When does the night end?

A rabbi asked his students: “How can we determine the hour of dawn, when the night ends and the day begins?” 

One of the rabbi’s students suggested: “When from a distance you can distinguish between a dog and a sheep?”  “No,”” was the answer from the rabbi.

        

“It is when one can distinguish between a fig tree and a grapevine?”  asked a second student.  “No,” said the rabbi. 

“Please tell us the answer then,” said the students.

“It is when,” said the wise teacher, “when you can look into the face of another human being and you have enough light in you to recognize your brother or your sister.  Until then it is night, and darkness is still with us.”

As you search for your sisters and brothers to help God’s light shine more brightly in our world, offer the Lord the burdens you are carrying because, “God is using your present circumstance to make you more useful for later roles in His unfolding story.”  [Louie Giglio] 

The most important thing you will do today is to do God’s will.

May God Be Praised!

Homily Cycle A 01-19-20

Mark Laidlow, a writer, said adding one short phrase to the second sentence of any book would increase readership and intensify intrigue in the work.  [#Laidlowsrule] We are going to take the first verse from the first book of the Bible [Genesis], “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Now using Mark’s suggestion, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  And then the murders began ….

Wow what a difference, Laidlaw’s recommendation certainly produces more intrigue and interest, BUT our Reading from Isaiah produces its own intrigue and interest because we [you & I] are called to be servants.  What does that mean, what does that entail?  We will explore that together.

Isaiah tells us that God is our strength and we will be a light to the nations, we will shine the Lord’s light in our troubled world.  A world increasingly darkened by sin and by “buffered selves” [Charles Taylor].  In our Responsorial Psalm, we sang “Here am I, Lord, I come to do Your will.”  Is doing God’s will your top priority?

In our second reading, St. Paul reminds us of our call to be holy, called by God to be holy, and to bring God’s light to the world.  In today’s Gospel John the Baptist called Jesus, “the Lamb of God.”  We are called to emulate the Lamb of God, that is the core of our servanthood, our discipleship.  In Aramaic lamb [talya] has several meanings: lamb, servant, slave, we are called to offer our lives to Jesus, the Son of God.  So, we are called to be lambs, servants and slaves of the Lord.

At the beginning of Mass, you heard that we are in “Ordinary Time” - that sounds boring, dull, uninteresting, ho-hum, BUT it is anything LIKE THAT!  Ordinary Time is spiritual strengthening time, spiritual muscle building time.

The Christmas hustle & bustle are behind us, Lent [February 26^th] and Easter [April 12th] are in front of us, so “Ordinary Time” is our opportunity to focus our daily lives on our spiritual enrichment and growth.  Ordinary Time is an opportunity for us to reflect the Light of Christ that we received at our Baptism to the world, by how we live.

 

 This past Friday at our School Mass I talked to the students and teachers about being Salt, about adding flavor, specifically Catholic flavor to our world and to do that by living our faith.  Not with Catholic stamped on our foreheads or our shirts, but in our actions. 

Martin Luther King Jr, two months before he was assassinated, preached about his funeral eulogy.  Here are some excerpts from his sermon,

“Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say.  I'd like someone to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like someone to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry… to clothe those who were naked… to visit those in prison… that I tried to love and serve humanity." He concluded with these words: I “… want to leave a committed life behind."  [www.Sermons.com]

Ordinary Time gives us a chance to reflect on our eulogy, what we would like said about us and how we lived.  Take a few minutes to reflect on what you are really committed too.

May God Be Praised!

In the book of Genesis, we learned that God said, “I will bless you”, and when we were Baptized the priest or deacon blessed us with the sign of the cross on our foreheads. He, then, asked our parents and godparents to do the same.  God continues to bless us every day.

St. Matthew wrote, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.  You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

 

St. Francis de Sales said, “Be who you are and be it well.”  We are children of God, and our spiritual job is to flavor the world with the love of Christ and allow His light to shine through our actions the loving, caring, kindness we share with the world.

Today bless those you meet with the flavor of Jesus and brighten their day with the light of Christ.

May God Be Praised!

Stephen Covey’s book “Everyday Greatness” points out “… occasionally the world witnesses a heroic feat or discovers a person with truly rare and

remarkable talent.” (Celebrations, 11-16-08)

 Covey said that most people are aware of another type of greatness that rarely makes the evening news … everyday greatness.  Everyday greatness is a way of living ….  For us a life lived for Christ and His Kingdom!

