impersonation

1 John 2:3-11; Psalm 96 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; Luke 2:22-25

In the first letter today on this 5th day of the Octave of Christmas John gives us a practical look at what it means to be a disciple; not only is it practical advice but it assures us of confidence in our knowledge of JEsus, confidence in our path to holiness that culminates in the fullness to be had in heaven.

In some sense, St. John invites us to impersonate Jesus. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery; yet John doesn't want us to merely imitate Jesus' external actions but he wants us to impersonate his heart.

We must allow our heart to be formed after his.

This formation of the heart occurs with each new attempt to do as he did. The more we seek to live like Jesus the more we are able to live like JEsus the more our heart will be formed into his.

Truth of the matter is this: we can only love what we know; thus the more we seek to impersonate the heart of JEsus the more we know about Jesus; the more we know the more we love; the more we love the deeper our knowledge grows.

The life becomes a spiral in which we dive deeper and deeper into the reality of Jesus and He dives deeper and deeper into us.

Thus, the "word of God can be perfected in us." This is not a one time thing, but a continual journey into the heart of Jesus, like Mary our hearts must be pierced through.

On another thought, we are still in the octave of Christmas, which means Christmas is not over; we must linger in this festival and allow the spirit of giving to transform our heart and make it like his.

Holy Innocents

1 John 5-2:2; Psalm 124 Our Soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare; Matthew 2:13-18

Today we pause for a moment to remember the Holy Innocents.

Herod in his blind and cruel rage, motivated by a inordinate ambition for control, sent his men to Bethlehem and the surround territory to murder all the male children 2 years and under.

Herod in this diabolical act picks a fight with heaven, wanting to end the life of Jesus, while just a babe in swaddling clothes.

The Holy Innocents, themselves children left without defense, become a holocaust.

Why?

Because Herod chooses to rule from fear.

Thus, children, innocent victims, become spotless lambs. All because of mistaken Identity. They were mistaken to be Christ because of their physical attributes, their age and size.

But are we not all called to be mistaken for Christ. Are we not invited to the reality of mistaken identity where we are looked upon as an alter Christus, another Christ, though, not because of our physical attributes but for the way we live from the heart and how we choose to be spotless lambs, victims who share in the victory of Christ over sin and death in our life.

And what of Mary of Joseph and Jesus, fleeing to Egypt. There they go into a strange land with strange customs and language and food. They abandon all they know and enter into the unknown. Like so many immigrants and refugees and migrant workers, Mary and Joseph associate with the poorest of the poor, outcast in a land not their own.

They are on the run. They are in hiding. Fresh into the world Jesus is already being persecuted. The world already turns against its savior, frowns upon redemption, chooses to live for itself and close itself up to the offer of heaven on earth.

Already from the beginning the cross looms large on the horizon. If they do this to a child, what will they do to the man?

Filled with grace and power

Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59; Psalm 31 Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit; Matthew 10:17-22

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles begins today with these words, "Stephen, filled with grace and power..."

Stephen filled with grace and power...

What a description!

This reality of Stephen points to the meaning and beauty of Christmas.

Once we celebrate Christmas, we can never go back to the way things were. We can never go back to the routine of living or get back to the routine of life. Christmas changes everything and the normal life gives way to a life filled with grace and power, wonder and awe.

St. Stephen let his encounter with Christ change everything. He embraced the gift, received it fully and set aside the passive life of normal do nothingness and exchanged it for one of zeal, grace, and power.

As Jesus is born in a manger, heaven comes to earth, we all are invited to tap into the power and grace of heaven and thus live life anew.

It may not change our circumstances but it will change our outlook and empower us to go beyond the norm.

"Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal king; today we celebrate the triumphant suffer of his soldier; yesterday our king is robed in swaddling clothes, in the flesh from the virgin's womb, makes his entrance in the world; today the soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body makes his entrance into heaven." St Fulgentius

more than we imagine

Readings for Christmas

Yesterday I was at one of the local banks in town doing some last minute rearrangement of my bank account. As I was visiting with the bank teller, I noticed a big plasma screen on the back wall.

The screen was flashing different advertisements and the like. One of the things flashed on the screen was a little segment called "word to the wise." In this segment there was a quote from somebody famous.

One of the quotes flashed on the screen was from Pablo Picasso, the Spanish artist. The quote was the following, "Everything you can imagine is real."

