31 December 2017 - familiarity breeds content

Today's Readings

Now, Master, you may let your servant go

in peace, according to your word,

for my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and glory for your people Israel.

A child causes Simeon to rejoice. Yet he is no ordinary child. This child has God for his Father. The people Israel know this Father from a distance. The Gentiles understand still less. But this child is for both Israel and the Gentiles. He will call all of us brothers. He will make us children of Mary his mother and invite us to cry out Abba, Father to God along with him, united in the Holy Spirit.

Just as the son of Sarah and Abraham did the impossible by being born so too does the birth of Jesus result from a miracle. A Virgin gives birth. A new Davidic king is born. He lives in perfect obedience to the Father because he comes from the Father. He does what we cannot because of who he is. He is miraculous. He is an unguessed gift. And he a what's himself with us. So it is natural, considering his origin, that he not only restores individuals but entire families and indeed the  whole family of God, the Church, which is the new Israel. Family has always been among God's first priorities. 

Whoever honors his father atones for sins,

and preserves himself from them.

When he prays, he is heard;

he stores up riches who reveres his mother.

Now finally we can live these words. We have the grace of the perfectly obedient Son within us. This grace enables us to live together in families, in nations, and in the Church. 

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.

As a consequence we must stop acting selfishly, but to act only as Jesus would act, doing only those things deserving of his name, not on our own strength but in the power of that same name. 

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, 

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through him

30 December 2017 - victorious

To those who have conquered the evil one, the children, young men, fathers, and all who have won the victory, too all who know the Father, who remain strong, in whom the word of God abides: Do not be fooled by the things of this world. The world can act as a trap or a snare to drag us away from God often without our realizing it.

Do not love the world  or the things of the world. 
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
For all that is in the world,
sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life,
is not from the Father but is from the world. 

We need to remember that such things, even very good created things, are paying. How much do we depend on them for hope and happiness? They will ultimately fail to satisfy.

Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. 
But whoever does the will of God remains forever.

This is what the prophetess Anna knows. This is how she can still be ready even when she is advanced in years, even when the conventual modes for finding happiness fail her.

She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. 
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. 

Probably, we must occasionally leave the temple. But our spirits must still be free enough to come forward at the very time we are called. We are offered Christ.  May nothing hinder us fro,m receiving him.

And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

29 December 2017 - shining example

Today's Readings 

for the darkness is passing away,

and the true light is already shining.

Jesus tells us to love our brothers. This is at once the oldest commandment and the newest. It is the newest because Jesus reveals it's true meaning to us. He tells us to love others as he first loves us, by laying our lives down for friendship.

Jesus reveals the truth behind the law that words alone could never express. 

my own eyes have seen the salvation

which you prepared in the sight of every people,

a light to reveal you to the nations

and the glory of your people Israel.

He is the light to the nations because he reveals the Father to us. He does not do this in an abstract way but rather by living to do the will of the Father. He shows us the Father so that from now on we can say that we do know him and have seen him.

Behold, this child is destined

for the fall and rise of many in Israel,

and to be a sign that will be contradicted

(and you yourself a sword will pierce)

so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

We need to allow Jesus to show us the way to love. Without his help we slip back into self-love, unwilling to allow the cross to contradict our own personal ways of living. 

So let us rejoice like Simeon to see this newborn baby who comes to show us the way.

The LORD made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty go before him;

praise and grandeur are in his sanctuary.

28 December 2017 - wholly innocent?

Today's Readings (Audio)

Jesus is the light of the world. Without him we walk in darkness. If we don't acknowledge our need for him we deceive ourselves. We end up like Herod, willing to commit atrocities in order to keep our own comfort and power safe.

He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.

Herod probably talked himself out of believing it was sinful to kill the Holy Innocents. He probably thought it was his right as the king over his subjects. But Herod walked in darkness. He honored the newborn king with his words to the Magi, saying that he too wished to worship him, but his actions proved otherwise.

God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.
If we say, "We have fellowship with him," 
while we continue to walk in darkness,
we lie and do not act in truth.

