Share the Joy of Reconciliation, with haste!
“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste” (Lk 1:39). Why? Because she was filled with joy. She had just experienced an incredible encounter with the angel Gabriel telling her that she was to bear the “holy, Son of God” (Lk 1:35). She also learned that her relative Elizabeth, who had been barren was six months pregnant. Who better to understand and appreciate what she had gone through than Elizabeth. When we hear good news we want to share it with someone, especially when we believe another will fully appreciate our experience.
Is there a time when you felt overjoyed about something that you felt like you were going to burst and you couldn’t wait to share your experience? Take a moment to stop reading and recall, or if you aren’t wired that way, read on to the end, and then when you get a moment sometime today, go ahead and remember something awesome! May the smile and glow that radiated from your eyes then return when you reexperience that moment of remembrance.
One such graced encounter I had was when I was in my early twenties and dealing with a heavy weight. I was living in Sharon, Connecticut at the time and had an opportunity to go to the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts to participate in a penance service. I walked up hesitantly to a kind looking, elderly, polish Marian priest. His name alludes me now, but not his face. He radiated invitation and mercy. After a few stammering words, I let loose and shared what I had been dealing with. When he offered absolution, I felt the burden physically lift, I felt almost like levitating. Then a surge of joy welled up in me that lasted for days.
Often, I do not have that emotional of an experience, in fact, there have been times I have not felt anything emotionally. The last two or three times I have gone to confession, I have felt a measure of peace and confidence. My goal in writing today and the last two reflections, if you haven’t noticed already, is to share with you there is a pearl of great price that is available in this sacrament! (I was in so much haste, that those who subscribe to receive my reflections via email, received two postings, as I accidently hit post instead of preview for my draft, so they got a double dose of yesterday’s message.)
Many of us are struggling with a lot, and sometimes we are not at our best, nor do we make our best decisions, we react instead of act, we get caught in the momentum of behavior that we know is not acceptable, but we continue to slide. The key is not to beat ourselves up and walk around feeling guilty. There are enough people who would be happy sign up to do that for us. Instead may we choose to practice a healthy sense of guilt, examining our conscience, knowing, and being able to admit when we have done something inappropriate or wrong.
That is the key to reconciliation, embracing the humility to admit our sin, to be contrite – sorry for what we have done, not upset or defensive because we got caught, and confess our sin, so to receive forgiveness and grace, to go and sin no more! For those who are non Catholic, follow the counsel of James: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Then when we have experienced the joy of forgiveness, of reconciliation, may we be like Mary, and go in haste to share with others the wonderful gift we have received and invite them to do the same!
If you happen to be in the Jupiter area tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13, we will be having priests available at 9:00 am to hear private confessions and also two communal penance services at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Both services will be held in the main sanctuary. St. Peter Catholic Church is located on 1701 Indian Creek Parkway, Jupiter, FL 33458. If you are reading this from afar, I am sure that you can access a parish near you this Advent. If you are not Catholic, you can still reach out to God and one another!
Photo: Pope Francis hearing confession, credit for the photo:
l’osservatore romano press pool
Link for today’s reading for Tuesday, December, 12, 2017:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121217.cfm
“As for you, your sins are forgiven.”
Have you ever locked yourself out of your house or car? Have you ever needed to get somewhere and were stuck in traffic? Have you ever needed to mail something at the post office and when you arrived the line was already out of the door? Have you been sick and not been able to get to a doctor? Have you or are you dealing with a chronic or debilitating health condition? Are you aware of a recurring sin, that you just can’t seem to get past?
If you have experienced any or many of the situations above, you may have some empathy for the man in today’s Gospel of Luke who is paralyzed. Word has come to him that Jesus of Nazareth is close by. He heard that Jesus has helped the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk. Could he receive a healing? How though could he get to him? Somehow men came forward to bring the man, we don’t know if they were family, friends, or neighbors. In Mark’s account (cf. Mk 2:1-12) he wrote that there were four men. They bothered to care, they made the time, carried him on his bed, and brought the man to Jesus.
When they arrived they could not find “a way to bring him in because of the crowds” (Lk 5:19). Unfortunately, “the crowds” could not be bothered to move, to adjust their positions, or to make a way for them to get through. We can imagine the man’s anguish. He had come this far, but would be able to get no closer. Maybe some of his bearers were getting frustrated with the lack of willingness of others to make way. Yet, someone of the five, maybe even the man himself, was able to think outside of the box.
