Can you hear it?

 

If there is one message the world needs right now, in a moment of high anxiety and seemingly unending wars, you can find it in the story of the Annunciation.  In addition to the angel’s announcement to Mary about her role in salvation history, there’s a second announcement—a reminder of something so transcendent and persistent, we might easily forget about it.

The enduring annunciation here is the annunciation of hope.

You find it right there, at the end of the proclamation of an angel, who declares this news with the gusto and enthusiasm of someone who knows he’s making history.  This figure, Gabriel, stands before a young girl whose life is being rewritten and redirected right before her eyes and what does he do?

He leaves her—and us—with this message, his parting shot: "NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD."

There you have it. All bets are off. Surrender your doubts, your questions, your worries and misgivings.  Believe the unbelievable, he says.  Embrace the mystery.  Miracles are possible.

Hope is possible.  Anything can—and will!—happen.  

We all know what comes next.  And this gospel (Luke 1:26-38), a prelude to Luke's famous account of the Nativity that we will hear at Christmas, offers us a kind of late-Advent gift, one that we need to continue to unwrap day after day, in moments of shock or wonder or worry.

When all else fails, we need to hang on to these six words, the ones that likely sustained Mary not only for the months that followed, but for the next 30 years, through a flight into Egypt and agony on a hilltop: Nothing will be impossible for God.

Maybe we’ve forgotten that.  Maybe we need to hear it, especially now.  At this dark moment in time, what is being announced is LIGHT.

Mary, we're told, was troubled at what she heard.  Of course, she was troubled.  Who wouldn't be?

But what follows is a message that defies any doubt.  In our moments of confusion, when we’re troubled by what God brings to us, we have this to hold onto.  It’s the announcement of possibility and promise.

Angels will speak.  The Spirit will come.  A virgin will conceive.  The world will be guided to a savior in a stable.  And decades hence, the blind will see.  The lost will be found.  God will raise the dead.

"How can this be?" Mary asks.

It can, because all things are possible.  Because "impossible" is not part of God's vocabulary.

There's much that we don't know about this episode from Luke's gospel.  We don't know if other words were exchanged between Mary and Gabriel.  We don't know what happened immediately after this encounter.  What's a pregnant virgin to do?  Did Mary share this news with anyone else before departing to visit her cousin Elizabeth?  It's intriguing to consider.  Writers and movie directors have created an entire industry imagining moments that Luke left out of the story.

But all that overlooks the central meaning of this pivotal scene -- and the profound message it offers in these last hours before we celebrate Christ's coming into the world.

Our God is a God without limits.  He is the God of possibility.  That possibility can even bring about something as elusive and as consoling as peace.  In our world.  In our country.  In our hearts.  Does it seem unlikely?  Remote?

When worried or troubled, filled with fear or doubt, maybe we need to ask "WWMD?"

What would Mary do?  Well, start by taking a cue from the Annunciation.  Hear the message within, the good news that defies logic, and hold on to what is really being announced.

In times of distress, we need to shut out the anxious noise of the world -- and trust enough to listen to angels.

When a mother is expecting a baby, in a way the whole family is expecting with her.  There is joy in expecting a beautiful happening to become.  There is excitement in anticipating a vacation trip that is going to be a whole new experience.  We may ask some friends and family who have been there.  Expecting keeps us young.  We look forward to the future instead of to the past.  There are always new and exciting aspects in life, if only we have the eye to see them and the gift of wonderment which children possess and grown-ups should never lose.

Christmas is such an event to come.  It is God revealing “the mystery kept secret for long ages” (Romans 16:25-27).  He wants to be present to us.  He wants to give us an image of Himself in Jesus Christ, an image that we are able to perceive with our weak human senses.  Christmas is great every year, but only for those who are expecting “Emmanuel—God with us” (Matthew 1:23) in faith and wonderment.

The hand of the Lord is with us, too

Throughout Advent, it seems we hear a lot about John the Baptist, including his birth.  Just as it is with the birth of Jesus, the birth of John the Baptist was associated with remarkable events: The appearance of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah, who was made mute after having doubts that he and Elizabeth could have a child; the fact that Elizabeth had conceived in her old age, even though she was considered barren; the fact that when John was to be named, when Zechariah affirmed Elizabeth’s statement that he was to be named John, at that moment he was able to speak and gave praises to God.  All these things told the people who knew Zechariah and Elizabeth that something special was planned for this baby: “What, then, will this child be?”

As I was reading St. Luke’s gospel this morning, I reflected on all of the commotion around naming the baby John.  The other people who were at the circumcision were ready to name him Zechariah after his father, but Elizabeth told them that he would be named John.  They pointed out to her that there was no relative with that name.  That’s when they asked Zechariah about it, and since he couldn’t speak, he wrote on a tablet, “John is his name.” (Luke 1:57-66)

The name “John” was a break from the past, and this might have been an indication of what John would be called to do.  John was a continuation of all the prophets who foretold that the Messiah would come.  But at the same time, he was the one who was preparing the people for the Messiah’s actual coming.

Like John, we have been called by name.  Like John, we’re called to point people towards Jesus.  There might not have been extraordinary events surrounding our birth, but what Luke wrote about John is true for us: “For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”  Surely the hand of the Lord is with us.  May we accept our call and herald the reality of God’s love in Jesus Christ, on the holy day of Christmas and throughout our lives.

