Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Mother of God_A_1/1/23 - New Year's Blessing

Deacon Tom Writes,

“New Year’s Blessing”

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Year A

In today’s First Reading from the Book of Numbers God blesses his people as they journey through the desert headed for the Promised Land. His blessings renew the promises he made to them on Mt. Sinai and instill in their hearts his kindness, his peace and his graciousness.

One blessing we consider today is that God, in his goodness and mercy, was not satisfied to remain simply an abstract image or a name on the lips of his chosen ones. God planned from the very beginning of time to share in his creation. We are blessed because God revealed himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ who came to live among us and teach us His ways so that we “may live life to the fullest.” (JN 10:10)

Today we honor Mary as the Mother of God. We celebrate today what was declared dogma by the Council of Ephesus in the year 431 AD, that Mary IS the Mother of God, Theotokus. From the earliest days of our faith, people have turned to Mary and sought her intercession. The Council of Ephesus only confirmed what the people already knew, that Mary was the Mother of God and as such was a refuge for us in our time of need.

As we turn the page to a new year, one in which we continue to hope the world sees an end to the Covid-19 and other raspatory afflictions, we are profoundly aware of our many needs and those of our families and our world. Mary, whose love, sacrifice and surrender nurtured the Holy Family, waits for us to turn to her Son and also to her so that she can be an advocate on our behalf. And again, we are so spiritually needy! There is no favor her Son will not grant her if only we turn to her, for, since the beginning of time, it has been upon her that his favor rests.

Through the intercessions of Mary, may……
The Lord bless us and keep us!
The Lord let his face shine upon us and be gracious to us!
The Lord look upon us kindly and give us peace!

Wishing you and your families a…Happy, Holy, and Healthy New Year‼!

Deacon Tom

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: “The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis written in defense of Christian faith, this popular satire consists of a series of 31 letters in which Screwtape, an experienced devil, instructs his young charge, Wormwood, on effective strategies for tempting the human being assigned to him and making sure he continues on a steady path toward damnation. A delightful way to begin the New Year. 

When Heaven Came Down To Earth, The Nativity of the Lord _A - Mass at Dawn_122522

Deacon Tom Writes,

“When Heaven Came Down To Earth…”

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) Mass at Dawn, Year A

In the stillness of the night in a remote village, the sound of a newborn baby’s cry interrupts the silence. No ordinary child by heritage, his ancestors include Abraham, Jesse, David, Solomon and Amos, towering figures who had safeguarded the promises given to them by Yahweh that he would one day come down from heaven and live among his people. All creation celebrates this moment in time. Stars in the sky light the way. Angelic Beings sing with joy. Wise men set their course to find him. Nothing in the history of the world before or after this singular moment has had a greater impact on our lives than when heaven came down to earth.

We look back two thousand years and celebrate this joyful event today as we look forward to the dawning of this new day and the promises it has in store for us… the promises of hope that we have for our children, grandchildren and, for some of us, our great grandchildren…. the promises we have that our loved ones who are suffering will find comfort and rest…..the promises that our broken world may find some peace and that all that divides us will be reconciled.

The world that Jesus was born into was not much different than the world we find ourselves living in today. There are evil rulers who destroy the innocent as Herod did. Vast numbers of people lack the basic necessities of life; there is uncertainty about "What is truth?" Many are living in fear of what tomorrow will bring.

And so too there is nothing new under the sun as the saying goes... this was pretty much the way things were when Jesus was born. Yet, In the quiet of the evening he came into the world that he created to be its light. But, “the world received him not". It is by the choices that we make throughout the day that provide the surest evidence that we have chosen to receive him into our lives even though he is still rejected by the world. We do so...when we choose forgiveness instead of resentment… when we choose the good of the other over our own self interest…when we choose to do what is right and virtuous instead of pleasing the crowd…when we choose the Eucharist over (____) [fill in the blank], when we choose to be the light that in the midst of the surrounding darkness. And yet, Jesus chooses too; he chooses to come again and again into our broken lives, into our fractured world, peddling his goods… peace, justice, purity, love. One day we’ll get it right… That’s the promise. That’s our hope.

May the joy of the Holy Family be with you and your families this Christmas and may the Christ Child grant us the deepest desires within our hearts.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Deacon Tom
Enjoy this special day!

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: “The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is” by N.T. Wright  The Challenge of Jesus poses a double-edged challenge: to grow in our understanding of the historical Jesus within the Palestinian world of the first century, and to follow Jesus more faithfully into the postmodern world of the twenty-first century. A very good read as we enter into a new year.

