Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

01-27-2019Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

"He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up." Did you grow up in a small town? Whenever you see stories of tight-knit communities, a common refrain is that everybody knows everybody and that's very difficult to change. If you leave and return, people expect you to be and act a certain way, and it's strange for them if you do not. In today's Gospel, we see that Jesus was already moving "in the power of the Spirit and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He...was praised by all." His ministry has begun! News of his growing popularity must have proceeded him to Nazareth.

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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

01-20-2019Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

When you think of being Catholic, what do you think of? Perhaps you grew up with your only associations being fasting, nuns with rulers, and "Catholic guilt." Our faith can sometimes have the connotation of restriction and absence, not abundance. Who is God in your life? Is He the divine law-giver, the judge punishing the rule-breakers? These are certainly attributes of God. But the laws don't exist for themselves alone. They exist to help us love one another as God loves us. And this loving God is the author of abundance and joy.

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The Baptism of the Lord

01-13-2019Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

Think of what it's like to wait a long time. Can you imagine what it would be like to wait for centuries? No one person lives that long, of course. But for the Israelites, they had heard the stories from generation to generation. They had been conquered time and time again, and now "the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ." They had been waiting for a Messiah, one who did miraculous deeds and said profound things; someone aglow with the glory of God. We all know what it's like to hope and be disappointed. But what if your hopes were fulfilled?

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The Epiphany of the Lord

01-06-2019Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

"Behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying 'Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.'" How strange to journey so far for perhaps so little. Of course the magi go to the capitol city. Of course they entreat with King Herod. Of course this is where they expect newborn royalty to be. But where is the child? "In Bethlehem of Judea," the scribes say. And so the magi go on to what is yet another Christmas miracle.

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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

12-30-2018Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

"After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers." As we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, this Gospel exposes us to a strange tension. While this family is one we can look to for an example, they are not quite the same family unit as everyone else. There is an otherness to Jesus, something profound. And yet, perhaps on second thought, are our families so different? When Mary and Joseph encountered Jesus in the temple, "they were astonished."

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Fourth Sunday of Advent

12-23-2018Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

Here we are, mere days from Christmas, and we hear a Gospel anticipating the birth of another child. Mary has received word that her cousin Elizabeth is with child. Pregnant as she is, Mary "set out and traveled to the hill country in haste." She has recently received the greatest news of her life - that she is to be mother to the Messiah by the power of the Holy Spirit - but her concern is for her cousin in need. Through God's grace, Elizabeth turns it into an opportunity to honor the coming Christ. "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Yet Mary's example of selflessness should inspire us.

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Third Sunday of Advent

12-16-2018Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

In Christianity, we hear often about the "Good News." We might often associate it with Jesus' compassion to the poor, his healings and miracles, and the salvation he won for us. In today's Gospel, we read of John the Baptist. "Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people." Yet as we examine the rest of the reading, we see examples of John's preaching. If you have two cloaks, give one away. Don't cheat others out of their money, extort, or lie. And, of course, the warning that the Messiah is on the move and "his winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Merry Christmas?

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Second Sunday of Advent

12-09-2018Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar...and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee...and Lysanias was tetrach of..." Did you need to pinch yourself awake during the first few lines of this Sunday's Gospel? John the Baptist received quite a prelude today as Luke described the religious and political leadership of the time period. Scripture is divinely inspired, and we believe that everything that made it into the Bible is there for a reason. These lines remind us of an important truth. The Christmas story isn't a fairy tale or nursery rhyme. It's not a parable we say to give meaning to the holiday. At Christmas, God's presence is made tangible in a precise moment in time. The birth of Christ is a historical event. As precursor to Jesus' preaching, the ministry of John the Baptist is also a historical event.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

11-18-2018Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

If you brought your child to the restroom during the Liturgy of the Word, you might walk away with one of two interpretations of Jesus as King. The first and second readings are bold and victorious. We see Christ coming on the clouds for the final judgment of heaven and earth. The Gospel sets a very different tone. Jesus is under arrest and facing death before Pontius Pilate. We know how this story will end. So if Christ is King, what does it mean? Is he a glorious conqueror or a suffering servant? "My kingdom does not belong to this world." Here is the heart of Jesus' reign. He is a king -- and his "subjects" are alive and well on earth -- but, ultimately, Jesus' kingdom transcends our earthly concepts of power. Jesus faced down the temptation of a solely earthly kingship. At the close of his 40 days in the desert, the devil offered him the kingdoms of the world. Jesus only had to sacrifice his heavenly values and worship Satan. The same temptations to distort the kingship of Christ are present to us today. Jesus' invitation also endures. "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." It is important for us to belong to the full truth of Christ's kingdom. First, our own hearts must be transformed. Our own rebellions in favor of selfishness and against holiness must be conquered by God's grace. Second, we must work to transform the world as best we can in our own corner of it. Like Jesus shows us by his life and death, this doesn't mean domination. It means service, sacrifice, respect, and love. Our lives must "testify to the truth" of Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for his people. That is the true beauty of Christ the King!

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Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-11-2018Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

As we edge closer to the closing of the liturgical year, the Church selects readings that remind us of the final close: the second coming of Christ. It's easy, perhaps, to forget that this is a dogma of our Catholic faith. We see this dramatic end times language in today's Gospel. "The sun will be darkened ... and the stars will be falling from the sky."

As Christians and as human beings, we know all things will come to an end. " But of that day or hour, no one knows." The "end of the world" and end of time at Jesus' coming is in a future unknown. But God has given us beautiful reminders of this truth. We see the signs and symbols of ending all around us -- nightfall at the end of each day; the life cycle of crops coming alive, bearing fruit, and being harvested; our own death. That, too, will come at an unknown day and hour. But that is the way of things. Even as God created in Genesis, He gave us a sense of time -- the sun rising and setting, a beginning and an end -- to mark our days.

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Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

11-04-2018Weekly Reflection©2018 Liturgical Publications, Inc.

Prayer for Faithful Citizenship

Gracious and loving God, let your Spirit be with us today.

Hear our prayers, and increase in us the will to follow your Son Jesus.

Help us to draw on the resources of our faith as we use the opportunities of our democracy to shape a society more respectful of the life, dignity, and rights of the human person, especially the poor and vulnerable.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

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