Making a Commitment

February 22nd, 2012

Thursday of First Week in Lent

Dt 30: 15-20; Lk 9: 22-25

 

Lent- it’s all about making a commitment- a commitment to choose God’s way to live our lives rather than world’s way.  We do it every year in order to preserve what we have, our faith and our path to eternal life.   

In the first reading, the Lord, through Moses, promises the Israelis a long, prosperous life in the promised land if..  If they follow the laws of the Lord and do what he commands of them.  The process takes 40 years, and is a painstaking struggle in the desert wilderness.  Now indeed, 40 years was a lifetime for the people of Moses day.  We have a lifetime as well, but every year we are given the 40 days of Lent to reflect on our lives and to put ourselves back on the proper track.  For just as the Israelis seek the promised land at the end of life, we are seeking eternal life with God- that is our goal.  And life in this world isn’t the same thing as eternal life.  Because no matter who you are focusing on preserving our lives is ultimately fuitile- we are all going to die.   

Jesus gives us the keys to how to deny ourselves and follow him.  First, he speaks for himself- he is going to suffer and die, but then be resurrected on the third day.  And He will be resurrected to eternal life with the Father.  After giving his life as an example, he tells all of the disciples that they must deny themselves and follow in his ways.  Clearly, he is not excepting himself from the reality of what it takes to live a life pleasing to God.  Because first he gives uses his own life as an example, and then he tells his disciples to do the same.
Yes, being a Christian means denying self.  But exactly what are we to deny ourselves of?  Well, when we fast, we deny ourselves.  But, let’s take a deeper look at fasting then we usually do.  I’m not talking about giving up something as a token denial, although that kind of fasting can establish discipline and we all need discipline.  Rather, suppose the ultimate purpose of our fasting is to turn ourselves Christ-like.  For example, we can nail the unruly parts of our life to the cross and kill them all off by fasting from them.  That means cutting out those habits and things that we do that are sinful or occasions to sin.  Things like gossip, alcohol, pornography, cell phones, video games, TV, Facebook, and a host of other things can be addicting.  We need to deny ourselves of these occasions to sin and sin itself.  That is denying self in the purest sense, because it does away with our selfishness. 

Second, we need to renew our relationships with our neighbors.  It’s called living a life that reflects love the way Jesus did.  Jesus talked about loving neighbor as ourselves.  And this was the most important of all the commandments God gave to Moses. 

So, as you reflect on your Lenten duty, consider what you will fast from, and make a real commitment to deny yourself of something that nails the unruly part of yourself to the cross.

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Are You Thinking As God Does?

February 16th, 2012

 

Thursday of 6th Week in Ordinary Time

Feast of St. Onesimus

James 2: 1-9; Mark 8: 27-33

Deacon Larry Brockman

 Are you thinking as man does or as God does?  Today’s liturgy challenges us to think about man’s way versus God’s way in several contexts.

 First, there is the lesson in the first reading.  Do you and I avoid the lesser folks in our congregation for the well dressed, popular types?  Now before you say to yourself “Not I!”  Think about it for a moment.  Because the example in the reading is an extreme- and it is written so as an example.  But I think we can miss the real point.  You know, I try to come each Thursday to daily Mass.  I see many of the same faces each time.  But there are always new faces in the crowd.  After Mass, I see clusters of folks each week- the same clusters.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  But how do you suppose that seems to the new guy in the crowd?  Are we welcoming to them?  Or are our clusters a form of discrimination? 

Why is this important?  Because you just never know what a chance contact, particularly one motivated out of kindness and inclusiveness, will do for someone who is reaching out- maybe attending daily Mass for the first time.  It is a primary call for us to be inclusive as Christians.

And then there is the example of our Saint today- St. Onesimus.  Onesimus was a runaway slave of Philomen, whose name is the title of one of the books of the New Testament.  Allegedly Onesimus stole something from Philomen and then ran away to avoid punishment.  Paul meets Onesimus when he reaches Rome, and Onesimus converts to Christianity.  And so Paul writes the epistle to Philomen to try to patch up the relations between the two.  Paul asks Philomen to forgive Onesimus, and to accept him as a brother in Christ.  In other words, Paul wants Philomen to accept him as an equal.  This violates a number of cultural norms- ways of the World: forgiveness of a disobedient servant; and the separation of servant and ruling class. 

