Fr. JC Maximilian

["The Holy Family" by Rembrandt, 1634]

I recently heard a story about a man named John.  The recent economic crisis really hit John hard.  John works for an insurance company, and 40% of all that he has worked for and built up over the last 20 years has disappeared overnight.  Just to pay the mortgage and buy food John had to tap into his children’s college funds, and his 401k retirement fund isn’t even worth looking at.  Like so many people in our country right now, financially things are looking very grim for John.

Three of John’s close friends are in very similar situation.  Before this economic crisis hit, John and his three friends had planned to make a pilgrimage to Rome.  All four men have been devout Catholics their entire lives, and for years they had planned to make this pilgrimage.  They had everything planned when the economy went down the tubes, so they were thinking about canceling their trip.  Looking at their bank accounts, the pilgrimage was not worth it.  However, looking into their hearts, with the prayerful support of their wives, they knew that the pilgrimage was worth it.

So John and his three friends spent a week in Rome.  They did not stay at a fancy hotel, but at a simple religious house.  They spent the week visiting the beautiful, ancient basilicas and churches, and looking at the priceless collection of art in the Vatican museum.  At every stop, they found themselves deeply moved by the thought that behind everything they saw was the deep, ancient faith of patrons, priests, artists, bricklayers and stone masons who had given their time, talent, and treasure for the glory of God.

The highlight of the trip for John was visiting the “Scala Santa” or Holy Stairs. These are the marble steps of Pontius Pilate’s presidium, where he passed judgment on Christ.  St Helen had shipped them from Jerusalem in the fourth century, reconstructing them in a small sanctuary in Rome.  For more than a thousand years, pilgrims have visited this site by climbing the stairs on their knees as they pray the Way of the Cross.   “It was when I was climbing those steps on my knees,” John said, “that I realized there’s so much more to life. There’s Someone who accompanies us.”  (This Illustration was adapted from an article published by Goodnews.org, a service of www.catholic.net).

Isn’t that the point?  Whether we are experiencing the weight of the Cross, or the whiff of Heaven’s sweet scent, what really matters is not the things in our lives but rather faith in Jesus Christ.  It is our faith in Jesus Christ that gives meaning and purpose to everything that we do.  Material prosperity and hardship come and go; the love of Christ is forever.

We learn something about this from today’s Gospel.  It was customary at that time in Israel, for women to remain isolated for a period of time after childbirth.  While some have seen in this the woman being considered unclean, because of the blood involved in childbirth, but there was a deeper, spiritual reason for this time of separation from the community.  It was in deep recognition of the value of each human life.  The Israelites recognized the truth that childbirth was something holy.  In giving birth, the woman was participating intimately in a mystery that touched God directly, because God alone is the creator and sustainer of all human life.  For the Israelites, it would be improper for a woman to engage in normal activities after participating in so holy a mystery.  Like Moses, who had to keep his face veiled after speaking with God, a woman after childbirth needed time away from the ordinary to allow the “glory of the Lord” to fade from her.  The ritual of her purification, which is recounted in today’s Gospel, is like the purification of the chalice and ciborium after Communion; after being a vessel of the Lord’s Body and Blood, the purification makes them for ordinary activity.

The sacrifice that Mary and Joseph offered for her purification was not the specified lamb and pigeon.  It was two pigeon, the sacrifice that those who were poor would offer because they could not afford a lamb.  The Son of God did not just humble Himself by taking on our human nature, but He was born into a poor, humble, working class family that struggled to make ends meet.  Mary, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, lived as a simple wife and mother on a modest budget, knowing how to stretch a meal.  Joseph, the patron of the universal Church and the greatest of all the Patriarchs, had to work hard just to keep bread on the table.  No big bank account, no impressive investment portfolio, or expensive vacations.  The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had to watch every copper coin; yet they were the richest of all families.  Their wealth was not in money or material possessions, but in faith.

Money is certainly useful for life, but it should never be the main ingredient of life, and the Holy Family reminds us of that.  Without faith, it is possible to have a lot of money and still be thoroughly miserable; just look at King Herod, or in any tabloid. With faith, it is possible to have very little money, and yet to live a thoroughly meaningful and joyful life, as the Holy Family did.  And there are several things that we can do to help us keep Faith primary, and money secondary.

