“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!“
– Mark 9:5
My Dear Friends in Christ,
These words of Peter are in response to the miraculous transfiguration of Jesus. Jesus has taken His closest friends up the mountain and then, all of a sudden, He is transfigured. The glory of the Lord is bursting forth from Him, he is different, glorious
and His clothes are even better than bleachiest bleached white. And then, on top of all that, He is talking to Moses and Elijah, the ROCK STARS of the Old Testament, God’s biggest and most important helpers, perhaps better to say that they are talking to HIM. They’re struck with fear, thrown down to the ground, amazed, confused, impressed and petrified. They know it’s Jesus, their good friend, but they have never seen nothin’ like this before. While they are scared, there is also something comforting about it, a sense of calm and control, a sense of God’s awesome power, a hint of God’s “mighty hand and outstretched arm” that saved Israel from slavery, led them across the Red Sea as if on dry land, brought them through the desert feeding and watering them all of the time, plopping them gently and purposefully in the promised land after clearing it of their enemies. God had reached into human history and acted for the good of Israel.
God bless Peter, because, like me, he speaks when there ain’t nothing to say. He babbles, diarrhea of the mouth, not knowing what to say. He is frightened and yet he knows this is something important, something good, the tangible Presence of God, a reminder that God is powerful and close even if he (Peter) doesn’t get it, let alone understand fully and completely. It’s not just visible but audible as well. The voice of God thunders over the whole scene. So, somewhat naturally (at least for me), Peter seeks to prolong the moment, he wants to build three tents (with what materials) so that this meeting of the minds, so to speak, can continue and he, along with James and John can continue their exclusive and immediate access at this historic moment. Rabbi, it is good that we are here.
Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart… return to the LORD, your God… [who is] gracious and merciful… slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. (See Joel 12:1-2) These very first words of Lent remind us what Lent is truly all about: that God loves us, that God is willing to accept us no matter where we are or where we’ve been, no matter how distant or separated we’ve felt, no matter how tired or angry. And in Jesus Christ, we see that God not only accepts us coming back to HIM. Much more, God comes out to us and offers us this sacred season of Lent to get to know one another better, for God to show me that I am a beloved daughter, a beloved son, a delight, that I am cared for, supported, cherished… LOVED.
Recognizing that God loves us, that God wants us closer no matter where we are or where we’ve been, that God comes to us is not enough. It’s like the perfect gift that remains unopened, untouched, unused. It looks pretty; it sounds nice (if you shake it). But it doesn’t do anything and certainly can’t make a difference in my life, let alone my daily routine. These facts need to reside more fully in the heart than in the mind. Intellectual ideas cannot sustain us. We need prayer.
But prayer can get complicated and I, for one, often get distracted by the vehicle rather than the destination. I get distracted, antsy, impatient. I can’t just sit down and pray the way I can play another game of solitaire on my computer or look at Facebook. To be honest, prayer intimidates me. Nothing I do is more important and yet everything else I do seem easier and most everything else seems to have more impact. That’s why we’re focusing on quiet, personal, meditative prayer this Lent.
Prayer is what allows us to unpack the Gift of God’s love and make it not only accessible but useful, even essential in our lives. Prayer is what allows us to be in contact with God, to establish and open channels of grace, or as Jesus put it more succinctly, to be friends of God. Like any friendship, our relationship with Jesus Christ is not magic nor does it happen overnight. Even a friendship that flowers quickly needs to be nurtured and attended to, cared for, worked on, appreciated and served. Prayer is time with our beloved friend, Jesus Christ and, through Christ, our heavenly Father. All of this made possible only in and by the Holy Spirit. Prayer is what allows us to welcome Christ into our hearts and allows God not only to love us but also to make that love fruitful for us and, through us, for the world.
And this is ultimately the purpose of Lent, that God wants us close, that God wants to love us, to share the Divine Self with us and to make our sharing fruitful: comforting for us, strengthening us, consoling us, guiding us but also fruitful for others in sharing the same love with them, in bring them God’s love, in helping them to encounter Christ.
Knowing that, all of that, I still struggle with prayer. As I said last week, people think I am kidding or being humble when I say that prayer is usually the most difficult thing I do on any given day. I have to prepare myself both physically and mentally to set the stage. I have to fight the temptations to skip it, or rush it or look for an immediate high, a strong recognition that God is somehow present and in charge. I’m amazed at the work I have to do internally; how active I have to be to spend any time passively before the Lord in prayer. If prayer is spending time with a beloved and dear friend, then I also need to let God do some of the talking. But God is with us, even in the struggles as we saw last week with the temptation of Jesus. Even Jesus was tempted. The encounter with Satan in the desert was not some staged fight like a professional wrestling match or some spectacle Celebrity Death Match put on by God who simply moves the little Claymation figures around. No. temptation was real for Jesus and it is certainly real for us. Ultimately all of the temptations (the works of the Devil, not the singing group from the 50’s!) boil down to one: getting Jesus question His identity as the Son of God. It’s about distracting Jesus, focusing Him on earthly needs and wants, on what He can’t do in His earthly weakness or can’t have in His human frame. It’s about separating Jesus from God, getting Jesus to push God off to the side even a little bit, sowing seeds of distrust, looking for comfort, security, for calm contentedness rather than the failure fraught, mission driven laser focus Jesus needs. Jesus puts each temptation down with a quote from Scripture and, ultimately a trust that God will not only be present but active and save Him.
Our temptations are no different. We don’t necessarily have the Devil poking at us. I think sometimes that’s far too easy a copout: I didn’t do it. The Devil made me do it. We don’t need some pitchfork-carrying, horned half man, half goat to distract us. I don’t know about you but I have gotten pretty good about allowing distraction to take over, on focusing on my needs and wants, rather than God’s will, on seeking the easy way out, or comfortable path, or the path that doesn’t take me too much out of my way and inconvenience me, the safe way (Not the Safeway in Middletown but you get the idea) the safe way that doesn’t put me too far out there, doesn’t call attention to me, or let me oppose the angry guy I’m facing or the nasty girl who’s yelling at me. No, I don’t need a devil to make me do any of those things. I’ve become proficient if not an expert. And yet, God still calls me, still wants me, still loves me.
