Gospel, Homily and Coffee

The Jewish spiritual understanding of remembering is called Anamnesis. We remember to make what we remember real in our lives. It is not nostalgia, but a call to action.   For the Jewish people, Passover was and is pre-eminent. They remember how God freed them so as to live out that freedom in their lives. God created all. God created all with a purpose. God created this universe and this world to be one with God. We are part of that creation. We have a special place in creation, in that our humanity is about the work with and for God to continue creation; to make heaven and earth one. We also need to remember that Creation was not just a one singular event, but is an ongoing process; it continues until this today. And amid that process of creation God does something wonderful, and God asks Mary to participate in this wonderful action. Mary, full of Grace, willingly participates in God's plan. She models humanity; she symbolizes what we were created for. She works for a...

Some questions I received from some young persons a couple of weeks ago were: “How do I know if I will get into Heaven? How do I experience God?”  Really good questions, but given that we are preparing to celebrate the Incarnation of the Son God, maybe we will tweak these questions? And in doing so, we find a way to understand differently. We need to remember that at Christmas we are not just celebrating a birthday. We can use that description for little kids because it is an easy way for them to understand it, but adults, well we can also be more sophisticated.  At Christmas, We celebrate Heaven coming into the world.   We that fullness of the Divinity was born into a fully human person.  We celebrate that God is present here in our world, in our reality. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus, the Christ. John recognized him as the Son of God who came into our world. And think too what Jesus’ words were “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”  So our focus is...

The other night, the Confirmation 2 teens and I were together to talk about vocations and answer questions. One question I posed to them was what were their own questions about Life, the Universe and everything in it as a 4 to 6 year old. Can any of you remember what questions you had at that age?  I brought that up because when I was that age there were two questions and one concern. They were: Why were there no volcanoes in Ohio? Would the hill in our little town disappear before I had a chance to ride down it on my bike? And how did the Body of Christ fit in the tabernacle?  Geology and Theology questions: I think there was a message there. Name for ourselves all the messengers in our life; that pointed us in the direction we needed to go. Name for ourselves especially those messengers in our life that point us in the direction to a deeper understanding of God, and the consequently a deeper understanding of ourselves.  The cliche is that God works in mysterio...

Long relationships are good, but they can become awkward. In new relationships there is that energy, that passion. We spend time getting to know the new friend, the new love, the new baby. Everything is new and exciting. Then the passion, the energy subsides...and the real work begins. One of the hallmarks needed in a relationship for it to continue to grow is the space to grow. We need to permit the other to change and develop; to become more themselves; and we need the space for ourselves to grow. In marriage preparation this is part of the conversation; we cannot change anyone else including the spouse, nor can we stop our spouse from changing. Marriage is that commitment to remain with the other, to help them, and the other help us, become our best. Things will catch us by surprise in relationships. Each time I visit with my folks I almost always catch something new about them; a like or dislike, a new interest, something faded away. The Trick is to be alert to those mome...

In the Old City of Jerusalem are two bricked up gates. The legend is that they will be opened at the second coming. In the United States in the 1800’s, after what's called the Great Awakening and then the 2nd Great Awakening, certain christian sects believed on a certain day and time, the Second coming of Jesus would occur; it didn’t. When they recalculated, the same happened or rather did not happen. Then they got a little smarter and didn’t set a specific day and time, but preached it was imminent, and they knew how to save us. These gave rise to groups like Seventh Day Adventist and others. Dominionalism, and its followers believe that by instituting certain political changes, they can begin the Second Coming of Jesus. Like moving embassies to certain cities, making certain laws... Then throughout the world is destroyed and only the “faithful” remnant are saved. “Faithful” meaning those who fit their' ideas, which are often narrow and focussed on a set of criteria of...

Maybe a regret in life when looking back: why didn’t I take advantage of XYZ; what a difference it would have made!  Listening to advice from someone? A Financial venture? Relationship? Simply taking more time for fun with family and friends and less time at work?   Then again, maybe we were not just ready for it at that time. And maybe now we who are older, we see our young persons, and we ourselves are a bit frustrated...why aren’t they listening to me? Why aren’t they taking advantage of what I can give? I sometimes wonder if the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit don’t sit around and watch us, roll their eyes, and wonder why we don’t take advantage of what has been given to us? A key dogma of our Christian Faith: Jesus Christ, the Son of God was killed upon the cross and was then raised from the dead by the Father.  We call this the Paschal Mystery. One must believe in this to be Christian.  Yet, what do we believe of this? Do we simply give our assent t...

Wisdom, what is it?  It might be like an old adage: I may not know what it is, but I know it when I see it! Wisdom; the Old Testament speaks of it a lot. It is often given a feminine persona. Generations passed this wisdom down through proverbs, psalms; through an oral tradition. The Jewish Wisdom books were compiled several hundred years before Jesus in response to the Greek conquerors coming into the land and bringing their own form of wisdom. A wisdom that presented a threat to the Jewish people. Wisdom in the Christian sense connects to the Holy Spirit. It comes from this Jewish wisdom. Wisdom, the intersection of intellect and emotion. It comes from a practice of discernment; a practice of patience. It is foresight. It is vision. It has depth, it relies on community. Wisdom comes from, is with, and will be with Love. One of our great aspects of our Catholic faith is our belief in Sacraments. A Sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality. By nature, our belief...