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Christmas and the Creche

24 Tuesday Dec 2024

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A few years ago, Pope Francis wrote an Apostolic Letter on the Creche, the tradition of displaying the manger scene during the days of Christmas.  The Holy Father praised this beautiful custom and he encouraged all Christians to reflect on the manger scene because the creche and all of its figures and symbols have something to teach us about the wonder of the incarnation as well as the life of faith.  There is healing grace and instruction to be found in the manger scene. 

The simplicity and humility of the scene itself instructs.  God chose to enter into his creation in a simple and unassuming way.  God comes as a newborn infant in a scene marked more by poverty and simplicity than by power and comfort.  God so often prefers to come to us in such simple ways, so simple that we often do not even recognize it or might even take it for granted.  The beauty of a particular day, an act of kindness or honest human care and companionship, the simplicity of bread and wine that truly becomes the body and blood or our Lord.  Contemplating on the manger scenes helps to attune our hearts to how God enters our lives. 

Sometimes the manger is set amidst ruins.  There was an ancient story of a pagan Temple of Peace in Rome.  It was prophesied that the temple would collapse when a virgin gave birth.  On the night of the incarnation, the temple in Rome crumbled.  The “peace” that the temple proclaimed was not the peace of God’s Kingdom but rather the peace of the Roman empire – a “peace” built on conquest and oppression.  The birth of the true Prince of Peace continually overcomes this false peace built by all the Caesars throughout history. 

The shepherds in the field were the first to hear the good news of the birth of Christ.  They are the lowly ones of society – the poor and the forgotten by the world but not by God whose heart overflows in mercy.  On the Feast of the Epiphany, the three magi arrive to adore the newborn king, their journeys were long and often our journeys to Christ and the journeys of those we love are long and laborious.  The magi teach us the value of perseverance and hope. 

Mary and Joseph – their faces are turned in adoration of the Christ child but their hands always welcome each of us to also adore and behold in wonder.  They even invite us to cradle the newborn infant in our own arms.  At the heart of the whole scene is the newborn Jesus.  It is only when the baby is placed in the manger that the whole scene comes alive.  The apostle John reminds us that in Jesus, “life was made manifest,” (1 Jn. 1:2).  Beneath his weakness and frailty, is the power to transform and make all things new.  He is the word made flesh. 

I want to share three images from the creche that have spoken to me this Christmas.  The first is straw.  Being “laid in a manger” implies being among the animals of the field which implies straw and hay.  There is a Ukranian custom of putting straw on the floor of one’s house and hay under the dining room table cloth on Christmas in order to draw us into the scene itself.  The manger is the feeding trough, this newborn child is to be nourishment (the bread of life) for the whole world.  Blessed are we if we learn to receive this bread. 

The second image are the swaddling clothes – the tight bands put around newborn infants.  Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes at the beginning of his life with us and he is wrapped in burial cloth at the end of his life with us, his mission completed.  At the heart of each moment is God’s never-ending love.  Love born into the midst of our sin and error and love willing to take on the weight of our sin and die that we might have life. 

The final image is the quiet and darkness of the night itself.  Sometimes the darkness of night can be a fearful thing but I do not think so for this night.  A clear night opens us to the wonder of the stars and vastness of all creation.  A quiet night also brings peace to our souls.  The nativity was in a rural setting.  It was not in the noise of a city’s night but rather in the quiet and peace of the countryside marked only by the occasional sound of the field animals.  There is a peace that can only be gained when we welcome Jesus into our lives, when we make of our hearts a manger for the Christ child. 

May we learn the wonder of the creche.  May we welcome the Christ child this Christmas. 

Peace.  

Where Hope is Born: Second Sunday of Advent – C

08 Sunday Dec 2024

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This Sunday is the only time that we hear from the prophet Baruch in the three-year cycle of Sunday readings.  Baruch was thought to have been the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah, and his writing is a reflection on the history of the people of Israel and the experience of the Babylonian exile.  For Baruch history and the hopes and belief of Israel are intertwined.  The same is true for us Christians.

