“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

Welcome and Happy Church New Year.

For months we have talked about our seven summer Sundays and Jesus’ instruction on how we, who receive Him, are to live out our lives.

Advent brings a change in direction and focus. We have four Sundays to contemplate the word Advent and all its implications.

Advent has several shades of meaning. It can mean beginning, revelation, expectation, dawning, and a start. Throughout this season we will be led through the various ways we will prepare for and encounter Jesus in this new year.

This week we focus on our Advent preparation for Jesus’ return. Jesus instructs us on how we are to act and react on that day.

Jesus tells us that our reaction to His return in glory is to be assured, and confident. We are not to fear His return or the judgment He will impose. He tells us to stand erect and raise our heads because our redemption is at hand. That confidence comes from our preparation and active waiting.

Active waiting is something we engage in. We are not sitting idle nor are we being passive. Our faith tells us that preparation and active waiting require a constant state of action and movement – working and pushing the expected fulfillment of the Kingdom forward.

Jesus reminds us that engaging in preparation and active waiting will keep us from both drowsiness (i.e., sitting idle or just giving up) and anxiety (i.e., fear from dwelling on the wrong things and expecting the worst things).

So, He says: “Be vigilant at all times and pray for strength.”

St. Paul reminds us that our Christian family life centered on love will be the very thing that strengthens us. Think about that. When we actively love through words and deeds, through outreach, evangelism, and charity we have no time for drowsiness, no room for anxiety. It is key, as St. Paul says to conduct ourselves to please God.

Jesus is returning in glory. The preparation and active waiting of Advent urges us to participate purposefully in Jesus’ call to transformation, so we are ready for the day of His return. We must not be passive or drowsy or unfocused, but engaged, reflective, and growing in the waiting each and every moment.

Let us then prepare for Jesus’ return, the needed changes in our lives, growth in our evangelism and Jesus’ immediate immanence.

“…have others told you about Me?”

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him.

Jesus’ journey continued as He moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. He is now at the end of His journey, standing before Pilate, awaiting torture and death. Along the way of this journey Jesus has discussed the many ways we are to apply His presence within us.

Pilate begins his interrogation of Jesus by questioning Jesus’ kingship. We have an opportunity here to explore a bit about Pilate. 

He was a member of the Equestrian Order which were Roman Cavalrymen who came from the landed gentry. That means he was educated and already had wealth, and political and social connections as a young man that further grew through his service to Caesar. He was appointed governor and prefect of Judea which gave him immense power over the military (who were really police), taxes, judicial power including the power to condemn people to death. He could mint coins and grant certain measures of control to local authorities.

Like many politicians, Pilate was skillful, competent, and manipulative. He reigned as governor for ten years, which is quite long, this thought owing to his skill. Historians from Pilate’s time also note that he was a cruel and obstinate man. 

One interesting note is that he liked to poke the bear in that he would purposefully provoke the Jewish leaders and people.

This little vignette of Pilate is intended to show that he had absolutely no interest in the Jewish religion, nor did he have any regard for it. This is why Pilate clearly says: “I am not a Jew, am I? 

Pilate knew nothing about Jesus, His claims, teaching, miracles, or of the Kingdom He said, “is at hand.” All he knew is that an accused man was presented before him for execution.

Jesus’ question to Pilate was somewhat rhetorical. He knew that Pilate knew little to nothing of Him. That question however confronts us with how we live out our obligation of witness to Jesus and His Kingdom. Hear Jesus saying this to us: “Have you told others about Me?”

The presence of Jesus within us calls us to a life of witness, of talking about Jesus and inviting those we encounter to join us in meeting Him and entering His Kingdom. 

Indeed, if Jesus is our King, Leader, Ruler, and ultimate Judge we need to be telling everyone about Him. Come to church with me. Meet Jesus, the King.

“They will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds.”

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him.

Jesus’ journey continued as He moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. He is now very near the end of His journey. His arrest and crucifixion are  now hours away. Along the way of this journey Jesus has discussed the many ways we are to apply His presence within us.

