Humility

The readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/012917.cfm

In today's gospel from St. Matthew we have the very familiar Beatitudes. A beatitude, as a literary form, is found frequently in the Old Testament wisdom literature and the Psalms. The Greek word for beatitude is "makarios" and can be translated as "blessed," "happy," or "fortunate" It describes a very positive situation for a person wherein the significant aspects of one's life have come together producing joy and well being. In a religious context this usually indicates a positive relationship with God.

To have a positive relationship with God, we are called by Jesus to have a positive relationship with those around us.

In order to do this, Jesus explains that we need to be humble. Humility is the key to our relationship with God and with others. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3) Jesus is teaching us that we need to think less of ourselves and more of God and others in our lives. We are to be less "self-centered" and more "God-centered". Jesus goes on to teach us that we are to seek out righteousness, to be clean of heart, and to be merciful. Righteousness is thinking of others as God would think of them: with love and kindness. To be clean of heart is to remove any hatred towards our neighbors and replace it with love and respect. To be merciful is to show mercy towards those in need.

Will this be easy? Certainly not.  "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven." (Matthew 11-12)

Today's gospel is challenging us to live a life of love towards God and our neighbor. God is challenging us to change our attitudes with the "beatitudes". In today's gospel, Jesus reminds us of the two great commandments: Love of God and Love of neighbor.

The Word became flesh

 Scripture readings for Christmas Day can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/122516-day.cfm

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son…

Since the beginning of December everyone has been busy preparing for the coming of Christmas. Christmas shopping, Christmas decorations, Christmas parties, Christmas music on the radio since Thanksgiving. Santa Clause at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade! All of this is good, but does it really point to the true meaning of Christmas? In all this hustle and bustle that we've been dealing with for the past month are we really centering our selves on the birth of Christ? Are we truly preparing ourselves for what Christmas really is?

What we should have been remembering and celebrating during all this past month of preparation is the birth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ more than 2,000 years ago. Today we are celebrating the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

We can learn from the Old Testament prophets what the true meaning of Christmas is. They were waiting for the coming of the Messiah for centuries. During today's First Reading from the Book of Isaiah, he continues to proclaim that God was coming into the world through Jesus. Isaiah says, “All the ends of the earth will behold the salvation of our God.” Jesus is that salvation that Isaiah was talking about.

In our second reading from Hebrews we are reminded that in the Old Testament God spoke to the people in many and various ways through the prophets. But, when Baby Jesus was born, things changed. Now, God was going to speak to us through His beloved Son. For it is Jesus, through whom all things were created, that God had appointed as Lord and Savior for all people.

We see in Jesus a reflection of the glory of God. Jesus is the very imprint of God's very being. Jesus told his disciples that whoever sees Him, sees the Father.

Jesus, the Son of God, sustains all things by His powerful Word. When He had made the perfect human sacrifice on the cross as the Lamb of God for the remission of the sins of the world, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. His work on earth as Jesus in physical form was completed. Now, in conjunction with the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is ruling over His spiritual Kingdom in Heaven and on earth.

Baby Jesus came into the world for each and everyone of us, so that we may be saved. Through Jesus, our living faith that is manifested through the Sacraments of the Catholic Church leads us towards the Light of God and the truth as our assurance of salvation and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Let us never forget this! From the time we rise in the morning to the time we go to bed at night, let us always be thankful to Jesus for manifesting to us the goodness and love of God.

On this Christmas Day let us forget all the hustle and bustle of the past month in preparation for this day. Let us remember that it is the presence of Christ born of the Virgin Mary that we celebrate! Let us, like John the Baptist, point out to others in our lives that Jesus ranks ahead of us, and He should be the center of who we are and what we do. Jesus is the reason for the season!

Today we celebrate that a Child was born for us. As you look at Baby Jesus in the manger, always remember that the fullness of God dwelled in Him. In Jesus was the fullness of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Those who know Jesus also know the Father for they are One.

Let us, with the angels from on high, say to those in our lives on this Christmas Day, “We proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.”

Merry Christmas!

Third Sunday of Advent

Scripture readings for the Third Sunday of Advent can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/121116.cfm

Today, the Third Sunday of Advent, is known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is Latin for the word Rejoice. So, today is Rejoice Sunday. We are rejoicing the coming closer of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. This is also the time of the year that a lot of us grow a little impatient. We see long lines at stores, a lot of traffic clogging up the streets making it hard to get around, yearly Christmas parties that we may not really want to be at, but feel obligated to be at. All of this can lead to frustration. The key on this Gaudete Sunday with all this hustle and bustle is to be patient because we know the Lord is near and we can rejoice at His birth.