Perhaps the greatest challenge we face is prayer is our understanding of it. Most people pray only when they realize a need for something. This is great. It’s natural surely human for us to ask for help. The challenge though is that when we pray only in this way, often times it seems God has no answer or, worse, that God refused to hear us, souring us on prayer, and ultimately when it keeps happening on God. After all, why pray if it doesn’t “do anything.” The challenge, I think, though, is not in prayer itself but in our understanding of it. Prayer is not about changing God’s mind or making something happen. To do that would imply that we can manipulate God, that we can control God. Prayer is not about that.
Prayer, very simply, is about spending time with my beloved friend and the “rules” of any friendship apply. Do you have that friend who has no time for you? That you call or text repeatedly, looking for an answer let alone some quality time? Do you have that friend that is always looking beyond your time together to the next thing he or she has planned, as if you were some interruption or a distraction from their planned day? Do you have that friend that is always “doing something” while you are with them and, while it may not be a distraction for that person, it is kind of distracting to you? Do you have that friend whose head is always elsewhere, always needing to be asked if he or she heard you? And do you have that friend that is always in need, only stops by to ask for something? Sure, each of us does this occasionally but some do it on a regular basis? Do you remember how much these people, when their usual modus operandi is to act in one of these ways, do you remember how much these people annoy you? Well, you and I are these friends to God, but God still calls us back. God always has time for us, always has full attention on us, always listens, always responds.
Well… you’re thinking, “I was with you, Fr. Rob, until that last one. I have often prayed, and God did nothing. Nothing changed. God obviously did not respond.” I was speaking with a friend just recently who shared with me a great quote. “God,” he said, “God always answers prayer. Every time, every prayer, no matter how brief or confusing the prayer, no matter how it’s offered, no matter how weak the faith or imperfect the intention of the one offering the prayer. God always answers. Sometimes the answer is “Yes.” Sometimes the answer is “Not now.” And sometimes the answer is “I have a bigger and better plan for you than what you are asking for. Be patient with Me and with yourself. Allow me to be at work. Allow me to unfold that plan in you and for you. Trust me. I’ve got your six, and, in fact, I have your twelve, your three and your nine as well. I know it is difficult to wait, especially when you or someone you love is suffering. I did not cause the suffering, I am not punishing you, but I AM with you, I AM with in the suffering, close and present and I hear you. And remember what my friend Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans: all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Rom 8:28) I have called you, drawn you close, and I will not let you down.
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here…” In all of his babbling, Peter makes a very important point. “It is good that we are here…” It’s a very simple statement but it shows, despite his fear, that Peter understands, at least in part, what is happening. This simple sentence also offers great insight for us when we seek God in prayer. Like Peter, we can take for granted the way God is usually present but then become terrified when God reveals Himself in a more profound (and/ or glorious) way. “It is good that we are here…” is a great phrase for us to remember as we continue our message series on prayer. Let’s pull it apart.
The first word is “IT.” It is a pronoun but not ambiguous. In fact, the antecedent is clear, both from the context of the passage and from the statement itself. For Peter, “It” recognizes that he, along with James and John, are in God’s Presence. The Transfiguration makes it obvious as the Glory of God shines through not just the clothes of Jesus which are caught up in the transformation becoming dazzlingly white. No, the Glory of God shines from Him, from His skin, from His Body, from His very being. And if you missed that, well then you’ve got Moses and Elijah, again, Rock Stars of salvation history, talking to Him. And if you missed both of those, well then there’s still the voice of God booming from the heavens. This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him. (Mark 9:8).
All of these leave Peter, James and John in no doubt that they are in the Presence of God. Which is why they are struck with fear. They have and will continue to struggle with the way God is present in Jesus. We take for granted that God becomes one of us and walked among us. Peter, James, John would not have done so. As good Jews, they thought of God as great, too great even to mention or to write the name of God, too holy (and too wholly other!) to think intimacy such as friendship or the relationship of a child with his or her beloved Daddy (Abba) or as Jesus would speak later, as friends with God (I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father (John 15:15).
Even you and I struggle with the reality of God’s Presence. Even understanding the reality of God as one of us, knowing the Son of God came down from heaven, took flesh and was born. He grew in grace and age and wisdom. He worked miracles, taught the Father’s love and died on the Cross. Further, we can add to that over 2,000 years of salvation history, unpacking the words and reality of Jesus Christ. Whether it’s from our private prayer, Church doctrine, biblical exegesis, sacramental celebration, or even simply trusting in God’s grace, you and I – well, I shouldn’t generalize – even with all of that, I, still struggle with intimacy with God. Yes, I talk a great deal about God’s love for us, and I believe it with all of my heart. But the reason I so often reference it is because I so often struggle with it. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with the God who doesn’t answer prayers as I want Him to do. I struggle with the God who makes me wait. I struggle with the God who is silent and distant.
The experience of the Transfiguration offers an insight though, by proclaiming in a way that is unambiguous, that God is present with me. Ohhh, while God does not transform the clothes I wear, or glow from the humanity of Jesus anymore, while I do not see Moses or Elijah (or Peter, James and John who also became salvation history rock stars in their own right), while do not I hear the voice of the Father booming over my internal sound system or even coming through Alexa, I know God is profoundly present, unambiguously, even as I struggle with the mundane and ordinary ways God is present. No, it may not be as immediate or as dramatic as the Transfiguration, but they are the words of God Himself: “See, I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) God is not a liar. God does not abandon me, nor leave me to my own devices. God has promised and God remains. And that tells me unambiguously that God is present even if I struggle with how. That is what “It” means.
“It is good that we are here.” Secondly, notice the verbs are in the present tense. Now, in this moment, God is present. God’s glory shines through. No matter what happened before this and no matter what happens next, God is present with me, ready to do all of the things God promised in the Old Testament, and then directly from Jesus, and then after the Resurrection and Pentecost, through the Church. God seeks to heal and to comfort and to console, to strengthen and to guide, to form and help. In other words, right back to God seeks to love us. Think about it for a moment, God draws close, God comes near, with all of His power, in all gentleness, with his mighty hand and outstretched arm. God reveals Himself to us in this moment, not making us wait, not challenging us to be better, to get our act together before He comes.
But God’s undeniable Presence in the given moment also present a challenge for us. It’s something that Peter realizes as he asks Jesus if they should construct three tents. Peter wants to keep this great thing going, this assurance of God’s presence, this tangible, visible sign of God’s presence. Peter knows that he struggles, knows that he questions and lacks faith at times. So, he wants to keep this ace in the hole. But even before He’s finished asking the question, the moment has passed. Everything is back to normal and they are even told to tell no one. This is the challenge of faith. Often, God lacks tangible reminders. Often, God is quiet and not apparent. It doesn’t mean that God is apparent but there are no strong reminders like the Transfiguration. Rather, as God meets with us, we are reminded that God is always present. We need only believe that: “It is good that we are here.”