Fourth Sunday of Advent_A - Everything Is Ready_121822

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 and / 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. Yah, some things never change! 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 even in becoming flesh and bones and blood like the rest of us and born of a fully human 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 of Advent, the stage is set; everything is ready. We are ready to greet the Child who frees us from our fears and anxieties and who guides us through all the uncertainties and challenges of life.

Have a blessed and joy-filled Christmas!
and Happy New Year

Deacon Tom

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: “Father Ed The Story of Bill W.’s Spiritual Sponsor, By Dawn Eden Goldstein is an excellent biography of an incredible priest, mentor and spiritual guide who helped rescue many people from painful addictions and emotional suffering. A must read for everyone.

 

Recommended You Tube: A YouTube interview with Dawn Eden Goldstein by Robert Ellsberg, Editor of Orbis Books on the release of her recent book, Father Ed The Story of Bill W.’s Spiritual Sponsor. Wonderful overview of this timely book.

 

Third Sunday of Advent_A - Rejoice in the Lord Always!_121122

Image credit: REJOICE! By Sarah Brush, Discipleship Ministries

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

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: “Channel of Peace, Stranded in Gander on 9/11” by Kevin Tuerff tells the story of a stranded traveler’s encounter with boundless acts of generosity and compassion from total strangers. This is a great read during these challenging times.

 

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.

Second Sunday of Advent_A - Getting Right With God_120422

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

 

Check the www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading: “Channel of Peace, Stranded in Gander on 9/11” by Kevin Tuerff tells the story of a stranded traveler’s encounter with boundless acts of generosity and compassion from total strangers. This is a great read during these challenging times.

 

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 - An Advent Journey_112722

Deacon Tom Writes,

“An Advent Journey”

First Sunday of Advent, Year A

The Season of Advent marks the beginning of a new Liturgical year marked by a time of waiting, expectation and preparation. Expectation is what the Prophet Isaiah envisions as he looks forward to the days 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.” 

For many people today the Advent journey is 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 on-line and calling upon Amazon for overnight delivery of our digital shopping bargains. 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 the pace leaves little energy or time for any reflection on the profound meaning of the Incarnation and the gift from God Most High who is eager to enter our world and the recesses of our hearts from his divine realm.

The words of the Prophet Isaiah invite us to go on a journey this Advent. No, we don’t have to pack our bags and head off to Jerusalem and climb Mount Zion, although that would be a wonderful experience. We can stay right at home and be engaged in just as challenging an experience. We can use this Season of Advent 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 your will, that keep us from experiencing the depth and totality of God’s love for us. The journey to overcome the hurts and scars others have caused us and forgive them may be more difficult than climbing the highest mountains. How very difficult is it for us to change our mindsets and be opened to the ways of peace as Jesus taught throughout his ministry. 

Isaiah invites us to do just that in this 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 thought and ways to the One who came to dwell among us. May we all reach higher terrain this holy and grace filled season. 

Enjoy the day,

Deacon Tom

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

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: Check out Fr. Frank Donio’s Catholic Apostolate Center for some thoughtful Advent Reflections  

 

Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - The Feast of Christ the KIng_112022

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 an 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

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation for those seeking to explore the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

 

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_111322

Image Credit: journeytopenuel.files.wordpress.com

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

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

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

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - The Forces of Change: Prayer in Action_110622

Deacon Tom Writes,

The Forces of Change: Prayer and Action

 

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

In today’s reading, St. Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray that he and his companions, “be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have faith”.

St. Paul had reason to be concerned about perverse and wicked people. He knew the history of the Jewish people and was certainly aware of the story of the seven Maccabees who were arrested, tortured and killed for their faith. Paul, a man of prayer, asks the community to pray for him and his companions that God will protect them from the perverse and wicked things that people without faith do as he continues his mission to spread the Good News about Jesus.

The question that this account from St. Paul’s life raises for us today is, “Does the evil and wickedness we experience in our world today come only from the hearts and minds and hands of ‘those without faith”? Unfortunately, the answer is to this question is...no. Discrimination, the exploitation of the poor, the profiteering from the hopelessness and misery of others is a business today and, and many are eager reap the profit from such enterprises. All we have to do is, “remove the wooden beam from your eye first” (Mt 7:5) in order for us to see how we may participate in the suffering of others by what we do… or what we fail to do. There are many ways in which we, the faithful, contribute to the suffering of so many people around us - people of color, the elderly and vulnerable, the immigrant, the single parents, the homeless and those “working poor” who struggle just to live simple lives. The sad reality is that so much evil and harm is done by people professing to be people of faith; those who fill our churches, temples, and mosques. Insane, but true nonetheless.

