Prequel

Micah 5:1-4; with delight I rejoice in the Lord Psalm 13; Matthew 1:18-23

Feast for the Birth of the Blessed Mother...

Blessed birthday to the one whose 'yes' changed the world for ever.  Blessed Birthday to all of us for in the birth of the Blessed Mother we too shall be born again, born in to everlasting light, born into new heights, born into new dignity. 

Mary's birthday is the birthday of the renewed humanity touched by grace.  In the birth of Mary, conceived without sin, we see what we ourselves  shall be when grace fills us completely, we shall obtain the unhindered ability to say 'yes' to God.

This day is a day of beginnings.  This day is the prequel to what will come later when Christ raised from the dead will send his Spirit to change us all.

Christ points to His mother and lets us catch a glimpse of what we ourselves shall be when we let ourselves be conquered by grace.  In seeing what Christ does we can now fully understand the role of Mary.

The whole creation rejoices greatly for in Mary hope for humanity is born; soon Christ shall come, for the baby born today is forever the Mother of God, the Mother of us all.   

prayer for saturday

Here is the prayer from the morning office:

"Lord, we praise you with our lips, and with our lives and hearts.  Our very existence is a gift from you; to you we offer all that we have and are.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen"

Often we pray but seldom do we let the words of the prayer enter deep into our hearts and minds.  We must let the words of the prayers enter deeply so that they may echo forth throughout the day and thus our actions might find rhythm with the words and truly become as we pray. 

May the words of prayer set our thoughts and words and actions to the rhythm and beat of eternity and thus our lives become part of the prayer rather than just making prayer a part of our life.

Blessed Mother pray for us... 

The scandal of the incarnation is the sacred Heart of Christ

1 corinthians 4:1-5; Psalm 37 The salvation of the just comes from the Lord; Luke 5:33-39

Jesus today in the gospel reminds us of the scandal of the incarnation.  

"No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch and old one.  Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match an old cloak.  Likewise, no one pours new wine in old wineskins.  Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.  Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.   And no one drinking old wine desires new, for he says, "the old is good."

Where is the scandal?

In the incarnation, God takes the new and seeks to patch the old.  In God becoming man, in the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ, the new garment is torn as the lance pierces the Heart of Christ; the new wine is spilled as the old wineskin is burst asunder and new love shines forth in the obedience of Christ unto death. 

The fidelity of Christ reveals to us the glory of man alive. 

In deed no one tears a new to patch the old; no one pours new lest the old burst asunder.  Yet, this is exactly what someone does; God is scandalous in his love for us.  He takes the old wisdom and shows it to be foolish.  

St. Paul reminded us yesterday, "the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God."

The scandal of the incarnation shines forth as wisdom from generation to generation as the Heart of Christ, torn open for all to see, testifies through all ages.

Sometimes we have to let go of the old and embrace the new thus allowing the old wineskin of our old habits, thoughts, cares, concerns, ways of acting and doing be burst asunder by the new mode of living exhibited in Christ the scandal.

The old is good but the new is better for it transforms the old into what it was always meant to be.  

We are the servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, as St. Paul proclaims.  We are servants and stewards of the scandal of the Incarnation.  

St. Irenaeus reminds us that to receive the Eucharist is to drink in the new wine, allowing the old to be burst asunder and enabling the grace to transform us from within for "having received the Eucharist, we are no longer corruptible, because we have the hope of resurrection burning within us." 

May we keep the flame alive with every act of fidelity to Christ who reveals the scandalous love of the Father.

 

No buts about it

1 corinthians 3:18-23; Psalm 24 To the Lord belongs the earth and all that fills it; Luke 5:1-11 

Jesus walks along the lake.  Jesus teaches the crowd.  Jesus gets into the boat.  Jesus sits down and continues to teach.  These things are acceptable.  There are no buts about it.  

Then Jesus tells the fishermen how to fish.  "Put out into the deep water and lower your nets."

Peter gets a little frustrated.  How dare Jesus interfere with his profession.  It is Peter's job to fish and Jesus' to teach and preach. Now he has crossed the line.  Before there was no but about it as long he focused on his mission, now there is but.

Yes, Lord we have fished all night and caught nothing.  Nothing we have caught all night. Peter responds to the request; this is what I do for a living; I know these waters; I know my men; I know we can't catch anything.  I know we should turn back and not waste our time...

But at your command Lord...