Somehow they were able to maneuver the man, still on his bed, up to the roof, remove some tiles, and let him down into the midst before Jesus. Jesus witnessing their faith said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven” (Lk 5:20). Before the man could even fully take in the wonderful gift of mercy he received, that his sins have been forgiven, the scribes and Pharisees challenged Jesus’ words, accusing him of blasphemy for only God could forgive sins. Jesus not missing a beat doubled down: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”– he said to the one who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home” (Lk 5:23-24).
The man, who, with the aid of four others, met every obstacle placed before him to get to Jesus. Then he faced his last obstacle, the one that put him in this position in the first place, his sins. He was ready, willing, and able to face his sins and relinquish them in the healing words of Jesus. Just to be clear, not everyone who is dealing with a physical or chronic condition does so because of sin. This man had, for it was so deep in his being, and for how long we do not know but, he was paralyzed by his sins. We can beat ourselves up pretty bad, and be so unforgiving of others and ourselves, that sin often has debilitating effects.
The passage regarding the Healing of the Paralytic is a wonderful pericope to meditate on. It is a good meditation to use for an examination of conscience. I invite you to read it through a couple of times. Who do we at the moment of our reading see ourselves to be in the story? Are we the four men that offer help to the paralyzed man, the many onlookers in the crowd who prevent access to Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees, or are we the man paralyzed by sin? Is there that one sin that just has us stuck, the one person we are unwilling to forgive, that attachment we cling to, that addiction we are bound by?
I invite you to come to Jesus. There may be those blocking access to him. You may have gone in the past to Confession and had a horrible experience with a priest who may have actually berated you, or the opposite. You may have had a sin that was totally discounted or brushed over. You may have even encountered an indifferent priest who appeared not to give you the time of day. Those are unfortunate experiences, hurtful, and inexcusable. You may have others that say to you or you may say to yourself, I do not need to go to a priest, I can just go to God. This is true you can, and a daily practice of examining your conscience and doing that is a wonderful spiritual discipline I would encourage you to continue! You may not have been to church in years.
I still invite you to come to Jesus. He is present in the sacrament of Reconciliation as he is in all the sacraments. This is a personal encounter with Christ. As the paralyzed man needed aid getting to Jesus, so do we. The priest is a minister of God’s mercy and grace, present to us so that we can hear the words of Christ: “Your sins are forgiven” and we will do so as the priest says: “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” There is something about hearing those words that is healing. Just as the man heard those words from Jesus and left praising God, so too may we come to Jesus so that we may also encounter his mercy, as did the paralyzed man, to leave healed, filled with joy, and praising God!
If you happen to be in the Jupiter area, Wednesday, December 13, we will be having priests available at 9:00 am to hear your confessions and also two communal penance services at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Both services will be held in the main sanctuary. St. Peter Catholic Church is located on 1701 Indian Creek Parkway, Jupiter, FL 33458. If you are reading this from afar, I am sure that you can access a parish near you this Advent. If you are not Catholic, you can still reach out to God and one another!
Photo: Pope Francis giving absolution to a young teen, link where I accessed it from:
Link for Mass readings from today:
“Prepare the Way of the Lord”: Embrace Reconciliation!
Today we begin the second week of Advent. John the Baptist, standing on the shoulders of the prophets like Isaiah, has “appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mk 1:4). People living in Jerusalem and from the whole Judean countryside came to repent of their sins. There was an authenticity that drew the people to John. He was clear and consistent with his message and he lived a life of simplicity and totality for God that backed up what he preached.
How are we doing in our life? In what ways are we living with God, spending time in prayer, in his Word, in worship, and for God by sharing our faith through service and specific ministry, while at the same time, in what areas are we putting other things before God? The seasons of Advent and Lent are times of invitation to reflect and examine our consciences. God has called us, as he did John the Baptist, to prepare a way for the Lord in our hearts and minds and for others by our witness.