Reading the signs through the lens of faith

 

My reflection today started with a couple of significant contrasts in Scripture that struck me as I read about Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. 

The first contrast is between today’s gospel (Luke 1:26-38), Gabriel’s visit to Zechariah the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25), and several other stories of conceptions.  In those readings we are told of a child conceived as God’s answer to a woman’s request: Manoah’s wife [the mother of Samson] (Judges 13), Sarah [the mother of Isaac] (Genesis 21), Hannah [the mother of Samuel] (1Samuel 1:9-20), and Elizabeth (Zechariah’s wife).  In today’s gospel reading the conception of Jesus is a woman’s answer to God’s request.  This is the first contrast, indeed quite a contrast.

A second contrast is Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s announcement compared to that of Zechariah’s, when told of Elizabeth’s coming pregnancy: how do I know?  Give me a sign.  I suspect that Zechariah was sorry he asked for a sign that cost him his speech until after the child was born.  Mary doesn’t ask for a sign. She does ask a question, yet it’s not a question of doubt, but rather a question asking for guidance: how do I go about what you’re asking of me?  A second contrast.

God is offering us signs in the events and circumstances of our daily living.  But we need to recognize the signs –signs of the times– that are already there and for this we need a faith vision.  Events and circumstances are only data, and they are the same for both believers and unbelievers.  Faith vision helps us to find in them a faith meaning, which in turn leads us to a faith response to the same data.

I am reminded of my own experience that seemed, at first glance, to be devastating for me.  I was struggling to support my family by working full-time at Thrifty Drug Stores in the early 90’s as a store manager.  The company was going through what turned out to be its demise by the end of the decade, and I was worried I would lose my job.  I had been promoted to be a “floating manager” of sorts, filling in for sick days and vacations for other managers.  It required me to drive a minimum of 4 hours each day in addition to a full 9-hour shift, and often on Sundays as well, leaving me little time with my family, or to attend Mass every Sunday or visit my mother as often as possible.  So I was getting frustrated and worried about the future. 

I prayed that God would send me some sort of assurance (a “sign”) that I was still in His good graces.  I was very specific in my prayer.  I prayed that I would be transferred closer to home, with time to worship on Sundays (at least), and that it could allow me more time to visit with my mother, who was by then living by herself in a small apartment in Lodi.  The day came that I was notified my position was being eliminated and my employment terminated.  As I said, I was devastated.  What was I going to do now?  This wasn’t what I asked God for!

I made a commitment to myself and my wife that I would find another job somewhere as quickly as possible with the intention of possibly going back to school as well, and study to be a pharmacist.  Again, God had other plans for me.

A few days after leaving Thrifty, I saw an ad in the paper that U-Haul was hiring Manager Trainees.  The pay wasn’t great—in fact, I would be seeing an almost 50% cut in pay from what I was making at Thrifty, but the benefits were outstanding, and I needed those desperately since we had two children at home to take care of.  I went through a pretty rigorous interview process with about 40 other candidates for the position at one of three locations.  I was chosen as one of the three new hires!  There were two positions available in Stockton, where I live, and one in Lodi (8 miles from Stockton), so I would be close to home.  I would have to work 5 full days and one half-day, but I would get Sundays off.  And the position assigned to me was the store in Lodi, which is located across the street from where my mother was living!

I realized rather quickly that all three of my prayer requests were met! The events were not how I had envisioned they would be, but that career move provided me with: the opportunity to visit mom at least weekly and sometimes even more; to spend more time at home with my wife and children; a place of employment for the next 25 years until retirement in pretty good financial and physical shape; and most importantly, to spend more time in worship of my God, who is so good to me.

It's all about reading the signs through the eyes of faith.

In God's time

 

We all have hopes and dreams of what our life should be like or how we would like things in life to turn out.  When I was a freshman in high school, one of the first assignments I was given by my English teacher was to research and write a paper on what I wanted my career path to be.  At that point in my life, I wasn’t ready to start thinking about that kind of stuff.  I already had a job at McDonald’s that I was pretty happy with.  I mentioned this to my teacher, and she said I was selling myself short, that I could be so much more!  She suggested that I could choose a career by reading various college catalogs to find out what professional career might interest me.  I ended up writing about chiropractors and how much they could make with just a community college degree.  Of course, that was back in the late 60’s and I’m pretty sure one needs a lot more education now to become a chiropractor.

Later on in the semester we were assigned the task of describing what our hopes and dreams were in the future.  Again, I had no clue.  I was a teenager just trying to adjust to high school.  One thing I had realized from the first assignment though, was that I didn’t want to be a chiropractor.  I was happy at McDonald’s, even though it was part-time.  I had a few friends, but no girlfriends.  I was in the Boy Scouts and band.  I was an ordinary, normal kid.  I wrote my paper thinking I would have an ordinary life, with an ordinary job and maybe an ordinary family with ordinary kids.  It wasn’t a hope or dream, it was just life.

