Reflection for the 3rd Sunday of Advent 2024

The crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?”

We have arrived at the third of the four Sundays of Advent, and we continue to contemplate Advent and all its implications.

As mentioned over the past two weeks, Advent has several shades of meaning. It can mean beginning, revelation, expectation, dawning, and a start. Throughout this season we are led through the various ways we will prepare for and encounter Jesus in this new Church year.

In the first week of Advent, we focused on our preparation for Jesus’ return. Last week we focused on our personal preparation for needed changes in our lives through repentance, penance, and reform.

Today, the people who have been hearing John call for change and preparation ask him what they are to do.

John lists some key areas pf personal reform, but it is not for the sake of reform itself, but in preparation for the Kingdom of God. John preached good news to the people. It was the good news of the gospel message that would come from Jesus.

Preparation is about being proactive. We are to take the steps necessary for the revelation of the Kingdom life to people who do not know it. 

Think about what John was asking of his inquirers: share in your clothing and food, stop stealing, stop extorting and accusing. People never saw such a thing. Everyone had their expectations of how people would be, how selfish they would be, but now something had changed, and people were changed.

We are not to get distracted in our proactive preparation for the Kingdom. The people around John, having heard his message, and charged with what they were to do, got quickly lost. They sat around, engaging in speculation – kind of like wondering what the drones are – and John quickly calls them back by pointing to the reality of the Messiah.

What we are to do is take account of these three calls for preparation: to be ready for Jesus’ return in glory, to have undertaken personal reform in our lives, and to be those who are being proactive in showing forth the Kingdom.

What are we to do? Let people know by evangelizing the gospel message of freedom, forgiveness, and new life. Make efforts both verbally and by the signals we send through the way we live out our daily lives of what it means to be in the Kingdom. Let others encounter the unexpected from us because we live differently and are different from those in the kingdom of the world. And, finally, remain focused on what is truly important 

Reflection for the 1st Sunday of Advent 2024

“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.

Novena to the Holy Spirit in Preparation for Pentecost – Day 1

To be prayed daily as we prepare for Pentecost

In the Name + of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

V. Come, O Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You will renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray. O Holy Spirit, my Lord and my God, I adore You and humbly acknowledge here in Your sacred presence that I am nothing, and can do nothing, without Your operation within me. Come, great Paraclete, thou Father of the poor, thou Comforter of the blest, fulfill the promise of our Savior, who would not leave us orphans, and enter my mind and heart as You descended on the day of Pentecost upon the holy Mother of Jesus and upon His first disciples. Grant that I may have a part in those gifts which You did so prodigally bestow upon them.

Take from my heart all that is not pleasing to You and make of it a worthy dwelling place for Jesus. Illumine my mind, that I may see and understand the things that are for my eternal welfare. Inflame my heart with pure love of the Father, that, cleansed from attachment to all unworthy objects, my whole life may be hidden with Jesus in God. Strengthen my will, that it may be conformable to the will of my Creator and guided by thy holy inspirations.

Aid me to practice the heavenly virtues of humility, poverty, and obedience which are taught me in the earthly life of Jesus. Descend upon me, O mighty Spirit, that, inspired and encouraged by You, I may faithfully fulfill the duties of my state in life, carry my daily cross with patience and courage, and accomplish the Father’s will for me more perfectly. Make me, day by day, more holy and give to me that heavenly peace which the world cannot give.

O Holy Spirit, Giver of every good and perfect gift, grant to me the intentions of this novena of prayer. May the Father’s will be done in me and through me. And may You, O mighty Spirit of the living God, be praised and glorified for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for Friday, May 22nd: Come, O Holy Ghost, the Lord and Life-giver; take up Your dwelling within my soul and make of it Your sacred temple. Make me live by grace as an adopted child of God. Pervade all the energies of my soul and create in me a fountain of living water springing up into life everlasting.

Let us pray: O God, who as at this time did teach the hearts of Your faithful people by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit: grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Then is said the Our Father and Hail Mary and Glory be….

Our Father …
Hail Mary …
Glory be …

Let us pray. Almighty God, You instruct the hearts of the faithful thru the grace of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and to ever rejoice in His comfort, through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen

In the Name + of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Reflection for Septuagesima Sunday 2020

whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Welcome to the season of Pre-Lent, Septuagesima. This season is set apart as a time of reflective preparation for the upcoming Lenten season. We notice about us a penitential mood. The colors go to purple and rose. The Gloria is no longer proclaimed. The Alleluia is suppressed and is replaced by a Tract. The dismissal is “Let us bless the Lord.”

This time of preparation means we are to desire to turn to the reality of what life must be. It is the clearing away of the dust and cobwebs, the pushing out of darkness and confusion, and a realization that there is light, a way, a goodness that brings eternal life. It is a realization that life is not to be defined by what the crowds or noisemakers say, but by what Jesus defines.

