Claire Smith

Scripture:

Isaiah 26:1-6
Mattehw 7:21, 24-27

Reflection:

The local university offers a course on ultimate questions.  As a Pastor, the one big question people ask in my ministry is the assurance of going to heaven. It seems no matter how much is written on topics of salvation, free will, and God’s grace, few will read them. Most people don’t read theological treatise, nor do they trust the variety of opinions from a plethora of websites.   Neither one gives the assurances they are looking for. So, when today’s Gospel is proclaimed in the liturgical cycle, it can be a little disconcerting. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven.”  And if the image of going to the kingdom was much like climbing a ladder to the ultimate destination, I suspect there are those good Christians who wouldn’t think twice about stepping on someone else’s fingers in their great ascent.

Pope Francis perpetually reminds and challenges the understanding that the Kingdom of heaven is not membership into a group of religious elite. He forever reminds us of our need to be in solidarity with the poor through which we find transformation. And he does so by proclaiming the simplicity of the Gospel. Another example happened just this past weekend. Last Sunday, Pope Francis published his Apostolic Letter on the meaning and importance of the nativity scene. Highlighting in simplistic ways the elements of grace which come to us: Retelling details of the Christmas story, building and encouraging family traditions, gazing upon something with wonder and joy, reflecting on God’s plan just to name a few.  Here is a short excerpt from Pope Francis’ latest Apostolic Letter, Admirabile Signum. 

The enchanting image of the Christmas crèche, so dear to the Christian people, never ceases to arouse amazement and wonder. The depiction of Jesus’ birth is itself a simple and joyful proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. The nativity scene is like a living Gospel rising up from the pages of sacred Scripture. As we contemplate the Christmas story, we are invited to set out on a spiritual journey, drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman. We come to realize that so great is his love for us that he became one of us, so that we in turn might become one with him.

He concludes with thoughts of the crèche bringing elements of unity.

Beginning in childhood, and at every stage of our lives, it teaches us to contemplate Jesus, to experience God’s love for us, to feel and believe that God is with us and that we are with him, his children, brothers and sisters all, thanks to that Child who is the Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary. And to realize that in that knowledge we find true happiness.

Returning again to Matthew’s Gospel, what is asked of us is to listen to the words of Jesus and act on them.  This is both the contemplative and active stances of our faith. This house which then is built on rock stands through the storms. Pope Francis’ invitation for people of all ages to make time this Advent for the nativity scene in our families’ life is formational and evangelistic and just so simple.

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Isaiah 25:6-10a
Matthew 15:29-37

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee and encounters “great crowds” of needy folks:  the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute.  And their friends placed them at Jesus’ feet, and He cured them!  Noting their hunger, Jesus then lovingly fed them with the seven loaves of bread and the few fish that his disciples had brought along.  With lots of leftovers…  Wow…

I can’t help but think of the crowds of recent days…shoppers, travelers – “needy” folks, on the move, like long ago.  Some in search of a bargain or a get-together; some troubled in mind or body.  Jesus today wants to meet their needs, to cure their aches and pains and feed their spirits…with a great “feast” that God provides, as in today’s first reading from the prophet Isaiah.

For most people of times past and present, bread is a fundamental source of nourishment, and therefore a symbol of what’s needed to sustain life.  And these holidays, who of us can resist the inviting aroma of fresh-baked bread and the warm feelings that bread inspires?  No wonder Jesus’ healing love included bread — ultimately His very Life in the Eucharist.

This Advent we journey as people of hope – needy, hungry people seeking Jesus who is “Bread for the Life of the world” – Life that is wholesome and lasts!  We look to the great event of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (“House of Bread”), to Jesus’ presence in our midst in the Eucharist and the Scriptures and one another, as well as the great coming of Jesus at the end of all time.  These days we’re invited to open our hearts to God who meets our human needs, nourishes us, and loves us unconditionally.  Advent celebrates the transformation and fulfillment of all creation in Jesus!

And so, as Church, we humbly pray:  Come, Lord Jesus!

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the Vocation Director for Holy Cross Province. He lives at St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

Isaiah 4:2-6
Matthew 8:5-11

Reflection:

It is somewhat ironical that a ‘pagan’ – a Roman centurion – has given us one of the more intimate and humble acclamations of our faith. His words to Jesus, slightly amended, and made personal for our individual voices in the midst of a shared prayer, are used each day in our Eucharistic celebrations. For every time we celebrate the Eucharist we are invited to acclaim “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and I shall be healed.”

