Fr. JC Maximilian

[“Ecce Agnus Dei” by Dieric Bouts the Elder, 1462-64]

        “What are you looking for?” How often have we heard this question? It may be as trivial as store clerk asking us what item we are looking for. However, when Jesus asks Andrew and the other disciple of St. John the Baptist, “What are you looking for?” they both knew that Jesus was asking the BIG question. It is the question that springs from the very core of our being. It is the essential question which defines both who we are, and what our life is all about. The greatest philosophers and religious leaders throughout history have proposed different answers to this central question of humanity: What is the meaning of life?

        Only Jesus the Christ has given us the complete answer, and He gives it in today’s Gospel reading. Jesus is about 30 years old at the time, and He knows that the time has come for Him to leave behind His simple life as a carpenter in Nazareth and take up His public ministry of preaching to the crowds, to reveal Man to himself, and to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He knows that He is going to have to find and train apostles — which means “those who are sent” — to continue to make His presence known throughout the world and throughout time.

        So where does one go to find apostles? Jesus goes to His cousin, “the voice crying out in the wilderness,” John the Baptist who has been preparing his own disciples to recognize and welcome the Messiah. So, as Jesus walks along the bank of the Jordan River, John the Baptist points at Him and tells two of his disciples that HE IS THE ONE, the Lamb of God, the Messiah. John and Andrew can barely believe their ears! They had not closed off their hearts, but listened to their need, their desire for a happiness not possible in this world. Their openness of heart lead them to John the Baptist, for they recognized an echo of the Word in that Voice. Now how their hearts must have been pounding as John points to Jesus and exclaims, “That’s Him! He is the One that I have been speaking about.” Andrew and John need to check out this new Rabbi, Jesus.

        Jesus hears them approaching, and turning, looks them in the eye and asks, “What are you looking for?” It is the key question, the one that burns at the very center of their hearts. They reply, “Teacher, where are you staying?” Without realizing it, they have given the perfect answer: “Jesus, we are looking for YOU; we want to stay with you, we want to share life with you.” With a smile Jesus invites them to “Come and see.” Jesus invites them to walk with Him, to follow Him, to be His companions — and that is Christ’s answer to the question of life’s meaning.

        The meaning of life is not a thing to be possessed, or an abstract doctrine to be understood. The meaning of life is a relationship to be lived out. It is a personal friendship with Jesus Christ.

        Since the meaning of life is a relationship, it means that it does not depend just on us. It also depends on God’s willingness to offer us His friendship. Today’s readings reminds us that God is not only willing, but developing that friendship with us is His deepest desire as well!

        Notice how personal God’s call to Samuel is. It is so real, so human, so personalized, that Samuel keeps thinking that it is Eli, the elderly priest, who is calling him. Keep in mind that Eli is someone who knows Samuel, someone Samuel knows, as a close companion in life. The fact that Samuel was able to confuse God’s voice with Eli’s shows just how personal and intimate God’s offer of friendship was. God knows Samuel, through and through, and calls out to him NOT from far away, but from very near.

        That is how God calls each one of us, too. In fact, God know us even better than we know ourselves. St. Augustine said it this way, God is “nearer than my nearest self.”

        In today’s gospel reading, when Jesus meets Simon, Andrew’s brother — the future leader of the Twelve Apostles and the whole Church — Jesus gives him a new name. Giving a person a new name was a way of calling a person to the fullness of their identity, and in this case, to fulfill the mission he was created for. That is how God relates to each one of us — at least, that is how He wants to relate to each of us.

        The Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses this truth wonderfully when it says, “. . . at every time and in every place, God draws close to man [#1] . . . . God never ceases to draw man to himself [#27].” On the one hand, God is always coming close to us, and on the other hand He is always drawing us closer to Him. This is Christ: a personal, interested, attentive, loving King who wants to befriend all His subjects.

        Understanding Christianity as a personal relationship with Christ Jesus helps everything else fall into place. For example, all the Catholic practices and ceremonies that we live in our prayers, liturgy, and sacraments can no longer be considered just empty rituals — as they appear to so many Catholic critics and superficial Catholics. Instead, they show up in their true identity, as family traditions. Every family has traditions, and far from sterilizing family life, then ennoble and personalize it. Our Catholic traditions link us not only to Christ our Lord and closest friend, but also to all our sisters and brothers who have followed Christ throughout the centuries. We are connected to them by these “family traditions” like the Mass, confession, the Rosary, traditional prayers, music, art and architecture.

        Also, when we see Christianity as being mainly about our saving friendship with Jesus Christ, the Church’s moral teaching no longer appears like a list of random rules. Rather, we see it as wise guidance offered by someone who knows and loves us. Some critics of the Church accuse Christianity of belittling the body. They claim that our commitment to morality, self-mastery, and faithfulness goes against what is natural, and takes the fun out of life. These critics say, “Why not just enjoy life and stop being so uptight?”

        The truth is that God Himself designed and created every aspect of human life, including our bodies, so He knows better than anyone else how to live life to the full. St. Paul reminds us of that in today’s Second Reading, when he writes, “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit… Glorify God in your body!”

        Jesus knows this, and because He is a faithful friend, He reminds us of it through the moral teaching of the Church, which protects our dignity as children of God and keeps us on the path of wisdom and everlasting wellness.

        As we worship Jesus today in this holy Mass, let us thank Him for those teachings, and renew our friendship with Him by promising to always do our best to follow them by following Him.

[The nearly 4000 year old Egyptian Obelisk that is now in the center of St. Peter’s Square. Notice the bronze cross on the top; inside it contains a fragment of the True Cross]

        How many of you have been to Rome, to St. Peter’s Square? If you have not been to St. Peter’s Square, one of the remarkable sights is the ancient Egyptian obelisk that stands in the middle of the Square. An obelisk is a single block of stone, in this case marble, that is cut with the shape of the Washington Monument. The obelisk in St. Peter’s Square is the oldest obelisk in Rome, and dates from about 1850 B.C. It is about 100 feet high and weighs 330 tons. It had been erected in Egypt as a monument for the ruling Pharaoh, and it watched over 2000 years of Egyptian history — the longest reigning empire of all times. It stood there in Egypt when Abraham was called, when Joseph was viceroy of Egypt, and when Moses led God’s Chosen People out of Egypt.