In certain ways we can understand the darkness of Jesus’ discussion with his disciples. His life was quickly coming to an end, and He knew it. Just prior to today’s gospel passage, the disciples were pointing out all the magnificent stuff around them in the Temple area.

We would be wrong to just say, well Jesus is in a dark time and write it off with that. Instead, we are called understand what Jesus is talking about and is asking of His disciples and us. He wants us to take our focus off stuff and place it on what is most important.

Those important things are the traits He says the elect will have: Knowing that He is near; We will all awaken from death; The wise will shine brightly; and Those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever. It is also important to know and acknowledge the alternative.

So, what about us? We can certainly know He is near. That is no problem, but am I wise, and do I lead many to justice?

I think back to those days when I helped my children with their school projects. I thought I could lead and that I was wise. What I quickly learned was that I was not wise or a great leader when the grades they received with my help were – well let’s say – not great.

Most of us can connect to those thoughts. If I am not wise and leading people to justice, if I’m not all that great, how will I ever make it?

What needs to happen, is like the disciples, we need to change our focus. We place emphasis on greatness, accomplishment, stuff, and success. Jesus never asked us to be great – rather servants. He did not ask us to be accomplished or successful, but rather to be disciples and witnesses. He did not ask us to acquire stuff, but to sacrifice all we have for the Kingdom.

We are the elect because we do as Jesus asks. We are those wise leaders when we give example, live in Christian witness, and stay focused on our real home.

So also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him.

Jesus’ journey continued as He moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. He is now there about a week before His arrest and crucifixion. This is Jesus’ ultimate journey to the sacrifice He would offer for our salvation which the Letter to the Hebrews speaks of. Along the way, Jesus has discussed the many ways we are to apply His presence within us.

Today we hear of God’s great provision. We start in First Kings with Elijah’s visit to the widow of Zarephath. Jesus would speak of this visit and God’s provision when He went back to His hometown of Nazareth. Jesus pointed out to the Nazoreans that this woman acted in faith toward the One true God despite her desperate situation – and because of that she was rewarded. It was not because she was Jewish – in fact she wasn’t. The people of Zarephath worshiped various gods and stone columns. Yet she changed, not based on facts or teaching, but rather based on inspiration. The people of Nazareth refused that inspiration and the asked for change in their lives.

Our witness to Jesus’ presence within us is how we changed in our reactions. For us, we must act as the widow – inspired by trust in God’s mighty provision.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus points to the trust of the poor widow. He is reinforcing the call to trust. The opposite of that, as Jesus points out, is the self-preservation and the building up of the Scribes egos.

Listen carefully to our prayer over the gifts today where we will hear: May we realize that we are truly rich only when we are truly Yours.

Our witness of trust is best exemplified in our ability to give of ourselves beyond measure, beyond respectability and caution, against practicality. The Letter to the Hebrews points out Jesus’ total self-giving and speaks of our call to eagerly await Him.

Over the next two weeks Jesus speaks of the end times and approaches His crucifixion and death. The journey from Nazareth to Galilee to Judea and Jerusalem comes to completion and we are saved.

Now we await Him, His second coming not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him. How we witness to Him in us and await Him counts. Let us, like the widows, do so unburdened and with trust.

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” 

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

In case you haven’t noticed, Jesus’ journey has been continuing. Jesus moved from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. In today’s Gospel passage He is now there about a week before His arrest and crucifixion. This is Jesus’ ultimate journey to the sacrifice He would offer for our salvation.

Thus far Jesus has been doing a great job silencing those who were seeking a reason to arrest and kill Him.

After the Herodians and Pharisees ask Jesus about taxes, His answer silences them. After Jesus answers the Sadducees about the resurrection, they fall quiet. Now the Scribes show up in the form of this one man.

The Scribes were learned men whose business was to study the Law, transcribe it, and write commentaries on it. This man knew his Mosaic Law.

