The Francis prayer has been put to music. You may like to listen to it at by clicking here.

October 13

More migrants and refugees will be coming

By the end of 2018, 70.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced because of persecution, war, or violence. This is a worldwide problem that requires wide attention, especially through the World Refugee Day in September and the Catholic World Day for Migrants and Refugees in September. Two weeks ago Pope Francis unveiled the above sculpture, depicting various migrants and refugees, including Mary and Joseph, Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, and refugees from war-torn countries. His message was that it is “the poorest of the poor and the most disadvantaged who pay the price” of wars, injustice, economic and social imbalances, both locally and globally.

But this is only the beginning. While war and violence are likely to continue throwing millions on the roads to exile, climate change through flooding and droughts will throw millions more to wander across the globe.

Nearly 80 percent of Bangladesh sits in a flood plain, near the rising seas, and in 2016 extreme weather-related disasters displaced around 23.5 million people. These number will increase manifolds in the future. Where will they go? About 90 percent of the migration moves to one city, Dhaka which counts already 18.2 million in its metropolitan area. Move to India? The Indian government has been building a border fence around its territory which is now 90% completed. Where to go?

India has its own problems. The projected population in Low-Elevation Coastal Zones in 2000 was 63.9 million; it is projected to increase to 216.4 million by 2060. Where will they go? Twelve countries have low-elevation areas (Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, D.P.R Korea, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam) Where will they go?

At the end of the Vietnam War, about 2 million Vietnamese left their country between 1975 and 1995, many of them by boat. About 800,000 boat-people arrived safely in a new country, but many did not make it. Climate change is likely to produce massive displacements, by boat and all possible means. Are we ready?

One of the greatest obstacles is fear, as in the US today. We are afraid that waves of immigrants are going to disrupt our security–and they will, but only to a very small degree. There is a campaign of vilification of all immigrants as violent criminals abusing our cherished welfare system that is based not on facts but on fear.

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Hebrews 13:2). This is what the sculpture unveiled in St. Peter’s Square refers to; it is entitled “Angels Unaware.” And on the Last Day, the Jesus will say, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

By the way, accepting immigrants and integrating them into the national web is highly beneficial, as evidenced by the history of the United States. There is nothing to fear but much to be gained.

October 6

Can faith move mountains?

The short answer is No! Only God can. Today's gospel is even more to the point, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." How shall we take this?

We often use irony and exaggerations to make a point, for instance, "If you had one ounce of common sense, you would…" Or, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you would…" Could God uproot a tree and plant in the sea? No, because it makes no sense. The God who planted the tree of knowledge in paradise would not transplant a non-sense tree into the ocean. We came back to the simpler question, can faith move mountains? No, only God can. But what happens if we have faith and God does not answer our prayer?

Here is Habakkuk's answer from the first reading:

                   How long, o Lord?  I cry for help but you do not listen!
                    I cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not intervene.
                    Why do you let me see ruin? Why must I look at misery?

Habakkuk was not satisfied with God's answer, so he complained more, in straight forward language, "Your eyes are too pure to see wickedness [down here on the earth] and you can't stand to see the evil [of down here]," so you are blind to my complaint!

Finally God answered, "The unrighteous shall not stand, but the faithful shall survive—or: the righteous shall live by faith." (There are various translations of this verse). The faithful shall survive because of their faith. It is faith that keeps us going.

Habbakkuk's prayer of complaint is very common. And so it is in the psalms. After a long complaint there are usually words of hope and faith. Thus in Psalm 3:
          O LORD, my foes are so many! Many are those who attack me
          … But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory.

Psalm 22
         “My god, my god, why have you forsaken me
          … The Lord did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.

Psalm 69 is a very long complaint with only four verses expressing hope at the end:
          Deliver me, O God, for the waters have reached my neck;
          I am sinking into the slimy deep and find no foothold;
          I have come into the watery depths; the flood sweeps me away.
          I am weary with calling; my throat is dry; my eyes fail.

Psalm 51 is one of guilt and repentance:
          Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin;
          for I recognize my transgressions, and am ever conscious of my sin.
          Against You alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight.

Can faith move mountains? Yes, mountains of doubts, depression, and self-pity. As in the psalms, we need first to vent our complaint, and then, with God's help, we will find hope and rescue.

September 29

Believing a dead coming back to life

"If someone from the dead goes to my brothers, they will repent," says the rich man to Father Abraham about Lazarus. Would you believe a dead coming back to life? I am tempted to find out more.
            - Tell me, how is it on the other side of the fence?
            - You already know enough: hell is hell and heaven is heaven. I cannot say much more.
            - That's just a preacher's talk. Can you at least do some kind of miracle in front of me?
            - Miracles? Life is a miracle. Loving God and neighbor is the miracle of salvation.
            - You're a preachy clown. What's your message? Why did you come?
            - Repent! You do not know the day and the hour… Repent!
            - I do not need a dead to tell me that. You are wasting my time. Go to hell!

The Pharisees asked for a sign. They were given the sign of Jonas, but that was not clear enough. They wanted certainty, something like the sun going backwards or a prediction that can be verified. They wanted compelling evidence that left no room for doubt, but God does not work that way. God gives glimmers of light and hope, not unmistakable certitude.

Before going to war Gideon wanted a sign. He asked that a fleece to be wet in morning while the ground would be totally dry, and so it was. But he wanted to be sure: that the next day the fleece would be totally dry but the soil drenched, and so it was. To be absolutely sure, he could have asked for another sign, and another one, and another one. No: God only gives enough light to see the next step, but not absolute certainty.

It is common to ask God for a sign, but often we get no response. God speaks to us in many ways: through reason, circumstances, or the advice of friends or specialists. In all cases we must trust. Josiah was a model king who instituted the Deuteronomic reform, but he was killed in the battle of Mogiddo. His death shook the faith of many Israelites. There are many tragic circumstances where God's silence is disturbing.

"They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them," was Abraham's answer to the rich man's plea. We have the world of God and the church; if we do not listen to them nor will we listen to a dead coming back to life.

God's message is only a dim light to give us faith and hope."Lord, increase my faith!"

September 22

Serving two masters

"No one can serve two masters?' Of course not. I can. Everybody can. There is actually no choice. No one wants to be totally dominated by money; one always preserves a little time for family and social events. To only serve God? Few people do, and they not always do it very well.

What does it mean to "serve" God? How much service is required? For most people it is about one hour per week. Plus financial giving. How much one gives depends on one's income. Those making less than $12,500 give 2.2 %; those making $30,000 to 40,000 give 1.3%; and those making more than 90,000 in 2010 gave 1.1% according to a national survey. Yes, the richer we are, the less we give proportionally. I spoke about tithing to someone making well above $100,000. "Impossible! That's too much." Yet we have no problem giving a 14% tip in a fancy restaurant; in casinos where people gamble, they give the largest tips.

One American in four volunteers time. Of course many of us are very busy, but many of us also have some free time. What we do with our free time conditions our future. Taking an evening course or reading professional books may advance our career. Reading about nutrition and health has immediate effects. Do you have a little spare time to serve Master One? Most people spend lots of time on their cell phone: checking what? There are numerous programs one can receive daily on one's cell phone. Bible readings: one short text every day. Reflections: one thought to think about. A prayer: something to start the day with. Can you set aside 10-15 minutes every evening or morning? Like the first thing when getting up or the last thing before falling asleep. Do we ever forget to brush your teeth morning or evening? No one is too busy not to brush one's teeth; how can one be too busy for a short prayer?