The only way to avoid sin is the come to Jesus who is the light. Without Jesus we deceive ourselves. We convince ourselves that bad is good and right is wrong.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (see Isaiah 5:20)

We may think there is something particularly evil about Herod. Yet Herod is representative of all of us apart from grace. He shows what how we all end up on our own, when we refuse to walk in the light but prefer the darkness instead.

We all stand in need of the grace and mercy of God because we all sin in one way or another. It isn't this sin or that sin that is the root of our problems. If our sins are small but we do not acknowledge how much we need God they will get bigger and we won't stop them. If our sins are as red as scarlet God is still ready and willing to forgive us if we simply turn to him.

My children, I am writing this to you
so that you may not commit sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ the righteous one.
He is expiation for our sins,
and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world.

We too must learn the truth of today's psalm, that "Had not the LORD been with us" we would have been eaten alive. But the LORD sets us free.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

27 December 2017 - touched with our hands

Today's Readings (Audio)

What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;

This is Jesus, the Word made flesh whom we behold with our eyes this Christmas. Jesus is not just some abstraction about whom we can only think. He is a person whom we can see, whom we can paint, and whom we can build statues to honor. He has a voice which speaks real words to his people, explaining the truth from God. He has flesh upon which the head of John can recline at the first Eucharist, flesh which we can receive at every mass. This is all because of Christmas. It is flesh in every respect like our own. And it is because of this shared human nature that we can have true and real fellowship with Jesus, and through him with the Father.

What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;

It is precisely this gift of God in the flesh that makes possible the mystery of Easter. It is the very body that we see and touch that suffers and dies for us. It is because of the fellowship made possible by Jesus becoming one of us that he is able to redeem our fallen nature. It is because he takes on a body that dies, one just like ours, that he is able to bring that body to everlasting life.

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it (see Acts 2:24).

John the Apostle has much to teach us. His Gospel is at once the loftiest in some ways, yet he himself is as incarnational as anyone else. He knows how important the humanity of Jesus is. He does not tell the Christmas narrative directly, yet he celebrates the gift of Christmas as much as anyone. May he teach us to truly understand, appreciate, and avail ourselves, of the shared human which Jesus takes on. Let us receive his victory over death and his fellowship with the Father.

Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.

26 December 2017 - reborn winners

Today's Readings (Audio)

The birthday of Jesus on earth yesterday gives Saint Stephen the grace to be born into heaven today. Jesus calls us all to be born again in baptism, and to walk in newness of life. Baptism, allows us to walk in newness of life by uniting us to the death of Jesus who died and rose for us. This is nowhere more evident than in the persecution and martyrdom of Saint Stephen.

You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Jesus does not exaggerate. Just as he is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks the words given to him by the Father so to do those who follow in his footsteps. That is why Stephen makes the very words of Jesus his own words when he asks that his killers be forgiven and when he pleads, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

The babe in the crib unites divinity to the entirety of our humanity. The possibility, and indeed the certainty, of the Cross is manifest even on that most joyous day. After all, he was born to be a ransom for us. But in joining himself to our sick, suffering, and dying, human nature, Jesus conquers all of those things. We see that victory manifest from the very first in the Acts of the Apostles with Saint Stephen. It is his victory that we celebrate today. It is a victory that ripples throughout history, helping to change the heart of Saint Paul and so many others.

Let us ask Saint Stephen for the grace to follow Jesus as closely as he did. May we be filled with the same Spirit. When our moment of testing comes may we prefer the words God gives us to our own. If we do we will surely see his face shine upon us.

Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.

25 December 2017 - in the flesh

Readings for Mass During the Day (Audio)

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

Jesus was in the beginning with the Father. Before creation was brought forth or earth given its form he is God without beginning or end (see Psalm 90:2). It is this eternal and unchanging God who promises to dwell with his people. 

My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (see Ezekiel 37:27).

He promises to restore all things directly, before our very eyes. What can this mean? This is more than the shekinah cloud of glory. He was present in varied ways throughout history. But none of them were like this.