We have the hope of salvation and the hope of the fullness of the Kingdom of God.  In Advent we await the coming of the one whose life, death and resurrection opens the way for us to return home to the Father.  This is the hope that has been planted within our hearts but this hope grows within our daily context and within in our daily journey of faith and not despite it.  Luke is quite specific in his gospel (Lk. 3:1-6). In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was tetrach of Galilee, Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanius was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas…”  This was a hard time for Israel – the country was brutally occupied.  Caesar was a foreign emperor; Pilate was his governor.  The tetrarchs were seen as collaborators.  And precisely into this the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah. 

We look at our world today – the war in Ukraine and the Holy Land, the polarization in our own country, the social confusions, the natural disasters and it is precisely into this that the word of God comes to us and it is in this reality and not despite it that hope is born and strengthened by this hope we move forward.  Hope is born in the reality of our world and it is also born in the reality of our lives.  

Baruch gives a powerful image of God commanding that the mountains be made low and the age-old depths and gorges be made into level ground so that his people can joyfully return to Jerusalem.  The mountains and the gorges are the obstacles preventing the people from returning.  What are the mountains, the age-old depths, the obstacles in our lives that stand in the way of our returning to the Father?  The addictions we have cultivated, the pride we nurse, the sin we allow, the resentments we hold on to, the prejudice we turn a blind eye to, the list can go on.  These are the mountains and the gorges we have thrown up between us and God.  And into this the word of God comes undeterred.

How is God laying low the mountains and filling in the gorges of our lives?  By Jesus who is the way and by the outpouring of his grace and the salvation he won for us.  How do we prepare the way of the Lord these days of Advent, how do we find hope?  We receive the sacraments, we confess our faults, we live Christian charity, we pray and work for peace, we forgive and we ask for forgiveness not despite the reality of our life right now but within it. 

And in this, hope is born.  Paul witnesses to this truth in his letter to the Philippians, I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.  

Home, Hope, Redemption and Light: First Sunday of Advent, Year C

01 Sunday Dec 2024

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Recently, a priest friend of mine shared with me some themes that he found present in this First Sunday of Advent’s prayers and readings, themes that are worthy of our carrying and reflecting upon these next four weeks.  I would like to share some of the themes but add my own take upon them.  The themes are: home, hope, redemption and light. 

Home.  This last liturgical year I made the Nineteenth Annotation retreat and in the fourteenth week of the retreat I had a truly profound prayer experience – Jesus invited me to the Father’s house.  In my mind, the Father’s house was a small cabin in the woods.  It was a winter night, there was snow on the ground and it was cold but there was warmth, light and laughter coming from the cabin.  Jesus welcomed me and the Father was there – not seen – but a deep abiding presence.  In my heart I heard the Father say, “Welcome, Michael, you are always welcome here.”  Part of the expectation of Advent – as we await the coming of the Messiah – is that we have a home.  Each one of us has a home.  Our home is in the fullness of the Kingdom with the Father, the Son and the Spirit and we are always welcome there. 

Hope.  In today’s gospel (Lk. 21:25-28, 34-36), Jesus calls us to be vigilant but the vigilance of the Christian is not a vigilance founded in fear but rather a vigilance rooted in hope.  Notice the distinction that Jesus makes in the gospel.  “There will be signs,” says Jesus and “nations will be in dismay” and “people will die of fright” but then Jesus tells his disciples that when these signs occur, “stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”  Christians live in hope and not fear.  We stand erect and we raise our heads because we know that Jesus is Lord.  The cry of Advent, “Maranatha!” (Come, Lord Jesus!) is never a cry of fear but rather a bold proclamation of hope.  Every Advent calls the Church to hope. 