Now, let’s move on to the next word: “good.” I don’t think I need to spend a great deal of time here but I think first it is necessary to point out that Peter doesn’t say it is “nice” that we are here. It is GOOD.Masks, social distancing, medicine in general and certainly, for me, exercise are all GOOD but not nice, not comfortable, not pleasant. Sometimes we chafe and what is good for us, struggle to accept it, and seek to return to what is comfortable, or NICE. Further, “good” always involves sacrifice, sometimes a little but sometimes a great deal. That’s why it’s important to remember that prayer, being together with God, is GOOD even if it is not nice, even if it is a pain in the botox, even if it is inconvenient or challenging, when it is long and dull and dry, when it seems that God is at least distant if not wholly absent. This is why we cannot think of prayer as time spent to get something out of it, an activity that will “provide a reward” of increased calm, stronger faith, or better results. No. we need to recognize that prayer is GOOD, it involves our sacrifice of time and will. It is important to remember that prayer is gift I give to God, rather than something that will result in God giving me whatever I want. “It is GOOD that we are here.”
Next, let look at “we.” “It is good that WE are here.” Peter indicates the plural recognize that it is not just he who is present, not even just he and James and John that are present. No. He recognize that he is with God, that God has come to him, that, despite the glory of God that terrifies and throws him down to the ground, he, Peter, is in the God’s presence. Peter directed the phrase to Jesus by speaking a title: “Rabbi” Rabbi means teacher or master an honored title given to one who teaches and directs a way of life. When Peter speaks to Jesus, it’s clear that the plural involves the two of them together. That’s “we:” a God willing to empty everything and come to us and of our willingness to be with God.
“It is good that we are HERE.” Lastly in the phrase, is the word “here.” Again, we know from context that this has a host of meanings, most of which we have already covered: here, meaning together, here meaning with each other, here in the Presence of God, here as God works a miracle. But there is also a specificity that is important to understand for our prayer. “Here” recognizes that we have a body, that we can only be in one place at a time, that we must operate from that one place.
For us, though, “here,” is about more than physical location. “Here” is about the space, both literally and figuratively, that allow us to encounter God in prayer. First think practically and literally about your “here.” Where is a good location for you to spend time in prayer? My sister used to say that when her kids were young, the only time she had to herself was in the shower. Makes for high water bills but you get the idea. Your “here” should be a place that minimizes distractions and maximizes your ability to concentrate. Perhaps it’s a space in your home, or, when the weather’s nicer, in your garden or yard. Can you be alone there, even if only briefly. How comfortable is the chair? It needs to be comfortable enough so that it’s not a distraction but not so comfortable that you will fall asleep. What’s the temperature in the room? If it’s too warm, I fall asleep. What’s around you? A candle helps me to focus and I like to have some pictures of the saints but too many things can be a distraction for me. Is the space quiet enough? Do you have some music playing in the background?
Next think figuratively about your “here.” What is the best time of day for you to pray? When is your head most clear and you are able to concentrate on offering God your time? For me, if I don’t pray in the morning, then all God gets is me snoring at night. I try to pray first thing, usually sitting in the chapel at the rectory with a cup of coffee. The chapel is a luxury that I have come really to appreciate. When I arrived, I dedicated some space to a chapel. It has moved since then but has settled in what was the formal dining room of the house. Since I rarely used that room for meals (there is an eat in part of the kitchen that is just like a dining room), I took the dining room furniture out. A friend of mine, a carpenter, made an altar and a tabernacle. I’ve got my rocking chair in there. A rocking chair is perfect for me: it’s comfortable but doesn’t allow me to fall asleep (most days!). In the chapel the only visible clock is behind me, added only when we started broadcasting from there during the pandemic. If I can see a clock, then I am wholly consumed by how slowly the second hand seems to move. It’s even worse if there is no second hand and I have to stare at the even more slowly moving minute hand. I put Alexa in there and tell her to set a time for however long I have to spend. It’s a small thing, and I should be better at just not looking at the clock, but I know myself and what works: no clock!
Ultimately, your “here” should reflect whatever will help you know and be comfortable in the presence of God, with allowing God to come to you, in accepting what God wants to give you and in following God’s will. Peter, James, and John were caught unawares and had to respond on the fly. You and I, however, we can be prepared. Jesus is always prepared to meet us as we will see next week.
Our special guest stars, our saints that can help unpack all of this a little bit more are two of the characters prominently involved: James and John. James and John are brothers, sons of Zebedee, fishermen called by Jesus. sons of thunder. They are attracted to Jesus and follow Him eagerly. They leave their nets and their father behind to do so. But, even as the some of the closest and best friends of Jesus, they don’t always get it. They are distracted by ambition and a desire for earthly power, asking Jesus for places in the Kingdom at His right and His left (Mark 10:35-45). Matthew, in his gospel, tries to soften their ambition and puts this request in the mouths of their mother. After all, who doesn’t want the best for their children. But they also want to use power to force the good. When a Samaritan village rejects Jesus, James and John want to call down fire from heave and destroy the town. (You can understand why Mark calls them “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17)). Certainly, this would be easier and would make the rest of the towns fall in line. Jesus will not stoop to force, to overwhelming anyone through might 
and rebukes James and John. Then Jesus leads them toward Jerusalem where He will suffer and die on the Cross. But James and John will learn, especially through their repeated encounters with Jesus, to put ambition and earthly power aside. John, the youngest of the Apostles, will be the only Apostles to stand at the foot of the Cross, remaining with Jesus and receiving from Jesus Mary as his mother and ours. Traditionally, John was the only Apostle not to die a martyr’s death and lived on the island of Patmos (current day Greece). There he became very old and very frail, speaking only and always of the gentle love of Jesus. Tradition also holds that James preached the gospel in Spain, as well as in the Holy Land. He would become head of the Christian community in Jerusalem. After his martyrdom at the hands of Herod Agrippa, his disciples carried his body by sea to Iberia, where they landed at Padrón on the coast of Galicia, then took it inland for burial at Santiago de Compostela.
