peace

“Quiet! Be still.”

On display in Mark’s recounting of the calming of the storm at sea is the humanity of Jesus. He had finally succumbed to the exhaustion from being pulled and touched, challenged and accused, the constant interaction through his service of teaching, healing, forgiving, and exorcising, such that he not only fell asleep on the boat but was in such a deep state that he was as if dead, even during the height of the storm.

What is also on display is his deep and abiding faith in his Father. For those aboard with Jesus were seasoned fishermen and had experienced sudden storms arise before. This must have been some storm to raise such panic. And yet, Jesus is sound asleep. He only arises because of his disciples insistence: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing” (Mark 4:38)? They unconsciously echo their ancestors in the desert with Moses when they moaned that it would have been better if the Lord had killed them in Egypt instead of their perceived starvation in the wilderness (see Exodus 16:1-3). Even though God had freed them from their slavery, they did not trust he would provide for them in the desert.

Despite the grumbling of the disciples and the fatigue of Jesus, he also reveals a glimpse of his divinity. Jesus arises. He does not invoke God’s aid but commands: “Quiet! Be Still” (Mk 4:39)! Just as Mark recorded that Jesus exorcised demons earlier in his Gospel, Jesus hear rebukes the wind and the waves and all is calm and peaceful.  This does not escape the disciples who are filled with awe.

The disciples have grasped his uniqueness, have accepted him as their rabbi, their teacher, but they are still grappling with the reality that Jesus is at the same time the Son of God. They will continue to experience his miracles, exorcisms, and teachings, but their faith is still small like a mustard seed. Though germinating, the stalks will not break through to maturity until after his resurrection and ascension. It is then that their faith will begin to bear fruit as they participate in the fullness of the ministry that Jesus is about to begin to train them for.

Similar to the disciples, storms arise in our lives, sometimes just as unannounced and as quickly as the squall from today’s Gospel. A health issue, an injury, an economic shift, a conflict, the effects of a mistake in judgment, or a sinful choice, all can arise at a moment’s notice. The most recent and devastating plane crash in DC shows how fragile our lives are and how quick life can change.

We, like the disciples, can sometimes only hold on so as not to be tossed into the sea, or bail out water so we don’t sink. Sooner or later, we need to turn to Jesus to seek his aid. A helpful point to keep in mind that I have learned from one of our past retreat directors, Fr. RB, was: “Sometimes the Lord calms the storm, and sometimes the Lord lets the storm rage on and calms his child.”

No matter the severity of the storm, let us place our trust in Jesus. Let us hold firm to the truth that Jesus remains present, accompanies, and cares for us and what we are going through. In every challenge he remains our anchor. We are never alone. Whether we brought the storms upon ourselves or they arose from another source, Jesus does not leave us to fend for ourselves.

When we remember to call on his name, he will either calm the storm or bring us a sense of peace as he guides us through, and empowers us to ride it out to the other side. With each storm that has arisen over the years, I have felt less fear and insecurity and more peace as I trust in Jesus. My faith has grown because time and again when I have turned to Jesus he has been there. The outcome has not always been the one I sought, but that he has been with me through each storm, I have no doubt.

As we experience Jesus and his love, we come to understand Jesus’ teachings as well as our lives better. The maturity of our faith begins to bear fruit when we are willing to allow Jesus to work through us so to be there for others in their storms. We can be a conduit of calm assurance for those who need Jesus even and especially when they do not know him or are focusing on the anxiety and fear of the storm instead of him. May God grant us the presence of heart and mind to be his peace and stillness for those who invite us into their boats as we ride out their storms with them.

Photo: Thankful all is calm and peaceful this night.

Fr RB Williams home page and link to his homily – http://www.rbwords.com/wttw/date/2018-01-27

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, February 1, 2025

May we receive God’s light and love, so to dispel any darkness, and walk in his peace.

“In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace” (cf Luke 1:78-79).

This promise of the Holy Spirit is spoken by the father of John the Baptist, Zechariah, as his ability to speak has returned to him after he confirmed that his son, as Elizabeth stated was to be called John. This evening at the Christmas Vigil we will begin to celebrate whaat we have been preparing all Advent to celebrate – the fulfillment of those beautiful words. The fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Judges, David, and the Prophets. We will celebrate that the Son of God is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the fulfillment of the promises preserved in the Old Testament and he is to be a light to the nations.

