Fourth Sunday of Advent_C - I Come to Do Your Will, O God_122224

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. Imagine that! Once we liberate ourselves from our Creator, 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” but predictable 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 responds 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, Mary and John the Baptist 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, to look forward to the life that is 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 in silence.



God bless and keep you and your loved ones close to him, now and always. And may the Christ Child fill you with his peace and love.



Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those thinking of coming into or leaving it.





OTHER RESOURCES



Recommended Reading: Reasons to Believe - A Personal Story Belief is difficult. Sometimes we need to see to believe. Jesus was gentle with Thomas and his doubts. He allowed him to touch His wounded heart. Is He doing the same for us now, in this new millennium? As a compelling and thought-provoking witnesses to their faith, Ron Tesoriero, lawyer author, and Michael Willesee, investigative journalist, take a look at several Eucharistic Miracles and build a powerful fact-based-case for belief in Eucharist



Recommended You Tube: Eucharistic Miracles of Buenos Aires - Bread to Human Heart. An interesting presentation on Eucharistic miracles occurring today. 







Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Third Sunday of Advent_C - What Shoud We Do?_121524

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. Those who felt called to take John up on his offer 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, 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 and to have a change of heart and recognize that we need to change our ways.

 

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 days of Advent 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

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as the three deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading: “Open Mind, Open Heart” by Cistercian Father Thomas Keating. A deep and thorough overview of the Christian contemplative tradition, a process of interior transformation, a conversation initiated by God and leading, if we consent, to divine union. Herein a restructuring of consciousness takes place which empowers one to perceive, relate and respond to everyday life with increasing sensitivity to the divine presence in, through, and beyond everything that happens. Fr. Thomas gives step-by-step guidance in the method of Centering Prayer, a movement of divine love designed to renew the Christian contemplative tradition.

 

Recommended You Tube: a short reflection on “Stillness and the Fruit of Attention” YouTube: 79 The Most Excellent Path, Part 1, with Thomas Keating who leads us on the spiritual journey – Formation in the Christian Contemplative

Second Sunday of Advent_C - Love Changes Everything_120824

 Image: Giotto Nativity

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Love Changes Everything”

Second Sunday of Advent, Year C

 

Paul tells his brothers and sisters in Philippi of his great love for them and he prays for them “…always with joy in my every prayer for you.”  He says further, “And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more” [so you may] “discern what is of value.” Paul emphasizes 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 verything”!

 

Advent is, as we are so well aware, a time of preparation...a time to get ready for visits from friends and family; a time to cook and prepare the traditional family meals; a time to write Christmas Cards to distant friends with whom we share fond memories but have not seen in a while because of distance or the busyness of everyday life; a time, oh yes of course, for shopping for special gifts, wrapping them, and decorating the house and Christmas Tree. Whew! We often reap a whirlwind of fatigue trying to get “prepared” for Christmas. Sometimes, perhaps often, we just get too wrapped up - pun intended - and miss out on the “Meaning of the Season.”

 

Advent is a time of preparation, yes. But, while these other efforts are worthy and hopefully driven by our love of family and friends, it is a sad reality that we often fail to prepare ourselves for the most important of friends, family, and loved ones... Emmanuel, the Word Made Flesh. The most beautiful preparation we can make, the one that is most worthy of the Christ Child we anticipate, is to open ourselves up to a change of heart. That is, to open ourselves up to overcome our hardness of heart, our negative judgments of others, our insistence on holding on to grudges and resentments of the past, our unwillingness to forgive those who have hurt us. We are “broken” and we need to be healed from the inside out. The only gift the Christ Child desires is for us to have a change of heart so that we may welcome him into our lives untarnished by the bitter resentments of the past, to offer him hearts that long to be filled with the Peace and Joy of the new born babe.  Love really does change everything. Love changes us from the inside out as Dickens demonstrates in his famous Ebenezer Scrooge.

 

May this Advent Season be different than all we have experienced. May God’s grace increase our desire for those gifts that last forever: a generous heart, a deeper sense of compassion and empathy for those who are hurting this year, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And, may our love increase so that the Holy One may use us when and where the Divine Presence is needed to bring healing and reconciliation to our troubled world.

 

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 we see and experience in the world around us and prepare our hearts for the King of Glory to enter within.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com  and listen in as the three deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it. 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading: “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 story about hospitality 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.