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Homily

Fourth Sunday of Advent –     Forever song!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

2 Sm. 7:1-5,8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps. 89:2-5, 27, 29; Rom. 16:25-27; Lk. 1:26-38

The “forever song” reaches to the heavens, the sweetest melody we can sing to the Lord.  “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord!  What song do we sing to the Lord this day?  It is the song that springs from the heart, mind and soul of our daily journey of faith.  What we do sings louder than what we say.  We sign the goodness of the Lord by our good deeds that proclaim his goodness.  The forever song implies in good times and in bad we recall the Lord’s goodness that it may serve a greater purpose in God’s time.

The goodness of the Lord in king David’s time was a foundation for the greater kingdom to come. The throne of king David would become the kingdom of Christ the king.  King David wanted to “build a house” for the ark of the covenant but the Lord’s response was to ask “should you build me a house to dwell in?  It was I who took you from the pasture…”  Lesson learned for king David and for us is that it is the Lord who grants us not only what we have but our very breath. 

What can we do for the Lord cannot come out from the “I” of our pride, vanity, or egocentric vision.  What we can do for the Lord must come from his calling, our obedience, and our self-giving.  It is not about our song for him but his song for us.  He is giving us a song to sing for him to the world.  It is the “forever song”. 

Advent is the revelation of the coming of the “mystery kept secret for long ages” but becoming present to us in our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.  This mystery was revealed not only in prophetic writings but through the life of God’s people.  Centuries have added their own chorus to the forever song becoming incarnated into his own people in obedience to his calling.  Their chorus foretold the coming of the Lord and while our lives continue to announce his coming, we also have the gift to announce his presence in our lives.  Rather than write an obituary of our life what if we wrote our chorus contributing to the forever song coming from Christ.  That chorus is being already written as we dedicate ourselves to the goodness of the Lord. 

The gospel is the beginning of Mary’s forever song to Christ.  It is about to be revealed to the world in her “Magnificat” as she begins with the words “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word.”  There is no obituary for Mary but there is her forever song we continue to sing for her.   The gospel today reveals the announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary where we get to see and understand not only the revelation from God but what is about to be his incarnation in Mary.  We see Mary’s humanity and her dedication to God’s divinity.  How is the Lord becoming incarnated in us, in our forever song this day? 

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Homily

Third Sunday of Advent – My soul rejoices!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 61:1-2A, 10-11; Ps. Lk1:46-50, 53-54; 1 Thes. 5:16-24; Jn. 1:6-8, 19-28

“My soul rejoices in my God…because the spirit of the Lord is upon me”.  Today we rejoice because despite the sinfulness of our humanity his mercy has covered us “with a robe of salvation” through the waters of baptism.  In baptism we are given a divine purpose to know ourselves by, to live our divine image, and to be called sons and daughters of our God. 

“Who are you?” is the question posed to John the Baptist.  His response was first to be sure to clarify that he was not the Christ adding, “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie”. He then identifies himself with scripture from Isaiah as “the voice crying out in the desert.”  When we enter the waters of baptism, we become a new creation with a divine purpose coming God.  How would we answer the question “who are you?”  In our human understanding we likely would answer the question by our birth name and some may even identify themselves as the son or daughter of our parent’s name. 

The Pharisees were seeking a name, a divine name from John.  John gave them a purpose for his being.  When we discover our purpose our path in life become clear in our call to serve God.  God provides the power to serve through the channel of his grace.  When we look to our blessed Mother Mary, she is often identified by many titles in the many ways she serves God.  The same is said of St. Joseph in the litany to St. Joseph.  Consider for a moment what stands out in our life in the many ways we serve our Lord.  What litany can be said of us? 