Redemption.  Jesus calls us to raise our heads because our “redemption is at hand”.  “Redemption” is a powerful and heavy word and we often think of it in final terms but in our Lord’s words we also see that redemption takes root in our lives and begins to grow and have effects today.  In redemption, we learn and we find the strength to begin to let go of those things, those decisions, attitudes and anxieties that make us “drowsy” from carousing and drunkenness.  In redemption, we learn to let go of actions and mindsets that block life in order to choose that which leads to true life.  Redemption is more than just a final goal for the Christian.  Redemption is a growing and living seed planted in the heart of every disciple by Jesus himself.

Light.  This Sunday, we light the first Advent candle and we will light the other candles over the next three weeks.  The light grows with each candle even as the days become shorter and the darkness of winter lengthens.  The light dispels the darkness and we await the coming of the light of the world and this light transforms our hearts even as we await it.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us that darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.  We await the coming of the light and we let that light find a home in our hearts.

Home.  Hope.  Redemption.  Light. 

Come, Lord Jesus!     

Church, forget not your power! (Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – B)

21 Sunday Jul 2024

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Christ the Saviour by El Greco. Image may be subject to copyright

The Gospel passage for this Sunday (Mk. 6:30-34) has the apostles returning to the Lord after having been sent out on mission to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God, to heal the sick and to aid the weak and the poor.  The evangelist makes note of a “power” being conferred on the apostles in order to accomplish these tasks.  The power mentioned here is not a worldly power because those first disciples had no such power.  They had neither wealth nor influence.  The “power” that the disciples went forth with were obedience to Jesus, the proclamation of his words and repeating the Lord’s gestures of mercy.  Through these simple powers great things happened and the apostles return full of excitement to share their experiences. 

In our Christian tradition there is a famous quote that states, “Christian, forget not your dignity!”  In relation to today’s Gospel, I think we can say, “Church, forget not your power!” 

The power of the Christian community is threefold: 1. obedience to Jesus, 2. the proclamation of his words, 3. repeating the Lord’s gestures of mercy.

Obedience to Jesus.  Jesus is Son of God, Son of Man and Lord of history.  Why do we keep searching for other lords and other messiahs?  Yet, we do.  There are great men and great women throughout history yet none of these people are Son of God and Son of Man.  The witness of the disciples is found both in what they said and in what they did.  They remained with the Lord.  They returned to him (as we see in today’s Gospel).  When they wandered and stumbled, they turned back.  Even when they scattered from the cross; they gathered together again in the locked room.  In times of triumph, times of struggles, and times of uncertainty the disciples remained with the Lord.  There is a power found in obedience to the Lord.

The proclamation of Christ’s words.  There are many great ideas, theories and achievement throughout human history and these amaze and astound us.  We celebrate what is good and true.  But even as the Church can and should learn from these achievements, we must remember that the words that we have to share are authentic, true and needed for every place and age.  They are words that truly bring life.  The words are not of our own making; rather they have been entrusted and given to us.  We are to speak Christ’s words to our world.  Elsewhere in the Gospel our Lord tells us that no one puts a light under a bushel basket yet how often are we tempted to give the Gospel second place in our lives to the latest theory, psychology, philosophy or social fad?  When we do so are we not, in essence, placing a basket over the light of the Gospel?  The words of Christ truly heal because Christ alone is the Lord of life.

The Lord’s gestures of mercy.  Jesus knew the power of gesture: he writes in the sand, he touches the leper, he sits down at the well with the Samaritan woman.  It is interesting to note how our Lord’s gestures were ever directed toward mercy.  The Church is at its best when it lives our Lord’s gestures of mercy – when the person seen as untouchable is touched, when the hungry are fed and when the sinner is forgiven.  These gestures will not make the evening news but they are true and they bring hope and healing to our world.

At the end of today’s gospel passage, we are told that when Jesus saw the crowd his heart was moved with pity.  The people were starving.  They were tired of that which failed to satisfy.  We, also, are tired of that which fails to satisfy.  Salvation does not come through the powers of our world.  Salvation comes through God’s mercy at work in our world, our hearts and our lives.