My first thought was that Mr. Picasso should stick with painting, becasue he is a far better painter than philosopher.

The quote doesn't mean anything. Everything I can imagine is not real; in fact many of the things we imagine is bogus.

The season Christmas isn't a season of imagination. Rather, it a season in which we surrender our imagination to what is real. We let reality as it is change how we imagine anything and everything.

At Christmas we have to step outside of our imagination and we have to let reality inform us just how far our imagination falls short of what is most real.

At Christmas we celebrate God becoming man, born of a virgin, born in a manger between the ox and the ass in a sleepy little town of Bethlehem, with shepherds and magi and angels singing "glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth."

Born this day is a savior.

Who could have ever imagine that!

No at Christmas we are invited to appreciate reality as it is not as we might imagine it to be.

Blessed be God who can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.

EVery time we say "merry Christmas" we are saying that God goes beyond our imagination, God is more than. This is the good news, the foundation of our faith, hope, love and joy.

What is real is more than what we can imagine.

May we keep it real and let reality keep us sound and joyful and free.

Born this day is the king of kings, the lord of lords, the savior who comes to take away our sins.

It is real, whether you can imagine it or not!

bow and rise

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Psalm 25 Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand; Luke 1:57-66

The psalm's refrain today in the liturgy invites us to "lift up your heads and see; you redemption is near at hand."

Yet the psalm itself tells us that the "friendship of the Lord is with those who fear him."

The reality described is one of bowing low in order to truly be able to see clearly. We can not lift our heads and see until we have first gone down on bended knee. This is why at Christmas we genuflect when proclaiming the in the Creed, "by the power of the Holy Spirt HE was born of the Virgin Mary and became man."

We bow and thus we can rise and see that our redemption is at hand.

Pope Benedict this past Sunday at his noon angelus and welcoming of the crowd spoke these words: "Christmas is not a fairy tale for children; Christmas is God's answer to the drama of humanity in search of Peace. How we welcome Jesus and how we live at the service of God's plan and faith brings forth that peace into the world."

We must bow at the crib and then we shall rise and live the peace the Child brings to the drama of humanity.

magnificat

1 Samuel 1:24-28; My Heart exults in the Lord, my Savior;Luke 1:46-56

Magnificat or magnificent are words that derive their meaning from that latin which means "serving to magnify."

This is the primal focus of the outburst of Mary we encounter in today's gospel passage:

"my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior."

The entire hymn reflects on the entire life of Mary as one "serving to magnify."

This outburst of joy is a result of her openness to the possibility of God, her openness to divine initiative and also divine providence.

This outburst is preceded by a question of suspicion "how can this be."

Mary's trust in God allows her suspicion to give way to one of joyful anticipation, "my soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices..."

Mary's history becomes the history of God at work.

Through the life of Mary we can trace the lines of God; we can easily surmise that God is always up to something.

What God does in Mary's life, he wills to be done in ours.

Our life can and should become the history of God. In our life, we can say God is always up to something. We too shall serve to magnify if we are open to his initiative and providence.

"He has shown the strength of his arm" and you can say that he is the original Arm & Hammer where you find "your daily solution" to life's stink.

By the "strength of his arm" God always holds us in the palm of his hands.

laughter is a leap

Song of Songs 2:8-14; Psalm 33 Exult, you just, in the Lord! Sing to him a new song; Luke 1:39-45

"For the moment the sound of your greeting reached m ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy."

"Seriousness is not a virtue. It would be a heresy, but a much more sensible heresy , to say seriousness is a vice. It is really a natural trend or lapse into taking one's self gravely, because it is the easiest thing to do. It is easier to write a good Times leading article than a good joke in Punch. For solemnity flows out of men naturally; but laughter is a leap. It is easy to be hard: hard to be light." G.K. Chesterton

"where joylessness reigns, where humor dies, the spirit of Jesus Christ is assuredly absent. But the reverse is also true: joy is a sign of grace. One who is cheerful from the bottom of his heart, one who has suffered but not lost joy, cannot be far from the God of the evangelium, whose first words on the threshold of the New Testament is 'Rejoice'." Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger now Pope Benedict XVI

It is amazing what we we can learn from a child, a child in the womb, who knew how to laugh and leap for joy.

Christmas is a time for leaping and laughing. Try it! You may agree that you like it.