What a beautiful but.

There is room for one "but" in the life of the Christian, "But at your command Lord."

This is why we do what we do!

servant of the servants of God

1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own; Luke 4:38-44

"The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them, but he said to them, "to the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God because for this purpose I have been sent."  

Like the people in the gospel, we often want to keep Jesus for ourselves.  We want to contain him, grasp him, hold on to him.  We have to let him go.  We have to let him carry the good news to others. 

How do we do this?

We do this by rejoicing when the other experiences the power of the kingdom. Many times we get envious or jealous of other's blessings.  This is tragic.  When we do this we refuse to allow the goodness of the kingdom to be spread.  When we recognize the blessings of others, we should not grow envious but rather we should rejoice that Jesus continues to move forward and reach out to others.  We must let the blessings of others be a sign of hope for us.  Even if we have to wait for our turn, we must remember it is easy to wait with hope then not.

Secondly, we must be like Jesus in carrying the good news to others.  By our demeanor, by our words, by our lifestyle the kingdom is brought forth and Jesus' presence journeys onward in fulfilling the tasks set before him.  

We are  christianus alter Christus that is Christians are the the other Christ.  In us the light of Christ shines forth scattering the darkness in others and in other places by simply letting it scatter the darkness in us. 

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Gregory the Great.  He was a Pope in the 6th century  and he preferred the title, servant of the servants of God.

These are a few of his insights for us today: 

"So who am I to be a watchman, for I do not stand on the mountain of action but lie down in the valley of weakness?  Truly the all powerful Creator and Redeemer of mankind can give me in spite of my weaknesses a higher life and effective speech; because I love him, I do not spare myself in speaking of him."

  

God of compassion your strength claims hold of our weakness; may our weakness always and never cease to rely on your strength. 

the mind of Christ

 1 corinthians 2:10-16; psalm 145 The Lord is just in all his ways; Luke 4:31-37

St.Paul in the letters to Corinthians is introducing the community to what it means to be living life in the Spirit.

The defining characteristic of Life in the Spirit isn't  speaking in tongues, it isn't raising the dead, it isn't seeing into the future, it isn't performing miracles, it isn't having super powers, it isn't walking on water, or multiplying the loaves and fish. 

Life in the Spirit isn't about being slain in the Spirit, it isn't about being overly enthusiastic or emotionally charged. 

Life in the Spirit is much more dynamic than any of the above.  Life in the Spirit is about having the mind of Christ.

As St. Paul says, "we have the mind of Christ." 

To have the mind of Christ is to be living a life in the Spirit.  

Jesus reminds us as he reminds the disciples in the gospel of John that the Spirit will come and remind of all the things I have spoken and done.   The Spirit gives us access to Christ. 

To have the mind of Christ simply put means "to see as God sees and to do as Christ did."

To have the mind of Christ means to be able judge properly good from evil and to choose the highest good at each moment of decision. 

Come Lord Jesus fill us with your Spirit, that we might see as God sees and do as you did.

The next time you look upon the crucified savior on the cross, there you recognize the mind of Christ.  Ask yourself the question, "Lord, why did you do that?", and "how can I do the same?"

Let us live the Life of the Spirit truly and have the mind of Christ.

labor day

Genesis 1:26-2:3; Psalm 90; Matthew 6:31-34

"Man ought to imitate God both in working and resting, since God Himself wished to present  His own creative activity under the form of work and rest.  This activity by God in the world always continues, as the words of Christ attest: "My Father is working still...:  He works with creative power by sustaining in existence the world that He called into being from nothing, and He works with salvific power in the hearts of those whom from the beginning He has destined for "rest" in union with Himself in His "Father's House."

"Therefore man's work too not only requires a rest every seventh day but also cannot consist in the mere exercise of human strength in external action; it must leave room for man to prepare himself, by becoming more and more what in the will of God he ought to be, for the "rest' that the Lord reserves for His servants and friends."

On Human Work, encyclical letter by John Paul II 

It is not enough to be satisfied with making a living, but we must busy our selves with making a life.  This time of rest must be a time to recollect to discern whether or not we are headed in the right direction.  This is the way the gospel penetrates our very existence, this is the true value of Human work for the "rest" of our life.

As we make a living, we must allow the Father to work in us so that we might arrive at the reward of the work of Christ and thus we shall no longer just be making a living but we shall be making a life and thus enter into his rest.