Christian, forget not your dignity!  Church, forget not your power!

The storm and Jesus’ dream (12th Sunday of Ordinary Time – B)

23 Sunday Jun 2024

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“Christ Asleep During Tempest” by Eugene Delacroix

In today’s gospel (Mk 4:35-41) we have the episode of the storm calmed by Jesus. The boat on which the disciples are crossing the lake is beaten by the wind and waves and they are afraid they will sink. Jesus is with them on the boat, yet he is in the stern asleep on the cushion. The disciples, filled with fear, cry out to him: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?”

Often we too, beaten by the struggles of life have cried out to the Lord: “Why do you remain silent and do nothing for me?”. Especially when it seems we are sinking, because of the loss of love or the project in which we had laid great hopes disappears; or when we are at the mercy of the unrelenting waves of anxiety; or when we feel we are drowning in problems or lost in the middle of the sea of life, with no course and no harbor. Or even, in the moments in which the strength to go forward fails us, because we have no job, or an unexpected diagnosis makes us fear for our health or that of a loved one. There are many moments in which we feel we are in a storm; we feel we are almost done in.

In these situations, and in many others, we too feel suffocated by fear and, like the disciples, risk losing sight of the most important thing. On the boat, in fact, even if he is sleeping, Jesus is there, and he shares with us all that is happening. His slumber, on the one hand surprises us, yet on the other it puts us to the test. The Lord is there, present; indeed, he waits – so to speak – for us to engage him, to invoke him, to put him at the center of what we are experiencing. His sleep causes us to wake up! (From Angelus address given by Pope Francis on 6/20/21) 

Because to be disciples of Jesus it is not enough to believe that there is a God, that he exists, but that God is also here, with us in the boat, and that God cares and that he hears our cries and knows our needs.   

In praying over this gospel passage and the Holy Father’s words, a question came to me that I had never thought of before.  What would Jesus have dreamt when he slept?  Jesus is fully human.  Part of being human is needing sleep and in that sleep dreaming.  Rapid Eye Movement, the subconscious organizing the experiences of the day, all the things that go into the science of sleep, what would have been Jesus’ dreams?  I’m not talking about the strange dreams we get when we decide to have pepperoni pizza as a midnight snack but those deep dreams that remain with us. 

We cannot know but as dreams seem to be shaped by what is important to us and what we experience, I think it might be safe to say that his dreams would center on his relationship with the Father, his mission, his love for us and all those encounters and moments he had in his public ministry.  I think his dreams would have been rooted in the living mystery of the Kingdom of God which he proclaimed. 

A thought – when we feel we are drowning in life, when we feel lost and afraid remember not just that there is a God but that we have a God who is with us – even in our very boat.  Call upon him and maybe even ask him in friendship to share his dream with us – his dream of the Kingdom, a dream which can give hope and even calm the storms we encounter.        

What does it mean to Jesus? The Eucharist.

02 Sunday Jun 2024

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A priest friend of mine tells the story that when he was in high school, he had a friend by the name of Carl that he hung around with.  Carl, it seems, could be kind of high maintenance and awkward, often saying inappropriate things at the worst times.  Carl was hanging around the house one day and was going on and on about wanting to go out and do something. Finally, my friend, who was not in the best of moods having to put up with Carl, had enough of this and was quite rude in telling Carl to stop bothering him and that he was not going to go out!  After Carl left, my friend’s mother – who had heard all of the exchange – came to my friend and said, “You need to be nicer to Carl.  He has been a good friend to you for a long time.”  Parents have a way of saying things that just stay with you and my priest friend still remembers what his mother said.  The story resonates with me because I once had a similar situation when I was in high school and took a friendship for granted. 