The words of Luke were as relevant to those he wrote to in his day as they are to us as well in our day. God’s tender compassion has surrounded us and has been a part of us since before our conception. He knows the number of hairs on our head and he knows each one of us by name. Totally transcendent, infinite beyond our beyond our wildest imagination, comprehension, beyond all space and time, while at the same time, God knows each one of us more intimately than we know ourselves. He cares for us, guides us, and invites us to experience his joy and the fulfillment of who he has created us to be.

The ultimate love that God expresses is that he invites us to be in relationship with him and we are given the choice to say “no” or “yes”. He gives us the freedom to choose anything but him. Some would say, he should just make us follow him. That would not be love, but oppression and tyranny. The invitation to receive the light of God is a gentle one, and when we say “yes”, he enters our life and begins to heal and transform us from within to the level and pace we are willing to accept. The choice remains, we can recede back into the darkness or continue to walk into his brilliant light.

When we accept the invitation of relationship and follow God’s guidance we will better be able to identify the darkness and the lies of the enemy that cloud our discernment and keep us from experiencing the fullness of his grace. Choosing to allow the light to dawn in every aspect of our being, our wounds, our prejudices, our defense mechanisms, our false comforts, all those areas where we deny the truth or where we are supporting false realities or apparent goods, will help us to let go of unhealthy attachments so that we will be free to receive his light and love.

May we continue to repent and prepare our hearts and minds as we celebrate the gift of the incarnation one more time. Let us, “who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,” not hide or withdraw from God’s invitation, and instead walk into the “dawn from on high,” so that God may “guide our feet into the way of peace.” The closer we are to God, the more we experience his love and his peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding, and having received, then we are better able to share his love, light, and peace with others each day of the Christmas season and into the new year.

Photo: Morning Rosary walk experiencing the dawn from on high at the end of a winter retreat back in January, 2023.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, December 24, 2024

“John is his name.”

Zechariah had not spoken since the time he encountered the angel Gabriel. Gabriel shared with Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth, though barren and past childbearing age, would give birth to a son and his name would be called John. The time for the fulfillment of Gabriel’s prediction had now come to pass, Elizabeth gave birth, and with friends and relatives gathered around on the eighth day for his circumcision and naming. Elizabeth announced that her son will be named John. Those with her balked, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name” (Lk 1:61).

There may also be some hesitancy because John, or יוֹחָנָן, Yôḥanan in Hebrew, means one who is graced by God. Who did Elizabeth think she was naming her son by this sacred name? They then appealed to Zechariah. He would support his wife by writing on a tablet that “John is his name.” Zechariah confirmed Elizabeth’s words and: “Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God” (Lk 1:63-64).

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah spoke what we call today the Benedictus or Canticle of Zechariah, the beginning lines of which read: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David” (Lk 1:68-69).

Zechariah did not proclaim that John was the Messiah. As Christians, we believe that Micah prophesied that John was to be the herald of the Messiah. He prepared the way for the coming of the Lord. The Benedictus, like the Magnificat, is a song of great promise. This is why the Church proclaims that they are to be prayed every day in the recitation of the Book of Christian Prayer or the Liturgy of the Hours. We are living in the time of its fulfillment.

The year 2024 A.D. does not stand for after the death of Jesus, it stands for anno domini, in the year of our Lord. We live in the in between times of Jesus’ first coming as we prepare for his next coming. We live in great joy because we can prepare to receive Jesus everyday. This is why St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, we are “to rejoice always.” No matter the external circumstances or internal angst, our Lord Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God is at hand, to forgive and heal us, accompany and deliver us, give us guidance and strength!

In the midst of continuing violence, war, polarization, endless forms and acts of dehumanization, fear, and growing anxiety, we will celebrate again this Wednesday. We will celebrate Christmas, the reality that the Son of God agreed to be sent close to us, to become human, to die, and conquer death so that he can be with us and lead us into eternity. John helped to prepare the way to receive Jesus by calling people to repentance. May we seek his intercession as we remember his birth today to prepare well in these final days of Advent so to better remember and celebrate again the reason for the season. Our Savior has come. Sin, suffering, and death do not have the final answer. Jesus does.

