Homily for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

 Nm 6:22-27

Ps 67

Gal 4:4-7

Lk 2:16-21 

 

The ball dropped in Times Square despite Dick Clark no longer being alive to supervise it. The calendar shows a year that is one digit higher than it was yesterday.  By now a few people have written the wrong year on a check.  Resolutions announced with great fervor and determination yesterday 

have already been broken even though it is not yet noon. Toasts have been drunk and sappy songs have been sung. 

 

It is now Anno Domini 2023

 

Christmas is over for the secular world.  Indeed, for most people it was over 

once the gifts were opened.  For the Church however, the Christmas Season 

continues for twelve more days.  Unlike the secular world of Happy Holidays the Church is unwilling to abandon her joy at the coming of the Savior into the world

as quickly as the glitzy gift-wrappings that were ripped off gift boxes and dumped into the trash. 

 

The New Year on the Calendar begins today.  The New Year of the Church  began on November 27, the First Sunday of Advent.  The Church's Holy Season of Christmas--note, it is a HOLY season NOT a holiday season--will continue until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on January 9, whereupon we will return to Ordinary Time until Lent begins on Wednesday February 22. 

 

With the end of the secular holidays we have the opportunity to bask in the joy of Christmas without the retail dimension or the treacly sentimentality of TV movies that strip all religious associations from Christmas. The tree, the fat guy in the red suit, and the anthropomorphized animals, have been relegated to the closet until next year. Now we have the opportunity as church to contemplate the event that began our ransom from sin and death. 

 

We have the opportunity to contemplate Jesus' incarnation, fully God but also fully man, sharing completely in our human nature.  That sharing began in Bethlehem and ended on Calvary, the wood of the manger led directly to the wood of the cross. The Church's prolonged celebration of Christmas gives us the opportunity to look back to the past and forward to the future.

 

"The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly 

and give you peace!"

 

The blessing Moses was told to impart on the people is a model of simplicity and profundity. It is a blessing that continued despite the people's attempt to reject it.

It is a blessing they repeatedly forgot whenever it was expedient to do so, whenever they chose to ignore the covenant.  But, it was a blessing that God never forgot despite the frequency with which it the people did. 

 

Paul's Letter to the Galatians contains an exquisitely evocative phrase of haiku-like brevity. Indeed, it is shorter than a typical haiku,  Just eleven words. A mere dozen syllables. Only one of the words has two syllables. Yet, this simple phrase 

could consume days of contemplation.

 

"When the fullness of time had come God sent His Son."

 

It is difficult to grasp the meaning of  "the fullness of time," particularly in light of yesterday's gospel: 

 

“In principio erat Verbum, 

et Verbum erat apud Deum

et Deus erat Verbum”

 

"In the beginning was the Word, 

and the Word was with God

and the Word was God."

 

With just a little reflection on the meaning of 'the fullness of time' or the meaning of eternity we become inarticulate.  We become inarticulate as we struggle to express that which is inexpressible. We can no more explain  or comprehend the meaning of God's existence before time than we can  comprehend the idea of God transcending all time.

 

In the coming months of the liturgical year we will encounter many things that, 

like Mary, Mother of Jesus, whose solemnity we observe today, we can only hold in our hearts.  We can only hold them in our hearts because they are impossible to describe in words.

 

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. 

Mater Dei, the Theotokos whom we venerate in a special way.  While I was in Slovenia a few years ago, I attended—and photographed—an Eastern Church ecumenical liturgy  It included a prayer that perfectly explains the reason for this Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and what it means for the world. 

 

"More honorable than the cherubim 

and by far more glorious than the seraphim, 

ever a Virgin, 

you gave birth to God the Word.  

O true Mother of God 

we magnify you!"

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Photos are from the ecumenical Roman-Orthodox-Eastern Uniate service. 