One of the truths of this little story is that friendship takes work, friendship is going to challenge us and friendship is sometimes going to make us do things that we would rather not do.  The old hymn tells us that we all have a friend in Jesus and this is true.  There is no one who will ever love us like Jesus loves us.  There is no one who will ever be as faithful to us as Jesus is faithful but we all know that sometimes it is hard to listen to Jesus because Jesus will challenge us, Jesus will make us take a serious look at our ways and our attitudes, Jesus will be present to us in a fullness of love that we may not feel we deserve.  Sometimes it is hard to go to Jesus, sometimes it is hard to come to Mass, but this is where the challenge of my friend’s mother comes in for all of us, “You need to go.  He has been a good friend to you for a long time.” 

We often talk about and reflect on what it means for us to receive the Eucharist – the very Body and Blood of Christ – and this is appropriate.  We receive Jesus himself!  We are being transformed, nourished and strengthened through this receiving of the Eucharist, being and becoming a part of the Body of Christ.  But, I think another question worthy of reflecting upon is, What does it mean to Jesus for us to receive the Eucharist?  This past Holy Thursday, I was struck with this question and the awareness that came from it.  For Jesus, it means everything!  Jesus loved his disciples to the very end and even as he accepted the will of the Father to walk to Calvary and the cross, he so wanted to remain with his friends.   His giving the Eucharist is his remaining with us.  Jesus is that greatest of friends who truly wants to remain with us, to be with us.  In the Eucharist, he gives himself to us.  What does it mean to Jesus?  I think it means everything. 

One further thought.  The Church teaches that it is a sin to miss Sunday Mass – a sin that must be confessed.  The Church also teaches that the Eucharist should be received at least once a year.  The Eucharist can be received more often and should if possible but at least once a year.  Holding these teachings together, the Church is telling us about the importance of the Eucharist as well as the importance of coming together, gathering together in worship.  Being community and church is important.  I share this because I believe that we are living in an epidemic of isolation.  People are more and more isolated from one another and because of this bad things are happening.  Studies are coming forward that are demonstrating that the more isolated a person is the less quality of life and quantity of life that person has. 

It is important to be Church.  It is important to receive the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity.  The Eucharist calls us together and this is truly needed in our lives and in our times.  Are we who gather for worship perfect?  No.  Do we have a perfect friend in Jesus?  Yes.  And for our friend it means everything that we receive and welcome him in the Eucharist – his very body and his very blood.    

“Soldiers for Christ” and the Standard of Christ

31 Friday May 2024

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“Soldiers for Christ” is a term used in our Christian life of faith but it is an ambiguous term in that it lends itself to different meanings for different people and it is an image that can be depicted and has been depicted in a variety of ways.  There are references to being “soldiers for Christ” (2 Tim 2:3) and putting on “the armor of God” (Eph. 6:11-17) in scripture and these passages highlight the resolve and determination that the life of faith demands.  Jesus never denounced military service; at one point he commends the faith of the Roman centurion (Mt. 8:5-13) and he made use of military images in his teaching (i.e. Mt. 14:31-33) but Jesus himself never used the term “soldier” in reference to his followers. 

My fallback for direction in the use of this term and its imagery is the “Standard of Christ” that St. Ignatius of Loyola speaks of in his spiritual exercises.  St. Ignatius came from a military background.  He knew the role that the lifted military standard or banner played in relaying orders and focusing the movement of soldiers across the chaos of a battlefield before there was any form of electronic communication.  Soldiers in St. Ignatius’ time knew to focus on their standard as the success of the battle and their very lives depended upon it. 

In the exercises, St. Ignatius encourages us to reflect on the two standards: the standard of Christ and the standard of Satan.  The standard of Satan is marked by riches, desire for vain honor and surging pride.  In contrast, the standard of Christ calls forth three steps: “the first, poverty in opposition to riches; the second, reproaches or contempt in opposition to honor from the world; and the third, humility in opposition to pride.” (SE 146) It is in these three steps that the good soldier rallies under the standard of Christ and knows success in the battle with the powers of the world.