May we heed the call of John and Jesus to repent so that we may receive God’s forgiveness and grace and be freed from our entanglements with sin. May we let go of anything that separates us from our relationship with God and resist the temptation to curve in upon ourselves which leads us to death. Let us turn away from our pride and the false promise of self sufficiency and instead depend upon and place our trust in Jesus who offers us life. Each and every day, with the courage of John, let us prepare the way of the Lord and “give people knowledge of salvation” that Jesus is at hand so that God may “guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Photo: St. Elizabeth and John the Baptist by Krysten Brown, The Saints Project

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, December 23, 2024 A.D.

A few moments of stillness can transform our days and lives.

Today’s Gospel account is from Matthew’s record of the genealogy of Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, is fully divine, while at the same time he is also fully human. Here Matthew presents the lineage of Jesus’ human line from Abraham to his father Joseph (foster father, in that Joseph was not Jesus’ biological dad, but no one would not have made that distinction in Jesus’ time.) and his mother Mary.

Jesus was part of a people and a family, he was born at a particular time and in a particular place. If you go through this genealogy with a fine-tooth comb, there are gaps, but Matthew was more concerned with the line of faith than a strict historical account. Matthew also included women in this listing, which was not common in ancient patriarchal societies. Looking at their stories in Scripture will also show that they were not at all the most morally upright, but more importantly, each played a significant part in God’s plan of salvation.

As Catholics and Christians, this is our heritage as well. We are spiritual Semites. Genealogies have become more popular in recent years as can be seen by the different advertisements for DNA test kits. There is a natural instinct to reach out for these because we want to belong and to be a part of. To understand who we are, we seek to understand where we have come from. To be able to go forward, we need to reach behind. Jesus was to the people of Judah, and is a part of the succession from Abraham and his clan, to the twelve tribes of Jacob, to the unified nation of Israel under David.

Joseph is heir to the thrown in this line of succession that was thought to have been lost when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians. When Joseph died, Jesus was next in line. Jesus will lead like no other before him or that will ever come again. Jesus brought God’s movement of grace beyond the nation of Israel to fulfill the promise that they be a light to the nations, a universal invitation for all.

Through our Baptism, we become part of that lineage of Jesus. No blood test needed. We are not alone, no longer estranged, no longer separate, or on the peripheries. We belong to the Body of Christ. Yet many, even those who profess their belief in Christ, are missing his greatest gift of faith, which is developing a relationship with him now. Let us not be complacent and settle for Christian in name only or walk away from our birthright.

In these final days of Advent, as we draw closer to the celebration of Christmas, may we also set aside a little more time to spend with Jesus. If our schedule is revving up, may we bring Jesus into our busy. The second Person of the Trinity was willing to draw close to us in the incarnation that we are about to celebrate. Even if there is not a lot of time in our days, let us periodically take a few conscious, deep and slow breaths at some key moments so that we may draw close to Jesus who is at hand. This can be as simple as taking three slow, deep breaths – one for each person of the Trinity.

Just those short moments can be a powerful reset because even in that little turning of our hearts and minds to God, we can rest in the loving gaze that Jesus wants to share with us. We can receive his love and invite him to walk with us in all that we do. We can yoke ourselves to Jesus so that we do not travel these days alone, because he is more than willing to share our burdens, and he will give us to strength to carry on.

We are never alone if we remember Jesus is present in our everyday experiences. We just need to remember to turn to him. In so doing, each breath will bring our shoulders out of our ears, we will react less, and experience greater clarity in the choices and decisions we make. Practicing in this way, we will have more joy in our being loved by God, so that we can have more joy in our doing.

Photo: Brief stop during Rosary walk outside our church here at Holy Cross. Praying we will be able to return by Easter!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, December 17, 2024

This Advent, more anxiety and stress or more joy and peace?