Song of songs 2:8ff

"Hark! My lover-here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag...My lover speaks; he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!...Let me see you, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and you are lovely."

The wedding of Song between God and Man as we prepare for the wedding between God and Man in the incarnation. The bride groom comes are we ready.

just do it

Micah 5:1-4; Psalm 80 Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45

"A body you have prepared for me...behold, I come to do you will."

This week here at the parish as been much to do about a little of everything.

Early in the week i was called to a home where the grandfather was found dead in his bed. The family wanted a catholic priest to be with them, since I am a fire department chaplain I was called out.

That encounter was followed by an encounter with a family who was preparing for cancer surgery on friday; they wanted to pray and talk and get ready.

Saturday I had two weddings and between them I was called to the hospital to assist a family, where Mom and child were endanger; so we did an emergency baptism and then prayed and anointed mom before they were life flighted to another hospital that could care for them better.

In the midst of all these encounters, the phrase, "God's will" kept coming up and be tossed around.

Think about the phrase, "God's Will" for a moment.

The phrase as become a cliche; we use it when we try to explain the unexplainable or tackle the mystery of life that leaves us scratching our head; we uses it at times to excuse us from responsibility or even as a reason to do nothing.

The phrase, "God's Will," as become a pat answer we give when we have nothing else to say for instance when someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness; it is used when a loved one dies without warning; it is used when life meets tragedy and life is turned inside out and upside down.

It is the will of God or God's will, they say, we say, all say as we try to figure out the why behind the what we are faced with and especially as we stare in the face of tomorrow unsure about what might be next.

We sigh and say "God's will."

A little clarity for the sake of clarity.

First, God's will does not hold us hostage to the winds of change or whims of life. god's will is not random. We should not equate it a slot machine where we pull the leaver hoping for the jack pot only to discover our life savings depleted. God's will is not chance or accidental.

God's will is one of purpose; there is a plan.

God's will does not take life but receive it; there is a big difference between the two.

God's will doe snot leave us empty but is life giving.

God's will does not leave us scrambling as if it is fourth and long and time is running out; God's will satisfies and sustains.

God's will has little to do with what is happening to us; it is more about what we happen to be doing. God's will is less focused on what is done to us and more on what we do.

God's will is bodily. In our bodies we bring God's will with us where and when we go. As we read in the letter of Hebrews, "a body you have prepared for me...behold I come to do your will."

God's will is not passive but one of action.

God's will is one of worship, praise, and thanksgiving; God's will is one of love, friendship, and forgiveness; God's will is one of honor, obedience, and integrity; God's will is one of life, death, and resurrection; God's will is one of truth.

Our bodies become the instrument that bears the force of heaven on earth: "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Every moment and every breath there is ample opportunity to experience God's will, to make God's will present.

This is why we incense the body at the funeral service. Our body bears heaven on earth. Through our body God's reaches forth and touches the world around us.

As we move toward Christmas with visions of magi and shepherds and mangers we must not forget that the Babe of Bethlehem gives way to the man of Golgotha, the man on the cross: A body you have prepared for me...Behold, I come to do you will."

God's will is not something we say, phrase we speak when we are speechless and having nothing else to give; God's will is something we do.

By our life, we can say with Elizabeth, "blessed are yo that believed that What was spoken by the Lord would be fulfilled."

God's will, let it be done or in other words, just do it.

mouth filled with praise

Psalm 71 "My mouth shall be filled with your praise, and I will sing your glory."

O Antiphon for Dec 19, "O Root of Jesse, you stand as a sign for the peoples; before you kings shall keep silence and to you all nations shall have recourse. Come, save us, and do not delay."

In the words of Elizabeth, "So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others."

Why is our mouth filled with praise? Because in Christ, at Christmas, God has seen fit to take away our disgrace before others, even before ourselves. God's anger last a moment but is favor last a lifetime.

Of all the things that fill our mouth should not praise be the finest wine we drink, and the greatest glory we give is to sing, sing for ever this new song: God with us, Emmanuel.

O come, O Come Emmanuel, come and take away my disgrace, our disgrace and let our mouth be filled with praise and our voices sing your glory for eternity

Redemption song

Jeremiah 23:5-8; Psalm 72 Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace for ever; Matthew 1:18-25

O Antiphon Dec 18,"O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and on Mount Sinai gave him your law. Come, and teach us the way of prudence."

