Yes: Homily for Feast of the Holy Family

Lk 2:22-40

Jesus was born into a family.  We must never forget that.  He did not magically skip the human birth process which is dangerous and messy under the best of circumstances. He did not shift his shape at will.  He did not wreak havoc on earth and then return to some mountaintop.  Unlike pagan small 'g' gods, Jesus was born into and lived on the same earth where we now live, and did so in the same way we do.  He grew through infancy, childhood, adolescence,

and into adulthood.  Only after becoming an adult did he begin his public ministry. 

 

What we would call Jesus' "nuclear" family was small.  However, it is important to remember that the Ancient Near Eastern concept of family was different than it is today.  That is hinted at in today's gospel.

 

He was part of a large extended family. He was part of the House of David.  

 

We are not always certain what references to his brothers, sisters, and cousins mean or if they can be translated into contemporary terms. Even today the use of brother or sister in the U.S. must be put into context at times as we do not always use brother or sister to refer to someone with whom we parentage.

 

Jesus was born into and emerged from a particular milieu.  He lived in a specific geographic place, during a specific time in history, and in a particular religious-social setting. The world of the Holy Family was governed by the religious traditions and laws of Israel.  They were observant of those laws, both religious and civil.  Thus, Mary and Joseph made the arduous ninety mile journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' birth to be counted in the census ordered by the emperor. 

 

The late Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner made an important observation about Jesus being born into, and coming of age within, a family.  He wrote, (Jesus) “came into the world the same way we did in order to come to terms with the given facts of human existence, and to begin to die”  

 

". .  . to come to terms with the given facts of human existence, and to begin to die."  

 

So it is for all of us.  At some point we have to come to terms with the given facts of our existence.  We must come to terms with the fact that we,  and those whom we love,  must die.

 

We know nothing of Jesus' youth or family life.  In the Spiritual Exercises,

Ignatius refers to the decades between His birth and public ministry as the hidden life of Jesus. In today's Gospel we hear of Jesus' Presentation in the Temple, a ritual in accord with the religious customs and laws of Israel.  Later we will hear of Jesus at the age of twelve,  the only narrative of Jesus' life from His birth until he began his public ministry. 

 

It seems reasonable to assume that Joseph died before Jesus began his public ministry.  How old was he when Joseph died?  How did that affect him? How did it change the relationship between Jesus and His mother.

 

We know nothing about the daily life, routines, conversation, or even the eating habits of the Holy Family.  But we do know they observed the laws of Israel.

And we have their example of obedience to God's will. 

 

We have the example of Mary’s yes, a yes that changed the history of the world. A yes that still echoes throughout the universe and will continue echo even after the universe has ended. 

 

We have the example of Joseph’s silent yes to the angel who instructed him: “Do not fear to take Mary as your wife . . .”  and who later instructed him to flee to Egypt.   Joseph's assent, was manifest wordlessly by his actions.

 

We have the examples of Jesus' obedience within the structure of his family. We will hear the Gospel describing Jesus being lost in the Temple.  It ends with: “He went down with them to Nazareth, and was obedient to them.” 

 

And we have Jesus' "yes" in the Garden of Gethsemane where He offered his total obedience to God the Father as He prayed,  “if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” 

 

As we commemorate the Holy Family, as we contemplate how they responded yes to the will of God, we pray that we will always respond with Mary's yes, 

fiat mihi secundum tuum; “may it be done unto me according to your word.” 

 

We pray that we have the strength to quietly do what needs to be done in the manner of Joseph.

 

And finally we pray that we always respond with Jesus' words, “Not my will but thine."  

 

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The photos are of the Christmas Market in Ljubljana.  It is a temporary outdoor market that is much much much more pleasant than Target or the horrors of a mall.  

 

 

Have a Blessed New Year

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Christmas In Outer Space: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent

 

O Emmanuel, 

Rex et legifer noster, 

exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos Domine Deus noster.

 

“O Emmanuel, 

God with us, our King and lawgiver, 

the expected of the nations and their Savior: 

come to save us, O Lord our God.”

