I am one blessed individual

We celebrated my birthday today, instead of tomorrow, when my free time will be cut short with Mass, a meeting and elections for the pastoral committees after Mass, visiting Mom, and visiting the sick and distributing Holy Communion to them at the hospital.

I’m not complaining. I have written before how much I love going to Mass and doing what small part I can to help bring our Lord to those who are unable to get to mass. And visiting Mom is never a problem—I look forward to seeing her each week.

Sarah came home for the weekend so she could help us celebrate my birthday, and see the last home game at CAL. Although we ultimately won the game, the scoring wasn’t coming fast enough for me and that, coupled with the cold weather and my concern for Lily in the cold, made me decide we would leave the game at half-time. We made plans to have my birthday dinner in Berkeley after the game at an Italian restaurant that we’ve become quite fond of, Vicenza.

Since the game was still going on when we got there, they were able to squeeze us in without a reservation. We had our usual great food, and I got some gifts—a book from Alicia, Lorenzo and Lily titled “Have a Little Faith”, and a new CAL t-shirt (I can never have enough of these) and some CAL socks from Marilyn. Sarah said my gift from her is in the mail on its way to me. It is the burse that I “hinted” through an e-mail to my kids that I wanted to hold my pyx in when distributing the Eucharist.

I am one blessed individual. I don’t know why God is so good to me, but I pray He never stops.
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Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Glorious Mysteries
Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11
Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Mark 13:24-32

The month of November can be pretty somber when we reflect on the death of so many of our loved ones. Many are facing a change from warm, sunny days to cold dark dreariness. For the aged and infirm it can be a particularly troublesome time. Perhaps that's why scripture so full of hope has been chosen for this particular Sunday.

In the Book of Daniel we hear of the frightening times at the end of the world, but are given the reassurance that those who have tried to lead others to justice will reap their reward. The psalm holds the key on how we are to do this in the phrase that refers to God showing us the path to life. It also mentions that our reward is not some fancy gold-lined street as we so often hear heaven described, but rather that God Himself is our inheritance. We've already begun to reap that reward here on earth, in that as baptized Christians we're the adopted sons and daughters of God.

The second reading reassures us that Christ has made the sacrifice for our sins once and for all. That has been done. We no longer have to worry about that, although obviously we need to strive toward holiness and repent for our sins. The Gospel is like the final climax, depicting Christ coming at the end of the world and the angels being sent out to collect the just for the kingdom of God.

So what does all of this mean for us on a day to day basis? It's quite simple, as following Christ usually is. We are to ask Christ to show us the way every day. We prayerfully discern what He is asking of us and we do it. That's it! And to make things even more reassuring, we're often told in scripture, and in particular today's psalm, that Christ is with us through all of this and therefore we shouldn't be disturbed.