In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways 
to our ancestors through the prophets; 
in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son, 
whom he made heir of all things 
and through whom he created the universe,
who is the refulgence of his glory,
the very imprint of his being,

What the cloud of glory may have hinted at now has a sharp definition, solid lines, and tangible presence. Unexpectedly, those lines are the outlines of a newborn baby. They are the lines that let him be held and touched by his mother Mary. The are the outlines that allow us to receive him in the Eucharist. The eternal God becomes one of us. It is with this concrete nature of our religion that people who prefer to be purely spiritual struggle. By its very nature it forces us to choose one thing over another and to say that one way is right and others are not. But this is what our hearts long for. Only in this concrete specificity can the longings of our hearts truly be fulfilled. 

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father's only Son,
full of grace and truth.

Through him we have access to grace which mankind only ever saw from a distance before this blessed morning.

From his fullness we have all received,
grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses, 
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Let us come to the manger. Let us worship the Word made flesh. The world longed from his coming, whether we realized it or not. He is come! Let us adore!

24 December 2017 pro Vigil

Readings for the Vigil Mass of Christmas (Audio)

God made promises to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to David, to Moses and to many others in the course of history. All of those promises are fulfilled tonight.

From this man's descendants God, according to his promise, 
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.

How can one action of gain fulfill so many promises? Because in the incarnation he gives us even more than any of the promises could ever convey. It isn't just about an earthly kingdom without end or many ancestors. It is even more than victory over the ancient serpent, promised at the time of the fall. It is more than the world not being destroyed again by flood. It is more than another prophet like Moses. What could God do to fulfill all this at once? The answer is Jesus. In the incarnation of Jesus Christ heaven is wed to earth.

As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.

Here we have a union so profound that it implies a true and deeper meaning to all of the earlier promises. We see that the kingdom without end is even more than we could have guessed. The victory over sin and Satan is more complete than we could have imagined. With God united to mankind sin and darkness and death are definitively judged. They no longer hold sway. They are already on their way out. We live even now united to a new reality of eternal life with God.

All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means "God is with us."

Yet the genealogy in the Gospel reading reminds us that this is no mere abstraction. Heaven is joined to earth, not in the abstract, but in the nitty-gritty. It is in the very details of life, unpleasant though they may be, that the victory of Christ is manifest. It is in the very midst of the darkness that the light shines, a light which the darkness cannot destroy.

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.

Let us realize that the answer to all of our deepest longings is found in the babe who is born this night. Let us join with the angels and the shepherds to adore him. With the magi let us bring our gifts and worship at his feet.

23 December 2017 - preparation provided

Today's Readings (Audio)

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.

The LORD is coming. He is close at hand. His coming is meant to be the fulfillment of all our innermost desires and longings. The one who comes is the one we seek, the messenger we desire. But do we recognize this desire within us? If we don't, how will we recognize the fulfillment of the desire when he arrives?

We often only experience the immediate and superficial manifestations of our desires. We don't realize that there is something deeper at our very core that we want, a need we foolishly try to fill with other things, a God-shaped hole within us that we try to fill with everything but God. It is that very hole that the LORD comes to fill. He longs to dwell in us, to fill the place in us that is meant for him alone. Fortunately, he himself helps us to prepare for his coming.

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.

We need to get in agreement with the LORD. This means we need to embrace not only his coming, but also the plan he has for us to prepare for his coming. We need to let ourselves be willing to let ourselves experience some of the quiet that is forced on Zechariah. We need to fill that silence more with the words God gives us rather than with our own words.

So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. 
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.

We don't have to worry about missing the messenger this Christmas unless we choose to ignore all that God is doing to help us be ready. He himself will give the moments of silence in which we are meant to agree with his word and his plan. We just need to agree. If we do, nothing can prevent us from being prepared.

22 December 2017 - rejoice ready

Today's Readings (Audio)

The LORD is near!