        At the time of Jesus, soon after the Magi came to worship Him, the Roman Emperor Caligula brought the obelisk to Rome as a sign of Rome’s superiority to Egypt. There it stood for four more centuries, a symbol of the Roman Empire, the largest empire in human history. A golden urn with Julius Ceasar’s ashes was placed on it. It stood in what was called Nero’s Circus; the very spot where St. Peter was martyred, and hundreds of other Christians also shed their blood in their witness to Christ Jesus.

        Then the barbarians invaded Rome, and in the Middle Ages the obelisk fell. Ivy grew around it, and it was half-buried new the old St. Peter’s basilica. However, the Church converted the barbarians, and when a new Christian culture emerged and flourished, and St. Peter’s Basilica was rebuilt and expanded, Pope Sixtus V had the obelisk erected in the center of the square.

        Why would the pope want an ancient pagan symbol placed in the heart of St. Peter’s Square? It serves as a reminder that all human kingdoms and governments will perish, as did the Egyptian and Roman Empires, and the barbarian hordes, over which the obelisk once looked. Now that nearly 4000 year old obelisk has been put at the service of the universal Kingdom that will have no end. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ — the Kingdom to which we all belong by virtue of our baptism — is truly THE universal kingdom, extending to all times and places. The obelisk has now been topped with a bronze cross, and inside that bronze cross is a small fragment of the true Cross, the cross on which Jesus was crucified — the throne from which Christ Jesus continues to reign, and will continue to reign, as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever, Amen.

        The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is God the Father’s definitive offer of salvation. How do we respond to this invitation to become a member of Jesus’ Kingdom?

        King Herod trembled in response to God’s offer of salvation. Herod has spent his life murdering and extorting and building a personal kingdom ruled by his whim and for his personal glory. Then Christ enters the scene, a King with authority from on high, and Herod immediately feels the threat: if Christ is not destroyed or discredited, it could spell the end of all his labors. In his self-centered arrogance, Herod believed that if he was troubled, then all of Jerusalem would also be. In his self-centered effort of self-preservation, King Herod ordered the massacre of innocent children. Yet all his posturing had no lasting result. A few years after the birth of Jesus, King Herod dies, and his kingdom is divided up and eventually it ceases to exist.

        The Magi, on the other hand, far from fearing the demands that this new King might make on their personal lives, rejoice to know that God’s Savior is finally coming. Recognizing the Mystery which alone could satisfy the deepest desires of their hearts, the Magi set out, willing to leave everything they knew and begin a journey. Instead of hoarding their treasures, the fruits of their life’s labors, they generously offer them to Christ as gestures of honor and respect due to the One who has come to rule over an everlasting Kingdom.

        Every time Christ enters our lives, which He does every day through the voice of conscience, the teachings of his Church, and the designs of Providence, we must choose in whose steps we will follow, Herod’s or the Magi’s. Will we tremble, afraid of what Jesus may demand of us, or will we rejoice, glad to have such a glorious Lord to follow? We have both possibilities in our hearts – we are potential Herods and we are potential Magi.

        Of course, Jesus is hoping we will rejoice; He does not want us to tremble in fear – for He came to save us.

Image via Wikipedia

[This is a talk I was asked to give that the monthly "Men's Bagels & the Bible" meeting that we have at my parish]

Every time I am asked to give one of these talks, I get a bit hung up on the word “Bible” in this group’s name.  Instead of talking about myself, I want to talk about the Bible.  I guess it comes from the motto on my coat of arms, which is taken from my patron saint, John the Baptist; “He must increase and I must decrease.”  So I am going to talk very briefly about the Gospel of St. Mark.  I chose St. Mark’s Gospel because we just started Cycle B of the Church’s liturgical year, which means that most Sundays we will be reading from St. Mark’s Gospel.

First, we must note that all the Gospels are the outcome of a historical process that unfolded over the course of many years.  The Pontifical Biblical Commissioned outlined the stages of this historical process in 1964 in its “Instruction on the Historical Truth of the Gospels.”  Let me give you a very brief summary of these stages.

Stage I begins with the person of Jesus, who conveyed His teaching to the Apostles.  While addressing the crowds that followed Him, Jesus revealed the deepest mystery of His identity through His preaching, private instruction, and miracles to His Apostles with whom He shared His life.

Stage II covers the ministry of these chosen Apostles after Jesus Ascension.  Through the special commission entrusted to them, illumined by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles possessed a true understanding of the mystery of Christ Jesus and were empowered to testify on His behalf.  This testimony was principally through oral proclamation, using various forms including narratives of Jesus’ life, catechetical instruction, prayers and hymns.

Stage III is the writing of the Gospels as lasting monuments of the apostolic witness.  The four evangelists composed the gospels in order to provide an authentic record of the Lord’s sayings and doings and to instruct the faithful in the elements of Christian life.  The evangelists selected episodes from Jesus’ life that most served their purpose to address the situations of their readers.  The Church believes and teaches that the sacred writers worked under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is the principal author of the Scriptures.  A balance must be maintained between two false views of “inspiration”.  The sacred writers did not merely take down dictation as the Holy Spirit whispered in their ear.  Likewise, the Holy Spirit did not merely put His stamp of approval on the work of the sacred writers.  Rather, the sacred writers used their own skills to convey all that the Holy Spirit wanted them to convey.  The analogy I use is the autobiography of Ty Cobb.  Ty Cobb was illiterate, so he hired a sports writer to listen to him tell his life story, and the sports writer then used his skill to put what Ty Cobb told him into a skillfully written account.

