Recent Posts

Most Used Categories

Year: 2016

You are Here :
Christian Witness, Homilies, , , ,

Reflection for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2016

thefirstmiracle_wide_t

Yesterday
was it easier?

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short…

I was listening to the song “Yesterday” by the Beatles. Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics.
McCartney wonders why his girl has gone away. Yesterday was so much easier, happier:

“Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need a place to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday”

McCartney wants to go back to yesterday, fix his mistake. He blames his angst on having “said something wrong.”

Was that all there was to it, saying something wrong ruined a relationship? Based on experience we could all say that we doubt that. Certainly friends, husbands, wives, children, and co-workers have said something wrong at one time or another. If that were all it took to destroy a relationship we wouldn’t have marriages, family members, friends, or co-workers. We would all be alone!

Looking a little deeper we see McCartney saying that love was a game to play – yesterday. Love was easy and fun.

Some would comment that since that song was written our concept of love has changed. It is supposed to be about romance, candlelight, fun in… all the easy games to play. When that ends, when the passion fades, when the candlelight is no more than melted wax, and the flowers have dried out we move onto the next game.

Perhaps that was McCartney’s mistake. His words weren’t a wrong statement, saying something wrong in and of itself. Perhaps, and likely, his words were just a bit too transparent and shallow. Hey honey, this is fun, this is a great game – but I’m not serious.

Jesus is with a young couple. Certainly this was a joyous moment in their lives. They have entered into a lifelong commitment – not just a game. They had friends and family – all who cared were with them. All are celebrating. And, the problems didn’t wait until tomorrow – they were here today. The dawn would bring the realization that they had failed in their first task as hosts – tomorrow’s yesterday was turning into a failure. Then Jesus steps in. His Father’s plan is in action. His power was revealed to His disciples. Tomorrow’s yesterday was saved. The best wine was served.

Letting Jesus into our lives, our marriages and relationships makes each day more than a game. His first miracle becomes a recurring miracle. Each day in Jesus has true meaning, joy, and the fullness of real and eternal love – the best.

Christian Witness, Homilies, , ,

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord 2016

Baptism

Help the me in me
to decrease.

John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

In the some Churches the celebration of the Lord’s Epiphany celebrates Jesus’ threefold revelation.

Jesus is revealed to the nations in the visit of the Magi. Jesus and the Holy Trinity is revealed at Jesus’ Baptism: heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus is revealed to His disciples at Cana in Galilee when He changes water to wine. You have got to love the Church’s celebration especially when you get a three-for-one deal.

In the west we spread the celebration of these events over several weeks. What remains most important is that we maintain focus on the magnificence of God’s coming. Whether commemorated in one day or over several weeks, the importance Jesus’ coming should always be before our eyes. Why so?

We could say that God’s coming to earth is important and magnificent in and of itself. That’s the wow factor – Wow, God is here, walking with us. We could focus on the wonderful teaching and way of life Jesus proclaimed. A lot of people do that even if they don’t believe that Jesus is God. Jesus’ coming and revelation touches each person in a particular way. That’s God’s grace at work in us – drawing us closer each day, entering relationship with us.

Today, two young people will be baptized. They will come forward and will agree to start the journey into relationship with God. They will acknowledge their search for and commitment to God’s revelation in their lives. They will say that they want the world to meet Jesus through them, their words, actions, and way of life.

What we sometimes miss in Jesus’ revelation is the very thing John said: He is mightier, I am not worthy… The Gospel according to St. John is even more explicit in this regard. John the Baptist says: He must increase in importance, while I must decrease…

At its essence, that is what baptism is all about. It is about revealing God as more important than all of my wants and desires. I want God more than anything else. He is all in my life. Fill in the blank: God is more important than my ________. When we do that, we place God at the center of our lives, we become victorious. When we put Jesus front and center and throughout our lives we let Him be powerful and revealed in our lives. It is no longer just me, but Him in me. Then we achieve true joy and glory.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the Feast of the Holy Family 2016

slideshow-2

Being a joyful and
holy family

Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful.

Today we honor the Holy Family, but what do we mean by that?

In recent years we see more and more representations of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. While these are lovely and heartwarming, they can present a false image, a misrepresentation of the true relationship between Jesus, Mary and Joseph. As Christians we must maintain true and orthodox teaching about that relationship. How should we understand that relationship?

In portraying Jesus we often see Him as a Child alone with His Mother. This stresses the teaching that Jesus is “a Son without a father, Who was begotten of the Father without a mother before the ages.”

Traditionally, Jesus is never portrayed alone with Saint Joseph or with Joseph and Mary as a pair of parents. Joseph’s fatherly role is not understood as some sort of head of the ‘Holy Family;’ rather, he is seen as the Providentially provided guardian of Mary and her Divine Child. His humble acceptance and virtuous fulfillment of this role holds a very special lesson and example for us.

What we learn from this is that the Christian life is a family life with family love and caring not defined by blood but by unity in Jesus. As Mary and Joseph were bound in a new kind of love by the coming of Jesus, so each of us is to be bound to our fellow Christians in this new love.

St. Paul reminds us that this new way of life is to be filled with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, and over all these love. What a way to live!

So what we mean by ‘Holy Family’ is that God has created a new model of relationship. The definition of family has grown. Of course family includes our natural family and the model God has ordained since creation. It also includes, since Jesus’ coming, a changed and expanded order of nature. Family is caring not just by blood, but also by unity in faith in Jesus.

As we celebrate this Holy day and our calling to be one family in Jesus let us resolve to be faithful to this great family. Let us encounter one another as St. Paul says we should. Let us remind ourselves of the true joy to be found in family.

All Right Reserved © 2005 - 2023