By my senior year though, I at least had an idea what I wanted to make my career in—or so I thought.  I was going to major in law enforcement and become a CHP officer, using that experience as a springboard into the governorship.  That senior year was the year that my father passed away, and my mom and I, along with my younger brother, moved north to Jackson, California.   I enrolled in the local (50 miles away) community college to study law enforcement.  I also got a transfer from the McDonald’s where I was working in Northridge to the McDonald’s in Stockton, a few blocks from the college.  To help Mom with the rent and other necessities of life, I went to a full-time position, and several promotions followed, eventually into management.  It was at this McDonald’s that I met my wife, Marilyn.  If I had followed my freshman year teacher’s advice to seek a “professional” career, this blessing would not have happened, or the many blessings that have followed since!

I continued to lead my ordinary life, but now I had an extraordinary wife to share it with.  She helped me realize that being in law enforcement and politics would not be a good fit for me.  I was good at retail management, and I could make a good living out of it.  But we soon wanted more, as most married couples do.  Much like the parents of Samson and John the Baptist, we had a desire to bring new life into the world (Judges 13:2-25, Luke 1:5-25).  We had the desire to be blessed with the gift of at least one child.  We were eventually blessed with two daughters and three grandchildren! 

As parents one finds themselves wanting more for their children.  From a secular standpoint “the more” to some is to seek to fulfill the desire of fake riches of success and freedom to do whatever one desires or feels like.  From a godly perspective “the more” is to seek to fulfill the desire of God the Father, as His son or daughter and true freedom to do His will.  For some that have been made aware of such a gift to our children, we too consecrate them to the Lord, to be set apart for the service of God.  I, for one, envy the parents of priests and nuns.  How special is that grace!

From the beginning, Samson and John the Baptist’s parents weren’t even sure if they would even have children yet in God’s time they did.  As with their story we hear of the normal everyday events and yet as their life journey unfolds, we see how it was all directed to God and His timing in answering their prayers.

So, do we want this for ourselves?  For our loved ones?  After all, aren’t we all a gift from God created for His service?

Who are the prophets among us?

 

Elijah was a big deal for the Israelites.  Sirach recounts his wondrous deeds, asking “How awesome are you… Whose glory is equal to yours?” (Sirach 48:1-11) For the Israelites it was hard to imagine someone greater than Elijah who performed miracles, brought a dead man back to life and anointed the prophet Elisha as his successor.  Jesus’ disciples were no exception.

In Matthew’s account of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:9-13), Peter, James, and John see Jesus transfigured and speaking with Moses and Elijah.  As they come down the mountain, they don’t ask about Jesus’ altered appearance or what Moses had to say.  Instead, they focus only on Elijah.

Jesus patiently explains that we no longer need to wait for Elijah's return.  Elijah has already come, and the disciples immediately knew He was speaking about John the Baptist.  After all, there are obvious parallels.  John’s odd diet, clothing, and desert life resemble that of Elijah.  And both endured persecution: Elijah from King Ahab and John from Herod Antipas.  So why did they miss this?  Caught up with the “celebrity” status of Elijah, they overlooked the prophet John in their midst.

So, I wonder: Who are the prophets among us?  Is it the famous actor or politician or the homeless man on the street we pass each day on our way to work?  Do we hear a prophetic message in a profound song lyric or do commercial jingles distract us?  Can we take time, in silence, to listen to the prophetic voices in our lives?

True prophets speak the truth in a way that challenges us to grow closer to God and to others.  False prophets spread lies and half-truths that reject Jesus’ teachings.  Pray that we may all discern the true prophetic voices in our lives this Advent.

Wisdom is vindicated by her works

In Matthew (11:16-19), Jesus refers to children in a crowded and busy marketplace who are playing music with no response.  People are likely passing by with other things on their minds, tasks to do, and essentially not only ignoring the music, but failing to respond to it.  Jesus then reminds the crowd that John lived a life of asceticism by not eating and drinking and prophesying about the coming of the Messiah.  Rather than listening to his message and responding accordingly, those nearby either ignored him or said he was “possessed by a demon.”  Jesus refers to Himself as well when He notes the Son of Man came before them and was noted as a glutton and drunk who befriended tax collectors and sinners.  He, like John, is rejected for His lifestyle and His willingness to interact with those often shunned by society.  I can’t help but hear the frustration in Jesus’ words.  But as Jesus notes, “Wisdom is vindicated by her works.”  If we’re wise and not only listen to, but take action based on the word of God, we will be vindicated.

As we proceed through Advent and prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, let’s remind ourselves of the importance of taking time to pause from our hectic holiday routines.  Set aside time now and then to listen for and to God’s words.  And rather than finding reasons to reject His message as the people did with John and the Son of Man, let’s reflect on how we can best convert His words into works during the holiday season and, to do so based on what Jesus taught us to do and modeled for us.  As we remember from John 13 – “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  And this holds true whether the other be a tax collector, a sinner, someone with a different lifestyle, or someone with divergent religious or political beliefs – be it Jew or Palestinian.  These are times filled with misunderstandings and conflicts.  It’s so important for us to focus on listening to others and to the Word of God, and then acting on what Jesus taught us.  Let’s be understanding, empathic, and peace loving in all we do. Let’s work with, and not against, others to create a better community, nation, and world – for it will be through these works that we will be vindicated.

I wanna be like John!

If you’re of a certain age, you might remember the ad slogan in the 90’s, “I wanna be like Mike!”  The Mike being referenced was the legendary basketball star Michael Jordan.  The product being advertised was Gatorade and the premise was if you drank Gatorade you could play ball like Mike.  As I reflected on today’s gospel (Matthew 11:11-15) that slogan came back to me, but instead of Mike I’ve been thinking, “I wanna be like John”.

