Choose love over anxiety (Henri Nouwen / Dr. Scott Hahn)

One way to pray in a fear-filled world 

is to choose love over anxiety. 

--Henri Nouwen

 

   It’s easy to take a romantic view of the Holy Family, as if they were angels rather than human beings. But even though Mary and Jesus never sinned, that doesn’t mean there were no parental mistakes. And it doesn’t mean Jesus never frustrated His earthly parents. 

   But just imagine: Mary and Joseph felt like they had lost not just any teenager but the Son of God. This story is often used as an analogy for the experience of the Dark Night of the Soul, when one suddenly loses the confidence and consolation of the presence of the Lord. We wonder, as Jesus’ parents must have wondered, if we have lost God or, more distressingly, if He has abandoned us. Even knowing in an intellectual way that God never abandons us often isn’t enough to calm the anxiety that comes with feeling His absence so acutely. 

   Jesus’ rebuke to his parents, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” should sting us as it surely stung His parents, but it should also give us consolation for two reasons. First, even the sinless Blessed Mother did not always understand the ways of the Lord, and she felt the anxiety that comes with His apparent absence. How much more so should we sinners, therefore, expect to feel the pangs of abandonment when the Lord feels far away from us? Second, and more importantly, Jesus’ response reminds us that we can always find Him in the temple—the temple of the Church where He rests in the tabernacle and the temple of our hearts where He rests, waiting patiently for us to seek Him out. 

   This is the key to understanding the Holy Family: studying Mary and Joseph always has a way of turning our focus to Jesus Christ. The primary community of which Jesus was a member—His family—didn’t subsume or dilute His identity. Rather, His family accentuated His nature, both human and divine.

--Dr. Scott Hahn 

Image source 1: Luke 2:52:  He Grew in Wisdom, St. Ann Church, Cleveland Heights,  https://www.communionofsaintsparish.org/
Image source 2: https://collaborativedivorcetexas.com/keep-calm-and-parent-on-because-your-anxiety-is-contagious/
Quotation source

Mary let her Son go (Bishop Robert Barron)

   [This Sunday, we heard] the familiar story of Mary and Joseph finding twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. When they find him, they upbraid him with understandable exasperation: “Son, why have you done this to us?” But Jesus responds, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 

   The story conveys a truth that runs sharply counter to our sensibilities: even the most powerful familial emotions must, in the end, give way to mission. Though she felt an enormous pull in the opposite direction, Mary let her son go, allowing him to find his vocation in the Temple. Legitimate sentiment devolves into sentimentality precisely when it comes to supersede the call of God. 

   On a biblical reading, the family is, above all, the forum in which both parents and children are able to discern their missions. It is perfectly good, of course, if deep bonds and rich emotions are cultivated within the family, but those relationships and passions must cede to something that is more fundamental, more enduring, more spiritually focused. 

   The paradox is this: precisely in the measure that everyone in the family focuses on God’s call for one another, the family becomes more loving and peaceful. 

--Bishop Robert Barron,
Gospel Reflection,
June 25, 2022 

Image source: Carl Bloch, Jesus is Found in the Temple, https://www.ncregister.com/blog/immaculate-mary-and-the-finding-in-the-temple

A proper spirituality of family (Dr. Wendy Wright)

   A proper spirituality of family… is about intense, intimate community, bodies intermingled and conjoined, the noise and busyness of providing, caretaking, and stewarding, the complexities of intergenerational struggle, the love of particular persons. It is about dwelling in one place for a long time with a community of not always like-minded people, abut immersion in the conflicting, sometimes soul-devouring dynamics of the social, political, and economic world. 

   The spiritual lessons of family are thus derived from the experiences of being very much ‘ in the world,’ not apart from it. Those lessons are legion. They include, among others, the spiritual arts of welcoming and letting go and of intimacy and otherness, the enactment of rituals of mutual need and nourishment, the contemplation of the ‘isness’ of things,’ and, especially, the continual practice of radical forgiveness. 

--Wendy Wright,
The Ignatian-Salesian Imagination
and Familied Life

Image source: Giotto, Flight into Egypt, detail (ca, 1304-1306), https://todayscatholic.org/the-shining-example-of-the-holy-family/

A conspiracy of love (Hamilton Wright Mabie)

Blessed is the season
which engages the whole world
in a conspiracy of love.