“Poverty in opposition to riches.”  When the world says, “More is better.” the soldier under the standard of Christ learns that less is enough and that choosing the less leads to a joy that the world cannot offer.  Those who place themselves under the standard of Christ are called to learn and grow in appreciation of both the material and spiritual poverty that Jesus himself exemplified in order to learn reliance on God and to grow in relationship with God.  Why are you anxious about clothes?  Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.  They do not work or spin.  But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.  If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not provide for you, O you of little faith?  (Mt. 6:28-30)  A mark of the soldier of Christ is the ability and the desire to choose the less, just as Jesus did. 

“Reproaches or contempt in opposition to honor from the world.”  Just as Jesus himself was doubted, viewed with suspicion, misunderstood, the subject of slander, mockery and ridicule so will the soldier, who freely stands under the standard of Christ, be.  The disciple is not one who willingly seeks these things out nor revels in them (a badge of honor quickly leading into the sin of pride) but rather, learns that there are abundant graces received when one can walk through such moments as they come in faith and trust.  The disciple knows, that by so doing, he or she is walking where Jesus walked and that Jesus, himself, is present in companionship.  There is grace to be found when one is misunderstood, rejected and viewed in contempt for holding true to Jesus.  Whether or not it is recognized and valued by friend, stranger or neighbor, it is recognized and valued by Jesus and Jesus makes himself known to those who walk through reproaches and contempt for him.  The true soldier remains close to Jesus and patiently endures the storm if needed.    

“Humility in opposition to pride.”  The eternal Word let go of glory and humbly took the form of a slave being born of a virgin.  Jesus embraced humility throughout his life and ministry upon this earth.  Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and he humbly bore the weight of the cross.  In humble acceptance to the will of the Father, he even embraced death on the cross.  Humility is the road that Jesus himself walked and it is the disciple’s royal road of return to the Father.  It is within the humble heart alone that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit make their dwelling-place.  Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.  (Jn. 14:23)  Soldiers for Christ come to know humility both as a needed virtue and as a privileged place of encounter with the Triune God. 

What does it mean to be a soldier for Christ?  St. Ignatius, through his Spiritual Exercises, gives us a good understanding.  The soldier for Christ is the one who remains under the Standard of Christ.  The soldier for Christ is the one who learns the value of poverty, the value of reproaches and contempt and the value of humility. 

The Holy Spirit and the two vistas

13 Monday May 2024

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View from a hike on Hogback Trail in Lathrop State Park, CO.

The Holy Spirit opens vistas both before us and within us. 

Vistas, those wide expansive views, are part of what has been drawing me increasingly out west on vacation.  My home of East Tennessee is, I believe, one of the most beautiful places on God’s green earth but one thing it lacks are the vistas found in the western United States.  In a vista one can see for miles and miles and the sky opens before you!  Vistas and their sweeping views help to put all things and even ourselves in perspective.  When I gaze on the expansiveness of a vista, I hear an echo of a similar expanse within my very soul.  Wonder is easily born in those moments when one is caught up in the view of a vista. 

The Holy Spirit, the Advocate promised by the risen Jesus, continually opens every Christian disciple and the Church herself to the great vista before us which is the coming of the Kingdom of God.  The Church cannot stay behind locked doors.  This is not the mandate given us nor is it where we belong.  The Church must go forth into the world as Jesus has instructed us.  Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. (Mk. 16:15) 

The Church goes forth to proclaim the good news confidently because she knows that behind and undergirding the horizon of the world is the greater horizon of the Kingdom of God.  It is on this greatest of vistas that the eyes of the Church are set and to which her heart is drawn.  Hope is given by the Holy Spirit who has been poured forth and who dwells in our heart, who reminds us that we are indeed sons and daughters of God and who gives us the assurance to call God “Abba” (Rom. 8:14-17).  We proclaim the good news in the confidence of children of God knowing the truth of the Kingdom!    

The Holy Spirit also opens us to the vistas found within our very selves and to their expansive views. 

