Blog # 296 Lent - 3
Some of us 'old timers' will remember among the toys we used to play with were these: Lincoln logs, erector sets, and building blocks. You start with a big box of many pieces and put them together piece by piece until you build a bridge, a house, or a store.
This year it occurred to me to reflect upon these experiences from long ago and apply my recollections to our celebration of Holy Week. Our life is something like the box of blocks, Lincoln logs, or the pieces in our erector set. There are only so many pieces in our box. As life goes on we use them up. The time will come when there are no more left. Our life will be over.
Applying this to Holy Week it came out this way: from all eternity God has determined the number of years we shall live here on earth, the number of pieces in our box. We are in the process of building our eternal name by which God will call us at the instant of our death. As it was in our building a house or a bridge and putting one block upon another and coupling one piece to another, so it is with our life's story and the eternal name we are building as the years go on.
A big difference lies in the fact as children we could take our bridges and buildings down when we finished playing with them for a time and put them back into our box. In real life, however, we get an opportunity of using our years but once. 2013 will never come again.
Several questions begin to come to mind. Do I have an overall goal for my life? Do I realize the connection between all of the days and years of my life? What single thing, if any, am I putting together as the years go by? Am I merely taking the pieces out of my box and setting them aside one by one rather than building something I desire and can recognize? Am I aware of a plan, purpose, or goal God presents for me to achieve that is uniquely mine? What is the value of this plan of God to me, personally?
What degree of commitment to it do I desire and experience? How does my commitment or lack of it show itself in my everyday experience of life, in the time I spend or do not spend in prayer, in my effort or lack of effort to grow in holiness, in my relationships with my family, friends, and the Church?
What heavy questions! For us who believe in Jesus there is a single answer that covers them all. The single name of every bridge and building we are called to put together is love. We, indvidually, and all creation are called into existence by with and in God, and God is love.
Our limited human minds cannot fathom the full meaning of this truth. In the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus it was realized to the fullest extent possible here on earth. In Jesus God's love was limited by the humanity of Jesus, but was unobstructed by His faithfulness and obedience to the Father's will. Jesus was all the Father wanted Him to be. In union with Jesus through faith and Baptism we can desire, discover, and achieve all that God desires us to be.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of this coming week we remember, experience, and celebrate the total love of Jesus for the Father. We are invited to be with Him by faith, in the upper room, on the Cross, and at the tomb. To share His love for the Father and to live with Him in the Father's love and the glory of His Resurrection is the goal of our life. Holy Week 2013 will never come again. Let's not let it pass us by.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Blog # 291 Jesus in the Bible / Jesus Today
Blog # 291 Jesus in the Bible / Jesus Today
Whenever a high school football team wins a State championship in their division it means they played good football. I remember living in Sandersville back in 1997 when our local team did that. Their record was 15 wins, no losses.
You could have known our team played good football if you actually attended the games. But if you did not attend the games you could still know they played good football by the record. And the more you knew of football either by playing the game yourself or following it as a fan, the more you appreciated and found interesting and exciting the experience and performance of the local team.
Then when the season was over, the final game was won and the trophy brought home, large enthusiastic headlines in the local newspaper proclaimed the victory and exalted the team. A parade was organized and the team rode through town in their uniforms on an open flatbed truck. Cheers went up. The memories and excitement of the games came alive. Parents of the players were proud of their sons again. The team was not actually running tackling passing scoring and winning now. That had all been done. Now was the time of glory appreciation and celebration of what had been done.
I see all you have been reading so far lived out in relationship to Jesus.
Here's how. As any Sandersville Hawks fan knows, the team played well, so, any believing Christian knows Jesus did something great with His life. But a difference comes here. None of us was alive two thousand years ago when Jesus actually spent His life for others. This would be something like having none
of us from town being actually present at any of the fifteen games our team won.
We know what Jesus said and did primarily from the Bible.That would be something like knowing how our team performed by the newspaper accounts, and by the pictures in the high school year book. The sweat has been washed away, the victory has been won, the games are over. Some of us can get really excited just by reading about a good season this way. We watch the parade and cheer the team even though we did not actlually attend any of the games. With Jesus it can be similar.
We know we cannot physically eat with Him in Martha's kitchen, walk with Him on the streets of Jericho, hold the scroll for Him to read from it in the synagogue in Cepernaum. We were born too late for this. We could accept this and be satisfied and thankful reading it in the pages of the Bible. The actual physical games our team played, and the actual limited physical human experience of Jesus in history on earth are over. The memory of it handed down through the centuries is exciting in itself. It is fitting and proper that we bring high praise and deep appreciation to Jesus for all He has done as His story is told for us in the Bible..
This is the way it would be for someone coming to Sandersville years from now, when all the current end guards, centers, coaches and quarter backs will be gone. You could get out copies of old newspapers, read about the games, and rejoice in the victories that were won. But the real action of it all would be in the past, real in that sense, but only in that sense.
Here is where my analogy parts from the reality of the Bible story of Jesus. We can take that up tomorrow
in another blog.