 

Last night at evening prayer, the Church throughout the world, recited the last of the seven “O Antiphons” that introduce and close Mary’s Magnificat.  In so doing we finished the Latin anagram that tells us: ERO CRAS: Tomorrow I come. Tomorrow I am there. Tomorrow I will be.  It is an important moment in the Church’s liturgical life, one that is not emphasized enough today.   Indeed, many are oblivious to the “ O Antiphons” that, in the past, were chanted at vespers with great solemnity.

 

This year is a bit unusual.  We have had the shortest advent possible. This evening around 4:00 PM we begin the Great Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord commemorating that Jesus Christ, true God and true man, was born into and onto this world, the same world on which we live and die.  As we stand on the cusp of the Feast, try to put the sloppy sentimental images out of your head.  Banish images of those annoying chubby angels hovering over an antiseptic creche. Mary was not clad in blue and white watered silk encrusted with rhinestones. And there were no halos emanating a soft glow.  

 

What we call "The Christmas Story" does not end with the angels' Hosanna, in Excelsis.  The Christmas Story is barely the beginning of the story of our redemption.  

There was much to be endured and suffered before the final chapter, before the story of our salvation through Jesus' saving act would be written. The Feast of the Nativity of the Lord is a human and humane one.  We can identify with Mary and Joseph as young parents who struggled just as we do today, who were as stressed as we are, and experienced the same emotions of fear and anxiety,  joy and sorrow, that we experience on a daily basis.   Mary and Joseph knew the same struggle and uncertainty that we are living today. Carve out some quiet time during this feast and meditate on their story. It may be very revealing. 

 

An oftentimes ignored part of the journey to Bethlehem was its difficulty.  Bethlehem is 90 miles from Nazareth.  Despite the sappy greeting cards showing Mary, Joseph, and a donkey traveling alone guided only by a star, no couple in its right mind would have traveled alone without the protection of a caravan.  Robbery, abduction, and death at the hands of brigands were as much a risk then as mugging, robbery, and death are now for one foolish enough to wander deserted city streets at 3:00 AM.  Given the distance and impossibility of covering more than twenty or so miles per day, the journey to Bethlehem required at least six days, and probably more. It would not have been easy for a woman nearing term.

 

There is no room for Santa Claus, whiskey-filled advent calendars, or ugly Christmas sweaters in this version of the story.  There is room to think back to Apollo 8, the first manned space mission to leave the confines of earth orbit.  Between December 21 and 27, 1968 Astronauts Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and mission commander Frank Borman orbited the moon without landing.  The moon landing would come a few months later on July 16, 1969.

 

In a live broadcast from their space capsule on Christmas Eve 1968--55 years ago today--each of the astronauts read part of the Creation narrative from Genesis chapters 1-10 while orbiting the moon.  Borman commented "One of the things that was truly historic was that we got that good Catholic Bill Anders to read from the King James Version.”  That reading caused Madalyn Murray O'Hair, a chronically angry, cranky, dyspeptic and notoriously nasty atheist, to sue the U.S. government claiming that the astronauts were in violation of the first amendment.  The Supreme Court dismissed the suit explaining that the court lacked jurisdiction.   

 

As part of the broadcasts, Borman, who just died on November 7 at age 95 read a prayer that he wrote for the occasion.  His prayer is even more relevant and necessary today than it was then. 

 

“Give us, O God, the vision 

which can see Your love in the world 

in spite of human failure.

 

Give us the faith

to trust Your goodness 

in spite of our ignorance and weakness.

 

Give us the knowledge

that we may continue to pray 

with understanding hearts.

 

And show us what each one of us can do 

to set forward

the coming of the day

of universal peace.”      

 

And thus we pray:

Veni veni Emmanuel

captivum solve Israel.    

 

____________________________________________

 

The photos are from Ljubljana during Advent and Christmas 2016.  One of the great experiences of my life.  Would have been happy to stay indefinitely. 

 

                                      

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

 

Is 61:1-2, 10-11

1Thes 5:16-24

Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

 

Gaudete in Domino semper,

iterum dice gaudete. 

Dominus enim prope est.