That was tough in Paul’s day, and when you think about it, it is tough in our secular world of today as well.  Rarely do we find examples where people forgive and accept people who have violated them and the law.  But Pope John Paul II did- he forgave and accepted his attacker.  And Cardinal Bernardin, who was falsely accused of abuse by a man years after it supposedly occurred, is another example.  We all know how such accusations can taint a life.  And yet Cardinal Bernardin forgave and accepted the man.  Who amongst us doesn’t have someone in our lives that fits this kind of bill?  Can we forgive them and accept them despite the damage done?  

And lastly, we have the Gospel story about Peter.  Peter judges Jesus prophecy through the lens of the World.  “Perish the thought; this just can’t be; do you know what you are saying?”  In other words, Peter doesn’t take Jesus seriously.  Today, we have lots of prophets predicting consequences of serious affronts by the Government on our religious liberty.  Respect Life Organizations like Priests for Life; the National Conference of Catholic Bishops;    and some news organizations are telling us what’s going on.  But are we listening? Do we really care? Are we doing anything about it?   

 

So, are you thinking as man does or as God does? 

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Who is Your Role Model?

February 3rd, 2012

Friday of 4th Week in Ordinary Time

Feast of St. Blase

Sir 47: 2-11; Mark 6: 14-29

Deacon Larry Brockman

 

A tale of two kings.  One Godly and the other ungodly.  That’s what we hear in today’s scripture. In their day, both of these kings were role models.  We can learn much from the stories about these two kings.  We will learn about good versus evil; and virtue versus vice.

King David’s story is of the virtuous man.  We hear that David offers thanks to God the most high in his every deed and loves his maker with his whole being.  David’s focus was on the Lord and praising the Lord.  And he defended his people against the Philistines.  David was truly working for the benefit of all in his Kingdom, and in this sense, he was selfless.  And for this the Lord rewarded David with prosperity.  He was indeed a role model, and his praises were sung by the women at the time, as we just heard.

   

Contrast David with Herod.  Herod was notorious for stifling taxation and extravagance.  In this short selection we find that Herod has stolen his brother’s wife; envied John the Baptist but feared him; imprisoned John out of that fear and in order to control him; and in an apparent drunken stupor on his birthday, made reckless promises to his stepdaughter in a flurry of swearing and carrying on.  And so, he had John the Baptist beheaded.  Basically, Herod is a Godless sinner who seems to exhibit wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony all together at once- all seven of the deadly sins.  Herod’s focus is on himself- and self-gratification.  What a role model he is.  But, for the secular society of the day, that is what Herod was- a role model.  After all, everyone uses success for a role model.  Indeed, the contrast between David and Herod is significant.

   

That brings us to this question:  Who are our role models today?  Well, they always seem to be people in power, people in the spotlight.  Today, our society focuses on TV and movies for role models- actors, actresses, football and basketball players, pop music artists, top models, billionaires, and reality show personalities.  Haven’t these have become our society’s role models?  It would certainly seem so.  And, as we follow these folks through the stream of life, it is a trail of heartbreak and disaster- divorces, affairs, drug problems, domestic violence, and selfish extravagance, all of which is glorified in the press. Just a single copy of People magazine shows it all.  But these are the people our media pushes on us as role models.    The problem with this is that our youth- your children and grandchildren, and mine by the way.  They are being inundated by worship of the Herods of today.  And they soak all of it up like a sponge. 

 

So, we have to find an effective counter to the garbage.   And the most effective counter that we have is our own example, the example of believing Christians who live the call- loving, patient, kind, giving, yet zealous Christians in our own families.  Because our children and Grandchildren are watching.  

 

And so I would like to pose this simple Question to you:   What kind of King or Queen of your household are you?  A Herod or a David?