Whenever a high school football team wins a State championship in their division it means they played good football. I remember living in Sandersville back in 1997 when our local team did that. Their record was 15 wins, no losses.
You could have known our team played good football if you actually attended the games. But if you did not attend the games you could still know they played good football by the record. And the more you knew of football either by playing the game yourself or following it as a fan, the more you appreciated and found interesting and exciting the experience and performance of the local team.
Then when the season was over, the final game was won and the trophy brought home, large enthusiastic headlines in the local newspaper proclaimed the victory and exalted the team. A parade was organized and the team rode through town in their uniforms on an open flatbed truck. Cheers went up. The memories and excitement of the games came alive. Parents of the players were proud of their sons again. The team was not actually running tackling passing scoring and winning now. That had all been done. Now was the time of glory appreciation and celebration of what had been done.
I see all you have been reading so far lived out in relationship to Jesus.
Here's how. As any Sandersville Hawks fan knows, the team played well, so, any believing Christian knows Jesus did something great with His life. But a difference comes here. None of us was alive two thousand years ago when Jesus actually spent His life for others. This would be something like having none
of us from town being actually present at any of the fifteen games our team won.
We know what Jesus said and did primarily from the Bible.That would be something like knowing how our team performed by the newspaper accounts, and by the pictures in the high school year book. The sweat has been washed away, the victory has been won, the games are over. Some of us can get really excited just by reading about a good season this way. We watch the parade and cheer the team even though we did not actlually attend any of the games. With Jesus it can be similar.
We know we cannot physically eat with Him in Martha's kitchen, walk with Him on the streets of Jericho, hold the scroll for Him to read from it in the synagogue in Cepernaum. We were born too late for this. We could accept this and be satisfied and thankful reading it in the pages of the Bible. The actual physical games our team played, and the actual limited physical human experience of Jesus in history on earth are over. The memory of it handed down through the centuries is exciting in itself. It is fitting and proper that we bring high praise and deep appreciation to Jesus for all He has done as His story is told for us in the Bible..
This is the way it would be for someone coming to Sandersville years from now, when all the current end guards, centers, coaches and quarter backs will be gone. You could get out copies of old newspapers, read about the games, and rejoice in the victories that were won. But the real action of it all would be in the past, real in that sense, but only in that sense.
Here is where my analogy parts from the reality of the Bible story of Jesus. We can take that up tomorrow
in another blog.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Blog # 290 Epiphany
Blog # 290 Epiphany
Blog # 189 identified the Church's practice of celebrating the life death and Resurrection of Jesus and of feasts of individual Saints throughout the Liturgical Year as a valuable resource in aiding us to grow both in the knowledge of our faith and in a more regular and effective application of our faith in our daily experience of life. Blog # 290 is an example of one way this might be done when it is applied to the Feast of the Epiphany.
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem. It happened a long time ago in a far away place. They came by camel rather than by any of the various more rapid and more comfortable means of travel available to us today. They traveled a path through the desert. It was a long and difficult journey. If we realize what our liturgical feasts are designed to do, we realize we have a part to play, today, in the events in the life of Jesus or of a particular Saint whose feast we celebrate. We have questions to answer. What was happening? Who are the people involved? What did they think or say or do?
Mary and Joseph continue to be present. They are faithful servants of the Lord, holy ones. We admire them and thank them. They give us joy in their love for Jesus. The Magi are discoverers, willing to grow, to follow their star, responsive, self-giving, persevering, rich, yet humble, blessed. To be like them we are not called to learn how to ride a camel, but how to identify and follow a star.
Their physical star may have been Haley's comet. No doubt there were many people who saw it with their physical eyes. A second star for the Magi was a 'star' that told them God's plan for them, that invited them to go after it. I was their conscience, and following that star they found Jesus . We have a conscience too, and we are 'Magi', invited to follow our unique individual star. If we pray and look around us and within us with an open mind and heart our spiritual star appears. Following it we have a safe and secure path that leads us to Jesus.
Herod was jealous, fearing and fearsome, selfish insecure and violent. We can thank him for teaching us how we should never be. Finally the ordinary people. As tradition has handed the story down, the Magi were few in number. Most of the people seem to have been unaware of them and their story. Most of the people seem to have been following another agenda. The story of the Magi goes on today but most of the people have passed on with their temporary agenda. Maybe later on some of them came to know and believe in Jesus. Maybe some of them were there on Calvary when Jesus died and watched that go by too.
Some like these are alive today. We ask God's mercy for them.
The traditional theological content of the Feast of Epiphany has been a recognition of the divnity of Jesus in the miraculous coming of earthly rulers and wise men to pay Him homage and offer their treasures to him, and secondly, an emphasis on the universality of salvation, and the call to welcome the whole world into the love of God in Jesus. This is seen in the fact the Magi are traditionally given as Gentiles rather than as Jews, already members of the People of God and children of Abraham.
