Reflection for the 2nd Ordinary Sunday 2024

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

Today we see Jesus beginning His public ministry with a call to those who might follow Him. They look: “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Jesus responds: “Come, and you will see.”

We know these men were following Jesus. He knew it too and He cuts right to the point: “What are you looking for?”

This was more than a simple question as the English rendering posits it. In Greek these phrases about looking and coming to see are happening in the present and the action is being carried out.

It is important to know this because Jesus’ call to us is happening in the present and our response is to carry out all His call entails. More simply, Jesus’ call is now, and our response is to act now.

Further, “What are you looking for?” does not just mean what are you browsing around for. It means: what do you search for with desire?

While some might consider Jesus’ call to Andrew, John, and Peter to represent a call to formal ministry, and indeed that is there, that is not all it was nor the end of the story. We recognize Jesus’ constant call to all who follow Him. Over and over, we hear Jesus calling all of us to follow Him, to be His learners (i.e., disciples), and to do His Kingdom proclaiming work. 

We are to follow Him and do His gospel work actively, i.e., now and with a complete desire within us.

First Corinthians has Paul putting a very fine point on all of this. Our bodies are not our own, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and are for the Lord.

If you’ve ever done the Hokey-Pokey this is the part where Paul echoing Jesus says, ‘put your whole-self in’ and what is not in the song ‘and don’t jump out.’ We are called to put our whole selves in and to not just leave them there, but to get to work. Be in and present, active for the Lord.

Last week we focused on a word which bridges all seasons of the Church year. It is the word ‘announce,’ in Biblical Greek ἀπαγγέλλω (apangellō). That word, found more in scripture after the resurrection, is what we are called to do. To tell, declare, report, and bring word of all Jesus taught and did. Let us do it actively engaged and with our hearts aligned with Jesus’ desire for the salvation of all. 

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of our Lord 2024

And a voice came from the heavens, “You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.”

Today we begin a transition into two short Ordinary Time weeks. After that we will notice a stark change as we enter the Pre-Lenten season. 

In this transition the moments of Jesus’ Nativity get closed out (excepting February 2nd – the Solemnity of the Presentation, forty days after Jesus’ birth) and His public ministry is begun.

If there is a word to bridge these times, and one that is self-contained in each season of the Church year, it is the word ‘announcement.’

Consider the times we have encountered and will encounter ‘announcement.’

The angels announce the Messiah’s birth. The humble shepherds announce what they have seen and heard. The Maji announce the coming of the Messiah to King Herod and all of Jerusalem hears of it. John the Baptist had been announcing the coming of “One mightier than I.” The decent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father from heaven announce Jesus as the Son of God.

Setting forth after His baptism Jesus will call His disciples, turn water into wine, and most importantly announce the immanence of the Kingdom – a charge equally given to every disciple: The Kingdom of heaven is at hand (note in Mark’s gospel account only four verses after His baptism).

Jesus emphasizes the work of announcement. It is the work we each must take up. It is a work that can be carried out in various ways, we don’t all need to be broadcasters using words – it may also be done in acts. It is anything we do that opens the kingdom to others.

Our work as announcers must also be evident in the attitudes we carry. That was the lesson Peter experienced before going to the house of Cornelius. Before going there – to the house of a Gentile Roman Centurion – considered unclean, God showed Peter that his attitudes had to change, that announcing the Kingdom was for those God intended, not only those Peter considered worthy by his own judgment.

With open hearts let us then be those announcers, broadcasters, proclaimers, trumpeters God asks us to be. The more we announce the Kingdom the more people will accept Jesus. 

Reflection for the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023

What do I do…?

The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen.

Thank you for joining as we testify, proclaim, and evangelize the great and Holy Name of Jesus.

Last week we spoke of our baptismal obligation to testify, give witness, and proclaim the truth of Jesus, His gospel message, and the promise of salvation that is in Him. This week we reflect on the light we have received and that light in relation to our obligation.