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Purification

February 2nd, 2012

Presentation of the Lord

Mal 3: 1-54; Heb 2: 14-18; Luke 2: 22-40

Deacon Larry Brockman

 

Purification!  That’s what the Presentation of the Lord is all about.  For 40 days after birth, a Jewish woman was considered unclean.  And so, the mother and baby visited the temple for a purification rite at the end of those 40 days, and the mother offered a ritual sacrifice to the Lord.  That is what Mary did in this morning’s Gospel.  So, the Presentation of the Lord is all about Purification.

   

Now in the first reading, we hear of the promise of a messenger.  Sometimes this passage points to the promise of the messenger John the Baptist.  But today, the meaning is quite different.  Because our first reading also says something about purification.  In fact, the rhetorical question is asked- who can stand such purification?  Indeed, this purification is so extreme that Malachi’s promised messenger will engage in that it can’t refer to John the Baptist, but rather to Jesus himself; and in the role of Jesus second coming- as the Judge of all.   

Now in the letter to the Hebrews we hear about people being subject to slavery because of their fear of death; and that this plays into the devil’s hands.  Isn’t that the truth?  Just look around you for the truth of that statement.  People will do anything- literally anything, to preserve their human life, but even more to the point, to achieve a certain quality of life.  Sometimes, they do so in such a way that it is clear that they don’t believe there is anything except human life.  And that is the point.  Some people will seek extraordinary measures to achieve comfort; and some people submit to medical procedures that prolong life, even at the expense of the quality of their own life; and some people do whatever it takes to enhance the quality life, even if it means that it hurt others.  In doing so, they are demonstrating that they are slaves to the flesh and to death- the works of the devil. 

  

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t be concerned about our physical well-being.  But I am suggesting that there is more to our life than life in this world as we know it.  All of us need the proper perspective on what the meaning of this life is all about.  If our life is oriented to self- that is, self-preservation and self-satisfaction, then we are slaves to the flesh.  Jesus came into the world just like all of us- born in flesh and blood.  But he suffered- suffered the consequences of human life.  Jesus lived the balance between living life in this world as a human and pleasing God.  We have got to learn to die unto ourselves in order to be purified in the sight of God.

 

The choice is ours- just like it was Jesus’ choice.  If we learn to live life with that balance now then we need not fear judgment when we die.  Otherwise- “Who will endure the day of his coming?   And who can stand when he appears?”

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Hearing God’s Call.

January 15th, 2012

   

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

1     Sam 3: 3b-10, 19; 1 Cor 6: 13c-15a, 17-20; John 1: 35-42

Deacon Larry Brockman

Noise, noise, and more noise!  Busy, busy, all the day long!  Our lives are cluttered with noise and lots of activity.  Cell phones with ear buds; boom boxes; TV and radio; Pandora; U-tube; Facebook; twitter- you name it.  After school activities, club meetings, social groups, sports, and all kinds of go, go, go.  We are a generation of fast and furious; noise and activity.  And sometimes we don’t even have to get up and move around to find it.  But where is it all leading?  Do we really know; and do we even care?  And yet deep down we know- we know that we need meaning and purpose in our lives.  Not only that, we sense that the meaning and purpose must be deeper than just going through the motions of life.  But what is it? What is our meaning and purpose?     

The first thing we have to do to understand the meaning and purpose of our lives  Is to recognize that God is trying to communicate with us about just that.  In the first reading, we see young Samuel learning this lesson.  Samuel is dreaming about someone calling to him- but he doesn’t recognize who it is.  Not once, not twice, but three times he has the same dream.   And only with the help of Eli does Samuel recognize it for what it truly is- God calling him and asking him to listen to him in a dream.   

Now let’s hold on to that thought for a moment and talk about it because some of you are probably thinking- “Is God trying to talk to me in my dreams”?  Maybe, and maybe not, but you see, that isn’t the point.  The point is that whether it is a dream; a funny feeling or fleeting impression when we are awake; something we read; something we see; or something we experience; whatever it might be- God is trying to talk to us all the time.  But we need to be open to it; we need to listen to him.   