Blog # 189 identified the Church's practice of celebrating the life death and Resurrection of Jesus and of feasts of individual Saints throughout the Liturgical Year as a valuable resource in aiding us to grow both in the knowledge of our faith and in a more regular and effective application of our faith in our daily experience of life. Blog # 290 is an example of one way this might be done when it is applied to the Feast of the Epiphany.
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem. It happened a long time ago in a far away place. They came by camel rather than by any of the various more rapid and more comfortable means of travel available to us today. They traveled a path through the desert. It was a long and difficult journey. If we realize what our liturgical feasts are designed to do, we realize we have a part to play, today, in the events in the life of Jesus or of a particular Saint whose feast we celebrate. We have questions to answer. What was happening? Who are the people involved? What did they think or say or do?
Mary and Joseph continue to be present. They are faithful servants of the Lord, holy ones. We admire them and thank them. They give us joy in their love for Jesus. The Magi are discoverers, willing to grow, to follow their star, responsive, self-giving, persevering, rich, yet humble, blessed. To be like them we are not called to learn how to ride a camel, but how to identify and follow a star.
Their physical star may have been Haley's comet. No doubt there were many people who saw it with their physical eyes. A second star for the Magi was a 'star' that told them God's plan for them, that invited them to go after it. I was their conscience, and following that star they found Jesus . We have a conscience too, and we are 'Magi', invited to follow our unique individual star. If we pray and look around us and within us with an open mind and heart our spiritual star appears. Following it we have a safe and secure path that leads us to Jesus.
Herod was jealous, fearing and fearsome, selfish insecure and violent. We can thank him for teaching us how we should never be. Finally the ordinary people. As tradition has handed the story down, the Magi were few in number. Most of the people seem to have been unaware of them and their story. Most of the people seem to have been following another agenda. The story of the Magi goes on today but most of the people have passed on with their temporary agenda. Maybe later on some of them came to know and believe in Jesus. Maybe some of them were there on Calvary when Jesus died and watched that go by too.
Some like these are alive today. We ask God's mercy for them.
The traditional theological content of the Feast of Epiphany has been a recognition of the divnity of Jesus in the miraculous coming of earthly rulers and wise men to pay Him homage and offer their treasures to him, and secondly, an emphasis on the universality of salvation, and the call to welcome the whole world into the love of God in Jesus. This is seen in the fact the Magi are traditionally given as Gentiles rather than as Jews, already members of the People of God and children of Abraham.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Blog # 289 The Liturgical Year - Feasts
Blog # 289 The Liturgical Year - Feasts
There are several distinctive characteristics of the Catholic church that are so familiar and such regular experiences there might be a danger of taking them for granted with the result they are less effective in aiding us on our way to the holiness to which we are daily summoned by the love and presence of Emmanuel, Jesus the Word of God Come Among Us.
Our whole Sacramental System, from Baptism through our anointing of those who are in danger of death is not only a reminder of the special love of Jesus for us throughout our lives but a share in His special love, encouragement, support and power on the occasion of various turning points and crossroads in our spiritual journey, individually and as a community of Christian believers. Our use of holy water at the entrance of our churches reminds us of our gift of new supernatural life and of our vital union with Jesus and one another as branches on the vine , the Church.
The use of a crucifix in a place of honor, pictures or statues of our family patron Saints, and a Bible available for reading in our sitting rooms all lend themselves to encourage us to be reminded of our Christian identity and our Father's invitation to grow in our likeness to Jesus.
The Liturgical Year which annually reenacts for us Sunday after Sunday the life death and Resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us is a powerful help in focusing for us the story of our salvation with an invitation to claim that story as our own.
Let me share with you a few three dimensioned analogies that have helped me clarify and benefit from our Sunday liturgical readings: a song book, a home video of Grandma's 80th birthday party, playing cards, seeds, a recipe book, a crucifix.
What have all of these in common? There is something real in each of them that comes from the past and reaches to the present, inviting a response. Sing it again, play it again, plant another garden, bake another cake, remember Grandma.
See her wonderful smile again. Introduce her to her four year old grandchild, though Grandma died at the age on eighty seven six years ago. This is how we loved her on her eighty seventh birthday. This is how she sang for us. This is what she said of Grandpa who died fifteen years before. It is different, yes, but also the same as it was when we were with her on her birthday. The video helps us remember.
Watching it again helps us renew and grow in our love for Grandma. It is not just another TV show. We keep it and plan to watch it again. It is similar with the other items listed above. Seeds for more tomatoes. New and different tomatoes, but the same breed we enjoyed last season, and connected with them in the seed. The same playing cards, bridge, the same name of the game mother played last night, but now you are playing with a different set of friends.
You found the recipe for the great spaghetti sauce you enjoyed in that famous restaurant in New York when you were there for your fifteenth wedding anniversary. Now it is another special day, your sixteenth anniversary. You are not in New York. But you remember. You put the recipe together and it has been cooking all afternoon on your stove. Your kitchen smells very much like a famous restaurant in New York. How happy you and John will be when you light the candles and sit down for supper together. The spaghetti sauce has everything the recipe called for, but it has that additional ingredient that makes it uniquely special this evening, your anniversary love.
