Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  A very merry Christmas to all of you.  What a day of joy and celebration.  The Word became flesh.  Jesus Christ is born.  God has sent his son to be with us.  No longer is God far, distant, or remote.  He’s right here.  He’s with us.  Emmanuel.

Deep in the heart of every human being there is a great longing for God.  Why?  Because God made us.  And, he made us to be in union with him forever.  So, whether we are passionate followers of Jesus, or complete unbelievers, there is still a longing for God in every human heart.  Personally, I think this is why just about everyone loves Christmas.  Ok sure, there are a few Grinch-like outliers who don’t like Christmas, but most of us like it.  If I asked you to list the reasons why you like it, we might get different answers.  Maybe: cake, cookies, candy, presents, cookies, family, cookies, etc.  And all these things are wonderful and great.  But, I think part of the reason that we all love Christmas so much is that deep down we all realize the truth: we love Christmas because it means that God is with us.  We were made by God and for God, and Christmas means that now we are with God.  This little baby in the manger changes everything.

This little baby in the manger is God, he is the Word, he is the beloved Son.  God is with us.  But, one thing I find fascinating is the fact that Jesus became human, but he did so as a little baby.  He is like us in all things but sin.  Even in his birth.  So, here he is, the divine son of God, as a helpless, tiny infant, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  How unbelievable!  The divine Son of God, a helpless infant.  Think about it, here is the Word of God, but he cannot even speak.  We all know that babies can sure make a lot of noise, but they cannot speak.  But, even though this baby cannot use words, he still speaks to us.

This baby says a lot just by being there.  This baby says: God loves us.  God has never forgotten us.  Even in our most difficult days, God is near to us.  Emmanuel, God is with his people.  Just lying there in the manger, this baby speaks volumes about the tremendous love and mercy of God.

And, I don’t think it is an accident that he is lying in a manger.  What is a manger?  It’s basically the feeding trough for animals.  It would contain grains or hay, or whatever else animals eat.  And Jesus, the Word of God is laying in a manger, a place for eating.

When I look at the manger, with Jesus in it, I cannot help but think about this holy altar.  Not a feeding trough, but a table.  And what’s on it?  Not the baby Jesus per se, but the Holy Eucharist.  The Eucharist is Christ.  Just as the baby Jesus couldn’t speak with words, but tells us an awful lot about God’s love.  The same with the Eucharist.  The Eucharist doesn’t speak with words, but it tells the exact same story that the baby Jesus tells.  God loves us.  God is with us.  He is not far, he is not distant.  He is right here.  Jesus is God with us.  The Eucharist is God with us.

In the heart of every human being there is a longing for God.  When we see this manger we are filled with joy because we know that God is close to us.  But, really, every time we walk into this church and see the altar, we should get that same sense of Joy.  The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  But, he has never departed.  That Word continues to dwell with us here, in this and every holy Mass.

As we celebrate this Mass, with great Joy.  We remember Christ, born to be our savior.  He came to give his life for us, and he continues to give himself to us in the Holy Eucharist. 

Joseph, man of prayer

4^th Sunday of Advent year A 2016:

During this season of Advent we have been talking all about prayer.  We’ve discussed what prayer is all about, obstacles to prayer, different prayer styles.  But, today, I want to talk about putting prayer into action.

Today we hear about Joseph.  Notice, I said we hear about Joseph, because we don’t actually hear any words from Joseph.  I find it interesting that the gospel never records and words from his mouth, but we certainly see his actions.  His actions speak louder than words.  He is a great example for us.  I think what we hear about Joseph in this story can give us a great plan for growing in our prayer and in our life of faith.

First, we hear that he is a righteous man.  He was going to divorce her quietly.  This is because if Mary had been found with child out of wedlock, she could have been stoned for her “crimes.”  But, Joseph wasn’t that kind of person.  Joseph was merciful.  This is the first thing we learn about him.  We find out that he is merciful and righteous.