"sing these songs of freedom; all I have ever had is redemption song" Bob Marley

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as King he shall reign and govern wisely; he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days, Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they shall give him:"The Lord our Justice." Jeremiah

"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit...the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home...she will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins...Emmanuel, God is with us." Gospel of Matthew

Salvation now has a name: Lord our Justice, Jesus, Emmanuel, God is with us.

The song of redemption can only be properly sung when anonymity gives way to a face and a name; the shadow of the past comes true to form in the present.

The melody of the Old Testament prophecies now have lyrics from the New and together the redemption song echoes in our hearts.

genealogy

Genesis 49:2,8-10; Psalm 72 Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever; Matthew 1:1-17

O Antiphon Dec 17, "O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High and, reaching from beginning to end, you ordered all things mightily and sweetly. Come, and teach us the way of prudence."

Today as we turn the corner and head down the straight road toward Christmas, just 9 days away, we encounter the genealogy of Jesus.

This genealogy shows us that Jesus was a man woven into human history with its ups and downs. He is the fruit of a lengthy past filled with many blemishes and marks; this path has many skeletons hanging in the closet, a checkered past filled with incest, adultery, murder, dishonesty, prostitution, and yet in the midst of the many detours around goodness, God keeps his promise.

God is relentless; he writes straight with crooked lines; he leads the blind on paths they know not.

And if we look closely we discover that the real hinges of the genealogy are not the deeds of men but the faith of women, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Tamar. These women of pagan and gentile origin direct the lineage to be one of faith and grace. In Mary, at the final decisive point, we see the complete realization of the whole history of men.

Through Mary a new beginning is made; a new beginning comes through faith. The faith of mothers changes and redirects everything to God: the path of grace come through the women.

Something to think about.

Despite all the wrong turns, the path of fidelity opens wide for Christ. In the history of "no" spoken to God there is one "yes" that changes everything, that rights every wrong.

"Of her is born Jesus who is called the Christ."

Thus, the genealogy is a genealogy of grace that welcomes the sinners and is based on forgiveness, and the darkness gives way to the light.

A worthy article click here: "it is good that you exist"

the only place

Isaiah 45:6-8, 18, 21-25; Psalm 85 Let the clouds rain down the just one, earth bring forth a savior; Luke 7:18-23

Isaiah's text is a commentary on the first words of the bible, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..."

Three things to note about God as creator, the principle belief in faith:

1)God has called to existence everything that exist outside himself

2)He alone is creator, his voice alone can call things into existence

3)Everything that exist is dependent upon God who gives existence to all

As man it is important to remember that God creates from nothing but when we create, we always have something to start with and from: namely we and this world exist.

Everything is being sustained by God; we are being held within his hand.

This is not a bad place to be; in fact it is the only place to be.

On January 1st this year Pope Benedict gave his World Day of Peace proclamation. He focused our attention on the environment.

"If we what to cultivate peace, we must protect creation. Relationship between man and the environment must mirror God's creative love from whom all things are made and to whom all things return...In contemplating and cultivating the beauty of creation, man discovers his true dignity and place in the world."

change

Zephaniah 3:1-2,9-13; Psalm 34 The Lord hears the cry of the poor; Matthew 21:28-32

What did God say when man was created?

"God looked upon all he made and found it to be very good."

"Good!"

The verdict of our existence echoes forth in this one syllable word, "Good!"

When Jesus speaks of humanity he seeks this "good" that is there from the beginning.

It is this "good" that creates the space for potential change in every person.

This is why people who do bad things can become persons of reputation worthy of admiration, such as the tax collectors and prostitutes in the gospel today.

The powers of the soul find their full potential in the proclamation of God in the beginning, "very good."

Thus, we all have the power to change, change our mind, change our hearts, change our attitude.

We all have the potential to go from a "won't" to a "will", from a "don't" to a "do", from a "no" to a "yes".

This is the power of change that Jesus admires and point to as not only a potential but a necessity, "the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you."

They changed their mind and believed. What do we change? How have we changed? Will we change?