John the Baptist was a central leader and prophet in his time.  He had many followers, some of whom would later become Jesus’s disciples.  He had what might be considered rockstar status for his day and age.  However, when Jesus enters the scene John steps aside.  He understands that Jesus is the true prophet.  He has the humility to understand that all the preaching, baptizing, traveling around the country wasn’t about him, it was about Jesus.  He helped to pave the way for Jesus’ message to be heard.

Yep, I wanna be like John.  I want to be humble enough to listen to God’s voice.  I want to be like John and get out of my own way and let Jesus work His wonder in my life.  I want to be like John and spread light and goodness in this world.  I wanna be like John.

As we pray throughout this Advent season let’s play ball like John the Baptist.  In doing so we’ll be preparing ourselves to receive our most precious gift, Jesus the Savior.

I need a little rest

 

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Being retired is good, for the most part.  There are a couple of drawbacks, though.  I miss the camaraderie of my former coworkers a lot lately.  The other is having to deal with insurance coverage that tends to change every year.  In the last 5 years that I’ve been retired, my insurance plans have changed 4 times!  Most of the changes are insignificant, but a few of them have aggravated me to no end.  The first aggravating change was when I had to switch my primary care physician, as the doctor I’ve had for over 30 years was not an “approved” physician for that plan.  Another change is that some of the specialists I’ve been seeing, as well as other health care providers have led to frustration and other less-than-Christian thoughts on my part.  The most annoying is that the company who was providing me with my CPap (a device to help me with my sleep apnea) supplies stopped providing that service and my sleeping of late is not very good.  My sleep doctor and I have figured it out and new supplies are on the way, but Jesus’ invitation in Matthew’s gospel provided me with my reflection today.

One of the most delightful and healthy activities in life is sleep.  This is especially the case when one is able to enter into a deep and refreshing sleep.  Upon awakening, the person who has slept deeply feels refreshed and ready for a new day.  Of course, the opposite is also true.  When sleep is difficult and restless, the person can suffer numerous ill effects, especially when a lack of healthy sleep becomes the norm.

The same is true in our spiritual lives.  For many people, “spiritual rest” is something foreign to them.  They may say a few prayers each week, attend Mass, or even make a holy hour.  But unless each one of us enters into a form of prayer that is deep and transforming, we won’t be able to experience the interior spiritual rest we need.

Jesus’ invitation to “Come to me…” is an invitation to become transformed, interiorly, as we allow Him to relieve us of the burdens of our daily lives.  Each day we often face spiritual hardships and challenges, such as temptations, confusions, disappointments, angers and the like.  We’re often daily bombarded with the lies of the devil and his minions, the hostility of a growing secularized culture and an assault on our senses through the numerous forms of social media we digest.  These and many other things we encounter each and every day will have the effect of wearing us down interiorly on a spiritual level.  As a result, we need the spiritual refreshment that comes only from our Lord.  We need the spiritual “sleep” that results from deep and revitalizing prayer.  And that form of prayer is only possible if we heed Christ’s invitation to come to Him with every fiber of our being, surrendering all that we are and all that we encounter each and every day.

God never gives up on us

 “In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”  (Matthew 18:14)

Jesus makes this statement after telling the parable of the one lost sheep.  The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and goes searching diligently for that little one.  The parable goes on to state that, “If he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray” (Matthew 18:13).

We are all “one of these little ones.”  At first, it may seem unfair that the shepherd rejoices more over the one lost sheep than over the ninety-nine.  But if we understand that each and every one of us is that one lost sheep, it makes sense.

As I ponder this parable, I think it’s essential that I reflect upon the deep desire of the Shepherd to find me.  I look at His concern, His tireless effort and His diligence in seeking me out.  This is the care God has for me, and for each of us.

I am reminded of an experience I had many years ago.  When I was working, I had to drive a lot and stay out of town longer than I would be at home with the family.  There were days when I was so lonely for them, I would almost be in tears.  I was having one of those days when I turned on the car radio and Mother Angelica (the foundress of EWTN) was on.  Actually, the program was reruns of the weekly shows she hosted from 1983 to 2001.  She was talking about loneliness and feeling “lost”.   She said something that was obvious, yet deep at the same time: “We only feel lonely when we think we’re alone.”  At first, I thought “Duh”.   But the deeper I thought about it, I realized that we’re never alone, we need not feel lonely.  Jesus will always be there, but we need to get to know Him better so that it will be easier to recognize Him.  

The best way to get to know Him is to talk with Him in prayer and listen to Him in meditation.

As the Psalms proclaim: "Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High; Then call upon me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me." (Psalms 50:14-15)

Being lonely and “lost” in our sin is not a pleasant experience.  Sin brings fear, despair, confusion, anger and the like.  But if we can turn our eyes to the Good Shepherd in the midst of our sinfulness, we will regain hope.  We will regain hope that our God cares for us so much that He will never stop searching for us.  And when He finds us, His heart will be filled with the greatest joy!

We all have a journey to make

 “We all have a journey to make.”  This is what I thought as I was talking to some recent acquaintances earlier today when they asked me about where I grew up, what I did for a living, and all those other things people ask one another when they’re trying to get to know them better.   Then I got home to read scripture and reflect and that line jumped out to me.  I don’t believe in coincidence.  I very much believe in Providence. 