--Hamilton Wright Mabie

Image source: https://www.simplycatholic.com/what-does-the-holy-family-teach-us/
Quotation source

Your sons and daughters (Jay Cormier)

 

Lord God, may we behold the joy of your birth with the humble gratitude of the shepherds.

May the grace of your Christ who comes to shepherd us help us to care for one another. 

May the good news we hear in our struggling Bethlehems bring joy and hope to all our mornings. 

May your coming to us as one of us inspire us to lift up one another in the dignity of being sons and daughters. 

Amen. 

--Jay Cormier, Waiting in Joyful Hope 

Image source: Georges de la Tour, Adoration of the Shepherds (c.1644), https://www.wikiart.org/en/georges-de-la-tour/adoration-of-the-shepherds

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 29, 2024: Son, why have you done this to us?

Son, why have you done this to us?
How anxious family life can cause us to be! 

    Family life can be so complicated! When, in the First Book of Samuel, the Hebrew woman Hannah finally, after much prayer, gives birth to a son, one might imagine that she will keep him close to hand. But in fact, Hannah, having received this gift of a son, surrenders her first-born to the Lord: I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord. Hannah does not know how God’s plan is going to unfold, but she accepts this state of uncertainty and follows through on her promise to the Lord. 

    Mary, the mother of Jesus, will do the same, although not quite in the same way. Luke’s Gospel contains the only story we have of Jesus as a growing child, one who causes his parents some grief. Having gone with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem and unbeknownst to them, Jesus remains behind in the temple – the lovely dwelling place of the Lord, as Psalm 84 tells us – sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. Naturally, Mary and Joseph have been looking for Jesus with great anxiety. They don’t immediately understand that Jesus must be in his Father’s house, astonishing all who hear him speak. It is one of what must have been many moments of revelation that perplexed the parents of Jesus. In the end, Jesus returns with them to Nazareth, and is obedient to them, though he, like Samuel, is ultimately dedicated to God his Father before all else. 

    Significantly, although Mary and Joseph do not yet fully understand this revelation that is their Son, and thus experience great anxiety, they do believe. Likewise, we may not fully understand Christ revealed; we do not know how God’s plan will unfold. Yet, like Mary and Joseph, the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us, we are called to believe, to believe in the name of Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. It is in this way that we too become God’s children, and thus part of the ever-growing family that is holy, a family that has its origins in the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus himself. 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Jesus Christ is Born! (St. Augustine of Hippo)

Let the just rejoice,

for their Justifier is born.

Let the sick and infirm rejoice,

For their Savior is born.

Let the captives rejoice,

For their Redeemer is born.

Let slaves rejoice,

for their Master is born.

Let free men rejoice,

For their Liberator is born.

Let All Christians rejoice,

For Jesus Christ is born. 

--St. Augustine of Hippo 

Image source: Ieva Slare and family, Nativity, Instow Beach, Devon, England, https://www.facebook.com/RevTerryHershey/photos/kudos-to-the-beach-artistsieva-slare-and-her-family-have-created-scores-of-image/949626399852147/
Quotation source

God makes himself present in this crib (G.K. Chesterton / Pope Francis)

Christmas is built upon
a beautiful and intentional paradox:
that the birth of the homeless
should be celebrated in every home.

 --G.K. Chesterton 

    The mystery of Christmas fills our hearts with awe – a key word – at an unexpected message: God has come, God is here in our midst, and his light has forever pierced the darkness of the world. We need to hear and accept this message anew, especially in these days tragically marked by the violence of war, by the momentous risks posed by climate change, and by poverty, suffering, hunger – there is hunger in the world! – and all the grave problems of the present time. It is comforting to discover that even in those painful situations, and all the other problems of our frail human family, God makes himself present in this crib, the manger where today he chooses to be born and to bring the Father’s love to all. 

Jesus, you are the Child who makes me a child.

You love me as I am, not as I imagine myself to be.

In embracing you, the Child of the manger,

I once more embrace my life.

In welcoming you, the Bread of life,

I too desire to give my life.

