Reflection on the Holy Family

Deacon Tom writes,

“Reflection on the Holy Family”

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Year C

The Feast that we celebrate today is a very special one for all who see family as the center not only of our physical lives but our spiritual ones as well. God’s unconditional love for us is revealed and reflected in the human family. The family is where we come to know and experience the deepest form of love – agape love, that sacrificing and selfless love - in an intimate way. The love of family surrounding us as we grow through infancy and childhood forms our behavior and determines how we will interact with those around us throughout our lives. In our effort to grow in our understanding of God, we begin to see that God’s self-revelation to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is something that we see in the structure of our own families. As unfathomable as the mystery of God’s own nature is, we are, nevertheless, able to experience that divine nature in a limited way in the love we share first in our families, then with others.

If we have contemplated the life of the Holy Family, we might have noticed that it stands in marked contrast to many of the experiences of families today. Families are under so much stress with all the demands being made on parents who are often both working just to provide for everyday needs. Then there is all the running around – school activities, running back and forth to day care, music lessons, doctor’s appointments, getting the oil changed, yoga classes, or getting to the gym. Oh, and don’t forget getting to CRE and Mass too! There seems to be no end to the demands of contemporary family life. And, sadly, there are so many families that are unable to maintain the pace or withstand those stress and for them addiction, violence and abuse can become the order of the day.

Our kids are under a lot of pressure too, perhaps more today than in the past, as they strive to do well in school, to be the student athlete, and to star in the big play. Our active schedules leave very little time for families to enjoy quality time together, a time to share each other’s company, and where mom and dad can teach their children about virtuous living and help shape their character so that they can know how to live a moral life. Then there are the challenges poised by families separated by many miles and the difficulties encountered by single parents.

Isn’t it interesting that the people of antiquity were receptive to this notion of “Sabbath Rest” and set aside a complete day on which to rest from their labors and to replenish their spirits? Let’s face it, unless we are very disciplined people, we seldom schedule time to rest our bodies, renew our spirits, and develop lasting and binding ties to family and friends. And then there is this relatively new problem that we face today, our kids are susceptible to outside influences earlier today than ever before because of our high-tech society. And, as we see so often, it’s not always a good influence.

As we celebrate this Christmas Season let us do all we can to imitate the Holy Family that nourished Jesus in holiness and grace.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit: Cindy Osborne Drayton University

"I Come To Do Your Will, O God"

Deacon Tom writes,

“I come to do your will, O God”

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C

Isn’t it strange that the one thing that can keep us furthest from God’s love is the very gift God intended to draw us closest to him?  It’s this unique gift of “Free Will” that flows from God’s unimaginable love for us that enables us to say “No” to him. When we misuse this gift, we are free to reject him completely; we can ignore him when it is convenient to do so; we can even deny that he exists.  Then we are completely free to live our lives with reckless abandon trying to find substitutes for those very things God intended us to have from the beginning – our complete joy and happiness. But striking out on our own to find “the good life” usually has dire and “unintended” consequences.

Of course, God did not intend for us to use the gift of “Free Will” to reject him.  In giving us this gift God revealed something about himself. He revealed his unconditional love for us and for all his creation. No “normal” parent gives their children something that would harm them. The giving of gifts reflects the deep love parents have for their children. Genuine giving is an intimate sharing of parents’ desire for their children to experience joy and happiness here in this life, to reach their full potential as they mature into adulthood, and one day to enter into eternal life for which we were all created.

In the Second Reading today, St. Paul quotes Jesus’ words letting us know that he is aware of the gift he has received from God, and that he knows how to respond to that gift. He responds to the precious gift of free will by saying “Yes” to God. In the Gospel, Mary is visiting her cousin Elizabeth to share with her the good news of how God responded to her saying, “Yes” to him.  Both Jesus and Mary use the gift of their free will by submitting themselves to God and disposing themselves to do all that God asks them to do. Jesus and Mary know and teach us that this is the only way for us to fully experience all that God has promised us in this life….and, in the one to come.   

As we prepare to exchange gifts this Christmas, let us recall the gifts that we have received from God. And, let us respond joyfully to the many other gifts we have been blessed with over the years by echoing Jesus’ words, “I come to do your will, O God” and then, sit quietly and await his response. He surely will.

God bless and keep you and your loved ones close to him, now and always.     

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

What Should We Do?

Deacon Tom writes

 “What Should We Do?”