The other day, my wife and I watched the film “About Schmidt”.  The main character in the film, Warren Schmidt, was ably played  by Jack Nicholson.  Warren saw a TV add called “Child Reach”, calling for folks to sponsor a poor child in the third World for $22 a month.  Moved by compassion, Warren sponsors a child named Ndugu.  Now Warren is a man who holds it all in,  and doesn’t have anyone to share his anger or frustration with.  He retires after having devoted his life to his job at the expense of spending time with his family.  Then he discovers he wasn’t appreciated by his company; loses his wife; and finds himself frustrated by his daughter’s choice of a mate.   And so, throughout the film, we hear Warren venting his anger in letters to his foster-child Ndugu.  At the end of the film, Warren is feeling very, very discouraged and despondent.  He doesn’t see the value in his life.  And then, all of a sudden, he gets a letter from Ndugu’s teacher who talks about how much Warren’s sponsorship has meant and how much Ndugu loves him.  Ndugu has also sent a crayon drawing.  It shows a smiling Ndugu linked hand in hand with Warren, and a great big bright sun shining in the background.  And Warren cries, because he can see that he has made a difference after all.

It is just a story, yes; but the point is clear.  God nudges, cajoles, and whispers to us all the time.  And some of the time, we are not even conscious that we have responded.  But the little voice inside has made its mark, and we do things responding to our call by God.  These things are part of God’s plan, and they can make a big difference.  How much more dramatic it would be if we actually listened to God all the time and made that our focus because God is talking to us like that all the time.  How, you say; I don’t hear anything?   

Well, it happens when you are watching a key football game and someone calls and asks you for help; it happens when you plan a getaway weekend, but your 3 year comes down with the flu and it also happens when you face a decision, and feel that little voice inside tell you to do the right thing rather than the easy thing or the popular thing.  Then again, it can be when you are in the Adoration Chapel quietly praying and reflecting; or when you are here at Mass.  And yes, it can even happen when you analyze one of your dreams.  But the point is that it is happening all the time.  God is calling you to do his thing for you.   

Second, the message God has for you is personal, much more personal than you might think.  Samuel’s message was certainly in that category; and so was the message to the Apostles in the Gospel.  When we read how God called people in the Bible, or when we hear stories about great saints who have responded to God’s call like St. Paul or Mother Theresa or Saint Francis, it was personal; it was directed to them, and the specifics of that call weren’t for us.   Our calls are personal as well.  And likely they are right there unfolding for us- right in front of us- like helping the friend in the middle of the key football game; or tending to our sick child instead of the weekend getaway, or not going along with the crowd when we know it’s wrong.

The fact that God is calling us to something right in front of us is both a relief and a challenge.  It is a relief because more often than not, we are not being asked to make a drastic change in our lives.  Rather, we are just being asked to be a little more sensitive; a little more giving in our own situations.  But it is a challenge, because it means making a sacrifice, the kind of sacrifice that involves putting our personal goals on the back burner.   

 

Our gospel today demonstrates this so well.  These men that became Apostles were called quietly one by one.  And they left to follow Jesus.  It all started out slowly, but ended up changing their lives forever in the long run.   

 

As you begin your new year, now is the perfect time for you to listen carefully for God’s voice in your lives.  If you can stop the train you are on, and go to the Chapel to reflect- that would be great.  But God is still calling you in the noise and clutter of life.  So, listen for it; be ready for it.  Put aside the cell phone or TV or other forms of self-absorption when the call comes.  Make a sacrifice; say “Speak your servant is listening”.  And God will say to you:  “Come and see”. 

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Someone Knows You Better Than Yourself

January 5th, 2012

2nd Thursday of Christmas

1John 3: 11-21; John 1: 43-51

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

You know what?  There is someone out there who knows you better than you know yourself.

 

I’m not talking about your Mom or Dad; I’m not talking about your spouse; and I’m not talking about your best friend.  Although those who are close to you often times do seem to know you better than you know yourself.  That’s because it is always easier for a person to be more objective about what someone else does than it is for them to be objective about their own actions.  We let ourselves be deceived about things that we do; this happens gradually, almost silently.  And so, we can become attracted to something or wander off into a pattern of behavior and we try to suppress how damaging it is to us.  That’s how we become addicted to eating too much food or the wrong foods or alcohol or TV or gossiping or a host of other things.  We can be blind to our weaknesses, or look the other way. But others, especially those close to us, can see it.  We can even become angry when someone rightly points to our deficiencies.  Because we see all of their faults as clearly as they see ours! 

