2020

In the afterglow of Christmas, the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family. Today we are invited to reflect on the gift of life and the blessing of family life in particular.

Some of us come from the traditional family setting: a home with a father, a mother and siblings. Others come from a home that is missing a parent, due perhaps to death or divorce. Some of us live alone. I know some couples who are being parents again, raising their grandchildren or foster children. For some, the roles have been reversed, an adult child is now caring for a frail parent or two. In short, the makeup of a family varies widely from home to home.

Blood ties alone do not create a family. I have encountered too many examples of relatives who refuse to communicate with one another for any number of reasons. On the other hand, I have seen some people, although unrelated, who have bonded together very much like a family.

What makes any group of people a family? That word comes from the Latin word, familus, which means servant. Nearly any kid would agree with that definition, considering all the household chores they have to do! Serving one another is what keeps a family together. In the family, each person serves the needs of the others, placing the needs, interests, desires, and delights of the other before their own. What draws out the best in any family is love.

Many of us remember Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Bob Hope once said, “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for Crosby, and there’s nothing Crosby wouldn’t do for me. But that’s the trouble. We spent our lives doing nothing for one another.”

Hopefully, Mr. Hope isn’t describing your family. In your family, is love for one another expressed verbally or in a visual way? Or is the love you have for one another taken for granted and never expressed?

When was the last time you told your spouse, your parent, your children, your siblings, “I love you?”  Failing to express love can spell trouble in due time. Many marriages fail because the love that once brought couples together had grown silent. Many adolescents, feeling rejected, either run away from home or have taken their lives because no one has ever said those three significant words until it is too late.

This feast, coming near the start of a New Year, provides an opportune moment for families to discern their bill of health by taking a look at the unintentional consequences of their choices.

As a parent, are you spending more time at work for the purpose of providing for your family yet finding yourself too busy to spend time with your children? As a spouse, are you too focused on caring for your children or your job that you are spending too little time with each other?

Those aren’t easy questions to deal with if they hit close to home, given the circumstances imposed on us by the pandemic. While we may not be able to control the economic forces that influence some of our decisions, we can decide what really matters in our lives. We can decide that God and people are more important than things.

We don’t know much about what life was like for the holy family, but I suspect they were more down to earth than we realize. If being a holy family means being open and accepting of one another, which I observe in Mary and Joseph, rather than expecting perfection, than being holy is a challenge every family can strive for.

Today, many families are basking in happy Christmas memories and enjoying the gifts they exchanged days ago. Others are not so fortunate, separated by the pandemic, broken homes, family feuds, or the loss of a loved one, so this feast may be somewhat painful yet for all of us, God is offering us wisdom through the insights of both Sirach and Paul, who urges us to clothe ourselves with kindness, humility, meekness, forgiveness, patience and love.

When parents seek to emulate the holy family in the manner suggested by Paul, they are doing what will enable their children to grow and become strong, filled with wisdom and the favor of God will be upon them.

Within our families, we experience the heights of joy and the depths of pain. Our belonging to a family means that each one of us, parent and child, reflects for the other the selfless, limitless and unconditional love of Christ, both in good times and in bad. The Holy Family in the sufferings they endured together is a model for us and our own families as we continue to confront the many tensions and crises in the year ahead that threaten the stability, peace and unity that are the joy of being a family.

Walking home on a clear night can be so breath taking. Astronomers tell us that the three thousand stars visible to the naked eye are a mere fraction of those known to exist. When you consider that each star is a sun in itself, I have to wonder how God even notices this little planet in the midst of such a vast universe, much less you or me, but he does.

If we can be so awed by the immensity of the universe, how much more should we be that this same God would give us life in the midst of such a vast, barren setting?

This gospel passage is set, not in the star studded heavens, but in a patch of earth tucked away in a remote and distant land off the beaten path. The God of the universe, the God who created those countless stars, showered favor on a modest maiden in the tiny village of Nazareth.

Luke’s story is profoundly moving to hear. Mary had an encounter that changed the course of history. She was singled out by the creator of all things for the greatest honor ever given to any woman, to be the mother of God. The angel, Gabriel, in presenting the news, began by saying, “Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with you!” Considering how often the rosary is said daily, perhaps this is the most quoted line in scripture!

Telling her that she would bear a son, Gabriel then explains that he will be the Son of God. Imagine that, the creator of the universe with its countless stars and planets, would enter this young maiden to bring about the conception of his son, who will be destined to occupy the throne of David; thus her son would be the long awaited Messiah, the liberator God had promised Israel many centuries ago. God’s love for us is so great that he wants to become one of us.