And all of that is why there is no wrong way to pray. In fact, there are many ways one can pray, even in the same day, moved by mood or situation or challenge, guided by Peter, “It is good that we are here.” Whatever allows you to sacrifice time and effort, energy and will to pray, is a help. Whatever doesn’t, let it go. Don’t let yourself (or worse yet, God!) be boxed into one way of praying. Allow God to fill your heart and your time, however much you offer, with the love and delight God takes in you.
Take time to figure out literally what’s a good place for your “here” the physical location where you can encounter God. Then, take time to figure out figuratively what your “here” is. What’s the best time of day? How will you minimize distractions and maximize concentration? How do you set your mind and your heart at ease? How do you best focus on the ultimate goal of placing yourself in God’s presence and remembering that God wants to spend time with you. Jesus is always prepared to meet us as we will see next week.
Take some time this week, to reflect on our Gospel. Seek the presence of God. Remember that any time, all time you give to prayer is good, a gift to God. The distractions will be there to put something else first, to get distracted, to move God to a secondary place, to focus on the immediate challenge and our fear, to demand a certain outcome, to questions God’s presence. Don’t be stymied by distraction but keep bringing your mind and heart back to God, back to the duty of prayer. All of these were distractions for Jesus even as for us. Take some time this week to try to pray, thinking not of what you need to do or what you will get out of it. Rather, concentrate on offering something to God. Even now.
Use what I call the 7/7 rule: Take 7 minutes each day over the next 7 days to pray. Objectively, it’s not a long time and surely you can find it. Spend the first minute telling God where you are, and the last-minute asking God for what you need. But leave the 5 minutes in between for God. Allow God to delight in you, strengthen you. I guarantee you that God will make use of the time you offer if you can focus on your offer rather than the reward. Together, let us pray for one another and for all those who will come to encounter Christ during this Lent. Pray that, through the intercession of Saint Joseph they might be cared for and watched over by the God who loves us and draws us close.
Peace,
Get ready to rumble!! 
ty Death Matches
think of this Gospel today of Jesus being tempted in the desert. Too many people relegate the temptation of Jesus in the desert as a Celebrity Death Match, a fake fight, created by God, manipulated like Claymation figures, for in this case “info-tainment.” Or perhaps they think of it as something like the Main Event at World Wrestling Foundation Match of the Century: a pre-staged match more real than the clay but with fighters that are only acting, the outcome predetermined, and the victory is assured! Sadly, this understanding relieves this account of the great gift and insight it could be for us. It takes away the real temptations Jesus faced and the real strength He needed to fight them off. More than that, this viewpoint doesn’t help to prepare us for the temptations that we face, that God seeks to help us overcome. And that’s the real lesson…
And immediately following this revelation, Jesus is sent by the Spirit into the desert. Jesus needs time, space to reflect on who God is and how God works, space from the demands of daily life, quiet amid the chaos that can consume time before we know it’s gone. So, Jesus goes into the desert to spend some quiet time with his beloved Father. And, perhaps like you, certainly like me, he is immediately met by the devil who seeks to draw him away, to separate him from the Father, and to keep him in the midst of that chaos.
Stymied, the devil changes tactics: “…throw yourself down from this parapet of the Temple…see if God saves you. (Matthew 4:5-6). The sacred Temple was the dwelling place of God, where all good Jews made a pilgrimage to be with God. The Devil takes Jesus where holiness enfolds and one is able to know, depend on God. Once there, he pushes Jesus to provoke an artificial crisis to force God into visible action. And further, the Devil tempts Jesus quoting Scripture, better to say misquoting: God will command the angels to support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone. But Jesus knows full well that’s not how God works. Testing God, asking for immediate material signs of God’s help and love, demonstrates a lack of trust in God, a scarcity of faith. True faith doesn’t need a crisis for God to demonstrate His power. True faith is taking joy in God’s Presence, knowing God’s close no matter the situation, no matter what God does, or NOT, in any situation. And in fact, on the Cross, Jesus will take this leap of faith, now figurative but no less profound and demanding, trusting only in God, even and especially when it seems that God has abandoned him. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit…(Luke 23:46). Jesus, aware that one’s trust in God is not returned by parlor tricks, shows with absolute definitiveness where he stands: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.
Once more, the Devil hasn’t won but He’s saved his best temptation for last: transporting Jesus to the greatest earthly height, showing AND offering, the very best the world has to offer: riches, power, wealth, possessions, and, perhaps even more importantly the control, domination, and security they seem to provide on earth. All these I shall give to you, if you…worship me. (Matthew 4:8-9) Isn’t this the very mission of the Messiah, to use all things for God’s glory and gather them all to God? It seems that the Devil is just trying to make Jesus’s job easy. Actually, the Devil wants Jesus to forget who He is, wants to get between Jesus and the Father, wants to question, even thwart Jesus’ faith in God alone. Instead, the Devil offers immediate gratification, focusing on creature comforts and earthly control rather than purity of faith and belief in and worship of God ALONE. The Devil offers worldly power over the powerlessness of faith, over the earthly powerlessness of Jesus.
It’s why Satan qualifies each temptation: If you are the Son of God… (Words that we’ll hear again as Jesus hangs on the Cross and is mocked by the passers-by. With these words, Satan offers Jesus an identity that is far easier than the primary one Jesus is experiencing as God’s Son. Satan offers an identity that has no suffering and makes no demands, or at least, makes demands that we can accept (like “Worship me.”) over those that are troubling us (the challenge at hand whether it is the death of a loved one, the sickness of child, a loss of income, unemployment, addiction, persecution). The Devil wants to substitute the faith of Jesus, uncertain, challenging, untested, only future rewards, for the immediate earthly security of food, comfort, wealth and domination.
beloved Son. The Devil, Satan, the tempter is challenging us too, more subtly than with Jesus but no less really, challenging us with the current moment, to THINK about who God is and How God works. But the Devil wants us to focus only on our immediate wants and desires, on the apparent absence of God if we don’t get what we want or if we experience suffering, on what we think we need to live our lives rather than trusting in God to give us everything to get us through. Think, the Devil says, and be dismayed, focus on what you don’t have and can’t do, on the God you can’t trust. God doesn’t love you. How could He? Jesus wants us to focus on God: who God is and how God works; not on our needs but on God who provides; to focus on trusting God rather than testing no matter the situation; to focus on God’s will even when we struggle, when we’re imperfect and incomplete rather than on earthly power and wealth and the security they provide. Think not of the world, but of God.