 

“Rejoice in the Lord always;

again I say rejoice! 

The Lord is near.” 

 

Gaudete, the first word of the entrance antiphon for the 3^rd Sunday of Advent, means “rejoice” and gives the 3^rd Sunday of Advent its traditional name: Gaudete Sunday.  Now that Advent is half over.  we begin to rejoice because in the words of the antiphon:  Dominus enim prope est:  “The Lord is near.”  The Lord is very near. 

 

Only one more Sunday stands between us and the great feast of the Nativity of the Lord; the feast on which we recall and celebrate that Jesus was born into this world,  the same world in which we now live and breathe.  study and work, rejoice and mourn.  We celebrate because Jesus, fully divine and fully human, like us in all things but sin, walked and worked on this same planet.  We rejoice because through his incarnation and birth, His life, passion, and death, His resurrection and ascension to the Father, He brought us forgiveness of sins, and opened the gates to life everlasting.  The readings highlight the sense of rejoicing.

 

From the first:

 

            I rejoice heartily in the Lord,

in my God is the joy of my soul

for he has clothed me with the robe of salvation

 

The responsorial is from Luke’s Gospel

 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for He has looked with favor on his lowly servant

 

We have been favored; we have been blessed by Christ coming into the world to redeem us from our sins.  The only possible response to such blessing is to heed Paul’s advice: “Rejoice always.” “Pray without ceasing.”  “In all circumstances give thanks.”

 

Our rejoicing will increase  gradually over the coming days until the Gloria in excelsis Deo  of Christmas explodes throughout the universe.  Beginning today at evening prayer or vespers the Church’s anticipatory joy moves to another level as priests, monks, nuns, and legions of lay people who pray the Divine Office

will chant or recite the first of the seven ancient “O Antiphons” that introduce and conclude the Magnificat, Mary’s exquisite prayer of praise and thanksgiving that begins.

 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

My spirit rejoices in God my savior.

For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant

 

The antiphons are called the “O” antiphons because each one begins with the word “O”  followed by a title for the Messiah. Each refers to Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah. This evening we will say: 

 

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti . . .

 

“O Wisdom, O holy Word of God. 

You govern all creation with strong yet tender care. 

Come and show your people the way to salvation.”  

 

On December 23 we will chant or recite:

 

“O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver,

desire of the nations,

Savior of all people, come and set us free,

Lord our God.”

 

Latin is crucial to understanding the O Antiphons,  their reason for being, and the poetic artistry behind them. 

 

Taken together they form a teaching on the history of salvation in Christ. that refers to the liturgical texts of Christmas Day.  They prepare us for the great feast to come. They also contain a secret message in the form of an anagram. The titles for He Who is to Come are:

 

O Sapientia                           O Wisdom    

O Adonai                               O Mighty Lord

O Radix Jesse                      O Root of Jesse

O Clavis David                      O Key of David

O Oriens                               O Dawn of the East                                    

O Rex Gentium                     O King of the Nations

O Emmanuel                         O Emmanuel

 

The secret message appears in Latin.  When the titles are arranged vertically

from first to last and the letter following the “O” is read from bottom to top we find the Latin anagram:  Ero Cras

 

Tomorrow I will be.

Tomorrow I will be there.

Tomorrow I will come.        

 

The Messiah was foretold by the prophets.  He was announced by John the Baptist who is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments.  John was a herald, the voice crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord;”  He was the one who had to decrease as Jesus increased. 

 

The time of waiting is ending.  Very soon, purple vestments will be replaced by white.

 

O Come Emmanuel will be replaced by O Come All Ye Faithful.  

 

Anxious waiting will be replaced by unfettered joy.

 

Gaudete in Domino semper,

iterum dice gaudete. 

Dominus enim prope est.

 

“Rejoice in the Lord always;

again I say rejoice! 

The Lord is near.”  

_________________________________________________

 

Stained glass is a particular favorite topic of photos.  These are from several places in the world from Boston to Slovenia.  

Jesuit Chapel in Loyola Spain

Church of St. Georges in Lyon, France

A vent window in a confessional at St. Ignatius Church in Boston.  Much smaller than it looks.