With her consent, this virgin gave flesh to the eternal Word, the second person of the Trinity to whom every atom in the universe owes its origin and present existence. One could say that Mary out-shined the stars that night!

Her consent may appear to have been impulsively given, but I suspect Mary gave much thought to what was being asked of her. Her consent, “May it be done according to your word,” was a typical way of saying in biblical times, “As you wish.”

How readily do we say that to God? Every time we say the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “They will be done,” but is that our personal response to God? We pray to God, asking for help and guidance, but too often we still want to be in control of our lives. But that is not always possible. Consider the weather. It is beyond our control as are accidents and illnesses that can crop up unexpectedly.

The creator of the universe steps into our space and time because he cares about us, along with patients coping with Covid 19, gasping to breathe, battered spouses, lonely teenagers who feel unloved, the homeless seeking shelter on this cold wet day, refugee yearning for a safe haven, and alcoholics struggling to regain a sense of dignity. From the cosmic to the intimate, God is very much in touch with all creation and with us. Are we in touch with God? Dare we turn ourselves over to God like Mary did?

To be a Christian is to be a person who keeps their ears open to what God is calling them to do, so that they can answer that call. Mary is a model of one who did just that.

Her example reminds me of a prayer written by a French mystic, Blessed Charles de Foucauld; “Father, I abandon myself into your hands. Do with me what you will. Whatever you may do, I thank you. I am ready for all. I accept all. Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures. I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into your hands, I commend my soul; I offer it to you with all the love of my heart; for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself; to surrender myself into your hands without reserve and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father.”

Carrying out the will of God to the best of our ability won’t always be easy, but the goal we seek, union with Christ forever, is worth every once of our effort.

We have nothing to fear by allowing God to be involved in our lives; what Gabriel said of Mary is meant for us as well. Just think, amidst the many stars of the universe, you are noticed. “The Lord is with you.” Now, isn’t that an awesome present to look forward to on Christmas Day?

We gather to continue our Advent journey, which at times for many people, perhaps you as well, may have been dark and uncertain. But today is Gaudete Sunday. The word “gaudete” is Latin for “rejoice.” We have good reason to rejoice.

“Brothers and sisters,” St. Paul tells us in the second reading, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus…May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.”

There are times when each of us can feel lost or alone.   But we are not lost.  Christ has found us.  We are not alone.  He is with us.  With Jesus in our lives, the crises we face become challenges, but not devastating events.  A loved one becomes sick, or even dies.  That is a reality so many people are dealing with daily due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We become sick and receive the diagnosis that our condition is terminal.  A marriage falls apart.  A job is lost.  A friend is lost.  Whatever the crisis, we know that the final result will be union with God.  Jesus is with us always, particularly in the worst of our times.  Rejoice in the Lord. Such is the message of Gaudete Sunday.

Within the word rejoice one finds joy. Joy is the deep satisfaction experienced whenever we come into possession of something good. But all the good things in this world, apart from God, are temporary and fragile. Money, success, health, even friendships and being in love are limited. If circumstances change or enough time passes, we either become tired of them or they go away. So, the joy that comes from possessing them is only temporary. For example, think of any Christmas present you very much-appreciated fifteen years ago. Do you still have it? Or have you outgrown it? Or is it now obsolete? Or do you even remember what it was?

Why is the Church inviting us to rejoice at this midpoint of Advent? Because Christ’s coming to earth, which Advent looks forward to, is the only source of true, lasting joy. Our hearts are thirsting for a joy that will never go away.

Our deepest desire is to be loved completely, unconditionally and everlastingly by another person. Only one person can fulfill that desire and that person is Jesus Christ. At his birth, two thousand years ago in Bethlehem, Jesus came into our midst to bring us, each and everyone of us, true, lasting joy.

Joy is the deep satisfaction that comes from possessing something good. The good thing Christians possess is the awareness that God is always with us, knows us thoroughly and loves us unconditionally, despite our shortcomings and sinfulness.

Keeping that awareness fresh in our minds keeps our joy strong, even when life’s trials seem to be crucifying us. The only way to keep that awareness fresh is through prayer, which is why Paul urges us to pray without ceasing.

He isn’t telling us to be on our knees all day long, but he is urging us to find time every day to pray. Close the door to life’s hustle and bustle for fifteen minutes. Read and reflect on a scripture passage, ideally at least one of the readings proclaimed at Mass. Take the moment to speak heart to heart with God, sharing your concerns and gratitude.

Your interaction with Jesus isn’t to be limited to this Sunday encounter; he yearns to visit with you daily. Taking time to be with him each day reminds you that he is with you.