Discernment on how he is calling us to draw closer to him in a relationship, and how and who we can reach out to is a good daily practice. He is also inviting us to be honest and humble to acknowledge those ways in which we put others and other things before him. For each of the aspects in our lives in which we can readily echo St. Paul: “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want” (Romans 7:19), and we do so with certain actions and behavior regularly, we have the opportunity to participate in the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
A gift of mercy that is much misunderstood and woefully unused. Each sin we commit does not just affect ourselves alone, but also all of humanity and creation. A sinful act ripples out like a pebble thrown in a pond and subtly touches all around us because we are all interconnected. Conversely, when we avail ourselves to the healing of reconciliation we are forgiven, we are healed, our relationship with God and one another is strengthened instead of weakened, it too ripples out and strengthens the Church. Recall those times in your life when you were estranged from someone you cared for because of a fight or something you had done that harmed the relationship. Then you recognized the hurt you caused and were truly sorry. You approached the person and apologized and they forgave you. That anxiety, angst, and sick feeling of separation in the pit of your stomach just all evaporated in the moment of embrace. Reconciliation brought healing to the relationship.
Reconciliation is a wonderful gift that we can share with one another this Advent. To take time to be still with the intent to allow the pains and hurts that are churning under the surface to bubble up and be acknowledged. May we have the humility to admit what we have done, the part we have played in causing any hurt that has contributed to any distancing of ourselves between God and one another. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a wonderful place to start. We are not confessing to the priest, we are confessing to Jesus who then absolves us from our sin through his ministry as the priest.
Hearing the words that we are forgiven and absolved is a powerful counter to those wicked accusations that will arise in our minds soon after, maybe even as soon as we kneel in the pew to pray, that our sins can’t be forgiven. We can shout back with full confidence, “Get behind me Satan!” For through the love and tender mercy of God, our loving Father, we have been forgiven. Restored in our relationship with God, we can then approach one another to seek forgiveness and the embrace of reconciliation. Life is too short to hold grudges. May we relinquish our pride and ego that imprisons us, and instead invite the Love of the Holy Spirit to reign in our hearts. Let us follow the lead of Isaiah and John this Advent and “prepare the way of the Lord!”
If you happen to be in the Jupiter area this Wednesday, December 13, we will be having a communal penance service at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Both services will be held in the main sanctuary. St. Peter Catholic Church is located at 1701 Indian Creek Parkway, Jupiter, FL 33458. If you are reading this from places afar, I am sure that you can access a parish near you this Advent. If you are not Catholic, you can still reach out to God and one another!
Photo: Pope hears the confession of youths at St Peter’s square. Link for photo and article: https://www.tvm.com.mt/en/news/pope-hears-confession-of-youths-during-surprise-appearance-at-st-peters-square/
Link for today’s Mass readings:
Ponder the Dignity of Women
Taking a moment to pause, to observe those around us is important to do. We need to take a breathe more often than not. The Gospels offer examples of Mary and Jesus observing and meditating on what they observe. I imagine that Jesus learned this trait from his mother as he witnessed her reflecting and pondering from time to time. Luke records how Jesus was fully engaged in his ministry, going from town to town, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, teaching, and curing those with diseases and illnesses.
Then there is a moment of stopping as he observes the “the crowds”. Imagine the scene of all those milling about, all the hustle and bustle of those gathering to get closer to hear or to be touched by Jesus. Some of the interactions I am sure were less than kind or cordial. Yet, as if we were viewing the scene from just behind Jesus, there is a stillness, a calm, and the noise and jostling are muted. He sees not just a mass of humanity, but many people, individual human beings in need. He may see a child crying, a couple of men carrying someone who is not able to stand on his own, others arguing, as others shove at each other. In that moment of pondering, “his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36).
Taking a moment to step back, to breathe, to observe, is one of the gifts of the seasons of Advent and Lent. It is an opportunity to retreat, to stop the madness, just for a bit. When we do so we can start to see a little clearer, we can hear our own heart beat, we can see the need in others that Jesus saw, and hopefully our hearts will also be moved with compassion for others.
My hope is that this Advent our hearts can be softened and moved with empathy toward the too many women who have had to endure layers and levels of harassment, abuse, molestation, and rape. As Pope Francis wrote: “If we are truly merciful, we need to care for others as our own. We need to be compassionate guides to help bring about healing and reconciliation” (McCann, 27). It is time for us to be compassionate guides so that women may continue to have courage to come forward to share their stories, with those that they can trust, and publically as they are able. May we be willing to listen and accompany those who come to us, and assist in seeking the proper support when more help is needed for healing. May we as men take this moment to ponder our actions, to reflect on ways in which we have not respected women’s boundaries or have not stood up or spoken out, seek forgiveness, and to listen and not be defensive, to be part of the healing and change that is sorely needed.