OK, let’s turn to St. Mark’s Gospel.  I am NOT going to go into the details of the debates over who wrote it, when was it written, where it was written and for whom it was written.  Rather, this is going to be a big, broad gloss.  If you want a good brief introduction highly recommend the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament and The Gospel of Mark by Mary Healy which is part of the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture series.

St. Mark was the secretary of St. Peter, so it is the Petrine Apostolic tradition which is recorded in the Gospel according to Mark.  St. Mark wrote his Gospel for the Roman Christians during a time of severe persecution by the Emperor Nero, yet his Gospel is a work of overflowing joy.  St. Mark writes in such a way as to invite his readers to embark on the same adventure that he himself, and Jesus’ first disciples, have engaged in.  It is an adventure of encountering Jesus, growing in knowledge of who He truly is, and committing one’s whole life to Him.  St. Mark often uses a lot of rhetorical questions in his gospel which not only challenge the characters in the gospel, but also all of us reading it, to address the key theme of the gospel:  the identity of Jesus.

Even though St. Mark begins his gospel by saying explicitly “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1), Jesus often attempts to conceal His identity as the Messiah.  Scripture scholars refer to this as the “Marcan Secret.”  The disciples and apostles are often portrayed as just not getting who Jesus is, while demons are frequently acclaiming that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus silences them.  This Secret is partially to avoid falling into the common misunderstandings of what the mission of the Messiah was that many of Jesus’ contemporaries had, i.e., that he would be a military or political leader.

However, the Secret is also to further the basic structure of the gospel.  Mark’s gospel is made up of two major sections and two minor ones.  Each of the major sections culminates in a profession of faith in who Jesus is; the first section concludes with St. Peter’s profession of faith, “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29), and the second section concludes with the profession of the Roman Centurion at the crucifixion that Jesus was the Son of God (15:39).  Of course this is the goal of the gospel; for all of us hearing this Good News to look at Jesus with the eyes of faith, embrace Him in hope, and imitate His heroic love.

As Ordinary Time begins this coming Monday, with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, let us focus our reflection and discussion this morning on St. Mark’s account of the Baptism of Jesus:

“It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.  On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.  And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” (Mark 1:9-11).

The first question that we need to ask ourselves is why does Jesus submit to a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (v. 4)?  I will save that one for our group discussion [Jesus is sinless, but He allows Himself to be baptized because of His total solidarity with sinful humanity; one that begins now at His baptism and will lead to the cross].  I would just like to make a few comments to deepen our understanding of this passage.  First, Jesus’ “coming up out of the water” is answered by a coming down of the Holy Spirit from above.  As recounted in the Old Testament, sin creates an insurmountable barrier between us and the holiness of God.  Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets foretold that God would “come down” to His people only after they had been cleansed of their impurity (i.e., Exod 19:10-11, Isa 59:2).  Jesus’ act of humility, of allowing Himself to be baptized, impacted the whole cosmos.  The “heavens” were not gently opened but “torn” asunder, as a sign that the barrier between God and humanity is being removed.  It is a clear answer to Israel’s plead that God would decisively intervene in human history:  “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down” (Isa 63:19).  The Spirit descent in the form of a dove recalls the Spirit hovering over the waters at creation, so a sign of the new beginning.  St. Mark does not indicate that anyone but Jesus saw the Spirit descend or heard the divine voice (part of the Secret), but Mark’s readers are privy to this secret exchange between the divine persons.

OK, time for our discussion; in addition to the question, “Why did Jesus allow Himself to be baptized since He was sinless?” here is another question to discuss from the just a few lines prior to Monday’s Gospel reading from St. Mark,

“John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.  John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he proclaimed: ‘One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.’”

Both John the Baptist and Jesus follow practices of self-discipline for religious reasons. What self-disciplinary practices do you use for religious (not health or other personal) reasons? How have they influenced your own “change of heart” (repentance)?

[“Claude Newman and Mary the Teacher”, an icon written by Br. Claude Lane, OSB, Mount Angel Abbey. Click here to learn more about Br. Claude Lane’s icons]

        The Blessed Virgin Mary is born to be Mother.  It was because of God’s plan for her to be the mother of His only-begotten Son, that she was given the singular grace of being conceived without Original Sin in light of the redemption that her Son would win for all of humanity through His Passion, Death and Resurrection.  We celebrated this momentous event with the celebration of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, just a few weeks ago.  In the full freedom of her humanity, Mary agreed to become the Mother of God when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her, announcing God’s plan of salvation and redemption — an event we celebrate on March 25 with the Solemnity of the Annunciation.  Just a week ago we celebrated Christmas, the day when Mary gave birth to Jesus, while remain a virgin afterwards as she was before.

        Yet Mary’s motherhood does not end with Jesus’ death on the Cross.  While standing at the foot of the Cross, the Blessed Virgin Mary receives the supreme consolation when her only son assures her that her vocation as Mother will not end with His death.  From His Cross, right before He dies, Jesus commands the world to “Behold your Mother!”  The glory of the Resurrection begins for Mary, and for us, with these words.  The Blessed Virgin Mother’s womb remains for ever fruitful.

        Earlier this week, I read an amazing story of just how Mary ever remains Mother to her children.  It is the story of Claude Newman, an African-American man who was born in Arkansas in December, 1923.  Claude was born into a poor family, and for reasons that are not clear, when he was five years-old, his father took him and his older brother away from his mother, and taken to live with his grandmother in Mississippi.

        When Claude was 16 years-old, his beloved grandmother married a man, Sid, who was very abusive towards her, which deeply angered Claude.  Three years later, provoked by Sid’s abuse of his grandmother, Claude shot and killed Sid on December 19, 1942, and took his money.  Claude fled Mississippi to his mother, who was living in Little Rock, AR.  

        A couple of weeks later, Claude was captured by law enforcement and returned to Mississippi, where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to be executed in the electric chair on January 20, 1944.