Prayer allows the motives for joy to blossom in our hearts. The devil wants to keep us so busy that we don’t take time to pray and be mindful about the reason for this season. But, my friends, Jesus is the reason for the season; he is stronger than the devil and only he will give us the everlasting joy we so much want.

As you can see from the banner on the balcony, Advent is a season of anticipation and hope. We anticipate the coming of Christ into our lives. Hope is the belief that sooner or later things will get better. A timely example of hope is that after so many months of this pandemic, there is light at the end of the tunnel with the imminent release of a vaccine. We are hopeful that by next Christmas, this bug will be history.

Meanwhile, like Isaiah, we are sent to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, and to proclaim liberty to captives. Doing so brings joy to them and to us. We do so in a variety of ways. One would be through supporting Catholic Community Services; another would be making a donation to Good Cheer or Helping Hands with an envelope from the giving tree.

God uses each of us as his hands and feet to care for others, to radiate his love and compassion, calling on us to share our joy and goods. Yes, hope and joy capture the spirit of these readings. Isaiah says, “Listen, justice will be done.” Paul writes, “Christ will come.” John preaches, “He is already among you.”  What you say and do could prompt others to also rejoice that God is in our midst to brighten our world.

Last week I spoke of advent as a time of watchful waiting, a season of anticipation and hope for the coming of Christ at Christmas and at the end of time. Every person needs something to look forward to in life in order to survive. Advent gives us plenty to look forward to, ideally a closer relationship with God as we await the birth of his son.

Moments ago, we heard at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel the cry of Isaiah the prophet, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” To enable his listeners to prepare the way for the Lord, John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He baptized many as they acknowledged their sins.

Centuries later, how might we prepare? John the Baptist isn’t talking about our usual preparations for Christmas such as our meals or shopping or decorations. He’s talking about preparing our hearts. What blocks the way of the Lord from entering our lives and our hearts?

Perhaps we need to change some habits or attitudes that conflict with Jesus’ teachings. Even if we don’t attend daily Mass, we could read the gospel of the day, using The Word Among Us and its comments to ponder the message. Doing so, we may experience the Lord speaking to us in powerful ways through his Word.

There is no limit to the many kind things we can do for others. I am mindful, for example, of the many volunteers who assist St. Anthony’s Kitchen preparing or delivering meals with a smile every Friday.

Sometimes our preparations are not a matter of doing something more but of doing something less, such as watching less TV so that we can have more quiet time to be with God or to be in touch with our loved ones.

There is no substitute for quiet time. Consider using that time to examine your conscience, asking yourself, “Who do I need to forgive and whose forgiveness do I need for what I have said or done or failed to do?” Whenever we say the Lord’s Prayer, we seek the Lord’s forgiveness as we promise to forgive others.

On Facebook, a friend posted this thought, ”One day, you’ll just be a memory for some people. Do your best to be a good one.” How might others remember you? Will they see you as willing to forgive or not? If you have offended or hurt someone, does the victim remember you as one willing to apologize or not?

Advent is a good time to share what I call the ten commandments of forgiveness. The first commandment: forgiveness isn’t easy. There is no quick fix. We can’t forgive on our own so we need to ask God for help. The second commandment: forgiving is not forgetting. Forgiveness is about a change of heart, not having senior moments.

The third commandment: forgiveness doesn’t overlook evil. It doesn’t mean, “Let’s pretend it never happened.” The fourth commandment: forgiveness is not indifference. We don’t go back to business as usual and let the hurt go on. We should do what we can to insure that the evil doesn’t happen again.

The fifth commandment: forgiveness isn’t the same thing as approval. We can be forgiving and at the same time express our disapproval of the harmful behavior. The sixth commandment: forgiveness is based on recognizing and admitting that people are always bigger than their faults. We shouldn’t define somebody by something they said to us or the way they hurt us.

The seventh commandment: forgiveness is willing to allow a person who has offended us to start over again. Too often we sever the relationship. The eighth commandment: forgiveness recognizes the humanity of the person who has wronged us along with our own shortcomings.

The ninth commandment: forgiveness surrenders the right to get even. Revenge is not an option here. Finally, the tenth commandment: forgiveness means we wish the person who hurt us, or the group that hurt us, well. That’s tough but its basically letting God be the final judge.

Our readings began with the plea, “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.” This we do once we endeavor to practice the art of forgiveness when the need arises. Jesus endeavors to do that in a sacrament that offers us the grace to deal with our weaknesses, to help us, strengthen us, purify us, cleanse us, bring us closer to God and heal our souls, namely the sacrament of reconciliation, which Peter tells us, the Lord wants us to come to.