Third Sunday of Advent, Year C

John the Baptist was like a magnet drawing people out into the desert. They came because they were looking for something, and perhaps, because John was so very different than anyone they had ever heard or seen, they may have thought that he had what they were looking for. So they came and listened. Some even went so far as to be baptized, a sign that they bought into what he was preaching - lock, stock and barrel!

The baptism that John was preaching called for a change of heart. They had to leave their old ways behind and start out fresh, as if it was a new beginning, or at the least, a new mindset. Those who desired to change their ways asked John an obvious question, “What should we do?” And so, to the Tax Collector, John says, “Stop collecting more than is prescribed”. In other word, do whatever is the right thing to do in all your business affairs. To the Soldiers who asked what they should do, he answered, “Do not extort…do not falsely accuse…. be satisfied with your wages”. That’s the equivalent of saying don’t abuse your power or misuse your authority. People from all walks of life came to John for his advice and it would basically be the same, “Stop the injustice; start doing what is right”.

John is preparing the people for the one who is to follow him soon, Jesus. John lays the foundation of justice that Jesus will build on. The call to justice requires that we look within and see how we have contributed to the injustices that surround us.

John calls us to conversion, a change of heart that comes from within. When we experience this conversion, we too begin to ask the question, “What should we do?”   While we still have some Advent time remaining, let’s pause and ask Jesus to help us answer this question from within so we may always “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”. (Micah 6:8)

Enjoy the Day!

Deacon Tom 

Love Changes Everything

Deacon Tom writes

“Love Changes Everything”

Second Sunday of Advent, Year C

Paul tells his brothers and sisters in Philippi that he prays “…always with joy in my every prayer for you”.  He goes on to tell them, “And this is my prayer:  that your love may increase ever more and more” [so you may] “discern what is of value”.  Paul expresses that love is the most important virtue in his letter to the Corinthians in one of his most famous quotes, “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love”

1 Cor 13:13. Love, as a song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber expresses so well, changes everything!

Advent is a time to embrace some of the changes we have put off for too long, a time to change course and head in a new direction on roads that have been leveled and filled in for us by the Holy One, highways and byways that lead us on the paths of forgiveness, and healing, and holiness. To turn our hearts and minds towards the Most High is to turn our backs to the malls and Main Street bazaars and barkers that normally inordinately usurp our time and treasures this time of year. If we truly love and discern what is of value, this will not be a difficult choice to make”. For where our treasures lie, there will our hearts be also.

Let us pray this Advent is different than all the past ones and that we enter into the grace which enable us to seek those gifts that last forever, that reflect the love that God has for us in giving us the gift of his only Son: a generous heart, a deeper sense of compassion and empathy for those who are hurting this year, physically, emotionally and spiritually, that God will use us when and where he sees fit to be instruments of his peace.

Yes, “Love changes everything” and, when it does, “Nothing in the World will ever be the same”.  Advent is that time of year when we dare to dream that the forces of love can cast out the darkness in our world and prepare our hearts for the King of Glory to enter within.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image: Giotto Nativity

To You, O Lord, I Lift Up My Soul

Deacon Tom writes

“To you, O Lord, I lift my soul”

First Sunday of Advent, Year C

In the silence of our Advent reflection, the words of the Prophet Jeremiah can stir our hearts with expectant hope and longing for promises to be fulfilled, for the days when, “all shall be safe and dwell secure”.  This deep longing for safety and security is shared by all humanity in the aftermath of the Paris tragedy and the ongoing suffering countless victims of war, violence, poverty, and illness throughout our hurting world. For this to become a reality we must first, however, place ourselves in the presence of the Lord and breath the prayer we hear in the Responsorial Psalm today, “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul”.

Every year we all face the challenge of Advent; we need to get everything ready for Christmas, the shopping, the cooking, the visits to family and friends, the writing out of Christmas cards. And when do we stop to put it all in perspective and reflect upon the “Reason for the Season”?

This year can be different. We can break the cycle of insanity….if we want to. We can take a tip from St. Paul and ask the Lord to make us, “increase and abound in love for one another and for all”.   How our lives would change!  So some questions to ask during this Holy Season are these:  What holds us back?  What prevents us from seeking the holy?  Are we afraid of the changes that an injection of love into the fabric of our lives would cause?  Are we afraid of what the newborn Babe would ask of us? Are we afraid of the confrontation with self that can take place in the time we spend in holy solitude?  There are a lot of reasons that we avoid silence and fill our lives with business. But it doesn’t have to be this way. This year can be different!!!