“Rejoice in the Lord always, I shall say it again rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

There is a running theme in each of our readings and why we call today, Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is the Latin word for rejoice. We rejoice because we are half way through Advent, and Christmas, our celebration of the incarnation, is only eleven days away. We are also called to rejoice because as St. Paul wrote to the Philippians that we can rejoice always!

Can we really?

Yes, because Paul is not inviting us to rejoice, he is commanding us to do so and he did so not only once but twice. But how can we actually rejoice always? One way is to distinguish between happiness and joy. When we are happy it is because we are reacting to a pleasurable experience that we find good. Yet, what often happens when the experience goes away… so with it goes our happiness. We then seek more of the same to fill that need to be happy and we need more and more of what stimulation we seek. Our happiness can linger on a bit or return as we call to mind the memory of the experience, but even then, the memory will fade after a bit.

Joy is not dependent on external experiences. Joy is dependent on our closeness to God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. That is why even when we experience challenges, trials, and conflicts, we can still feel joy. The key is where we put our focus. Focusing on the externals, we will sink.  Keeping our eyes on Jesus, like Peter, we will walk on water! As long as we stay close to Jesus, we will experience his joy within. 

Paul gives us to recipe for rejoicing always when he says, “Have no anxiety about anything”. As soon as we experience the first stirrings of anxiety, we are to turn to God in prayer and thanksgiving and let our “requests be made known to God.” I first remember experiencing this when I was in my late teens. I had been experiencing a period of desolation and anxiety about the future ahead beyond high school. I had recently purchased a Bible and one evening opened it at random to Luke 12:22: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you are to eat, or about your body and what you will wear.”

Then I heard God letting me know that I would never win the lottery but he would continue to provide me with the means to work. He would provide for and take care of me. Having heard these words in the quiet of my heart, I then returned to reading the whole section about placing our dependence and complete trust in God. A feeling of not only joy but peace welled up within, and the anxiety and insecurity I went into the reading of the Bible with dissipated. Light and darkness, love and hate, nor anxiety and trust, cannot exist at the same time and in the same place. We actually can choose which we want to experience.

The word anxiety comes from the Greek merimnaō. Biblical scholar, Dr. Brant Pitre describes Paul’s usage of merimnaō as, “an imperative; it’s not just a suggestion. And he’s saying not to have it about anything. Now this Greek word merimnaō is closely related to the verb for ‘to remember’. So when a person is anxious about something, it keeps coming to their mind. They remember it” (Dr. Brant Pitre).

What we place our focus on is what governs our thoughts and also has a tremendous influence on what we feel. If we are consistently attentive to what we are stressed about, like a dog drilling down, worrying on a bone, we are going to be anxious – always. The other side is just as true. The more we focus on Jesus, breathe, receive, rest, and abide in his love for us, and we consistently place our trust in him in all situations, the good as well as the bad, we will move closer to aspiring to Paul’s command to, “Rejoice in the Lord always”.

We will also rejoice more often when we are willing to make time to stop and think about what we are grateful for. It is so easy to get caught up in the busy, in our work as well as our perceived recreation, pass out at the end of the day, and start over again the next. Taking time to wind down each evening away from channel or social media surfing, we could instead choose to truly relax and let go by being still, quiet and reflecting upon the day to see where God has been blessing us, where we have said, “yes” to his invitation and where we have said, ‘no.”

Calling to mind what we are thankful for and having the humility to ask Jesus for help to correct or sins and missteps, also deepens our relationship with him and rekindles the awareness of the love of the Holy Spirit within us. What then wells up again from his eternal spring is not only joy but God’s peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding. Knowing and experiencing that God is close, that his Son is at hand, will help us to experience more regularly the love that is shared between them, the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the joy, love, and peace of God to overflowing will then move us to share what we have received with others in very practical ways. In giving and sharing the joy, love, and peace that we have received, does not diminish in any way the what we have received. Instead, our giving only increases the joy, love, and peace God has given us. Not a bad way to spend our final days of Advent which will lead us into celebrating the miracle of Emmanuel – God with us, always. And because he is, let us rejoice always!!!

Photo: A different Advent. We were preparing for Jesus to come to bring JoAnn home to heaven. Because we had a better idea of the time and hour, we were able to appreciate each moment we had together. God blessed us with his joy, love, and peace to overflowing. I still look upon the last six months we had together as a blessing.