The other way to look at this is to ask ourselves “where does our passion lie and what does our soul rejoice in?”  If our passion and soul rejoice only in what serves our interests and needs then we remain apart from God, we “quench the Spirit” and God is still waiting for us return to him.  This is the struggle of the flesh and our own spirit.  The spirit is to discipline the flesh.  This is the primary test we face that we may be ready for what the world will bring us without fear. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon us and we give witness to our faith by our acts of service bringing God’s love, mercy, and justice.  Our life becomes adorned with the light of Christ and my soul rejoices.  We rejoice in the Lord’s coming even while we may endure hardship, suffering, pain, or persecution.  There is one among us who the world does not recognize but we recognize as Christ.  He has come into the world and continues to come to the souls who know how to cry out to him.  Christ is our battle cry who goes before us, with us, behind us, above us and lifts us up to the heavens. 

Amen. 

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Homily

Second Sunday of Advent – Prepare the way!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 40:1-5, 9-11; Ps. 85:9-14; 2 PT. 3:8-14; Mk. 1:1-8

Prepare the way of the Lord!  The Lord’s way is not our way so the Lord is calling us to more than just changing the way we live, he is seeking a transformation of mind, heart and soul, and a mastery of our flesh.  Prepare the way of the Lord in our very being beginning with an act of repentance.  The was the message of John the Baptist that the Lord’s way begins with repentance for our sins that is why he came before Jesus preparing the way for his coming.  Do we desire the Lord’s coming?  We hasten his coming by “conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion”. 

Isaih calls us to “Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God.”  The wasteland is all the sin and corruption of souls by a culture of death.  The “highway for our God” is the sacramental life he left us in his church.  The young Carlo Acutis who died at the age of 15 and was beatified in 2020 called the eucharist his “highway to heaven”.  He used his computer programming skills to promote devotion to the eucharist documenting Eucharistic miracles.  He took who he was, his skills, his youthfulness, his interests and he used them to proclaim there is a God and he is in the Eucharist.  He is a modern –day John the Baptist proclaiming in the wasteland of our times to prepare the way of the Lord. 

Preparing the way of the Lord begins from within and matures into a calling in the way we honor, serve and give glory to God.  From within we come to believe there is a God, we are his creation, and he is calling us to himself.  What is our response, “here I am Lord” or “not yet Lord”?  Once we know there is a God, we play with fire if we choose to ignore his call for our salvation.  Thinking back to the parables Jesus gave to the apostles and the people, they served as a warning as well as a call to something greater to come.   The Lord comes with power to reward his people and to separate the sheep from the goats. 

The power of the Lord is for this day, he “does not delay his promise”.  One day or a thousand, it is all a breath from the Lord.  The Lord is coming and the Lord has come.  The first coming we prepare to celebrate as our Christmas time, Jesus in the flesh, in a manger, walking the earth and preparing souls to receive the Holy Spirit.  The second coming we are reminded of when the “heavens will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire”.  Do we imagine a literal fire or the fire of the power of God, the fire of his light, and the fire his purging of souls?  It is the fire of his promise that also brings about “a new heaven and a new earth”. 

When we say “water and oil don’t mix” we recognize that certain circumstances cannot exist together.  Heaven and hell have a great chasm in separation of each other.   Sin and sanctity, one carries the passion of the flesh and the other the passion of the spirit.  The same is true of us if we remain in sin then we cannot receive the Lord’s justice and peace, kindness and truth, and all the benefits the Lord is prepared for those who do love and serve him.   What our true heart’s desire is this day will determine what happens next in the presence of the Lord. 

Behavioral science will affirm we are creatures of habit.  When we develop good habits, it leads to right action in our next circumstance just as bad habits can project negative consequences from future actions.  We prepare the way of the Lord through our discipline of faith.  Prayer is not an occasional act that happens only in Mass or in times of desperation.  Prayer is a discipline of being in contact with God as we offer up ourselves throughout the day.  It is not how long a prayer is but how meaningful our thoughts and words are with exclamations such as “Jesus I trust in you” and “Let thy will be done”.  It is the discipline of the day that prepares the way of the Lord for his coming in all we do and offer to him.  Life is not an accident by chance, it is about how we have prepared today for our tomorrow to come.  Tomorrow does not delay, let us be prepared. 

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Homily

First Sunday of Advent – Be watchful! Be alert!