No one should serve two masters. It's a question of balance. One hour a week is one fortieth of one's working time. We can do better than that. Start now: do a google search to download a helpful program. Search Daily bible app, or Daily spiritual reading app, or Daily spiritual podcast. Start today at the service of Master One. "Seek first the kingdom of God, the rest will be added to you." That's a good deal.

September 15

Two stories of betrayal

In today's readings we have two stories of betrayal, that of David ordering the killing of his rival Uriah, and that of the prodigal son.
            We know the story of David coveting Uriah's wife, the beautiful Bethsheba, and how he arranged to have his rival killed in a battle. Upon learning of his rival's death, he sent word to the commander of the plot, "Do not let this be a great evil in your sight, for the sword devours now here and now there." It was an accident; don't bother. He had no remorse. Had Prophet Nathan accused the king of adultery and murder, David would have protested: it was an accident; I have executive privilege. Nathan told the parable of a rich man who took away from a poor neighbor the only sheep he had. "This man deserves death," exclaimed David. "This man is you," replied Nathan.

            Any sin, not just murder, is a betrayal of trust. The universe and societies function on trust. The course of the stars is dictated by mathematical laws and the return of seasons by cosmic trends that inspire confidence. But when this natural order is disturbed by over-exploitation, we lose trust in fear of more dangerous fires, more devastating floods and hurricanes, hotter summers and colder winters. When you shake hands with a stranger, a refugee or an immigrant, does distrust make you see a knife behind his back, and hypocrisy in his smile? Betrayal destroys the natural order and our trust in it.

The story of the prodigal son ends well, but it could have ended differently. After extorting his inheritance from his father, the son had a merry life abroad. He may have become friends with people in power and wealth and in the process made a name for himself. Did he do anything wrong? No: he only asked for the advance payment of the inheritance due to him. In the process he cut himself off from his father and older brother and destroyed the normal social order of family relations. He destroyed trust. He would probably never return home, except maybe once to show his opulence and success. He would probably never have a talking relationship with his family and relatives. His own children would inherit this distance in family relations and never get to know their cousins, uncles, and grandfather.

In the parable, a severe famine brought him to his senses. For many people it is an illness, heart attack, business or family failure that brings people to their senses. Such painful experiences can be avoided if we realize that any sin destroys trust in human relations, and also our own relationship with God. But in Jesus' parable, the Father trusts us in spite of all our failures. Salvation is the restoration of cosmic and universal trust. Thanks be to God!

September 8

"Unless you renounce all your possessions,
you cannot be my disciple"

It does not say "give up all you possessions at once." In fact, many of us have given up some of our cherished possessions over the years.  One of these possessions is the dream we had in early adulthood. Did you achieve all your life-dreams? I had many failures that made me feel poor. I had failures in career and marriage. Yet, rather than recriminate, I gave them up gracefully. And giving them up gracefully made me richer in unexpected ways. A failed career opens the way to other careers, and a failure in marriage can create stronger family bonds.

We do not have control over many of our possessions. Did you ever have mice you could not get rid off? I had squirrels that settled in my attic and did not want to leave.  A few years later they chewed power lines requiring expensive repairs. The wind blew up shingles on my roof twice in six months. With climate change we may expect more wind and water damage in the future.

Today when people die in their 80s, their children who are in their 60s do not want to inherit much of their stuff, because they have their own. Much of our ordinary belongings will end up in a landfill. It makes sense to give them up gracefully over the years.

"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Mt 6:33). By seeking first God's righteousness, all our possessions become secondary. We cannot serve two masters, God and money. "Where your treasure is, there is hour heart," and where your heart is, there is your treasure. Even when our possessions are our treasure, we can make the kingdom of God our heart and home. This offering of heart and possessions is well expressed in St. Ignatius' prayer:

September 1

My yoke is easy and my burden light

Today the Alleluia sings, "Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart."
      From visiting many churches I found that their yoke was too easy: they make few demands and often there is little participation. The liturgy is routine, the sermons often uninspiring, people hum along without much effort, some people leave before the end, the assembly is greying, and few young people join.

Is it that the Lord's yoke is too easy? No. He says, "Learn from me."  We must learn directly from him, besides learning from everybody else. The Spirit of God speaks directly to us in a soft voice, an inner voice which we must learn to listen to. This requires lots of silence, external and internal silence. Even in a busy schedule one needs islands of silence, if not one becomes a working machine. Even when not busy, we have to silence he mind and quiet down the wild monkeys that run around in our imagination. It is a good practice to schedule a quiet time, a reflection and prayer time, and then do what?

For many people today, silence is deadly because they do not know what to do. Read a book: it concentrates the mind while freeing the imagination. The beauty of reading is that you can stop at any time and reflect on your own. Reading can be a form of meditation, especially if you select an inspiring book. What have you read recently? If we do not read, we are like students who never do any homework. Books are food for the mind and the soul.

Some people write a diary, every day a few lines. I don't do it but people told me it helps concentrate on what's going on in our lives.

Many people carry a picture of spouse or children; it makes them feel close to them. It helps to have a picture of Jesus Christ at a quiet place in the house where we may retreat. The choice of a religious picture is very personal. I just googled images of "Jesus Christ." There should be one which you like.

You should also have your preferred prayer or Psalm. The Lord is my Shepherd is one of my favorites. Listen to it by clicking here.  Next, google "Jesus Christ" to find your favorite image of him.

August 25

Follow the narrow path where all is grace

"Who will be saved?" The answer in today's reading is a simple advice: follow the narrow, not the wide road. What kind of road is this?

To become a scientist, a lawyer, a medical doctor, or a specialist in nearly any field requires years of training and hard work which must begin in early childhood. It is so much easier, even for adults, to spend endless hours watching television, flipping through one's cell phone, and taking it easy, rather than spending time constructively. The number of books read is a good indicator of what one achieves in life. Yet this narrow road is also full of great satisfaction that comes with achievement, and this inner satisfaction does not come from instant gratification. There are the two roads of life: instant gratification for instant satisfaction and deferred gratification for a higher achievement.

This applies to spiritual life. To follow the example of Jesus requires discipline like any successful career, but this discipline is the opposite of the above. It is a discipline of giving thanks, as today psalm suggests. Psalm 117 has only two verses, and only one sentence: "Praise the Lord, all you nations, because great is his love toward us." In Hebrew, "Praise the Lord" is "Hallelu Yah," Alleluia! All in life is gift: from birth on all is gift, for naked we come, and nobody can become self-made alone.

Everybody can probably tell the story of a special and unexpected gift from God. A friend of mine just learned that he had anemia, and hopefully chemotherapy will cure him. I had (have) a cancer of the blood, but two quick chemotherapies sent it into remission for ten years. What a gift! I just had cataract surgery, and now I see as well as when I was twenty. What a gift! The main point is that there is nothing here for self-glorification. I learned about both conditions early and by accident, and was fortunate to have the best medical practice nearby, all paid by the insurance. How many learn about their condition too late, have no medical services available, and no insurance to cover the expenses?

"Praise the Lord because…" We all have personal reasons to praise God; it's not like a Sunday obligation. To praise someone always consists of recognizing their good deeds. To praise the Lord is also recognizing his good deeds; it is not just singing Alleluia. To "re-cognize" is a form of cognition, a special kind of knowledge. We praise best when we make the effort of knowing God's good deeds in the bible and church history. This requires work and discipline.