When we see people who do bad things, we should pause and pray that they change and by their change they bring change to everyone around them. They give us hope, that if the worse can change so can we, each and every day.

indispensable

Num 24:2-7, 15-17; Psalm 25 Teach me your ways, O Lord; Matthew 21:23-27

Advent reflection by John Paul II

"Looking at the crib, our gaze is especially fixed on the Virgin and on Joseph, who await the birth of Jesus. In them we see realized the indispensable conditions to prepare ourselves for Jesus' birth. In the first place, interior silence and prayer, which allow one to contemplate the mystery that is commemorated. In the second place, the willingness to accept the will of God, in whatever way it is manifested."

The thing that was lacking in the scribes and pharisees of Jesus time, especially as we see in the gospel of today, was that they went through the motions of religion but they had no substance. They observed the outward necessities but they failed to attend to the inward reality, communion with God in the silence of their heart, seeking to hear and to see more clearly each and every day. They thought they had it all figured out.

Those who allowed religion to penetrate to the inward part of their being, they heard and saw and believed when they looked upon the face of Christ.

The others, simply gawked at such absurd notion that God would send this lowly of Nazareth to be the Messiah. How dare God do such thing? While those who heard and saw and believed, they had already come to suspect and expect the unexpected!

Heavenly origin or human origin!

Perhaps as we peer into the manager, the empty crib, we can begin to surmise that heavenly and humanly go together, and thus salvation begins to blossom from the top down and from the bottom up.

The answer the scribes and pharisees give is a cop out, "we do not know?" This will never do. We are in the know. We have heard. We have seen. We have come to believe.

In the end this knowing and seeking to know will be the cause of action, love, fidelity, transformation. In the silence, we encounter what we feared might be true as we ponder the manger; it is true what we have heard, God is love, he comes, he keeps silence no longer.

In the inward silence of our heart as ponder the manger scene, the silence is broken and the cry of the babe moves our heart to believe.

"...a star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel."

St. John of the Cross, mystical doctor, pray for us...

rejoice

Zephaniah; Philippians 4:4-6; Luke 3;

"Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul." G.K. Chesterton

Saint Paul tells us to "Rejoice always in the Lord." Rejoice always, at a ll times, in all circumstances. Joy as little to do with what is going on in our life at the moment. Saint Paul writes these words while he is in prison, in chains. Shackled yet he remains filled with joy.

Why does he command us to rejoice?

In all the waiting and trying and figuring and acting and maneuvering we do in our life, in faith we know we do not go alone. We go together and we go with Him who is near, in our midst, who is always now, before us.

We are not alone in this adventure we call life; If we seek to follow the lead of Jesus, then we too shall know joy; joy is about standing before God more than it is about the circumstances we are standing.

Rejoice!

Our Lady of the Americas: Guadalupe

Readings for the feast

Our Lady has a name, Guadalupe we call her. She came to bring good news to the natives of the land we call Mexico. Wrapped in warmth she brought conversion to a land that had been ravaged by fear. In her stead the prince of Peace reigns.

"Hail Full of grace the Lord is with you"

"What joy could surpass this, O Virgin Mother? What grace can excel that which God has granted to you alone? What could be imagined more dazzling or more delightful? Before the miracle we witness in you, all else pales; all else is inferior when compared with grace you have been given. All else, even what is most desirable, must take second place and enjoy a lesser importance.

Truly you are blessed among women:

You have changed Eve's curse into a blessing;

Through you the Father's blessing has shone forth on mankind, setting them free from the ancient curse;

Through you your forbearers have found salvation, for you were to give birth to a savior;

Without seed, you have borne, as your fruit, him who bestows blessings on the whole world and redeems is from that curse that made it sprout thorns;

Though a woman by nature, you will become, in reality, God's mother by grace;

You, O Virgin, are like a clear shining sky, in which God has set his tent. From you he comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber. Like a giant running his course, he will run the course of his life which will bring salvation for all who will ever live, and extending from the highest heavens to the end of them, it will fill all things with divine warmth and with life-giving brightness." St. Sophronius

Thus, this women is clothed with the sun. In her womb she bears the Son. She comes as Queen Mother bearing the warrior King who shall invite us all to taste victory.

Her name is Mary of Guadalupe.

Here is a story concerning our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe: click here Perhaps She should have done a little research...

a verse

Isaiah 41:13-20; Psalm 145 The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness; Matthew 11:11-15

baptized in Christ

fed by what he sacrificed

we give ourselves to life and love

until we rest in heaven above

These were words spoken by the the new bishop of the Brownsville Diocese, a friend and mentor, when I was in the seminary, Bishop Daniel Flores, though in the seminary we simply called him Monsignor.