“It is for those with a journey to make.”  Isaiah has a beautiful way of giving us God’s promises, painting a lovely picture – he turns the desert into flowers and song, certainly a bit of heaven for a people who have spent generations in the desert, wandering, yearning for the relief of God’s love.  The coming of God will bring healing, strength, and abundant water for man and beast.  A holy way, a highway will be there for those with a journey to make (Isaiah 35:1-10).

Pondering my journey in life, I realize it has had many different paths, yet all of them have ultimately led me to God, each in its unique way.  Even the detours—and there have been many—have taught me the direction better taken.  But then I acknowledge that even those wandering side trips have taught me perhaps more and better than if I had stayed on “the holy way.”   As I grow older, I see God’s hand in all I have done or has been done to me, and in all these I see what they all were- streams bursting forth in the desert, burning sands turned to pools.

I believe the optimism of Isaiah’s prophecies is real, not whistling in the wind.  For all the evil we see in the world today, I believe there is even more goodness and love, God here with us.  “Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy…..sorrow and mourning will flee.”

“Behold, our Savior will come; you need no longer fear.”  (Isaiah 35:4)

Prepare the way

Advent, the first liturgical season of each new Church year, provides an opportunity, if we choose to accept it, to pause from the frenetic pace that often characterizes our lives in the pre-Christmas season and take time to reflect on the amazing gift that God has given us in Jesus.

Unfortunately, Advent seems to pass more quickly each year, and we can fail to take full advantage of it. This year, it will end even sooner than in other years.  The fourth Sunday of Advent is Christmas Eve, depriving us of a fourth week of Advent.  For some of us, this may add to the stress of preparing for the Christmas holiday rather than the Christmas holyday.

The scriptures for this second Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 40:1-11, Mark 1:1-8) can help re-focus us on the meaning and purpose of this season and on how it can enrich our lives.  At the beginning of his gospel, Mark quotes the words of Isaiah from the first reading, “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; He will prepare your way.  A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”

Isaiah’s prophecy describes the return of the exiles to Jerusalem from their captivity in Babylon.  It is God who leads them and makes the return easy.  In the gospel, Mark applies Isaiah’s words to the coming of Jesus and to John the Baptist, the messenger who prepares the way for Him.  

John did this by calling the people to repent and by baptizing with water all who acknowledged their sins.  His ministry served as a prelude to the ministry of Jesus, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  In pointing the way to Christ, John, in all humility, acknowledged, “One greater than I is coming after me. I am not worthy even to loosen his sandal straps.”

This Advent we’re preparing to welcome Christ into what has become a very divided and troubled world, a world much in need of the coming of the Prince of Peace.  Today’s readings can help us reflect on that need and on what we might do to prepare the way for Christ to enter into our lives and the lives of others this Christmas. 

Hopefully, you will find some quiet time during this coming week to think about that.  If you can, these questions may assist your reflection.

What obstacles do I need to remove from my life? What rough places in my heart need smoothing to allow me to welcome Christ?

How can I prepare a path so that God may work in others through me?

Am I willing to be a messenger of peace for someone: a family member or friend who has lost faith in the Church; a recent immigrant trying to make a new life here; or the person who is discriminated against because of their lifestyle, race, religion, or political views?

How might I be that messenger in spite of any obstacles I encounter?

May your prayer and reflection be fruitful and lead you to prepare the way so that you and others can encounter Christ anew this Christmas. 

Blessed waiting

 

Isaiah (Chapter 30) and the Psalms (27) reminds us that "blessed are all those who wait for the Lord".  I have never been fond of or good at waiting.

I am reminded of an experience I had that was both very humorous and poignant.  A few years ago, I was pulling up to the Cathedral at 6:29 for the 6:30 a.m. daily mass.  I thought I was going to be late.  I was surprised to see twenty-five to thirty people sitting and standing on the front steps instead of inside the church.  Two of the men I saw I know as sacristans (those who get the church ready for mass each morning).  There was also three of the local Dominican sisters who were there to attend mass.

There were different discussions about a possible key snafu and one of the sacristans said he was unable to do the key exchange the previous night.  “But don’t worry, Father will open everything up when he gets here.”, one of them said with a wink, “Unless he oversleeps again!”

The camaraderie of the crowd was, to me, what I sometimes imagine it was like when the Apostles and the early disciples were sitting around waiting for Jesus to return from one of His solitary prayer moments.  There was a lot of idle chatter about health, the weather, and so on; but it was tinged with an anxiousness to have Jesus present with us in the Eucharist.

A couple of people were a little testy, wondering why there weren’t contingency plans in place.  But Catholics are nothing, if not joyful in the face of adversity!

One of the men present had his knee all bandaged up, and was lamenting to another: “The doctor thought he fixed it, but it looks like he has to go back in.”  To which the other guy said, laughing, “You know, if you had the faith of a mustard seed that would be healed by now!” (Luke 17:6, Matthew 17:20).  The whole crowd laughed out loud at the good-natured ribbing between the two men.

Just then, a younger man walked up, looked at the crowd, and knocked on the door.  A voice out of the crowd said, “Jesus said ‘knock and the door will be opened’ (Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9), but that’s not true today!”  Another voice started singing, “Knock Knock Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Guns N Roses), then one of the sisters playfully chimed in with “I hear you knockin’ but you can’t come in!,” to which another of the nuns sang the next line, “No no no no!” (Dave Edmunds).  Despite the morning chill, it was almost fun to be waiting!