What a great message as we go through these challenging times for our world with a still raging pandemic and struggling economy, for our nation divided by vitriol and hatred, for our pastorate challenged by the need for change and the call to discern God’s will, to see where God is calling us to go, rather than remaining where we feel comfortable, and, perhaps especially for us, so exhausted by a year of lockdown, of being closed in, of Zoom Meetings and social distancing, of seeing too little of some people and too much of others! Yes, thinking of, focusing on, trusting in God and not the world is a great message. It is not easy. Certainly NOT. But not impossible. And that’s where prayer comes in.
“If I ever become a Saint – I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from Heaven – to light the light of those in darkness on earth.” (Mother Teresa of Calcutta) I used to watch Mother Teresa and be in awe of the good works she would do, the gentle way that she did them, her unspeakable courage and perseverance in asking for, even demanding what she needed to do God’s work. I used to assume that her ability to do all of this was fed by her prayer, assumed that her service was grounded in prayer, that her prayer seemed to feed her and focus her on serving the other. And keep her going when challenged from within or without.
octogenarian who did not hesitate to be pushy, (always for God but still very, very pushy) not the later in life Mother Superior but the newly arrived religious sister, called once again to leave everything she knew behind to go where God asked, to do what God wanted and as she takes this leap, God seems to abandon here.
something to God: the time and space to delight in you. Use what I call the 7/7 rule: Take 7 minutes each day over the next 7 days to pray. Objectively it is not a long time and surely you can find it. Spend the first minute telling God where you are, and the last minute asking God for what you need. But leave the 5 minutes in between for God. Allow God to delight in you, strengthen you. I guarantee you that God will make use of the time you offer if you can focus on your offer rather than the reward. Together, let us pray for one another and for all those who will come to encounter Christ during this Lent. Pray that, through the intercession of Saint Joseph they might be cared for and watched over by the God who loves us and draws us close.
To allow that encounter, to experience God’s love, let alone to revel in it, quiet, meditative prayer is essential. You know as well as I that prayer is almost always difficult, and sometimes, even seems impossible. Our Lenten Message Series, “Even Now…” takes up this challenge and focuses on prayer: how we can encounter Jesus Christ; how we can allow God to love and strengthen us; how we can know and operate from the delight God takes in us and the identity that gives us. We’ll explore ways to start and deepen a prayer life using the Lenten readings, especially the Gospels, which show us the very heart of Jesus Christ. We’ll also use the saints from the rich tradition of the Church to help us the love God has for us and God’s desire to draw us close. We’ll start tomorrow with Saint Joseph, Foster Father of Jesus and Patron of the Universal Church. Joseph was one who struggled to discern God’s call, understand where God was leading him, and trust God enough to go where he was called. Just this past December, our Holy Father called for a special year of celebration of Saint Joseph 150 years after he was proclaimed Patron of the Universal Church.
Leprosy was not simply an illness. It was a life sentence handed down to protect the health of the community from a dreaded contagion. Lepers were victims of far more than the disease itself. The disease robbed them of their health, and the resulting sentence imposed, robbed them of their humanity. They had no name, occupation, habits, family, fellowship, or worshiping community. They were reduced to their disease and their existence reduced to keep it from spreading. Other illnesses had to be healed, but leprosy had to be cleansed. To ensure against contact with society, lepers were required to make their appearance as repugnant as possible.
Surprisingly, the response of Jesus is no less scandalous than the leper’s audacity. In the face of such an intrusion, the observant Jew should recoil in protection and defense. With Jesus, though, compassion replaces contempt. Rather than turning from the leper, Jesus turns to him; indeed, he touches him, bringing himself into full contact with physical and ritual untouchability. The outstretched arm of Jesus is a long reach for his day… and for ours. It removes the social, physical, and spiritual separations prescribed by the Torah and custom alike. The touch of Jesus speaks more loudly than his words; and the words of Jesus touch the leper more deeply than any act of human love. Jesus is not only able but desirous: “ ‘I am willing,’ ” he says, “ ‘be clean.’ ” Unlike an ordinary rabbi, Jesus is not polluted by the leper’s disease; rather, the leper is cleansed and healed by Jesus’ contagious holiness.
Through the Annual Appeal, we can share in the efforts of Jesus to reach out in so many areas. The Annual Appeal helps us to proclaim the Gospel of Life and uphold the dignity of each and every human life, including and especially those thought by others to be unworthy. The Appeal does this by funding our Respect Life Office, the Baltimore Child Abuse Center, Special Education & Inclusion Programs, camps for those with special needs, ministry to those with disabilities, and those facing life challenging pregnancies before and after birth through Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Maternity Homes.
Catholic Charities, the largest provider of care in the state save for the Federal Government. More, St. Vincent de Paul, Prison Ministry, Black Catholic Ministries, Hispanic Ministries, and Apostleship of the Sea also provide of community and faith-based services to people suffering from the effects of hunger, homelessness, and poverty in the Archdiocese, including right here in our own pastorate.
The Annual Appeal also provides programs for our young people in areas such as vocations, retreats, faith formation, Youth Ministry and College Campus Ministry. The Annual Appeal also funds tuition assistance for our Catholic Schools, including those here in our region. Beyond these programs featured on the young, the Annual Appeal also funds the Offices of Pastoral Planning and of Evangelization, both of which serve as important resources for us and for other parishes.
The Annual appeal also provides much needed funds for our clergy, including hospital Chaplains, retired priests, and priests needing special attention. The Annual Appeal assists with priest wellness, helping cover the costs of a priest’s medical leave or educational leave to pursue advanced studies. These gifts help to ensure that those of us serving in parishes and schools can be cared for even in times of uncertainty. (As I was when I had my emergency surgery just before coming to Holy Family in 2010). In addition to all of that, a portion of Appeal funds is forwarded to the Holy See to serve the mission and future of the universal Church as our Holy Father envisions them.