+ A Blessed New Year

Fr. Jack, Sj, MD

Feast of St. Stephen

 The Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, is a necessary balance to the joy of Christmas.  It is necessary because it brings us back to the reality of the past two millennia, a reality that Jesus described in the today's gospel: ". . . they will hand you over to courts. . . . they will scourge you . . . .brother will hand over brother . . . . you will be hated by all because of my name . . . 

 

It is quite a shift from angels and shepherds.  It is a harsh contrast to a Charlie Brown Christmas and the racks of sappy Hallmark cards.  We pray for peace on earth but it never comes. The persecution of Christians simply because they are Christians continues up to the present throughout the world. Stoning is not a significant risk in the U.S. But ostracism, being ‘canceled’, or a bogus lawsuit for saying the truth are risks. The effects can be as devastating as a few rocks to the cranium. 

 

Stephen was martyred by those to whom he preached Jesus crucified and risen from the dead.  Stephen's willingness to preach the truth despite the cost had an astonishing impact on one man who was a silent witness to that stoning.  It is an easy-to-miss detail in the first reading. "The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul."  

 

This young man was a firebrand.  No one knows what went through his mind 

as he watched life extinguished from Stephen's body, watching as stone after stone hit its mark. Stephen's execution was not unique. Stoning was the punishment for many sins and crimes.  

 

That young man would become radicalized. He sought permission to become a bounty hunter, to round-up Christians and get them to Rome for execution. But then, something changed within this man. He was transformed from a man whose desire was to persecute Christians into one  who helped spread the faith after his own conversion, He went from persecutor of Christians to a martyr for preaching Jesus crucified and risen from the dead. Today we call him St. Paul of Tarsus. 

 

Jesus warned in the gospel that following him would not be easy.  Those who choose to follow him will encounter objections, hostility, family divisions, and hate because of his name.  Persecution and martyrdom of those who follow Christ have marked all of the twenty centuries since Jesus preached his prophetic words.  "You will be hated by all because of my name."  The consolation comes in the second half of that statement, "but whoever endures to the end will be saved."

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A very busy Christmas though one in which I was able to find periods of quiet and solitude.  After Mass this morning time to get some preparation done for a number of upcoming conferences. The photos below are from the chapel in St. Mary's Hall, the Jesuit residence on campus.  I'd hoped to go down into Boston along the Charles River to shoot cityscapes but temperatures in the teens nixed that plan.  I don't generally mind the cold but it is draining in light of having myasthenia gravis.  The MG is reasonably well-controlled with medication but there are some realities to deal with and the effect of temperature extremes is one of them.  So, I grabbed tripod, camera bag (a converted wheel-on suitcase) and went over to the chapel on Christmas Eve.  

There is a small tree on a table at the end of the hall that catches the morning sun.  

Same tree different angle.

Flower arrangements in the dining roo

Just before going from the sacristy to celebrate 8 AM Mass on 24 December

The main altar

The creche.  Light was a problem in the creche itself so . . . .

I moved the empty crib and put an iPhone underneath with the light on.

Which is how the rays emanating from it appeared through the roof.

Have a Blessed New Year

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Gaudete in Domino Semper: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent

 Today, the third Sunday of Advent,  is known by its Latin name Gaudete Sunday. The name comes from the first word of the entrance antiphon in Latin: Gaudete: Rejoice. 

 

“Gaudete in Domino semper, 

iterum dice gaudete.  

Dominus enim prope est.” 

 

“Rejoice in the Lord always; 

again I say rejoice! 

The Lord is near.” 

 

Rejoice because our redemption is at hand.  Rejoice because the time of the Messiah has drawn near. Rejoice because, as we were reminded three days ago, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, responded to the message of the angel that she was to be Mother of Jesus with the most perfectly enunciated yes in history:

 

“Ecce ancilla domini, 

fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.”

 

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  

May it be done to me according to your word.”

 

With that ‘yes’ a universe that had been holding its breath sighed in relief and rejoiced.