We are now at the opposite of the self-made individual who attributes all achievements to personal efforts. Give a million dollars to a millionaire and he may say, "Well I deserve it, don’t I?" Give a single dollar to a beggar and he may say "May God bless you!"  We may say, "It's my money. I earned it." Really? Is one worker's time worth ten dollars an hour and an executive's time worth several hundred dollars an hour? In the name of what?

August 15

Mary's Assumption & Ours

This is the chorus that is sung at a Christian funeral as the body leaves the church for its resting place. This is also the song that may have accompanied Mary at her Dormition or "falling asleep" (what the Assumption is called by Orthodox Christians). Dying is often called "falling asleep" in the liturgy, and waking up with the angels in the whole city of Jerusalem is the dream of all believers.

Mary was an ordinary woman who was taken to heaven. What did she do to deserve it? Nothing. Heaven is a gift that awaits us all; it is not a reward that is merited. Jesus rose from the dead, and so will we. Life and death are gifts; to recognize them as such is the source of great peace.

Today's reading reminds us, "As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." We can now add, as in Eve all her descendents had lost their way to heaven, so in Mary, the New Eve (which means the mother of all living) we can find our way to Christ. She is represented in the book of Revelation as "clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." In heaven all wear a crown of stars, but you and I will only have a small crown of small stars. Mary is not only crowned with stars but also clothed with the sun and the moon.

It is customary since the time of the first Christians to venerate the martyrs and ask for their intercession. This devotion has continued through the ages. Devotion to Mary always leads to Jesus Christ. In heaven Jesus is surrounded not only by Mary and the twelve apostles, but also by all the heroes and saints of all ages, and all those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and all are in constant interaction with the Lord of Lords. Hence it  is appropriate to ask for their intercession.

Here are the next verses of the antiphon quoted at the beginning.
                    May the choirs of angels receive you, 
                    And with Lazarus, once poor, 
                    May you have eternal rest. 

You may like to listen to it by clicking here.

August 11

Is sin obsolete?
Sin as relationship fault

Sin is not an attractive word. I don't like hearing about it. It seems old-fashioned and preachy. Sin evokes hell and eternal damnation. It was the stuff of sermons of fifty years ago.

Sin is often equated with disobedience, with breaking rules. "From the tree of knowledge you shall not eat or you shall die." In this case the rule was clear, and so was the punishment. But what happens when there are no rules or no punishment? This is the situation we are in today in most churches.

What are the rules? The first three Commandments (no other gods, no graven images, keeping the Sabbath) are vague. "Honor you mother and father" reflects a culture of honor that still existed about 100 years ago when children addressed their parents as Madam and Sir (or used "vous" in French or "Usted" in Spanish.) It was the time of arranged marriages when the father could disown his children.  "Do not murder" and "do not steal" are laws which we all observe. Adultery is widely condemned but there are no sanctions; adultery is the stuff of novels and movies. Adultery is easily solved through divorce and remarriage. Finally, do not covet your neighbor's house or wife is also very vague. What about the rules of the church? At the time of the "blue laws" in the US, all stores were closed on Sundays; there was no television and no public entertainment, so most people went to church. There was the Catholic rule of no meat on Fridays and fast during Lent and other days of obligation. All or most of these rules have faded away. Religiously we tend to be law-less.

Consider a real case. A shrewd man asks his mother of over 90 to sign over to him all her possessions. A couple of years later he puts her in a nursing home at public expense because she is now penny-less. What's wrong with that? He did not break any rules. There is more to sin than transgression and disobedience.

Actually the first three Commandments are about our relationship with God. Honoring one's parents is about our relationship with parents. Killing, stealing, coveting are failures in relationships with others.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, when the younger son came to grieve his misdeed, he exclaimed "Father I have sinned against heaven and against you." (Lk 15:18). He had not broken any specific rule; he had sinned "against heaven and against you." It had betrayed the father-son relationship.

Unfaithfulness behind one's spouse's back is no less a relationship failure than open adultery. Emotional unfaithfulness and emotional abandonment are also faults in love relationships. Unfaithfulness is a fault against persons rather than a transgression of rules.

Any sin is primarily a betrayal of our relationship with God and our neighbors. That supposes that we have a personal relationship with God and want to be loyal in this relationship. Sin as transgression of laws is obsolete when there are no laws, because "there is no sin when there is no law" (Rom 5:13). But then we must change our spiritual attitude from emphasis on sin to emphasis on relationships.

We all are prodigal sons returning to the father. What is your relationship to the divine Father and what do you do to deepen it? This is the most important question in life.

August 4

Vanity Fair, Vanity Affair:
Vaniety of Vanity, All is Vanity

         

In today's parable, a rich farmer had such a successful harvest that he had to tear down his barn to store it. All he wanted to do for the rest of his life was "Rest, eat, drink, and be merry!"  But that night he died.  Vanity of vanity!  This is the fate of all who store for this world but "are not rich in what matters to God.” (Lk 12:16-21)

Vanity Fair and Vogue cater to people's dream of power, fame, and wealth through images of royalty, princes and princesses, and all the trappings of the celebrity culture. They promise ephemeral success, at least in the imagination, and many people go for it. The current circulation of Vanity Fair is 1.17 million and that of Vogue is 1.24 million. Vogue offers "Fashion, Beauty, Culture, Living, Runway, Holiday." Vanity Fair offers "Entertainment, Politics, and Fashion News."  Nothing is more ephemeral than fashion, beauty, and culture; nothing is more transitory than entertainment, politics, and fashion news. Vanity of Vanity, All is vanity!

What Vogue is offering is fashionable beauty, fashionable culture, fashionable living; what we find in Vanity Fair is entertainment politics and entertaining fashion news. Fake news, false news, and fashionable news sell better than reflections about beauty, culture, and politics. The former are ephemeral, the latter are steps towards the kingdom of God.

I have a beautiful house, beautiful furniture, and I hope you do too. Will our children enjoy them? Probably not. When people die in their 80s, their children already have a house, probably not in the same town or state. Today people move with their jobs and few end up in the town they grew up in. So the parents' house has to be sold. The furniture? Some pieces yes, but the rest no. Furniture, art, music, and books are personal choices. What about the family pictures? If you have picture albums, yes. Slides? No: nobody has a slide projector anymore. Digital pictures? There are too many to rummage through; so they will be discarded too. In our age of plenty, very little of one generation's possessions is transmitted to the next one. Possessions are necessary but ephemeral like chasing the wind.

Be rich in what matters to God. Say a prayer for me. For us. Reflect on beauty, culture, and politics. That's a little step towards the kingdom of God.

July 21

Amazing Grace!

            All children must learn to say "please" and "thank you." A brat always wants more without being grateful for what it has. Naked we were born, and all we have has been given to us. In a lifetime we accumulate a garage full of stuff which we treasure rather than throw away. What we treasure is what we must be thankful for.

            Health is a precious gift. I was born with some minor deformity, but it could be fixed in a few years. I was diagnosed with cancer of the blood, but it is curable, and it is in recess for about ten years each time. Recently I suffered from knee and back pain, but it can be handled. So for my health, I say, "Thanks to you Lord!" What about you?

What do you want to do in life when you grow up? I had a pleasant career, not a prestigious one, but one that gave me much satisfaction. On more than one occasion, I was about to lose it, but I gained it back. We want a career rather than just work for money. In today's economy it is increasingly difficult to find a life-time career. So, for my career I say, "Thank you Lord!" What about you?

" Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly" (Rom 5:20).  I was/am something of a brat. I like to complain, criticize, and attack. I like things to be done my way. I like to have the last word, and never lose an argument. I am good with words and use them as killing weapons. My patience is as thin as the early frost. I am irritable when things don't come my way. On all these I have made some progress. I used to hold grudges and nurture my anger. No more: where sin abounded, grace super-abounded. For all these failings, struggles, and improvements I say "Thank you Lord!" What about you?

July 14

The Anchor of Faith

            - "Lord, if you had been here my brother Lazarus would not have died."
Jesus replied,
            - "I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
            - "I know my brother will rise in the resurrection on the last day"—but that doesn't help me now!
Then Mary arrived, inconsolably crying, and complained
            - "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died." (Jn 11:21–32)

How often do we say or hear:
- Why did my brother (or mother, or father) die?
- Why did I get cancer although I eat healthy food?
- Why did I fail this exam? Or was refused this promotion?
- Why did my marriage or career fail? What did I do to God?

            Faith is our anchor. We must hold on to it in order to find answers to our questions. We believe that nothing is impossible to God, including doing nothing! This seems the worst prospect: in spite of our prayers, God does nothing! Then what? There are several options.

            Being angry at God is the worst solution: an angry person is impossible to live with. Have you ever spent an hour or a few days with an angry spouse, friend, or child? It is awful; one feels like walking on eggs, not knowing what to do and say. Angry people are socially repellent: they breathe and exhale vinegar. Even God would not want to be with them.

Stoicism is another option: "Be a real man! Toughen it up!" The Malboro man has no feelings. He is at his best when riding horses among wild beasts. He seldom smiles. He has no compassion. He prefers to be alone and may be lonely. He is the product of the cruel wars of life and never recovered.

Forgetfulness is another easy answer. After a long and busy day, a drink provides relief, and a habit of daily drinks leads to alcoholism. The Malboro man is also an addict, of nicotine first and much more, later. It is an attitude of escape from reality; it is not very helpful.

The anchor of faith is the only answer. When God does not to answer our prayer, his answer is a test, but also an opportunity. To all the sick people who came to Jesus he said, "Have faith!" Have faith in faith, not faith of God-given solution, but faith in self and faith in faith. Then it is time to pray, "Lord, increase my faith!"

July 7

The Evil Force

"Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in heavens." Eph 6:12) Who are these evil powers? It is likely that "the world rulers of this present darkness" are the Roman emperors who like Nero persecuted the Christians. As to the principalities, powers, and evil spirits in heavens they are usually interpreted as demonic spirits active in the world. What exactly are they?

1. Some people show a spirit of dominance. This is part of the natural order: big tree overshadow little trees, and big fish eat little ones. But in the spirit of dominance there is often a lust for power that tends to crush others to death. Did Stalin need to exterminate all his rivals and institute terror, mass starvation, and concentration camps? There is a point when the lust for power seems an alien power that has overcome the individual; it is an evil force that cannot be repelled by natural means.

2. There is the spirit of accumulation of wealth which, too, is part of nature as provision against future scarcity.  Yet there is also a level of greed that seems supernatural when it is a force that has overcome the individual. It is like an addiction, like a sickness, like a form of insanity that no medicine can cure. In AA recovery requires the help of a Greater Power, not pills and medication.

3. There is the spirit of self-glory. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the greatest of all?" Any child needs approval, and most of us need it too. Self-glory can reach a point of megalomania where reality is distorted in endless lies to enhance more self-glorification. The megalomaniac may say to his admirers, "I give you everything (another lie) if you worship me." Then one has to say, "You shall worship the Lord, your God, and him alone shall you serve." The idolatry of egomaniacs seems worse than the idolatry of idols.

4. There is also the dark spirit of materialism that descends upon those whose horizon does not extend beyond the material world. This spirit kills the soul of the individual and his family and friends, and can spread like a nuclear cloud, over whole nations. There is no remedy against it, except maybe the bitter pills of failure, rejection, and loneliness.

5. Finally I would mention the secularization of consciousness, which is the materialism of the mind. When one is hyper-busy in multi-tasking for immediate concerns, one becomes numb to ultimate concerns. When people spend five hours a day on television trivia and three hours on the cell phone minutia, they are secularized to the point that, to them, the earth is flat, and there is nothing beyond the visible horizon.

Conclusion. Yes there is an Evil Force of destruction, but it cannot easily be identified. Satan is a force in the world, but as a spirit that is everywhere and nowhere. One thing is certain: technology and human engineering cannot overcome it. It can only be defeated by the Counter-Force, Jesus Christ, who preached service rather than domination, sharing rather than hoarding, humility rather than self-glory, and catering to the soul not just of the body.

Which of these forces of evil affect you? And what can be done about it? Please write.

June 30

Present-mindfulness in the Spirit

When chopping wood, concentrate on the wood, and when eating, concentrate on the food. At all times concentrate on the present rather than reminiscing about the past or worrying about the future. Good advice!

The purpose of present-mindedness in the Buddhist perspective is to eradicate all desire, but in the Christian perspective self-control should lead to self-fulfillment and service to others. How can this be achieved? The key answer is conscience.

After an argument our conscience may reproach us for unkind words. Sometimes we realize our mistakes only days or weeks later. Ideally we should be present-minded at the very time we act and speak. Present-mindfulness when chopping wood is easy; much more difficult is mindfulness in the heat of an argument or the fever of multi-tasking.

The practice of "recollection" consists of putting together things that are dispersed in our minds, for instance the words we are speaking and the demands of conscience. It is bringing together the superficial self of action and the deep self of reflection or the natural self of activities and the spiritual self of faith. The perfect balance of all things in our minds is well illustrated in the perfect balance of the three layers of stones in the above picture. We should practice this perfect balance of recollection (or Spirit-mindfulness) at all times.

"Don’t you realize that [you are] the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you?" (1 Co 6:19). Spirit-mindfulness consists of listening to the inner voice of the Spirit, not just in times of worship and prayer, but in the heat of action. "Hold your horses" is a common expression for keeping control of self, for holding back the horses of impulse, for slowing down in the rush of activities, for thinking twice between saying something. While keeping control of the horses of passions, we may listen to the indwelling Spirit. This requires times of silence throughout the day.

Do you make time for silence throughout the day in order to listen to the Spirit?

June 23

I AM
the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life...

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light, the Alpha and Omega, the One who Knocks at the Door, and much more.

For St. Paul, Jesus Christ was power in weakness. He boasted in his weaknesses in order to he given the power of Christ. In his trials, in hunger and abundance, in persecutions and successes, he had “the strength through him who empowers me.”(Phil 4:13) Who wouldn’t want such power and strength by boasting in our weaknesses rather than in our accomplishments?

“We were buried with him in baptism, in which we were also raised with him through faith in the power of God.” Baptism is not a mechanical or magical ritual. For adults in RCIA it takes one or two years of preparation. For children it takes it takes six to eight years of preparation to confirmation, but too often this preparation is mechanical and superficial. To be buried and raised through Jesus Christ is a lifetime endeavor. To be baptized is to “be clothed in Christ.” To put on Jesus Christ” is to spend a life time in discipleship.

“For me, Christ is life.” This was his top priority. Having found him, he considered all things as rubbish. “Forgetting what lies behind but straining for what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit towards this goal.” (Phil 3:13) This sould be the basic attitude of all disciples of Jesus Christ.