Some years ago, a magazine article stated that there are more family fights at Christmastime than at any other time of year. I think it's because people have an unrealistic expectations of Christmas, and often because these expectations are not fulfilled, tension arises, and then fuses blow leading to family fights. As someone once told me, "Learning patience takes a lot of patience." Maybe as we reflect on who Jesus is  and what type of Messiah He chose to be, we can learn to patiently allow Him to lead us to a deeper appreciation of the season - frustrations and all.

As we rejoice this Gaudete Sunday because the Lord is now very near, we continue to prepare for Christmas by looking at the Lord's birth as the birth of the Messiah. While his disciples and John the Baptist himself awaited the Messiah, they came to realize that Jesus is that Messiah. So too, we realize that the infant born on Christmas is the Messiah. But what kind of Messiah do we have? Matthew tells us that the very presence of Jesus and His concern for the poor are true signs of the arrival of the Messiah.

Herein lies a message for us as well. Look around and see the presence of God despite the difficulty you are in.

Look around you  and see the blind seeing again, the lame walking, the deaf hearing, and the dead being raised to life.

Remember the last line of the message Jesus sent back to John in prison, "Happy the one who does not loose faith in me." In other words, when our hopes are dashed, let us turn to Jesus.

Once we allow Jesus to expand and explode our expectations of Him as Messiah, then we also allow Jesus to expand and explode our expectations of ourselves and others.

Jesus does not sell us short, so why should you sell yourself short?  We must make the transition that John and his disciples made with new and expanded vision. Here we learn that Jesus was the true Messiah. Jesus also wants to expand and explode our understanding of Him as Messiah.

Jesus is answering John and saying, Yes indeed, I am the Messiah for all, especially the poor. I'm not going to be the military leader that you expect. The Messiah is for everyone, especially for the week, the poor, and the needy.

If we are going to be a follower of Jesus Christ in Matthew's Gospel, we have to accept the Messiah on His terms. And his terms are that He's going to be the Messiah for the weak, for the poor, the lonely, and the disabled.

We have to remember that Jesus is Messiah for the rich and powerful also. His very way of coming challenges such people to realize  that they, too, are really poor in God's sight.

If you are going to accept Jesus Christ, then who you are accepting is the Messiah.

As we receive the Eucharist this week, let us remember that God is coming to save us. We must be filled with joy, and must patiently prepare ourselves for his arrival by repenting and turning ourselves around. Our Advent is both a nostalgic event and one which also looks forward to the future glory. We need to experience the healing and the wholeness which Jesus can bring into our lives. When we do this patiently, we can truly welcome Him at Christmas as the Messiah. Rejoice!

What are we truly Thankful for?

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112416-thanksgiving.cfm 

On this Thanksgiving Day, the question we all must and should be asking ourselves is, “What are we truly thankful for?" In this day and age of instant gratification and fast pace life thanks to computers and smart phones, are we truly thankful for the many blessing that God has given us?

Most people today gather to eat turkey, watch football in the afternoon, and maybe argue about the results of the recent elections. Further, many of us are planning on rushing through the Thanksgiving dinner with family and loved ones in order to rush to the nearest stores for an early start for the Black Friday sales. We tend to forget the things that we should be grateful for.

In today’s gospel we hear of 10 lepers begging Jesus to cure them. Jesus sends them off with the instructions to see the priests. While on their way, they are healed! Only one returns to Jesus in gratitude. What about the other 9? Are they off to party and celebrate their healing? The one that returned to Jesus realized that it was through Jesus that he was healed, and returned glorifying God. He realized that Jesus was present in the healing that he received and came back to give thanks.

There are times in our lives when we may be facing problems, sickness, family issues, and we turn to Jesus to ask for help. We, like the lepers, turn to Jesus to seek help. When we receive a response from Jesus, are we truly thankful for His help?

There are other things to be grateful to God for in our lives, besides being helped through whatever problems or issues we may have had. Many of us have good health, spouses who love us and are with us in good times and bad times. We also may have children that are gifts from God that we should be thankful for. There are times when children can be difficult to deal with as they grow and mature, but as they mature with your help, know that God will bless you for being there for them. We also have extended family and friends that are there for us in our ups and downs that we should be grateful for.

In addition to all the blessing that we are grateful for here on earth, let us, as Catholics, be grateful for the great gift of the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. In this sacrament we are able to receive Jesus fully: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Let us not take the Eucharist lightly. Remember as you approach the Blessed Sacrament that it is Jesus you are receiving. And if you feel you are not fully prepared to receive Jesus in Holy Communion for whatever reason, know that you can approach Jesus in the healing sacrament of Confession. Jesus is always present for us in confession with His healing power to forgive our sins, and He is present to us in the great Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Let us, on this Thanksgiving Day, to be grateful to Jesus for our family, friends, the blessings we have received, and for His presence in the sacraments of the Catholic Church.