        While awaiting execution, Claude shared a cell-block with four other prisoners.  One night, as the five men are sitting around talking, Claude noticed a medal that one of the other prisoners was wearing around his neck.  Claude asked the prisoner what the medal is.  The other prisoner was a Catholic, but apparently knew very little about the Faith.  Embarrassed by his ignorance, the other prisoner angrily took the medal off and threw it at Claude’s feet with a curse, and told him to take it.  Claude picked up the medal, and although he had no idea who’s image was on it, he was attracted to it, so he put it around his neck.  It was a Miraculous Medal.

        That night, while he was sleeping on the top bunk, Claude was awaken by a touch upon his wrist.  As Claude said later, there stood “the most beautiful Woman that God ever Created.”  Claude was at first frightened, not knowing what to make of this extraordinary beautiful glowing woman.  The Lady calmed Claude down, saying to him, “If you would like Me to be your Mother, and you would like to be My child, send for a priest of the Catholic Church.”  She then disappeared.

        Immediately Claude started screaming that he wanted to see a Catholic priest.  Fr. Robert O’Leary was called the first thing the next morning.  Claude told Fr. O’Leary about what he experienced the night before, and with the other four men in his cell-block, Claude asked Fr. O’Leary for instruction in the Catholic faith.  Fr. O’Leary agreed, but faced a challenge when he learned that Claude did not know how to read or write.  Further, while Claude knew that there was a God, he did not know that Jesus was God.  Undeterred, with the help of Fr. O’Leary and the other prisoners, Claude began his studies.

        A few weeks later, as Fr. O’Leary begins the lesson on the Sacrament of Confession, Claude said, “Oh, I know about that!  The Lady told me that when we go to confession we are kneeling down not before a priest, but we’re kneeling down by the Cross of Her Son.  And that when we are truly sorry for our sins, and we confess our sins, the Blood He shed flows down over us and washes us free from all sins.”  Fr. O’Leary, and the Sisters that had been helping him instruct Claude and other prisoners, sat stunned with their mouths open.  At first Claude thought they were angry at him for blurting it out.  Fr. O’Leary assured Claude that he was not angry, but surprised, and asked Claude if he had seen the Lady again.  Claude pulled Fr. O’Leary aside and told him that the Lady has continued to visit him.  Claude said to the priest, “She told me that if you doubted me or showed hesitancy, I was to remind you that lying in a ditch in Holland in 1940, you made a vow to Her which She’s still waiting for you to keep.”  Claude then told Fr. O’Leary that the vow was to build a church in honor of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception, and Fr. O’Leary confirmed that that was exactly what he had vowed.  Fr. O’Leary would fulfill his vow in 1947.

        At a later lesson, on Holy Communion, Claude related, “The Lady told me that in Communion, I will only see what looks like a piece of bread.  But She told me that It is really and truly Her Son, and that He will be with me just as He was with Her before He was born in Bethlehem.  She told me that I should spend my time like She did during Her lifetime with Him– in loving Him, adoring Him, thanking Him, praising Him and asking Him for blessings. I shouldn’t be distracted or bothered by anybody else or anything else, but I should spend those few minutes in my thoughts alone with Him.”

        Shortly before Claude was about to be executed, he was received into the Catholic Church.  A few days before his execution, Claude was asked if he has a last request.  Claude replied, “Well, all of my friends are all shook up. The jailer is all shook up. But you don’t understand. I’m not going to die; only this body. I’m going to be with Her. So, then I would like to have a party.”  So Fr. O’Leary asked a wealthy parishioner who agreed to supply ice cream and cake for all the prisoners.  After the party, they all made a Holy Hour, praying for Claude and for all their souls.

        The next day Fr. O’Leary gave Claude Holy Communion, shortly before his scheduled execution.  Then, 15 minutes before he was to be executed, the sheriff came running to tell him that the Governor had given Claude a 2 week stay of execution.  Claude began to cry.  The priest and sheriff assumed that it was for joy, but Claude said, “But you don’t understand! If you ever saw Her face, and looked into Her eyes, you wouldn’t want to live another day!”  Claude then continued, “What have I done wrong these past weeks that God would refuse me my going home?”

        Fr. O’Leary then had a sudden inspiration. He reminded Claude about James Hughs, a white prisoner in the same jail who hated Claude intensely. This prisoner had led a horribly immoral life, and like Claude he too was sentenced to be executed for murder. James was raised a Catholic, but now he was a reprobate, and rejected God and all things Christian.

        Fr. O’Leary then said “Maybe Our Blessed Mother wants you to offer this denial of being with Her for his conversion.” And the priest continued, “Why don’t you offer to God every moment that you are separated from your heavenly Mother for this prisoner, so that he will not be separated from God for all eternity.”  Claude thought for a moment, then agreed.  During his two weeks reprieve, Claude generously offered his sacrifice and prayers for James Hughs.  Two weeks later, on February 4, 1944, Claude was executed in the electric chair.  The official witnesses and the reporters, and Fr. O’Leary, were amazed at how joyfully Claude went to the electric chair.  His final words to Fr. O’Leary were, “Father, I will remember you.  And whenever you have a request, ask me, and I will ask Her.”

        Three months later, on May 19, 1944, James Hughs, who Claude had offered his sacrifice for, was to be executed.  He would not allow a priest or any clergyman in his cell. Just before his execution, the county doctor pleaded with him to at least kneel down and say the “Our Father” before the sheriff would come for him. The prisoner spat in the doctor’s face.

        When he was strapped into the electric chair, the sheriff said to him, “If you have something to say, say it now.”  The condemned man started to blaspheme.  All of a sudden he stopped speaking, and his eyes became fixed on the corner of the room, and his face turned to one of absolute horror. Suddenly he screamed in terror.  Turning to the sheriff, he then said, “Sheriff, get me a priest!”

        Upon calling for a priest, Fr. O’Leary immediately went to the condemned man. The room was cleared of everyone else, and the priest heard the man’s confession. The man said he had been a Catholic, but turned away from his religion when he was 18 because of his immoral life. He confessed all of his sins with deep repentance and intense fervor.