I don’t know how many of you took economics in college. I remember it well. I enjoyed macroeconomics, looking at the big picture of the economy and how things work.

Walter Heller, speaking of economists commented: “You know it’s said that an economist is a man who, when he finds something that works in practice, wonders if it works in theory.”

That makes sense for us doesn’t it. We who go shopping for food every week, who need a paycheck, and who put gas in the car know what works in practice, i.e., in reality.

One thing I remember quite well from economics was the idea of perfect competition. Perfect competition occurs when companies sell an identical product, market share does not influence price, companies are able to enter or exit without barriers, buyers have perfect or full information, and best of all – companies cannot determine prices. Everyone pays about the same price.

A loose example is old fashioned regular milk. Sealtest, Hood, Stewarts, Price Chopper, Hannaford, Crowley – well milk is milk. But… and we all know, companies have learned to change things up, differentiate, and offer unique milk products like goats’ milk, almond milk, oat milk, 2%, 1%, skim, chocolate, extra pasteurized, non-GMO. We are willing to pay more or less to substitute regular milk for what we want or prefer.

There is however one unique thing, one that cannot be substituted, one we cannot replace with something that might be similar or just as good and that is Jesus.

Jesus came as the promised light, and we who recognize His coming should be like the people of Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. We have a great, perfect light Who shows us the way we are to go.

The excerpt from Psalm 126 used for the alleluia verse tells of the reaction of those who recognize the Lord as their Light. The Lord had done great things for us; Oh, how happy we were! They perceive what the Lord has done for them, and they show forth their happiness because its light stands in dynamic contrast to the darkness they lived in.

If for us the Lord is indeed our light and salvation, without substitute or equivalent, the question comes down to what we do with Him.

The right choice and the only choice for us is to follow Him and declare Him. Like the called disciples we must get up and go with Jesus, learn from Jesus, and testify, give witness, and proclaim the truth of Jesus His gospel message, and the promise of salvation that is in Him alone.

Reflection for the 4th Sunday of Advent 2021

Love.

Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.

This Advent we focus on the promises of God. We have provided a handy follow along book of reflections and devotions covering thirty promises of God broken down under the categories of hope, peace, joy, and love. This final week we reflect on God’s promise of love.

Remember that promises from God are things we can absolutely count on. We have perfect assurance that God’s promise of love will be fulfilled. We know this more so because God has shown us by His outward action that His love is perfect and all giving.

St. Paul is reflecting on that very fact in today’s Epistle. He calls our attention, once again, to the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, came to once and for all consecrate us – that is to make us holy and pleasing to His Father. He would do this, not through the sin offerings of people, which God did not delight in, but through the love offering of Himself, the perfect sacrifice as willed by the Father.

It is key for us to focus on the value of offerings. You see, the sin sacrifices of people could never compensate God for what they had done. Rather, its key metric was in the way it forced people to evaluate, in a tangible way, the cost of what they had done. 

Now if a person were really dedicated to loving God, they would say the cost is too high. I must rather turn away from sin and by doing so, not suffer the cost consequences. But the people never did change, they got caught up in paying to play. Their hearts remained hard, not like the hearts of flesh God wished them to have. For them, it boiled down to an equation in the Law.

To change the equation, to fully carry out the will of the Father, His Son, Jesus, had to step up and say yes. He had to give His love totally to the Father in sacrifice. By doing so He carried out the Father’s will for us. 

Jesus carried out the Father’s love mission. He destroyed the old equation of cost sacrifices and says to us, come, live in my love. St. John’s repeats Jesus’ words: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

The choice is clear. We have met our God Who gave Himself as sacrifice. We cannot pay, there is no option for that, so we must choose to dedicate ourselves to Him, to live in His love. If we make that choice, we are among those made holy by God’s perfect love gift.

In the face of God’s love, Mary served, Elizabeth proclaimed, and John leapt. In the face of God’s love, we must also serve, proclaim, and leap, not to pay, but as sign of love in our consecrated lives.