Let us be like Hannah, ready to say "I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request." Let us resolve to have hearts ready to go all in for the gift we are given by the Father this Christmas. We are called to dedicate ourselves to the LORD as long as we live. This is no hardship! It is joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:

Let us be like Mary, full of thanksgiving and praise for the gift she is given in Jesus. She can't keep silent because she knows that Jesus is the one for whom all peoples of all ages longed in the depths of their hearts. She herself is offered the fulfillment of this promise. She trusts the angel, trusts God, and brings this gift to the world. Now she teaches the world the magnitude of the gift. She teaches us all how to rejoice.

He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.

21 December 2017 - Christ is nigh

Today's Readings (Audio)

Hark! my lover–here he comes
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.

The LORD is drawing near to us. What does it mean for a God who is at once everywhere to come close to a particular time and place? If the LORD is unchanging, it must mean something about the places and times and especially the people to whom he comes.

For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.

It must mean that he is not simply close, but close to us. He is not merely present, but he is active, revealing, loving, and filling us.

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 

Even if God is with us always, this season represents a special opportunity to be closer to him than ever before. God himself can chase away our winter and make us leap for joy. He wants to do this for us even more than we want it for ourselves. When he draws near to us he rejoices even more than we do.

He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.

Let us make him welcome to draw near to us, not as a faceless mass, but individually, and so share in his joy. Let us add to the joyful song that he begins.

But the plan of the LORD stands forever; 
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.

Lyrics

20 December 2017 - assigned language

Today's Readings (Audio)

Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!

Ahaz won't do what the LORD asks and masks it as piety. The LORD wants him to ask for a sign. This is completely different from someone arbitrarily demanding a sign for their own purposes. Ahaz is doing fine, or so he thinks. He is probably justifiably afraid that God will completely shake things up. Fortunately, the LORD doesn't let this lack of cooperation stop his plans. Yet he waits to bring the sign to fruition. He waits for someone who will receive his plan, and who, even while afraid, will embrace it.

Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word."

The call today is to be more Mary than Ahaz. The LORD sometimes speaks to us words which seem to have frighteningly far reaching implications that we can only guess at. We need to learn to trust in his will. He's already considered every detail. The end result will be better than we can imagine.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.

Trusting God in this way allows us to be involved in bringing the presence of Emmanuel to the world. And the world desperately needs to know how close God wants to come. Let's not miss this opportunity. Let's say yes when God asks us to play our part.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

19 December 2017 - listening apprehension

Today's Readings (Audio)

I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. 
But now you will be speechless and unable to talk
until the day these things take place,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled at their proper time.

Sometimes we could benefit from an angel making us unable to talk. We are often so eager to fill the silence with noise that we don't give God any time to speak. He tries to convey his plans to us, but we focus so much on our doubts and questions that we do't really allow him to communicate the God news to us.

Imagine if God allowed Zechariah to leave the temple with speech in tact. It is possible that he would repeat his doubts again and again until he didn't really believe anything was going to happen. After all, how could it? There were so many seemingly unalterable reasons. Yet, in the space of silence, Zechariah had time to absorb the words of the angel. He had time to learn to trust. This conspicuous absence of the words to describe him was a witness to those that surrounded him. Words would prove his ability to comprehend, contain, and even control the revelation. But the awe before that about which he could not even speak must be greater.

But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them,
and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. 
He was gesturing to them but remained mute.

Let us learn to give the messengers of God room to speak to us. Let us not fill things so much with our own words that we miss the words of God. The wife of Manoah was listening. She was able to state precisely what she was told when to her husband.

The woman went and told her husband,
"A man of God came to me;
he had the appearance of an angel of God, terrible indeed. 
I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 
But he said to me,
'You will be with child and will bear a son. 
So take neither wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. 
For the boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb,
until the day of his death.'"

There was no interjection in the middle to mitigate what happened or to make it conditional or to in any way diminish it. Certainly there would be that temptation. After all, who is she that an angel should appear to her? Who are they that the deliverance of Israel from the Philistines should begin through them? Yet she hears this word correctly. And correctly she is able to proclaim it, full of power.

I will treat of the mighty works of the LORD;
O God, I will tell of your singular justice.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

18 December 2017 - God with us

Today's Readings (Audio)

As we approach the great feast of Christmas there are many opportunities to get distracted. Some of these seem like good reasons to sweep aside the true meaning of the season in favor of social convention.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly. 