It is something like all of this with the feasts we celebrate throughout the Liturgical Year. Something real happened in the past. We believe. We remember. We sing it again, We watch it again. Jesus is born and we are there. Jesus claims to be God. Jesus teaches. Jesus dies on the wood. We are there. He asks us the same questions He asked Peter and the other disciples. He shares with us the same message He shared in Jerusalem. He offers us the same love He offered in Bethany. We are invited to respond, to make it our own. The same recipe, a new bag of flour. God's love, yesterday, and today in us! Thank You, Lord!
There are several distinctive characteristics of the Catholic church that are so familiar and such regular experiences there might be a danger of taking them for granted with the result they are less effective in aiding us on our way to the holiness to which we are daily summoned by the love and presence of Emmanuel, Jesus the Word of God Come Among Us.
Our whole Sacramental System, from Baptism through our anointing of those who are in danger of death is not only a reminder of the special love of Jesus for us throughout our lives but a share in His special love, encouragement, support and power on the occasion of various turning points and crossroads in our spiritual journey, individually and as a community of Christian believers. Our use of holy water at the entrance of our churches reminds us of our gift of new supernatural life and of our vital union with Jesus and one another as branches on the vine , the Church.
The use of a crucifix in a place of honor, pictures or statues of our family patron Saints, and a Bible available for reading in our sitting rooms all lend themselves to encourage us to be reminded of our Christian identity and our Father's invitation to grow in our likeness to Jesus.
The Liturgical Year which annually reenacts for us Sunday after Sunday the life death and Resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us is a powerful help in focusing for us the story of our salvation with an invitation to claim that story as our own.
Let me share with you a few three dimensioned analogies that have helped me clarify and benefit from our Sunday liturgical readings: a song book, a home video of Grandma's 80th birthday party, playing cards, seeds, a recipe book, a crucifix.
What have all of these in common? There is something real in each of them that comes from the past and reaches to the present, inviting a response. Sing it again, play it again, plant another garden, bake another cake, remember Grandma.
See her wonderful smile again. Introduce her to her four year old grandchild, though Grandma died at the age on eighty seven six years ago. This is how we loved her on her eighty seventh birthday. This is how she sang for us. This is what she said of Grandpa who died fifteen years before. It is different, yes, but also the same as it was when we were with her on her birthday. The video helps us remember.
Watching it again helps us renew and grow in our love for Grandma. It is not just another TV show. We keep it and plan to watch it again. It is similar with the other items listed above. Seeds for more tomatoes. New and different tomatoes, but the same breed we enjoyed last season, and connected with them in the seed. The same playing cards, bridge, the same name of the game mother played last night, but now you are playing with a different set of friends.
You found the recipe for the great spaghetti sauce you enjoyed in that famous restaurant in New York when you were there for your fifteenth wedding anniversary. Now it is another special day, your sixteenth anniversary. You are not in New York. But you remember. You put the recipe together and it has been cooking all afternoon on your stove. Your kitchen smells very much like a famous restaurant in New York. How happy you and John will be when you light the candles and sit down for supper together. The spaghetti sauce has everything the recipe called for, but it has that additional ingredient that makes it uniquely special this evening, your anniversary love.
It is something like all of this with the feasts we celebrate throughout the Liturgical Year. Something real happened in the past. We believe. We remember. We sing it again, We watch it again. Jesus is born and we are there. Jesus claims to be God. Jesus teaches. Jesus dies on the wood. We are there. He asks us the same questions He asked Peter and the other disciples. He shares with us the same message He shared in Jerusalem. He offers us the same love He offered in Bethany. We are invited to respond, to make it our own. The same recipe, a new bag of flour. God's love, yesterday, and today in us! Thank You, Lord!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Blog 288 Christmas 2 - 002
Christmas 2 -002
As Jesus often used parables and natural images to help us understand and experience the mysteries of God's love, so I found myself trying to envision our sharing in the divine life which Jesus said was necessary for knowing and experiencing the Kingdom of God. The first image came to me when on the final Sunday of Advent I noticed an altar server lighting the four candles on the Advent wreath with a single match. The match was sharing its fire, which for the fire we might say was its life. The candles, though designed and made to be lit could not light themselves. I think this is similar to how it is with the gift of divine life Jesus came to bring. All people were designed and created for God's love. But we cannot create it. It must be received in faith and freedom.
A second image that came to mind made use of a magnet. I was reflecting upon the promise of Jesus that if He be "lifted up" on the Cross He would draw all to Himself. (Jn 12: 32; Jn 3: 14). Jesus is not speaking merely about the physical reality of the crucifixion but rather its spiritual dimension, the total obedient love it entailed. The word 'draw' captured my attention. I went to my tool box and got a drill bit. I brought it close to a strong magnet that I keep on hand.
With the drill bit drawn to the magnet by a real but invisible force I had a good image of what Jesus said about His death. Next I substituted a kitchen knife for the drill bit and noticed how much harder it was to pull the knife away from the magnet than the drill bit. Then I used a tea spoon and that also had a strong pull. Finally I used a plastic spoon the same size and shape as the other. The magnet had no effect upon it.