Reflection for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021

Strength of Faith

On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.

Over the months of Ordinary Time, (and we only have three Ordinary Sunday’s left) we spend time dedicated to growth. We focus on how we live out the Christian faith, how we walk in Strength of Faith.

Last night, on the Grand Ole Opry, Carrie Underwood sang “Jesus Take The Wheel.” The woman in the song had a barTimaeus experience as she shouts out in despair and hope: Jesus, take the wheel!

“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me. Jesus, son of David, have pity on me! Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!!!”

We humans by design have a natural fight or flight response. Our adrenaline kicks in and sometimes we can even accomplish superhuman feats. 

We see this as each of these people call out to Jesus. The experience of barTimaeus and the woman in the song are testimony to the coordination between our spiritual and physical lives as we hear them call out with all that they are.

In both cases these people find themselves in a very empty place. They are alone, apart, scarred, fearful, and in need of great and immediate help. In both cases they cry out to Jesus. Their bodies and spirits are united in seeking His help. In both cases, with barTimaeus the factual case, the plea is answered.

Did these people live in Strength of Faith? 

For barTimaeus, he absolutely lived by faith. He knew that Jesus could save and heal him.  It is why he called out despite being criticized. As such, once Jesus summoned him, he thew aside his cloak – which was both garment and symbol for a beggar who depended on others and went to Jesus. He knew he wouldn’t need that cloak and that he would see. He was fully trusting by the Strength of his Faith.

In the song, after the car is saved, the woman prays, first seeking forgiveness and then pledging amendment of life. She certainly had faith, but no real Strength of Faith. She had not been living faith; hers was dead and cold. She was blocking faith out until the urgency of the situation.

What comes next for each of them is what is most instructive for us and exemplary. Both barTimaeus and the woman moved forward continuing then to live in Strength of Faith. barTimaeus went on to follow Jesus. The woman, freed, recommitted to Strength of Faith.

Both had their shout of plea changed to a shout of proclamation. Both went on to witness boldly to Jesus (even when people told them not to) with all they had. So must we.

Reflection for the Solemnity of Pentecost 2021

Say it!

Brothers and sisters: No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Happy birthday Church.

The Solemnity of Pentecost, after Easter, is the Church’s greatest celebration. In fact, in the early Church, people could only enter the fullness of the Church through baptism on either Easter or Pentecost. Pentecost is that important. Pentecost is that vital, for without this day all of Jesus’ work and teaching would have died off with the Apostles and disciples. Pentecost was that moment in which we were all commissioned to proclaim Jesus’ saving message. We, the people of the Church received the strength, the grace of the Sevenfold Gifts of the Spirit, necessary to carry Jesus’ message to the whole world.

What the Apostles and all those in the upper room did this day is exactly what we are called to do. It is the methodology by which we are to proclaim salvation in Jesus the Lord. It is by our standing out there, on the balconies of the world, it is by our voices raised in praise and proclamation, that salvation in Jesus the Lord is proclaimed.

Today is about our status as full members of the Holy Church and what our work is to be. For today, Jesus’ promised sending of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled and with the Spirit’s decent into our lives (and note I am not saying into the world) we were born to be Jesus’ hands, feet, and voice; to proclaim Jesus is Lord!

We are set apart from the world, we do not belong to it any longer. The Holy Spirit is ours exclusively so we might do God’s work. Our cause is to go out and say Jesus is Lord. Our home is the Kingdom.

When was the last time any one of us met someone and in the course of our conversation said to them, Jesus is my Lord and Savior? 

Without the power of this day all of Jesus’ work and teaching would have died off. So today, we recall that unless we say it from the balconies and at every opportunity, it will die off with us.

We often take pride in the fact that we can speak out on whatever, whenever, and to whomever we want. Yet, how often do we say Jesus is Lord except in the secret of our minds, or in our homes, or within the walls of this building? How often are we quicker to speak on some other trivial matter than to speak of Jesus. If we spend our time as Church saying Jesus is Lord and eschew worldly matters, which should be dead to us, the lost will be converted.