Dr. Brant Pitre. “Anxiety and Gratitude” from his video commentary: The Mass Readings Explained.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 15, 2024

When we confess our sin, trust in Jesus, and are willing to serve each other, we take a closer step to peace.

“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith” (Mt 8:10).

The one to whom Jesus was referring to was the Roman centurion who approached Jesus seeking healing for his servant. I imagine that Jesus was not only amazed by the man’s humility, in recognizing his sinfulness and 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 servant and willingness to do something about it. This Roman centurion, part of the occupying power in Israel, clearly embodied the teachings of Jesus! It is from the centurion’s words that we get the words that 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.”

God chose the people of Israel not for themselves alone, but that they would be a light to all peoples. As Isaiah said, all nations shall stream toward mount Zion and “from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (see Isaiah 2:1-5). Jesus echoes Isaiah’s prophetic words as is recorded in today’s Gospel: “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 8:11). The centurion’s act of faith is one of this beginning movements of faith in Jesus that, like a few drops of water, become the beginning of a majestic waterfall.

The first point we can learn from the centurion is that he was aware that his servant was in need. A slave held no dignity, and yet, he was not invisible to the centurion. Nor was the centurion indifferent to his suffering and pain. We also need to be aware of those in our midst who are in need. We need to resist the temptation to walk around, over, or by others and be willing to embrace them in their need.

Second, like the centurion, we need to embrace humility and acknowledge our own sinfulness, and when we do so, we are better able to see the needs of others. 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 and we are stronger together than apart.

Third, we cannot stand on our own. The centurion knew his strengths, the authority he possessed, while at the same time he recognized his limitations. He acknowledged that he needed help. He needed Jesus. As do we. We cannot accomplish our salvation on our own merit or will power. 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 that we seek. He has sent out a universal invitation of communion for all, to Israel first and then to those from east and west, north and south. The Roman centurion modeled our response to Jesus’ presence when he recognized his own sinfulness and acknowledged it before Jesus. He was also aware of and sought healing for his servant. The centurion had faith and hope that Jesus could and would provide healing with just his word.

May we follow his example this Advent as we take time to examine our conscience, have the humility to confess our sins, to acknowledge that we need help from Jesus and others. May we be willing to seek forgiveness and be willing to forgive. May we resist the temptation to embrace fear and close ourselves off from and be indifferent to the plight and needs of others.

We have so much to offer one another when we are willing to work together instead of stand apart from or against one another. May we who have received the forgiveness and grace of Jesus and felt the embrace of his love, work to beat our “swords into plowshares
and [our] spears into pruning hooks”. We can use our words to destroy or to empower and give hope. Choosing to return hate with love, and to say the good things people need to hear, we can promote a ripple of peace that can contribute to making Isaiah’s words a bit more real: “One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again” (Isaiah 2:4). Wouldn’t it be nice if we could take a few steps closer to this reality this Advent?

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Painting: Sebastiano Ricci – Christ Heals the Centurion’s Servant, 1726-1729

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, December 2, 2019

Be vigilant, still, and pray this Advent, and we will be ready for Jesus’ coming.

As the earth turned again one more time on its axis last night, and the shadows began to fall, night slowly crept over each part of our planet. Our sacred text, our sacred word, is not only written in the Bible, but the finger of God has traced his word across all of the earth, the galaxy, the universe, the whole of the created order. For God continues to write his love song. The ground, foundation, and source of creation and our very being is the outpouring of the Trinitarian Love eternally and ongoingly expressed between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

As the sun appeared to set, and night gently made its way across our minuscule earth in this part of the Milky Way, the vigil began and so also the beginning of the new liturgical year and the season of Advent. We heard or will hear again today the words of Jesus to his disciples in today’s Gospel for the first Sunday of Advent: “Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:36).

Advent comes from the latin, Adventus, which comes from the Greek, Parousia, and which we translate in English to mean coming. In our first reading, Jeremiah picks up on the prophecy of Isaiah in which “a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1) by stating that God “will raise up for David a just shoot” (Jeremiah 33:15). Both Isaiah and Jeremiah are pointing to the coming of the messiah. Faithful Jews would continue to watch and pray for the coming of the messiah to set the world aright.