In all of these experiments the magnetic force was the same. The difference came from the various objects I was using. I could see in this a parallel with our reception of Sanctifying Grace. The life God shares is infinite, without limit, but since it is a personal gift it is unique in each person who receives it. The plastic spoon did not qualify to be magnetized. It was the right size shape and color but something within it disqualified it from being drawn to the magnet.
I was reminded of how similar this was to how we are drawn to God's love. We may be physically strong wealthy intelligent and gifted in many ways with qualities that make for a successful human life here on earth, but if we do not believe or if we choose to sin we cannot personally experience the Kingdom of God any more than the plastic spoon experiences the drawing force of the magnet.
Christmas is about the magnetism of the love God brought to earth in Jesus to be shared with all people. May we ever strive to be worthy of such a gift. A little prayer I use to express my daily appreciation in response to God's presence and love says:"Live, my Triune God, so live in me that all I do be done by Thee, that all I think and all I say be Thy thoughts and words today. Amen.
Happy Christmas all year long!
As Jesus often used parables and natural images to help us understand and experience the mysteries of God's love, so I found myself trying to envision our sharing in the divine life which Jesus said was necessary for knowing and experiencing the Kingdom of God. The first image came to me when on the final Sunday of Advent I noticed an altar server lighting the four candles on the Advent wreath with a single match. The match was sharing its fire, which for the fire we might say was its life. The candles, though designed and made to be lit could not light themselves. I think this is similar to how it is with the gift of divine life Jesus came to bring. All people were designed and created for God's love. But we cannot create it. It must be received in faith and freedom.
A second image that came to mind made use of a magnet. I was reflecting upon the promise of Jesus that if He be "lifted up" on the Cross He would draw all to Himself. (Jn 12: 32; Jn 3: 14). Jesus is not speaking merely about the physical reality of the crucifixion but rather its spiritual dimension, the total obedient love it entailed. The word 'draw' captured my attention. I went to my tool box and got a drill bit. I brought it close to a strong magnet that I keep on hand.
With the drill bit drawn to the magnet by a real but invisible force I had a good image of what Jesus said about His death. Next I substituted a kitchen knife for the drill bit and noticed how much harder it was to pull the knife away from the magnet than the drill bit. Then I used a tea spoon and that also had a strong pull. Finally I used a plastic spoon the same size and shape as the other. The magnet had no effect upon it.
In all of these experiments the magnetic force was the same. The difference came from the various objects I was using. I could see in this a parallel with our reception of Sanctifying Grace. The life God shares is infinite, without limit, but since it is a personal gift it is unique in each person who receives it. The plastic spoon did not qualify to be magnetized. It was the right size shape and color but something within it disqualified it from being drawn to the magnet.
I was reminded of how similar this was to how we are drawn to God's love. We may be physically strong wealthy intelligent and gifted in many ways with qualities that make for a successful human life here on earth, but if we do not believe or if we choose to sin we cannot personally experience the Kingdom of God any more than the plastic spoon experiences the drawing force of the magnet.
Christmas is about the magnetism of the love God brought to earth in Jesus to be shared with all people. May we ever strive to be worthy of such a gift. A little prayer I use to express my daily appreciation in response to God's presence and love says:"Live, my Triune God, so live in me that all I do be done by Thee, that all I think and all I say be Thy thoughts and words today. Amen.
Happy Christmas all year long!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Blog # 287 Christmas 1 - 001
Blog # 287 Christmas 1 - 001
Today is Wednesday, December 26,2012, so it is too late to wish you a Happy Christmas, right? Well, not really. Our Church calendar celebrates Christmas for a full eight days and today is within that octave, so I am actually right on time. And from another point of view, if there is any substance to the wish on some of the Christmas greetings we receive that the peace and hope and joy of Christmas might remain with us all year long and beyond, I am on time again! And I think there can and should be a significant substance to such a wish. In fact that is what this blog is going to be about.
It started several weeks ago at the beginning of Advent with the customary Advent question "Why was Jesus born?" 'Reasons' that may have come to your mind by merely reading that question here in my blog are probably the same or similar as came to my mind again this year. ...because God loved us so much He wanted to be as close as possible to us, right among us, Emmanuel, to be our friend, give us good example, encouragement and power even in temptation, to suffer and die to win for us forgiveness for our since and show us from the Cross how much the Father was worth to Him, how much He loved the Father and how much the Father and He loved us, to go to Heaven and prepare a place for us there...
These and similar insights were all true and valuable in helping us appreciate the significance of Christmas as the initiation of the life-story of the Word of God incarnate on earth. Surely Jesus was not sent merely for that single first day of His life among us, though if you witnessed it only from the point of view of the business world you might get that impression The lighted trees are put away. Beautiful Christmas wrappings and decorations are valued at half price or less. We tend to think less of Christmas until next year and it happens again for all who will not have died in the meantime.