Please take a moment to watch this 
And when you give to the Annual Appeal through our Pastorate, you will also be helping the Frederick Area Family Shelter for the Homeless. As you may know, there are several shelters in our area to help the homeless. They cannot, however, house families together resulting in homeless families being separated if they need accommodations. There is a family shelter for Frederick County but it’s currently operating out of church halls and basements. They have recently purchased a large, abandoned building that they are going to rehab to serve as a family shelter able to accommodate the whole family together. While they are staying at the shelter, families can work on what they need to do to get back on their feet. The pandemic has revealed a number of fissures in our economy and we are seeing more and more people and families suffering from the difficult economy right here in our own area. part of every dollar that you give comes back to us and we are earmarking it for our outreach efforts right here in our area.
couple times until you told me not to anymore… Bing!! Am I right or am I right or am I right?? Right?? Right?? Right?? Whooooohoooo!! Watch out for that first step is a doozy!” – Groundhog Day, 1993
Those with any class or taste at all, and even some with no class at all, will certainly recognize that introduction. It’s a scene in the tiny but infamous town of Punxsutawney, PA on the day that gives them their claim to fame, a day we just celebrated this past week: February 2nd, Groundhog Day. And these words came from the beloved cult classic of a movie starring Bill Murray. Murray plays an acerbic, sarcastic Phil Conners, big city weatherman assigned to cover Groundhog Day in, as he calls it, the hick filled town of Punxsutawney. Stranded by the blizzard he had predicted would pass over the area without impact, Phil is forced to relive the worst day of his life over and over and over again.
God wants so much more for us, not just from us but for us than a day of drudgery, even in this pandemic, which has helped me to face this and realize it and at least start to do something about it. I’ve said it before in this past year, God does not want us to return to normal, meaning our lives as they were before COVID. No. God wants us to use this time to see the opportunities we have so that we can establish a new normal, based on the teachings and the live and the example of Jesus Christ, an opportunity, as Saint Paul says in our second reading, to preach the Gospel.
Over the past few weeks, our message series, Come and You Will See! has been focused on the most basic aspects of our faith and the call we share as a community: our individual relationship to and belief in Jesus Christ, and the call Jesus has given us to make disciples. Remember Andrew and his unnamed friend? Both are disciples of John the Baptist, going about their daily lives but also looking for something more. There’s an unfilled ache in their hearts, not enough to upend their lives, but there is a tug to something more.
John. It’s only after they have encountered Jesus, been with Him, understand enough to experience something special, something important even if they are not sure what that is.
and astonished the people by teaching as one having authority, not like the scribes… A new teaching with authority. There was a newness in the teaching of Jesus, yes, a new method, a personal authority, coming from his own personal relationship with God. The greater newness came in the content of that teaching. 
fame money or deception, but a kingdom born of God’s love for us. And that’s the mission Jesus starts, practically, in today’s Gospel.
for everyone, that the same love of which He speaks, the love which heals and transforms, the love He shares in service to others, is for the other towns as well, for all the towns.
days, find Him in the Temple discussing God with the chief priests and the scholars: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Such a 12-year-old answer from a child obsessed, a child still being formed, still learning about how his actions affect other people.
In all of this, Jesus shows us what it means to be a disciple. In Church culture, we often use the term “disciple” without defining it or, worse yet, without fully understanding it. Since the term represents the heart of our marching orders from Jesus (Matthew 28:16-20). The word comes from the Greek word “mathetes” which, in turn comes from the verb “manthanein” meaning “to learn” (think of the term ‘math’).
You’ve heard, I’m sure the adage, “It’s not what you know but who you know. It’s all about who you know.” This is a perfect insight into becoming a disciple. Yes, it’s about making connections, about bringing people together. But it’s all in how we understand and use our knowledge. All of the Romance languages have two words for the concept of knowing, distinguishing between “knowing a fact” and “knowing a person.” For example, in the Italian “sapere“ is the verb I use to know a fact, like geography but “conoscere“ is what I use when I know a person, not just the fact of his or her existence but also who he or she is, something that has to develop over time, by spending time in a relationship. This distinction is what gave rise in days of old to the euphemism often used for sex: Joseph and Mary were engaged but before they “knew” each other. Sex was considered the most profound way one could know another, the most profound way one could deepen a relationship, a physical, tangible expression of the knowledge one has of another. And this is why God sometimes uses sexual imagery in the bible to reference the intimacy God wants with us.
Lent’s coming up very soon. I want you to take a few moments, even discuss with one another in the family, what you are going to do for Lent, how you are going to be different, how you are going to draw close to God so that you can better celebrate at Easter. Lent isn’t a test of will power. The goal of Lent is to draw closer to God, to strengthen and deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ, to become a better disciple.
our Archdiocese. It’s about reaching out to something bigger than ourselves, serving God together with others. For us here in the Pastorate, we have designated our parish portion of what you give in the Appeal to go to the Frederick Family Shelter. Because of the economy and especially during the pandemic, there’s an increase among homelessness, including families. This shelter will provide a temporary place for the families right here in our area to stay while they get back on their feet. Next week, we’ll be asking those who have not yet contributed to make a commitment or gift. Please reflect on the generosity of God in their lives, and, in the coming week, to decide upon a suitable gift to reflect their appreciation for God’s gifts. Regardless of the amount, we ask each of you to prayerfully consider a gift. No gift is too small. and we ask all to pray for the success of the 2021 Appeal for Catholic Ministries.
In October 1964, a struggling young British rock band released their second album that year. One of the songs on that second album became quite a hit for the group. Entitled “Time Is on My Side,” the song offered the perspective of a jilted young man in love who will wait for his lady to return. He does not need necessarily to be active because he can wait her out. No matter how long it takes, no matter what she goes through, he will be waiting, and he can wait for her longer than she can run from or escape his love. The song went onto become an anthem for the burgeoning rock generation, even being re-released several years later.
Just five years after the original release of The Rolling Stones, Louis Armstrong would record one of his well-known hits, the last recording before he died. It was a secondary musical theme for the James Bond movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (for you Bond fans, this was the only time the title role was held by George Lazenby). In that song, Louis Armstrong belted out the fallacy that gave the song its name: “We Have All the Time in the World.” The song spoke of time that allows the unfolding of all the “precious gifts love has in store.”