        While everyone was returning to the room, the sheriff asked the priest, “Father, what made him change his mind?” “I don’t know ” said Father O’Leary, “I didn’t ask him.” The sheriff said, “Well, I will never sleep tonight if I don’t ask him.”  The Sheriff went to the condemned man and asked, “Son, what changed your mind?”

        The prisoner responded, “Remember that black man Claude – the one whom I hated so much? Well he’s standing there [and he pointed], over in that corner. And behind him with one hand on each shoulder is the Blessed Virgin Mary. And Claude said to me, ‘I offered my death in union with Christ on the Cross for your salvation. She has obtained for you this gift of seeing your place in Hell if you do not repent.’  I have been shown my place in Hell, and that’s why I screamed.”

        James Hughs was executed as scheduled, but the heavenly appearance of our Blessed Mother with Claude Newman and the subsequent vision of hell had instantly converted his soul in the last moments of his life. With the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Father O’Leary had taught Claude to unite himself with the suffering of Jesus by offering his own sufferings to Him, just as we all can do for others. 

        The Blessed Mother leads us to Christ, but Christ leads us back to His mother, for without Mary’s maternity, Jesus would become a mere abstraction.  The Lord wills to “let His face shine upon” us through the face of the Mother of God.

[“The Nativity” by Fra Angelico]

        I am taking a survey; how many of you have a Nativity scene set up at home? I am sure that many of you also have a crucifix hanging somewhere in your house. In a few weeks, which of those symbols of our faith will you be packing away until next year? I bet most of us will be putting the Nativity away, while the crucifix will remain hanging on the wall.

        I am certainly not suggesting that you pack up the crucifix like most of us do the Nativity, but I am asking why do we make the Nativity just a Christmas season decoration, while the crucifix is not merely an Easter season decoration?

        Why is it so difficult for us to keep our attention fixed on the Child Jesus? Perhaps it is because we do not know as much about Jesus’ childhood. In the Scriptures we go from His birth in the manger in Bethlehem, to His presentation in the Temple eight days later. Then we hear nothing of the child Jesus until He visit the Temple again at age 12, and Mary and Joseph spend several days looking for Him. After He is found, we are told that He returns to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph, and He was obedient to them, growing in wisdom. We hear nothing more about Jesus until He begins His public ministry as an adult.

        Perhaps the main reason it is difficult to keep our attention fixed on the Child Jesus is because we are easily drawn toward the abyss of Christ’s tortured humanity, towards His passion and death on the Cross. We are attracted to Jesus’ Passion because we identify in it our own suffering humanity. And we should be drawn towards the Cross, with great gratitude in our hearts for having so great a Savior, that He lovingly died so to save us from our sins. Christ’s Cross gives us strength so that we can do as He commanded all who would be His disciples, to take up our cross and follow Him.

        Yet as Francios Mauriac, the Catholic, French writer who won the Nobel Prize in literature, noted, it is not at the foot of the cross that we are closest to Christ Jesus; rather it is while kneeling before the baby Jesus lying in the manger, before the God-Child who has just been born that we are closest to Christ. Why? Because in the Babe of Bethlehem we see God’s human face.

        The Catechism of the Catholic Church says much the same thing when it says, “No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child” (CCC #563). It is in the new-born child that Jesus reveals “Man to himself,” and as the Christmas liturgy proclaims, “in Christ man restores to man the gift of everlasting life.”

        The Babe of Bethlehem, like all babies, is irresistible and adorable. Coming as a baby, our first impression of Jesus, of God in the flesh, is that of an innocent, loving child, and not as one who has come to judge us.

        The baby Jesus shows us how we must be before God, our heavenly Father. Too often in taking up our crosses, we get the wrong idea that it is up to us to save ourselves: if only we pray more Rosaries, make more First Fridays, do more works of charity, etc. But there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation and redemption. It is all gift, it is all grace. The baby Jesus, like all new-borns, is totally dependent on His parents for all His needs: for His food, His shelter, His clothing, His protection. Yes, Jesus is God who needs nothing, yet out of love for us He humbled Himself, taking on our human nature which is a nature of need. The first step in truly living our humanity is to acknowledge and embrace the needfulness of our nature. We receive everything from God — every breath we take, every beat our our heart. Everything is a gift from God. The child Jesus in the manger is a constant reminder of our dependence on God for everything, especially to fulfill our ultimate, eternal happiness.

        So, do not be so quick to put those Nativities away after Christmas. Just as we keep a crucifix up in our homes throughout the year to remind us of Jesus’ saving Passion and Death, so we should keep a Nativity up all year, reminding us of our dependence, like all children, on God our Father. The Nativity reminds us that God has a human face.

        Msgr. Ken brought me back a small Nativity ornament when he went to the Holy Land. It is going to stay on my desk as a constant reminder of the joy of God’s human face, and my dependence on Him. I will especially gaze upon it when I pray the Angelus, the prayer that honors the great event of the Incarnation.

        Finally, I would like to share one other gift that I received this Christmas; a poem written by our own bishop, David O’Connell, entitled, “God’s Human Face”:

In ages past, today and yet to come

        His light has shone upon the earth.

In ages past, today and yet to come

        The earth and heaven pause to mark His birth.

In ages past, today and yet to come

        This wondrous Child gives God a human face.

In ages past, today and yet to come

        His giving shows the fullness of God’s grace.

[A painting of St. Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, sorry, I could not find the name of the artist]

        St. Paul tells the Thessalonians in today’s second reading, “Rejoice always….In all circumstances give thanks, ….” From many of the people I have spoken with over the past few weeks, these commands of St. Paul seem particularly difficult to follow. Most of us know people who are unemployed and are not sure how they are going to pay their next set of bills. Maybe it is a family member or neighbor who is in severe economic stress right now. I have heard many of our retired parishioners talking about their worry about their adult children and grandchildren. More than a few have had their children move back in with them. Others are seeing their investments, which they were counting on for their leisure years, disappear. From what I have been hearing from our St. Vincent de Paul Society, and the Toy Run Foundation, the number of families needing assistance this Christmas is at a near all time high.

