question and answer

Isaiah 55:1-3;Ps 145 The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs; Romans 8:35-39;Matthew 14:13-21

Often times in the Victoria Advocate they will pose the "Question of the Day." This column invites readers to weigh in or share their opinion regarding the question presented. The topics are usually random and varied.

In today's readings, we encounter several questions that are meant to get us to think not just today but think about our life.

Isaiah ask the question, "Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy?


The Prophet gets to the heart of the matter. He skips all the unnecessary chatter and lays it bear. "Why spend for that which does not satisfy?"

Look into you life and see how often you spend on that which promises satisfaction but really is a fleeting appeasement that is here today and gone tomorrow.

Think about all our car advertisements and any advertisements that promise satisfaction and yet we have a society filled and growing with dissatisfaction.


St. Paul in the second reading poses a question as well, "What will separate us from the love of Christ?"

Perhaps this question can be reworded, "What has separated us from the love of Christ?" What have we allowed to run interference from receiving and giving fully the love Christ offers continually?


In the gospel, the boy lets nothing interfere. He gives everything in the sum of two fish and five loaves. The gospel tells us that the crowds that had gathered "all ate and were satisfied."

Do we not want to be satisfied?

He who gives Jesus all that he has will find that God multiplies the gift and satisfaction stretches forth for all who receive and even for the one who gives.

God takes what seems insignificant and makes it meaningful. But we have to be willing to give it.

The risk is worth the reward.

Let nothing separate you from the love of Christ!

Quote from Mother Teresa
"What we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

festivals of the Lord

Leviticus 23:1-37; Psalm 81 Sing with Joy to GOd our Help; Matthew 13:54-58

Over the past few weeks we have been following Moses and the ISraelites go from slavery to freedom, from living in Egypt to wandering in the desert, from being a hodgepodge of people to becoming the nation of ISrael chosen to be God's people.

It is quite a journey.

So the question remains, how does the story get passed down from generation to generation. What guards the truth of the experience and enables future generations to grow in appreciation of what has been experienced.

Surely, it was written down. But the written page sometimes in not enough. Not every one likes read. Some like a more dynamic exposure to history.

Thus we have the Festivals of the Lord, we encounter in the Book of Leviticus. God asks the Nation of Israel to keep these festivals so that the festival celebration could keep them in tuned with the mighty works of GOd, his salvation, his gift of mercy, his ever abiding presence.

We keep festivals so that they may keep watch over us and our true identity.

Thus, the experience of God and the salvation given to the ISraelites was not to be restricted to the written page but rather was meant to become a part of the living culture, the air they breath.

These festivals were extensions of the salvation experiences and it captivated the senses; they were a full body experience and they kept the year moving forward, a year unfolding in grace.

From the Sabbath to the Feast of Passover, Unleaven Bread, the wave offerings, Pentecost, Feast of Booths, the day of Atonement, all of these invited the generations of ISraelites to taste again the victory of God and renew their commitment and to rediscover their identity, to be who God had called them to be, "holy and set apart."


This is the beauty of the festivals of the Lord.

We do this still. The liturgical calendar is meant to infiltrate the secular calendar and fill it with life and grace and hope.
Our festivals of faith are not just Sunday events but rather they are meant to be the pinnacles and grounds of our life, especially as the mystery of the life of grace unfolds through the story and salvation won in Christ.

Daily we enter into that great festival of the Son, "do this in memory of me."

DOn't jsut keep the festivals but open your heart and let them keep you.
We are what we celebrate!

to educators who prepare for school

Here are few words from the Papal Nunico Pietro Sambi who recently passed from this life to the fullness of life in God. He was the Pope's representative here in the United States since 2006.

"[A] young man, 22 years old, once took a piece of marble and sculpted in it two of the most deep human sentiments: suffering accepted from the hand of God does not diminish the beauty of the human person but increases it, and -- second sentiment -- even in death, a son continues to have full confidence in his mother.

This is the Pietá of Michelangelo, that you can see everytime you enter in the Basilica of St Peter in Rome.

Michelangelo, the author of the Pietá, is considered one of the greatest artists in the world. I don't believe it! The greatest artists are the educators -- are you -- because you try to sculpt the best of yourselves, of who you are and what you know, not in a piece of marble, but in living, breathing human beings, who are the glory of God."



Pray for our teachers as they prepare to close the time of vacation and to get back to the grind of forming young hearts and young minds....
******************************

Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38; Psalm 84 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God; Matthew 13:47-53

The first reading details for us the establishment and completion of the dwelling place where God chose to make himself known through the desert years.

Notice, Moses couldn't enter the tent when "the cloud covered the meeting tent because the glory of the Lord filled the
dwelling."

Moses couldn't enter because God's glory was filling....but in Christ the glory of the Lord now fills us, for we are the temple of the Holy SPirit, we are dwelling place.