Next, we learn that he has a great life of prayer.  Why do I say that?  Because, he literally hears from God.  He hears from an angel in a dream what he is supposed to do.  In other words, he receives direction and guidance from God.  Now, he certainly received it in an amazing way.  But, we learn from this story that Joseph was in communication with God.

Finally, Joseph shows that he is a man of great faith, not by what he says, but by what he does.  As I’ve said, no one would have blamed him for separating from Mary.  But, rather he trusts in the message of the angel, and he follows the instructions he received.  Joseph believed, and this belief turned into his actions.  He heard a message from God, and he carried it out.

I think I said last week, the difference between a goal and a wish is a plan.  I think most of us would say that we would like to trust God more.  I hear it often in the confessional: I need to put more trust in God.  But, that is just a wish unless we have a plan.  So, what is the plan?  Just to be like Joseph.  He shows us the blueprint. 

First, Joseph was righteous.  Where do we need to change our actions?  Advent is a great time for conversion, for confessions.  We priests have been hearing zillions of confessions, and it’s great.  If we want to trust God and grow in our lives of prayer, conversion and righteousness sets the stage.  Joseph teaches us that if we want to hear God’s voice, it helps to turn away from our sins.  Sin makes it hard to hear God.

Second, we make a commitment to being people who are in regular communication with God.  Now, God might not speak to you in the dream through an angel, but he will speak to us if we give him a chance.  Joseph heard this pretty amazing message in an extraordinary way; but, God still speaks to his people, he will speak to each one of us if we are ready to listen.

Third, when God speaks, take action.  Joseph was not an amazing saint because God spoke to him.  Joseph is an amazing saint because he took action.  He not only heard the message of the angel, but then he acted on that message.  Can we always say the same thing? 

I remember praying at one point in my life: am I supposed to be a priest?  When I got the yes message back, I hesitated for a long time to take action.  But, I finally did, and the rest is history.  My life hasn’t turned out exactly as I planned it, but it’s been way better.  Following God can be a bit of a wild ride sometime, but we have to trust that he’s leading us somewhere we want to go.

So, trusting and following God is the goal.  The plan is to be like Joseph.  Number 1, Joseph was righteous, we are in need of constant conversion.  Number 2, Joseph communicated with God through the angel, we communicate with God through our prayer.  Number 3, when God asked, Joseph acted; when God asks something from us, we should take action as well.  Following this plan of life, Joseph saw amazing things, like the birth of Christ the savior.  If we follow Joseph’s game plan, we will see amazing things in our lives as well.

Types of prayer

Third Sunday of Advent Year A 2016:

            Well you have to love this Sunday.  It’s called Gaudete Sunday, which means rejoice.  It’s one of only 2 days in the year where the Church puts on the Rose vestments, which are symbolic of Joy.  It’s almost Christmas.  Hooray. 

But, we still have 2 weeks.  We still have 2 weeks to get ready.  Yes, buying presents, baking cookies, having parties, and all that.  But, also spiritually, we have 2 more weeks of Advent to prepare to meet our Lord. 

Here at St. Jude we have been focusing on prayer during this season of Advent.  The first week we discussed a definition of prayer as ‘living with God.’  This is a good reminder that we should live our daily lives in union with God who is always there with us.  Last week we discussed some difficulties in prayer.  This week I want to talk about some different prayer styles.

St. John the Baptist sends messengers to Jesus to ask a simple question: who are you?  Isn’t that the most important question ever?  Who is Jesus?  If Jesus is just a regular guy who said some nice things, his existence wasn’t a big deal.  But, if Jesus is the incarnate Son of God sent by the Father to bring Good News of eternal life to his people, it makes a huge difference.  The identity of Jesus has a huge impact on history.

The identity of Jesus also has a huge impact in our lives.  If Jesus is a living, breathing, real person, with whom we interact on a daily basis, then it will change the way we think, act, work, play, live.  Living with Jesus will fill our lives with joy, he will be there when times are tough.  But, if Jesus is a story in a book, if he is abstract, distant, or theoretical, then he won’t have a huge impact in our lives, and we will be missing out on his presence.