But our Church calendar is right. Christmas is more than a day. The birth of Jesus bought to earth a new eternal relationship to God of one of us, Jesus, and in Him all of us who believe and are Baptized.
So we watch the baby Jesus grow. A boy. A man. He is good and generous, doing all that we would expect from Him. Eventually He publicly claims that God is His Father. When someone questions Him about His age, He says "Before Abraham came to be, I AM. That is the same way Yahweh spoke of Himself when Moses asked Him who it was who was sending Moses to free the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.
So the people knew Jesus was making Himself equal to God. They were not mistaken here. Jesus would say it again on more than one occasion. "Philip, whoever sees Me sees the Father". (Jn 14: 9. :If you knew Me you would know the Father also." (Jn 8: 19; 14: 7). "The father and I are one. (Jn 10: 30). Jesus clearly claimed to be God. The people accused Jesus of blasphemy. They could not believe God could be so humble.
In His conversation with Nicodemus in chapter five of John ( v. 3), Jesus says a person must be born from above to see the kingdom of God. In this context the word 'see' can mean to know, understand, or experience. Thinking Jesus was referring to a second natural birth, Nicodemus asks how could it be that a person could enter his mother's womb a second time and be born again. Jesus clarifies the issue. He is speaking of a spiritual reality rather then a physical one.
In this light we realize Jesus is speaking of the same spiritual reality when in other significant texts He uses the word 'life'. Texts such as "Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you" (Jn 6: 53), and "...the person who feeds on this bread
shall live forever" (Jn 6: 58) do not refer to our physica human life but rather to the spiritual life of faith Jesus made reference to in His conversation with Nicodemus.
This is the common life we share as members of Christ's Body, the Church, and, as Jesus put it, as branches on the living vine. God became one of us in Jesus so that by faith we might in Him share God's divine life in our limited human way. This is the gift we refer to as the gift of Sanctifying Grace, the gift that makes us holy or like to God.
In telling the Apostles to preach the Gospel to every creature throughout the world Jesus is revealing that it is the Father's will that all should be invited to share this gift of new supernatural life in Him. How sad it is that we are so far from realizing this plan of the Father for all people. No wonder the Church can't let go of Christmas in just one day!
Today is Wednesday, December 26,2012, so it is too late to wish you a Happy Christmas, right? Well, not really. Our Church calendar celebrates Christmas for a full eight days and today is within that octave, so I am actually right on time. And from another point of view, if there is any substance to the wish on some of the Christmas greetings we receive that the peace and hope and joy of Christmas might remain with us all year long and beyond, I am on time again! And I think there can and should be a significant substance to such a wish. In fact that is what this blog is going to be about.
It started several weeks ago at the beginning of Advent with the customary Advent question "Why was Jesus born?" 'Reasons' that may have come to your mind by merely reading that question here in my blog are probably the same or similar as came to my mind again this year. ...because God loved us so much He wanted to be as close as possible to us, right among us, Emmanuel, to be our friend, give us good example, encouragement and power even in temptation, to suffer and die to win for us forgiveness for our since and show us from the Cross how much the Father was worth to Him, how much He loved the Father and how much the Father and He loved us, to go to Heaven and prepare a place for us there...
These and similar insights were all true and valuable in helping us appreciate the significance of Christmas as the initiation of the life-story of the Word of God incarnate on earth. Surely Jesus was not sent merely for that single first day of His life among us, though if you witnessed it only from the point of view of the business world you might get that impression The lighted trees are put away. Beautiful Christmas wrappings and decorations are valued at half price or less. We tend to think less of Christmas until next year and it happens again for all who will not have died in the meantime.
But our Church calendar is right. Christmas is more than a day. The birth of Jesus bought to earth a new eternal relationship to God of one of us, Jesus, and in Him all of us who believe and are Baptized.
So we watch the baby Jesus grow. A boy. A man. He is good and generous, doing all that we would expect from Him. Eventually He publicly claims that God is His Father. When someone questions Him about His age, He says "Before Abraham came to be, I AM. That is the same way Yahweh spoke of Himself when Moses asked Him who it was who was sending Moses to free the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt.
So the people knew Jesus was making Himself equal to God. They were not mistaken here. Jesus would say it again on more than one occasion. "Philip, whoever sees Me sees the Father". (Jn 14: 9. :If you knew Me you would know the Father also." (Jn 8: 19; 14: 7). "The father and I are one. (Jn 10: 30). Jesus clearly claimed to be God. The people accused Jesus of blasphemy. They could not believe God could be so humble.
In His conversation with Nicodemus in chapter five of John ( v. 3), Jesus says a person must be born from above to see the kingdom of God. In this context the word 'see' can mean to know, understand, or experience. Thinking Jesus was referring to a second natural birth, Nicodemus asks how could it be that a person could enter his mother's womb a second time and be born again. Jesus clarifies the issue. He is speaking of a spiritual reality rather then a physical one.