The topic I wrote on for my licentiate in sacred theology was a comparison of our modern understanding of what constitutes the human person and the concept of the human person as expressed by St. Augustine in his writing of The Literal Meaning of Genesis.  Through the comparison I came to realize how truly anemic and limited in some very critical ways our modern secular understanding of the human person is.  Modern secular definitions of the human person are limited because – through a whole development of historical-societal occurrences and trends in philosophical thought – we have boxed ourselves in.  We have isolated ourselves from any hint of a connection with the transcendent as well as increasingly isolating ourselves from authentic connection with one another.  This anemic understanding of the human person is, I believe, at the heart of many of our current societal ills and confusions. We have forgotten who we are, in whose image we are made and for what purpose we are made.  We have forgotten and cut ourselves off from seeing our own expansiveness. 

We have lost sight of our own inner vistas. 

The concept of the human person found in St. Augustine’s The Literal Meaning of Genesis on the other hand, does not box us in.  In fact, it does the exact opposite.  Where modern understanding locks the human person in a box, the thought that St. Augustine expresses in his writing on Genesis locates us in a columned courtyard (my image) which stands open, by design, both to the sky above as well as to all of the surrounding vistas.  For Augustine, we are hardwired for authentic and true connection both with God and with one another.  Not so for the modern secular understanding of the human person. 

It seems to me that a critically important task for the Christian disciple in our world today is to free ourselves from/step out of the box of this modern concept of the human person which we have all inherited.  It is fair and just to acknowledge the good found in this modern inheritance (and there is good) but we do not have to be imprisoned nor limited by the constraints also found within this inheritance. 

The Holy Spirit is the prime mover in this task.  We have received the Spirit who is the very love between the Father and the Son. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it.  But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. (Jn. 14:16-18)

Truth cannot exist alongside illusion and falsity and the “Spirit of truth” has been given us and even dwells within us.  The “world” – human pride and error – does not recognize the Spirit because the Spirit is not constrained by its limits and the Spirit has been given to us to continually set us free from whatever would seek to bind and imprison us as well as deny our dignity – whatever would box us in.  The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (Jn. 3:8)    

Ask the Holy Spirit to strip away any and all internal illusions of isolation and separation.  It is time to move beyond the sad and anemic concept of the human person found in modern secularism.  Pray the Holy Spirit to liberate you and bring you into a living and authentic relationship with God and with others – not an isolating box but a columned courtyard open both to the wonder of the sky and the surrounding vistas! 

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, Abba, “Father!”  The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we also may be glorified with him.  (Rom. 8:14-17)

We, who have received the Holy Spirit, are called to keep our eyes fixed on the great vista before us which is the coming Kingdom of God as well as be ever aware and attentive to the expansive vistas that God has placed within us. 

The two vistas are connected: if not even one and the same.   

The Resurrection – Only God makes a beginning, only God creates an end.

13 Saturday Apr 2024

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I recently read an article where a woman by the name of Norann Voll reflects on the many lessons she learned from her father growing up on a farm during lambing season.  At one point the author wrote this,

When the miracle of (the twin lambs) lay there in the sawdust and the ewe licked them off, urging them to stand for their first meal, I looked at Dad.  His eyes shone as blue as chicory flowers and his face was wet with tears.  “No human can create a beginning, Nora,” he said, “and no human can create an end.  It’s all in God’s hands.”

Friends, this is a truth of faith and a lesson of Easter.  Only God creates a beginning and an end.  The first reading of the Easter Vigil Mass is the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis.  After that reading the Church prays these words,

Almighty and ever-living God, who are wonderful in the ordering of all your works, may those you have redeemed understand that there exists nothing more marvelous than the world’s creation in the beginning except that, at the end of the ages, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.   

… there exists nothing more marvelous than the world’s creation … except that, at the end of the ages, Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. 

There is a tradition in our faith that Easter – the day of the resurrection of our Lord – should be considered the eighth day of creation.  Only God can create a beginning.  Only God is the author of life.  Only God could enter the false end that we made – the silence of the tomb – break it open and create a new beginning for us.  From the death of the tomb, Jesus rose! 