First we can create a budget.  A budget helps us prioritize our material needs.  It is often amazing how much we spend on things we really do not need.  Second, we can make sure that we regularly eat meals together as a family.  This helps us turn a material need into a spiritual reality.  Can you imagine the meals that Jesus, Mary and Joseph must have had.  A family meal helps us relax and build relationships, and conversation helps us learn from each other.  Finally, we need to make time each day for prayer, especially time reading the Sacred Scriptures.  This is how we get to know the Someone that John and his friends experienced crawling up the Holy Stairs.  This is how we speak with Jesus heart to heart.

This is how we protect our faith and make it grow.  And that’s what really matters, because, as the Church is reminding us today, true, lasting wealth doesn’t come from money, but from faith.

["The Annunciation" by Fra Angelico]

Hanging in our parish office is a small plaque which reads, “We Plan, God Laughs.” Ain’t that the truth. We can be just so careful in planning out our life, yet in no time those plans can be completely changed. When I was teaching in college, for the section on developmental psychology, I had my students write a paper describing what their life would be like in 5 years, 10 years, 25 years, and 50 years. All of them saw themselves eventually getting married and having a family; that is all except one young woman. She was quite insistent that she would never get married or have children. Before the semester was over, she was pregnant with twins and engaged to be married. “We Plan, God Laughs.”

As we come to the last Sunday of Advent, we hear in today’s readings about plans – both human plans, and divine plans – and these plans reveals two great mysteries to us.

In our first reading, we hear about King David’s plans. He has, through the grace of God, secured his kingdom; “the Lord had given him rest from his enemies on every side.” Responding to a nobel inspiration of his heart, King David wants to do something to express his gratitude towards the Lord. He wants to build the Lord a house, a temple, that is worthy of God’s glory. “We Plan, God Laughs.” While David’s intentions are certainly the best, God reminds him that He does not need anything from us. The Lord reminds David that He does not dwell in a house made by human hands, but rather “I have been with you wherever you went….” God is always present among us. In fact, the Lord turns David’s plan on its head, and says instead that He is going to build a house for David; a kingdom that will last forever. God’s promise to David reveals the first great Mystery – that in a descendent of David, God will become Man; the Eternal Word will become Flesh and dwell among us.

In today’s Gospel reading we hear that God promise to David will be fulfilled in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Mystery of the Incarnation, God demonstrates that He loves us so much that He became one of us, so that He could save us from sin and the meaninglessness that sin brings, and show us the way to a meaningful life, now and forever.

Mary most likely had her own plans for her life. Some theologians think that she had planned to live a life of consecrated virginity for the Lord, and that is why she said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” Others argue, that the fact that she was betrothed to Joseph, shows that Mary planned to be a mother and wife, certainly faithful to the Covenant with God. I do not think we can be certain as to what Mary’s plan for her life was, but God certainly disrupted those plans. Instead of being either a virgin or a wife and mother, the Angel tells Mary that God plans for her to be both!

Today’s Gospel reading reveals the second great mystery, namely that God does not work out His plan of salvation all by Himself. Rather, He invites us to cooperate in His plan of salvation. Salvation is God’s business, but He has designed it to be a partnership; we have a role to play in it.

In today’s Gospel reading, Mary is invited to become the mother of God’s own Son, our Savior. In her freedom, Mary could have rejected this invitation. She could have said, “Thanks for the invitation, Lord, but what you’re asking is actually very inconvenient for me. I really wish I could do what you want, but I’m just not there yet.” This is basically the response Adam and Eve gave to God in the Garden. Thankfully, Mary gave a very different answer. She did not insult God by doubting His plan. Mary knew that God’s plan was the fullness of wisdom and wonderful. She knew that true joy and happiness lies in putting one’s life in the service of the Lord, thus she said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Her “yes” reversed Eve’s “no” and made room for Jesus to undo Adam’s fall.

“We Plan, God Laughs.” All of us can think of times when God has disrupted our plans. There are three ways in which God especially disrupts our plans. First, when we are really busy and we do not want any interruptions, God often brings us into contact with someone who needs our help. Second, we suddenly discover that certain popular and fashionable behaviors or activities (which we would like to follow) are actually against Church teaching, that they cause damage to us and to others. Third, when we are really tired, fed up, or angry, our conscience – like the angel Gabriel in today’s Gospel passage – sends us a message saying that we really need to keep working, or to do a little extra work, or to be extra patient with someone, or to hold our tongue.