“I am the Bread of Life.” This is true in many ways. Scripture is the first bread of life of all Christians. Unless we are immersed in scripture we are not much more than”clashing cymbals,” that is, clashing sounds without much music. The Bread of Life is also present in the church in many ways: in the faith of the believers, in the work of its ministers, in the praying assembly, and in “mystery” (or sacrament) of the bread and wine.

Presence is always a two-way relationship: I am present to my friends only to the extent that they are present to me; if I do not communicate with them and they with me, we cannot be present to one another. The Bread of Life is present to the believers only to the extent that they are in dialogical presence with him. The sacramental Bread of life is not present to the mice that live in the walls of the church, nor to the absent-minded Sunday attenders who are more present to their cell phones than to Jesus Christ.

The one who is power in weakness and strength in times of trials is also the one who is present sacramentally to those who believe in him. Scripture and Eucharist are the two fonts of Christian life.

June 16

Eyes are the window of the soul:
“Do not stifle the Spirit"

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.” (Mt 6:22). The eyes are the windows that must protect the soul. If that window is wide open, life becomes “garbage in–garbage out.”

What we eat obviously conditions our health: an unbalanced diet (too much fat and too many sweets) easily leads to overweight and health problems. This is true in all areas. In 2017 American adults were watching over five hours of television per day on average. In 2011 the average American adult spent 46 minutes on a phone per day, but six years later, the total is 3 hours and 8 minutes. Five hour of television plus three hours on the phone = 8 hours day. This is media overdose.

An average American youth will witness 200,000 violent acts on television before age 18. Overall, weapons appear on prime time television an average of nine times each hour. Research has shown that there is an association between exposure to violence in the media and real-life aggression. We cannot control violence in the media and violence in the streets, but we can control what we watch. “The eye is the lamp of the body.”

Sex appeal is a basic practice in advertizing. When women are portrayed as sex objects, it easily leads to sexual harassment in everyday life. Pornography is easily available on the internet. While the sexual coming of age is a necessary step of development toward a mature and stable marital relationship, pornography is a hindrance for such growth. “Everyone who gazes at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart.” (Mt 5:27) These are high standards. What is the point of all this moralizing? St. Paul said it well: “Do not stifle the Spirit.” (1 Thess. 5:19) Youngster who waste their school years and become functionally illiterate have stifled their spirits and will be handicapped for life. Self-discipline is the first step towards adulthood in all areas of life. Self-discipline is the first step in following Jesus.

June 9 — Pentecost Day

“I will make all things new”

On Pentecost day, it is customary to read the story of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. This was the day when God created the New Jerusalem of the Church. But there will also be a final day when there will be no more sun and no more moon because God will dwell among his people and wipe every tears from their eyes. There will be a New Jerusalem coming down from heaven where the glory of God will be the light of the people. This is the day at the end of time that we have to prepare for. Here is this glorious text:

The time after Pentecost is the time to prepare for the New Jerusalem. Besides reflecting on the Sunday readings, we need to discuss important topics, for instance:

• “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your vision is clear, your whole body will be full of light.” This is particularly important in our digital age when much information is conveyed through pictures and videos.
  
• "A healthy soul in a healthy body" (anima sana in corpore sano). The body needs healthy food, healthy rest, and healthy exercise. A healthy body is not an end itself; it must lead to a healthy soul.
• Silence of the mind is necessary to hear the voice of God. There is seldom silence in our homes. How long can you survive without radio, television, or cell phone?

R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth
The Spirit of God is sorely needed today, e.g. in politics, in business, in the churches, in family life, etc. So let us sing the hymn to the Holy Spirit which can be listened to with a translation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psv296UkTFE

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May 26 — Two Sundays before Pentecost

“Knock, and the door shall be opened to you”

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, then my Father will love him, and we will go to him and make our home within him” This inspiring verse of today’s reading reminds us of another famous one::

“I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Rev 3:20)

- Lord, when did you knock? I did not hear your voice and your knocking.

- “Ask, and it shall be given you. Knock, and the door shall be opened to you.” (Lk 11:9)

- Lord, I would prefer that you knock first. If I hear you I will certainly open.

- “Seek first God’s Kingdom; and the rest will be given to you.” (Mt. 6:33)

- Lord I have no time. I am very busy all day long.

- “We love because God loved us first.” (1 John 4:19) How can anybody say that he or she has no time?

- Lord, you say, “Seek and you shall find,” but I do not find anything most of the time.

- “I will be with until the end of time.” My presence is your reward.

- How do I know you are present, Lord?

- "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will teach you everything.” The Spirit teaches hope, faith, and self-giving. “Whatever you show [hope, faith and self-giving] to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do it for me..” (Mt 25:40).

- “Lord increase my faith.”

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May 19 — Third Sunday before Pentecost

“Lord, how do we love one another?”

Today’s reading is about “love one another as I have loved you.” This is difficult in big parishes where people just come to attend and then go home. It is also difficult because, how do we love one another?

There is the mandate to love one’s neighbors as the good Samaritan did. It means helping people in need. This mandate is also central in the Last Judgment: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40) Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the immigrant, these are clear mandates, but how do we love one anther?

Love has so many meanings! To Love oneself, that’s clear and easy. It means “me first.” So the love of others means “You first, and I second.” Loving oneself is not necessarily selfish: if we do not care of our own needs, nobody will. We care for our looks, our health, our professional success, and our family well-being. That’s what we do most of the time and that’s necessary. So, I guess, loving others is caring for their looks, their health, their professional success, and their family well-being. Most people do that to a certain degree, and that’s good.

But our mandate is “love one another others as I loved you.” This adds a new dimension. It is means something more than, and something in addition to cosmetic appearance and material success.

Do you have an obnoxious Johnny or Joanie among your relatives or co-workers? Picture him or her in your mind in prayer and ask, “Lord, how can I love him/her as you do?” There may be no easy answer, but this prayer puts us in an friendly attitude. We may have to prayer for Johnny and Joanie many times, and at the end we are likely to find someghing that will bring us closer together. We can similarly prayer for all our friends and relatives.

Loving others does not make us a loving community. Our good wil and love may not be recipricated. Jesus loved us first,. He is our model.

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May 12
Fourth Sunday before Pentecost

The Good Shepherd for the fullness of life

“My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they know me.” This is today’s reading. We remember with fondness the words “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil.” Fear and insecurity are pervasive today, even in our prosperous country The daily news, more often than not, broadcast bad news from all over the world. Even in a low unemployment economy, jobs are not secure. Health and family life are as unpredictable like the environment: when will the next tornado, earthquake, flooding, or extreme cold or heat hit our neighborhood? We do not know, and uncertainly creates insecurity. In all cases, we can remind ourselves, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

But the Lord is more than a pillow for our comfort and our insecurities. “I came that they may have life, and may have it to the fullest.” (Jn 10:10). We have been created for the fullness of life as co-creators of our own destiny. We are managers and co-creators of the goods on this planet and we must make them productive to the fullest, for ourselves and for others. On the last day we will have to give an account of what we have done.