 

Gaudete in Domino semper, 

“Rejoice in the Lord always; 

 

The world is told to rejoice because

 

Dominus enim prope est

The Lord is near,

 

Jesus entered into time and space he came to the earth, 

so as to save it.  He entered into our lives to save us from sin. Fully God and fully man He was sent to redeem us from the sin of Adam and Eve

and from our sins. 

 

The joy of this third Sunday of Advent is apparent in the readings:

 

Isaiah describes how the desert will exult blooming with abundant flowers on the steppes and rejoicing with joyful song.  The psalmist affirms the joy. 

 

'The Lord God keeps faith forever

secures justice for the oppressed

He gives food to the hungry

and sets captives free.' 

 

Anyone who is familiar with Handel's Messiah will recognize multiple verses from Isaiah throughout the oratorio.  That includes some of the verses  that were just proclaimed.  They form the recitative: 

 

"Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, 

and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 

Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, 

and the tongue of the dumb shall sing."

 

The simple recitative is followed by the exquisitely beautiful aria “He Shall Feed His Flock."  The aria includes an important directive for all:

 

"come unto Him all you that labor, 

come unto Him that are heavy laden, 

and He will give you rest."

 

As was true last Sunday, the gospel narrated more about John the Baptist, 

the herald who announced the news of Jesus, the voice of the one crying out in the desert, the kinsman who felt unworthy to untie the sandal of the one who was to come.  When John sent messengers to inquire if Jesus was indeed He who was to come, Jesus instructed the messengers, 'tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.'

 

On the 17^th of December, just six days from today, the Church holds her breath in anticipation as she sings the “O” antiphons that introduce and end the Magnificat at evening prayer.  The antiphons prepare us more fully

for the ad venire, the coming of our Lord into and onto this earth.  It is so near that we cannot help begin rejoicing. Soon.  Very soon. 

 

Gaudete in Domino semper, 

iterum dice gaudete.  

Dominus enim prope est. 

 

“Rejoice in the Lord always; 

again I say rejoice! 

The Lord is near.” 

 

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The photos are of the 18^th century Neapolitan Creche at the Abbey of Regina Laudis.  Rather than write about it, this is from the Abbey Web site.  After being closed due to covid, it is now open to the public.  It will close again after the new year and reopen in the spring. Note, there is no admission charge for the creche.  

 

This is the web site for the Abbey.  It is worth a visit if in Connecticut.  The abbey is about 20 minutes from Waterbury.  Use GPS.  The last few miles are tricky.  I’ve been going there periodically since 2014 and still need the directions.  

 

https://abbeyofreginalaudis.org/visit-creche.html

+Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

The Voice Crying Out in the Desert: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent

 Is 11;1-10

Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17

Rom 15:4-9

Mt 3:1-12

 

There is no reason to doubt the existence of John the Baptist, a kinsman of Jesus through his mother, a kinswoman of Mary, Mother of Our Lord.   Mentioned in all four gospels as well as  Acts of the Apostles, what is called multiple attestation,  John is also noted in sources outside of scripture, especially the writings of one Josephus, a contemporary historian who was neither a Jew nor a follower of Jesus. Though details of accounts vary across sources they are all compatible rather than contradictory.  

 

Josephus wrote, “He was a good man, who encouraged the Jews to lead righteous lives, to practice justice toward their fellow men, and piety toward God, and in so doing

to join in baptism.’ The practices of justice and piety towards God were necessary for the baptism to be acceptable to God”  

 

 

As described John’s dress and diet were typical of any desert dweller of the time.  

The skins were necessary for warmth during cold desert nights.  He was not a prototype combination hippie and radical vegan.  According to Josephus, John was a good man 

who preached a baptism of repentance.  One analysis notes that no man is more important for understanding the historical Jesus than is John the Baptist.  

 

Not only was John the herald of Jesus—the voice crying out in the desert  as prophesied by Isaiah—it was not until His baptism by John, that Jesus divine identity was revealed and His public ministry begun.  We will hear the baptism narrative in a few weeks.