Jesus tells us to, “Be vigilant at all times and pray… to escape the tribulations….and to stand before the Son of Man”.  This Advent gives us another chance to renew our efforts to center our lives around prayer and to create a quiet space where we can go and rest awhile with a friend, Jesus, who comes to us as a little child bearing many gifts to all who come before him singing the refrain, “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul”.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

My Kingdom Is Not Of This World

Deacon Tom writes

“My Kingdom Is Not Of This World” 

The Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Pope Benedict XVI wrote the following comment about today’s Feast of Christ the King:

“Jesus of Nazareth is so intrinsically king that the title ‘King’ has actually become his name. By calling ourselves Christians, we label ourselves as followers of the king. God did not intend Israel to have a kingdom. The kingdom was a result of Israel’s rebellion against God.  The law was to be Israel’s king, and, through the law, God himself. God yielded to Israel’s obstinacy and so devised a new kind of kingship for them. The King is Jesus; in him God entered humanity and espoused it to himself. This is the usual form of the divine activity in relation to mankind. God does not have a fixed plan that he must carry out; on the contrary, he has many different ways of finding man and even of turning his wrong ways into right ways.  The feast of Christ the King is therefore not a feast of those who are subjugated, but a feast of those who know that they are in the hands of the one who writes straight on crooked lines”.

This reflection from the former pontiff challenges us to decide which of the many paths we will follow in this life. A few words from St. Matthew’s Gospel serve as a guide: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21).  How we pursue the treasures we seek in this life is an expression of the divine activity within us. Let’s face it! We have so many choices today and hardly any reigns on how we pursue them.  How do we set priorities between our spiritual and physical needs? To whom will we pledge our loyalties during this life and at what cost?  Will we be serving the spirit of this world, thinking only of our own selves and needs, acting as if it’s all about me, declaring to those with different opinions “it’s my way OR the highway”?  Or, will we choose a different path, and live in solidarity with the poor, advocate for the weak and oppressed, seek shelter for the homeless and food for the hungry, be mindful of the plight of refugees and orphans?  Will we see ways to build relationships with those who oppose us or will we seek to annihilate them? This is the ultimate freedom we have today, the freedom to choose to be subjects of the creator and ruler of the cosmos who has … “set us free...to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God”  ROM 8:21.

Jesus was right to tell Pilate that “his kingdom does not belong to this world”. But, the way to the kingdom is here and is a conscious choice whenever we serve those who lack power, privilege and prestige, those very people Christ identified with, served, and redeemed. When we serve them, we declare with our lives where our treasures lie and we give witness to others of our deliberate choice to follow the man whose kingdom is not of this world.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom 

Image credit: Flickr.com

Shine Like The Stars

Deacon Tom writes

Shine Like The Stars

Thirty –third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Our Liturgical Year comes to a close next Sunday on the Feast of Christ the King. As we reflect about the passing of another year, our readings today focus our attention on the “End Times”. The physical laws of the universe tell us that all things must come to an end. That pertains to our world as well. Today we read a prophetic account of those days and they paint of pretty grim picture. The Prophet Daniel says, “it will be a time unsurpassed in distress”.  Jesus tells his disciples, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give it’s light”. 

Hollywood has tremendous imagination when it comes to world-ending cataclysms. Our readings today, however, challenge us to see these apocalyptic signs through a much different filter, through the eyes of faith guided as we are by the two Prophets who speak to us today, Daniel and Jesus.

Daniel tells us that during these devastating days, “the wise shall shine brightly….and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever”.  Jesus tells his disciples that, “they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds… and he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds”.

Today’s readings tell us some truth about the future. Hollywood imagines the “how”; our Christian focus is on the “what”. For each of us must consider how we live our lives and prepare ourselves for that day which will be our last.   Through the eyes of faith we know that we have nothing to worry about on our “last days” if we have been faithful to our Baptismal promises and if we have let our light shine brightly to all around us so that in the words of St. Paul, we may “…shine among them like stars in the sky” Phil 2:15.

Aware of our shortcomings in this life, we place our trust in God and his abundant love, mercy and compassion in fervent hope that, at the appointed time, he will come and gather  to himself all who have let his light shine in their lives to be with him forever.   

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit -wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Brilliant_star_Merope.jpg

Only In God

Deacon Tom writes

“Only In God”

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

In the course of today’s readings we encounter several women who have remarkably strong faith. They are women whose actions demonstrate their dependence upon God to provide for all their needs, even for the most basic necessities of life!  We know neither of their names only that they share a common bond, that of widowhood. Being a widow was tantamount to being assigned to a most difficult and arduous station of life in the patriarchal society of the bible, and it remains such to this day. The loss of a husband meant a life of poverty. It reduced a woman to a life of begging and dependency upon the acts of charity from others in the community.