A couple of people got tired of waiting or were running late for work and started leaving.  One of the sacristans said—to no one in particular, “...they all left him and fled.” (Mark 14:50).  Someone else in the crowd said, “Do you think we should leave, too?”  The only response I could think of was, “To whom shall we go?” (John 6: 67,68)

At almost the same time, we heard the door opening from the inside, then Father appeared in the doorway apologetically, and those of us who had remained to celebrate mass let out a cheer.

I looked at the time, and it was 6:40.  Father was only 10 minutes late.  A wave of sadness came over me for those who didn’t have enough patience to wait a mere 10 minutes to experience the miracle of the Eucharist.  And then wave of guilt hit me, because I realized that I had judged those who left without knowing their reasons for doing so.  I really have to work on that—among my many flaws, that should be the easiest to fix.

The Bible passages I read today in preparation for this post tell of a God who is gracious and answers our needs.  He gives us food and drink.  He binds up our wounds and heals our bruises.  He sustains the lowly (Isaiah 30:19-26).

Holidays can be tough on some folks.  Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for the troubled and abandoned. He is a good shepherd.  He calls us to be like Him (Matthew 9:35-10:8).  

May this Advent be a time of lifting up those who are troubled.  Never fear – our Lord will come.  Blessed are all those who wait for the Lord!

Prayer is everything

 

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux once wrote that, “prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy”.

Saint John Damascene wrote that, “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God”.

St Augustine adds that “prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him”.

Prayer is a lot of things.

Aside from the Eucharist, there’s no more examined aspect of our faith than that of prayer.  Saints and mystics have proposed countless methods, liturgies, verbiage, postures, and songs to help us delve deeper into the act of prayer.  There’s enough literature devoted to learning how to pray to fill a cathedral-sized library twelve times over.

So why does my personal prayer life seem inadequate to me lately?  I feel my prayer life is so bad I took it to the confessional tonight.  I confessed that my prayer life, and consequently my relationship with God is not what I believe it should be.  Sure, I pray my Rosary every day, but do I pray it, or simply go through the motions?  I go to Mass every Sunday and on holy days of obligation, but a lot of times I’m too distracted to fully participate in the liturgy.  I confessed that I felt my prayer life was better when I was motivated to write my daily reflections in my blog, but that I wasn’t motivated to write as of late and I had no good reasons for my laziness.  I feel that the priest, in personae Christi (acting in the person of Christ), came up with a novel idea (no pun intended) for my penance.  He said, “You feel your relationship with Christ is strengthened through writing your reflections, so your penance is to do just that!  Write your reflections every day for 7 days, even if you don’t feel like it.  And start with admitting that your prayer life is suffering.  Some of your readers may be going through the same thing.  By helping yourself, you’re helping them.”  Wow.  So here goes…….

I think where I am in my prayer life can depend on many factors:

The state of my soul.  As I get older and closer to my final judgement, this weighs very heavily on my mind.

My holy longings.  I reflect a lot on not just my own soul, but what can I do to bring others—especially family and close friends—closer to Christ.

My tendencies toward distraction.  Lately, I have the attention span of a gnat.  The slightest noise or movement in my peripheral vision makes me completely forget what I am trying to concentrate on.

My emotions.  There’s a lot of things going on not just in my own little circle of life in the home, but in the world that make me sad, mad, and frustrated.  It seems there’s more suffering than is necessary, in my opinion.

My intellect.  Sometimes, even though I consider myself a faithful and hopeful Catholic, I can find myself questioning the logic of the existence of God.

My will.  This may be the toughest obstacle to my prayer life.  I sometimes think, “What’s the point, if You’re not going to listen and give me what I pray for?”

But in the grand scheme of things prayer isn’t a set of metrics or a spoken incantation of sorts– it’s a calling.  Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26).

These “wordless groans” prompt our souls at every second of our lives and, consequently, demand a response on our part.

How we react is deemed prayer.

The Catholic Church teaches that there are certain steps that we are called to by the Spirit in order to travel into a deeper, more meaningful prayer life.

Vocal prayer

When we are young, we’re taught to pray by speaking to God using our oral words.  We memorize prayers, recite them, and converse with our Lord in silent or audible conversation.  We can also sing, recite the rosary or pray the Liturgy of the Hours in this method of prayer.  In fact, the greatest of all prayers, the Holy Mass, is celebrated vocally and would fit into this category as well.

Vocal prayer is where we start.

Meditative prayer

Meditative prayer takes vocal prayer one step further and unites the words with the imagination of the one praying.  When we read scripture and place ourselves in the scenes as if we were there is an example of meditative prayer.  Lectio divina, where one reads a few verses from Scripture and ponders them in silence is meditative prayer.  In this method, the Spirit not only prompts us to respond, but invites us to participate in the life of faith. Through Christ, through whom all prayer is devoted, we learn how to imitate Him.

Meditative prayer is the second step toward gaining a deeper prayer life.