Jesus is our shepherd in this. He saw women as human beings with dignity. He stood up for the woman who was brought to him accused of adultery, he spoke to the Canaanite woman at the well who from that encounter then proclaimed the Gospel to her village, and he chose to reveal himself to Mary Magdalene first upon his Resurrection, such that Mary became the Apostle to the Apostles. Jesus and his mother Mary are models for us this Advent of how to ponder, how to be still, and come to see the truth of God in the midst of our present moment, and how to be bearers of light in our present darkness.
Image of icon of Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles
McCann, Deborah. 30 Days of Reflections and Prayers: What Pope Francis Says About Mercy. New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2015.
Link for today’s Mass readings:
Mary’s Yes, an Embrace of Faith and Reason
Mary as the model of discipleship is on display in today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel. In a mystical encounter, the angel Gabriel shared with Mary that she would bear the “Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:32). Mary heard clearly what Gabriel said though she did not fully comprehend. Who would? So Mary asked, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man” (Lk 1:34)?
This is a different question than what Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, asked of Gabriel in a similar situation: “How shall I know” (Lk 1:18)? Zechariah was looking for a sign, he sought proof. Mary through her faith in God hoped to understand, so she combined her faith and her reason, while she pondered Gabriel’s response, the whole of the cosmos held its breath for her response.
When Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38), a weary world, wounded by sin exhaled with relief for the long awaited savior could now come to redeem what had been lost. Mary, in her obedience, undid the Sin of Origin committed by Adam and Eve in the disobedience.
May we ponder Mary’s yes today and what that means for us. May we be true disciples like Mary, and resist a knee jerk reaction of rejecting outright what we do not understand and choose instead to ponder the things that are beyond the sensate realm. May we too seek understanding instead of demanding proof. This is not a practice in limiting ourselves to mere superstition but an embracing of the fullness of what it means to be human. We are physical as well as spiritual and we can come to a deeper understanding of reality, and come to experience that which is Good, Beautiful, and True, when we access, as did Mary, the fullness of our faculties as people of faith and of reason.
Photo: Grotto at Rosary Garden, St Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL
Link for today’s Mass readings:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120817.cfm
All Invited, yes! All Enter?
Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21).
I have written quite often, paraphrasing one of my favorite quotes from St. Irenaeus, that Jesus came to be one with us so that we can be one with him and that his invitation is for everyone! No one is excluded. You may be thinking, readying to write a response, or muttering under your breath that, “What gives then? If everyone is invited, how can Jesus say that not everyone will enter the Kingdom of heaven?”
The answer to that question is in the line that follows. The one who will enter heaven is, “the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” If you or you know of someone who might still bristle at this apparent selective choosing, then it might be helpful to understand a little about heaven, as best as we, mere mortal, finite beings, can. Heaven is not so much a place but a state of being in relation to God. Heaven is the state of being in which we are privileged to share communion, a deeper intimacy with God for all eternity. We will still not know everything about God because God is infinite and we are finite. God is without limit, we are limited. We will never exhaust our relationship, never get bored with God.
If that attempt is not helpful, maybe a more three dimensional, earthly example may be of help. If we were invited to play a sport, an instrument, or to act in a play, with the end goal being that we would play in the upcoming game, concert, or performance, we might feel pretty excited about the offer. We tell the coach, conductor, or director “Great!” In the days that follow, we do not attend any of the practices, we do not practice the skills required to play the position, instrument, or role and we don’t return any of the follow up invitations by phone, email, or text. The day of the big game, concert, or performance comes, we gather our self together and head on over to the arena or hall. We arrive to see the coach, conductor, or director but are denied entrance. “What gives? You invited me to play!” The reply is, “Not everyone who says to me coach, coach (conductor, conductor, or director, director) is ready and prepared.”
Jesus indeed invites us to be in relationship with him, yes everyone. Some say yes and some say no. Some say yes, and then don’t do anything, some say yes and do some things, some say yes and dive in. Most of us take a few steps forward and a step or two back. Just like preparing to play in the big game or perform in the big concert, or play, we need to be committed, disciplined, and persistent with our faith life. Unlike a missed opportunity to participate in a game or performance, that we can correct and make another attempt down the road, we don’t want to miss the opportunity to spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. A reading of Jesus’ interpretation of the Parable of the Sower may help here (cf. Mt 13:18-23, Mk: 4:13-20, and Lk 8:11-15).
