Tuesday, April 7, 2026

 

Tuesday of the Octave of Easter

(Acts 2:36-41; John 20:11-18)

Invoking the Christmas song “White Christmas” now may be the jarring necessary to appreciate Jesus’ resurrection.  “White Christmas” became a hit during World War II when G.I.’s longed to be back home with their loved ones.  A white Christmas also represented Christian social values of faith, family, and community.  Going home for Christmas resembled what Jesus refers to in today’s gospel as ascending to “’my Father and your Father … my God and your God.’”

In Sunday morning’s second reading, the Letter to the Colossians exhorts Christians to “seek what is above, where Christ is seated …” and not what is on earth.  “What is above” is, of course, “’My Father and your Father.’”  It might be also expressed as the virtues which God engenders.  The heavenly virtues can also explain why Jesus tells Mary, “’stop holding on to me,.”  Mary and all Christians are no longer to seek earthly goals but heavenly ones.  Rather than pleasure, power, and prestige, they are to strive for peace, joy, and evangelical love.

The campus of our striving is where we live, work, and meet one another.  We endeavor not just to get to heaven but to make a heaven of  these habitats.  Such effort in the end will bring us to the place that has prepared for us.

Saturday, December 25, 2021

 The Nativity of the Lord (Mass during the night)

(Isaiah 9:1-6; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14)

Soldiers in World War II loved the song “White Christmas” more than any other.  It reminded them of Christmases of long past.  Back then, people always think, people were friendlier; life was kinder.  A white Christmas, of course, is a snowy Christmas.  Snow symbolizes the meaning of the day.  It is literally pieces of heaven falling to the earth.  Its purity represents Christ, the sinless one, who comes to earth to redeem fallen humans.

Soldiers could hardly hear enough of “White Christmas” because they were away from home.  Fighting a war, they were not sure that they would ever see their families again.  We are likewise away from our true home even if we live where we grew up.  As sisters and brothers of Christ, our home is with the Father in heaven.  We may wonder if we will ever get there.  Some may think that heaven doesn’t exist!

Let us heed the command of the angel to the shepherds in the gospel. When they see the angel’s radiance, they fall back in fear.  The angel tells them not to be afraid.  So also, we must not be afraid to believe.  In redeeming us, Christ rose from the dead as the gospels testify.  He has gone before us to prepare the eternal Christmas when we will dine at the Father’s table.  There we will reconcile with one another in everlasting love.