Contemplative Prayer

Contemplative prayer takes the fundamentals of vocal prayer, the knowledge gained from meditative prayer, and unites them with a metaphysical understanding of God’s all-encompassing power, knowledge, strength and love.  By the grace of wisdom, a contemplative can peer into the world and see not only the beauty of created nature, but the heavens that dwell therein.  Through contemplation, the whole world is illuminated by the Spirit.  One sees things as God sees them, and responds to them as God responds – with a divine outpouring of love.

Active Prayer

Active prayer takes what is learned from vocal, meditative, and/or contemplative prayer and applies it into the world through charity.  Love becomes manifest in our actions be they as small as a smile or as big as taking final vows to enter the religious life.  Giving of our time, talent and treasure is how we show the world that we are Catholic.  It is what gives our faith life (James 2:17).  

Again, as part of my contrition, I confess that I’m weak in this form of prayer.  Could I give more in the collection plate?  Yes.  Could I volunteer for one or more of the social programs my church provides to the community?  Absolutely.  Are there areas where my particular talents for discernment, training, and follow through could be of service to the parish?  Possibly.

Prayer, then, is more than the mere sum of our methods and traits.

It is the vast array of dialogue we have with others, ourselves and our Lord.

It is the desire to act, as well as the subsequent actions (or inactions) that follow.

It’s our interaction with nature.

It’s a simple, or complex, thought.

It is the understanding of learned knowledge and the wisdom to know what to do with said intelligence.

It is the asking for and receiving of grace.

It’s the strength and power to press on when life is difficult.

It’s the elation of joy when we hear good news.

In short, prayer isn’t just one thing.

Prayer is everything.

Blessed eyes

 

Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”  (Luke 10:23–24)

What did the disciples see that made their eyes “blessed?”  Clearly, they were blessed to see our Lord.  Jesus was the One promised by the prophets and kings of old, and now He was there, in flesh and bone, present for the disciples to see Him.  Though we don’t have the privilege to “see” our Lord in the same way that the disciples did some 2,000 years ago, we are privileged to see Him in countless other ways in our daily lives, if we only have “eyes that see” and ears to hear.

Since the time of Jesus’ appearance on Earth, in the flesh, so much has changed.  The Apostles were eventually filled with the Holy Spirit and sent forth on a mission to change the world.  The Church was established, the Sacraments were instituted, the teaching authority of Christ was exercised, and countless saints have given witness to the Truth with their lives.  The past 2,000 years have been years in which Christ was continually made manifest to the world in countless ways.

Today, Christ is still present and continues to stand before us.  If we have the eyes and ears of faith, we won’t miss Him day in and day out. We’ll see and understand the countless ways that He speaks to us, leads us and guides us every day.  I think the first step toward this gift of sight and hearing is our desire.  Do you desire the Truth?  Do you desire to see Christ?  Or are you satisfied with the many confusions of life that seek to distract you from what is most real and most life-changing?

The prophets and kings of old “desired” to see the Messiah.  We’re privileged to have Him alive in our presence today, speaking to us and calling to us continually.  Foster within yourself a desire for our Lord. Allow it to become a blazing flame which longs to consume all that is true and all that is good.  Desire God.  Desire His Truth.  Desire His guiding hand in your life and allow Him to bless you beyond what you can fathom.

Trust, Vigilance, and Prayer

If anyone ever wonders if we need Jesus in our world, we only need watch the news these days.  The suffering of innocent people, especially children, is so very painful to watch.  It’s heart wrenching to see war-torn areas where land is polluted with military hardware, and basic human needs are not being met.  Powerful organizations and nations run roughshod over Creation and human rights, exercising their power and control, and violating the ancient commands from Genesis 2:15  to “work in and take care of the Garden (Earth)” and from Deuteronomy 18:19 and 30:31 to “love your neighbor as yourself”.

The prophet Daniel was deeply disturbed over some similarly terrible scenes.  He vividly saw the empires that dominated the world of his time, and he anguished as we do when cherished spiritual values were being violated (Daniel 7:15-27).  Daniel was one of the many Jews taken into exile in Babylon, who were persecuted for their faith.  But he persevered in his faith and his confidence in God.  I’m thinking about the story of “Daniel in the Lion’s Den”, when Daniel and his companions were saved from being devoured by lions, by the power of God (Daniel Chapter 6).

Jesus didn’t flee from this imperfect and hurting world either, and following His example, Christians are obligated to work for justice and peace (prayer is a good way to do this).  In order for us to accompany those who are suffering, and to persevere in working for justice and peace, we need to be prepared spiritually.  And in the Gospels, Jesus tells His disciples (and us) how to do that:

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth.

Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”  (Luke 21:34-36)

So I ask:  Could sobriety regarding substances, turning our lives over to God in trust, vigilance, and prayer be the spiritual practices we’re called to do this Advent?

A time to reflect

 

Just one more month and we’ll be finishing another calendar year.  One of the constants of this time of year is that in the coming weeks, we’ll hear reflections on the news, music, entertainment, sports, and so forth from around the world in 2023.  Those reviews are almost always followed by talk of New Year’s resolutions.

In the liturgical sense, we’re down to today and tomorrow.  Advent, and the new liturgical year, starts Sunday.  Our biblical readings recently, have been focused on the end times.  Certainly, a focus on the long view of our salvation is important to keep in mind.  My recent seventieth birthday celebration, has made me realize that it might be a good idea if I borrow from the calendar year traditions and take a closer look at my current relationship with God. 