The word of the angel to Joseph is a word to each of us this morning. It is a word spoken to those who are flustered, anxious, and afraid. If we're honest, that is most of us at this time of year.

"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. 
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her. 
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins." 

Let us welcome Mary into our homes as we prepare for Christmas. It is she who will bring Jesus to us. She can do this for us even if we feel too busy, even if we are afraid, even if we feel unworthy. She bridges the gap between heaven and earth in Bethlehem. She wants to do so in each of our lives as well. 

Jesus is born to take the name Emmanuel. He is born to be close to us.

All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means "God is with us." 

Like Israel, we are scattered, seemingly defeated. But Mary brings us Jesus to unite us and set us on solid ground.

Therefore, the days will come, says the LORD,
when they shall no longer say, "As the LORD lives,
who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt";
but rather, "As the LORD lives,
who brought the descendants of the house of Israel
up from the land of the north"– 
and from all the lands to which I banished them;
they shall again live on their own land.

Jesus is the righteous shoot to David. He is the king that shall reign and govern wisely, the king whose kingdom will never end. We can't allow ourselves to miss this because something else feels more pressing. Let us hear the angel again.

Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. 

Let us prepare to welcome the king who is Emmanuel. Even more than any earthly king, he desires to be near is people. He wants to set us free from fear and fill us with peace and life in abundance.

Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

17 December 2017 - rejoice always

Today's Readings (Audio)

"I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
'make straight the way of the Lord,'

Let us make straight the way for the one who is coming. He is the one upon whom the Spirit rests when he himself is baptized.

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.

He is the one who baptizes with fire and with that same Spirit. The Spirit with us makes it possible for us to rejoice always. Joy is the a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It has a supernatural origin. All other happiness comes and goes based on circumstance. The joy of the Holy Spirit can fill us no matter what is going on in our hearts and in the world. We are able to give thanks in all circumstances. That doesn't make a lot of sense from a human perspective. It doesn't make sense when one considers what some of those circumstances actually are. But when we are filled with the Holy Spirit it makes perfect sense.

Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise prophetic utterances.

Let us follow the example of Mary who is covered with and overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. Let us imitate her joy and praise.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.

It is God himself who wraps us in his Spirit as a robe of salvation and a mantle of justice. It is he himself who makes the garden of the fruits of the Holy Spirit spring up in our hearts.

This means that no matter what is happening this morning and no matter how we feel at this moment we have the supernatural power, given to us by God, to rejoice. Let us use it!

The one who calls you is faithful,
and he will also accomplish it.

16 December 2017 - sign for deliverance

Today's Readings (Audio)

The LORD sends signs to help us to prepare for the coming of Jesus.

You were destined, it is written, in time to come
to put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,
To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.

We do not prepare on our own. We cannot make the preparation we need without God's help. Yet the preparation is also not done for us without any involvement of our will. It is possible to ignore the messengers God sends us. It is possible to allow ourselves to become distracted by the world and miss the message from God.

Elijah will indeed come and restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come,
and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. 
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.

We need our hearts to be made ready for Jesus. The power of Elijah to cry out in the desert of our hearts is real. We need to be willing to visit this desert to hear the call so we can know just how to prepare our hearts for the coming king. We need to be willing to hear John the Baptist as he calls us to repent. This is how we prepare to see this face of the LORD.

O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth.
Rouse your power.

15 December 2017 - wise guides

Today's Readings (Audio)

But wisdom is vindicated by her works.

Wisdom is able to recognize that at one time it can be appropriate for a prophet to come neither eating nor drinking while it may be appropriate for the Son of Man to eat and drink. Wisdom, though, is more than a pragmatic point of view that takes into account the circumstances. It is not the circumstances, per se, that make it good for John the Baptist to fast. What makes that good is that it is that to which he is called by God. It is good that Jesus eats and drinks because he is the bridegroom and we must celebrate when we are with him. It is not intelligence that solves these problems. It is wisdom born from seeking the will of God.