Zedekiah was the king of Judah during the time of Jeremiah. He, as well as much of the leadership and chosen people of God would not listen to the guidance of the prophet and Jerusalem and the Temple fell at the hands of the Babylonians. From that time forward, from 587 BC, those exiled and even when they returned and rebuilt the Temple again, began the long, expected wait for the messiah. As Christians, we believe that Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary, is the promised messiah.

Our season of Advent not only is the opening of the new year, the new liturgical calendar. Advent is the season we wait, the season we prepare to remember the first coming of Jesus into the world as a baby.

The Gospel reading from Luke picks up on the momentum that we listened to during last week’s celebration of Christ the King. We also in Advent, prepare for the second coming of Jesus at the end of time. Jesus himself quotes from Daniel 7:13-14 by calling himself by a title he uses often, the “Son of Man” (Luke 21:27). This second coming will be different than his first coming. He will not come under the cover of darkness in the humble means of sleeping vulnerably in an animal’s trough in a cave wrapped in swaddling clothes. Jesus when he comes again to judge, will come “in a cloud with power and great glory” and when that time comes our “redemption” will be “at hand” (Luke 21:28).

During Advent then we are to prepare for celebrating again of the first coming of Jesus, while at the same time, we prepare for his second coming, the time or the hour only the Father knows. In the midst of these two, there is also a preparation for a third coming, which will help us to prepare better for Christmas and for our Lord’s second coming.

This Advent, this coming, is Jesus’ coming to us in the present moment. This is why the psalmist guides us to sing, “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul” (Psalm 25:1). Turning our hearts and minds, our very souls to God is one way we can watch and pray for Jesus who is already with us in each present moment, waiting for us to slow down, to breathe, to be still, so that we might hear his word and be aware of his presence at hand. In doing so, we recognize how close Jesus is to us. He reminds us who and whose we are, God’s beloved daughters and sons.

Advent is a season in which we are invited to slow down to receive, rest, and experience in the love that God wants to share with us. We are invited to resist the temptations of the stress and strain, the anxiety and angst that seek to divert and distract us. We will resist better when we allow ourselves to meditate upon the words and invitation of St. Paul: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love” (1 Thessalonians 3:12).

As we make time to be still, to breathe and receive God’s love, his love in us will increase. Our experience of peace will replace the stress and anxiety that can arise because of our busyness and expectations. May we be vigilant and watch for the first signs of a snow ball of anxiety beginning to roll, stop, breathe, and turn to God. From a posture of watching and praying, may this season be one freer of the hustle and bustle going on all around us. Instead, may we rest with Jesus so to be the eye, the calm, in the midst of the storm.

This Advent, let us put into practice such spiritual exercises as breathing, praying, and being vigilant to root out any influences not of God and renounce them. Choosing to spend more time in God’s word, and focusing on the real meaning of why we are doing what we are doing – to grow in our relationship with Jesus, his Father, will help us to better experience the love of the Holy Spirit.

As we are vigilant at all times and pray, and increase our spiritual disciplines, we will grow in our spiritual strength, in our relationship with Jesus, and we will be better prepared to celebrate Christmas. We will more easily be able to surrender to his reign and help to support the coming of his kingdom, so to be ready when he comes again at the end of the age, or when our time on this earth comes to an end and we face our personal judgment.

We have been created by Love to love, to experience the closeness of Jesus. As gently as the night gave way to the morning rays of the sun this morning, may we live and move more gently upon this earth. May our thoughts, actions, and words be filled with kindness, compassion, understanding, thanksgiving, forgiveness, and love to overflowing in our relations with one another during this Advent.

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Photo: Advent sky back at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, a year ago September. If ever you feel a bit down this Advent, head outside and look up. God has something to share!

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 1, 2024

When we know God and rest in his love, we can experience his peace even in times of conflict.

Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name” (Lk 21:12).