St. Paul was able to deal with the evil he experienced spreading the Word for two reasons: he was a man of prayer, and he was a man of action. Prayer and work: pray as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on us, advice echoed by St. Augustine some 350 years after St. Paul.

If we are ever to have any success in eliminating the racism, poverty, discrimination and sexism from our society and in the world, we must find the right balance between prayer and action. Prayer is the way we get things right on the inside, “cleanse first the inside of the cup…” as Matthew writes, (Mt 23:26) so that the love of God can flow out to others.

Perhaps this week we can commit some time to daily prayer. In the quiet of our hearts God speaks to us telling what we can do to bring about the world that he has in mind for us: one without poverty, or war, or hunger; a world of right relationships built on the sure knowledge that God’s abiding love rests upon each and every one of his children.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading:   Losing God by Michael Paul Gallagher, SJ  who has us follow the Magi to have our own experience of God as we navigate the challenges of everyday life.

 

Recommended YouTube Video: Check out NCR on YouTube  to stay up to date on what is happening in our Church today.  

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Unexpected Company_103022

Deacon Tom Writes

“Unexpected Company”

 

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Poor Zacchaeus! When he left home that day to get a look at Jesus on his way through Jericho, I doubt that he had any inclination that Jesus would invite himself over for dinner. Usually, we need to tidy up somewhat before we have guests over…. Pick up the newspapers and magazines from the coffee table and bring them out to the trash, knock down a cobweb here and there, (the kids science projects, really…), run the vacuum around to pick up all those unidentified objects that follow us in from the yard. Yes, I’m sure that we all do a little “staging” of our homes to make it look a little more presentable for when our guests arrive. However, Zacchaeus didn’t have time to run home and tidy up when Jesus told him invited himself over.

The beauty and décor of a home comes not so much from how neat it looks or the expensive furniture and accessories but rather from what takes place there. Being with friends, old and new, recalling old memories or giving life to new ones gives a home its character. So, I wonder what Zacchaeus experienced when Jesus entered his home and shared dinner with him? I wonder what they discussed? Do you think that Jesus might have sympathetic to how the community reacted to Zacchaeus’ position as Chief Tax Collector, a position that put him in collaboration with the enemy, the Romans? In light of that, might they have discussed how the community was living out the “Greatest Commandment”, loving God and neighbor? There was so much to talk about! There were so many feelings and emotions in need of healing. The man who invited himself to dinner came to listen and to heal not just Zacchaeus, but us too.

Jesus came, as is written, “to seek and save what was lost”. Life is harsh at times, too often it seems. It is in times of bewilderment and uncertainty, when we lack vision and clarity and we seem lost or confused that we become receptive to God and open to what he is saying to us. He appears, it seems, out of nowhere then, in a visit from a friend, a call from a loved one, kind words from a stranger or even a soft breeze and we hear him say “Here I am; today I must stay with you”. Our hearts are lifted up; and ever so slowly, gradually, ever so gently, he fills all our needs, healing us, forgiving us, loving us simply because he comes to stay with us for a while.

Enjoy the day,
Deacon Tom

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

Recommended Reading:   Jesus: A Pilgrimage by Fr. James Martin takes us on a journey through the Holy Land to experience Jesus in a deep and personal way.

 

Recommended YouTube Video: The Examen with Fr. James Martin, SJ. a prayerful reflection on the people, events and happening of the day and where you met Jesus in them.  

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - All Cried Out_102322

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 eastern Ukraine. 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 loss: the loss of another generation of children who have inherited the legacy of war, poverty, hopelessness and desperation. Are these horrible conditions helping formulate young minds into believing that the future holds no hope for them or their loved ones? In the absence of hope, 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

 

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

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

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Deacon Tom Writes,

Prayer In Action  

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Francis Cardinal Spellman gave us a unique perspective on prayer when he wrote, “Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon you.” In today’s readings we see Moses and the woman plaintiff working very hard to get the results they wanted. Prayer is very much a part of the solution. But as we read today, so is being active in pursuing the desired outcome.

We know that God wants us to pray because Jesus was a man of prayer. The gospels tell us that Jesus often went off early in the morning and prayed. It was through his prayer life that Jesus was able to know what God asked of him and formulate what his response would be. Jesus’ prayers animated all his thoughts and actions.