The bottom line is that Jesus gave his life for us and through his grace we have been saved. This is a free gift, we haven’t nor can we earn it. Yet our time here on earth is time we are given to work out our salvation and be about building a relationship with Jesus so that we can come to know his Father as he does. From a place of relationship we can then come to know his will. Coming to know God’s will means coming to know his voice. This comes through prayer, spending time in his word, spending time in worship and fellowship at least weekly, being open to be led by the Holy Spirit to step out of our comfort zone and reach out to others in an act of service for another’s sake and not just our own. For we are here not only to actualize the grace we have been given for our salvation, we are to help others to do the same.
Photo: From hike along the Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts sometime in the 80’s.
Link for today’s Mass reading:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120717.cfm
The Reign of God is About Abundant Love and Grace
“Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them” (Mt 15:29-30).
There is a key yet subtle point before Jesus began to heal that might be missed. Before great crowds came to him, Jesus “went up on the mountain, and sat down there.” This is no insignificant sentence. The posture of sitting on the mountain would have been recognized right away by the people of Jesus’ time, especially those who were Jewish. This was the posture of the teacher. The sitting on the mountain to teach, was a reference to Moses. Prior to the healing in this setting, as he did throughout the Gospels, Jesus most likely taught about the reign of God. In fact time and again, Jesus’ “works of healing took place in this context of his preaching of the kingdom of God” (Lohfink, 58).
A great multitude of people came to Jesus to hear his message, they also came with a full range of needs. Jesus accepted them, restoring that which they needed to be healed. He encountered them as they came in their need. There is no record in this Gospel account that Jesus asked for any identification, that he discussed their belief system before healing them, nor did he ask if they were Jewish or Gentile, and no where in the account did Jesus deny anyone who came to him. Jesus encountered each person and provided for their need. Their response to being healed and restored was that “they glorified the God of Israel“. This is because, “where God is master, there is salvation and healing” (Lohfink, 62).
These recorded accounts of mass healings, are but a foretaste of the heavenly realm of eternal communion with the Father. Jesus is the kingdom of heaven at hand, for as St Irenaeus wrote, “Jesus opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.” Jesus though was not done. The whole process took some time, which is probably an understatement, and as people were getting ready to leave, Jesus shows compassion on the people yet again. He seeks the disciples assistance because he does not want to send the people away hungry.
The disciples of course are taken aback as to how they could possibly feed the four thousand gathered. Jesus asked what they had with them and they shared just some bread and fish. Jesus took “the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full” (Mt 15:36-37).
Again, Jesus met the needs of the people, not in a way of bare subsistence either, but he cured and healed those that came to him and provided enough food for all to eat so that everyone was satisfied. Not only that; Jesus started out only with seven loaves, but finished with seven baskets full of leftovers! Jesus is showing quite clearly to the disciples and all gathered, that God is a God of mercy, love, and abundance.
May our response, day in and day out, be the same as was those in the Gospel today. May we make time to sit at the teacher’s feet and learn from the master. We can do so by reading and seeking how to apply the Gospel to our daily life. May we pray and meditate with an openness to be led, to be present, and to learn from Jesus and those he sends into our life. May we seek healing from Jesus through our prayers of petition and bring the names of those who need healing before him in our prayers of intercession. May we not stop there.
This Advent let us trust in Jesus, believe in Jesus, have faith in Jesus, and glorify God the Father. Let us surrender our will to God and live for him as Jesus did, and may we serve as he did. Not stopping to ask for identification, religion, race, gender, creed, or political affiliation. And no matter how little we have, let us give it to Jesus in solidarity for his purpose, as did the disciples with the seven loaves and fish, so to experience with those we serve, the abundance, love, and grace of our loving God and Father.
Image from loaves and fish mosaic found in the Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, Israel on the northwest shore along the Sea of Galilee. Picture from link:
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-ancient-mosaic-tabgha-image9375762
Lohfink, Gerhard. No Irrelevant Jesus: On Jesus and the Church Today. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014.
Link for today’s Mass readings:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120617.cfm
The Wonder of Creation, The Wonder of the Creator – God our Father!
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him” (Lk 10:22).
God the Father knows God the Son and God the Son knows the Father. They do not just know about each other, they know each other with a deep intimacy that is far beyond our human comprehension. What can blow our mind even more, if we take the time to contemplate this gift we are preparing to celebrate this Advent, the coming of Jesus into our lives, is the deepest reality that this infinite knowing between God the Father and God the Son we can participate in!
“… anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” Jesus wished and wishes to reveal his Father, he came for exactly that reason: to reveal his Father to us, to undo the effects of the sin of separation that has so ruptured and wounded our relationship with God our Father. He came as reconciliation, he came to restore our relationship with God. In this way we can come not just to know about God, but to intimately know God as he does.
For us to know God the Father ourselves is beyond an intellectual exercise, it is beyond the grasp of scientific empiricism. Knowing God is who he has created us to be and is a gift of grace restored to us through his Son who became one with us so we could become one with him. Knowing God the Father is not about proving that he exists, this will end in utter frustration because God is not a being, though he is the infinite foundation of our existence. We can discuss attributes about God, what God is and more easily what God is not.
If we want to know God, we are invited to do so as we would get to know anyone else. We are invited to spend time with him. The amazing part about all of this is that the infinite creator of all existence, knows us, us!!! We in the whole realm of the cosmos are so insignificant it is beyond the realm of the deepest imaginative pursuits, but he knows us and wants to be known by us. Does he need us, no. Sorry, if you feel that is a slight. But it is really a deeper wonder! God does not need us in the least, but loves us and seeks to be in relationship with us.
Spend today embracing the wonder of creation, the wonder of our creator, the vast expanse of it all, have you seen the moon the past few nights? May we sit in silent wonder and adoration in the gift that the season of Advent lays out for us: the wonder of wonders is that Jesus wishes to reveal his Father to us so that we can enjoy getting to know the Father and the Son, and so we can share the same Love they share, God the Holy Spirit!
Photo of buffalo I took while driving in South Dakota in between Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations – a moment of wonder at God’s creation as it appeared the buffalo were walking right out of the sun.
Link for today’s Mass readings:
Learning From the Centurion
“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt 8:10-13).
The one to whom Jesus is referring to is a Roman centurion who approached Jesus seeking healing for his servant. I imagine that Jesus was not only amazed with the man’s humility, recognizing his sinfulness, not only that he believed that Jesus could heal from a distance with simply his word, but also that he was aware of the need and suffering of his slave and willingness to do something about it. This Roman centurion clearly embodied the teachings of Jesus! The centurion’s words are the words we speak before receiving Jesus in the Eucharist during each Mass: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”
The ticket for the banquet to the Kingdom of Heaven is not only for the chosen people of Israel, but also for all those from the east and the west who follow the will of the Father as did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, like this centurion, who has much to say to us this Advent.
The first point we can learn from the centurion is that he was aware of the need of his slave. The slave was not invisible to him, he was not indifferent to his suffering and pain. We need to be aware of those who are in need among us. We need to resist the temptation to walk around, over, or by others that are different in any way. We need to embrace the gift of our diversity, not stiff arm and keep those who are different at arm’s length.
We also can see the need to embrace humility and acknowledge our own sinfulness, and when we do so, we are better able to see other’s needs. None of us are perfect. No one person is above any other. We all have gifts as well as shortcomings. We need each other because we complement one another. When we engage in dialogue and cooperation we are stronger.
Not only do we need one another, we need a savior, for apart from Jesus, who we prepare to encounter this Advent season, we can do nothing, but with Jesus all things are possible. Jesus is the Truth and the Fulfillment that we seek. He has sent out a universal invitation of communion for all, to Israel first and then to all from east and west, north and south. Our yes comes in the form of the Roman Centurion who recognized his own sinfulness, acknowledged it before Jesus, was aware of the need of his slave and moved to seek help when he knew he was helpless, and then had faith and hope in the one who could provide healing.
This Advent may we take time to examine our conscience, have the humility to confess our sins, to acknowledge when and where we have been wrong and wronged others. May we be willing to forgive others and seek forgiveness ourselves. May we be willing to resist the temptation to embrace fear and close ourselves off from others and be indifferent to the plight and needs of others, but instead assume a posture of openness to the gift of the rich diversity of our humanity. May we be willing to lock arms with one another in solidarity to seek the healing and betterment of all peoples in our communities, states, nation, and world. We have so much to offer one another when we are willing to work together instead of against one another. We who have received the forgiveness of Jesus and felt the embrace of his love are to be the first to reach out in hope to those who stand at a distance. As Jesus called us and we have answered yes, we are to call others who he has called, but are not able to hear his voice.
Painting: Sebastiano Ricci – Christ Heals the Centurion’s Servant, 1726-1729
Link for today’s Mass readings:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120417.cfm