Pastors tell their people, ‘Wear red today.’ A nice sentiment, but nothing unless the Holy Spirit’s fire is burning within us, unless the statement Jesus is Lord is on our lips. Let us look in the mirror tonight and say Jesus is Lord out loud. Say it over several times, and if we can, we know we have the Holy Spirit in us. Knowing that, let nothing stop us for Jesus said, “I send you.”

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Resurrection 2021

In the garden.

“He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that He is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Here we are, in this beautiful garden, standing in awe before an empty tomb.

I have spent a lot of time these days contemplating this garden, in my mind’s eye thinking that it closely resembles the nearby tomb where Jesus was laid.

Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there…

I watched as this was put together, the color and texture of the place, the scent of flowers where our beautiful Lord slept in death.

Picture, in your mind’s eye, the women, setting off to the tomb before daybreak on the third day, eager to attend to the remains of their Lord and Master. They loved Him and could not do otherwise.

Each of the Gospels differ slightly in the exact narrative, but they all agree that the first witnesses to the resurrection were the woman who followed Jesus. They all found the tomb empty and went or were instructed to go tell the disciples. 

Here we are, in this beautiful garden, standing in awe before an empty tomb.

The narratives describe the reaction of the women and the disciples as one of fear, a lack of understanding, or wonderment – all words for awe. Awe is defined as a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.

We too respect this garden, and we encounter it with fear and wonder. Certainly, we can picture the scene, we even physically sense it in feeling the petals of the flowers, the moisture of the green leaves, smelling the flowers and the scent of earth, touching the sharpness of the crown of thorns still resting nearby and the hardness of the rock. We can look up and see the cross still standing, but can we connect with the new reality this day brings?

Here we are, in this beautiful garden, standing in awe before the empty tomb. We still stand in awe because, like those women and disciples, we can hardly believe what God has done for us.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.

He gave His Son for us. His Son suffered and died for us. His Son rested in the tomb for us. His Son rose for us. For you. For me. Awe.

Here we are, in this beautiful garden – not just that garden, but the new Eden in which we dwell with God, no longer alienated or unreconciled, because of all Jesus did. So, affirmed now, let us go forth from this garden to proclaim, testify, and bear witness to our risen Jesus.

Reflection for Palm Sunday 2021

Working to change.

The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.

Throughout Lent we have focused on the change and reform necessary in our lives. We delved into the Lenten disciplines of fasting, sacrifice (or giving), study, and prayer. There is one discipline left – proclamation.

If we have taken these disciplines seriously, we should each be seeing change in our lives, or at least more clearly hear the call to conversion, change and reform. By now we should be walking each day as more ardent and faithful livers of Jesus’s gospel way. Sins like anger, resentment, and their like should be more foreign to us.

Of all the disciplines of Lent, proclamation may be the hardest to achieve.  We can take time to fast, sacrifice or give a little more, study, pray. Most of that we can do on our own, almost stealthy, unseen to the outside world, but proclamation – everyone sees that.

Proclamation is very important to me personally. Let me tell you about that.

I often wonder if people think I am a little off, maybe not quite aware of what’s going on. Perhaps I do not see reality? They see me often thanking and congratulating people for what they might consider insignificant or even something the people I am thanking should just do – you know it is their job…

There are reasons for that. Most of my early life was marked by ongoing encounters with two kinds of people, those who recognized kindness and those who could not find a good thing in a basket of gold. Two types of proclaimers modeled. Who would I be?

Our first reading from Isaiah 50 points to Jesus Whose whole life was proclamation. He came speaking the Good News. It was His constant message. He showed us the kingdom. He told people – and tells us – what we have to do, repent and believe in the gospel. 

Isaiah says in Chapter 52: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation.