This is the wonder that the readings throughout this season of Easter proclaim and that the first disciples experienced!  In today’s gospel (Lk. 24:35-48), after the two disciples share how they encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus, the risen Lord stands in the midst of his disciples, Peace be with you … Why are you troubled? … Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me and see …  Jesus showed them his hands and his feet, his wounds.   God wastes nothing and God redeems all.  Even the wounds of life are taken up into the new creation of the resurrection. 

Only God creates a beginning and an end.  There is nothing more wonderful than the world’s creation except, even more, the new creation brought about by the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ.  This is the truth we know and the hope we live by as Christians. 

If there are tombs in our lives – a besetting sin, an addiction, a wound inflicted or a pain endured – know that only God creates a beginning and only God creates an end.  The tomb has been broken in the resurrection.  Invite the risen Lord into that tomb.  Welcome Christ even into that!  Let his presence, his grace, his mercy pour forth and know that all tombs can be broken in Christ. 

“No human can create a beginning, Nora,” he said, “and no human can create an end.  It’s all in God’s hands.”

Easter as Homecoming and the joy of the Father

01 Monday Apr 2024

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Icon of the Resurrection of Christ. Image may be subject to copyright

What images does homecoming call to mind?  A student coming home for the first time since leaving for studies.  A soldier coming home after a long and dangerous deployment.  A family, after a while apart, being able to come together for a holiday celebration.  Young parents bringing their newborn son to meet his grandparents for the first time.  Dear friends meeting up for some time together.  A child who had been lost in addiction but now sober being welcomed back home.  A tired spouse making it home after a long time away due to work. 

As we think of homecoming in all of its different forms there are some things that are consistent – there is joy, relief, welcome, laughter, peace, tears and embracing. 

In his resurrection and ascension, Jesus returns home to the Father.  What joy there must have been – what laughter, relief, love and embracing!  The risen Jesus returns having fulfilled his mission.  It is in the Letter to the Philippians that we find the hymn singing of this mission, the hymn that goes back to the first generation of disciples.  Jesus, who though in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped but rather emptied himself and took the form of a slave.  Being born in our likeness, Jesus humbled himself and was obedient even to death on a cross. 

Jesus, the Son who emptied himself, stood in the place where we failed and he did not fail.  Where we failed through our pride in the Garden of Eden and chose to disobey, Jesus – in his humanity – obeyed.  Jesus did not rebel, he did not fall back.  Jesus obeyed the will of the Father.  Jesus stood in that place where we failed and he trusted in the love of the Father, even to death on the cross. 

What joy must have been in the risen Lord’s heart as he returned to the Father!  Coming home to Abba!  Through his obedience, Jesus healed what had been broken by our disobedience.  Jesus is the risen Good Shepherd, carrying back to the Father what had been lost.  The risen Lord carries us home to the Father!  The joy in our Lord’s heart is now also our joy!  We were lost and now we are found!  Now, we can return to the Father’s house!  Sin, death and the isolation of the tomb are not our destiny.  We are meant for life with the Father and, in his resurrection, Jesus goes to prepare a place for us!  This is our Easter joy!  Jesus’ joy is our joy – we can go home! 

And God the Father’s joy.  (We often don’t give enough thought to this.)  God the Father who cannot abide sin or death can now – in the return of the Son who conquered sin through his humanity – once again embrace us just as he embraces the Son.  This is the joy of the Father and this is the gift of the risen Son to the Father!  What pain there is in the heart of a parent when there exists a separation between parent and child.  What deep pain.  With the separation of sin overcome; the Father can once again embrace us.  The Father can once again welcome us home!  The heart of the Father rejoices in the return of his Son!   

Easter is homecoming!  The joy of the risen Son fulfilling his mission and returning to the embrace of the Father. Our joy in being brought home in the embrace of the risen Son with the Father.  The Father’s joy in embracing and welcoming us home! 

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places … if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. (Jn. 14: 2-3)