Family Life or Family Strife?

Deacon Tom Writes,

Family Life or Family Strife?

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

You can’t expect to be on a championship team if you aren’t willing to give it all you’ve got…. plus some. Anyone who’s played sports or whose kids are athletes has heard the coach say, “Give me 120%”!!! Those who want it bad enough will strive to increase their performance so they can achieve their goal. Our human nature is such that we will do whatever it takes to get what we want, if, that is, we want it bad enough.

St Paul’s Letter to the Colossians envisions a quality of life so desirous that we are willing to give everything we’ve got, plus some, to attain it. He is giving us incredible insight on how to live wholesome, faith-filled lives rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, a life that yields peace, thankfulness, gratitude, and harmony for ourselves and those with whom we share our lives, starting with our own family.

Paul is creating within us the desire to be God’s family. He is giving us the image of what it is like to accept this generous invitation. In a world that was brutal, suspicious, violent, insensitive, uncaring, (gee, it seems nothing has changed!) Paul offers a vision of hope that flow from our identity of being a part of God’s family. He says, “Put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (We must) bear with one another…forgive one another…settle disputes justly”. What an alternative vision compared to the harsh world around them. Is it any wonder why Christianity grew so rapidly?   

“I have set before you life and death”, we read in the Book of Deuteronomy. “Choose life”, we are commanded. That life that we are called to imitate is modeled after the Holy Family. That is where Jesus came to know and experience the love of a mother and of a father. That is where Jesus came to know of God’s love for Him. Amid the day-to-day life of the Holy Family, Jesus’ conscience was shaped, His love and dependency on God fashioned, His love for God’s Holy People realized. In the safety and security of the Holy Family, Jesus was able to discern the Father’s call.

As we celebrate this Feast of the Holy Family, let us strive to create an environment for our children and one another that is healthy, safe, loving, respectful, joy-filled, generous, and full of laughter. Let us give our children and one another the space and atmosphere where we can all come to know God’s love, hear His call, and grow together as His children, members of God’s Holy Family.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Everything Is Ready

Deacon Tom Writes,
Everything Is Ready

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B

Saying yes to God is never easy. Somehow we think that Mary had an easy time saying yes to God when asked by the Angel Gabriel to be the Mother of God. The same goes for Joseph. He was afraid to take Mary as his wife until the angel told him not to fear. We are fearful of many things and that is perhaps why scripture tells us, as we hear today, “Do not be afraid.”

Fear has governed many aspects of our life. We live in fear of losing our jobs, our health, and our loved ones. We are afraid that we won’t have enough….enough success, enough money, enough energy to make it through the day, or enough of the things we need to live comfortable and independent lives. In order to lessen our fears, we work longer or harder. We spend our time and resources continually seeking to improve our station in life. Yet, most still live in a persistently fearful state, anxious of the uncertainties that lie ahead.

Advent is a time to put our fears to rest. That is what saying yes to God really boils down to. Yes, God, I trust you. Yes, God, I know you are with me through the turmoil and uncertainty of my life. Yes, God, you will help me bear the pain, the loss, the loneliness of life that I find myself in now. I know that you will calm my fears and give me all that you see as good for me especially when fear has seized my heart.

Mary’s son was born into a dark and harsh world. Yet he never succumbed to the anxieties and fears of life. Like Mary and Joseph, Jesus did all that His Father asked of Him, saying “yes” to taking on our human frailties and becoming living flesh, the Son of Mary; saying yes to taking on all the hardships of our human condition; saying yes to suffering the injustice and humility of death on the cross to free us from our sins and gain for us eternal life, free from all anxiety and fear.

Today on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, “everything is ready.” We are ready to greet the Child who frees us from our fears.

Have a blessed and joy-filled Christmas!

Deacon Tom

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Deacon Tom Writes,

“The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year”

Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

Christmas is only a week away! Don’t panic… remember this is “… the most wonderful time of the year”. For Christians throughout the world the wonder of this season is because Our Savior has come down from heaven to dwell among us. He is the reason for the season as the saying goes. He is the source of all our joy. Not only that, but the joy He gives us cannot be contained but overflows so that this Holy season is busy with our doing kind things, thoughtful things for others, for our loved ones, and for our friends. Joy at the birth of our Savior spills over and moves us to be thoughtful even to strangers, indeed anyone in need of our love, kindness, and generosity.

In the kindness we show others at Christmas, we pass along what has been given to us… God’s gentle and unconditional love… freely given, no strings attached. We have received an incomprehensible gift, and for us to reap its benefits, it must be passed on. Even though this time of year is so busy with the shopping, baking, decorating, wrapping, and writing Christmas cards, we should make an effort not to get overwhelmed. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could be joyful as we move from task to task, reflecting on what we have received from On High and spread that joy on to others. This is the sense of Joy the Christ Child desires for us…. that we should be cheerful givers, like the Christ we come to know who gave Himself entirely without counting the cost. This precious thought will keep  us from loosing the meaning of the season.

Imagine if we took this joyful spirit with us into the shopping malls and department store, our offices, schools, everywhere we go! Suppose we also took with us a spirit of justice and peace. Could we change the marketplace, the workplace, and our homes for the better? Do you think that our words, spoken tenderly to the people we meet might bring them some comfort, some healing, some peace? Do you think that if we engaged people with a gentle, approachable smile as we said, “Merry Christmas” and “Have a Happy New Year” that they might catch the spirit of joy that makes this “the most wonderful time of the year”. I hope this will be the case so that everyone will know the reason why this is  “the most wonderful time of the year”.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Waiting In Hope

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Waiting in Hope”

Second Sunday of Advent, Year B

Last week we read the Prophet Isaiah raising this prayer to God on behalf of God’s chosen ones:  “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down”. Today we read from Isaiah again and he is instructing the people, “Fear not to cry out and say to the cities of Judah:  Here is your God!  Here comes with power the Lord God, who rules by His strong arm…”.

These two readings from Isaiah express a wonderful mystery of our faith, that God is with us right at this present moment, and yet, at the same time, we have not yet fully experienced His presence. Advent is a time to reflect on His presence in our daily lives and to know that there is more to come…And so, we wait in hope! We look ahead to the day when God’s fullness will totally reign in our hearts and in the world. We wait for that day when a new heaven and the new earth will replace the old order; we wait for the day when the justice, peace, and the realities of God’s kingdom replace the disharmony and chaos that are the dominant forces at work in our world today; we wait for our lives to be more complete and fulfilling.

Advent is a season of expectant hope. It is a time when we dream new dreams about becoming the person God has called us to be. It is a time when the spirit of hope leads us to new beginnings. Who do you want to be when that new heaven and new earth arrives?  Do you want to be a more caring person?  Do you want to be more gracious, more thankful, and more prayerful?  Or, perhaps, we want to leave behind memories of the past that are painful and full of sorrow. The beauty of Advent is that we get to fill in the blanks… and be filled with the hope that, with God’s help, we can accomplish all that we dare hope for. Advent is a time of waiting, a season of hope, for God to come into our lives and fill us with the true gifts of this season… peace, joy, love, those gifts that come from the Holy Spirit.

Each of us has the opportunity to reclaim Advent as a special time of hope. Each of us can make this a spiritual season by looking inward and hoping that the promises God holds in store for each one of us will become our reality… promises of newness, renewal, of our well being. That’s what hoping is all about. .

May this Advent journey be a time of new beginnings, new hopes, and new joys. May God’s gift of new life set us free to seek the giver and share the many gifts He has in store for those who place their hope in Him.

Enjoy the day and the season!

Deacon Tom