In a way, the man’s question, meant to entrap Jesus, was a silly one. The Shema prayer was repeated daily by all the Jews. It is still recited by Jewish people today: Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Everyone in Jesus and the Scribe’s hearing knew this was the most important thing in the Law – For Jews it was and is the bringing of everything and the mark of their relationship with God. Factually, it is for us as well.

Jesus couldn’t answer in any other way. The Scribe affirms His answer. Then something amazing happens. This man, on a mission to entrap Jesus is affirmed by Jesus. Jesus saw something much deeper in the Scribe.

The Scribe answered with understanding. This aspect of the Law was not just words to the Scribe, not just part of his studying, transcribing, and commenting job – but part of his life. The Scribe got it deep down and understood what it called him to do, and he allowed it to mold his life. 

Did the Scribe then believe in Jesus? Did he follow Him or walk away afraid of rejection and the loss of approval? Perhaps he believed and followed Jesus in secret? We may never know what happened in the silence. What we do know is that we must get and live God’s Law of love, allowing it to mold us into the image of Jesus.

The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

In case you haven’t noticed, Jesus’ journey has been continuing. Jesus is moving from Galilee into Judea and on to Jerusalem. This is Jesus’ ultimate journey to the sacrifice He would offer for our salvation, freedom.

At the end of our summer journey, we first encounter Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees. Subsequently He heals a man who was deaf and mute. Ears were opened and speech was made clear – a metaphor for what Jesus wanted to accomplish along the way where people would hear His voice and wherein, He calls them to proclaim His gospel message.

Along the journey, Jesus speaks of the cross – what He must accomplish to free us from sin and death. He was so intent on this because He knew the desire of His own heart – to free all of us.

God has an ideal for us, a vision for a life free and full.

This is what we hear about in today’s scripture.

In Jeremiah we hear prophecy of Israeli’s return from captivity. They are not just free, but free to be guided by God Who provides them with all good things and brings them home.

In the gospel we now hear of a blind man. This is, in a few verses, a wonderful analogy for what God wants for us and from us.

We begin in calling out to Jesus and to be persistent in our call. Our call to Jesus must not succumb to the dissuaders and the doubters, to the people who say ssshh.

The second part is a call for us to both listen for the voice of Jesus and to evangelize. The blind man had to hear Jesus and that was accomplished by those who heard Jesus told the blind man that Jesus was calling.

The blind man then throws everything aside. He went to Jesus directly leaving every tie to his old life behind. What keeps us in captivity must be left on the roadside so we can be free in walking with Jesus.

Jesus tells the man who has been freed from blindness to ‘go his way.’ In his new freedom he followed Jesus on the way.

We walk in the freedom God won for us. Our call to apply His freedom by following Him and speaking of Him.

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. 

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

Today, our Holy Church offers us a special Solemnity focused on the Christian Family.

Family is the perfect environment for applying the presence of Jesus within us. We might all laugh a bit and say, ‘That’s for sure.’ Family really gives me agita.

Rather than focusing on that, I ask you to imagine concentric circles, a large circle with smaller and smaller circles inside of it. That is a representation of family as we generally envision it.

At the center we find our immediate family, mother, father, children. As we proceed outward, circle after circle, we get to more distant family. First grandparents, then aunts and uncles, cousins, 2nd, 3rd, 4th cousins, one twice, three times removed. You know your priest is an amateur genealogist when he gets into that much detail.

Getting to the outermost circles we may find our fellow church members, maybe co-workers, members of organizations we belong to, neighbors, and our larger community.

The problem with this vision of concentric circles is that each of the circles is a point of demarcation, a separation, a thing that defines boundaries. That is not what God intended.

In our passage from Genesis God shows us a vision of totality. Adam, Eve, nature, and God included was all part of one big reality. There was no separation, no boundaries. All shared in everything.

 God’s vision and creation is the totality of family.

We know that the problem of sin is what causes the demarcations and divisions. We set boundaries both as a way to protect us from the sin of others and as part of our own sinfulness, a guard against fully expressing Christian charity.

To get past sinful inclination we must re-vision our notion of family to come into conformity with God’s vision. We need to look at family as one big circle.

