness do we want to leave? What did we learn from the lives of the Saints and the holy people have gone before us?  Do you see the wisdom of connecting the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls?  To make the relationship between these two feasts practical, we have to overcome a general misperception that the Feast of All Souls is only about paying homage to the great saints, the likes of St. Francis, St Augustine, St. Thomas or St. Peter. The Feast of All Souls encompasses a much wider vision.

 

Just after converting to Catholicism, Thomas Merton was asked by a friend what he wanted to be, now that he was Catholic. “I don’t know, I suppose I just want to be a good Catholic”, Merton replied. His friend responded with this challenge: “What you should say is that you want to be a saint!” Merton was dumbfounded. “How do you expect me to become a saint?” Merton asked him. To which his friend said: “All that is necessary to be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you trust that God can make you what He created you to be, Thomas”?  Merton was silent.

 

These words must have taken root in Merton’s heart. For he would go on to become one of the great spiritual thinkers and writers of the last century, and, in the eyes of many, he was indeed a saint.

 

This brief exchange between Merton and his friend speaks so simply and profoundly to our calling as Catholic Christians. We should want to be saints. And to be a saint, all we need is to want to be a saint.

 

The Church elevates the lives of the Saints to give us a good example of ordinary people who have attainted extraordinary holiness.  These men and women have dedicated their lives to being witnesses of the faith through sacrifice, service, and prayer. Often, they suffered great pain, rejection, torture, and even death in professing their love and devotion to God. It is right that they be honored and their intercessions sought by the faithful throughout the ages.

 

At the same time, our church also recognizes the ordinary acts of courage and dedication on the part of those living the faith day in and day out…. that is, the “All Souls”. We believe in the “Communion of Saints”, that body of believers who, in addition to those “major” Saints, have professed their faith in God by their daily perseverance and their constant prayers. Included in this group are our family, loved ones, and friends, all those people who got up every day, took care of their families, and lived a good life, struggled to do the right thing…one day at a time. When things were good, they were faithful…When things were bad…they were faithful. In remaining faithful in good times and in bad, they handed on to us the legacy of our faith, our Catholic “Tradition”.

 

As we remember our loved ones and those who have gone before us and their sacrifice, their witness encourages us to imitate the good example they gave us. We call them to mind now as they share their reward for hearing and responding to their call to be saints.  We turn to them that they may ask God to help us answer our call to holiness so we may join them when our pilgrimage on earth comes to an end.  

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom 

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading:  Alive in God by Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. How can Christianity touch the imagination of our contemporaries when ever fewer people in the West identify as religious? Timothy Radcliffe argues we must show how everything we believe is an invitation to live fully. God says: "I put before you life and death: choose life."

Anyone who understands the beauty and messiness of human life--novelists, poets, filmmakers and so on--can be our allies, whether they believe or not. The challenge is not today's secularism but its banality.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - All Cried Out_102625

 

Deacon Tom Writes,

All Cried Out

 

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

This picture of a Syrian boy bruised and bloodied during the battle for Aleppo several years ago has haunted my mind since the moment I first saw it. But new, more graphic ones now flood the airwaves and social media as a new set of victims emerge from Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti. More victims, more suffering, more violence and despair.

While the hearts of some are overwhelmed with sorrow and grief, such grief apparently is not sufficient to bring the fighting to an end.

 

Kids have a way of letting their faces show their emotions as this picture depicts quite vividly. I look at it and I feel a sense of horrific loss: the loss of another generation of children who have inherited the legacy of war, poverty, hopelessness and desperation. One can only believe that these horrible conditions are helping to condition young minds into believing that the future holds no hope for them or their loved ones. In the absence of  a new vision emboldened by hope and roadmap for peace, the violence and devastation will continue. 

           

The Old Testament reading from Sirach today stresses, “The Lord is a God of justice” who “hears the cry of the oppressed”. Sirach writes further, “The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds… and the Lord will not delay”. 

 

This reminder that the Lord is a God of Justice should inspire us and encourage us never to miss an opportunity to reach out to the hopeless and despairing. Those who believe in God’s justice seek to cooperate with him in helping to answer the cries of the poor. Faithful people do not lose hope! Rather, they look to inspire and generate hope in the most desperate of situations.

 

Thank God for the many volunteers whose personal sacrifice and efforts engender hope to people who remain in the war-torn cities, the many refugee camps, and those fleeing the devastation. Catholic Relief Services is a global organization with a vast network of outreach providing much-needed assistance to places where it is desperately needed. Supporting such relief agencies financially is one way for us to overcome indifference to the suffering of others and to put into practice the Corporal Works of Mercy. Also, don’t forget to continue to offer prayers and sacrifices for an end to this and other conflicts around the world. Remember, “The Lord hears the cry of the poor” and one day he is sure to ask us if we did and how we responded.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com where you will find contemporary conversations with Paulist Deacon Affiliates and their guests exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading:   Learning to Pray by Fr. James Martin S.J. who has written a brilliant introduction to prayer that will help us encounter the Living God who desires to encounter us.

 

Recommended YouTube Video: Hear Fr. Keating talk about the Divine Love we can discover through contemplative prayer. The Most Excellent Path, Part 3, with Thomas Keating