Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

(Isaiah 26:6-10a; Matthew 15:29-37)

Today’s first reading portrays the Advent hope of the human family living in harmony.  It pictures all peoples at God’s mountain sharing a meal.  The vision is not being realized by globalization, which ignores the cultural attributes of smaller nations.  Missionary activity like that of St. Francis Xavier more deeply bonds people together as its motive is love manifested in personal sacrifice.

Francis was a university student when he met St. Ignatius Loyola in Paris.  He can be imagined as desiring a career and becoming wealthy.  Hearing the vision of the former soldier, his dream was completely transformed.  No more would he desire to accumulate wealth, but from then on he would work to bring Christ to other lands.  He was preeminently successful in the endeavor having converted, it is said, hundreds of thousands.

We share the hope of peaceful coexistence in the world although at times have difficulty getting along with our neighbors.  Like Francis Xavier we turn to Jesus in our need.  Imitating his compassion and composure we too can befriend all.  The world then will grow a bit closer to universal peace. 

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

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

Vladimir the Great consolidated the rule of Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus – three nations with independent traditions.  In 988 his baptism into Orthodox Christianity gave an evangelical purpose to the peace Vladimir brought to the land.  Today’s reading from the prophet Isiah foreshadows the coming of Christ and intimates the legacy of peace left for rulers like Vladimir.

Isaiah lives in a time of political turbulence.  He preaches in Judah, a small kingdom always threatened by mighty neighbors.  The prophet exhorts the people to trust in God for deliverance from their enemies.  In the passage just read he indicates that Judah will have a ruler who will tame wolves and lions to live in peace.  That leader, blessed with the Spirit of wisdom, will be known for treating the poor with justice.  The prophet, of course, is painting a landscape of Christ’s reign.

We, like Vladimir the Great. are heirs to the legacy of Jesus.  We may not rule nations but we do have some authority, at least about ourselves.  We want to put to rest the warring desires for self-gratification and power.  We can do so by recognizing that the greatest satisfaction comes with pleasing the Lord and the supreme demonstration of power is the faithful submission of oneself to the will of God.

Monday, December 1, 2014

MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT

(Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 8:5-11)

Because Advent is the season of hope, it is also the time of social justice.  Especially people under the sieges of war and of oppression should now sense an expectation of their deliverance.  They share Isaiah’s dream in the first reading that the scourge of the sword is being forged into a plowshare of prosperity.

The gospel portrays a man of eminent hope.  The centurion recognizes Jesus as God’s emissary.  He knows that what Jesus says has the full authority of the Almighty.  He hopes that Jesus will give him the word that his servant will be healed.  Once he hears it, there is no need to impose himself more on the Lord.  He takes his leave knowing that Jesus’ word will be fulfilled.

We should have hopes as high as Isaiah’s and the centurion’s at the beginning of Advent.  We hope that the wounds of racism will be completely healed.  We hope that the terrorists in Syria and Iraq are soundly defeated.  We hope that immigrants in our country will receive their just due.  Like a dieter with a vision of a thin self in mind, we realize that these hopes will not come without effort.  But, like her again, we know that they cannot be achieved without the help of God.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Friday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

(Revelation 20:1-4.11-21:2; Luke 21:29-33)

James Foley was the young journalist whom the ISIS captured and beheaded.  Foley was a devout man who believed that God called him to report the truth about a besieged people.  He seems worthy to stand among those dead being brought to life in today’s first reading.

The Book of Revelation was written to support first century Christians undergoing persecution.  It promises relief for those under siege and eternal life for those who succumbed to the force of the enemy.  Today’s passage relates the culmination of the saga.  The martyred come back to life.  The survivors are judged according to their deeds.

The brutality of war and of religious bigotry clash with the experience of Thanksgiving and the hustle-bustle of Christmas shopping.  However, we would be foolish to drop them from our consciousness.  After all, we withhold our greatest thanks for Christ’s coming to share with us his love and peace.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

A preacher tells of a brother in the Lord who urges him to be “more eucharistic.” Did his friend mean that he should attend mass more often?  No, the preacher says, “he was simply urging me to be more thankful.”  The Greek root for our word eucharist means thanksgiving.  The leper in today’s gospel then in coming back to Jesus is truly acting eucharisticly.

The leper gives glory to God for a cure which Jesus performed.  He is not thereby recognizing Jesus as the incarnate Son of God.  But he is testifying to another theological insight: God works through secondary causes.  Jesus as human has power to cure people physically as well as spiritually. This ability comes from God.  Today it rests with physicians who perform virtual miracles in saving the lives of very sick patients.

We too should become more eucharistic.  It is a way of life, of course, not a seasonal custom.  We become eucharistic first by avoiding resentment with the disappointments we experience.  Then we develop the nightly habit of naming a blessing of that day for which we give God thanks.