In this light we realize Jesus is speaking of the same spiritual reality when in other significant texts He uses the word 'life'. Texts such as "Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you" (Jn 6: 53), and "...the person who feeds on this bread
shall live forever" (Jn 6: 58) do not refer to our physica human life but rather to the spiritual life of faith Jesus made reference to in His conversation with Nicodemus.
This is the common life we share as members of Christ's Body, the Church, and, as Jesus put it, as branches on the living vine. God became one of us in Jesus so that by faith we might in Him share God's divine life in our limited human way. This is the gift we refer to as the gift of Sanctifying Grace, the gift that makes us holy or like to God.
In telling the Apostles to preach the Gospel to every creature throughout the world Jesus is revealing that it is the Father's will that all should be invited to share this gift of new supernatural life in Him. How sad it is that we are so far from realizing this plan of the Father for all people. No wonder the Church can't let go of Christmas in just one day!
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Blog # 213 Advent - c Gifts
Blog # 213 Advent - c Gifts
Each Christmas, and sometimes in between, I take down a shoe box from the top shelf in my clothes closet. In the box is a toy clown on a bicycle that can peddle his way back and forth on a length of string held in the air by another person and myself. The clown is a gift that was given to me over forty years ago. I keep it and take it out again to remind myself of the lesson I learned from that simple toy.
The clown was given to me as a Christmas gift jointly from my nieces Cathy and Jeannie. They are the two oldest daughters of my brother Tom. At the time they gave me the gift they were about ten and eight years old. I was already forty. What could I do with a toy except let myself be amused with it for a day or so and then give it away to a child? But I have it yet. What happened in between?
The clown became for me a holy thing, a 'sacramental' as we say of such objects as blessed or holy water, statues of holy people, books of prayer, relics of Saints, etc. , things that tend to inspire us, remind us of our relationship with God, or motivate us to seek and serve God and one another better.
Forty-four years ago Cathy and Jeannie were living in Ventura, California. I was teaching at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. For several consecutive celebrations of Christmas I spent the Christmas vacation from the seminary visiting them. Eventually there were five girls and one boy in my brother's family. We sort of grew up together as we corresponded through the mail and celebrated Christmas together. We were good friends and loved one another deeply. On the Christmas I received the clown, Cathy and Jeannie were old enough to have a little money of their own and could choose a gift for different people in the family themselves. Mine was the clown. A toy.
What made me so happy about it and helped me turn it into a holy thing for me was the fact they saw me as still a child, as one of them, sort of equal to them even though I was already over forty. We used to play together around the house, crayoned coloring books together, went on walks, and jumped rope out on the back patio. I always enjoyed wrestling with their big brown dog, admired the beauty of their tropical fish, and was fascinated by whatever frogs lizards or salamanders they might have in a special enclosure in the back yard. They knew me pretty well and decided the clown would be a good gift for me that Christmas.
And it was, not only for that Christmas, but for all of them ever since. That is because of the lesson the clown still teaches me. The lesson is this: The identity we see in a person we love determines the gift we wish to give that person. My nieces saw me as one of them, as a child. They gave me a toy. If all I did while I was with them was pray they probably would have tried to find a prayer book for me as a gift. If the only game I tried to play with them was tennis they might have given me a few tennis balls.
The basic lesson here applies to all love and to all people. It applies to our love for God and God's love for us. So we ask the very important questions: 1)What can God give to me? and 2) What can I give to God? The answer to these questions depends upon the identity God gives to me and the identity I give to God. Just as the identity my nieces gave to me as one who would enjoy the clown came to them through a process of our relating to one another over a period of time, the games, the songs we sang, the tropical fish and the food we enjoyed at family meals, so the identity we give to God determining the gifts we wish to make to Him is a process that ideally keeps going on as we experience more of life and identify God again and again in new and more perfect ways as our love for God develops and our gifts to God become different through the years.
Could I give God the gift of trust if God were to give me the gift of cancer? Could I give to God the gift of forgiving someone who has betrayed or injured me? Could I give to God the gift of prayer for wisdom when difficult decisions are placed before me? Could I give to God some time in prayer each morning and each evening when God gives me the gift of the beginning and the end of every day? The answer to these and similar questions depends upon the identity I give to God.
If God is predominantly fearsome for me I may give God the gift of obedience, but not that of love. If God and my relationship with God is identified by me as one value among others rather than a value above and beyond all values, I can hardly pledge to God my total love. I may obey the Commandments out of fear or of some other selfish motive, but if we identify God as lovable and because we identify God as lovable, we obey the Commandments out of love. That is a greater difference than the difference between night and day.
We are on our way through Advent to Christmas , the season of love, the season of gifts. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son...(Jn 3:16). Jesus is God's gift to all the world. How sad it is that only a minority of the world's population realize and experience this and have in faith received Jesus as a perfect gift of the Father's perfect love. Years ago when after Christmas my nieces went back to school and I went back to St. Meinrad we exchanged letters through the mail. They told me on paper of their fish and frogs and jumping rope, their cuts and bruises, their joy and their love. How much better it was when I came to them and shared my love and concern in the three dimensions of their living room and kitchen, their back yard and their church.