Private Mass chapel at the Charterhouse in Pleterje, Slovenia.

One of five stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of the Blessed Mother in the chapel in St. Mary's Hall Jesuit Residence at Boston College.

 

Comfort Ye: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent

 

Is 40:1-5, 9-11

Ps 85

2Pt 3:8-14

Mk 1:1-8

 

We are now in the thick of what can be called the High Season of Handel’s Messiah.  Over the next weeks it will be performed magnificently by groups such as Boston Baroque, Handel and Hayden Society, Voces 8, and others.  It will be brutalized by other organizations.  It will be performed  by small chamber choirs or a cast of thousands.  Though not written as a “Christmas piece” todays first reading is a partial explanation for the popularity of performing this magnificent composition at Christmas.

The first lines of the reading from Isaiah are the very first words sung after the overture: 

“Comfort ye my people . . . .”

 

Much of the first reading makes up the opening arias, recitatives, and the first of the magnificent choruses “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed . . . “  The final verses of the first reading appears as the gentle and deeply consoling aria or duet,  depending on the performance practices, “He Shall Feed His Flock.”  When the new year begins

on the First Sunday of Advent the Church enters into a new cycle of Sunday readings.

Last week we began Year B, during which the gospel readings will come mostly from the Gospel of Mark.

 

No matter the cycle the second and third Sundays of Advent are always about John the Baptist and his message. John proclaimed Jesus’ coming while describing himself as unworthy to untie Jesus’ sandals.  He was a kinsman of Jesus.  Though the degree of kinship is not clear  the magnificent first chapter of Luke’s Gospel describes the first encounter between John and Jesus at Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth when we read.

“. . . and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit cried out in a loud voice and said ‘Most Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leapt for joy.”  Who was this herald? 

 

In paintings John is depicted as something between a drugged out hippie and a wild-eyed lunatic, dressed in animal skins and consuming a diet that, by American standards, may be considered inedible, except for a few bizarre shows on the Food Channel, Discovery, and their ilk.

 

There is credible testimony about John from multiple sources  including the Antiquities of Josephus.  An historian who lived from about A.D. 37 to 100 Josephus was neither Jewish nor Christian.   He wrote the following about John: “He was a good man and exhorted the Jews to lead righteous lives, to practice justice toward their fellows and piety toward God, and in so doing to join in baptism.”  He continued, “In John’s view this was a necessary preliminary if baptism were to be acceptable to God.  They must not employ baptism to gain pardon for their sins, but as a consecration of the body.” 

 

John was not quite the proto-hippie many picture him to be.  His wardrobe was no different from that of any other desert dweller.  The fur animal skins were necessary during cold desert nights.  His diet had nothing to do with radical vegetarianism or veganism. It had to do with the need to maintain ritual dietary purity.  His dress and diet are, however, irrelevant.

 

His message, on the other hand is as relevant to us as it was to the ancient Judeans

who sought him out.  As Josephus noted, he “exhorted the Jews to lead righteous lives, to practice justice toward their fellows and piety toward God.”  Justice toward their fellows and piety toward God.  Obviously, neither  the message of faith and justice nor the contrary behavior is new. 

 

We hear in in the Letter of James, a letter which is not proclaimed nearly enough, “Be doers of the word not hearers only; deluding yourselves.”  And a bit later, “What good is it if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can that faith save him?”  Just proclaiming “I have faith” or “I believe in Jesus’ is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. 

Proclaiming that one has faith in Jesus without acting on and living out that faith, is not a free pass. 

 

Given the uncompromising nature of his message it is no wonder that John is depicted as deranged or wild-eyed.  It is easier to bash the messenger for dressing funny or being politically incorrect than it is to take the demands of the message to heart and live it out. 

 

The choices of Advent are not what should I buy Ethel for Christmas, should I send a card to the Johnsons, or where can I find the least expensive 72-inch flat screen television? The choices are how to live out our faith in an attitude of repentance and conversion of heart so that we can say with the psalmist:

 

“I will hear what God proclaims;

the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.

Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,

glory dwelling.”

