From Season to Season

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me. —Matthew 25:35-36 In 1995, Saint John Paul II canonized two very different saints from the Czech Republic. The first was Jan Sarkander , a Jesuit priest and martyr who was killed by militant Protestants in 1620, partly because he refused to reveal what he had heard in the confessional. The other person canonized in that ceremony was Zdislava (or Zedislava) of Lamberk, a wife and mother whose commemoration is celebrated on January 1. Zdislava was born in the early part of the thirteenth century in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). There are stories about her piety as a child and of her desire to live a life of prayer and solitude. However, her family prevailed upon her to marry Count Havel of Lamberk, with whom she had four children. Zdislava lived a life centered on prayer and charity. She was especially devoted...

This reflection on the Holy Family is slightly adapted for one written for the community at Seaside Community Church, UCC, in Torrance, California,  for their service on the Sunday after Christmas (the Feast of the Holy Family), December 28, 2014. Merry Christmas! There’s lots of talk about family these days. And, I don’t only mean this “holiday season” of Thanksgiving and Christmas. For years now politicians, churches, and civil rights groups have been debating how we can and should define the important realities of marriage and family. These are important conversations for all of us to be having and they have to continue. But, even with these ongoing conversations about family, Christmas brings “family” into focus in a special way. Think about how many holiday movies center on family: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Story,” “The Family Stone,” “White Christmas,” and pretty much everything on the Hallmark Channel. And all of these movies celebrate some of th...

Through his prophets he promised of old that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant… In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide their feet into the way of peace. - Luke 1:70-72, 78-79   The story of our salvation is a story of trees.   Beginning in the Garden of Eden, God placed a tree from which Adam and Eve were forbidden to take the fruit (cf. Genesis 2:16-17 ). This tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, became the great sign of humankind's fall from original grace. But, this original sin wasn't that our first parents ate the fruit of this tree; the sin was their disobedience: "In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and against God... Constituted in a state of holin...

Thus says the Lord G od : Lo, I am sending my messenger To prepare the way before me… Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the L ord comes, The great and terrible day. - Malachi 3:23-24   The words of the Prophet Malachi come at the very end of the Old Testament and, as Richard Rohr, O.F.M., observes, they form a perfect segue to the New Testament: They describe the one who will be the fitting precursor for any coming Messiah. Christians have, of course, usually applied this passage to John the Baptist, as Jesus himself and the Gospel writers already had done... [Malachi] describes  the work of the God Messenger as both 'great and terrible,' both wonderful and threatening at the same time. It is not that the Word of God is threatening us with fire and brimstone, but rather it is saying that goodness is its own reward and evil is its own punishment . (From Preparing for Christmas ). However much we might we might want it to be otherw...

His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. - Luke 1:50-52 Our tradition has ascribed many titles to Mary. But I don’t believe there are many of us who would call the Mother of God a revolutionary. But in her Magnificat , which is re-told in today’s Gospel , we hear Mary speaking as a prophet: The One who has done great things in and for her is also changing the order of the world. The poor will be lifted up, the hungry will be fed, and the least of all the peoples will be glorified. There is no embrace of the status quo in her words. Instead, they celebrate the seismic shift that the Incarnation caused in hearts and in the world itself. John Howard Yoder , a Mennonite theologian, describes Mary’s words in this way: What it says is the language, not of sweet maidens, but of Maccabees: it speaks of dethroning the m...

Reflecting on the mystery of the Incarnation, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (d. ca. 202) wrote that “God is man’s glory. Man is the vessel which receives God’s action and all his wisdom and power.” In these final days of Advent, the Church shifts her focus from the advent of Christ at the end of time, to preparing for Christmas. In a particular way, today we are invited to reflect on Mary, the Mother of Jesus.    Although the story of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38, the Gospel for this Sunday) is one we know well, it’s a powerful testimony of God’s power to initiate, invite, and create. Here, we have a teenage girl, undoubtedly indistinguishable from other young women of her time and place. But, in an instant, God broke into the normalcy of her life in a way that left her—and us—forever changed. Our Lady of Expectation (15th century) For Mary, the Annunciation initiated a period of waiting. She was waiting as an expectant mother and also waiting for events around her to ...

Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean… He shall receive a blessing from the L ord , A reward from God his savior. - Psalm 24:3-4ab In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus proclaimed, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). In this sense, purity of heart means more than simply avoiding sin (i.e. being "pure"). Its broadest, fullest meaning involves cultivating a spirit of simplicity and focus: “Remain simple and innocent, and you will be like little children who do not know the evil that destroys man’s life” ( Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 2:1). Being pure of heart means to focus our attention, our thoughts, and desires on God’s holiness and to allow ourselves to be filled with God’s love.   An ancient fresco depicting the "Harrowing of Hell," when Jesus freed from Hades all those souls who had awaited the opening of the gates of Heaven. Thi...