 

But still, I am not talking about those who are close to us. Rather, I’m talking about God.  Because it is God who knows us better than we know ourselves and God doesn’t have any of those faults.   

 

John says something very profound in the first reading.  He says: “This is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.”  Yes, God knows everything.  He knows that we have these human frailties, and He knows that we have secrets that those who are close to us do not know.  He knows how we struggle with our own imperfections deep down.  He knows we are truly sorry for them, but being the weak humans that we are we keep doing some of these things, and sometimes we give up and even condemn ourselves.  But, God also sees the whole person that we are.  God is on our side- offering us His grace and counsel should we ask for them.  The last thing he wants is for us to give up on ourselves and condemn ourselves.  We need to feel the guilt; yes, but resolve to always do better. 

 

Fortunately for us, we will be judged by God and not others.  God will judge us based on the totality of who we are.  Because He sees the good things we do as well, and sometimes we are harder on ourselves than anyone else.   

 

I have always been puzzled by today’s Gospel until I saw the connection with this first reading.  Nathanael makes a sarcastic remark when told about of Jesus:  “Can anything good come from Nazareth”?  I’m sure you and I can relate to a person like Nathanael- always the caustic remark; the sharp tongue.   And yet, Jesus, through the eyes of God, saw something special in Nathanael.  Jesus saw deeper than the external façade that Nathanael displayed to people.  And so Jesus said of Nathanael:  “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.”  Yes, God knew Nathanael better than Nathanael.  He knows us better too; and He doesn’t give up on us.  Neither should we give up on ourselves. 

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The World Will Never Be The Same

January 1st, 2012

Solemnity of Mary

Num 6: 22-27; Gal 4: 4-7; Luke 2: 16-21

Deacon Larry Brockman

 

 

The World will never be the same.  And the World can never be the same because the birth of Jesus changed things forever.   

 

Once, we were a people of darkness.  We knew about God; He even communicated through the prophets with us.  But, for almost all of His people, God was a distant and vague, yet overpowering and foreboding presence.  And God even seemed angry and unapproachable to His chosen people.  He was even more distant and tentative to the Gentiles.  Yes, we were a people in the dark.  But the birth of the Christ Child changed all of that.   

 

Mary saw that- and that is why she pondered all these things in her heart.  First, there was the message the angel Gabriel gave her; and then came the similar message her husband Joseph had received from the same angel.  Mary had found favor by God and was to bear the Son of God.  And now this- the birth of her son, Jesus- in less than favorable circumstances, yet attended by choirs of angels.  Just imagine a throng of Angels singing!  What an awesome sight that must have been.  Yes, Mary saw that she was part of something that would change the World forever.  And so, she took her son after 8 days and did exactly what the angel had asked her to do- dedicate Him in the temple and give Him his name, Jesus, which means “God’s savior”, because she knew and believed that the prophecy was coming true!   

 

The shepherds saw the significance of Jesus birth also.  And that is simply amazing.  You might ask- why was it so amazing?  Well, these shepherds, were relatively simple people very much of the World.  They had to be practical, pragmatic, hard working men. They weren’t students of the scripture or theology, but rather, folks who were just regular people,  And so, what happened?  First, they saw a large number of angels that told them about the birth of the Christ, the Messiah; and so they went in haste to see what happened.  Once they had seen that everything that was predicted by the angels had happened, they “returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them”.  Because they were convinced, excited, and joyful over the coming of the Messiah.  Do you suppose they would have returned glorifying God if they hadn’t been visited by the angels?  Something significant happened to them- this visit from a large group of angels who predicted an unlikely event and yet, it happened just as the angels predicted.   

