Feast Of The Holy Family_A - Families On The Run_122919

Deacon Tom Writes,

Families On The Run

          

Matthew’s gospel tells the story of the Holy Family fleeing for their lives as they are pursued by King Herod’s soldiers. When Herod dies, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph letting him know that it is safe to return to Israel. Matthew’s intention was to draw a parallel between the Patriarch Jacob and his family who went to Egypt during a famine and became slaves to the Egyptians. In time God sent Moses to rescue His people and lead them from slavery into the Promised Land, the story we know as the Exodus. In today’s reading Matthew quotes the words of the Prophet Hosea “Out of Egypt I called my son” to signify Christ as fulfilling this ancient prophesy, the one who, like Moses, leads us from death to life.    

Yet, when I read this scripture passage today, I can’t help but think how God did not spare the Holy Family from any of the torments and brutalities of life. Although this story recounts the experience of Joseph and Mary and their new born child fleeing for their lives many years ago, I can’t help think how it has been repeated time and time again throughout the ages and is currently the plight for many across our world today, millions of refuges in dozens of countries. Jesus and his parents, refugees, seeking shelter in a strange land is a disturbing image of the Holy Family., one that should make us restless and perhaps stir us to do something for those who suffer this same plight today

Whatever sufferings and losses we may have in this life, we have them in common with the Holy Family. God’s own divine plan did not shelter them from the hardships of life. No, God’s plan allowed the Holy Family to put their faith and trust in God and gave them the faith to realize that no matter what happened, it would all work out for the good.

Today with the many challenges to family life that we face, let us turn to the

Holy Family for the faith and strength we need to persevere on our journey

through a land where we are truly refugees seeking our way back home. 

Enjoy the Day,

Deacon Tom

Please consider supporting Catholic Relief Services (CRS). They provide essential services around the world to today's refugees.

Fourth Sunday of Advent_A - Everything Is Ready_122219

Deacon Tom Writes,

Everything Is Ready

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A

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, 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.  

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 in becoming flesh and born 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. 

Today on this Fourth Sunday, Everything is ready. We are ready to greet the Child who frees us from our fears.

Have a blessed and joy-filled Christmas!

   and Happy New Year

Deacon Tom

Third Sunday of Advent_A - Rejoice in the Lord, Always_121519

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Rejoice in the Lord Always!”

Third Sunday of Advent, Year A

Today is known as Gaudete Sunday. The word Gaudete is the first word of the Entrance Antiphon for today’s Liturgy. "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice! The Lord is near". One of the symbols of this Joy is the lighting of the rose candle on our Advent wreath.

In our first reading, the Prophet Isaiah tells us that a day will come when God's kingdom will break forth like the desert bloom. If you have ever seen this miracle of nature, you know how breathtaking it is. This barren, desolate and vast expanse gives way to an overabundance of delicate beauty. Water will gush in the desert, burning sand will transform into a bubbling spring. For all those who are twisted, bent and bowed down by their burdens and harsh realities of life, Isaiah prophesies that one day, “they will meet with joy and gladness, [their] sorrow and sighing will flee”.  

Today’s readings prompt us to be people of expectant hope and who claim God’s promise as if we already possessed it, as if we were already living in this ultimate reality! Today we all claim as our own the gladness and joy Isaiah tells us will chase away our sorrows and sadness. Look closely at our readings today. Look around today at the litany of people who, although cast aside by the world, marginalized by poverty and ignorance, sadness and disease, refugees from war and famine; these are the very one who have a special claim on God’s love, mercy, and compassion. Look carefully at those Isaiah says have a very special reason to rejoice today: those with feeble hands and weak knees, those with frightened hearts, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute, the oppressed, the hungry, the captives, the bowed down, the strangers, the orphans, the widows, the poor, the lepers, and the dead. To be numbered among them…. is to be specially chosen by God!!!!! To be number among those who serve these little ones is to be faithful to Christ’s call to serve these, the least of our sisters and brothers.

On this day of Rejoicing, it is good to recall the times in our lives when we have been the forgotten, the alienated or hungry one. Let us resolve this Advent to be a source of strength, encouragement and support to those who have yet to claim God’s promise of gladness and joy.

Make this a joy-filled day!

Deacon Tom

Image credit: REJOICE! By Sarah Brush, Discipleship Ministries

Second Sunday of Advent_A - Getting Right With God_120819

Deacon Tom Writes,

Advent: Getting Right With God

Second Sunday of Advent, Year A

“Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand,” (MT 3:2 ) 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. And, by the way, you are OK too! Oh, if only that were true. 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, ambitions and desires 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

Available on line at deacontomwrites.com