The beauty of Jesus’ proclamation was that there was nothing in His entire being –  including every trial, wound, scourge, humiliation, thorn, nail, lack of breath, and curse heaped on Him that was not Him speaking out about our value before God. His death on the cross was proclamation of that value.

If we want to bear Christ’s name in honesty and integrity, we must be proclaimers of the kingdom. We must proclaim good news, peace, happiness,and salvation. We have to let people know, and in the end let people hear the change and reform Jesus caused in us. Could we rather nitpick, focus on the one mistake someone made, or criticize even the smallest gift shared? Sure. But then, what kind of proclaimer are we?

Reflection for the 2nd Sunday of Advent 2019

In
advance.

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume

Last week we reflected on God’s wake-up calls. God is diligent at wake-up calls. He gives us this opportunity of Advent in advance so that we may be prepared. He gave us the first coming of His Son, His life and word as model so we may live awake, active, and expectant for His return.

This week we reflect on His proclamation – proclamation of a truth people so often wish to avoid for God does things in vastly different ways.

Consider the words of Isaiah. Would anyone expect the wolf, lamb, leopard, kid, calf, and lion to live and eat together in peace, guided by a child. Would anyone expect a baby to play together with snakes. Could we believe that a day will dawn where there is no ruin or harm? That’s the thing. It sounds all so great, and fanciful, and maybe someday – but you’ve got to be kidding me. Look at the world today!

God isn’t fooling! Those pretty words from Isaiah that begin in justice for the oppressed and right judgment for the afflicted, the casting down of the wicked and ruthless are God’s design and proclamation. He has told us, His faithful, that this is the way it shall be. This is what we must endeavor to bring about. This is the Kingdom life!

Paul tells us this was: written for our instruction, endurance, and encouragement so that we might have hope. This was written down as our instruction manual so that we might break down artificial barriers and preconceived notions. Who would think that the gentiles might be co-heirs? God did. Thus we rejoice for the gift we have been given in Jesus.

Each of the characters of Christmas brought a part of God’s proclamation. The prophets gave the wake-up call. The angels exceedingly rejoiced in God’s gift of His Son, Jesus. John, the Forerunner, proclaimed the way it must be by God’s design. John came in advance. He picked up sinners (lions, leopards, wolves) so they could eat and rest together with the lambs, kids, calves, and children. Those who confessed were freed. John held out the truth to those who wanted to pretend that things wouldn’t change. Who warned you, he said. He called them to change.

God’s proclamation is God’s reality, His truth. He provided it in advance. Advent gives us the chance to live up to His vastly different way.

Reflection for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2019

The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.  Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

As I was studying for this week’s discussion, I came across a great word: performative. The Webster type definition seems a little complex. Here it is: “Relating to or denoting an utterance by means of which the speaker performs a particular act.” This example, contained in the definition, sets it out better: “performative utterances do not merely describe what one is doing; to say the utterance is to do it”

The words Jesus gives his messengers, as He sends them out, are performative: they do, they accomplish what He says. The kingdom of God advances and draws near. Jesus seemingly gives great power. When the disciples return, they rejoice for they have seen remarkable things, miracles. Yet Jesus cautions them. Why?

Jesus cautions them, not to get caught up in the power they have (something we as Christians have completely forgotten and neglected), but to see more clearly the ends that are being achieved.

Certainly, Jesus words accomplished the power the disciples exhibited. Yet they did far more than that. Those signs and wonders were mere markers of the coming new age, the redeemed time, the advent of the kingdom. The performative word of Jesus ushers in the kingdom, invites all into that kingdom. Jesus’ presence among us and His performative words bring the kingdom. So, we must share.

We have to reconnect to the performative words of Jesus. 

We have power in faith. We have to own that power and have confidence that Jesus – GOD – provided. His is the true and performative gospel. What He said is! The enemy cannot win against us because we bring the truth.

Beyond that power, and more compelling, is the word we bring, whether accepted or not: ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ And if some do not listen, we say: Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.