Consider this singular circle filled with the presence and light of God. See in it our entire personal families and the entire family of faith. That, brother and sisters, is what the Kingdom of God is.

This is a wonderful vision. It is so good because it is as God intends. It is also immensely attractive for those who hurt, who need family. God saw that it was very good, and so must we.

When Jesus saw this… He said to them, “Let the children come to Me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

A certain way to live out the presence of Jesus is faithfulness.

The Pharisees come to Jesus, as usual, to test Him. This was their mode of operation, to constantly question, test, debate, and argue. In general, this is not a bad approach. It is a way to debate with a goal of arriving at the truth. This method however falls apart if it is only intended to trap and without openness to acceptance of God’s truth.

The question they ask concerns divorce. To this day, among Orthodox Jews, a husband has the power to issue a Jewish divorce. The husband ends the marriage by giving his wife a Get. The marriage ends formally if the wife receives it willingly.

Of course there are traps there. If a husband issues a Get the wife will quickly realize his support has ended; there is no way out, she must accept it. 

In Jesus’ time men left their wife behind by just issuing a document and moving on. Like today where divorced women statistically tend to end up more impoverished, leaves behind a wake of destruction.

This is not a discussion of abusive situations, which always must end, but rather one of faithfulness. Jesus was encountering a people who treated faithfulness cheaply. They were not living up to the very faithfulness that God showed toward them. 

The same today. Get an itch, see a better bank account, desire more fun, set aside faithfulness and move on.

Jesus reminds the Pharisees and us of God’s faithfulness and our call to that very same faithfulness. We tell young people to reach up, to strive for the best. So, we must do the same in terms of faithfulness to our commitment to each other. As God sets the example for us, we must set the example for each other and our children,

Today we welcome our pets to church. This is always a blessed event, and again shows us the power of faithfulness.

Today’s gospel ends with Jesus embracing children. It seems odd in this divorce discussion but is not. It is intended to show us the true value of dedication and faithfulness. Living His presence in us.

There is no one who performs a mighty deed in My name who can at the same time speak ill of Me.

For seven Sundays this summer we journeyed with Jesus and His apostles coming to understand that we receive Him. For the rest of Ordinary Time and the special Solemnities of our Church, Jesus discusses applying His presence within us. How do we do it?

A certain way to live out the presence of Jesus is to avoid both personal and faith possessiveness.

Notice in our reading from Numbers, Eldad and Medad prophesy – they express outwardly the gift God’s Holy Spirit has bestowed on them. They are doing exactly what God wants them to do, living His gift out.

Right away, a boy runs to tell on them and Joshua is ready to shut them down. The boy and Joshua engaged in a possessiveness towards God’s gifts that was uncalled for. Moses sets them straight.

In the same way, the Apostles come to Jesus telling on someone driving our demons with His Name. They engaged in the same type of possessiveness that Moses had to deal with. Likewise, Jesus deals with it. He turns the Apostles attitude from one of possessiveness to one of acceptance and welcome for all who are with God and who are using God’s gifts rightly.

St. James illustrates what happens when we live possessively toward the gifts in our lives. It is cheapness of life, distractedness through a sole focus on gaining and possessing things of little to no value. In a stunning condemnation, St. James tells his listeners that their sin of possessiveness killed Jesus. Their greed killed love.

We may sadly know people who possess much. We see the lifestyles of the rich and famous in movies and on TV, we can join Rap star 2 Chainz on his show “Most Expensivest” and see people spending to excess on worthless things. If one were to look just a little more deeply, we would find lives lacking fulfillment and a bunch of damaged souls left behind.

Jesus is strongly reminding us to value things rightly. To damage someone’s soul, especially that of an innocent person, it would be better if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. It is about properly valuing, caring for, and living rightly. If we do it wrong in selfishness, placing ourselves first, there is a consequence.

What we possess, even our bodies, must be put to work for Jesus’ Gospel and the Kingdom. The presence of Jesus within us calls us to offer it all, and to do so both willingly and rightly, getting rid of whatever holds us back.