The close of the liturgical year is an appropriate time to reflect on our spiritual journey over the past year and prepare our new liturgical year resolutions.  There is no formula to follow, no right or wrong process for reflection.  My usual method is to just sit quietly with God and open my heart to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Here are some of the questions I ask myself pretty regularly in my reflections.  How have I grown spiritually?  How have I fallen short in my growth?  Have I made time in my life for meditation and conversations with God?  In what ways did I follow the two greatest commandments:  love God and love my neighbor…and how and when did I fail to do so?  

The act of remembering our past is a powerful way to connect with God.  This is our opportunity to give thanks for the blessings we received, to ask forgiveness for our shortcomings, and to pray for the wisdom to carry forward the lessons we have learned into the new liturgical year and calendar year.

Holding fast to a lifetime faith

Even within the ‘bubble’ of a “lifetime faith” (a way of life I have known since I was a child), I sometimes need a ‘faith with a faith’ to hold fast to the fact that Jesus is the image of God.

Every time my mind is stretched in that direction, and I learn something new about Jesus as the revelation of God and thus gain some insight into the mystery of God, I can so easily slip backward.  That is, when I relax or pause from being contemplative, I can easily tend to revert to deeply held and usually unconscious feelings about God that tend to reinforce old images.  It’s as if humankind has a default position when it comes to the divine, and it re-sets itself every time we pause our prayer or lose focus on Jesus Himself.

Jesus is more than the image of God, true as that is.  He shows us the dynamic life of God and the kind of life God wants to live with us.  In His every word, deed, attitude, and teaching Jesus is revelation itself.   His life was and is with us in the Resurrection, lived in an ongoing dynamic of revelation, healing, compassion and compassionate leadership to bring us home to God.

It takes some faith to truly appreciate that everything we see, hear and feel when we contemplate Jesus is a revelation of God.

To be in a relationship with Jesus enables us to know God and is not so much about proofs (“show us the Father”) [John 14:8], but rather it is to step out into life each day trusting that He is the way, truth and life [John 14:6].  To adhere to His vision and to live like Jesus, as best we can, is to know God.  It’s as simple and as profoundly mysterious as that.

The challenge for each one of us, life-long followers as we may be or newly commissioned disciples, is to not take this relationship for granted, but rather to keep growing in faith.  “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you still do not know me?” asks Jesus of Philip [John 14:6-14].

The question can be a talisman-like one for us, one to keep close and ‘wear’ so that it can serve as a reminder and challenge us to greater depths.  It’s a question for us to take into this day and indeed, into life. 

We report--you decide

 

Today is the feast of Mark the evangelist.  He is the writer of the first and shortest gospel.  His gospel is the most vivid and informal because it was probably the first recorded (AD 60-70).  In some ways it’s the most descriptive Gospel, yet he writes with a sense of urgency, as if Christ’s return is close at hand.

Mark’s gospel [Mark 16:15-20] speaks of visible wonders achieved through faith like expelling demons and drinking deadly poison.  The phrase in this passage that grabs my attention is Jesus’ words to His disciples to “Go into the world and proclaim the good news to all creation.”  And they did that.  They went to lands far and near and shared the Good News with people rich and poor, thin and fat, fair and dark skinned.  For over two millennia, good people — in the kitchen, at home, in the fields, at the office, in schools, in factories, or in other workplaces — have spread Jesus’ message and not always used words.  They have “clothed themselves with humility” as St. Peter recommends [1Peter 5:5-15]. Their actions and attitudes have shown that they love because they’ve experienced great love in their personal lives.

At times I ponder how well I proclaim the good news of Jesus.  I can easily identify times that I’ve left that for priests to do, not wanting to be bothered with the role or responsibility of proclaiming the good news.  I give excuses like I don’t want to stand out or offend those who do not believe, yet the followers of Jesus went to non-believers when they proclaimed the good news.  They stood out for the good news even to the point of death.

Another excuse I use is that I don't know what good news to proclaim.  The good news seems different for different people.  To some, Jesus dying on the cross is good news, to others it's his resurrection, and still others, it’s the fact that God became human and dwelt among us.  Many people can continue this list of the good news of Jesus.  Not knowing what good news to proclaim, I’ve remained silent, even when little opportunities have presented themselves.  These are the confessions of an elderly Catholic.  Sure there are many more excuses that have been used in the past, but Mark’s gospel calls us to proclaim the good news of Jesus.  Without excuses or limits, the risen Christ is calling upon us to not just spread the message but proclaim the good news.  It may be slightly different good news depending on whom we interact with, but we’re all presented with situations where the good news needs to be proclaimed. 

I surmise that some missionaries have probably been inspired by this Gospel passage as Christ’s command to baptize others.  In the US, we are a pluralistic society, where I personally have experienced goodness and kindness from Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and even (gasp!) atheists.  Many of them are more Christ-like in their words and actions than I am.  Should they be converted, or is it I who needs conversion?  Rather than worry about “baptizing” people of other faiths, I would rather focus on these words that end Mark’s Gospel: “The Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.”

Two slogans came to my mind today (inspired by the Holy Spirit?) that pretty much sum up my thoughts on this gospel: “Go Greyhound—and leave the driving to us!” and “We report—you decide.” 

My prayer today is that we, too, are given the grace and courage of Mark the Evangelist so that others will know the good news of Jesus through our words and actions and allow Him to lead us all to the Father.