According to EPA sources, every American produces 5.9 lbs of trash a day, or about 24 lbs in a family of four. Americans only consume 1.9 lbs of food per day or 53 lbs per week, which means that a family of four produces weekly about 112 lbs of non-food waste. What goes into the garbage? At the end of the year, a family of four will have produced 881 lbs of wasted food, 1,486 lbs of paper, books, magazines, facial tissues, paper plates, cardboard, etc., or 3,416 lbs of wood products of all kinds– the equivalent of about 10 to 15 trees. What is shocking is not that we kill trees, the sad reality is that all this wood will go into waste, in one way or another.— At the end of our lives, what can we say we have produced? If trash production were stable over the years (which it is not), at age 80 one would have produced 2070 x 80 or 165,680 lbs of trash. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth —where most of things end up in trash — but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” – by sharing things with people have less. (Mt 6;19) Of course we cannot share our belongings with others, but there are many ways to support good causes. Giving 1 or 2 percent of one’s income to the church is not really a donation since it mainly supports the church services and its ministers. So at the end of our lives, what can we account for? We want the Good Shepherd to take care of us, but we in turn must take care of others. “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40).

In short, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they know me.” The Good Shepherd knows us and we know him. But we are also shepherd for others, e.g. parents for their children, teachers and social workers for their students and patients. But Jesus wants us to go one step further: be a good shepherd for your neighbors and the needy, and do to them what you you like them to do to you. This is our calling. This should be our reflection for the day.

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First Sunday after Easter
& Sixth Sunday before Pentecost

Prepare for Pentecost with doubting Thomas

Easter is the greatest mystery of faith because the New Covenant was enacted by the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. But Pentecost is equally important because it marks the beginning of the church as a spirit-filled community. Like the apostles we should spend the six weeks before Pentecost to prepare for a spiritual rebirth.

Thomas is singled out as the doubter, but they were all doubters. When Mary Magdalen and the other women returned from the tomb on Easter morning, the apostles did not believe them. It is easy to reject the testimony of one, but they were five or six of them. The apostles did not believe because they did not understand scripture. “Remember what he said: the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” The women remembered and believed. The apostles did not remember, or not yet, and they could not believe. Peter rushed to the tomb; he was “amazed at what had happened,” but he did not yet understand.

The two disciples on the way to Emmaus discussed when had happened: “Jesus the Nazarene was a mighty prophet... We were hoping that we would restore Israel... Some women reported that they had seen a vision of angels...” They did not believe because they could not understand. “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them what referred to him in the scriptures.” Now they understood and could believe.

When Jesus appeared to the apostles, they thought he was a ghost. “Look at my hands and my feet. Touch me and see.” He even ate before them. They were filled with joy to see their Master again, but they still did not believe. “Then he opened their minds to the understanding of scriptures: that everything written about me in the scriptures must be fulfilled.” Then they could understand and believe.

Now comes Thomas. Like all the others, he did not believe because he did not understand. He was confronted by ten witnesses who could all say, one after another, that they had seen the Lord, but he obstinately refused to believe. “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?" Do you believe only when you are confronted with the obvious which you cannot deny? “Blessed are those who believe the testimony of witnesses and scripture, without having to be confronted with the obvious for them to believe.”

They were all doubters. We are all doubters. This is so because 1) they/we do not know scripture, and 2) they/we do not listen. The apostles were good men and experienced fisherman, but the Torah was not their major concern; they heard it on the Sabbath and that was enough. We too, hear scripture on Sundays, and think it is enough. No! It is not enough! We have six weeks before Pentecost to spend some time with scripture, hopefully daily.

God speaks to the heart through the voice of conscience, but we cannot hear because of the constant noise and activism we live in. Americans spend on average four hours on the social media a day in bits and pieces of time. That’s, according to psychologists, a recipe for neurosis–the constant fear of not hearing the latest. STOP THAT THING! At least a few hours a day! Only in silence can we hear the voice of God. Silence for the soul is what water is to the fish. Without silence the soul will choke, and our lives are wasted.

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Easter Sunday

The Resurrection as God’s ultimate justice

The Jews expected a political messiah. So do I. There is so much injustice in the world. I wish a political messiah would come to wipe it all out. But instead of a political wipe-out we got resurrection. What’s in it for me? Let’s retrace our steps and look again at the Passion narratives.

“I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God?” This was not a question but a trap: “He has uttered blasphemy. What is your judgement?” Again, this was not a question, but an invitation to judgement, “He deserves death.”

They took Jesus to Pilate with the accusation, “We found this man forbidding us to give tribute to Cesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.” Now the accusation is changed from religious to political. And Pilate to reply: “I did not find this man guilty of any of our charges. Therefore I will have him flogged and release him.” This “therefore” and the flogging ordered for an innocent man are revolting.

“So what shall I do with the man called the King of the Jews? – “Crucify him!” So Pilate “satisfied the crowd.” What a parody of justice!

The parody continues to this day, for instance for immigrants at our borders and around the world. In Yemen the violence of states has no limit, and worse, there is nothing we can do. A motion by Congress to stop the bombing was casually vetoed. In Venezuela national deprivation is justified as the effect of foreign imperialism. In many places of the world, there is no limit to political or economic dictatorship.

So I wish for a dictator-messiah to clean up the mess on a world scale. Of course, global religious dictatorship with all the trappings of the inquisition and its secret police would even be worse than what we have, because then there would be little room left for hope. So God chose another way: he gave us faith and hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The resurrection does not solve the injustices of the world, but it gives hope in the justice of God. When and how this justice will come, we do not know and cannot know. But we have the prophetic vision of Mary of Nazareth:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, because he has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart . He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.”

Where are Pilate and all the dictators of the past? They are gone in dust.
                    But Jesus is alive! "The Lord is Risen!"
                    – “Yes, He is truly Risen.” Amen.

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Palm Sunday

What are the core tenets of your faith?

When I was a kid, Palm Sunday was much fun. It consisted of making a bush with branches tied together on top of a four foot stick, show off with it in church, and after Mass plant it in front of the house, and wait the Easter rabbit to come. The following days were busy with making ornaments and special treats for Easter, colored eggs and hot-cross buns.

Since then, Palm Sunday has become Passion Sunday. Now the reading of the Passion challenges us to reaffirm the basic tenets of our faith.

The Eucharist. Christ is present in many different ways: through the church, its ministers, its members, scripture, and the consecrated bread. Christ may not be easy to encounter in the church because of the sinfulness of its ministers, and not easy to find in scripture because it requires spiritual understanding. He is easier to encounter in the consecrated bread because he said “I am with you, to the end of the world.” The resurrected Christ is present in all churches of the world, hence he is never absent anywhere. But he is only present to those who are present to him. In the Eucharist there is more direct mutual presence than in scripture. In the Eucharist, Christ is the most easily accessible sacrament of God. Is this a basic tenet of your faith?

“My power works best in weakness”. Peter confidently boasted “Lord I am prepared to go to prison and die with you.” But Jesus replied: “Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.” Indeed the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We like to boast when we are in high spirits, because we feel we can do it all by ourselves. We admire the self-made people, those are full of self-confidence and success. Jesus’s Passion is a reminder that God’s power worked trough the weakness of his death. The Christian experience is one of human weaknesses turned into divine strength. God’s ways to success are different from those of the world. Is that part of your core faith?

God’s coming justice. The parody of justice before the Sanhedrin and the Roman prefect, that is, before ecclesiastical and civil courts, is all too common throughout the world. Everywhere we see the wicked triumph and crush the weak. How can one succeed if not at the expense of somebody else? How can one get rich except by taking more than one’s share? There is no justice for the widows and the orphans, for the homeless and the migrants. Habakkuk said it plainly: “How long, O Lord, how long? Why do You make me see iniquity? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict abounds.” Yes, how long? But God’s justice is coming. There will be a day of judgement. There will be a day of wrath. But it will come in God’s time. In the meanwhile we must work for God’s justice. Whatever we do for the least of our brothers, will bring justice. Is God’s justice part of your faith?