Posted on by Deacon Joe

Is. 63:16B-19B; 64: 2-7; Ps. 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19; 1 Cor. 1:3-9; Mk. 13:33-37

Be watchful!  Be alert! We begin our first Sunday of Advent with this reminder from the Lord.  We are watchful for his coming not just into the world but in our lives.  Advent is a season of longing for the Lord, for something greater to come into our lives.  It is the power of his love manifested in each and every way in which we turn and give him glory, in an answered prayer, in the beauty of his graces, and in the unity of souls.  Also, be alert to the signs of our times, to the dangers of the deceiver and be ready to recognize the Lord’s coming and to the fulfillment of his promises. 

The first reading asks the question “Why do you let us wander, O Lord, from your ways?”  It is the same sentiment we ask the Lord when we see so much evil in the world and wonder why the Lord permits this to be.  It seems that the culture of death continues to grow, polls say that less people attend church, and people identify more as spiritual in their own thinking than religious in worship of God.  We say things are getting worse than better in this world.  In the spirit of Advent, it is a way of longing for the Lord to come and put an end to evil and sin.  The patience of the Lord is for the conversion of sinners while there is still time. 

The Lord longs for our love but true love is a free gift of oneself from our freedom.  The Lord created us with the freedom of our will to give of ourselves in love.  It is reflected in the sacramental life when we give of ourselves in marriage, when a man gives himself up to be a priest, when a woman chooses to enter religious life and when we bring a child to the waters of baptism to become a child of God.  We not only give of ourselves in love but when we wander away in our own selfish desires it is the love that is missing in our lives that brings us back to God. 

When a child wanders away from the values and upbringing that they were raised by, a parent soon realizes there comes a point where there is nothing they can say or do to change the mind of the child.  They can only pray that they will return home to the values and practices of their faith in God.  A parent waits patiently and prays to God and God waits patiently and sends his messengers calling the child to come back to the faith by their own free will.  True love is a free gift from God that we can only give back to him in our freedom. 

To be watchful and alert is to mindfully be taking care of the Lord’s work that he “might meet us doing right”. We are to mindfully allow God to mold us in his own image as clay in the potter’s hands.  We pray to the Lord to “make us turn to you” because we recognize the weakness of our own flesh resistant in doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  Yet the Lord relies on the freedom of our own will so we pray for transformation of our will by his Spirit that we may not be “lacking in any spiritual gift”.  The Lord promises to reveal himself to us when we come to him searching, wanting, and in faith. 

“Show us Lord, your love; and grant us your salvation.”  Like a child, clings to his mother, we are to cling to the Lord.  All too often we recognize that as a society we have become “soft”, no longer believing in sacrifice, frustrated without our conveniences, intolerant to others who don’t think like we do, and calling for “safe spaces” and entitlements.  To sacrifice is not a value we desire.  It does not appeal to the flesh and our will is weak even when we recognize the value of sacrifice.  Work involves a sacrifice, raising children comes with sacrifice, and our faith reminds of the Lord’s sacrifice for us as we look to the crucifix.  With sacrifice comes great reward.  There is the expression, “where there is a will there is a way”.  When the way involves sacrifice, we quit before we ever get going and fail to reach the mountain top. 

This attitude has carried into our church whereby if the Mass time is not convenient, we don’t find a way to still go to church and we give ourselves a pass on Sunday.  God does not give passes to miss Sunday Mass.  Some complain the church is archaic and not progressive enough with the times while others that it is too liberal and needs to return to the “good old days”. 

We want the church to adapt to our views and ways when we have to recognize the church is the bride of Christ guided by the hand of God working through the Spirit in all it’s priesthood.  For every priest who is being obedient to his calling there are over 10,000 opinions who would want to change something within the church.  The church stands on faith and the word of God and we must join in and participate in faith trusting in God.  The Lord has left his servant in charge and his servant is the church.  We can see the face of God in his church and through his church we shall be saved. 

Be watchful!  Be alert to the working of the spirit that we may not be lacking in any spiritual gift as the Lord reveals himself to us this day in his church, in the Eucharist, in his Word and through the faithful and the stranger.  The Lord will show us his love when we cling to him as an infant to his mother and as a child holds onto the hand of his father.    

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