And so it is with Jesus. He comes to us in a real way on the pages of the Bible, but in a better way and even more closely than the mere three dimensions of our living room, office, kitchen or church. In the gift of Sanctifying Grace the Resurrected Jesus comes to us and dwells within us, in our minds by faith and in our hearts by love. I can't imagine Him coming any closer than that. What a gift! Lord, help us prepare well for Christmas 2012!
Each Christmas, and sometimes in between, I take down a shoe box from the top shelf in my clothes closet. In the box is a toy clown on a bicycle that can peddle his way back and forth on a length of string held in the air by another person and myself. The clown is a gift that was given to me over forty years ago. I keep it and take it out again to remind myself of the lesson I learned from that simple toy.
The clown was given to me as a Christmas gift jointly from my nieces Cathy and Jeannie. They are the two oldest daughters of my brother Tom. At the time they gave me the gift they were about ten and eight years old. I was already forty. What could I do with a toy except let myself be amused with it for a day or so and then give it away to a child? But I have it yet. What happened in between?
The clown became for me a holy thing, a 'sacramental' as we say of such objects as blessed or holy water, statues of holy people, books of prayer, relics of Saints, etc. , things that tend to inspire us, remind us of our relationship with God, or motivate us to seek and serve God and one another better.
Forty-four years ago Cathy and Jeannie were living in Ventura, California. I was teaching at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. For several consecutive celebrations of Christmas I spent the Christmas vacation from the seminary visiting them. Eventually there were five girls and one boy in my brother's family. We sort of grew up together as we corresponded through the mail and celebrated Christmas together. We were good friends and loved one another deeply. On the Christmas I received the clown, Cathy and Jeannie were old enough to have a little money of their own and could choose a gift for different people in the family themselves. Mine was the clown. A toy.
What made me so happy about it and helped me turn it into a holy thing for me was the fact they saw me as still a child, as one of them, sort of equal to them even though I was already over forty. We used to play together around the house, crayoned coloring books together, went on walks, and jumped rope out on the back patio. I always enjoyed wrestling with their big brown dog, admired the beauty of their tropical fish, and was fascinated by whatever frogs lizards or salamanders they might have in a special enclosure in the back yard. They knew me pretty well and decided the clown would be a good gift for me that Christmas.
And it was, not only for that Christmas, but for all of them ever since. That is because of the lesson the clown still teaches me. The lesson is this: The identity we see in a person we love determines the gift we wish to give that person. My nieces saw me as one of them, as a child. They gave me a toy. If all I did while I was with them was pray they probably would have tried to find a prayer book for me as a gift. If the only game I tried to play with them was tennis they might have given me a few tennis balls.
The basic lesson here applies to all love and to all people. It applies to our love for God and God's love for us. So we ask the very important questions: 1)What can God give to me? and 2) What can I give to God? The answer to these questions depends upon the identity God gives to me and the identity I give to God. Just as the identity my nieces gave to me as one who would enjoy the clown came to them through a process of our relating to one another over a period of time, the games, the songs we sang, the tropical fish and the food we enjoyed at family meals, so the identity we give to God determining the gifts we wish to make to Him is a process that ideally keeps going on as we experience more of life and identify God again and again in new and more perfect ways as our love for God develops and our gifts to God become different through the years.
Could I give God the gift of trust if God were to give me the gift of cancer? Could I give to God the gift of forgiving someone who has betrayed or injured me? Could I give to God the gift of prayer for wisdom when difficult decisions are placed before me? Could I give to God some time in prayer each morning and each evening when God gives me the gift of the beginning and the end of every day? The answer to these and similar questions depends upon the identity I give to God.
If God is predominantly fearsome for me I may give God the gift of obedience, but not that of love. If God and my relationship with God is identified by me as one value among others rather than a value above and beyond all values, I can hardly pledge to God my total love. I may obey the Commandments out of fear or of some other selfish motive, but if we identify God as lovable and because we identify God as lovable, we obey the Commandments out of love. That is a greater difference than the difference between night and day.
We are on our way through Advent to Christmas , the season of love, the season of gifts. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son...(Jn 3:16). Jesus is God's gift to all the world. How sad it is that only a minority of the world's population realize and experience this and have in faith received Jesus as a perfect gift of the Father's perfect love. Years ago when after Christmas my nieces went back to school and I went back to St. Meinrad we exchanged letters through the mail. They told me on paper of their fish and frogs and jumping rope, their cuts and bruises, their joy and their love. How much better it was when I came to them and shared my love and concern in the three dimensions of their living room and kitchen, their back yard and their church.
And so it is with Jesus. He comes to us in a real way on the pages of the Bible, but in a better way and even more closely than the mere three dimensions of our living room, office, kitchen or church. In the gift of Sanctifying Grace the Resurrected Jesus comes to us and dwells within us, in our minds by faith and in our hearts by love. I can't imagine Him coming any closer than that. What a gift! Lord, help us prepare well for Christmas 2012!
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