He spoke these words at the media conference when the appointment came. He went on to add the following:

"We work so no one grows too weary on this road we travel...If we leave behind anyone on this road, then Christ will not let us cross to the heaven he has prepared for us. We go together, or we do not go at all."

As Jesus tells us "the least of the kingdom in heaven is greater than he." May we tread cautiously on the road with one eye on heaven the other on our fellow man, seeking to aid until the journey is complete. Heaven is a place where the least become great.

May we let "God grasp our right hand" and lead us on the way. God has answered the call of the needy by placing us in their path, "for what you do to the least you do unto me."

The Hand of Christ awaits us, to show us the way to heaven's door.

Baptized in Christ

Fed by what He sacrificed

we give ourselves in life and love

until we rest in heaven above

Immaculate

Genesis 3:9-15, 20; Psalm 98 Sing to the Lord a new song for he has done marvelous deeds; Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12; Luke 1:26-38

Today we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception: Mary conceived without sin in her mother's womb.

Today we celebrate a 2nd chance for our humanity where we see just how much God wants us to be with Him and never separated from Him.

In Mary we see that God desires to save us but will not do so without us.

In Mary we see a new way of being human, complete and singular devotion to the will of God for the sake of humanity.

In Mary we see "God' s smile" in that immaculate reflection of divine light.

Grace enters history in this Virgin of Virgins and here we encounter the reality that victory of love is not only possible but certain.

Our First Lady of the Faith stands before God and says "yes" and the world changes. The power of yes that continues to affect us all across time and space, across nationalities and race. Love gains.

As the Angel speaks to Mary, "Hail, full of grace," Mary blushes; she blushes like a rose touched with the light of the sun at Dawn, brilliant in color, radiant in beauty, sublime in innocence, magnificent in virtue, charming in her humility, excellent in her courage, bold in her willingness to go forth where man had ever been before.

Today we Honor our First Lady of the Faith as the Patroness of the United States. We ask her to pray for us, to intercede again that we might surrender to God's will, letting ourselves be conquered by grace and allow the victory of love to reign in this place.

Words from St. Anselm

Other facts of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

gymnasium for the soul

Isaiah 25:1-10; Psalm 85 Our God will come to save us; Luke 5:17-26

Tomorrow we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church.

Here are few words from the Doctor to prepare us to Honor our Blessed Mother:

"Virginity is thus proposed to us, as if in a picture, in Mary's life. From her life, the beauty of chastity and her exemplary virtue shine out as from a mirror. Here we may well receive instruction on how to lead a life in which virtue, instructed by example, shows you what you must do, correct, or avoid."

"She was a virgin, not only in body, but in her mind as well, and never mixed the sincerity of her affections with duplicity. Lowly of heart, serious in speech, prudent in spirit, sparing in words, devoted to reading, she did not place her hope in changeable riches but in the prayer of the poor. Industrious in her work, modest in her speech, she let God, not man, judge her thoughts."

"She never raised her foot off the ground without taking a step on the path of virtue."

On a side note, here are few words from the Doctor concerning the Book of Psalms:

"In the Book of Psalms there is profit for all, with healing power for our salvation. There is instruction from history, teaching from law, prediction from prophecy, chastisement from denunciation, persuasion from moral preaching. All who read can find the cure for their own failings. All with eyes to see can discover in it a complete gymnasium for the soul, a stadium for all virtues, equipped for every kind of exercise; it is for each to choose the kind he judges best to help him gain the prize."

questions

Friday readings revisited

We all have questions.

In our life, as our circumstances pile up upon us, as the mystery of tomorrow becomes today, different questions rise from our hearts and our minds, especially when what we experience does not meet our expectations of our life or of God:

Why did this or that happen?

What shall we do now?

Who will help us?

Where is our God?

When will this trial be over?

Which way shall we go?

And thousand other questions fill our waking days and our restless nights.

In the midst of our questions posed before God in time as we experience it, as we look for answers and solutions and reasons why, there if we stop and rest in the silence we encounter another question; a question that comes from the depth of the universe itself, a question that trumps all of our questioning, "Do you believe I can do this?"

Jesus speaks the question that God has posed from eternity to us all, "Do you believe I can do this?"

Here, God listens to our many questions and he waits for our answer to his. He waits. Will we have the courage of the blind men and say the words Jesus longs to hear, "Yes, Lord!"