You, my Saviour, teach me to serve.

You who did not leave me alone,

help me to comfort your brothers and sisters,

for, from this day forward,

all are my brothers and sisters. 

--Pope Francis

Blessings at Christmas
from Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mill Valley!
 

Image source 1: Our Lady of. Mount Carmel, Mill Valley, December 2023, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=779997780832305&set=a.770843431747740
Image source 2: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153998251410723&id=7891870722&set=a.10153998251330723
Quotation source 1
Quotation source 2
Quotation source 3

Whoever expected a baby? (Anna Weems)

Even now we simply do not expect
  to find a deity in a stable.
Somehow the setting is all wrong:
  the swaddling clothes too plain,
  the manger too common for the likes of a Savior,
  the straw inelegant,
  the animals, reeking and noisy,
  the whole scene is too ordinary for our taste. 
And the cast of characters is no better.
With the possible exception of the kings,
  who among them is fit for this night?
  the shepherds? certainly too crude,
  the carpenter too rough, the girl too young.
And the baby?
Whoever expected a baby?
Whoever expected the advent of God in a helpless child?
Had the Messiah arrived in the blazing light of the glory
    of a legion of angels wielding golden swords,
  the whole world could have been conquered for Jesus
    right then and there
  and we in the church - to say nothing of the world! –
     wouldn’t have so much trouble today.
Even now we simply do not expect
  to face the world armed with love. 

--Anna Weems, “Unexpected,”
in Kneeling in Bethlehem

Image source: Ukrainian artist Maryana Flyak, Nativity, https://maryanakachmar.wixsite.com/mysite/icon-painting
Poem source

The bond between women that proclaims the truth (Natalia Imperatori-Lee)

   The country and the church are beset by scandals that prey on women and on the young, vulnerable populations are vilified, people must flee to the desert to survive. History seems hopeless. Despair seems the only response. 

   [Sunday]’s gospel provides a powerful antidote, in the solidarity of women we see at the visitation. Mary, herself in the midst of a precarious pregnancy is also moved to travel. And we have a scene in the gospel where only two women speak. Only women. Speaking. No one interrupting, no one correcting. No one mansplaining. No “actually.” 

  

   Filled with the Spirit, both of them proclaim. REJOICING in one another’s presence, in their precarious circumstances, rejoicing in their communion, they are moved to preach the presence of God within them. Elizabeth shouts! She “cries out in a loud voice” Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Blessed are you, Mary, for believing God’s promises. This prompts a most unusual reaction in Mary: prophecy [in the form] of the Magnificat. 

   This story is filled with women misbehaving. Traveling (alone? Maybe), being loud, speaking theologically of God’s plan for the world. What prompts them to do this, to move outside of the permissible? The spirit of God present within them and between them, in their friendship and their bond. The bond between women that proclaims the truth—the ways in which women have, historically, heard one another into speech, is on display in the visitation. 

 

--Natalia Imperatori-Lee 

Image source: https://myexultemus.blog/2016/08/15/magnificat/
Quotation source

Abundant grace and costly responsibility (Sara Fairbanks)

   Two lowly women of Judea, living under the subjugation of the Roman Empire, meet under the most extraordinary circumstances to share the great things God has done for them. The elderly, childless Elizabeth has now conceived a son. The teenage Mary has been visited by an Angel and through the power of the Holy Spirit will bear the Messiah, God’s Son, whose reign will have no end. Sharing their stories of faith, they are lifted up in God’s grace. They know in a new way their value and dignity in the eyes of God. 

   Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, says to Mary, “Blest are you among women, and Blest is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1, 42,). And Mary says, “My soul magnifies my God, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for the Holy One has looked with favor on me a lowly servant” (Lk 1, 46-48). On these mystical heights, Mary prophecies about God’s coming reign of justice and peace: “The powerful will be brought down from their thrones, and the lowly lifted up! The hungry will be filled with good things, and the rich sent away empty” (Lk 1, 46-53). 

    This visitation of Mary and Elizabeth strengthens the bonds of sisterhood for the challenges ahead. And both will suffer. Like Elizabeth and Mary, Christians through the ages have known that God’s grace is both gift and responsibility. Dominican mystic, Meister Eckhart, once remarked, “What is the good to me of Mary’s being full of grace if I am not full also? What does it profit me the Father’s giving his Son birth unless I bear him too?” 