A few years ago, my roommate from college shared a powerful story with me, his name is Bill Baillie.  At Mass on All Saints Day his parish priest shared a story, the priest was talking about Saints to the parish school children and they were sharing many examples: Peter, Paul, Mary, etc.

 

One youngster asked if you had to be dead to be a saint?  He said people don’t become saints ‘til they are dead.  The young man said the man next store is a “holy man” and he is not dead! 

Are you a holy woman or man?  The Sermon on the Mount is the blueprint for sainthood.  Faith in Jesus Christ cannot be understood or lived without risk, our faith calls us to: care, give, witness, trust, love and hope.

We cannot do that without taking risks, and living the Beatitudes involves great risks.  St. Paul challenged the Thessalonians and us to stay alert.  Discipleship is hard and difficult work, which often involves tough choices; it demands our best effort and our total self.

Today we are reminded that all of our gifts, all of our talents have been given to us for God’s Kingdom.  It is up to us to figure out how to best use them for the Kingdom, knowing full well that someday we will answer to Jesus about our use of those talents!

May God Be Praised!

You and I are called to His supper.  How grateful and privileged we are to be at the Lord’s table, knowing full well that we are not worthy to be there.

Jesus invites us anyway to heal us and show us God’s love!  What are we to do?

We are to make Jesus Christ the primary focus of our live.  We are to make the Light in the world visible by our lives.  We are to become holy!  We are to become saints!  We are to shape our lives with the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us!

Let me share this story, “The night the television set is switched off” by Elissa Ely.  “In the downtown shelter, the large television set is always on.

Shutting it off is like tampering with another country’s flag.  Lesser acts have led to war.

But one humid night, a staff member turned the television off.  Everyone was stunned.  Two women stood at the front of the room …. Each unstrapped a case, lifted out a stringed instrument and started to tune it.

They … played a Mozart duet, some Telemann, a Bulgarian folk tune.  They didn’t know the people they were playing for at the shelter.  News of the concerts spread and the audiences grew.

The musicians were professionals from the Boston Symphony.  One Wednesday a month the television set at the shelter is turned off and the concert begins….  For a couple of hours – the forgotten, the lost, the desperate, the addicted, and those who struggle to help them – are all the same.”  (Connections, January 16, 2011)

John the Baptist challenges us to behold the Lamb of God in our midst, to see and hear the compassion of God in our lives, to uncover God’s grace in our world.

May God Be Praised!

Prayer and the World Today

Paul Harvey said, “In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these.”  
 [Radio Broadcaster]

We need to pray today not more than ever, but we still need to pray.

Here are two insights on prayer from St. Francis de Sales that can help us.

His insight on our focus when we pray. 

"If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently and replace it tenderly in its Master's presence.

And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back and place it again in Our Lord's presence, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed."

“Don’t lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”

I shared Reinhold Niebuhr’s version of the Serenity Prayer with Brain and Laurie, I wrote “Brian continue to TRUST in God who is leading you and carrying Laurie in her recovery.  While the path before you looks like foggy, the Holy Spirit is clearing your way and God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit will walk with Laurie and you during Phase 4.  Jesus wants you to know He is with you, Do not be afraid.”  Love Mom & Dad

 “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.  Amen

Father in heaven, hear our prayers.  Help us to know your will and to do it with love and care.

May God Be Blessed

The Gift of Friendship

“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter: he that has found one has found a treasure.  There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence.”  [Sirach 6:14-15]

 

“After a failed attempt to climb the infamous K-2, Greg Mortenson was saved by the villagers of the isolated, impoverished village of Korphe.  Mortenson returned their kindness by raising the funds to build a school for the village.

Greg learned an important lesson as he began his work.  With typical American gung-ho intensity, Greg was driving the villagers crazy with his meticulous orders and demands to work faster, harder and better. 

Finally, the village chief, a wise man Haji Ali, pulled Greg aside for tea.  As he poured the hot brew, he gave the young American this advice: If you want to survive in here you must respect our ways.  The first time you share tea with one of us, you are a stranger.  The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest.  The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family…. ‘We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly.’  Haji Ali taught me … to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. 

Jesus taught us that building relationships w/ love and trust is what Jesus’ disciples do!  The gift of God’s grace will be more apparent when we share three cups of tea, with those we want to help!" [Three Cups of Tea [Connections, September 2008]

 

St. Francis deSales advises us, “… judge with charity all that you see others doing.  When that is not possible, excuse them and pray for them.”  

Building relationships based on TRUST and LOVE takes time and energy.  Slow down a little today and look for God’s love around you, maybe even have three cups of tea.      

May God Be Blessed.