These are the common ways in which God disrupts our personal plans, and invites us to cooperate in His plan of salvation. How do we respond? Do we tell God, like Eve, “thanks for the invitation, but its too inconvenient for me to do that”? Or to we respond like Mary, our Blessed Mother, who said “YES” to God? Mary’s “yes” lead her soul to “proclaim the greatness of the Lord,” and her spirit to “rejoice in God” her Savior.
In this final Sunday of Advent we are being invited to allow God to disrupt our plans, so that we will make room for Christ Jesus to dwell in our lives. Then we will forever sing the goodness of the Lord.

[I am sorry I am late posting this; just a busy time of year]

“Brothers and Sisters:  Rejoice always.”  So proclaims St. Paul in today’s second reading from his first letter to the Thessalonians.

But we may have many things that are distracting us from rejoicing.  Just take a look at some of the news from this past week.  The unemployment rate hit a 26-year high, and the experts warn that we could see 10% unemployment before things turn around.  Bank of America, Dow Chemical, 3M, and Sony all announced layoffs.  The “Big Three” automakers failed to get the bail out that they were hoping for from the Federal Government, leaving another big economic question mark for that industry.  Retail sales continue to fall as the recession continues.  Another public official has apparently betrayed the trust of the people, seeking to satisfy his own greed instead of the public good.  Even in the midst of the busy Christmas Shopping season KB Toys found it necessary to file for bankruptcy.  More locally, at this week’s Food Pantry meeting we learned that the number of people turning to the pantry for aid just continues to grow; over a thousand people received food from the pantry last month, and they gave out nearly 120 Thanksgiving baskets which is almost twice as many as last year.  Thank God for the generosity of all of us here at St. Theresa’s, and at the other churches that support the pantry, the Food Pantry has been able to keep up with the growing demands.

With all this gloomy news, we might be tempted to ask how we can be expected to rejoice.  This hardly seems to be the “year of favor from the Lord” that Isaiah announced in today’s first reading.  Yet, I am still vested in Rose vestments – the color of rejoicing.

There are three reasons for rejoicing, despite the news:  Jesus is behind us, Jesus is with us, and Jesus ahead of us.

Jesus is behind us.  At the first Christmas, Jesus entered into our human reality.  In becoming flesh, Jesus shared in everything that life brings us, except for sin.  We need only to think about the Wedding Feast in Cana to see Him experiencing life’s joy, and we only need to recall His weeping as He approached the tomb of Lazarus to see Him also experiencing life’s deepest sorrows.  We know that He was raised in a poor family, so it is not difficult to imagine Jesus going hungry, or sharing some of Mary and Joseph’s anxiety paying bills.  On the cross Jesus experienced the most horrendous injustice and agonizing suffering.  Whether we look at the crib at Bethlehem or the Cross on Calvary, both proclaim that God loves and cares for us.  Both give witness that life is NOT meaningless, as long as we live for Christ Jesus, and accept the strength that He alone can give us.  In the midst of our own suffering, anxiety, and pain we can rejoice because Jesus has shared it all.  He is behind us.

We also know that Jesus is ahead of us.  The one future event that is certain for all of us is death.  If we look at death as simply a snuffing out of a candle, then there can be no joy in it.  However, death promises so much more because Jesus has conquered sin and death by His own death and resurrection.  Now death promises us a great transformation.  Life in this world is full of limitations and suffering, but life after death, for those who have lived a life of Faith in Jesus Christ will be to the full.  All limitations and suffering will be no more.  God will wipe away all tears from our eyes.  The Faithful will enter into a life of perfect communion with God and each other.  All the deepest desires of our heart will be fulfilled, and we will rejoice for all eternity.

Yet, the past and the future are not sufficient reasons for rejoicing.  The other reason for our rejoicing is that Jesus is with us.  Yes, Jesus is among us right now.  John the Baptist, in today’s Gospel reading, told the Pharisees, that “there is one among you whom you do not recognize….”  How often are we like those Pharisees and fail to recognize the presence of Christ Jesus in our midst today, right now?  He is present in His Living Word which we have proclaimed, and He is present Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist we will receive at this Mass.  He is with us when we are feeling frighten and alone, when we are angry at the circumstances of our life.  Do we see Him?  Do we allow ourselves to encounter Him, so that we can receive His grace and His love?  Do we see Him in our spouse who does stick by us, in good times and in bad?  Do we see Him in our friends who give us a shoulder to cry own, or who will not just leave us feeling sorry for ourselves?  Do we see Jesus in the stranger who waves us to make the left-hand turn we have been waiting to make with growing impatience?  Yes, Jesus is among us!