But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

We think that the law is cannot speak to us, that it is dead letters, and limitation on our freedom. But the law is training in wisdom because the law helps us to know and understand the will of God. To walk in the will of God helps us to move through this world with wisdom.

If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea

We don't just study words. We study the Word himself. He is the perfect embodiment of all the wisdom that the law contains.

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (see first Corinthians 1:24).

This is the wisdom which leads us to focus on eternal things. It teaches us that this world in its present form is passing away but that the word of God abides for ever.

Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.

We want to be like trees planted near the living water of God's Spirit. Then we will bear fruit no matter the season. Worldly wisdom would tell us in winter to be barren and in summer to be fruitful. But filled with the Spirit we can always bring forth whatever love, joy, and peace a given situation demands.

14 December 2017 - the force against us

Today's Readings (Audio)

From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force. 

We need to be ready to endure. After all, Jesus said no servant is greater than his master. If he suffered we too will suffer in this life. We can't let that suffering pull us away from the Kingdom. The temptation is to turn toward the world and the comforts it offers. But the only real answer is to turn to Jesus. John suffered violence for his testimony to Jesus. But we who are in the Kingdom, united to Jesus, are in a sense even greater than John. We can suffer not simply as precursors or as witnesses. We can suffer in union with Jesus for the salvation of others.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (see Colossians 1:24).

The LORD knows us. He has endured what we endure. He has sympathy and compassion for those who suffer for he has experienced the same pain. Although he allows pain for a season and for a purpose, he is drawing us toward the fullness of the Kingdom where pain will be no more.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

Even before the fulfillment of this promise we have the opportunity to turn toward God, to choose him over lesser things, and to make straight what was bent out of shape by the sin of Adam and Eve. This is what Saint John of the Cross chose to do. In choosing it he experienced the joy of the fulfillment even here on earth.

Let them make known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

13 December 2017 - locus of surrender

Today's Readings (Audio)

and you will find rest for yourselves. 

Where?

Come to me

We must come to Jesus to find rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;

We wear many yokes. We serve many different people, ideas, and desires of the flesh. These yokes exhaust us. It is not a matter of bearing no burden at all. That is impossible. As Dylan sings, "You're gonna have to serve somebody." Rest can be found in choosing the yoke of Jesus Christ. We choose him and learn from him how to live with rest amid the wearisome world that surrounds us. We imitate his meekness and humility and discover a yoke that is truly easy and a burden that is truly light. We tend to rebel because we've never experienced a burden that is light in this way. We've never been refreshed by taking on a yoke. But Jesus is different.

They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles' wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.

We have to trust him for this to work. This is the first step in taking on his yoke. We can't just do our own thing and then complain that God does not understand.

"My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God"?

He does understand. His gentle invitation to come to him lies open to us even at this very moment. Let us choose to accept it.

Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.

12 December 2017 - great things

Today's Readings (Audio)

God uses the small and the childlike to do things that the proud and the strong would be afraid to attempt. He uses such people to bring his message to the world. Through Mary, he exults the meek and the lowly, and takes on human flesh. Through Mary, he continues to offer so many blessings to the world. And yet they are blessings that the world all too frequently misses. Even we Catholics who should know better miss them. And so he sends another childlike soul, Juan Diego to help make known the blessings we have in our mother Mary.

Juan Diego has trouble being faithful to Mary. What she asks of him is difficult. But the reminder this morning is that we can trust her.

"Am I not your mother? ... Are you not in the crossing of my arms?"

We see the results of this trust in our mother. When we trust her so completely, the world can't help but change, for her greatness is revealed through us, just as it is with the roses and the tilma that Juan Diego shows the bishop.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

We may wonder, with Elizabeth, and most likely with Juan Diego, "And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" But come Mary does. She comes because she believes the word spoken to her by the LORD. She believes the angel when he tells her that nothing will be impossible for God. She comes to us because she trusts like a child. She comes in order to proclaim the great things God has done.

The role that the mother of God is meant to play in our world is not a small one.

Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

All generations, all peoples, and all nations are meant to call her blessed as she draws them more and more to the worship of her son.

Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God, 
the creator of heaven and earth.

11 December 2017 - over the top intercession

Today's Readings (Audio)

Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
Say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
With divine recompense
he comes to save you.

We all feel overwhelmed at times. We seem unable to move forward, stuck. We know that the power of Jesus is with him for healing but we have trouble even going out to find him. He seems distant from us and hard to approach.

And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed;
they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence. 
But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd

It is good to have friends who will help when we feel like we can't move forward on our own. It is important to be persistent when we bring any need to Jesus. If these men gave up at the door neither they nor their friend would be blessed in the way they are. Let's make friends with the angels and saints so that we always have people to help to bring us to Jesus when we ourselves are weak.

they went up on the roof
and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles
into the middle in front of Jesus. 
When Jesus saw their faith, he said,
"As for you, your sins are forgiven." 

These men think they are here for the paralysis of their friend. But they find that when they come to Jesus they all receive from him. They all need holiness so that they may take the "holy way" and "enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy". Jesus alone can give them this holiness. He does, without them even realizing they needed it. The paralysis of the man being healed and his being able to walk are now simple signs for the deeper thing that has happened. These men can now follow the holy way, Jesus, who himself is the way, the truth, and the light.

 But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"–
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
"I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." 

So maybe we're stuck. Maybe we're paralyzed. But maybe the healing we really need isn't the healing we think we want. Maybe it is a lot deeper. That is what Jesus has in store for us today. These words of encouragement to be strengthened are to us. As Jesus says "rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home" we find ourselves filled with renewed strength. Let us use it to help others without strength of their own come to Jesus for healing.

The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.

10 December 2017 - tiding us over

Today's Readings (Audio)

Let us prepare a place in our hearts for the coming Messiah. Let us level the mountains of pride and fill in the valleys of sin.

We are attached to the landscape as it is. But we can't keep it forever.

Since everything is to be dissolved in this way,
what sort of persons ought you to be

And yet, on our own we find that things are still quite bumpy. We do not have a smooth road on which the LORD can come to meet us. The equipment we need to fill these valleys and to destroy these mountains is not our own strength, although, supported by grace, we do use strength. What we need is the good news, the glad tidings that God is coming to meet us. The news itself, when it fills us, and we proclaim it, is how the landscape changes. Whereas sin might distract us from his coming like a valley in which we may be lost so can the good news keep us focused and in line of sight of the king who is coming. Just as our pride can make other things more important, as it can be a mountain in our path, so can the good news reveal what is more important than our pride, leveling the mountains that block our view.

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."

This message of the coming of the king conveys grace to be, more and more, without spot or blemish before him. It is a message of comfort, of glad tidings, of lambs being gathered and fed. It is a message about the strength of the king and how near he will come to save us. We have the advantage of knowing even more. We know just how close he comes. The infant will be born and laid in the manger so that all eyes can finally behold the salvation of our God.

Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.

9 December 2017 - to presence day

Today's Readings (Audio)

During Advent we look forward to experiencing the presence of God in an entirely new way, never before known in history.

No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher

God feels pity for the crowds of people on earth. He sees that we are like sheep without a shepherd. Without the presence of the shepherd we are troubled and abandoned. We wander a stray. This pity moves God to become present to us in the person of Jesus Christ. The presence of God is no longer hidden behind the veil of the temple to be seen only by the high priest once a year. The presence of God is now visible to the world. We can look on him with our own eyes. 

Jesus comes to us so that we can see him and follow him. From him we receive the Spirit. The presence of God fills us in the most profound way. We experience being surrounded by, consumed by, and filled with the presence of God.

While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.

This is not simply what happened once when Jesus walked the earth. This is that to which we look forward with joyful hope this year. The grace of Christmas makes this experience present to us are willing to welcome it.

We need the LORD's presence. He answers with the bread we need and the water of life for which we thirst. He answers with Eucharist and Spirit to fulfill our desire for the presence of God. He sees our wounds and is not content to remain in any way distant from us.

He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.

Once the presence of God fills us we should be moved by the same pity which he feels for us when we see the need of others.

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.