Jesus saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him…a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John he called them, [too]…. So they left their father Zebedee ….and followed him. We hear in our gospel today the Jesus’ call of Simon and Andrew, James and John and their response to him. This isn’t the first time they have met Jesus as we saw last week. But it shows us what can happen when we respond to the invitation of Jesus: “Come and you will see.” This invitation is the scriptural basis for our message series and for our call as disciples. Jesus senses in the heart of Andrew and his friend an unmet need, an ache that seeks healing, an emptiness that looks for fulfillment. So Jesus invites them and then Jesus welcomes them not only into His Posse, not only into His home (the place where He was staying at that moment) but into the heart and the life of God. Jesus asks nothing of them except an openness to see who God is and how God works, a God of mercy and gentleness that challenges even the great prophet John the Baptist, so radical in God’s love for others, in the offering of God’s mercy, and in the opening to the kingdom. And they are changed. Andrew invites Simon; Simon gets a new name and then, once they are aware of God’s love, of God’s plan, no matter 
how confusing it may seem, they are ready for God’s call. Now, Jesus calls them by name and asks them to follow.
fishermen. Jesus calls fishermen to help him in his ministry. These are the salt of the earth kind of guys, uneducated and uncultured, not the high-falootin’ types of well-born society. These were the men who got up every day and went to work, doing hard work, back-breaking work, tiring work that involved long hours and little reward. These are the men whom Jesus calls, first. He does not go first to those that society says are preferred: the well-born or the well-educated, he does not go to the scribes or the Pharisees, and he does not go to the civil leaders of his day. He goes first to these simple men.
wealthy family; he will go onto call the well-educated, the scribes and the Pharisees, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were both members of the Sanhedrin; and he will go onto to call the civil leaders; Matthew was a tax collector (Matthew’s call by Caravaggio above) and Longinus, called by Christ’s example on the cross was a Roman centurion.
Peter and Andrew, James and John serve as an example for us, because each one of us here has been called by God by name. Oh we were not standing in a boat or hauling nets, but we were near water, most likely held over the waters of the baptismal font by our parents or godparents. Robert John, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Our name was spoken three times as the water was poured. And God used this event to call us, just as he called Peter and Andrew, James and John. He called us then to follow him and gave us the gift of his spirit that we may respond to the call. And for most of us it has taken awhile to respond and most of the time we have responded half-heartedly, busy about many things. These are mostly good things – taking care of our families, earning a living, but there are also things that just keep us busy, things that keep us from responding in the radical way of Peter and Andrew and James and John.
Our call is to recommit ourselves to our response, to begin anew and to begin again in the radical response of those Apostles. And Saint Paul tells us in our second readings as he told the Church at Corinth: I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out….For the world in its present form is passing away. The world as we know it is passing away. Time is running out, time is NOT on our side, we do not have all the time in the world to respond. Jesus calls us to respond now; our call is to catch others with the net of Jesus Christ and the love of God He offers; our call is to become here and now fishers of women and men. We’re not going to do this only by our words. In fact words are ineffective when the example does not line up in the same way.
But the God we must preach is the God of mercy we hear of in our first reading: The God who pardons Nineveh. This passage is the second chance for Jonah. You may recall that he was not too excited about God’s call to go and challenge Nineveh, an exceedingly wicked city, as well as an exceedingly great one. So he upped and fled, hightailing it away from God, escaping by the first sea going ship available. When the sailors fell on hard times, they threw Jonah overboard where he was swallowed by the whale. After God commands the whale to spit him up, Jonah was a little bit more amenable to God’s request. Whereas he fled the first time, he immediately arises and carries out YHWH’S instruction this time. “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Now, Nineveh was “an exceedingly large city” (literally, “a great city to G—d”) requiring three days to walk across it. After only one day, Jonah witnesses Nineveh’s repentance first-hand: They believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. That such a great and wicked city repents so quickly, makes the repentance of Nineveh especially noteworthy. Our translations reads “the people of Nineveh believed God,” as if they were only afraid God would carry out the violence promised. However, the original text reads more literally, “and the [people]…of Nineveh believed in God.” Everyone in the whole city did more than merely acknowledge some form of divine power. Immediately they declare a fast and put on sackcloth, common signs of mourning, sorrow, and repentance in the ancient world. They come to believe not only in God’s power to destroy but they come to believe more deeply in a good and merciful God.
Jonah’s message even reaches the king of Nineveh who was an arrogant monarch (sound familiar?), who not only defied YHWH and threatened Jerusalem, but boasted that his power was greater than YHWH’S because he has been able to overthrow violently and who stood in his way, including God’s chosen people. Might and brute force seemed to him more powerful than a distant God. These were his answer to any challenge he faced and to his identity and his perception of himself. But even this self-styled rival to Yahweh recognizes God’s power. Upon hearing the message of Jonah, the king rises from his throne, removes his robe, puts on sackcloth, and sits in the dust or ashes, willingly acknowledging that YHWH’S is greater. Together with his people, the king looks prays for the God of Israel as described in the Book of Exodus: merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation. The people of Nineveh hold out the hope that by turning from evil, justice may be served through compassion rather than through punishment.
All around him, Jonah, the Israelite prophet, one of God’s chosen who should know better and rejoice in the reality of who God is and how God works, sees pagans acknowledging God. But Jonah gets angry at God who didn’t carry out the destruction of Nineveh as promised. He wanted the violence, the destruction of those who had turned away from God. Now that’s another homily but I encourage you to read the rest of the story of Jonah.
It hardly seems possible that the Christmas season has come and gone. In some ways it was the longest of times and yet it passed so quickly. Certainly, it was the weirdest of times. I missed seeing my family (although they didn’t say the same about me!). I appreciate using it and the connection it brings, but I HATE Zoom! Most of all, I missed being together in the hectic, blessed chaos of our Christmas Eve. I missed seeing people and teasing and being teased by them. I missed the joy of our kids and the excitement of hearing about Santa directly from them.
Christmas always brings us together in a way that nothing else does and I missed that. I am sure that most of us had similar experiences of missing friends or family, slightly altered traditions and a sense of disconnect. But through it all, we were able to make the best of it and I am so grateful for all those who assisted us in reaching out in different ways, allowing us to bring the new-born Christ into the homes and hearts of so many. At the very least we were able to pray together. We mourned for those who have died (Several of our own community as well) and grieved with their families. We’ve been touched by the struggles of so many because of the pandemic, whether financial, job related, or of spiritual, mental or physical health struggles.
In all of this, the early Christmas message of Pope Francis ring true (and convict me as of late): “Instead of complaining in these difficult times about what the pandemic prevents us from doing, let us do something for someone who has less: not the umpteenth gift for ourselves and our friends, but for a person in need whom no-one thinks of!”
And so, we go forward, not in fear or complaining, but in joy and hope. And our Gospel today gives us a grand sense of why joy and hope are possible. We hear of the encounter of the disciples of John the Baptist, Andrew and another unnamed, who, at John’s urging, encounter Christ. In the passage of our gospel today, John had to admit, not once but twice that he did not recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah. He was looking for the great warrior king who would crush the Roman oppressors, eliminate evil, and force all to believe as he thought. Instead, come the gentle Jesus who proposes rather than imposes, who invites rather than forces and who offers rather than insists. Instead of being surrounded by pomp and circumstance, Jesus comes in humility, vulnerable, to be baptized. From this act of sacrifice and submission, Jesus inaugurates the kingdom here on earth by bringing God’s love and forgiveness.