        “Rejoice always….In all circumstances give thanks, ….” On top of the economic concerns, many others are facing health crises. New cancer diagnoses, heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s, and many other illnesses place large anxieties on families.

        Yet in the midst of all these stressors and crises, St. Paul’s command remains in effect, “Rejoice always….In all circumstances give thanks, ….” Why does the Church give us this special Sunday, “Gaudete Sunday” which is Latin for “Rejoice Sunday,” in the middle of Advent, even when there are so many difficulties and sufferings in the world?

        Because Jesus’ coming to earth, which Advent looks forward to, is the only source of the true, lasting joy. Joy is the deep satisfaction experienced whenever we come into possession of something good. But all the good things in this world, apart from God, are temporary and fragile. Money, success, health, even friendship and being in love – all these things are limited. If circumstances change or enough time passes, we either become tired of them, or they go away. And so, the joy that comes from possessing them is only a temporary joy.

        But our hearts are thirsty for a joy that will never go away, because that is what we were created for. Our deepest desire is to be known and loved completely, unconditionally and everlastingly, by another person. Only God can fulfill that desire. The prophet Isaiah recognized this truth when he wrote in today’s first reading, “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul; for He has clothed me with a robe of salvation….”

        This is the reason why mature Christians – saints – are able to continue living so passionately and hopefully even when everything goes against them. St. Jeanne Jugan, the foundress of one of my favorite religious orders, the Little Sisters of the Poor, teaches this lesson so well. The Little Sisters of the Poor run nursing homes for the sick poor. When I was a religious brother, I used to visit their home in Denver. It was just one of several nursing homes that I used to visit, but the home run by the Little Sisters was special because it really was a home to the residents. This loving, warm homey feeling comes right from the spirit of St. Jeanne Jugan, who was canonized on October 11, 2009.

        St. Jeanne was born into poverty in France in 1792. As a very young girl she supported herself as a maid and hospital worker, and spent all her free time helping those who were poorer than herself. When she was 47-years-old, she took in and cared for an elderly, destitute, and blind widow. And with that action, began her life’s work.

        Soon she gathered some assistants and founded the Little Sisters of the Poor, for the care of the elderly and sick. Not long after starting the foundation, St. Jeanne’s spiritual director, a local priest, deposed her as superior and banished her to the order’s mother house. She lived there in obscurity until her death 27-years later.

        In the meantime, the selfish priest took control of the order and rewrote its history, proclaiming himself the founder. His deception was so skillful that only a handful of people ever knew that Jeanne, then known by her religious name, Mary of the Cross, was the order’s real founder. The truth only came out after an investigation eleven years after her death.

        During her almost thirty years of exile, she never complained about the unjust treatment. She simply spent her days in obedience, doing her best to pass on her spirit and vision to the young women joining the order. Later, one of them recalled that St. Jeanne “lived in the presence of God… [and] she would be on fire whenever she talked to us about [Christ].” Jesus can build a fire of joy in our hearts that nothing can extinguish – if we let Him.

        Joy, remember, is the deep satisfaction that comes from possessing something good. The good thing we possess as Christians is the special awareness that God is always with us, knows us thoroughly, and loves us without hesitation. Keeping that awareness fresh keeps our joy strong, even when life’s trials seem to be crucifying us. And the only way to keep that awareness fresh is through prayer.

        That’s why right after St. Paul tells us, “rejoice always,” he says, “pray without ceasing.” That does not mean that we have to spend all day on our knees. However, it does mean that we have to spend some time alone with God every day, closing the door to life’s hustle and bustle for ten or fifteen minutes, reading and reflecting on the Bible or another good spiritual book, and speaking heart to heart with our Creator and Lord. Then, throughout the day, we have to keep that conversation going in our hearts.

        There are many little things we can do to help this ongoing conversation, to remind ourselves of Jesus’ loving presence in our lives: use a Bible quote as a screen saver on our computer; put a favorite religious image inside our locker, at our work station, on our iPhone; carry a rosary or wear a crucifix… During Advent it is especially easy to do this, because we are surrounded by so many reminders of Christmas – lights, trees, ornaments, all of which are symbols of Christ, the reason for our joy.

        In a few minutes, through the sacrifice of this holy Mass, Jesus will renew His total commitment to us, the source of our lasting joy. When He does, let us promise that for the next two weeks we will make an extra effort to “pray without ceasing” so that we will be able to “rejoice always,” as He wants us to.

[“The Annunciation” by Fra Angelico]

        The Church, in planning the liturgical calendar, did not purposely place today Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in the middle of the Advent season. The reason we celebrate the Immaculate Conception on December 8th is because the Church has been celebrating the birth of the Blessed Virgin on September 8th, nine months later, since the earliest times. So it really is just a coincidence that we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in the middle of Advent.

        However, in terms of Divine Providence, there really is no such thing as coincidences. Rather we have meaningful God-incidences. In this case, Advent is the time when we remember how dark the world was before Christ, and how dark and horrible it still is wherever hearts have not yet welcomed Christ’s grace. The human race could not save itself from evil; we could not achieve the happiness and peace we were created for because Original Sin had cut us off from our destiny.

        But all was not lost. God in His great love came to our rescue by sending us a Savior — Jesus Christ. As today’s Second Reading puts it, God has “blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” Without the grace of Christ, none of us would have any chance at fulfillment and true happiness, but with His grace we do.

        That is the Advent message, and that is also the message of the Immaculate Conception. Mary’s greatness does not come from intelligence, good looks, charm, bubbly personality. Her greatness does not come from her natural qualities. Those are all worthless, just like our natural qualities, if they are not connected to Christ Jesus. Rather, Mary’s greatness comes from her being filled by God with an extraordinary share of His grace, protecting her from the stain and effects of Original Sin, making her the perfect mother for Jesus. That is what the archangel Gabriel greeted her with those words we so often repeat; “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you….” What mattered most for Mary was God’s action in her life, and the same thing matters most for us.