Have a blessed Holy Week!

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Lent 5

Are you stalled or dissatisfied in the church?

So far the Brexit is stalled and frustrating. Are you stalled and frustrated in the church? Is there a Catholic "exit" comparable to Brexit? In a survey based on 50,000 churchgoers, 16% said they were stalled and 10% dissatisfied with the church. In short, one churchgoer in four is stalled or dissatisfied. Will they leave? Or should they?

Those stalled had much lower levels of religious practices than the average churchgoer. Most of them will probably stay in their church but with lower standards. Among the factors associated with stalling were addiction (alcohol, pornography, over-spending), inappropriate relationships, emotional issues (depression, anger), and not prioritizing spiritual life.

The feeling of being stalled can happen in many areas of life: in one’s romantic or family life, one’s career, one’s finances, etc. One has the feeling of being trapped with no way out. I felt stalled a few times, first in my studies, later in my career, and a few times in my spiritual life. How do you get out of it? There is probably no obvious solution. Like in the parable of the Prodigal Son, one has “to come to one’s senses” and realize that one has sinned. In AA one has to hit bottom and feel helpless before one is likely to seek help.

There are probably many churchgoers who are stalled in the comfortable routine of minimal religious practices. They are not likely to leave the church and will only increase the pool of low performers. The situation is worse when the pastor is also stuck in the comfortable routine of low performances. If you are in such a church, should you leave?

In the study mentioned above, the dissatisfied tend to be people who are highly involved in the church, in attendance, volunteer work, and money, but they are unhappy about clergy performance: the low quality of church services, the superficial teachings, and the absence of spiritual guidance. Many think of leaving their church, foreseeing no probable improvement in the near future.

Today dissatisfaction in the Catholic Church is heightened by the constant revelations of sexual scandals and the absence of a global coherent strategy. Today the Catholic Church is facing an exit crisis with staled and dissatisfied people like in UK in relation to the E.U.. According to a recent Gallup poll, 37 percent of Catholics have considered leaving the church. and some have done so. What are the options? Going to a more inspiring church, but you must find one. Second, dropping out of religion. Thirdly, remaining and rationalizing the frustration.

Questions:
Has stalling or leaving ever been addressed in the Sunday homilies or church discussions?
How can the church bring healing and spiritual growth to the dissatisfied? (not just compensations and treatment to the victims and disciplinary measures to protect the children)

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Lent 4

Moving up the ladder to heaven

The three characters of the story of the Prodigal Son represent the three stages of development according to St. Paul (Romans 5:12- 13). The younger son is self-centered and spends his life in dissipation. This would correspond to the stage of paganism. The older son is hard working and self-righteous; he has always served his father and never disobeyed his orders. This corresponds to the moral stage of the Ten Commandments. The father, or course, corresponds to the stage of grace and mercy, of infinite love and generosity.

These three stages define three classes of people, but they also correspond to three overlapping tendencies: self-centeredness in most of our activities, lawfulness as citizens and believers, and at times listeners of the Spirit. If this is so, can you assign a tentative percent to your tendencies in the activities on a typical day? For example:

	Currently	Ten years ago	Progress?
Self-serving motivation	50%	more or less?	?
Ethical motivation	40%	the same or less?	?
Spirit inspired	10%	less than today?	?

The journey of salvation consists of moving from one stage or level to the next. This, however, is difficult today, as most churches preach a moral status quo in the form of moral and sacramental conformity, or faith without clear doctrines, or salvation through grace without works. Appeals to Christian asceticism have practically disappeared in the preaching of many or most churches.

This was not he case at the time of Augustine. In preparation for baptism the candidates had to go through 50 days (Lent plus one week of mystagogy) of rigorous asceticism. They had to attend daily prayers and homilies, often twice a day. They were expected to fast every weekday until 3 PM, a practice that was continued during Lent for centuries. Finally, at a time when there was no social security, no health insurance, and no retirement allocations, Christians were expected to give alms generously to all the needy around them. On one or two Sundays, there were “scrutinies” when the candidates were asked in front of the assembly about the progress they had made.

We must recover some of these practices. Today many Americans fast– yes they do, for shape or beauty! Actually fasting with proper nutrition increases longevity. Many Americans have a light breakfast and lunch, which satisfies the Catholic definition of fasting. What about no food until 3 pm once or twice a week, just during Lent? This would refocus our priorities.

Today the poor and the churches still need our contributions. How much? Evangelicals tithe, Protestants give an evage of 2 percent of their income, and Catholics 1 percent. In a given parish, I was told, many people just give a bunch of single dollar bills. That’s less than the 12 percent tip in a restaurant. A ten percent donation a few times during Lent (or $100 for a $50,000 income) would refocus our attention away from self-centeredness and material possessions.

In short, we all are prodigal sons who spend much time in pursuit of self-gratification. We must bring our habits of eating, drinking, sleeping, working, and exercising under rational control. We are also moral individuals following the laws and rules or our environment, hence tempted of Palladianism, that is, virtue without grace– and salvation through moral and sacramental conformity which is virtue without grace. To refocus our priorities we must follow the early Christian practices of regular prayer, fasting, and charity work. There I still time until Easter. But in all cases, we must move up the ladder to heaven, one step at a time.

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Lent 3

AA as model for spiritual growth

Today’s reading tells the story of a man who had a tree that did not produce any fruit and he wanted to cut it down. No, said his gardener, give it a second chance.

We live on borrowed time. Unless we change and produce fruit, we will not be given a second or third chance. How can we change? The AA 12 steps are a good model for self-transformation.

The first step is easy: we must recognize that we are powerless to change our lives. The second step is as easy: believe that a Grater Power can help. Of course, we are Christians, we believe in the power of God.

Next: make a fearless inventory of yourselves. Here are some examples from AA: “I lie to the people.” “I have alienated those around me.” “I bring others down.” “I am self-righteous and judgmental” “I am ill-tempered.” Go over your life, year by year and month by month.

- “Wait a second! This is unhealthy introspection. I am a person of action.”
- Precisely: a person of action needs introspection to avoid activism.
- “But I reflect all the time! I think while acting.”
- For every ten hours of work, you need one hour set apart for reflection. Do you do that?
- “I don’t have time for that: I am too busy!”
- Too busy to recognize that you are too busy?
- “You speak nonsense. I am not interested in your AA program.”
- Very well. You live on borrowed time, and you will not be given a second chance.
- “But our God is a God of mercy.”
- Sure! It is your activism that will bring you down: one death in four in the US is due to a heat attack, due to poor diet, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, lack of peace of mind, lack self-awareness, lack of introspection.

The next step is to humbly ask the Higher Power to remove our shortcomings. For this one must enter into oneself and repeatedly beg for help – and this is introspection, that is, the one hour of reflection for every ten hours of action.

Are you still too busy to recognize that you are too busy while you live of borrowed time?

Reflection: what can you do during Lent to include one hour of reflection and prayer for every ten hours of work – in a way that fits your schedule?

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Lent 2

Have you seen the promised land?

In his last speech in Memphis, Martin Luther King proclaimed, “I have been to the mountain top. I have looked over, and I have seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but we, as a people, will get to the promised land. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” He was killed a few days later but his life had been filled with hope, and his hope produced much fruit.