   The season of Advent reminds us that this ancient biblical story must become our story, with its abundant grace and its costly responsibility. 

--Sara Fairbanks, OP 

Image source 1: Fra Angelico, Visitation (Cortona Altarpiece, 1433-1434), https://www.wikiart.org/en/fra-angelico/visitation-1434
Image source 2: Jakob and/or Hans Strüb, The Visitation (ca. 1505), https://www.museothyssen.org/en/collection/artists/strub-jakob-andor-hans/visitation
Quotation source

The transforming work of love (Dr. Wendy Wright)

   In that mystery [of the Visitation], two women go about the ordinary tasks of daily life – a young pregnant girl visits her elder pregnant cousin. Mary carries within her God’s own life. In the course of her visit, the transforming work of love which has begun in her becomes active. 

   In her visit, Mary recapitulates God’s visitation to her. The moment of that first visitation, as the angel announced the incarnation, was seen by [St. Francis] de Sales as God’s kiss to humanity. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth reenacts that loving visit. And, as love is generative, the divine life hidden within is quickened and the work of transforming love goes on. Not only does Mary grow in grace, but, through her visitation, so do Elizabeth and John the Baptist and Zachariah and Joseph... Their hearts too are transformed into the heart that goes out to them in love. 

   At the Visitation, Mary’s heartbeat beat in rhythm with the heart of God nestled in her womb. As Love gave itself to her, so she gives of herself. Her heart causes all hearts around her to be drawn into the divine rhythm. 

--Dr. Wendy Wright, “Saint Francis de Sales
and the Conception of the Virgin Mary”

Image source: Philippe de Champaigne, The Visitation (ca. 1643-1648), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philippe_de_Champaigne_-_The_Visitation_-_y1994-17_-_Princeton_University_Art_Museum.jpg

Everyone ought to have an Elizabeth (Caitlin Sica)

    The Feast of the Visitation reminds me once again that everyone ought to have an Elizabeth in his or her life. In his Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales wrote: “Love everyone with a deep love based on charity… but form friendships only with those who can share virtuous things with you. The higher the virtues you share and exchange with others, the more perfect your friendship will be.” 

   

   At the heart of friendship is a deep-seated truth: God never destined man to be alone. Together, we are called to aide each other on the journey to heaven. 

--Caitlin Sica 

Image source: Br. Mickey McGrath, Visitation, https://www.visitationmonasteryminneapolis.org/2010/06/windsock-visitation-an-invitation-to-respond-to-art/
Quotation source

They recognize the divine within (Pearl Maria Barros)

    In the story of the Visitation, we see Mary determinedly “setting out” in “haste” to visit her cousin Elizabeth who is pregnant after being “barren” for many years. It’s important to note that “barrenness” (or infertility) is a condition that would have brought Elizabeth much suffering in a world where God’s favor and a woman’s worth were believed to be evidenced in the ability to bear multiple children. Indeed, even to this day, in many parts of our world and in the Catholic Church, a woman’s primary vocation is seen as motherhood – whether physical or spiritual – and her worth is often bound-up in how she uses, or does not use, her sexuality. 

    Yet in the story of the Visitation, we witness an encounter between two women who do not fit these definitions of “womanhood.” Instead, we see a young girl, pregnant out of wedlock, going to visit her older female cousin who is now pregnant after suffering from infertility and social rejection. Remarkably, in a world that does not recognize them, they recognize the divine within each other and themselves. 

How often do we celebrate
"the ability to recognize the divine
within each other and ourselves"? 

--Pearl Maria Barros, Th.D. 

Image source: Timothy Schmalz, Visitation - Fruit of thy Womb, https://www.sculpturebytps.com/portfolio_page/visitation-fruit-of-thy-womb/
Quotation source

Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 22, 2024: He shall be peace...

He shall be peace…
What does it mean for God to take on flesh? 