        This is why we find canonized saints in absolutely every life situation: young and old, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, smart and stupid, beautiful and ugly, gifted and clumsy. We were created to live in communion with God, and only though friendship with Christ Jesus can we achieve that. All our other activities, talents, goals, successes, failures, awards — everything else is absolutely secondary.

        The great Renaissance painter and Dominican friar, Blessed Fra Angelico, captured this in his magnificent painting of the Annunciation in the church of Saint Mark in Florence, Italy (see my blog for a copy of it). It is painted on the wall of one of the friar’s cells, and it was intended to encourage meditation and prayer. It shows part of a courtyard — a little section of an arched colonnade or small pillared walkway. One side of the colonnade opens into a garden, and in the opening you see the archangel Gabriel, delivering his message. On the other side, the walled side of the colonnade is Mary. She kneels on a plain wooden bench, dressed in a simple, humble outfit, holding a small prayer book. The walls and ceiling of the colonnade are completely bare, with no decoration at all. The colors are subdued; even the glorious wings of the angel are quiet and still. There is absolutely no sign of the hustle and bustle of human activity: no indication of wealth, success, business, politics, war, art, work, study — it is just Mary and the Word of God. The most momentous event of all time, the Incarnation of the Son of God, happens in a small, plain tranquil garden. What matters most is God’s action in our lives, and that action takes place in the quiet garden of our souls, not in the noisy headlines of CNN.

        Mary received a superabundant outpouring of God’s grace at the very moment of her conception. She was “full of grace,” like a glass that was filled to the very brim with no leaky holes from Original Sin, and no spills from personal sin. God gave her this special privilege because he had assigned her a special mission: to be the mother of Jesus and the mother of the Church.

        We have not been given that same privilege, because we do not have the same mission. However, we have been given a mission, each one of us is called to know, love and follow Christ in a completely unique way, so we have also received God’s grace. It was first poured into our souls at baptism, and we receive more whenever we pray and receive the sacraments. One of the main reasons that we do not grow more rapidly in our spiritual lives, becoming truly wise, humble and courageous like Christ, is because we do not take care of this grace. Instead of keeping our souls well-ordered, like a clean, tranquil garden we let the noise of the world distract us.

        This Christmas Christ wants to make a special deposit of grace in our souls. Advent is the time He gives us to prepare for it. We still have a couple of weeks to get ready . The best three preparation activities we can do are; spend quality time in prayer, go to Confession, and reach out to those around us by serving them, materially and spiritually.

        As we honor our spiritual Mother with today’s celebration, let us ask our most Blessed Mother to show us which one of those three we should dive into right away, and then let us ask her for help to do so. Nothing would please her more.

[“John the Baptist Preaching” by Tiepolo]

        John the Baptist always plays a big role in Advent. He was the last and greatest of a long line of Old Testament prophets. God sent those prophets to prepare Israel for the arrival of the Messiah, the anointed Savior and Redeemer of the world – Jesus. Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s First Reading was made more than five hundred years before John the Baptist’s prophecy, but their substance is very much the same: God has not forgotten his people, and in spite of their sufferings, sins, and failings, he will come and save them, shepherding them to a happiness beyond what they can imagine.

        However, if John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, he was also the first of the New Testament prophets. Prophets are messengers of God, and in New Testament times, our times, the Age of the Church, each Christian is a messenger of God, and so each Christian is a prophet.

        The liturgy reminds us of this every time we come to Mass, when we make the sign of the cross over our lips before the Gospel is proclaimed. This symbolizes our mission as Christians to communicate the Good News of the Gospel; it’s not just for us. As the first New Testament prophet, John the Baptist has three valuable lessons to teach us about how to be a prophet.

        First, John invited the people of his time to repent from their sins, so that they would be ready to welcome Jesus, the Savior.

        We too are called to invite others to leave behind the sinful patterns of life that our society encourages, so that God’s grace can come into their lives. This doesn’t mean that all of us are called to go stand on street corners shouting about hellfire and brimstone. However it does mean that we should not be afraid to encourage our friends, colleagues, family members, and neighbors to live the life Christ taught us to live.

        Christ made it clear that greed, lies, adultery, laziness, fornication, and every kind of selfishness is destructive. Every sin, even the fashionable ones like homosexuality and drugs, leads us further away from the happiness and peace of mind we long for. And so, if we really care about other people, we will do our best to warn them against sin.

        Sometimes we are afraid to do this because we don’t want to “force our morality on other people”. This is a false argument. It is not our morality; it is Christ’s morality, the morality he built into human nature. He knows what makes the human heart wise, strong, and joyful, because he created the human heart.

        However, John’s message wasn’t just negative; in fact, it was mostly positive. He called for repentance, for people to turn away from their sins, but he also turned people’s attention towards something – the greatness, the beauty, and the transforming power of Christ: “One mightier than I is coming after me… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” We too are called to turn people’s attention to Christ, so that they can discover his love, goodness, and transforming power.

        One young man who was recently ordained a priest for a religious order tells about how his mother used to turn people’s attention to Christ. There were ten children in the family, so she didn’t get out of the house a lot. But the children’s friends were often coming into the house, and that became her opportunity. She had a wooden cross with a candle mounted on the wall near the living room. Whenever she had a special prayer intention, she would light the candle for the day, as a symbol of her ongoing prayer. Most days, it was burning.

        One day, one of the neighborhood kids came over and noticed that the candle was not lit.

“Why isn’t the candle burning?” he asked. The mother answered, “I don’t have anyone to pray for today. But if you want me to pray for you, I will light it.” And right then and there she lit the candle, and as soon as the flame was bright, the little boy’s face became even brighter.

        We can always find a way to help turn peoples’ attention to Christ, to his goodness, love, and transforming power; and that’s the best way to brighten their day.