 

 

Besides the photos there is a YouTube video of a complete performance of Handel’s Messiah by Voces 8.  I’ve heard many performances over the years, mostly live, but this is one of the best I’ve ever heard.  Every word is intelligible. The soloists are members of the chorus rather than “hired guns.” 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3qb6tP7DLA&t=1866s

 

The photos are from Ljubljana at Christmas 2016.  The first is "the straw Nativity."  I was unaware until one of the men asked if I were going to see it.  It is very large.   The others are the lights of LJ for Christmas.  Miss that place terribly. 

 

 

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

Ecce Ancilla Domini: Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

 

Gn 3:9-15,20

Ps 98:1-4

Eph 1:3-6, 11-12

Lk 1:26-38

 

The Immaculate Conception of Mary, Mother of Jesus was declared dogma by Pius IX in 1854. The dogma states that "from the first moment of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race,  Mary was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin."  

 

The dogma has a long and controversial  history that stretches back centuries.  Reading any historical accounts gives the impression that compared to the 12th and 13th century debates about the Immaculate Conception contemporary debates on global warming are pleasant, civilized, and cordial.  Much of the debate centered on determining the moment in which Mary's soul was sanctified. Was it before, during or after her soul entered her body? But rather than focusing on metaphysics we do better to focus on the scriptural text and its meaning for us today.  

 

The readings from Genesis and Luke’s narrative of the Annunciation form a set of parentheses within which we live and breathe even now.  The two readings describe: Action and reaction.  Doing and undoing.  Disobedience and obedience. 

 

The sin of Adam and Eve probably had nothing to do with an actual apple or any other kind of fruit.  But, the apple is a good example

suggesting how easy and convenient it is to sin. Think about it.

Few fruits are as easy to eat as an apple. Pluck it off the tree and bite.  Unlike a grape it is large enough to  share with a friend.  There is no significant waste.  Bananas must be peeled.  Pineapple needs a lot of prep with a machete. Mango skin burns.  The less said about durian the better.

 

An apple is the original fast food, and, to suit modern sensibilities, is a healthy snack as well. But the story of the fall from grace is not about a cursed Macintosh or temptation through Golden Delicious. It is about something much more profound.

 

The interchange with the serpent about the fruit of the tree in the center of the garden, indeed, the entire narrative is about something complex and uniquely human. That something is free will, a gift and a burden given to and carried by no lower animal.  Free will. The ability to say yes or no.  The choice to obey or disobey.  The opportunity to accept or reject.

 

Human sin turns on the axis of obedience and disobedience that we just heard in the reading from the ancient Book of Genesis.  Eve chose radical disobedience despite being aware of the injunction not to eat the fruit of the tree.  It took little persuasion or trickery on the part of the serpent for Eve to freely chose to eat the fruit and share it with Adam who, through his free choice to partake carries the same degree of blame.  The ancient author of Genesis understood human nature well.  He knew how little persuasion we need to choose sin.  It is almost laughable. 

 

The contrast between Eve's disobedience and Mary's obedience could not be more dramatic.  Only because she was preserved

from original sin, could Mary's "yes" be perfect.  There was fear and confusion on Mary's part.  We hear it in her words in the Gospel, “How can this be?”  How can this be?  

 

What went through her mind when she heard the angel's message?  What thoughts went through her mind as she said these words? 

The answers to these speculative questions matter not at all because we hear her yes.  We hear the yes that changed: the history of the world, the course of the universe, and everything beyond into eternity. 

 

Mary’s fiat echoes through the universe more loudly than the summed volume of all the bombs ever dropped in the 20th century,

the bloodiest century in history. 

 

Mary's yes mutes the sound of the planes that attacked Pearl Harbor

on December 7, 1941, eighty-two years and one day ago, that day that will live in infamy.

 

The yes of She who is the Immaculate Conception will continue to echo throughout the universe, even after the universe has ended. 

If you listen carefully you can hear that yes even now:

 

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.”

 

Holy Mary, Mother of God

pray for us sinners now

and at the hour of our death. 

