C; Advent 1

2090 from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "When God reveals Himself and calls him, man cannot fully respond to the divine love by his own powers. He must hope that God will give him the capacity to love Him in return and to act in comformity with the commandments of charity. Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God's love and of incurring punishment."

I like "confident expectation".

C: Advent 1

The days are coming. Read the signs. These are typical Advent messages. It is time to prepare for the Coming of the Lord.

Originally it was His first coming in History. Now our focus shifts to His Coming at the End of Time for the Final Judgment and His Coming to us personally in the Eucharist and at our death.

Jeremiah reflects some of the messiianic concerns of his time. The hope centers on the nation and a time of peace and prosperity. It has been five centuries since David. Hope needs to be renewed in God's promise. The passing of time takes a toll.

Thessalonians also renews hope after the passing of time. They expected Jesus' return and must deal with the question of delay of the promise.

The Gospel reminds us of the importance of always being ready. We will not know the day or the hour. The only certainty is the Lord will return.

Theme: Expectantcy

Christ the King

Jesus redefines the meaning of "King". The Son of Man in Daniel is applioed to Jesus. It is an apocalytic image. No one image could capture the meaning and reality of Jesus. Revelation refers to Him as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. It means He is All in All.

When Jesus appears before Pilate and answers the question are you a king?, He takes the question beyond Pilate's experience. Sometimes we beileve too little about Jesus or place too much in our limited understand.

Ordinary 33

The truth about Heaven. There is a Heaven. If there were no Heaven, then God lied to us. Since God can not lie, being the fullness of truth, there must be a Heaven as He promised.

Heaven like Hell is eternal. You can not be kicked out of Heaven for bad behavior after you get in. There will be nothing you desire more, so no one will want to leave. The key is getting there in the first place.

The images of Heaven include a banquet, a great city, a wedding feast. We can not begin to imagine what Heaven is really like. What constitues "perfect happiness"? I once pointed out to a golfer friend that Heaven is not a golf course. What happiness could there be in always making a hole-in-one? Everyone would be doing it. There would be no challenge. You could beat anyone or have anything to brag about. Our images will fall very short of what God has in store for us. "Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard the wonders our God has for us."

Getting to Heaven involves both God's Mercy and Justice. In His Mercy He makes it easy for us. All we have to do is repent of our sins and desire to follow Him. In His Justice He requires us to repent of our sins because nothing sinful can entered into the presence of God. In His Mercy He even accepts an imperfect act of contrition. In His Justice He allows us to use our Free Will to reject His offer of Mercy.

The Church teaches us the meaning of Sin so that we can be clear about what is expected of us. The Church teaches us about God's Mercy and Justice so we don't commit the sin of presumption and fail to repent. We can't say we didn't know!

Ordinary 33

The truth about Hell. There is a Hell. If there were no Hell, then there was really no Free Will. If there were no Hell, then the Justice of God is just a figure of speech. If there were no Hell, Jesus was only talking about being confined to the garbage dump in Jerusalem. If there were no Hell, then the Holy Spirit misled the Church that teaches us there is a Hell.

There is a Hell. We can not say for certainty who is confined to Hell for all Eternity. It is not ours to judge. We can not know the full extent of God's Mercy and what may have happened at the moment of death. Of course it is foolish to rely upon a death bed conversion. "If you live well, you will die well." speaks about living in a State of Grace. Don't play with fire.

There is a Hell and it is eternal. There is no second chance or time off for good behavior. We often rely upon getting a second chance to correct wrongs. It is follish to think we could prove our love of God by being good in Hell. Wouldn't Satan have repented by now if there were a second chance?

Ordinary 33

Mark's eschatological discourse deals with the parousia (Coming of Jesus as Lord) and the time of its arrival. It is Apolcalyptic imagery our of the prophetic tradition.

Scripture does not tell us or give us clues to when jesus will come again. It simply proclaims that He will come again and we should always be ready. Those you are caught up in the Rapture, Parousia, Millenium debates are missing the point.

We use Apocalyptic imagry when we speak about Heaven and Hell. Our Image of Heaven comes mostly from the Book of Revelation: the Heavenly Jerusalem, a city with pearly gates, streets of gold, etc. Jesus used the burning garbage dump of Jerusalem, the Vally of Hinnon or gehenna to describe what Hell is like. It was a place of past horrors and easily conveyed his message.

Ordinary 32

A postscript on the widow's mite. Monday I visited the From Abraham to Jesus exhibit. In the gift shop they were selling "widow's mites". Each came with an autheticated certificate of validity. The cost of a "widow's mite" today is $45.00. Talk about inflation.