Each of the predictions above; being seized, persecuted, handed over, and led before the rulers happened to Jesus’ disciples as was recorded by Luke in his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus did not nor does he hide or paint a rosy picture of discipleship. He consistently shared and modeled in his own life how demanding it will be to follow his lead, the will of his Father, the demands of discipleship, as well as the reality of having to endure persecutions. This continues to be true today. In fact, the number of Christian martyrs in the twentieth century rose to a higher level than at any other time in history combined.

Since the first days of Jesus’ public ministry, there have been those who have said yes to the invitation to be his disciple and this has continued generation after generation up to an including today. Each of us has to make our own commitment to Christ. It is a personal invitation and a personal response. Though the demands, the sacrifices, and the expectations are high, Jesus is present with us through the journey. St. Paul equated discipleship with running a race: “Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one” (I Cor 9:25).

Any athlete, musician, artist, or person engaged in any serious endeavor, must discipline themselves to accomplish their goal of freedom for mastery, for excellence. A lack of concerted discipline will not lead to the fluency and the freedom for the sought after goal. The same is true with discipleship.

The discipline required that Jesus presents in today’s Gospel of Luke is to remain firm in authentically living out our faith even in the face of pushback, persecution, and hostility. This pressure may not just come from those who would seek us harm, but from family, friends, and/or peers. This is where the issue of putting God first comes to bear. We are not to be belligerent, get in someone’s face, or shut down dialogue about what we believe but meet others with love, mercy, and respect. Nor ought we back down from what we believe.

It is important to share, listen, respect and allow another the opportunity to do the same. From a place of mutual respect and honoring each other within and without of our own faith traditions, as well as those having none, we grow. People are free to decide as they wish. Sometimes people will react emotionally, rudely, crudely, or even violently. Yet that is not an excuse nor does it provide the green light for us to respond in kind. If we do, then we will often feed into and justify another person’s preconceived notions.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen said: “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.” As disciples of Jesus Christ, it is important that we know our faith, can explain what we believe, live it out authentically, clarify as needed through respectful dialogue, and above all to be icons of hope and love. We need not be afraid. The Holy Spirit will give us the words to speak as well as the ears to hear. The gift of respectful dialogue will result in the deepening of our relationship with the one who has made us for himself and one another. For where there is the truth, there is God who is Truth.

Photo: Making friends with silence, helps us to listen better to God and one another. We will also then know better when and what God wants us to speak.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, November 27, 2024

“Peace…” is “a gift of God: It requires our prayer.”

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Lk 19:42).

What Jesus foretold in these words would arrive some thirty plus years after his death. Jewish and Roman conflicts increased until it spilled over in 66 AD. A Jewish rebellion amassed such force that the Roman occupying military was pushed out of Jerusalem. This triggered a predictable and overpowering retaliation from Rome which resulted in the horrific deaths of over a million Jewish people. Jerusalem fell in August of 70 AD, the Temple was destroyed, and not a stone upon another was left. The only remnant was some of the retaining walls. The western retaining wall, still present today, is known as the Wailing Wall, where people come each year to insert their petitions into the cracks between the stones.

Jesus knew that peace would not come from violence. We can glean from his teachings that real peace is not the absence of war or conflict, but a change of mind and heart. A metanoia or conversion of the mind and heart must take place. There must be peace within before there will be peace without or as Thomas Merton wrote, “If you are yourself at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world.”

In our first reading from the book of Revelation the author himself weeps because no one in heaven or earth is found worthy to open and study the scroll which has seven seals. The one who does arise, appears to be a lamb who was slain. As St. John the Baptist called, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is our hope in times of darkness, he is the one for whom we can place our trust and find our rest.

May we be able to weep as Jesus did over Jerusalem. May we, as Pope Francis has encouraged us, never lose our capacity to weep over the injustice committed to our brothers and sisters throughout our woretorn and weary world.

Many have wept over the deluge of division, dehumanization, and horrific violence, worked to bring about change, and have been a light in the darkness. Mohandas K. Gandhi marshaled a non-violent movement that defeated the colonizing grip of the English Empire. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. applied both the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi by shining a light that exposed the dark night of segregation, poverty, and our military presence in Vietnam. Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hahn, dedicated his life to advocating for world peace and stated that: “If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.”