 

John the Baptist will be debated forever.  However, with baptism John initiated a new liturgy within Judaism.  There is no agreement about the nature or meaning of that baptism,  Was it a baptism of forgiveness or a baptism of purification?  Be that as it may, there was nothing resembling it in Jewish liturgical practices of the day.  

The ritual of baptism itself heralded a new age. 

 

The more one reads about John the Baptist the more apparent it becomes that most of what is quote known about him unquote his motivation, his self-awareness, and his understanding of Jesus, represents more the writers’ projections onto and biases about John, than they do verifiable facts.  

 

As the late Jesuit Father John O’Malley, the great historian was fond of saying, ‘there is no history, only historians’ who decide what they are going to write about, what sources they will use, what information they will pay attention to, what they will ignore, and how they will present it.’  In general the more ancient the history the more subjectively biased is the information 

given by the historian.  

 

Jesus instructs his hearers in today’s  gospel, “Produce good fruit 

as evidence of your repentance.  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’” This short sentence was later expanded in the Letter of James.  

“Be doers of the word not hearers only; What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works? 

 

Simply saying “we have Abraham as our father” was not a get-out-of-jail-free card.  It did not excuse wrong action.  Today, loudly proclaiming that one has faith in Jesus or that Jeeeeeezus is my savior,  without living out the demands of that faith, is not a get-out-of-jail-free card either.  

 

John's message was uncompromising.  It was the opposite of one of the saddest words 

used in the U.S. today:  "Whatever."  John's message is not a 'whatever.'  John's message is that 'this is the sure path you must follow.' In time that message cost him his life.

 

Paul wrote  “What was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. . . Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.”  If we are able to live out those words we will help bring about the peace prophesied in the first reading by Isaiah.  

 

We face many choices during Advent.  The important choices do not include 

colored lights or clear, what kind of cookies to I make, or, where can I find the biggest flat screen TV for the lowest price? The choices are how to live out our faith.  

How to live that faith in an attitude of repentance and conversion of heart, and to say with the psalmist:

 

“May his name be blessed forever;

as long as the sun his name shall remain. 

In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; 

all the nations shall proclaim

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The photos are some of the decoration in the Church of St. Casimir in Vilnius, Lithuania.  I was there during the Christmas season

+ Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

O Come Emmanuel: Homily for the 1st Sunday in Advent

 Veni, Veni Emmanuel!


Captivum solve Israel!

 

"O come o come Emmanuel!  

And ransom captive Israel!"

 

Despite being the first day of the new liturgical year, advent begins without fanfare on the first of the four Sundays before December 24th.  It ends with the joyful commemoration of Jesus’ flesh and blood arrival into this world. .  

Advent ends celebrating that Jesus, fully God and fully man, was born into and lived on the same planet, on which we live and breathe, study and work, celebrate and mourn.  

 

The word Advent derives from two Latin roots ad and venire which mean “to come to.”  But the literal translation of the roots does not convey the full meaning of Advent.  In his book Benedictus, Pope Benedict XVI explained that advent is the Latin translation of the Greek word parousia which means presence, but even more specifically means arrival.  

 

Arrival is the beginning of another’s presence, it is not the fullness of that presence. 

 

Consider a child. The moment a mother’s pregnancy is known the world changes never to return to what it was before even if the child is the victim of an abortion any time during term, even if the child is stillborn. The presence of that child in the world changes it for many.

 

A child’s presence is apparent with the first awareness that a woman is pregnant. Throughout pregnancy the child is present in the lives of his or her 

parents, grandparents, and others.  That presence ripples out as the date of birth nears.  The child’s  birth makes his or her presence known to the wider world, a presence that will ripple outward for the rest of his or her life. But, that presence is never complete, it is always in the process of becoming and evolving. 

 

Even after death the presence of another does not end.  Everyone in the world is being influenced by the presence of others  who are distant or dead.  