 

Now if that kind of thing happened to you or I today, just imagine how you would feel.  You would be blown away!  You would think to yourself:  “Nothing will ever be the same!”  You might at first have doubts “was this real or not”.  So that is why a group was visited, not just one shepherd.  Because it would all have seemed so unreal- a hallucination if it happened to you alone.  But it wasn’t a hallucination; it was real, and the whole group experienced it.  And so, this long awaited arrival of the Christ, the Messiah, that all of the rabbi teachers and scribes and people of stature talked about, had actually come about.  And not only that, it came about on your watch.  Wow! How you would be blown away.   

 

And so, we can see how the shepherds were caught up in the true meaning, the real truth about Christmas- that God had sent His only son to dwell amongst us to live as one of us and to save us.  God was no longer a distant, vague, overpowering, foreboding presence, but was manifest as one of us.  And yet, God was manifest as a tiny, helpless baby.  He was destined to become a shining example to all of humanity about how to behave as a human being, and yet be in total harmony with God.  And not only that, Jesus would reconcile us with God.  Just so that we wouldn’t forget about Him, he instituted the Church, and entrusted to the Church the ability to bring Him back: He gave us the Eucharist, his own body and blood, which all of us are privileged to share together as part of the Mass.   

 

Indeed, our God is close to us, not distant; He is loving and kind like His son Jesus; not foreboding and overpowering.  Yes, he is still so far above us in intelligence and power that we cannot conceive of the mind and power of God.  But we have been privileged to experience his love for us.  The love of His only begotten son, and not only that, Jesus is available to us always in the Eucharist.  What a contrast with other religions.  They haven’t recognized the significance and reality of the fullness of God’s gift to man- the Son of God become man and the spirit of God that dwells in each of us who believe.   

 

Today, as we look forward to the New Year is a good time for us to count our blessings.  And one of the blessings that all of us share is our faith as Christians.  Even though the Hebrews didn’t recognize it, that’s what God’s famous blessing for Aaron in our first reading was all about.  Listen to it again:  “The LORD bless you and keep you!”  That is God the Father; “The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!”  That is the Son of God, Jesus, whose face we see.  And then finally: “The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!”  The peace is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. 

 

And so, let us all rejoice today  Because we have all been truly blessed.  For with the birth of Jesus, God has shed his face upon us, and will send his Spirit upon us.

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The Joy of Christmas

December 25th, 2011

Christmas Eve and Christmas

Westminster Towers

Is 9: 1-6; Titus 2: 11-14; Luke 2: 1-14

Deacon Larry Briockman 

The waiting is over!  Christmas is upon us.  Do you feel the joy?  Not just the joy over the cards, the gifts, the lights, the decorations, the cookies, and all the glitter of the season; but the joy over the coming of the Lord. 

    

You know, each year the Church goes through a cycle that starts with Advent.  That’s the four week season that we just went through to prepare for the Lord’s coming.  And then the Church year proceeds to celebrate Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and Ordinary time in that order.  After that, the Church year starts all over again.  So, we all know that the Church year is symbolic, a reenactment on a yearly basis of the Christian salvation story that unfolded 2000 years ago.  As we celebrate Christmas, we commemorate the birth of the Christ Child and the joy of it.  It may not seem real to us- after all, it is a yearly reenactment.    But you know what- Christmas can be real to us, and not just symbolic if…  If we really take to heart the meaning of it all. 

  

You see, Almighty God sent his only son into the world to become one of us; and to live as one of us.  He lived, he suffered, he died, and then He was resurrected; and he promised all of us who believe an everlasting inheritance in the Kingdom of God.  If you really, really believe that- if it is an “aha” experience to you, then it can only bring you the real joy of Christmas.  The cards and lights and cookies and gifts become the symbols; the joy of Christ’s coming is what is real!  So, do you feel it- the joy?  And why would you feel joy over that?