And we see in today’s Gospel, how Jesus progresses. Andrew and his unnamed friend are hesitant. They are men of faith but are attuned to the message of John the Baptist. At his direction, they follow Jesus but only from a distance. Jesus sensing the ache in their hearts, turns and asks the question above, “What are you looking for?” They respond with another question, one that reveals their longing but also their hesitation. “Rabbi, where are you staying?” They recognize Jesus as one of authority, perhaps they have heard him preach in the temple. Rather than answer their question directly or only with words, Jesus invites them closer: “Come and you will see.” Jesus welcomes them not only into His posse, not only into His home (such as it is), but into the very heart and life of God. The invitation of Jesus and welcome by Him are not mere words, nor are they superficial actions; they are life changing encounters. And in fact, at the very least, Andrew is changed by his encounter with Jesus and immediately goes to call his brother, also a man of faith. They’re not only brothers, but friends and business partners who must have spent a great deal of time in the boat, waiting for the fish to bite, discussing, among other things, matters of faith. And he brings Simon to Jesus who gives Peter a new name and a different life trajectory.
“What are you looking for?” Jesus realizes that there is within each of us an ache that needs healing, a questioning that seeks answers, an emptiness that needs to be filled. We’re looking for something, questioning, seeking consolation and comfort. We’re attracted to the message Jesus brings and the love of God Jesus offers, but we’re still hesitant to follow too closely, unsure of what it means. With this new year and the return to Ordinary Time, we are starting a new message series, “Come and you will see.” Over the next few weeks, we’ll be examining our response to the question of Jesus. A true and profound response comes in understanding the gentle call, our being drawn closer by God Who delights in us and Who loves us (and loves us and loves us and never stops loving us! – You knew I had to work that in!). We’ll gather from the examples we get in the Gospels of these early weeks, the basics of the call from Jesus and the response of those early disciples. Unlike what you may expect, these are not all immediate or complete acceptance. Like us, they have questions, they are hesitant, and they are often struggling. But eventually they respond to Jesus who invites and welcomes and only then, calls them to action.
Join us as Jesus invites us closer, welcomes us into God’s Heart and then calls us to reach out to others. Over the next four weeks, we’ll look practically at what it means as individuals and as a community to follow Christ, to become comfortable with our faith, and to live better the call Jesus gives to share our faith. “Come and you will see.”
The heavens open, the Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father is heard: “You are my beloved son. With you I am well pleased.”
And yet Jesus not only submits to Baptism but searches it out and then forces John to perform the action. Jesus’ own actions mark this as something truly important: First, by his own submission, Jesus sanctifies the waters of Baptism. By his own submission, he begins to turn the symbolic action of John into the sacred sacrament of the Church, that he will, just before he ascends into heaven, call the Apostles and the early Church to do in earnest: Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Second, and more profoundly, Jesus will show, by that very act of submission, the humility of God. In doing this Jesus revealed how royalty truly acts, not in parades or in medals or guards, not in shows of wealth and expressions of power, but in humility, placing oneself in God’s service, submitting fully one’s own will to the plan God has, not merely out of blind obedience but out of love. Imagine this omnipotent, omniscient God who could do anything and be everywhere, has emptied himself as Saint Paul says, and taken on our human form. And now he submits even further to the preaching and action of John all to show how much God loves us.
There are three major vocations: The most obvious that most people first think of is service to the Church. One thinks of priests and consecrated religious sisters and brothers, called by God, trained and tested by the Church to serve ones’ sisters and brothers through the Church. We need to pray for these vocations in a particular way, we need to invite young men to consider becoming priests and young women to consider becoming religious. These are essential not only for service but for the life of the Church. Without the priesthood we cannot have the Eucharist, without the Eucharist, we cannot have the Church. Without consecrated religious, we lose the symbolic action of God’s kingdom breaking into the world. But vocations are not limited only to priests and sisters.
In each of these, vocations, it is not merely a single decision, but a life commitment marked by the actions of one’s whole life. No matter our vocation, no matter our age, no matter our state in life, we are called to follow the example of Jesus and submit to the will of the Father. If we do this and commit each day and every action and our whole lives, then we will hear, perhaps with less drama, but no less profoundly: You are my beloved child. With you I am well pleased.
It is a fantastic story: a powerful and vicious king in his palace insecure now that he is hearing hints of a usurper. Wise men led by a star in search of the new king have come from across the known world and make the politically incorrect move of stopping and asking the current earthly ruler where one might find his eternal successor. The chief priests and the scribes, the cognoscenti of the day offering up the location of Bethlehem, some backwater town to the south east of the mighty Jerusalem. Palace intrigue as the earthly king plots to keep his power and destroy any who would rain on his parade. And at the heart of it all, what sent the star skyward, what drew the wise men from their distant land, what caused Herod to quake in his fashionable boot, at the heart of it all is a small child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, protected by his mother in a little hut, perhaps even a cave.
the wise men but it will be different for us. It may be as mundane as realizing that you have just made all of the traffic lights between here and Frederick or it may be as profound as a newborn baby lifting his head for the first time. Perhaps it is a moment of fulfillment and peace in prayer. Perhaps it is a successful surgery or quicker than expected recovery. Whatever the message, we are called not only to relish the moment but to look beyond and allow ourselves to be drawn closer to the One who sent it.
morality and marriage; these are rooted in the gospel and maintain their relevancy. Allow each of these all of these, to help you reach Christ.
with Jesus. Gold is the gift given to our king and so we return the treasure we have received to King of Kings. God has gifted it to us and now we return a portion of it to him. Frankincense is the gift given to a priest and used when he offers sacrifice. It symbolizes the time and efforts we offer in sacrifice to God, our time in public prayer such as coming together at Mass and also in quiet prayer which is necessary every day. And Myrrh is the gift given to the prophet. Now, it is not a very appropriate gift given at birth since its primary use is for embalming a dead body, but it speaks of the total sacrifice of the prophet who is called to proclaim the gospel not mere in speech but in action as well. We are called to proclaim the gospel by the way we reach out and help others, by the way we share our faith living and active in our world. In all of this, we must offer the gift of our whole self, our own will included, allowing God to lead us and our hearts where God wants them to be. This is true of where I am and what I believe. This is often the hardest to offer.
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