We use the prayer as part of our preparations for communion. At its core, this prayer reminds us of our basic stance before God – humility.  Indeed humility is a most important aspect of our being, it brings us into contact with our very creation at God’s hands. For we are made from the ‘humus’ – the soil of the earth – and this Latin term is the foundation and root of the English word ‘humility’. When we engage with others from our capacity to be humble we are really being true to our very nature! When we are humble we return to and connect with, our creation at God’s hands and our dependence on God. The virtue of humility reminds us not only that God gently and lovingly took the soil of the red earth and ‘shaped’ the first humans, but that God stands ready to continually breathe life and grace into us. We only have to ask. Thus the centurion stands in place of every one of us.

The same prayer then allows us to open ourselves, at the deepest level, to intimate union and communion with Jesus himself. We invite him to ‘enter under our roof’. This image of inviting Jesus to come into our ‘home’ can serve to draw us ever closer to him.  Each time we celebrate the Eucharist and enter into the receiving of the body and blood of the Lord at our common table, we build or deepen our relationship with Jesus our Saviour.  There is a saying amongst the members of the European Union – they seek to create an ‘ever-closer union’ of nations committed to being and acting together and perhaps this image might help us. For at each Eucharist we too seek an ‘ever closer union’ with Christ and every time we receive Christ in the Eucharist we can deepen and renew our commitment to that union. We welcome him into our life, our body, our being – that is, we welcome him ‘under our roof’.

Finally, we might note that the centurion witnesses to the power of Jesus Christ to change our reality “only say the word and my servant will be healed.” He is confident and trusting Jesus will be able to bring his servant to health again. It is a wonderful witness to us about the power of prayer but more so, the power of faith in God! We who know Jesus even more closely, and believe in him as God’s messenger and our Saviour, can confidently adopt the very same attitude.

In this way, we hope to one day to recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia. 

First Sunday of Advent

Scripture:

Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

Reflection:

This first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new liturgical year; it is also the year of Matthew’s Gospel when the worldwide church will be hearing passages each Sunday from this great Gospel.

Advent is a beautiful season that leads us to the feast of Christmas.  A key word for this season might be “anticipation.”  Strangely, when I think of “anticipation” a classic ad for Heinz ketchup comes to mind!  You may remember it–a hungry person watches as the rich red sauce comes slowly out of the bottle and on to a waiting hamburger, while in the background a song is playing: “Anticipation.” We wait for good things with longing…

Advent is a time when the church asks us to be mindful of various levels of anticipation. For sure we look forward to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Jesus (some of that anticipation admittedly is tinged with a bit of anxiety due to the Christmas rush).  Belief in the Incarnation—the astounding marvel of the Word of God taking flesh and becoming human—is at the very heart of our Christian faith.

But as suggested in the Scripture readings for this Sunday, Advent turns our attention to another focus of our anticipation.  Our Christian faith believes that we have a destiny with God.  We are not on an endless treadmill, with history turning in an eternal circle without purpose.  No, we believe that God is leading us to the complete fulfillment of our human story—a story for us that both individually and corporately ends in the loving embrace of God and the unending experience of beauty and love for which we humans long.

Advent prompts us to anticipate that unimaginable yet real endpoint. The Scriptures for this Sunday, for example, use a variety of images to portray that endpoint of human history.  In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah imagines the endtime as a moment of world peace.  The prophet foresees the nations coming to Israel not as a threat, which was usually the case, but in a majestic procession, all of them eager to worship God so “that he may instruct us in his ways and we may walk in his paths.”  In words now inscribed in the courtyard of the United Nations, Isaiah anticipates that the peoples of the world will “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” Instead, people will “walk in the light of the lord.”

The response Psalm 122 picks up this same theme.  It is a “pilgrimage psalm”—chanted by Israelites as they traveled to the heart of Jerusalem and its magnificent temple.  Again, there is a longing for peace: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May those who love you prosper! May peace be within your walls, prosperity in your buildings.”  Given the generations of anguish and violence in the Holy land, such an anticipation of a land at peace is poignant and compelling.

The second reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans uses another biblical image to anticipate human destiny.  Paul reminds his Christians that “the day is at hand.”  While others may wander in darkness—their lives smothered in promiscuity and tense with strife and jealously—this is not how the followers of Jesus should view the world and its future. “Let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day.”  Instead of searching for some means to protect us from strife, Paul encourages us “to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Clothed like this, we can face the future without fear.

And in the gospel, we have yet another metaphor for anticipating the future—the end may come unexpectedly, “like a thief in the night.”  Jesus reminds his disciples that, like their ancestors at the time of Noah, people can live engulfed in everyday concerns but without awareness of what God is asking of them. The disciple of Jesus is to be “awake”—alert for the moments of grace that can break into our lives unexpectedly.

May this Advent be a time of spiritual alertness for us.

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P. is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

[Adapted, with permission, from the author’s weekly column , “Perspectives on Scripture” which appears in the Chicago Catholic .]