   

In the second reading today, Paul sums up quite well what it is that we should be joyful over.  First- he speaks of the kindness and generous love of God for all of us.  Amen- God’s love is first and foremost the source of our joy.  The God of the universe showed his love for all of us by sending Jesus to live amongst us and show us the way to salvation.   Paul is quick to point out that this love is unconditional, because it doesn’t depend on any righteous deeds we have done.  And when you really think about it, this love is demonstrated in such a unique way.  You see, other religions look at God as “transcendent”, a fancy word that means that God is high above us; so much above us that we cannot possibly have a personal relationship with Him.  But by Jesus becoming one of us, we know that God is available to us through His son, so available because he lived and related to people just like us.  He is still that available to us, because he gave us His body and Blood in the Eucharist.  We will all share in the Eucharist in just a few moments.  How wonderful is that!   

 

Then, there is God’s mercy.  Because no matter what we have done, if we have accepted his love for us, if we believe in Him, then God forgives us and will save us through rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.  That’s called the mercy of God.   

Next, there is the grace that comes with the Holy Spirit, the grace that all of us need to do God’s will.  All of us are gifted with the Holy Spirit-  Jesus promised us that He would send the Spirit.  That’s what our reenactment of Pentecost is all about.  And the Spirit pours out God’s grace on all of us who have the Spirit within us.  We are justified by that grace, because God’s grace is the great enabler we need to be the people he has chosen.

   

Lastly, we become heirs in the hope of eternal life, heirs to the same happiness that Jesus experiences in His resurrected state.  And that happiness lasts forever.  It is like a fairy tale ending- we will “live happily ever after.” 

 

Love, mercy, the Son, the Holy Spirit, grace, and the promise of eternal life- really, what more can we ask for than that.  Indeed, Christmas is the source of real joy. 

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Keeping It Simple

December 15th, 2011

Thursday of Third Week of Advent

Is 54: 1-10; Luke 7: 24-30

Dc. Larry Brockman

You can outsmart yourself.  You really can!  Our society almost trains us to do that.

 

Previous generations were taught the faith through old fashioned rote memory using the Baltimore Catechism #2.  Some of us remember that; but most of you, all of you who learned about your faith after 1963 in fact, probably don’t know a thing about the Baltimore Catechism.  You see, those of us who were taught the old-fashioned way, were taught what the Church teaches by rote memory first.  And then, later on in life, we went through a conversion experience where we thought about what had been drummed into us and either accepted or rejected in our hearts the faith we were given by rote memory.  But the point is, that we knew- we knew exactly what the Church taught.  And it was simple; it was black and white, not relative.

   

Today, the emphasis in our secular society is on “rationalism”.  Everything is put to the test of reasoning as it is taught.  Everything is subject to questioning; and everything “depends” on the circumstances.  Nothing we are taught seems to be on firm ground.

   

This contrast, it seems to me, is the same as the contrast between the Pharisees and Scribes of the Law mentioned in the Gospel as opposed to those who were baptized by John.  The Pharisees and Scribes suffered from the danger of too much knowledge and a serious dose of “reasoning”.  All of John’s claims had to be tested, validated, proven, and compared to the scriptures and the detailed law.  And this was done with their minds rather than their hearts.  The Pharisees were not looking for the answer in their hearts- they were looking for compliance with the scriptures in their minds.

     

On the other hand,  the people that John baptized were just looking for the ultimate truth that would resonate with their hearts.  And so, John told them that truth- that God’s word asks us to believe; to recognize our sins; to repent of them; and to accept the immanent coming of the Lord; and that if we do all that, we will enjoy the Kingdom of God- simple, basic, and not complicated by a lot of hair splitting; and a matter of the heart.

   

We have the same choice as the people of John the Baptist’s time.  We can choose to listen to the word of God with our hearts, not hanging up on the details, but rather, tuning in on what is really important; or bogging down into the culture of today’s secular society, one that demands- “show me the details; and prove your thesis.” 

  

This Advent, we are given the opportunity to reflect on the simplicity of the message that the Lord is coming, the savior is coming.  Be prepared for the coming of the Messiah- the Almighty God incarnate as the son of God.  Accept that with your heart, and live Jesus’ practical lesson of love.  If you don’t, you can outsmart yourself in a sea of sophistication that wants proof of the coming of the Son of God amongst us.  The choice is yours. 