    The people of Israel waited for a Messiah to come in the line of David, a king who would offer them salvation. But because they understood that salvation to be political – O shepherd of Israel, hearken from your throne upon the cherubim, we read in Psalm 80 – their understanding of salvation was skewed, coloring how they understood God’s love for them. Theirs was conditional relationship with the Lord, dependent upon what God could do for them. The prophet Micah had a similar understanding of the messianic promise as a royal kingship on earth: from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. But when Christians read Micah, they understand the prophecies to refer to Jesus, the true shepherd of the flock. Jesus, the Messiah sent by God, will come to transform the way in which humankind understands their relationship with God. Notice that Micah does not say the one to come shall bring peace, but rather, he shall be peace. Jesus himself will embody the promise of God; he will give flesh to that promise in the Incarnation. 

    Later, Jesus’ very body, God incarnate, God-made-flesh, will ultimately become the unique sacrifice acceptable to the Lord. The Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is obedient to God the Father: Behold, I come to do your will.  Jesus understands God’s plan and willingly participates in it, entering into a full relationship of love with all of humankind. In his very real human flesh, Jesus enters fully into what it means to be human, and offers himself totally for the forgiveness of our sins, transforming our humanity in the process: we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Consecration is transformation. 

    In Luke’s Gospel, Elizabeth recognizes immediately the presence of God incarnate, physically present in the womb of her cousin Mary: Blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Elizabeth is blessed by this visit, but she also recognizes how blessed Mary is because she opened herself to God, no matter what difficulties her openness might create for her. 

    Like Mary, we are called to allow Christ to be enfleshed in us. What will that look like? It means that flowing from our lives will be harmony, connection, mercy, forgiveness, and kindness – all those things necessary to be peace. We are to share in his life, which we do every time we receive Eucharist – when he joins our flesh and we join his death and resurrection. We are the Body of Christ incarnate, through which God is active in our world. What is required of us is a faith that isn’t just words; we need a faith that starts in our hearts, a heart response to the love God has for us. Blessed are you who believe, for you will be peace! 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Pregnant with the holy (Morgan Harper Nichols / St. John of the Cross)

Cling to joy, audacious joy,
that looks for light in everything,
 even your waiting.

 --Morgan Harper Nichols 

If
you want,
the Virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the holy,
and say… 

“I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,
My time is so close.” 

Then, under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime
intimacy, the divine, the Christ
taking birth
forever, 

as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us 
is the midwife of God, each of us. 

Yes, there, under the dome of your being does Creation 
come into existence eternally, through your womb, dear pilgrim –
the sacred womb of your soul,
As God grasps our arm for help’ for each of us is
His beloved servant
never far. 

If you want, the Virgin will come walking
Down the street pregnant
With light and
…sing. 

--St. John of the Cross,
Love Poems to God,
translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Image source 1: https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/the-virgin-marys-reproductive-choice 
Image source 2: https://holylandshopping.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/WhatsApp_Image_2023-11-04_at_11.03.04_AM_1000x1333-55.png
Quotation source 1
Quotation source 2

Glimmers of joy (Gertrude Stein / L. Beckton)

Every day is a renewal,
every morning the daily miracle.
This joy you feel is life. 

 --Gertrude Stein 

   I recently learned about a term called “glimmer.” Which is essentially the opposite of a trigger. 

   Glimmers are those micro moments in your day that make you feel joy, happiness, peace or gratitude. Once you train your brain to be on the lookout for glimmers, the more these tiny moments will begin to appear. 

--L. Beckton

Image source: https://www.careforkids.com.au/child-care-provider-articles/article/727/goodbye-glitter-hello-new-world-of-shiny-eco-sparkles 
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Our deep need for grace (Bishop Robert Barron / Tenzin Gyatso)

Advent is the season where
we’re meant to get in touch
with our dysfunction,
our deep need for grace.

 --Bishop Robert Barron

The very purpose of religion
is to control yourself,
not to criticize others.
Rather, we must criticize
ourselves. How much am
I doing about my anger?
About my attachment,
about my hatred, about my pride,
my jealousy?
These are the things which
we must check in daily life.
Taking your own body and
mind as the laboratory,
engage in some thorough going
research on your own
mental functioning
and examine the possibility of
making some positive changes
within yourself. 

--Tenzin Gyatso,
the 14th Dalai Lama

Join us tonight for our

Parish Reconciliation Service

at 7pm in the church

& celebrate the forgiveness

that is already yours! 

Image source: https://www.cgi.org/news-and-events/2019/4/25/examine-yourself
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Swimming in joy (St. John of the Cross / Henri Nouwen)

The soul of one who serves God
always swims in joy,
always keeps holiday,
and is always in the mood for singing.

 --St. John of the Cross

   At first sight, joy seems to be connected with being different. When you receive a compliment or win an award, you experience the joy of not being the same as others. You are faster, smarter, or more beautiful, and it is that difference that brings you joy. But such joy is very temporary. True joy is hidden where we are the same as other people: fragile and mortal. It is the joy of belonging to the human race. It is the joy of being with others as a friend, a companion, a fellow-traveler. This is the joy of Jesus, who is Emmanuel: God-with-us. 

Dear God, 

Joy is what makes life worth living,
but joy seems hard to find.
I complain that my life is
 sorrowful and depressing.
What then brings the joy I so much desire?
You invite me to choose joy.
Help me to choose to trust that what happened,
painful as it may be, holds a promise. 

Let your loving voice be my guide.
Amen. 

–Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey 

Image source 1: https://catholicallyear.com/blog/the-blessed-virgin-and-blasting-out-of/
Image source 2: https://www.lovecrucified.com/joyful-mysteries
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The Advent journey (Bobby Schuller)

The Advent journey:

Hope becomes peace.

Peace becomes joy.

Joy becomes Love.

Love becomes Christ. 

--Bobby Schuller 

Image source: https://lori-wangler.medium.com/written-in-the-stars-ba0583b8095c
Quotation source

Joy (St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata / St. Mechtilde of Magdeburg)

Joy is a net of love by which we can catch souls.

--St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata

I cannot dance, Beloved, unless you lead me. 

If you want me to leap with abandon, 

You must intone the song. 

Then I shall leap into love, 

From love into wisdom, 

From wisdom into joy, 

And from joy, reach beyond all human sensations. 

There I will seek to remain, 

Yet long also to soar higher still. 

-- St. Mechtilde of Magdeburg
(13th century mystic)

Image source: Still shot, Pam Tanowitz & David Lang's staging of the Song of Songs, in which the human soul prays that God will draw her to him, New York City, November 2023, https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/2023-2024/pam-tanowitz-artists-at-the-center/

Quotation 1 source
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Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 15, 2024: Shout with exultation, O city of Zion!

Shout with exultation, O city of Zion!
What makes you jump for joy? 

    Prophets don’t always bring gloom and doom! Although Zephaniah does speak at length to the people of Israel about the day of judgment looming over them, the prophet ends his exhortation with a messianic promise that should cause them to be glad and exult with all their heart! To exult is, etymologically, to jump for joy; Zephaniah encourages the people to exult because soon, the King of Israel, the Lord will be in their midst, and so they have no further misfortune to fear. Not only that, but God himself will also rejoice over the people once they turn back to him! Imagine the Lord jumping for joy! The prophet Isaiah sounds a similar refrain: Shout with exultation, O city of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel! God’s presence among us is a reason to rejoice, to jump for joy! 

    In Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist – also a prophet – announces what Zephaniah and Isaiah also promised, news that should again make the people jump for joy: one mightier than I is coming; John says. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Everyone – crowds, soldiers, even tax collectors – wants to know, Teacher, what should we do? John’s answer to each involves practicing love of neighbor and life-giving justice. Although he doesn’t exactly encourage his listeners to jump for joy, John knows what it means to jump for joy, as he himself leapt in his mother Elizabeth’s womb as Mary’s approached, carrying the Messiah. 

    Paul’s Letter to the Philippians sums up our reason for joy: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! The Lord is near. Christ died and rose for us, and we know that he is always near. We can access his presence, Paul says, through kindness, prayer and petition, and thanksgiving, so that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What better reason could there be to jump for joy?

This post is based on OLMC’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

To whom can you bring comfort this Advent? (Fr. James Martin)

    Advent is not simply an interior event, nor is it simply something between you and God. Spiritual preparation necessarily has a communal dimension. So, I’d like to invite you to think not only about the word metanoia, but also the word “comfort.” The Hebrew word used is nacham, whose root comes from the word for sighing or breathing heavily, so it has the connotation of relief. 

    To whom can you give comfort to this Advent? Whom in your world can you bring relief to? Is it someone in your family who is struggling with a financial problem or an illness? Is it an LGBTQ person who feels unloved by God or excluded from the church? Perhaps it is a whole people or community suffering during war or famine. How can you comfort them? How can you give them relief? 

    Last year, in a letter to [Fr. Martin's Ministry] Outreach, Pope Francis wrote of God’s “style" as “closeness, mercy and tenderness.” Who in your world can you share that “style” with? Who can you comfort? Whom can you show tenderness to? In short, how can you live Advent both interiorly and exteriorly? 

--Fr James Martin, 

 Outreach, Dec 9-10, 2023 

Image source: https://kidscorner.net/parent-blog/a-heart-for-the-hurting-helping-your-child-support-their-friend-during-divorce 

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Choosing to walk in the light of the Lord (Sr. Norma Pimentel)

   This Advent, when we choose to walk in the light of the Lord, we can conquer a desire to be negative and destructive and instead offer opportunities of dialogue and peace that bring hope. We will be people of faith that believe God is with us and we can make a difference in building communities and nations of faith. 

--Sr. Norma Pimentel, MJ,
Pax Christi Reflections 

Image source: https://travelcar.edu.vn/how-far-did-the-shepherds-travel-to-bethlehem/ Quotation source

Mary, flower of every perfection (St. Francis de Sales)

    At the appointed time, the torrent of original sin began to roll its fatal waves over the conception of this holy woman. But just when the torrent had reached that certain point, it did not pass beyond it but was stopped… In this way, God turned all captivity away from his glorious Mother. 

    Thus, God gave to Mary the blessing of the two states of human nature: she possessed the innocence that the first Adam had lost, and she enjoyed in a surpassing manner the redemption that Jesus, the second Adam, would gain for her. Hence, like a chosen garden that was to bear the fruit of life, she was made the flower of every kind of perfection.

 --St. Francis de Sales,
Treatise on the Love of God,
Book 2, chapter 6

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

Image source 1: Mary Immaculate, stained glass, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog/why-do-we-celebrate-the-immaculate-conception/
Image source 2: https://themarianroom.com/flowers-and-our-lady-ii/
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A time to break routine (Fr. Brian Engelhart SJ)

    Advent is a time to break routine. As we prepare for the birth of Jesus, we have the opportunity to examine our lives, consider the world around us, and ask if we are really satisfied with the ways things are. For me, the answer every year is a resounding “no.” Every year, I regret not taking up opportunities to reach out to those in need, I mourn the systems of injustice that place so many in great need, and I find myself trapped in seemingly endless cycles of self-defeating thought patterns… The routine is not good enough. 

    Looking with only my own eyes and the limited perspective of my routine, things seem completely helpless. But when I can pray with God’s perspective and see how God has responded to humanity’s greatest need, I am filled with hope. I do not know what God has in store, but I know that God also is not satisfied to accept our routine as good enough. If God chose the Incarnation to save humanity from sin and death, then I must look at the world in a new way. I have to look for the small, unexpected signs that God is still at work, that God’s promise of love and redemption has not changed. 

    What routines are you being shaken out of? How is God inviting you to reconsider yourself, others, and the world this season and in the year ahead? 

--Fr. Brian Engelhart SJ 

To read more on how Fr. Engelhart uses the Spiritual Exercises to shake up his own routine, access the complete article by clicking on the link below. 

Image source: https://www.sahilbloom.com/newsletter/how-to-get-out-of-a-rut
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Something stirs inside (Fr. Edward Hays / Kristin Armstrong)

Advent, like its cousin Lent,
is a season for prayer and 
reformation of our hearts.

--Fr. Edward Hays

    When the seasons shift, even the subtle beginning, the scent of a promised change, I feel something stir inside me. Hopefulness? Gratitude? Openness? Whatever it is, it’s welcome. 

--Kristin Armstrong

Image source: http://www.collectingthemoments.com/2014/12/creating-new-tradition-advent.html
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Going beyond the mind you have (Bishop Robert Barron)

    John the Baptist said, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” He is saying that his job is to prepare for the mighty coming of the Lord. A change is coming, a revolution is on the way, a disaster (the destruction of the old) is about to happen. Prepare the way of the Lord. 

    And what is the manner of preparation? It is a baptism of repentance. Baptism—an immersion in water—reminded first-century Jews of the exodus, passing through the Red Sea, leaving the ways of slavery behind. 

    And repentance (metanoia) is going beyond the mind that you have. How our minds are conditioned by the fallen world! How our expectations are shaped, stunted by what has gone before. The world of Tiberius and Pilate and Herod and Caiaphas has shaped our imagination. It’s time, John is saying, for a new mind, a new set of eyes, a new kind of expectation. God is about to act! 

    Be ready! 

--Bishop Robert Barron,
Gospel Reflection, 
October 22, 2024 

Image source: Joseph Slawinski and Michael Baranowski, John Preaches a Baptism of Repentance, sgraffito mural located in an outdoor shrine on the property of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, Stella Niagara, New York, https://buffaloah.com/a/STELLA/lower/4421/int/index.html#3
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Sunday Gospel Reflection, December 8, 2024: Prepare the way of the Lord!

Prepare the way of the Lord!

But how do we prepare? 

    The first two weeks of Advent are a curious time. We want to be preparing for the birth of Jesus, but our Sunday readings focus primarily on the parousia, Jesus’ second coming into the world. In either case, we need to prepare for the revelation of God in Jesus. How? Through reconciliation and transformation! 

    Addressing the people of Israel in exile, the prophet Baruch exhorts them to change their (metaphorical) clothes from head to foot: take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever! The prophet is inviting the people to reconciliation and transformation, with the promise that, if they align themselves with the Lord, God will show all the earth their splendor and lead Israel in joy, back not only to their land, but to right relationship by means of his mercy and justice. They will then be able to sing Psalm 126: The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy! 

    Another prophet, John the Baptist, bursts onto the scene in Luke’s Gospel, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins for all people. John, like Baruch, comes to prepare the way of the Lord. But is it Jesus’ route to us via the Incarnation, or is it our route back to him? Both/and, it seems! God is certainly bringing us salvation in the gift of his Son Jesus, but it is up to us to participate, making low every mountain and hill that stand in the way of our relationship with him. Preparation is necessary! 

    To prepare, we must, as Paul tells the Philippians, continue to grow in faith and allow the Lord to work in us, for the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it. Living together in Christ, our relationships will bear fruit, and our love will increase ever more and more. By allowing God to transform our hearts through reconciliation and mercy, by opening them to let God work in us, we prepare for the coming of the Lord with joy, both at Christmas and at the second coming, pure and blameless for the day of Christ, because God makes us new again, and restores us to himself! 

This post is based on OLMC’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Abound in love for one another (Hans Urs von Balthasar)

May the Lord make you increase and
abound in love for one another and for all,
just as we have for you.

 1 Thessalonians 3:12 

    When you say Yes to God unconditionally, you have no idea how far this Yes is going to take you. Certainly farther than you can guess and calculate beforehand… but just how far and in what form? At the same time, this Yes is the sole, non-negotiable prerequisite of all Christian understanding, of all theology and ecclesial wisdom. 

    The point to which everything comes down is this: the total self-giving to Christ (leaving everything, every wife and child: Luke 18:30) is now wedded to the task of committing this totality to the service of the flock of Christ and finds in this its practical application. Also, this entire service, in the Catholic understanding, is not likely any worldly “job” but is a special kind of participation in the redemptive work of the Son – who was obedient unto death – and is thus itself marked by this work. 

    A good priest is always a miracle of grace.

--Hans Urs von Balthasar 

Happy Anniversary of your
Ordination to the Priesthood, Fr. Pat!
We are so blessed by your commitment
to the service of the flock of Christ! 

Image source 1: Fr. Pat celebrates Mass for First Holy Communion, April 28, 2024,  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=854995249999224&set=a.855001323331950 

Image source 2: Fr. Pat creating stand-alone Nativity sets for the 2023 Advent Fair, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=757995679699182&set=a.757479833084100
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