So, think about your own life.  How much does your relationship with Jesus affect how you live, how you think?  Don’t worry, when it comes to prayer and relationship with Jesus it is never a game of perfect.  It’s not like we have to grow to a certain level and then we are just done.  No, we are always in process.  But, it does take a process.  We need a plan if we are going to improve in our spiritual life.

I heard a quote one time from a football coach on TV (I can’t remember if it was Tony Dungy or Herm Edwards) and I thought it applied to so many things in life.  He said “anyone can have a goal.  But, a goal without a plan is just a wish.”  Isn’t that great?  A goal without a plan is just a wish.  When I heard that for the first time, it made so much sense.  So many of my goals and aspirations were just that, wishes.  I didn’t have plans in place to help me to grow.  One place I saw that was in my prayer life.  I wanted my prayer life to improve, but I didn’t have a plan in place.  So, let me give you three areas of prayer so that you can try to formulate plans in each area.  If you do this, you will really see your life of prayer grow every day.

First, private prayer.  Private prayer is the living relationship that each soul has with the living God.  Private prayer can be as simple as thinking about God.  Private prayer is where we share with God the deepest part of our hearts, we lay bare our souls, we communicate with God on a deep level.  We can do this in many different ways.  Some people stick to mental prayer, just having a verbal dialogue with God in our minds.  Some people use prayer books for inspiration.  Some people will pray the rosary, read the scriptures, or pray the divine mercy chaplet.  All these different tools for prayer or different styles of prayer help us to connect with God in the depths of our being.

But, in addition to private prayer, there is public prayer.  And just a little hint, we are doing it right now.  Because we are body and soul creatures, we have to make sure that prayer is touching both aspects.  Private prayer is a great way to pray inside of us.  But, public prayer is just as necessary so that we are praying on the outside too.  Mass is the most important public prayer.  Mass really helped me to grow as a disciple of Jesus.  I started going to daily Mass in my early 20’s and it really changed my life.  Confession is another great public prayer (of course it’s more private) but it helps us to connect with God on the outside and on the inside.  Also, families, do you pray together as a family?  Try to plan on how your family is going to be able to be a family that not only prays to God on the inside, but on the outside as well.

Finally, spiritual reading.  So, private prayer and public prayer are great ways to connect to God.  But, spiritual reading is important because it helps to keep the content of our prayer fresh and up to date.  I’ve definitely noticed that in my life I can hit a little rut in prayer.  I can find times where it seems like I just go over the same things in prayer, or like I don’t have new ideas.  This is where spiritual reading comes into play.  By picking up a good book, I get challenged with new ideas.  I get new words that can form the dialogue that I have with God.  Now, the problem with spiritual reading is that everyone ends up liking different books.  You have to find the books that are right for you.

I remember my first year in seminary lots of people recommended books to me.  Each time, I would start the book and I would find that it just wasn’t doing anything for me.  In fact, after a couple months I was starting to wonder if maybe I was in the wrong place.  I mean what good is a priest who doesn’t like reading about God right?  But, then I found a book that really connected with me.  It was the Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton.  I really enjoyed that book and it helped me out.  Then I found CS Lewis and his book Mere Christianity.  Then I found Crossing the Threshold of Hope by John Paul II.  You get the picture.  I’ve found numerous books that have helped me to grow as a Christian.  But, at first, I was disappointed because it didn’t seem to be going well.  So, my recommendation: if a book still seems boring or dry after a couple chapters, just stop reading it and get a new one.  Spiritual reading is not going to help you at all if you don’t find books that inspire you.

So, these are three areas of prayer: private, public, and spiritual reading.  If you can develop a game plan in these areas you will see your prayer life take off.  Also, check the bulletin because in my column I describe other styles of prayer.  Each one of us will have a different plan, a different style.  That’s ok.  We are all different people after all.  But, hopefully we are all heading in the same direction.  It’s the direction of Advent: we are all heading towards welcoming Christ into our lives..