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Real Joy

December 11th, 2011

Third Sunday of Advent

Is 61: 1-2a, 10-11; 1 Thes 5: 16-24; Jn 1: 6-8, 19-28

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

What is it that gives you joy in your life?  Have you ever really thought about that.  Today is Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday in the middle of Advent when the Church asks us to reflect on the coming joy of Christmas.  Because, as Christians, the joy that comes with the Christ child  Should be our ultimate joy.  But is it?  And how can it be our ultimate joy?   

Well, let me ask you again.  What is the source of the joy in your life?  Does your joy come from things- like all the goodies you hope Santa leaves under the tree- things like cars and computers and new clothes and video games?  If you are like me, some of these things can bring excitement and satisfaction- but only for a while.  And when the fascination wears off, and it eventually does, we will go on looking for something else to amuse us.  So, speaking for myself, I don’t think things are the source of joy.   

Maybe you get joy from the goodness and beauty of God’s creation.  After all, a sunset, a sunrise, a breathtaking view of the mountains, or the seacoast, and the night sky;  or a beautiful painting, sculpture or other piece of art- these all can raise our spirits, and that’s kind of what joy is.  But it is passing, and there is something missing- a connection.   

So, perhaps joy comes from relationships.  After all, that’s where we can really make a connection.  A baby certainly seems joyful over the baby’s Mom and Dad- particularly the Mom.  And all of us who have fallen in love know how joyful that can be.  Ah, yes- love in our relationships can bring us some joy.  Both of these examples imply love, and a connection.  So perhaps relationships are the source of our joy.   

But even so, there can be a lot of pain when you fall in love with someone.  There are a number of reasons.  First, all of us humans put limits on our love.  Our love is usually conditional, not unconditional.   Unconditional love is really hard, because it means always giving.  That’s why the love between a Mom and a baby most often seems to portray pure joy, and the same thing between a couple that falls in love.   But this usually doesn’t last- eventually there will be limits.  As a child grows up; or as a couple gets to know each other, the limits begin to appear. 

And the second reason is that there is pain in separation because the connection can be broken.  The most giving of us have experienced that when someone dies that we love or who has loved us or when a child leaves home.   And that can be anything but joyful because of the pain.   

And yet, I am sure that most of you will agree with me that the most joyful experiences we have in life come from our relationships, not from things or nature.  And so, joy, it would seem, can only be complete by unconditional love and a connection that lasts.   

When John the Baptist speaks this morning in today’s Gospel, he says “I am the voice of one crying in the desert, make straight the path of the Lord”.  This echoes the prophecy of Isaiah.  And Isaiah’s promise was that the Lord’s anointed, the Messiah, would bring glad tidings to everyone.  These glad tidings would remove all that keeps us from joy- poverty, sickness, broken hearts, captivity, and all such impediments would be removed.  On the other side, the Messiah brings something positive.  And what the messiah really brought us was God’s love- the unconditional love of God for His people because God sacrificed His only son, sending Him to become one of us to live, suffer, die, and eventually be resurrected for eternal life and happiness.  Indeed, Jesus showed us the way to true joy and happiness.  That’s what the Gospel does- it documents the good news.  It shows us that unconditional love for God is the answer.  Because unlike any of our other relationships, our relationship with God can be different.  We have only to recognize the unconditional love that God has for us, and to love God for it, and we will experience everlasting joy.   

That’s why Paul tells the Thessalonians to rejoice always and to pray unceasingly.  The praying part is what keeps us in connection with the Lord.  We need to develop a loving relationship with the Lord, and maintain it.  We do that by getting to know the Lord, and by doing His will.  Prayer is essential for us to do that.  Rejoicing always comes naturally after that.  Because no matter how hard life may seem- no matter how our life is burdened with poverty, sickness, broken hearts, captivity, and all such impediments to our joy, the coming of Jesus, the Lord, as Isaiah promised, changes all that because the never ending search for the ultimate happiness is over.  We need no longer look for the perfect toy, the most beautiful scenery, or the perfect human relationship.  We have found it- the source of our joy.  The Christ Child will bring us the source of our ultimate joy. 

So rejoice always, the Lord is coming.         

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