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 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… The boy shall be consecrated to God from the womb.’”  - Judges 13:6-7 Sacred Scripture and Christian tradition provide us with an understanding of angels that far surpasses our culture's caricature of these divine beings. First, the angels stand before God, giving God honor by virtue of their very existence (cf. Matthew 18:10). Second, angels are messengers, bringing the needs of humanity to God, watching over us: “The Angels speak to man of what constitutes his true being, of what in his life is so often concealed and buried. They bring him back to himself, touching him on God’s behalf.” [1]   The account of the birth of Samson (Judges 13:2-7), the angel’s visit to the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25), and Mar...

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “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. - Matthew 1:20 In the 15 th century “ Cherry Tree Carol ,” Joseph and Mary are making their way to Bethlehem when, stopping in a cherry orchard, Mary asks Joseph to pick some cherries for her. Joseph, with spite, answers, “Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee.” In the carol, it is only after witnessing a miracle of the cherry tree bending down to offer fruit to Mary that Joseph accepts the divine nature of his young wife’s pregnancy.   This song, however, hardly reflects the simple obedience and faith Joseph shows in the Gospel for December 18. Although the gospels do not relate any words of Joseph, his presence and actions testify to his silent love for Mary and her Son. And, while Joseph is, in many ways, only a silent figure standing at t...

Yesterday afternoon I received an financial appeal from the Oblate Sisters of Providence . This is a community founded in 1829 by Mother Lange, a Cuban who eventually settled in Baltimore where she established a community to work with French-Speaking Haitians. This was the first community dedicated to the care of African Americans and was, itself, the first African American religious community. They were - and continue to be - champions of racial justice and mi nistry to the poor. For a number of years I have been aware that this community (which has continued their founder's mission to serve in African American communities throughout the U.S.) has struggled to provide medical care for their elderly members. The money just isn't there. And, sadly, this is a reality for many, many religious communities. (This fact was highlighted in the report on U.S. religious women's communities released this week by the Vatican.) Mother Mary Lange Foundress of the Oblate Sisters o...

* December 17 marks the beginning of the "O" Antiphons, privileged days celebrated the week before Christmas. The image that will accompany of each of the reflections for these days is inspired by the proper "O" Antiphon for that day and the concluding prayer is a translation of each of these seven texts that celebrate the coming of Christ using the powerful imagery of the Old Testament. To read an article I've written on the "O" Antiphons, please visit: http://www.cuf.org/2014/01/o-antiphons-prayers-waiting-world/ . He crouches like a lion recumbent, the king of beasts--who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, While tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people's homage. - Genesis 49:9b-10 The entrance of God into the world at the birth of Jesus is an event which forever changed the course of human history. In fact, the Incarnation of Christ is the fulfillment of h...

The L ord is close to the brokenhearted; And those who are crushed in spirit he saves. The L ord redeems the lives of his servants; No one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.  - Psalm 34:19, 23 Sacred Scripture reminds us that God “knows how we were formed; that we were made of dust” (Psalm 103:14). These simple, unsophisticated words are in fact a profound statement of faith. They acknowledge that all that we have and are is a gift of God. Beyond this, we are also reminded that we are all made of the same “stuff”—we are all capable of every sinful act the human mind can imagine. Our shared, broken human nature is the great equalizer. Mercy is that compassion or forgiveness that is shown toward someone, even when it is within one’s power to punish or harm the offender. To say that God is all-merciful is to acknowledge that God also has absolute power. For our part, we show mercy because we remember that we are like other people. Many of us have a stereotype of sai...

The utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, Of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes unveiled. I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel. - Numbers 24:16-17   With today’s prophecy from Balaam ( Numbers 24:15-17a ), a non-Israelite prophet, our attention is drawn more and more to who Jesus is: the star rising from Jacob and the staff for Israel (cf. Isaiah 11:1 ).    Even a brief reading of the Old Testament will reveal that the people of Israel were a hope-filled, expectant people. Israel’s longing for the Messiah was shaped by the ways that God had manifested his power throughout their history, and prophets, like Isaiah, Amos, and later, John the Baptist never stopped reminding the people that God was coming to save his own. But, Israel also recognized that God had already shown his power and “visited his ...