Obstacles of prayer?

Second Sunday of Advent year A 2016:

In today’s gospel we hear the voice of John the Baptist.  He says repent, we hear that we need to prepare the way of the Lord.  This is one of the major themes of Advent right?  Prepare the way for the Lord, prepare for his arrival at Christmas, and when he comes again.  The words of John the Baptist remind us of a basic truth in the Christian life.  We cannot remain passive, we have to become active.  John is calling us to take action.  Jesus is coming, and we cannot just stay on the sidelines, we have to get into the action.

As I mentioned last Sunday, we are spending the season of Advent here at St. Jude thinking about our life of prayer.  Last week we defined prayer as living with God.  All of us can grow in our spiritual lives if we start to see our whole life as being lived in God’s presence.  I mean, God is there already, but by calling to mind his presence, we can start to see everything in the light of our relationship with him.  Living with God can have a profound impact on our daily lives.  Prayer is essential if we are going to take action and put into practice the words of St. John: repent and prepare the way of the Lord.

But, prayer is not always easy.  In some ways prayer is simple, living with God, speaking with him.  But, this doesn’t mean that it is easy.  So, as we hear St. John say “prepare the way of the Lord,” it got me thinking about how we can do this in our own lives.  What are some of the common obstacles of prayer and how can we overcome them.

The first one that I hear quite often is “I don’t have time to pray.”  Isn’t that the truth sometimes?  Our lives seem to be getting busier all the time.  Just for an example, Thursday I woke up and looked at my calendar to see what all I had going on that day and I discovered that I had 11 appointments on my calendar.  I was basically booked from 7:00 mass in the morning until 9:00 at night.  It was a crazy day.  How many of us can say the same?  These kinds of days are becoming the norm more and more.  So, how to pray when our life seems so crazy?

I have 2 suggestions.  First, try to carve out time for prayer.  Remember how I said I had 11 appointments?  Well, one of my appointments that day was my holy hour in the chapel.  I make that hour every week, and it’s an important part of my spiritual life.  And, I certainly call it an appointment.  I feel it is just as important as anything else in my schedule.  I try never to bump that hour from my schedule.  Normally, if someone wants to meet with me I can just meet before or after that hour.  Try to do the same in your own life.  Make an appointment with God and make sure you stick to it.  Try to schedule a weekly holy hour, maybe a rosary, a time to read scripture.  Our lives are crazy, so we have to become more intentional about prayer time.  I know that if I don’t schedule prayer, I find I don’t pray as much.  I think many of us just think: I’ll pray when I get the time… But, we never get the time, so try to book it.

Second suggestion: make your everyday life more prayerful.  So, we cannot always be in the chapel.  We cannot always be praying the rosary.  But, we can always talk to God.  This is a trick I learned during my time in the seminary.  I noticed that there is a lot of time spent traveling and waiting.  Maybe it’s time in the car.  Maybe it’s walking between appointments.  Maybe it’s waiting at the doctor’s or whatever.  Think about your day.  How much time is really just waiting or travelling?  I try to use that time to have quick conversations with God.  I tell him what’s going on in my life.  I ask him for guidance.  I share with him my troubles and burdens.  Simply put, I just try to reach out to God.  I find that in my life, there are lots of these little minutes.  I can squander these times, or I can turn to God.  I can tell you that when I’m in the habit of reaching out to God in all the little moments of my life, my life sure seems to go more smoothly.

Time is just one obstacle to prayer.  Hopefully these two suggestions might help you to prepare the way of the Lord.  Check out the bulletin this week.  In my column I talk about some other common obstacles to prayer.  I hope you will find these things helpful.

Living with God.  In some ways it’s quite simple, but it’s not easy.  Hear the word of John the Baptist today and take action.  Prepare the way of the Lord.  Actively seek to grow in faith by growing in prayer.  If you do, then this Advent will be a great season of growth for your life of faith.