Parents.  Siblings. Teachers.  Mentors.  Friends.  And others.  Their presence influences how we live our lives.  Even when present only in memory they influence what we decide and how we act.  Their presence in our lives—be it tangible or remembered—may soothe and comfort us during times of stress. 

And sometimes that presence may be the source of continuing anxiety and pain.  No matter if it is comforting or painful, it is impossible NOT to respond to another’s presence.  Even “ignoring” that presence is responding to it.

 

Jesus’ presence is an advent presence. It is a presence that is always a “coming to,” a presence of "coming toward."  It is always dynamic.

 

During advent we recall that Jesus is present in this world and is always becoming newly present to this world,  He is present in our lives but also becoming newly present in our lives as much as we allow that presence. 

Jesus presence is always a becoming,  Advent recalls the beginning of His presence. but we have yet to experience the fullness of that presence. 

We will only know the fullness of Jesus' presence when death takes us from life to eternal life.  

 

Jesus is present in our  daily lives in three tangible ways.  We only have to look, listen, and taste, to experience that three-fold presence. 

 

He is present in the community of believers who participate in the prayers of the Church,most particularly in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  

 

Jesus is present in the words of the Gospel proclaimed in the assembly of believers or meditated upon in the silence of one’s room.

 

And, Jesus is present most tangibly, truly, and substantially in the Eucharist, 

the bread and wine, that will soon be consecrated, broken, and shared.   

 

Advent is not a countdown of shopping days until December 24.  Advent is not the time to prepare for a holiday.  Advent  is the time to prepare for a Holy Day. 

It is a time to prepare to commemorate the birth of the Messiah. The Christ, The Anointed One.  We are scanning the horizon for the star that announces the coming into the world of the Son of God, Son of David, and Son of Mary. 

We are awaiting the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace,  He who is like us in all things but sin. 

 

As we begin Advent we recall that Jesus came toward and into this world

to save it and to ransom us from sin and death.  Thus we pray. . . . 

 

Veni, Veni Emmanuel!


Captivum solve Israel!

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Continuing to revisit and reprocess photos.  Several years ago I was stranded for three days by a 17-inch snowfall at 2600 feet in the Green Mountains.  One of the great graces of that particular yera.  It was soft and there was no wind.  It descended and remained in place.  I had a 4-wheel drive vehicle while there.  No difficulty getting around.  

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Feast of Christ the King

2 Sm 5:1-3

Ps 121:1-5

Col 1:12-20

Lk 23:35-43

 

The Feast of Christ the King. was added to the Church calendar in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Given that Church history spans two millennia, ninety-seven years ago makes it a very new feast. Originally set for the last Sunday in October it was moved to the 34th Sunday of ordinary time, the final Sunday, of the Church year in 1969.  Next Sunday marks the beginning of Advent and a new liturgical year

with the Sunday Gospels coming mostly from Matthew rather than Luke.  It is significant that this feast  was moved to such a high profile position where it serves as a liturgical New Year's Eve as we begin the new cycle.  

 

While the first and second readings highlight images of kings the Gospel requires some thought, as far as kingly images go.   

 

The first reading told how the tribes of Israel anointed David as their king.  He was named king because he was able to rally the Israelites to conquer their enemies. Thus we heard, "it was you who led the Israelites out and brought them back." The kingly images in the psalm are more subtle.  However we hear of the strength of Jerusalem, the royal city, where stood the thrones of judgment of the house of David.  

 

The second reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians appears in the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a song of praise and gratitude to God for placing us in the Kingdom of his beloved Son who, through his obedience to the will of the Father,  

redeemed us from sin and death. Then comes Luke’s Gospel. 

 

What kind of King is Luke describing?  

 

Who is this king who is mocked by the criminal crucified next to him?

 

Who is this King of the Jews about whom Pilate wrote on the sign he hung on the cross: INRI Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum? Jesus the Nazarean King of the Jews.  

 

What kind of king is hung naked in front of a crowd?  

