January 30, 2022: 4th Sunday in Ordinary (Ordinal) Time

God has come to speak His Word to us in Christ, and it can be challenging to rise to the occasion and live out that Word, because it calls us to new understandings about Who He is and Who we are, and calls us to a new way of life.  That is why it's important for us to be open to the transformation, deep into our hearts, so we can receive this Word and act on it.

As people of faith, we are anointed for a purpose, to be God's presence in the world.  I think of how powerfully we, the World Youth Day pilgrims, made God known in our gathering there 3 years ago, and how we were sent forth to make Him known, transformed by our encounters during those days.

Jeremiah faced many challenges as a prophet, because He spoke the words of God that upset people in their ways.  Yet God kept him firm, having chosen him for his work since birth.

So Jesus was anointed to be a prophet, and His own townsfolk in Nazareth found it so difficult to accept this One, Who had grown up among them, to be God's presence speaking to them--much as the people of Israel as a whole rejected Jesus as the Messiah.  

As people baptized in faith, called and anointed for His purposes, when we face opposition for proclaiming God's message, we can be confident that God has anointed us, since before birth.

May our lives reflect the vision of love that St. Paul presents in 1 Corthinians.  It is such a great spiritual gift that it lasts through all Eternity, for in true Love, we see God present among us, even as we await the revelation of His fullness.

January 23, 2022: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary (Ordinal) Time

With great joy in my heart, we cycle back to the same readings I heard proclaimed at the Concluding Mass of World Youth Day celebrated by Pope Francis in Panama City, 3 years ago on January 27, 2019.

And God's Word continues to be fulfilled among us, in our hearing.  

Jesus Christ came as the Incarnate God to our world as the Word Made Flesh, which we celebrated during Christmas.  He indeed made God's presence known, because He was anointed and came in the power of the Holy Spirit to do the good works of bringing joy and liberty to those in bondage and Good News to the poor, thinking even especially of the preborn, who are in need of so much support.

Indeed, since God has come to abide with us forever, we have reason for great joy, and strength from the joy of the Lord, Who speaks His very Word to us.  Each day is holy because God is among us, and so the words of Ezra and Nehemiah speak to us today:  Even in difficult circumstances, we can rejoice that God has given us His Word so that we can live with purpose.

In Christ, He has made us One Church, a Body with many parts, each contributing something unique. When we come together, the Body is truly at its best, making God known in the world.

The WYD 2019 pilgrims gathered to be present to God in a special way, and celebrate being part of one Church.  We return to our homes all over the world, still bound as one Body, and Christ has continued to be present among us as we have lived out our encounter with Him.

Today, we also celebrate Sunday of the Word of God, and recognize the importance of Scripture in our life of faith, because through it, God continually speaks to His people.  As a lector, I am aware of the role of this ministry to help the faithful more deeply appreciate what God says to us in the Scriptures.

And so the Word of God continues to be fulfilled as we go forth from our gatherings at Mass and do the deeds that make Him known.

January 16, 2022: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary (Ordinal) Time

Even in Ordinary Time, God is doing extraordinary work to sanctify time and the world.

After celebrating His manifestations at the Birth of Christ, the Epiphany, and the Baptism of the Lord, Jesus once again manifests God's divine presence with the first of His signs at the wedding at Cana.

When there is an implitictly urgent need to make more wine available, to save the newly married couple some embarrassment, Mary confidently turns to Jesus and directs the servants to follow His directives.

In a rather subtle way, Jesus provides an abundance of high-quality wine.

It's fitting that this first sign of Jesus in the Gospel according to St. John happens at a wedding:

God wedded Heaven and Earth by the coming of Jesus, Who brings us back into right relationship with the Father.  Jesus shows how greatly the Father delights in us, lavishing His love in the same way a groom delights in and loves his bride.

I find it apt to hear this Gospel passage proclaimed this weekend, because 5 years ago this weekend, I was in Florida to celebrate the marriage of my brother and sister-in-law.  A day later, I visited the Mission Nombre de Dios, the site of the first Mass held in the present-day USA, on September 8, 1565, when the Spanish came ashore to found St. Augustine.  Our Church has gathered at Mass for so long, because it is so important that we gather to recognize how God is present among us, and how He is wedding us back to Himself.

Aware of His presence among us, we are called to believe, just as the disciples came to believe in Christ.  And living in faith, we take up the great gifts God gives us through the Spirit, Who grants gifts specifically to each of us, so that together, as One Body, we can participate in the (Christmas) work of continuing to make God known in the world.

At the center of this photo is the window in Ascension Parish depicting the scene in today's Gospel reading.

January 9, 2022: Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Throughout the Christmas Season, we have celebrated how God manifested Himself among us in Christ.

For this Sunday's Feast, we move beyond the narrative of Christ as a child to His adulthood.  God manifested Himself powerfully at His baptism, in the fullness of the Trinity:  He sent down the Spirit to anoint Him.  God spoke and acclaimed Him as His Son, with whom He was "well-pleased", affirming what Christ did by His baptism.

As people of faith, we join with Christ in baptism so that we, too, can become God's children, and share in Christ's mission to make God known in the world.  By His mercy, He has brought us through the waters of rebirth into new life so that we are equipped to live our faith by doing good works.

It is wonderful we have this Feast to conclude the Christmas Season because it demonstrates how we can embody the Christmas message:  By faith, we see God manifest in the world through Christ, and through these encounters, we are transformed to be like Him, through baptism, and through our living, make Him known in the world.

January 2, 2021: Sunday of the Epiphany of the Lord

When Jesus Christ was born, He brought a great Light that has shined to all the world, so that peoples from all over the world were drawn to seek Him.

The visit of the Magi demonstrates that all people can strive to reach Christ, because God has put in all of us a yearning for something greater, which only He can satisfy.  So no matter what troubles us and our world, we can rejoice in encountering the Light, because it is God's way of manifesting Himself to the world.

So let us join with all peoples to embrace the Light, which is Christ, worshipping Him with our treasures and growing in relationship with Him, for He is the great gift that when we receive Him, and He is born in us, He transforms us to live out the mystery of the Incarnation by making Him known.

January 1, 2022: Octave of Christmas/Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Mary certainly had much to ponder in her heart.

In the time He ordained in His infinite wisdom, God had chosen her to bear His Son in the world.

And it is through His Name that we are saved.

We are blessed because through, Christ, we see God and we access Him as we grow in relationship with Him.

As the years go by, God's grace continues to flow forth and work mightily in us.