We must be people of rejoicing, especially now when so many other people in the world may be tempted to despair because of all the bad news about the economy, the nation and the world.  We must say with the Prophet Isaiah: “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in God is the joy of my soul….”

[Vasari's painting in the Ashmolean, Oxford, depicts Adam, Eve and Old Testament patriarchs and prophets chained to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, which itself is bound by the serpent. The Immaculate Virgin Mary by the grace of God and the birth of Christ triumphs over original sin and the bondage of Satan over humanity]

Fr. Benedict Groeschel, in his wonderful Jersey City accent, often says that the one Christian doctrine that everyone can believe is that of Original Sin. Fr. Groeschel says that all we need to do is walk the streets of the Bronx, or listen to the evening news, to realize that something is broke in nature, especially in human nature. We see it in the crime and poverty. We see Original Sin.

Jesuit Father Paul Mankowski, in addressing the question, “Why the Immaculate Conception?” said:

I live in an age, and a country, wherein the largest single cause of death of infants under one year of age is homicide. I live at a time when, according to those claim to know these things, Ronald McDonald has surpassed Jesus Christ in popularity among children. . . . I live in a country where, this very day, in the time between my rising and my standing here before you, 4000 of our fellow citizens, 4000 human beings with an eternal destiny, were summarily killed by abortion. I live at time when most promises will be broken, most vows will be repudiated, most marriages will fail. I live at a time when it is virtually impossible to go through a day without using some commodity which, however innocent in itself, is not hawked in terms of some base or venal allure. I am promised prosperous and intriguing companions by the folks who brew my beer; and those who sell my shaving cream are at pains to assure me that it will provoke the women I encounter into sexual frenzy (Fr. Paul Mankowski, S.J., 1990, as quoted in Fr. Edward Steiner, “Homily Backgrounds: Do Not Be Afraid, December 8, 2008, The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” The Priest, Vol. 64 (11), November 2008).

Even though Fr. Mankowski’s comments were made 18 years ago, I think we can all agree that they are just as true today in describing our culture as they were then. In fact, Planned Parenthood is even selling gift cards for Christmas this year. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is the patronal feast of the United States, so perhaps it is appropriate that we reflect today on the cause of so much suffering, pain, terror, and despair – Original Sin.

God created Man in His own image and likeness, and He intended all human beings to live in His friendship. However, due to the temptations of the serpent, our First Parents doubted God’s goodness and love. Instead of trusting in God, they freely chose to try to make themselves happy without God. This caused a break in their friendship with God, and we call this Original Sin. This brokenness is passed on to all of their descendants, namely all of us. So, due to Original Sin, we are not born as friends of God.

While this situation might seem bleak, we should never despair. Instead we should ask ourselves what it will take to get us back to the Garden with our God? What will it take to make our nation more an image of the Kingdom of God, and less the fallen city of humanity?

It should be obvious that the human race could not save itself from evil; we could not achieve the happiness and peace we were created for; Original Sin had cut us off from our destiny. And so, God 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 Christ’s grace, none of us would have any chance at fulfillment and true happiness; but with his grace, we do.

And the first step in this salvation was the Immaculate Conception. In a privilege only given to her, Mary was granted the merits of Jesus Christ, that is freedom from the effects of Adam’s sin. From the first moment of her conception, Mary was exempt from all stain of Original Sin. She was born into the same state of grace in which Eve was first created – friendship with God.

We are not born free from Original Sin. For us, Original Sin has to be removed in the sacrament of Baptism. That is why we are described as being reborn and becoming a new creation through Baptism. It is important, however, to keep in mind that even though Mary was born free from Original Sin, she was never prevented from sinning. Like Eve, Mary was born into innocence and love – to love God or free to love something else. The Immaculate Conception did not make Mary any less free than Eve, or us. However, Mary made a fundamentally different choice than Eve. When presented with the opportunity to choose between what God wanted versus what she wanted, Mary chose God. In this single choice the possibility of redemption was born.

We too enjoy the same blessings as Mary through the grace of our Baptism. We stand before the same choices in life. By our Baptism we are freed from sin, although we are still free to sin. As Mary chose God, so can we.

Will we?