Scripture:

Romans 10:9-18
Matthew 4:18-22

Reflection:

Take a moment to look at your feet.  Are they ugly or beautiful?

In our gospel today we hear about the call of the first apostles, Andrew and Peter, James and John.  They were fishermen.  I’ll bet their feet were ugly, scared, calloused and dirty.  That came with the job.

But eventually their ugly feet would become those beautiful feet that Isaiah spoke about today.  Their beauty would come not from looks but from purpose.  Their feet carried them to preach the gospel.  In our first reading today from Isaiah, we heard the words, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings” (Isaiah 52:7).

We too can have beautiful feet.  First, we are to walk with Christ and learn from him.  Then, like the apostles, we are sent forth to preach the gospel.  At the end of each Mass is the Sending Forth rite.  This gives our feet their purpose.

By both word and example, we are sent forth to kick put prejudice, stomp on injustice, and march for the cause of peace.  By preaching about Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are called upon to help others jump for joy over the good news.

It will not always be easy.  There will be opposition and indifference, and even fatigue.  Let us pray with Isaiah that we “run and not grow weary … walk and not faint.”  (Cf. Isaiah 40:31).  Then we can rejoice.  By the grace of God, our beautiful feet have brought us to our heavenly home.

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.  http://www.alanphillipcp.com/.

Scripture:

Daniel 7: 2 – 14
Luke 21: 29 – 33

Reflection:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. -Luke 21:33

Recently, I showed my Sophomore Christology class the movie, Avengers: Infinifty War. It is the next to the last movie of the Marvel series. It is about the super heroes trying to protect the universe from Thanos, who sees that the universe is out of balance through poverty and starvation of the people. Thanos believes that the only way to put the universe back into balance is to destroy half the universe. He must first gather six stones that each have a specific power. These are Space, Mind, Time, Reality, Power, and Soul. As Thanos collects these stones he becomes more powerful but at a cost. This is either one of the super heroes or in the case of the Soul stone Thanos sacrifices his adopted daughter, who was willing to kill herself so as to keep Thanos from gaining the Soul stone. In the end, the superheroes are defeated and half the universe is destroyed. As this happens some of the super heroes turn to dust and blow away in the wind. The last scene shows Thanos retiring to a mountain retreat but his demeanor is far from joyful.

Today’s first reading is from the book of Daniel with an apocryphal imagery. The beasts represent the kingdoms of the Ancient Middle East; Babylon, Persia, Median and Greek. These kingdoms were opposed to the Jewish Kingdom of God. In the Book of Revelation it is the Romans who are the beast and they oppose the Christians. Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation all have eschatological, or end times focus. Just as in the movie, Infinity War there is good verses evil. There is the oppressor and those being oppressed or destroyed. In Daniel, “One like the Son of Man” comes into the picture. He is the image of wholeness and perfection. He is the One who brings all things into balance.

Today we see people standing on the street corners from time to time with cardboard signs warning that we are in the end times or the end of the world is about to occur due to natural disasters or from fears. Our world is out of balance and the Gospels offer the remedy from Matthew’s Gospel Chapter 25. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison, visit the sick, give a drink to the thirsty and give shelter to the homeless. These are known as the Corporal Works of Mercy. Along with Jesus’ command to, “love your neighbor as yourself”. These are the ways we build the kingdom of God. God’s word is not about destruction but building up. Building up each other through acts of kindness and generosity.

Even if you are not a Marvel fan, I invite you to watch Avengers: Infinity War and End Game. They are modern apocryphal tales. Look for the spiritual meanings and connections. The last days of the liturgical year are upon us and a new year is about to begin.

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Prayer for Hope

Loving Father,
we begin this season of Advent
in great anticipation
of the Coming of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

We have experienced the suffering of all
Your creation. We have seen the pain,
the violence, the sorrow and the grief
that is in our world.

Fill us with the hope that is in Your Son.
Grant us the strength to persevere
in following Him; in loving You
and loving our neighbor
and tending to our “common home.”

In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.

Scripture:

Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

Reflection:

Father Clemente Barrón, CP, welcomes us to the Advent season. He shares his reflection in English and Spanish. Father Clemente is the Director of Hispanic Ministry for Holy Cross Province.

English:

Spanish:

A Poem of Hope
-Marci Madary

Our planet
tips back
as it spins in circles,
falling into shadow.

The Earth’s creatures
slowly yawn,
sleepy
in their waking hours.

Snow falls and settles,
blanketing the ground with silence
yet secretly
twinkling back at the stars.

It is at the final pause
of this great exhalation
that the infusion of
the Divine is implanted.

With the flick of a match
a single flame of hope,
distinct in the darkness,
transforming night into treasure.

Call to Action:

If you use social media, post a hopeful Advent message on your page(s.)