Despite her direful plight, the first widow we encounter in the Book of Kings offers the Prophet Elijah hospitality. She and her young son have only a “handful of flour… and a little oil” and that’s it. The widow and her son are themselves far beyond the bounds of destitution and yet she willingly makes “a little cake” for the Prophet leaving nothing for herself and her son!  Yet, “the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry!”

In the Gospel Jesus notices what’s taking place at the Temple offering. “Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents”.  Jesus comments that this woman did not contribute from her wealth as the others did, “but from her poverty…she contributed all she had, her whole livelihood”.

These women teach us of a deep and trusting faith in God, lessons very appropriate for us today. They teach us not from their head, but from their heart and from their deep-seated experiences of life. Do we give to others from our surplus or from our need?  This is a difficult question for us to wrestle with, but one that is certainly worth the effort. If we spend some time thinking about this question it may lead us to reflect on an underlying struggle we face often in this life – that is, how much do we really trust that God will be there in our time of need, whatever that “need” might be.

There is an aspect to these widow’s faith that reflects Christ’s complete self-giving, his pouring himself out completely for our sake, Christ’s “kenosis” as St. Paul writes in Philippians 2:7, in which Christ surrenders his own will to the divine will of his Father.  This complete giving of self is a gift from God that scripture reveals mostly in the lives of the poor and lowly ones, such as these widows we encounter today.  They teach us that God cannot be outdone in generosity.  Their strong faith enables them to trust God completely, to trust “only in God” in all things, not only for all the necessities of the present moment but for all future needs also.

May our faith grow to be like theirs so we too willingly give all …even our whole livelihood…for the greater glory of God. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image credit: wikimedia.org-Hand_gottes.jpg

We Remember

Deacon Tom writes

“ We Remember”

The Solemnity of All Saints, Year B

“From age to age you gather a people to yourself, so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name.”

These words from Eucharistic Prayer III remind us that our faith unites us to one another throughout time and throughout space. Our Church honors as Saints those who have gone before us having lived exceptionally good and virtuous lives. They are models for us to imitate. We see them as sources of inspiration for us to follow in our attempt to live holy and charitable lives. Names like St. Francis, St. Martin de Pores, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. Damien of Molokai have earned their place in this ever-growing litany of inspirational lives. They inspire us in our efforts to serve one another as Christ taught us to do, and to carry those crosses that come our way because of our faith in Chris. Today we witness many ordinary people who live each and every day with a spirit of humility, who go through life making many sacrifices to ease the burdens of those around them. They do this because they are disciples of Jesus and they desire to follow in his footsteps. These too are saints in every sense of the word.

We honor both categories of Saints today, those recognized by our Church as Saints and those ordinary people who lived their lives in our homes and our communities witnesses and practitioners of God’s love, mercy, and compassion.  Yes, we remember the lives of the saints that we called our mothers and grandmothers, fathers and grandfathers, our husbands and wives, and children who made a difference in our lives. We recall the joy and happiness they brought into our lives and into the lives of so many others. We recall their faith, their struggles, and their love.

It is all these wonderful lives that make up the “Communion of Saints”. It is both the great and the small saints as John Nava depicted in his rendition of the “Communion of Saints” that we honor today. It is these men and women who have been “good and faithful servants” who have entered the kingdom of God and who now faithfully pray for us, the living, to do the same. And for them we praise God!

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image Credit: Los Angeles Cathedral Tapestry by John Nava

The Courage To Speak

Deacon Tom writes

“The Courage To Speak”

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Today we hear the familiar story of Bartimaeus, a man whose disability sets the stage for his encounter with Jesus. It’s an ordinary day; Bartimaeus sets up on the side of the road to do the only thing he can do…Beg. His blindness makes him vulnerable and without the help of others, his life would go from bad to worse. How excited he must have been when he heard the crowd approaching! Perhaps, he might have thought, their generosity would get him through a couple of days, please God! But in reality, a greater gift awaited him.

In some ways we are like Bartimaeus. We routinely set out each day trying to secure the necessities of life, to earn enough to pay the mortgage, the orthodontist, buy groceries, fill the gas tank of the car. Yes, we need these things to provide for our families. That’s keeping it real. But there is more to life than the things that money can buy. Ironically, Bartimaeus, the blind man, helps open our eyes to the fact that our well-being depends totally on someone else, and that someone else is God.

It takes courage for Bartimaeus to continue calling out to Jesus when those around him demand his silence. Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus’ true identity as the “Son of David”. He cries out, not for a handout to get him through the day, but for God’s mercy that will open for him a whole new way of life and satisfy all that is lacking within.