Ordinary 33

The liturgical year draws to a close. We look at the end of History and the vistory of Christ. Our readings give us God's Final Word

Daniel gives us an impressive picture of "Michael", the protector of God's People. He delivers Israel from the tribulation of the final days. The elect shall go forth to "eternal life"; others to rejection and condemnation. Daniel doesn't say what happens to the rejected in the condemnation.

Psalm 16 reflects a trust that is unshaken even in the face of death.

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The Book of Daniel speaks about Michael, the great prince. St. Michael the Archangel can be an appropriate theme today.

Hebrews continues with the offering of Jesus, the High Priest. He offers the definitve sin offering.

The Gospel speaks of the coming of the Son of Man. Our attention certainly is drawn to the Last Things: Heaven, Hell, Judgment. In the "B" cycle this is the only week we get to reflect upon them. The following week is Christ the King.

Ordinary 32

Hebrews reflects on the sacrifice of Christ. It is the perfect sacrifice which replaces the need for the sacrifices of the Old Testament. It is the one sacrifice that is everpresent to us. In "The Lamb's Supper", Scott Hahn speaks of how his understanding of this sacrifice being offered "once for all" changed. From the Protestant position of "once" meaning one time only and not to be repeated to the catholic position of "once" being an eternal event which we share in at each Mass.

Themes include: sacrificial giving; trust in God, priesthood of Christ, sacrifice of the Mass

Ordinary 32

Following the examples of the widows means "sacrificial giving". Bible calls for 10% tithe in thanksgiving before all else. Sacrificial giving is variation of tithe: 5% in Offertory and 5% in Charity (BAA, Second Collections, Special needs). Even 5% would be a dramatic increase for most Catholics.

Catechism of the Catholic Church lists as sins against charity: Ingratitude. In the Offertory we give thanks to God for the gifts He has given us, "the work of human hands". What do our gifts really say about our thankfulness? In most cases (poor, youth, and people on fixed incomes excluded), anything less than $10 is disrespectful and does not show thanks for what God has done for us. It would also consider it as a sin of injustice: not fulfilling our obligation to support the work of the church and expecting others to make up for what we have kept for selfish use. That also means the sin of disobedience is involved because we are disobeying a law of the Church that requires all Catholics to contribute to the material support of the Church according to his/her means (Tithe).

Support of the Church must be accountable and responsible. I give an accounting of Church expenditures and work with the Finance Committee to use the money given for the best interests of the Church. What you give is not just between you and God. What you give to the Church is between you and me. What you give beyond that in charity is between you and God.

The story of the widow's mite was not meant to teach that even a small offering is acceptable. The point was a "sacrificial offering" and "trust in God".

Ordinary 32

The widow of Zarephath and the widow of the Gospel both teach us something about sacrificial giving. Their charity in both instances cost a great deal. We call it a sacrifice. In Hebrews we read about the sacrifice of Christ.

To sacrifice like they did requires trust in God. The reason we do not make such sacrifices is that we do not trust fully in God, prefering to trust in our own ability to provide. What would happen if we all chose to trust in God ?

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The widow of Zarephath illustrates God providing. Elijah asks her to use the last of her resources to provide bread for him. In return, she is blessed by the prophet. God takes the little we have to offer and multiplies it in return.

Gospel offers the "widow's mite" as an illustration of giving. We often miss the point that such giving makes us dependent upon God.

We continue our reading from the Letter to the Hebrews. Perhaps moving on to the sacrifice of the Mass as God's action. A continuation of the priest being transparent so God is seen in the Mass.

Ordinary 31

OT Priesthood foreshadowed Christ. NT priesthood is seen in light of Christ. At Mass, Christ is the priest, the altar, the sacrifice. The ordained priest must be 1) transparent so the people can see the actions of Christ the High Priest; and 2) authentic to testify to the reality of Christ's Priesthood. These are the two challanges of priesthood.

Ordinary 31

Continuation of Letter to Hebrews and reflections on Priesthood. Last week's reflections weren't posted because I was on retreat. In Summary: First movement of priesthood is "Attraction to the Holy". A vocation to the priesthood starts with being attracted by God. Illustrates importance of Eucharistic Adoration programs. Second movement of priesthood is from God to God's people. Having touched "The Holy", a priest must faithfully bring the holy to God's people. It is not "my Mass", it belongs to God's people. A Priest must be faithful to Word and Sacrament. Third movement is back to God. The priest must bring God's people with him. Leading by example, a priest must strive for holiness.

This week's reading points us to the Priesthood of Jesus. A priest must be a credible embodiment of the Priesthood of Jesus. Rememebring last week's word that priests come from human stock and looking to Jesus, priests must be humble.