 

What kind of King is subjected to the most shameful form of execution possible?  

 

He is the King we are called to follow; if we choose to follow Him, if we have the courage to follow Him.  

 

The choice to follow Jesus the Eternal King is both conscious and deliberate. It is a choice we must make and renew on a regular basis.  We either choose to follow Jesus or we don't.  There is no alternative.  There is no partial commitment. No one can split loyalties between God and something else. 

 

Two early meditations in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola focus on the image of king and our choice to follow or not follow him. 

 

In the first meditation Ignatius instructs us to consider the characteristics of a good earthly king. That good king isn't lounging on his throne surrounded by hangers-on and yes-men. He is down in the dirt and dust with the rest of the people. He is sharing in their struggles, shoveling mud after a disaster, not standing around in a starched shirt and white construction helmet waiting for photo ops.

 

After considering a good earthly king, Ignatius directs us to contemplate Jesus, the Eternal King.  The King who is fully human and fully divine  who walked in the dust and the mud, who was soaked by rain and buffeted by wind, who sweated, shivered,  and learned carpentry.  The King who was--and still is--both loved and hated, who lived just as we do and who died just as we will.  

 

This King is Jesus who tells each of us, “Whoever wishes to join me must be willing to labor with me.”  At times that labor is neither pleasant nor easy.  While it is said “His yoke is easy and His burden is light”  it doesn't always seem that way.

 

In the second of the meditations, known as the meditation on the two standards, 

Ignatius instructs us to meditate on the choice that confronts all who call, or wish to call, themselves followers of Christ.  Under which of two standards, banners, or flags, are we going to live and die; the standard of Christor the standard of Satan? 

 

Do we choose Satan and the world or do we choose Christ and the Kingdom of God?  Do we choose the banner of the evil king or the banner of the Eternal King of the Universe? 

 

The choice is yes or no, black and white.  No one can have a foot in each camp.  

One’s loyalties cannot be split.  It is not a matter of following Jesus 

when it is convenient, safe, or socially acceptable only to follow Satan, the evil king, when it is more expedient.

 

St. Ignatius did not create anything unusual with these two meditations. Throughout the coming liturgical year Jesus will present us with the same choices many times over,in different ways.  Do we follow Jesus, the Eternal King, or do we not?  

 

Just as we make resolutions at the end of the old calendar year today, on the Feast of Christ the King, the final Sunday of the Church year and the cusp of a new one, we have the opportunity to choose.  We can choose to live and perish under the false values of this world of materialism, sensuality,  and a culture of death or we can choose to live and die under the banner of Jesus. The King who died to redeem us from sin and despair.

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The crypt in the Church of St. Casimir in Vilnius, Lithuania, is one of the most fascinating places I've ever shot.  I was in Vilnius for ten days to give retreats in a remote retreat house.  That was on weekends.  Stayed in the SJ community in Vilnius during the week.  Unfortunately the weather was dreadful with temps in the single digits Fahrenheit.  However, I made up for that in the church and the crypt. 

The church was built in the 17th century.  It had many iterations, was rebuilt, taken over by other religious groups and, in its last act before being reteurned to the Jesuits in 1988 was a the museum of atheism.  Only when returned to the Society was the crypt under the altar discovered.  I spend hours down there.  

The entrance to the crypt is the stairs behind the main altar.  The railing is at the end of the red carpet.

The wrought iron gates were unlocked I had them open, closed, and halfway between at various times. 

The yellow color cast was a mix of lighting and camera.  I prefer the shots in black and white. 

There is restoration underway, or at least here was.  There are five years old  

The relic of Jesuit Martyr St. Andrew Bobola, a Polish Jesuit who is considered the patron saint of Lithuania.  Boundaries were a little different in Bobola's time. 

Some of the walls are in better shape than others. 

I decided against opening any doors that were closed.  Part was fear of being locked in.  

The jaundiced look toned down just a bit.  But I still prefer the clack and white. 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD