Last year at this time
the Eagles were 8 and 1, this year they are 4 and 5, last year Eagles fans hoped
for a championship, this year their hopes are fading fast. Hope for a Championship is not the kind of
HOPE that today’s readings point too!
In 1983 Anne Murray
recorded “A Little Good News”, the refrain from that song was, “We sure could
use a little good news today.” That is just
as true today, bad news is reported everywhere and constantly on TV, Radio, the
Internet and Social Media.
There are three theological
virtues: Faith, Hope & Love /Charity.
Faith – the belief in
God, Hope – the desire for God’s Kingdom, and
Love/Charity – love of
God & love of neighbor. It is
important to note, Hope is an
act of the will.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines hope as "the theological virtue
by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust
in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit." (CCC 1817)
Fr. Brennan Manning
tells the story of an Irish priest who, on a walking tour of a rural parish,
sees an old peasant kneeling by the side of the road, praying. Impressed, the priest says to the man,
"You must be very close to God." The peasant looks up from his prayers, thinks
a moment, and then smiles, "Yes, he's very fond of me." Sermon Resources for May
Brett Blair, www.Sermons.com Adapted from Phillip Yancey, What's So Amazing
about Grace? [Pp. 68-69]
God is fond of each one of us, think about that, the God who created
the Universe is fond of you!
Today
we celebrate 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus teaches His
disciples - including us – His story of HOPE and tells them and us to tell it to
others. God sent the Holy Spirit as a
sign of the Faith He gives us, the
Hope He has in us, and the Love He wants us to share.
In our
Responsorial Psalm we just sang, “You are my inheritance, O Lord!” Do you believe that the Lord is your most
valuable inheritance, your most important inheritance?
In the
Letter to the Hebrews we learned, “Where
there is forgiveness … there is no longer offering for sin.” And in Mark’s Gospel Jesus shares some of
“the end” times, a.k.a. “the apocalypse” [which means unveiling], the time when
His Kingdom will be fulfilled.
Only one
person can give us comfort in our times of trouble and trial – Jesus Christ! Fr. Ha offered this prayer on our behalf at
the beginning of Mass – “Grant us … the constant gladness of being devoted to
You, to serve with constancy the author of all that is good.” [Collect, Sunday 11/18/18]
Jesus
tells us how to learn the lesson from the fig tree; to know when summer is
coming, how I wish that season were
coming soon rather than winter. But
the Summer of our Spiritual lives can occur anytime if we nurture and tend to
the garden of the soul.
Next
Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King and our liturgical year will end on
December 1, 2018. Our new liturgical
year will begin on December 2 with Advent.
Today’s liturgy encourages us to spend some time tending the garden of
our spiritual lives; we can do that by making Advent a time of spiritual growth.
“We do
not know the hour” no ones knows it except the Father; so we should get our
spiritual home, our spiritual heart, our spiritual lives in order. Then we will be ready when the Kingdom is fulfilled.
For a
few minutes, in silence, think about what housekeeping, what gardening you need
to do?
May
God Be Praised!