 

______________________________________________

Twelve years ago today, 7 December, I was in ICU at Washington Hospital Center having just had a quadruple bypass.  Uneventful recovery.  A month later I went back for a check-up.  As soon as it was over I went over to the Shrine to pray for a while.  

 

These photos are from a visit a few years ago when I celebrated a Mass in Slovenian.  

 

 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!"

 

The first day of Advent is the first day of the new Church year.   Advent begins without fanfare on the first of the four Sundays before December 24th.  This year we have the uncommon situation in which the fourth Sunday of Advent is on December 24.  The morning Masses will be for that Sunday. At 4 PM on December 24 we begin the Christmas Vigil.  Unlike the quiet beginning Advent ends with the joyous commemoration of Jesus’ birth, the commemoration of Jesus’ flesh and blood arrival in this world.  Advent ends with the commemoration that Jesus, fully God and fully man, was born into and lived on this planet, the same place where we now live and breathe, study and work, celebrate and mourn. 

 

The word Advent Comes from the Latin roots ad and venire which mean “to come to.”  But that simple translation does not convey the reality of Advent.  Pope Benedict XVI explained that advent is the 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. This is why Christmas cannot stand alone as an event unrelated to the rest of salvation history.

 

Consider a child. The birth of a baby is only the beginning of his or her presence, a presence that will permanently change and shape the family. In truth, and very much like Advent,  the presence of a child begins well before birth. The moment a pregnancy is known the world of the family changes.

And that world never returns to what it was before, even if the child is the victim of an abortion.

 

The presence of another in our lives is never complete, it is always in the process of becoming, reforming, and reshaping. It is always evolving. It is also crucial to recall that the presence of another in our lives does not end even if he or she has died. Even now everyone in this church 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.  That presence helps determine what we decide and how we act, what we believe and what we reject.  Their presence in our lives may soothe and comfort us during times of stress. Conversely it may also be the source of continuing anxiety and pain. 

 

It is impossible not to respond to another’s presence.  Even “ignoring” another’s presence is to respond to it in a negative fashion.

 

Jesus’ presence is an advent presence. Jesus' presence is always a “coming to,” it is always a "coming toward" “a coming to and into.” 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 and oftentimes in response to how and where our lives are moving. Jesus presence is always a becoming, it is always the beginning of His presence. The fullness of Jesus' presence will only be known to us when death moves us from life to eternal life. 

 

Jesus’ presence in our lives is a triple presence.  We only have to look, listen, and taste, to experience that triple presence.

 

Jesus is present in the community of believers when the Church prays as one,

most particularly in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. 

 

Jesus is present in the words of the Gospel whether it is proclaimed in the assembly of believers or if it is read in the silence of our room.

 

And, Jesus is present most tangibly, in his true and substantial presence in the Eucharist, in His real presence in the bread and wine, which will soon be consecrated, broken, and shared.  

 

Advent is not a preparation for a holiday.  Advent is preparation for a Holy Day. We are preparing to commemorate the birth of the Messiah, the anointed one. We are scanning the horizon for the star that announces the birth of the Son of God, Son of David, and Son of Mary. We are awaiting the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace, the One who is like us in all things but sin.

 

As we begin Advent we recall that Jesus came into this world to save it and ransom us from sin and death.  Thus, as instructed in today’s Gospel,

we are to remain  “watchful and alert.”

 

Veni, Veni Emmanuel!


Captivum solve Israel!

 

_____________________________________________________

After seeing too many ads for "advent calendars" that rewarded the devout with a different type of whiskey each day, it seemed reasonable to give a homily on the meaning of advent, a meaning totally divorced from single malt.  Secularization or sacrilege I'm still not sure.  Perhaps the two are synonyms.  

 

Today is the Feast (for Jesuits) of Francis Xavier, one of the greatest missionaries in history.  As I am back in Pennsylvania for the first time in five years, I will not be home for any of the celebration.   Returning on Wednesday AM.  

 

The photos are from Vermont.  I could definitely use some snow this winter.    While the first three are quite obvious, sheer winter beauty, the last is a shot through the side mirror of the SUV I use when I am up there. 

 

 Fr. Jack, SJ, MD