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Solemnity of Christ the King

Scripture readings for the Solemnity of Christ the King can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112016.cfm.

This Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King, closes our Church year. Next week is the first Sunday of Advent and the start of a new Church year. This feast of Christ the King originated in 1925. Because it was celebrated at the end of October, that month became known as the month of Christ the King. As the age of dictators was beginning, the Pope at that time, Pope Pius XI, wanted to remind the Church that, with all the groups seeking loyalty in our life, our ultimate allegiance should be to Jesus Christ.

Today, over 90 years later, all the dictators whose power seemed so huge and permanent back then, who dominated the world scene as the Soviet Union, the Japanese Empire, Fascist Italy and later the Third Reich are now all gone and Jesus Christ remains. And ninety years from now, the power brokers of our time will be gone and Jesus Christ will remain.

Yet, ironically, on this feast of Christ the King, the Gospel reading shows Jesus at what seems to be his weakest and loneliest, the moment of His Crucifixion on the Cross. But here, Jesus is not at His weakest but really at His strongest. He is not at His loneliest but at His most generous.

Jesus seems to be at His weakest here on the cross but is really at His strongest because here, on the Cross of Calvary, Jesus does what no one else on earth can do. He forgives a man's life of sin and gives him eternal life and entry into the Kingdom.

Furthermore, here on the Cross, Jesus is atoning for the sins not of a particular group but of the world, the sins of all time and places, the sins of His time and the sins of our time. Here, on the Cross, Jesus is absorbing, almost like a huge blotter, the sins of the entire human race. Here, at this moment on Calvary, all by Himself with nobody else's help, Jesus is unilaterally restoring the life of grace to human history.

What looks like a moment of weakness, then, is really a moment of enormous, supernatural power as, on Calvary, a cosmic lock springs open, a wall is broken down and heaven is again "open for business."

The Kingdom of Christ on earth is not a place on a map, that we an locate through global positioning system from a satellite. It is a condition of soul. The Kingdom of Christ on earth does not belong to any particular era, it spans all times and centuries.

On this feast of Christ the King, we look to the Cross: what many saw as a place of weakness became a tower of strength; what looked like a place of loneliness continually gives life to the world.

To be at the Cross, to be at the Mass, is to be at the headquarters of the Kingdom of Christ on earth, the center from which Jesus Christ changes lives and our world, because the sacrificial bread and wine of the Mass, the body and blood of Christ, contain all the power of Christ's Death and Resurrection.

Christ is King not only because He reigns from above but because He reigns within our life. In this coming Church year, we can resolve to keep a crucifix in our home so we can reflect on it, meditate on it, and consult it. St. John Vianney called it the "deepest book we will ever read."

Place Christ at the center of all you do, venerate Him as King of your life. With Christ as center of our life, we have grace and hope for ourselves and others.

Today Salvation Has Come to This House

The Scripture Readings for the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/103016.cfm.

I can relate to the character in today's gospel on a couple of levels. I am short in stature and I have been employed by the NYS Tax Department as a Tax Collector for more than 30 years. (I can't really relate to the wealthy part!) So, as a result of being short and being a tax collector, I can relate to Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, like me, and like most of us, was searching for something more in life than what he had. Metaphorically, Zacchaeus couldn't see God or the message of Jesus because of the crowd in his life.

How often in our lives do we allow the people and things in our lives "crowd" God out? We get involved in working hard to get ahead in our jobs. We work hard to get the better things in life, like a bigger home or a bigger car. We get involved with the day to day routine of our lives with our family and children. We allow these things to block our view of God. We can't see God or Jesus because of the crowd!

Because of the type of person Zacchaeus was (a tax collector for the oppressive Roman government), he was despised and shunned by his own people as were all tax collectors. He became wealthy as a result of receiving a percentage of what he collected in taxes. He, a Jew, was profiting from his own people in order to support the Romans and himself. He turned his back on God and the Jewish community in order to get ahead and to live a comfortable life.

Then he heard about this Jesus teaching about the love and forgiveness of God. Something touched his heart. He wanted to find out more about this Jesus and His message. So he went to get above the crowd to get a better look at Jesus. Jesus, knowing that Zacchaeus was searching for something more than what he had, called out to him. Jesus recognized Zacchaeus' inherent dignity as a human being and his spiritual potential. The Lord did not judge by labels and instead affirms Zacchaeus' dignity in front of the crowd.

In this story, Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus out of curiosity. People make their initial contact with Jesus and His Church not necessarily for theological reasons. Some are drawn by intriguing aspects of the Church's life. Some are drawn to the Church's history, architecture, music and art. Some are drawn to intriguing aspects of the Church's life. In this time of scandals,some people are curious as to why Catholics do not leave the Church in droves. They are curious about the Catholic instinct that the Church is a realty greater than her individual members. They wonder about our belief that the episcopacy and priesthood are offices from Christ that  are much larger than their individual occupants because the office ennobles the  individual rather than the the individual ennobling the office. A bishop or priest may fail but the episcopacy and priesthood remain Christ's gift to the Church that rises above and survives individual failings.

Let this story of Zacchaeus be a lesson for all of us. First, we can count on God's sight of who we really are: people created in God's image. Every one of us has a value deeper and beyond what others may think of us. Secondly, Jesus can use a person's attraction to any aspect of the Church's life to begin to touch that individual's soul. His first entry into another's life is not through theology and doctrine. Finally, we should never underestimate the power of Christian friendship to be an instrument of Christ's grace to others.

Love for another is shown not only in the heroics of self sacrifice. It also is shown in the courtesy, respect and civility we show them. These too can be highways of Christ's grace to them.

As we receive Holy Communion this week, let us not be so concerned with the crowd, but on getting closer to Christ, and bringing Christ to others in our life.

Be Merciful to me Lord, a Sinner

The readings for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/102316.cfm.

We have in our gospel today a parable that I'm sure we are all familiar with about the prideful Pharisee and the humble tax collector. The Pharisee is bragging about all the great things he does and how wonderful he is in the sight of God. "Thank you, Lord that I'm not like the rest of humanity especially that tax collect collector back there." The Pharisee goes on to brag about all the right things that he does: he fasts twice a week and he pays tithes on his whole income. I can imagine him saying, "Boy, God, aren't I a great guy!! I deserve a pat on the back for being so wonderful!" There is one thing that he lacks that makes him fall short of pleasing God: humility! He's busy telling God how great he is while bringing down and judging the tax collector. He's busy making himself look good at the expense of another person.

Meanwhile, the tax collector realizes he falls short of pleasing God and turns to God to ask for forgiveness: "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." The tax collector realized that he falls short of what he should be doing to please God, and turns to God and asks for forgiveness.

For many of us "Pharisee" is almost synonymous with hypocrisy. But we should remember that there were good Pharisees in Jesus' time. Nichodemus was one of them, for example. The Pharisees were laymen. There were about 6,000 of them and they were in charge of the local synagogues. The Sadducees or priests were in charge of the Jerusalem Temple. But people in Israel couldn't travel to the Temple every Sabbath, so they had the local synagogue where they could gather for what we today call the "Liturgy of the Word." The Pharisees were devoted to the Law of Moses and to making it workable in a changing world. They believed that for the Jewish people to survive, all of life should be somehow distinctively Jewish. As a result they became prideful in how they lived out the law and were judgemental about those who fell short of how they felt the law should be lived. The Pharisees were considered to be holy men, while tax collectors worked for Rome, the occupying power, and were considered to be traitors and sinners.

The contrast in the parable is striking to a Jewish audience. The Pharisee and tax collector pray in the Temple. The tax collector is the one who is truly forgiven, not the Pharisee.

We may ask what is wrong with the Pharisee's prayer?

In it there's no sense of the need for forgiveness, no sense that he needs to grow spiritually closer to God in his life. His prayer was a prayer about all the wonderful things he had done. He comes to the Temple to tell God about all his fidelity to do his religious obligations. Meanwhile the tax collector was humble before God.

What the Pharisee did in his life was good. But, he compared himself not with the holiness of God, which he was called to imitate, but to the tax collector. In the Torah (the Jewish bible) God reminds us over and over, "Be holy because I am holy." The Pharisee was looking around at others, rather than looking within. Instead of striving toward living in the image of God, he compares himself to another human being. We can do that as well when we say, "Thank you, Lord, that I am a faithful Catholic, unlike some other people that I know." "Thank you, Lord, that I don't commit adultery, unlike some people I know." "Thank you, Lord, that I am honest, unlike some people I know."

In other words, we stand before God not in need of more of His grace, not appreciating how far we have yet to go, but reflecting on how much better we are than others. Spiritual maturity, spiritual growth comes when we compare ourselves not with our neighbor but to Christ. We can always find people around us that may not be living as they should. Comparing ourselves to them may make us feel good about who we are and what we think we are doing in order to please God. But, when we look at ourselves in the light of Christ and His readiness to forgive, His obedience to the Father, then we see a different picture. Our conclusion that we are better than another person leads to a spiritual dead-end.

It's important that we strive to imitate Christ and not settle into a spiritual arrogance or spiritual complacency that comes from comparing ourselves only to others.

We need to look at the love of Jesus and realize that we fall short and try once more to show His kind of fidelity, His obedience, and His love in our lives.

When we are finally judged at the end of our lives, we will all be judged not on whether we are better than others but on how much we resemble Jesus Christ.

As we approach Holy Communion this week, let us pray the words of the tax collector, "Be merciful to me a sinner."