It is this understanding of Jesus and his ministry that gives rise to Cardinal Spellman’s insight calling us to prayer inspired action. This is a very practical example for anyone trying to live the gospel message. How else can we do what Jesus asks us to do? Can we truly expect to love our enemies if we are not prepared to take some steps toward bringing about a peaceful reconciliation? Do we think that we can merely say a prayer that someone we have hurt will forgive us and, zap, everything will be all right? Or pray for the hungry in the hopes that others will feed them? I seriously doubt it. Forgiveness, reconciliation, peacemaking, changes in our attitudes and behaviors, all the real activities of spiritual maturity, take both much prayer and much work. That is probably why St. Paul said to “Pray without ceasing”, and why we have the “spiritual exercises” of St Ignatius. They encourage us to pray and work for a Godly balance in our lives. This will enable us to discover God’s priorities for us this day and to discover his Presence in ourselves, in others and in everything around us while keeping us from being overwhelmed by it all.

Central to our faith and essential to our spiritual growth and maturity is the constant need to maintain a proper balance of prayer and action in our lives. Doing so will deepen our relationship with our Lord who desires our constant love and who seeks to be our life long companion.


Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

 

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

Recommended Reading:   The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark. Tells the story of how the obscure, marginal Jesus movement became the dominant religious force in the Western World in a few centuries.

Recommended YouTube Video: Hear Fr. Keating talk about the Divine Love we can discover through contemplative prayer. The Most Excellent Path, Part 2, with Thomas Keating

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Deacon Tom Writes,

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C 

In St Luke’s Gospel for the Twenty-eighth Sunday, we witness several occasions when Jesus encounters Samaritans during his travels. You may recall that Jews and Samaritans despised each other. It was a religious rivalry fueled by differences from the past, such as where they worshiped and how they interpreted scripture. These differences do not hinder Jesus from witnessing to the Samaritans about the Kingdom of God as in the story of the Woman at the Well or in today’s account of the Curing of the Lepers. In both stories it is the Samaritans, the outsiders, who are receptive to Jesus’ message and are thus able to receive the grace Jesus has in store for them.

Isn’t it amazing that Jesus is able to look beyond labels, divisions and even animosities and see the human needs present in those whose paths cross his? Jesus doesn’t proselytize. He doesn’t say, “Hey, become a good Jew first, then I’ll cure you or then I’ll tell you the Good News.” Not at all! Jesus lets his actions rooted in his ministry of inaugurating the Kingdom of God speak for him. And what do his actions say?




Powerfully, the very fact that Jesus speaks to the lepers gives them a sense of dignity and breaks the isolation that has been imposed upon them by society. Their self-worth is affirmed when Jesus acknowledges their presence and instructs them to go and show themselves to the priest. When they listen to him, they are cured.

What immense joy, what amazement this must have given them. But, as we know, unfortunately only one returns to the source of that joy, and that one is the outsider, the Samaritan. The others may have been equally as thankful and went on their way praising God as they rushed home to their families and loved ones. This one Samaritan, however, had the heart-felt gratitude to return and thank Jesus for bringing him back to life in the fullest sense of the word.

Our Samaritan friend we encounter today reminds us to give thanks to God for restoring our lives to completeness by loving us and inviting us to let his love shine through our lives into the hearts and lives of everyone we meet.

Enjoy the day
Deacon Tom

Check out www.deaconspod.com for a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

Recommended Reading: Open Mind, Open Heart by Cistercian Father Thomas Keating. This is a marvelous introduction to centering prayer as Father guides us how to say "Yes" to God's grace so we can "Be still and know that I am God.”

Recommended YouTube Video: Hear Fr. Keating talk about the Divine Love we can discover through contemplative prayer. The Most Excellent Path, Part 1, with Thomas Keating

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Deacon Tom writes on….

“I’ve Been Waiting Soooo Long” 

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Today’s readings remind us that we are not patient people. When things are going badly, we cry out to God for help, and it never seems to come soon enough. The Prophet Habakkuk cries out for God’s help to end the violence and destruction that are plaguing the people of Judah. But God “does not intervene.” 

Being faithful to God when we are experiencing sickness or despair, when we have lost someone we love, or when we are fearful of what the future holds is very difficult. Our hearts and minds struggle to feel God’s presence. What we really want though, is to have our fears calmed, our financial problems resolved, our relationships mended, our illnesses cured, and for our loved ones to remain with us forever. 

Difficult, perhaps, even as impossible as it seems, it is in these most painful times we are called to wait on God and to know that we have a share in that vision he told Habakkuk to write down. What is that vision that Habakkuk wrote down on the tablets? WOW! The text doesn’t say! All it says is that the vision, “...still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint.”

Habakkuk’s vision and prophecy came to completion in the person of Jesus Christ. He entered our human drama in answer to the Prophet’s cry, “How long, O Lord?” God not only hears our cries but even shares in our suffering and pain. It is during these very moments of intense suffering, when we are utterly helpless, that we begin to understand the very vision Habakkuk referred to, the vision that will not disappoint that God has in store for us. That vision: Eternal Life, where our tears will be tears of gladness and all that God has in store for us surely will not disappoint. 

To make this vision of Habakkuk’s ours we, like the Apostles, need to first, use the faith that we do have to build up the kingdom of God and then, pray for an increase in faith so that our faith will not run out as we do all the Lord asks of us in this fleeting life on earth before he calls us home. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom 

Go to www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer.

 

Recommended Reading:  The Breath of the Soul, Reflections on Prayer by Sr. Joan Chittister opens the pathway to a deeper spiritual life through a more authentic and meaningful prayer life. 

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Tom Writes,

The Prophetic Tradition

 

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C 

The Prophet Amos who speaks to us in our first reading today was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judah during the prosperous reign of King Jeroboam II from 786-746 B.C. For several weeks now we have heard him speak of the injustices against the poor and the complacency of the people of his day. Like all prophets, his messages were very unpopular. Amos told the people that there would be a day of reckoning on account of how they treated the poor. He foretold a time when God would destroy Jerusalem and send his people into exile. The fulfillment of this prophecy took place in 597 B.C., an event history records as the Babylonian Captivity.

Amos belonged to a very special group of Old Testament authors known as the Minor Prophets. Included in this genre of very irritating people are Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Prophets were irritating because they delivered unpopular messages. The messages they delivered were not their own, but God’s. Prophets encouraged the people to return to God and be faithful to him. Not surprisingly, these individuals also foretold the dismal consequences that awaited the people of Israel for their prideful disobedience and unfaithfulness to God. Inherent in the prophetic message, however, was always a call to turn away from sin and return to the love of God.

It has been thousands of years since the Old Testament Prophets spoke out against the evils of their times. Yet, the passage of time has not silenced the need for us today to hear and take seriously the prophetic messages being spoken to us. Fortunately, there are those among us today who continue to speak prophetically about the poor and suffering among us. They remind us that the poor are still being treated unjustly through limited access to quality education and health care; they point out that racism and discrimination still prevail in many facets of our society; they shed light where immigrants are being exploited. Prophetic voices today remind us that we, like the people of Amos’s day, or like Lazarus in today’s gospel, do not see the injustice and suffering of those around us. It seems that the real sin we all face today in our comfort and our abundance is that the poor and the needy have become invisible to us or worse yet, we have become indifferent to the “cries of the poor”. We have pushed the suffering souls to the fringes of our society so that our paths will seldom cross or our eyes will never meet.

Let us give thanks for the likes of St. Teresa of Calcutta, Nelson Mandela, Thomas Merton, Sr. Helen Prejean, Desmond Tutu, Henri Nouwen, Jean Vanier, St. John Paul II, Martin Luther King Jr., and Dorothy Day to name but a few faithful and courageous souls whose lives and witness have helped keep the embers of the prophetic tradition smoldering in our times. They have helped enlivened the spirits of so many others to continue to do the irritating work of the prophets who have gone before us.

May we listen to their words, imitate them and respond faithfully to the "cry of the poor".

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Tune into the  www.deaconspod.com Podcast to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

Recommended Reading: “Beginning to pray” by Archbishop Anthony Bloom - a delightful read about mindful prayer.

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Deacon Tom Writes,

“I Will Never Forget”

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

We would be seriously mistaken to think that cheating the poor and stealing from the needy was a modern-day phenomenon. Sad to say that such behavior has been around for a long time. 750 years before Christ the Prophet Amos chastises those who tinkered with their scales in order to overcharge the poor and needy for their wheat and grain. The Lord has a few caustic words for them, “Never will I forget a thing they have done”!

Have you ever heard the expression, “keeping your thumb on the scale”? In whose favor does that work? In addition, those who engage in such a devious practice, as Amos writes, can’t wait for the Sabbath and the Festival of the New Moon to be over with so that they can take advantage of the poor of the land. Such behavior has gotten the Lord’s attention, says Amos, and the Lord, “will never forget a thing they have done”!

In the gospel, Jesus tells the story of a manager who has quite the way with numbers. Apparently, he was an unscrupulous steward whose deception was detected by his employer. What the steward lacked in integrity, however, he made up for with his imagination. Before he is fired, he cancels part of the debt that others owed his master. This way those whose debts he had forgiven would take care of him after he was discharged. What a fraud and so cleverly done. That’s why Jesus points him out. As deceitful as this act was, Jesus recognizes that the dishonest steward was very successful in taking very good care of himself.

Now, Jesus is not advocating deceitful means in our dealings with the world. Rather, he is suggesting that his disciples be as ingenious and imaginative in ways of building up the Kingdom of God as those who seek to acquire an inordinate share of the things of this world. If just a small token of our efforts were directed toward advancing the Kingdom of God in all our daily encounters; if we put into practice this same imaginative vision in doing God’s work, in our families and offices, where we work or go to school, where we shop or play, in the way we view the people whose ideologies, ethnicities, political views, socio-economic backgrounds differ from ours, do you not think that a more just and peaceful world would unfold before our very eyes. And if you believe that then I suspect two things would follow: one, we would realize that we are missing out on something special and two, we would be more energize to make our contribution wherever we can as best we are able.

Today’s readings prompt us to reflect on how much imagination and energy we put into bringing about God’s Kingdom as we go about our daily affairs. Do we see the poor being abused and cheated in any way today and point it out, refuse to participate, seek to put an end to unfair and unjust practices that oppress them? This is an important question for disciples of Jesus to ask themselves today and every day. And why is that? It is because those words of the Prophet Amos also apply to those who help shoulder the burdens of the poor today... the Lord says, “Never will I forget a thing they have done.”

Enjoy the day,
Deacon Tom

Visit my Blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

Recommended Reading: “Prayers” by Michael Quoist will provide much grist for daily spiritual rumination

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                                 Image Credit: commons.wikimedia.org

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Amazing Grace”

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That sav’d a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

John Newton wrote these words after he experienced God's unmerited favor to lost souls. They flow from a heart cleansed of its own sordid past and immersed in God’s healing graces.

Grace is part of the mystery of God’s relationship with us, the high point of his creation. God is gracious (as in God is grace), and so he bestows grace upon us and indeed all his creation. It is freely given and nothing we do can earn it. This is so because before we can even think of doing a good act, God’s grace must first stir within us the desire to do that good act. God’s grace moves us into action; that action then draws us ever deeper into a profound relationship with God.

The 20th century theologian, Karl Rahner, defined grace as “God’s personal self-communication to humankind generally and to each individual”. In other words, grace is God communicating his own personal self to us. This is an amazing reality in itself: God is always seeking to communicate with each and every one of us!

Our human existence is marked by mortality and experiences sin and guilt. Grace operates in our lives to help us desire our salvation, to help us seek out a deeper and more personal relationship with our creator, and indeed, to be in communion with him so we can be healed and forgiven. Grace is the operative principle that enables us to, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” as St. Paul instructed the Philippians.

Most of us today are desperate for God’s healing, compassionate, sustaining, yes, amazing grace in many aspects of our lives… for physical or emotional healing, to mend broken or hurting relationships, to calm our worries, fears, and anxieties about so many things. It seems that we have found ourselves in a world where injustice, ignorance, intolerance, indifference and apathy surround us and we feel helpless to respond. Now, perhaps more than ever before, we need God’s grace to enlighten our consciences and guide us on our journey so that we may be instruments of his love, mercy, and compassion.

Today’s gospel is a reminder that we all can get lost along the way. We can easily turn our backs on God’s amazing grace to do things “My Way” in the words of Frank Sinatra. We have lost something precious and need to get busy trying to find it. We have all lost the original state of grace we had when God made us. By living in the light of Christ and cooperating with the many graces that are given to us in our lifetime, we can be confident that grace will guide us every day of our life and when life’s journey ends, “Grace will lead us home”.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom 

Visit my blog at: www.deacontomwrites.blogspot.com

And tune into the www.deaconspod.com to hear a contemporary Catholic conversation exploring the treasures our faith has to offer.

 

Recommended Reading: Disciplines for Christian Living by Fr. Thomas Ryan, CSP provides helpful advice for engaging and living the spiritual life.