We all stand in need of God’s mercy, for his healing, for the gift of sight to see the awesome works of God around us and even in our lives. We have so many needs; there are so many things to pray for. Prayers that break the silence to ask for God’s guidance, protection, and his mercy so that we might make it through today and have hope for tomorrow; prayers that silence the rumble of war and that bring peace to our troubled world; prayers for those who are abused and neglected who are often silent victims.    

Like Bartimaeus, let’s not be silenced by the world around us. Instead, let us call out “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on us” and see what wonders lie in store. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image credit: maryricehopkins.com:Bartimaeus3

To Be First Is To Be Last

Deacon Tom writes

“To Be First Is To Be Last”

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

On three separate occasion over this past month, St. Mark recounts Jesus in similar ways revealing his plan to his disciples that he was going to Jerusalem where he would “suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again”.

The first time Jesus tells his disciples this, you may recall from St. Marks account, Peter protests vehemently only to be rebuked by Jesus harshly, “Get behind me Satan”, Jesus tells Peter. Then in the following Sunday’s gospel, Jesus informs his disciples of his immanent death a second time, only to find his disciples arguing as to who was the greatest among them.

And finally, in the text leading up to today’s gospel, in Mark 10:32-34, Jesus again predicts his passion and death for a third time only to have James and John trying to secure the best seats in the house, those at the right and left hand of Jesus for themselves.

The disciples reaction to Jesus’ fate speaks volumes to us…They are in denial…They can’t “handle” this foundational “truth” of Jesus’ ministry to paraphrase a quote line from a Hollywood movie. After all, they had seen first hand Jesus as a “wonder worker”, healing the sick, cleansing leapers, raising the dead, revealing the deep, inner operations of the Kingdom of God.

And they, too, shared in this wonder working power for they had received  “power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases” as we heard in our weekday gospel a while back.

I imagine the disciples enjoyed the attention and fame that came their way just by being associated with Jesus. From this vantage point, life is pretty good, isn’t it? But things began to change once Peter has this epiphany and recognizes Jesus as, “You are the Christ”. From that point forward Jesus unfolds a different direction for the road ahead:

- for him - that he would suffer, be rejected by the elder  and put to death, but will rise on the third day…

- and for any would-be disciple who… “wished to follow him”, that they too must likewise, “.. deny himself…[and] take up his cross…”. They, the Apostles, must embrace this new revelation of Jesus that, “Those who wish to be the first shall be the last of all and the servant of all”.

There is a change in mindset once his disciples hear what Jesus expects of them. And, it takes them awhile to “get it”. And that just may be the case for us as well. For, if we truly hear what Jesus is saying in these passages…we too can’t help realize that our calling as Christians isn’t to a life of fame, privilege, power, or success but rather,

 …we are called to a lifetime of service and sacrifice;

 …we are invited into a ministry of mercy and forgiveness;

 …we are summoned into a life of spiritual growth and interior

       transformation…So that, with St. Paul, we too can say,

        “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me”. GAL 2:20

I believe Pope Francis is reaffirming this same message Christ gave his disciples two thousand years ago and that we have heard repeated on his recent visits to Cuba, Washington, D.C., New York, and Philadelphia. The teachings of Jesus that Pope Francis reaffirmed for us is that we are to be instruments of God’s love, mercy, and compassion, by seeking to put others and their needs before our own, and by seeking ways of peace and forgiveness.

And this is not a new message that Cardinal Bergoglio acquired once he became Pontiff. Back in 2007, as Cardinal of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio wrote the closing document for the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida, Brazil.

In that lengthy document which summarized the main themes of that conference, he wrote:

 “A Catholic faith reduced to mere baggage,

to a collection of rules and prohibitions,

to fragmented devotional practices,

to selective and partial adherence to the truths of the faith,

to occasional participation in some sacraments,

to the repetition of doctrinal principles,

to bland or nervous moralizing,

 that does not convert the life of the baptized

  would not withstand the trials of time.

Our greatest danger is the gray pragmatism of the daily life of the church in which everything apparently continues normally, but in reality the faith is being consumed and falling into meanness”.

Pope Francis is attempting to refocus our attention on one of the central truths of our faith: God has loved us and we are to love others without preference, without limit, without conditions.

We whose allegiance is to Christ today are to be witnesses of the love that God has shown to us in everything we say and by every action we do so that everyone around us can say, as they did in those early days of our church…

“See how they love one another……”

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Image: flyingfeetinfaith.com