In God's question to us we find the strength to trust, to breathe, to live.

In our "Yes" we begin to see. Hope is discovered in God's question to us!

reason for the season

Isaiah 29:17-24; Psalm 27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; Mt 9:27-31

advent awareness with G.K. Chesterton:

"There is at the back of all our lives an abyss of light, more blinding and unfathomable than any abyss of darkness; and it is the abyss of actuality, of existence, of the fact that things truly are, and that we ourselves are incredibly and sometimes almost incredulously real. It is the fundamental fact of being, as against not being; it is unthinkable, yet we cannot unthink it, though we may sometimes be unthinking about it; unthinking and especially unthanking. For he who has realized this reality knows that it does out weigh, literally to infinity, all lesser regrets or arguments for negation, and that under all our grumblings there is a subconscious substance of gratitude."

"But in a little while" we shall come to this realization that the abyss of light, actuality, existence, the fact that things truly are is the miracle we have all been waiting for, right before our very noses. We shall have our eyes opened for we will have finally answered the question of our existence, "Do you believe I can do this?" as Jesus speaks in the gospel, answered it together with the blind men, "Yes, Lord."

Our "Yes" to God who first said "Yes" to us remains the grounding of our life and the source of our gratitude and the reason for our faith.

Perhaps here we encounter the reason for the season.

expect temptation

Today, Thursday, I have a few words from St. John Vianney:

"we must expect temptation. If you ask me what is the cause of our temptations, I shall tell you that it is beauty and the great worth of our souls which the devil values and which he loves so much that he would consent to suffer two Hells, if necessary, if by so doing he could drag our souls into hell...

We should never cease to keep watch on ourselves, lest the Devil might deceive us at the moment when we are least expecting...

When tempted by pride we should humbly and abase ourselves before God. When tempted against purity we should mortify our bodies and all our senses and be ever more vigilant. If our temptation consist for distaste for prayers,w e should pray with greater attention, the more we are tempted to give them up the more we should increase in number...

how greatly we should fear, lest we do not recognize our temptations! And if we shall never recognize do not ask God to allow us to do so."

interior diary

Isaiah 25:6-10a; Psalm 23 I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; Mt 15:29-37

A word from the Pope for Advent:

The word advent can mean "presence," "arrival," or "coming."

In the ancient world it was a functionary term that indicated a visit of the king or emperor to a particular province.

The Christians adopted this word to express their relationship with Jesus Christ: the king who entered this poor "province" of earth to visit everyone.

Advent was a term that was an attempt to say:"God is here, he has not withdrawn, he has not left us alone. He is here and he comes to visit us."

It is a visit in which God enters our life and wants to address each of us.

We, however, are so absorbed in doing or possess by activity or allow the interest of society to monopolize our life and attention that we miss it.

Advent is a liturgical time in which we slow down; advent invites us to pause to grasp a presence. Advent invites us a pause to grasp the presence of God who is here, who has arrived in our life.

Every event of the day is a gesture God directs to us, a sign of care he has for each of us.

How many times does God makes us perceive something of his love, daily?

In Advent a salutary task for us would be to keep an "interior diary" of these encounters, contemplating the Lord who is present, contemplating the visitation of his love.

Once we receive from Jesus, like the disciples in the gospel, then we can give to others around us; thus, we shall all be satisfied.

childlike

Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72 Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever; Lk 10:21-24

"you have revealed them to the childlike...:

The words of Jesus in the gospel captures the essence of the season of Advent.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, as we prepare to receive the Christ child in the manger, we are invited to become small again; we are invited to rediscover what it means to be a child.

Advent is a time we unlearn all of the pretense that has gathered on us like dust. We shake ourselves free from being all grown up and discover the child that can be in awe of God's beauty and creation.

Advent is where and when we unlearn our self-importance, unlearn our sense of having to run the world, or even having to run our own lives and we surrender.

Advent is a time when we stop trying to solve life's mystery and we embrace the mystery that brings life.

Now is the time to embrace the inner child: creative, imaginative, trusting, innocent, loving to love and being in awe of everything. It is time to let God "wow" us.

Here in the words of G.K. Chesterton we find meaning in life itself: "The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation for them."

Only the child can truly appreciate the wonder of it all. Only a child can recognize the full worth of what the eye beholds.

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