Throughout this season we hear Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. In many of these teachings, Jesus draws comparisons saying: “You have heard that it was said… But I say” This helps us, in this season, to reflect on what we hear all the time, what we have heard in the past, and what we will likely hear in the future; that noise of the crowd, and to turn away from it to the clarity Jesus has given.

In preparing let us view what Jesus says through the lens Sirach focuses for us today: If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you shall live; he has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.

The noise of the age, the noise of the world past, present, and future cannot save us. That noise counts as nothing. Man’s interpretation is, at its essence, self-serving and meritless. Seek rather the music of Jesus, the beautiful call to live righteous lives. Jesus’ way is the clarity we really need. His direction is the way of life, teachings we can trust in, water for life, good, and life eternal. Now is the time to choose. Now is the time to stretch forth our hands to wipe the old away and to return to life. We must turn to Jesus’ way.

Jesus commandments, His way, His fulfillment, His right interpretation is for us. Yes, it is for us, to make us great in the kingdom! Now is the moment, now the time to turn to His definitions, now to follow His way without limit. Now.

Reflection for the 1st Sunday of Advent 2018

Check out or
Stand up?

But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.

St. Paul had arrived at Thessalonica in the winter of 49, around this time of year. Paul had just struggled mightily in Philippi. His rights as a citizen were violated and he was mistreated and now ended up in Thessalonica.

Unfortunately, Paul did not have it much better in Thessalonica. He was forced to leave in the face of severe opposition. Yet his time there was blessed. He founded a fledging Church. On the down side, he didn’t have time to fully teach the members of this young Church. After leaving, and meeting Timothy in Athens, he sent Timothy back for a check-in visit.

The letter to the Thessalonians, authored in about 51, two years after he had to leave, was intended to offer support and learning to this young Church, and to reassure it in the essentials of the faith.

A vital, moment in a young (or even not so young) life comes when we are confronted with that life altering choice. Do I turn left or right? Do I go forward or turn back? Do I check out and slink away, or do I stand up with my head held high? Jesus put that choice to us. Paul put it to Thessalonica. We are asked in our youth, and we are asked today – How will we decide?

Today we enter Advent, the season of waiting, preparation, and expectation. Jesus reminds us of what we are waiting for, preparing for, and expecting. It is His return. Will I be ready to stand up and raise my head at His return? Will I be prepared? Am I even expecting Him or have I checked out?

Paul taught the young Church at Thessalonica and us today about those choices. They are before us because Jesus promised His return in glory. The angels on the Mount of the Ascension attested to it: “Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”

So what are we to do, we in our youth and our not so youth? The Church at Thessalonica took Paul’s advice. They did what was necessary. They lived in constant and urgent expectation. They not only lived it, but also shared expectation so others might be saved. Time to stand up and do likewise.

Reflection for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018

Who lit the
fire?

“In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then 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, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”

There are many jobs that require a moment’s notice to be ready. Included are emergency workers, utility crewmen, soldiers and sailors. Today, Jesus speaks of the end of the world. Telling what it will be like, He reminds us that we too have to be ready at a moment’s notice. We will talk today about what we should be ready for and what we should do to prepare.

Our preparation must be centered on belief in Jesus. More easily said than done! It is very difficult for the people to believe in Jesus, not just today, but even when He walked among us. The world questioned and still questions His abilities, background, and leadership. True belief lived begets dedication, proclamation, and a deepening of relationship. We must check in to make sure our belief is doing that in our lives.

If we know Jesus, if we are growing in relationship with Him, we should consider ourselves specially blessed – and be thankful. Jesus promised that He would raise those who do believe in Him on “the last day.” What a great gift, an everlasting gift, a gift for everyone no matter who we are – as long as we believe in the Name of Jesus; no matter where or when, a gift just for us.

What we should be ready for are those things Jesus laid out for us. There is and will be tribulation. There are choices to be made, and we want to be in the group of his elect.

If you have looked into the history of our Church, you would note, as some do with a bit of humor, that our organizer, Bishop Hodur, ‘extinguished the fires of Hell.’ Well not exactly (some took it that way). What he did rather was work to remove fear of Hell fire as the motivator for preparation. We must not have fear as our motivator. Our motivator must be to grow in belief through more intimate knowledge of the grace and glory of God – to know Him, to experience the Holy Spirit, so to desire preparation for what is to come: Us on fire with belief, ready for that moment’s notice, and thankful to be so.

Reflection for the 2nd Week of Advent 2015

Who paved this
road?

For God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God.