        Perhaps the most remarkable thing about St John the Baptist was that so many people actually listened to him. Why was that? Because how he lived was consistent with what he said.

St. Mark makes that clear when he says, “John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey.” Everyone who knew John and heard him speak could see immediately that he was not living a self-centered life, and that opened their hearts.

        We too, as New Testament prophets, are called to live in such a way that the best argument supporting our words about Christ will be that we are living like Christ. This is the real power behind all the saints.

        St Edmund Campion was a Jesuit priest sent into England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was trying to stamp out the Catholic Church in England. She had made it illegal for priests to celebrate Mass, hear confessions, or teach Catholic doctrine, and for lay people to shelter priests. As a result, seminarians had to leave England and study abroad. Once ordained, they would sneak back into England in disguise, and travel secretly from Catholic family to Catholic family, celebrating the sacraments in hiding. Like St Edmund Campion, many of these brave priests, and the lay people who supported them, became martyrs. Campion was able to avoid arrest for about a year as he traveled throughout the country keeping the faith alive. But finally a servant acting as a spy for the government turned him in. While Campion was imprisoned in the Tower of London, awaiting his execution, this betrayer came to visit him. He and the saint spoke for a long time, and Campion encouraged him to confess his sins and come back to the Church.

He even offered to give him a personal recommendation to a nobleman in Germany, so that he would have a safe and peaceful place to live. But the traitor refused to repent and left the prisoner’s cell angry and upset. One of the prison guards had been present for the whole conversation. He was deeply moved by the kindness and gentleness Campion showed towards his betrayer. It affected him so much, in fact, that he became convinced that the Catholic faith must be the true Christian faith, and he decided to become a Catholic.

        As New Testament prophets, we must use words to invite repentance and to tell about God’s goodness and Christ’s truth, but our best argument will always be Christ-like lives.

        Every Christian is called to be another John the Baptist, and that’s why the Church always holds his example up for our consideration during Advent. Today Jesus will come onto the altar here in this church as truly as he came into the manger at Bethlehem. When he does, let’s thank him for not forgetting about us, and let’s promise him that this Advent we will do our best to fulfill our Advent mission, by striving to follow the example of St John the Baptist, the last Old Testament prophet, and the first New Testament prophet.

        An Egyptian hermit, writing at the end of the 4th century, once wrote about how all people wish to catch a sight of an earthly king, have a desire to at least catch a “glimpse of the his beauty or the elegance of his garments or the splendor of his purple, the beauty of his many pearls, the comeliness of his crown, the impressive retinue that accompanies him, ….” (Pseudo-Macarius).

        I am not sure if many Americans would have the same reaction today as that hermit did 1600 years ago. Americans have a complicated attitude towards kings and other nobility. On the one hand, our history tends to be anti-nobility as we have been the successful experiment in democracy for over 200 years. We believe in the equality of all people, and one person one vote. Yet, we seem to have a fascination with nobility. Just look at how many articles are written about the various royal families around the world and their exploits. My parents’ generation seemed enraptured with Princess Grace of Monaco, my generation was captivated with the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, and just this past summer there was the thrill of Prince William’s marriage to now Princess Katherine. I think that some of that fascination comes from each of us inwardly saying, “I would really like someone to give me something of that glory, comeliness, and splendor” that comes with being royalty. Part of each of us would like the “Princess Diary” to happen to us. We think being a prince or princess, a king or a queen will make us happy. However, we only have to read some of those many articles about the world’s nobility to see that happiness does not necessarily come with nobility, and that they really are just like the rest of us — just a bit better dressed and with more money.

        Our Egyptian hermit, continued by commenting that spiritual persons spurn all glamour of earthly kings because they have experienced another ineffable beauty and participated in other riches. They have received in the inner person another Spirit. They have encountered Christ the King. As Christians, we should have a desire for Christ, the heavenly King. We should be captivated by His beauty and ineffable glory and by the incorruptible comeliness and incomprehensible riches of the true and eternal King, Christ!

        For the sake of Christ, Christians should regard earthly beauty, adornment, glory, honor, and the riches of kings and princes as nothing because we have tasted divine beauty and the life of heavenly immortality has dropped like dew into our souls.

        How many of us truly view Jesus as our Lord and King? I think many of us are more comfortable relating to Jesus as our friend — and He most certainly is our friend. Yet He is always our King, and we must approach Him as such. Starting next weekend, our language at Mass will help us approach God as our King. Next weekend we begin using the new translation of the Roman Missal.

        We have been talking about this new translation for a long time. I know that I am very excited about using the new Missal. I also know that many you are not as excited about it. Many still wonder why do we need to change the words at Mass? Why did we need a new translation?

        There are many reasons for the need for revising and re-translating the Roman Missal, and I have written about them over the past few weeks. However, today’s solemnity brings out one of the main reasons. The translation that we have been using since the early 1970s was done rather quickly. Understandably, there was a desire to get the translation of the revised Mass into use as soon as possible. Translation is an art, and rushing it often leads to imprecision and a flatness of the translation. In addition, at the time the current translation was made, there was more of an anti-authority attitude in the culture.

        What was lost was the beauty of the language of court. One of the principle aims of the new translation was a restoration of some of the beautiful, courtly language of the official Latin text. To give you a sense of what I mean by this, just listen again to today’s opening prayer and then to the new translation of it which we will use next year:

        “Almighty and merciful God, you break the power of evil and make all things new in your Son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe. May all in heaven and earth acclaim your glory and never cease to praise you. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”

        The new translation will be; “Almighty and ever-living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.”

        Both clearly has the same Latin text underlining them, yet the new translation has more courtly sound to it. And when we use the language of court, we will more easily keep in mind that Christ Jesus is our King. We will ardently long for the love of our heavenly King, and we will have Him alone before our eyes in every desire. For the sake of Christ our King, we must detach ourselves from every worldly love and tear loose from every earthly attachment so that we may possess that one desire always in our hearts and never mix anything else with it.