When we ignore this sacrament, and don’t confess our sins, we hold on to the pain and hurt caused by our wrongdoings. Isaiah calls on us, just as he did the ancient Israelites, to set out on a journey of hope and to risk everything for the unseen future that God has in store for us.

Advent dares us, even in hard times like these, to believe that our deepest longings for peace, for eternal life, are God’s desires for us. This gives us good reason to hope for peace in our hearts. The happy paradox is that repentance is the source of that hope and peace.

Life is full of many waiting moments. Most of us find waiting difficult. Last week countless occupants lined up in their cars waiting to be tested for the corona virus so that they could travel to be with loved ones for Thanksgiving. Others waited patiently elsewhere for food so that they could eat.

Waiting is the name of the game in life. We waited nine months after being conceived to enter the world. Growing up, we wait for when we could be on our own. We wait for that one special love to come along with whom we want to journey through life. We wait anxiously for the birth of our children; then we wait patiently as they learn to crawl, walk, talk, grow and someday leave home.

Being on an island, we wait for the ferry to get from here to the mainland or vice-versa. We islanders have our own way of measuring time when we say that we had a two ferry wait or even a three ferry wait.

We have been patiently (or some of us impatiently) waiting for this pandemic to end so that life can get back to normal and we can again experience fellowship with friends that we once took for granted.

Some of this waiting can be wasted time, like waiting in the check out line in a supermarket, standing idly six feet away from the person in front of us.  Some periods of waiting are filled with anxiety, such as for the student or patient wondering what the results of the test will be.

Advent, which begins today, is also a period of waiting. This season, the prelude to Christmas, is markedly different from ordinary time, the season that just ended. Notice the colors in our worship space are changed. Purple hues have replaced the shades of green. And near the altar is the Advent wreath decked with four candles to remind us that we will be waiting through four Sundays to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

The wreath, soon to be blessed and lit, is a sign of our Christian waiting. First, the wreath is a symbol for Christ to come at Christmas. Like countless generations of believers did before us, we wait to see God’s plan of salvation be revealed to us by his son, Jesus. Like the people in Isaiah’s time, we lament that our world is a mess and we await God’s help to restore its beauty.

Secondly, this wreath is a symbol of Christ’s coming at the end of time or at the end of our life. The end of our life is the only thing certain about our life. But the circle of the wreath is a reminder that life doesn’t end. We have the assurance of life after death flowing from Christ’s death and resurrection.

As Paul mentions in his letter to the Corinthians, we are waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This happens in countless ways provided we are open to encountering him through prayer and reconciliation. Think of the advent wreath as a symbol of our waiting for Christ to come into our lives more and more in the days ahead.

In the gospel, we hear Jesus admonishing his disciples, “Be watchful! Be alert!” Like Mark’s first century audience many people today have been living in a state of uncertainty and anxiety. Covid-19, ongoing struggles for racial justice and inequality, the uncertainty of having a job, the presidential election have all dominated our minds and hearts.

We long for a time of reconciliation and peace, a time of mutual respect and cooperation. Advent is a time of waiting for this new world to appear.

These readings remind us that without Christ, our hopes tend to die, our dreams fade away, our life has no ultimate direction. But with Christ, there is much to be gained. As our mentor and model for living, Christ provides us with the blueprint for living fully in this time, repeatedly urging us to incorporate works of mercy into our daily lives. When he comes, will he find us doing that or being preoccupied instead lusting after images on the internet, engrossed with our cell phones or indulging in malicious gossip? May we use these weeks to put away our distractions and put our faith in Christ anew being ever watchful for his coming.

And how might we do that? For starters, our day is filled with many distractions, which doesn’t allow us to wait patiently. Distractedness is a way of not paying attention to the needs of others or the voice of God.  A good antidote would be to attend Mass but if you are hesitant to do that, at least take time to reflect on the daily readings proclaimed at Mass. In the comfort of your home, go to a quiet corner, light a candle on your advent wreath if you have one, pick up your copy of the Word Among Us, reflect on the day’s reading and the commentary.

Consider adopting an internal quiet time to wait with and for Jesus. We might want to quiet ourselves with more prayer. One manner of doing that could be to say the Jesus prayer. “Lord Jesus, son of Mary, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I do this almost daily after lunch for 15-20 minutes.

Advent is a time when we prepare to celebrate an event of the past: the birth of Jesus but the readings today invite us to look to the future as well, namely our hope and anticipation of eternal life with Christ in the kingdom of God. As we wait, be alert! The moment God has in store for your divine encounter may come when you least expect it.