The Prophet Baruch proclaims words similar to those proclaimed by Isaiah and Sirach: prepare, make straight the path for the Lord. We hear those same words re-proclaimed by John the Baptist:

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth…”

These prophetic words are heard in church each Advent. They easily define for us the things we are to do as part of both our Advent journey and throughout the rest of the year. We are to prepare ourselves and make ourselves ready for the coming of the Lord.

How should we prepare? The Church helps to guide us – and the guidance certainly isn’t to be busy, busy, busy all the time with decorating and shopping. The Lord is expecting a different kind of present from us – a prepared, humble, and penitent heart – a heart filled with love for Him and for our neighbor.

A far more difficult question is, even with the Church’s help, whether we are able to prepare enough. How can we fully turn our lives around so that we are perfectly ready for the Lord?

Thankfully, Baruch tells us how those high mountains will be made low, how deep valleys and gorges will be filled in, how the road will be made ready – how we will be made ready: God will do it. The high mountains in our lives – those things too difficult to overcome on our own and the deep valleys of failure will be overcome and filled in by God.

Baruch tells us that God has commanded these things. Having commanded it, that is, having made it a requirement, He had to bring His command to fulfillment.

God brought all things to fulfillment by sending His Son, Jesus, to accomplish His command. Jesus was and is the only One who can level the mountains and valleys of sin, despair, and death for us. He took all those things away and paved the road of life for us. He took away our sins – all of them. In a similar way, God stated multiple times (see Deuteronomy, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) that He would make our hearts ready.

All of this mountain leveling, valley filling, and road paving are impossible for us on our own. We cannot earn God’s favor. Rather, we make ready by accepting Him fully in faith. That is the preparation that is most important. Accepting Him and traveling His way we shall see the salvation of God. He paved the road and we just have to take it.

Reflection for the 1st Sunday of Advent – A – 2013

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Yesterday, Today,
and Always

“Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

In the Holy Mass we participate in doing something extraordinary. When Jesus left us the gift of His body and blood and said, do this in memory of Me He gave us an explicit command to do what He had done that night.

Each of us has a special role in carrying out the Eucharist. Our gifts and sacrifice in the form of the bread and wine we offer is changed into Jesus’ body and blood by what the priest does during the Eucharistic prayer. Jesus’ role as servant is exemplified in the work of the deacon who serves at the altar. Each of our roles is essential. Jesus didn’t do any of what He did alone, but in the midst of community.

Jesus didn’t want us to just remember what He had done. Memory is fleeting and can fade with time. Rather, in asking us to carry out the same action as a family, to live the roles He exemplified, we are part of Jesus’ yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

In the Eucharistic moment we are at once transformed and present with Jesus at His birth and in His ministry. We are there at the Last Supper, at the foot of the Cross, His burial, His resurrection, His Ascension, and at His return.

How amazing it is that we are there with Him, that we can be so very close to Him.

We might think that this is enough. Certainly Jesus’ coming was that moment in time where our redemption occurred. We, who have accepted Jesus into our lives, have received His assurance of salvation. We have been justified. Yes, but greater things are yet to come.

This Advent, this day, is the moment we must be awake and ready for that greater thing. Those greater things are the miracles we bring to the lives of others by our ministry and by the proclamation of Jesus’ word. Faith and salvation will come to them through us as St. Paul tells us: [by] what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.

The greatest thing yet to come, our greatest hope, is that day of Jesus’ return in glory. We cannot know, or even predict when that day will be, but it will come. We are already part of that always and this season of preparation is our moment to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.

Special Note – Events and Times for Sunday, December 16th

Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out – Acts 3:19

Next Sunday, December 16th, we observe the Third Sunday of Advent, the lighting of the Third Advent Candle. On this Sunday we traditionally add to our Advent preparations during Holy Mass with a special Advent Penitential Service.

Proper Advent preparation requires that we free ourselves of sin. This is our opportunity. In this special preparatory moment we are better able to examine our conscience and put forth our best effort to make things right with God and our neighbor. These special penitential services occur only twice a year – so it is vitally important that we attend, participate, and celebrate together.

Following Holy Mass we will take time to enjoy fellowship, our Youth Christmas presentation, and join in preparing all those wonderful meatless dishes we will share with each other at our Vigil Dinner starting at 11:30am.

To allow sufficient time for our Penitential Service, Holy Mass, our Youth Presentation, and our Vigil Dinner we will begin at 8:45am with the lighting of the Advent Wreath immediately followed by our Penitential Service, receipt of the Sacrament of Penance, and Holy Mass. We are pleased to have Fr. Rafał Dadiełło from Holy Spirit Parish in Little Falls join us to administer the Sacrament of Penance and to offer Holy Mass.

St. Paul reminds us: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation — 2 Corinthians 5:18. God gave His Holy Church the power to loose us of our sins -– come and be made free once again in the love of God who has reconciled all things to Himself in Christ Jesus. Then free, join in celebrating the coming season with each other.