Through the bold witness and preaching of the Gospel through his words, writings, and presence, Pope St. John Paul II played a significant part in inspiring the fall of the oppressive regime of the USSR. He wrote early in his pontificate that: “Peace is our work: It calls for our courageous and united action. But it is inseparably and above all a gift of God: It requires our prayer.”

As we near the end of the liturgical calendar let us be people of prayer and allow the love of Jesus to transform our hearts and minds such that each of our thoughts, words, and actions may, in collaboration with people of all faith traditions and good will, reflect that peace that Jesus gives, that peace that surpasses all understanding (cf Philippians 4:6-7).

Photo: Of Pope St.John Paul II celebrating outdoor Mass in Slovenia. National Catholic Register – Gabriel Bouys

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, November 21, 2024

Let us turn over our anxiety to and receive from Jesus his peace.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:41-42).

My wife, JoAnn, used to have more than a few spirited discussions on this Gospel passage each time that it arose because at first reading it appears that Jesus does not show any empathy or regard for Martha’s gift of hospitality nor for all the work she is doing. All the men are sitting around listening to Jesus with Mary doing the same, and who is left to do all the work? Martha.

It is not only deacon’s wives who carry extra weight and burdens in support on the home front to allow their husbands the time to serve, (While JoAnn was still alive, the time it took me to write these daily posts was less time I spent with JoAnn or less time to devote to the needs of our home) but many wives who are full-time homemakers, run in-home businesses or carry a job outside the home, as well as caring for the children, overseeing the bills, the day to day grind, find themselves at times, rightly so, underappreciated, undervalued, and not respected for all they do.

Husbands can do a better job of being present, more patient, respectful, and attentive to their wives and be more of an equal partner on the journey. All of us, female or male, could also be better served when we follow this pattern of attention and priority: For those married as well as single put God first, then family, work, and our unique vocation.

With all the above as a prelude, I do not believe that Jesus was disregarding Martha. Especially in the Gospel of Luke, there are many instances in which Jesus empowers women so far beyond the cultural reality of his time. We read this as we do any biblical account from our twenty-first-century mindset. Contextually, the men sitting at the teacher’s feet in a different room, the women cooking, and most times eating separately were commonplace for those in the ancient near east of the first century AD. Mary was the only person out of step with the times.

Jesus said that Martha was worried about many things. Mary could have been one of those worries, and not so much that Mary wasn’t helping in the kitchen, but because she was breaking the social norm of sitting with the men. When Martha calls Jesus to redirect Mary, she probably expects him to support her plea. Yet, Jesus acknowledges that “Mary has chosen the better part” of sitting and having her primary focus be on him. I can visualize Martha being taken aback at first, but then slowly feeling the muscles in her face relax as the lightbulb went on, she chooses to let go of her anxiety, take her apron off, throw it to the side, and sit down next to Mary.

There is biblical evidence that beyond the Twelve, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, were Jesus’ friends. When Jesus came four days after the death of Lazarus, as soon as Martha heard Jesus was outside, she, not Mary, came immediately out to Jesus, and in that exchange, it was Martha who made the claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (cf Jn 11:27). Would she have had this insight, the same as Peter, if she was still holding a grudge?

Our modern reaction and push back to this Martha and Mary account in Luke may not so much be a reflection on Jesus but how poorly men have treated women over the generations and how poorly women continue to be treated even today. No matter their ages, young, old, and everywhere in between, women are human beings created in the image and likeness of God. No one has the right to abuse, demean, disparage, devalue, or exploit any woman. Women are to be appreciated, heard, respected, cherished, and valued.

God has given each of us gifts and ways to participate in his Father’s plan. May we seek to be still and rest in Jesus’ presence as Mary, and hopefully Martha, did. In this way, our anxiety can begin to reside as we experience feeling safe and we will come to know and experience his love. Doing so will help us to better know Jesus, his voice, and his teaching, know and follow his will, love others as he loves us, and live our lives respecting, encouraging, and supporting one another with the gifts and guidance that God has given us.

Photo: One of the ways that I sit at Jesus’ feet and experience his peace, Rosary walks on our campus here at Holy Cross, Vero Beach. Praying for the west coast of Florida and all in the path of Milton.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 8, 2024