Thursday, December 5, 2013

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

(Isaiah 26:1-6; Matthew 7:21.24-27)

The poor often come to parish offices looking for handouts.  Not untypically, they beg for cash to pay rent or purchase gasoline.  The requests are sometimes denied partly because of limited resources but also because staff members frequently are not sure whether the petitioners are telling the truth.  If the needy were members of the congregation, the staff would likely make every effort to secure assistance.  Today’s Scripture readings indicate why this is so.

The passage from Isaiah and the gospel today are related by the mention of the “Rock” which is the one God on whom the people can rely.  The reading from Isaiah is also connected to the basic gospel message proclaimed by Mary in her canticle praising God’s goodness.  As it says, God comes to upend the arrogant and to lift up of the lowly.  It also says that God provides a strong city with high walls to protect the humble.  The city here can refer to the Church, the community of faithful, who look out for one another.

We remember the poor, especially at this time of year.  Whether or not they are members of our parish, we help them meet their needs so that they too find joy in God’s coming.  But if they are people who kneel with us in prayer, we will naturally exert greater energy.  They would have a prior, although not an exclusive, claim on both our hearts and our bounty.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

(Isaiah 25:6-10a; Matthew 15:29-37)

Each Wednesday during Advent the employees of the Diocese of Fort Worth bring food delicacies for an “Advent Table.”  They organize the feast by departments – on one Wednesday it may be the workers in the finance department and chancery who stock the table, on another those from education and ministry, and so on.  The table or tables of delight are placed in the reception area so that visitors may take part in the spread.  Although they do not realize it, Wednesday is the appropriate day because on the first Wednesday of Advent the gospel of Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s stunning prophecy of the banquet is proclaimed.

The prophecy envisions God providing a kind of Thanksgiving feast for peoples of all races, languages, and nations.  Strife among them will cease.  People will have the veil that obstructs their beholding all men and women as brothers and sisters lifted.  The rich food and wine will cause them to forget forever the enmities of the past.  Jesus’ feeding of the multitude on the mountain fulfills the prophecy and his meal with his disciples the night before he dies carries out its proposition.  That “last supper” has been reenacted millions of times bringing a universal brotherhood to fruition.

We do not have to be reminded that strife still exists.  Some – even those who attend mass regularly – refuse to open their eyes to see Christ among us.  They are not to be pitied as much as to be entreated with sincere affection to see the source of total reconciliation in their midst.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 10:21-24)

When St. Francis Xavier was a missionary, probably in India, he found the people very receptive of the faith.  One letter home expressed how he exhausted himself baptizing children without reaching anywhere near the majority of people.  He wrote how he fantasized returning to a European university “crying out like a madman” to the men who kept their noses in books.  He would tell them, “…how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you.”

Advent underscores a similar message.  It urges people to wake from their indifference.  It announces that Christ is at hand with salvation for themselves as well as for others.  They must prepare for his arrival by acts of justice and mercy. 

What will it be like when he gets here?  The season picks out the promise of Isaiah that we hear in the first reading today to describe the wonder of his presence.  There will be peace like nothing ever known before: enemies embracing, fear vanishing, and everyone rejoicing in the Lord.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Monday of the First Week of Advent

(Isaiah 4:2-6; Matthew 8:5-11)

Why is a gospel passage glorifying faith used on the first weekday of Advent, the season of hope?  Perhaps it is to show the intimate relationship between the two virtues.  The centurion comes to Jesus believing that God has given him the power to heal his sick servant.  He does not even insist that Jesus see the sick one but only to pronounce a word of life.  Of course, he is not disappointed.

Many pilgrims come to Lourdes almost desperate – that is, almost giving up hope – but with a faith that approximates that of the centurion.  The experience of common need which the pilgrims share often transforms them.  It confirms their faith and lifts their hope to a higher level.  Being cured is no longer of paramount importance.  What they now desire is to accompany the Lord.

Faith and hope would be illusions without love.  Love for his servant brings the centurion to Jesus, the incarnation of love.  Both ask nothing for themselves but only to assist others.  We believe in Jesus because he has demonstrated his love for us.  And because we hope to encounter him, we demonstrate the same love for others. 

Friday, November 29, 2013

Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Daniel &:2-14; Luke 21:29-33)

In its July issue The Atlantic magazine asked a number of experts when and how the world would end.  The answers varied from relatively soon by means of a smashing asteroid or a volcanic eruption to five billion years from now when the sun expands to take the earth and other planets into its core.  People are always curious about these things.

In today’s gospel Jesus hints that the end will take place before his generation ends.  It sounds then like Jesus is wrong in his prediction as everyone else who has foretold an imminent end.  However, his term “generation” is really indefinite.  A generation may be as long as an epoch or as short as a score and ten years.  The point is of lesser importance to Jesus than the assurance that his words will be remembered forever.

We, Jesus’ followers, must concur with his promise.  Whether the world ends before our life’s candle burns down or, more likely, we die before the earth falls apart, we must keep faithful to Jesus’ words.  When we meditate upon them and put them into practice, we are assumed into eternal life where queries about the world’s end fade before the more real concern of how to make the world a better place for all.