The Incarnation, God becoming man in Christ, has altered the rules and has stretched the bounds and has included us in the glory of God.

The reading ends with a very poignant passage, "In the daytime the cloud of the Lord was seen over the Dwelling; where as at night, fire was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all the stages of their journey."

In all the stages of the journey....

God was near no matter what. He was close at hand. God's nearness was not dependent on whether or not the People of ISrael felt his presence of experienced an emotional high but rather God's presence was because God decided and willed that he would be near.

He was with them in all the stages of the journey.

So it is with us. Why? BEcause he has willed to be near us. HE wants to be close.

As Bill Crosby once said, "not every eye that is closed is sleeping; not every eye that is open is seeing."

Reality is not dependent on us but on the God who creates, the God who reveals, the God who redeems, the God who has chosen to remain near.

today, for a brief moment, ask the Lord to see more deeply the things of God and be awaken to the cloud at day and the fire at night that journeys with you at every stage.

IS this not why we have the Blessed Sacrament and the sanctuary lamp to remind us at every moment the words of Jesus, "I will be with always until the end of the age."

facial

Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99 HOly is the Lord our God; Matthew 13:44-46

"When Moses enetered the presence of the Lord to converse with him, he removed the veil until he came out again. On coming out, he would tell the children of Israel all that had been commanded..."


"Jesus said, the Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in the field, which a person finds an dhides again, and out of Joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field..."


Just a couple of things to think about this morning and through the day...

In the readings we have a man who stumbles upon a treaure, another who deliberatley searches for a treasure, and a Moses who is summoned by God.

All three have something in common.

The two men in the gospel are willing to give up everything for the one thing. They are ready to make changes to their lives and create space for the this new found reality, this which has moved them to joy and whose joy moved them to make changes for the better.

Moses who is summoned by God also is changed by his experience with God. His conversation with God has left him marked for all to see for "the skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord."



Chnage is inevitable they say. But for us who follow God change is welcomed. Change is a sign of our transformation brought on by this encounter with the living God.
This Change should be written all over our face: the encounter with God is like getting a facial.

As John Cardinal Newman was said, "to change is to be perfected."

Here are a few words form the Pope:
"But each of us, in accordance with his or her state of life, is called to work for the advancement of God's kingdom by imbuing temporal life with values of the gospel. Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person...light must shine in the sight of all."

How do we change the world, by allowing ourselves to be changed.

But it is joy that changes us. The joy of discovery is what gives us the the strength to open ourseleves up to God and let him do with us as he desires. We must let God have his way with us.

Only Joy can make the process of change so captivating and enthralling.

think about all the thing we do to make our complexion better or to help our face glow. How many face creams and treatments are out their promising an "organic glow."
God also promise this "glow."

But it a radiance that comes from opening our hearts andminds ot him and living in the willingness to be changed.

thus is Joy.
It is both a prerequisite and a product of that enocunter with the living God.

grandparents of Jesus

Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28; Ps 103 The Lord is kind and merciful; Matthew 13:36-43

Today in the church we celebrate the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the grandparents of JEsus.

Today take a few moments to consider where you come from. Genealogies are a big thing today. Everyone wants to map out their family tree, to see where they come from.

But today, take a few moments to map out your spiritual genealogy. Where does you faith come from? Who introduced you to Christ, to the life of faith? Where did you learn to pray and speak and converse with God?


Who was instrumental in your journey? Locate your roots, your spiritual roots and say a prayer for those people today. Be grateful!

I think about my grandmother on my father's side. I remember growing up watching her pray and speak with God. I remember kneeling at her bedside praying the rosary with my family.

I think about her faith in the midst of her suffering. Though she lost five sons and a husband early in life, she never wavered and she persevered in faith.

This is my root of my spiritual or faith based genealogical Tree. Here it begins and slowly branches outward.

I can only imagine who passed the faith to my grandmother. I never asked but I wished I did.

We hear the words of Moses, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. THis is a stiff necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."

"Do come along in our company."

Think of all the people who have kept the presence of God alive in the midst of our pilgrimage on earth. How many have guarded the faith and passed it on, keeping Jesus present in our company?

What a gift!

St. Joachim and St. Anne pray for us

St. James the greater

2 corinthians 4:7-15; Ps 126 Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing; Matthew 20:20-28

As we celebrate the feast of St. James, the gospel invites us to reflect on his mother. "The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something."


What an image to think about! A mother brings her sons to Jesus with a wish, a request.

How many mothers have followed in her footsteps? How many mothers have come before Jesus through the centuries, bringing their Children and asking that He provide for them, strengthen them, guide them.

Even as I write this, i wonder how many mothers and fathers have already been on their knees praying for their children.

"HE said to her, "'what do you wish?" She answered him, "command that these two sons of mine sit on at your right and the other on your left, in your Kingdom."


What a wish? I only hope my mother, for I know she prays for me, ask the Lord of the same thing. Why settle for less? If you are going to ask, ask boldly!

"Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can." He said, "My chalice you will in deed drink, but to sit on my right and my left this is not mine to give but it is for those whom it has been prepared by my Father."

What a beautiful response. Jesus simply offers them the opportunity to share his chalice. They do not drink alone. JEsus himself shall drink it with them.

IS this not ultimately what the mother seeks, that Jesus not abandon her sons. To share his cup is truly a blessed gift.

Yet, Jesus doesn't make empty promises. He can not give the right and left for they belong to another to give, his Father.

Jesus gives what belongs to him, the gift of sharing in his chalice, his life, his experience; the gift of being a companion on the journey of glory.


It is because he offers to share it with them, makes it even more attractive and prompts them to respond with such eagerness, "We can."

As we read in the first reading, "For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of JEsus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh"

We share with him his suffering so that his life might be revealed through us. This is what communion is about, "take this all of you and drink from it..." We drink his death and experience his life.

James the greater was the first apostle to be martyred. In his suffering and approaching death, i always imagine him with a smile on his face on his lips the words of JEsus in this gospel, "my chalice you will in deed drink."

kingdom pickers

Yesterday revisited.

This summer we have been reading and experiencing the encounter with christ in the gospel through the eyes of St. Matthew's gospel.

The gospel of matthew could be described as the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. In writing his gospel, in bringing to us the encounter with Christ, his actions and teachings, Matthew uses the phrase "kingdom of heaven" 32 times in 28 chapters.

When Jesus begins his ministry, he invites the people to reflect on the fact that the "kingdom of heaven is at hand" Matthew ch 4.

In chapter 6, in the middle of the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus teaches us how to pray, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" as he gives us the Our Father.

In chapter 16, Jesus tells Simon that "you are Peter, "rock" upon which I will build my church...I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, what you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, what you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

In chapter 28, at the very end of the gospel as Jesus is about to ascend he tells the 11 apostles that all authority in heaven and earth has been given him and thus they should go make disciples of all nations, that is they should spread the kingdom to the ends of the earth.


Over the past three weeks on Sunday we have been reading from ch 13 of Matthew's gospel in which Jesus has been giving us the sermon of the parables of the kingdom of heaven.

Each parable begins with "the kingdom of heaven in like...a sower who sows, a mustard seed planted, leaven in dough and this week the kingdom of heaven is like a man who finds a buried treasure, a merchant who find the pearl of great price, the net cast into the sea.

These three parables are connected by the word "again." Jesus tell us that the kingdom is like a man who finds a treasure in a field, Again the kingdom is like a merchant who finds a pearl of great price, again the kingdom is like a net.

Thus, they belong together. If we want to understand them we must take all three together.

Look at the first two parables: A guy finds a treasure, sells everything to buy the field. Notice that the guy is not looking for the treasure. Rather, he seems to be just doing his work; he is earning a living. Day in and day out, he goes to the grind of living, routine to make ends meet and provide for his family and then the kingdom of heaven smacks him in the forehead.

The same goes for the merchant. He is looking for fine pearls, perhaps to sell to his customers, to make them happy and again to support his family. This is what he always does. In the midst of this routine of living he encounter life itself.

This is important for us. Jesus invites us to understand that we do not have to go far to find the kingdom. Rather, the kingdom is hidden right before us. God hides himself in our homes, our families, our jobs, in our places of leisure so that we might have the joy of discovery.

These two parables remind of the TV show: American pickers. The two guys on the show go around the US scouring through junkyards, barns, and basements looking for valuables. They dig through junk with an eye peeled for treasure.

The beauty of these two guys and what separates them from hoarders is that they can discriminate. They only take what is valuable and leave the junk behind.

This what Jesus invites us to do. In the parables, the two guys who find the treasure and the pearl are willing to sell everything, leave the junk for the prize. So to must we.

The parable of the net reminds us of this. The net is brought forth with all kinds if fish, but the good are kept the bad are thrown away.

We too must be able to discriminate. In the end, God will discriminate as JEsus reminds us. The angels will come to separate the wicked from the righteous.

God discriminates. And because he discriminates, his love is true.

How we discriminate here and now will determine whether we are discriminated for or discriminated against in the end.

We must learn to be pickers for the kingdom. We must be willing to leave the junk behind, to sell everything for the one thing.

We are invited to become pickers for the Kingdom.

This is what makes Solomon's prayer so important for us. Solomon prayed for an "understanding heart to discern what is good from what is bad."

This too is what we must attend to.
What do you pray for? How often do you pray for wisdom to discern the good from the bad?

For with Wisdom then truly we will certainly be able to pick out the prize amidst the junk the world as to offer and hold on tight.