On Mount Nebo, “the Lord showed Moses all the land—Gilead, and as far as Dan, and the rest. The Lord then said to him,‘This is the land about which I have promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to your descendents.’” Moses had seen God face to faced on Mount Sinai, and now his eyes saw the promised land. His whole life had been the pursuit of a promise. Before he died at 120 years of age he laid his hands on Joshua to continue his mission of hope which continues to this day in the Jewish people.

Peter has seen the glory of the Lord on Mount Tabor. “We have been eyewitnesses of his majesty. We heard the voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.” Moses did not enter the promised land, but Peter saw the fulfillment of the promise when he heard “This is my Son, my beloved, with him I am well pleased.” (2 Peter 1:16-18)

Have you seen the promised land? Like M. L. King we may go the mountain top and look over. We can see the promised land but we are not there yet. The promise was in the voice that said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” When we listen to his voice, we get a glimpse of the promised land.

We are in the desert of Lent. It is a time for listening to his voice. What will you do? A daily reading? A break of inner silence in the cacophony of the day? A generous gift to a charity? Attendance at some special event for Lent? Then we may be able to say with Peter, “Although we have not seen him we love him; even though we do not see him now we believe in him.”(1 Peter 1:8). Then at Easter, we will have come closer to the promised land.

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Lent 1

Jesus in the desert to confront evil

Jesus went to the desert to confront the forces of evil—which is what we are all called to do. He did not begin with a speech of condemnations like Amos or John the Baptist. He did not begin like Ezechiel with a glorious vision for the future. He realized that to confront evil one has first to overcome it in oneself.

It is in weakness that God’s power is greatest; it is in personal weakness that God can overcome evil in oneself. So Jesus undertook to fast for forty days with no shelter from the heat of the day and the cold of the night.

The human body cannot survive for long without water. In the desert Jesus first had to search for water. He to find a cover from the scorching sun and safety from the roaming predators of the night.

After a few days alone in the desert without food, life is constant pain. The nights are atrocious and sleepless when resting on the ground without cover. One may faint for a few hours, amid nightmares and hallucinations. The days are worse. What do you do when there is nothing to do? To walk? Where? To sit? For how long? There are no three meals a day, only the obsession of food and nothing to do.

The worst is the mind. After a few days of fast, the body sinks into depressive moods, feelings of insecurity, unworthiness, despair. If not kept busy, the mind becomes a cage of wild monkeys chasing one another in fury. We control the mind by doing things (this is what we do most of the time) but when we sit down in silence for 15, or 30, or 60 minutes, monkey-thoughts jump into the mind from all sides. Jesus had to confronted the restlessness of the mind amid obsessive thoughts of food.

Monkey-thoughts must be overcome by a disciplined mind. Jesus and the pilgrims on the way up to Jerusalem recited the psalms of ascent (120-134); he remembered them well. “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” (Ps 122). Now he was preparing for his ultimate pilgrimage. “Like the eyes of a maid on the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the Lord our God.”(Ps 123). This was his attitude night and day. “Those trusting in the Lord are like Mount Zion, unshakable, forever enduring. As mountains surround Jerusalem, the Lord surrounds his people.” (Ps 125). This was his strength and comfort. And in times of depression, he could recite the “de profundis: “Out of the depths I call to you, Lord. Lord hear my cry! May your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” (Ps 130).

All pious Jews recite the Shema prayer three times a day: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” They are enjoined to recite these words “when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.” Jesus must have recited them at all times, together with other passages of the Deuteronomy. “Remember how for forty years the Lord your God directed all your journeying in the wilderness, so as to test by affliction” He was now being tested for forty days. “The Lord afflicted you with hunger and then fed you with manna, so you might know that it is not be bread alone that the people live.” He remembered this passage when he was tempted to turn stones into bread. About jumping from the parapet of the temple, he had just read, “You shall not put the Lord to the test, as you did at Massah.” Maybe all the powers of the world could be at his service, for his power and glory. But no! For it is written, “You shall worship he Lord, your God and him alone.”

For forty days Jesus confronted evil in personal weakness. He will confront evil again in the utter weaknesses of Gethsemane and Golgotha. For God’s power shines most in human weakness.

What are your plans for the coming forty days? We must fast from our addictions, because addictions are illusions of power. We must learn to control the mind through silence, through hours with phone off, and scripture before phone..

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March 3

Abomination and desolation in the church

On clerical sex scandals

The clerical sex abuse of children is an abomination, something disgusting and defiling, and when a predator of children celebrates the Eucharist, it is an abomination that profanes the church and makes it desolate and inappropriate for sacred use.

In order to convey to the faithful the moral abomination of these crimes, the hierarchy should order all parish churches which have been profaned by a sex abuser, even if it happened decades ago, to be closed for one week, as a sign of shame and penance. At the end of the week, the bishop should come to purify and rededicate these churches, the way the Jews purified and rededicated the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 after its profanation by the erection of a Zeus statue in it. Another suggestion is to have the local bishop come to each defiled parish for a penance and listening service to hear from victims and all parishioners about their pain and shame.

For most people the clerical sexual abuse of minors is a moral outrage, but apparently not for the hierarchy who made excuses in the name of “mistakes” and “errors.” They expected to solve the problem first with the promise of “zero tolerance” in the future while refusing to acknowledge past crimes, and more recently through limited transparency. On February 20, Pope Francis asked the 200 high-ranking delegates to come up with measures to 'Hear the cry of the little ones” while he, the most powerful bishop on earth, has done very little – except defrocking ex-cardinal McCarrick the week before and many years too late. The inaction of the hierarchy has only increased people’s outrage.

The clerical sex scandal is a problem of moral deafness, not mainly a question of poor administrative supervision. The following graph should make it plain.

Since about the publication of sex abuses by the Boston Globe in 2002, the number of new cases has come down to only few every year, hence the sexual epidemic is mainly a phenomenon of the past. When new lists of accusations are published, most cases refer to events of the 1960s and 1970s that are already known; what these lists may document is whether nothing has been done by the church authorities about these cases.

Under Paul VI (1968-1978) and John Paul II (1979-2005) the number of sex scandals was about 50 to 60 times higher than today and these popes did nothing about it. This raises serious questions.

The popes knew what was happening or did not want to know because like the bishops they ignored or silenced the accusers. Formal changes against Marcial Maciel, the father of three children from different women, were introduced in the Vatican in 1998 but he was a protégé of John Paul II who praised him as an charismatic leader and exceptional fund raiser. Then as today, the papal response was to blame Satan and the liberal press. What is needed is a separation of powers to allow accusors and victims to go public.

A more empathetic interpretation is that the popes did not realize the seriousness of the situation. This interpretion is worse, it is like excusing a doctor for not noticing the cancer that is going to kill the patient. How competent is such a doctor?

Moral deafness. Paul VI supervised and John Paul approved the new code of canon law of 1983. In it, two of the five greatest crimes sanctioned by automatic excommunication are crimes against papal power: a physical attack on the pope and episcopal ordination without papal approval (canons 1370 &1382). At the same time the penalties for clerical sex against minors were downgraded from “must be suspended” in the 1917 code to punished “with just penalties”—including none at all (c. 1395). In the civil society, the aggravated sexual assault of a minor is the most grievous crime after murder. It carries 20 years in prison, but in the church the penalty has often been just the transfer to another parish. This is moral deafness.

John Paul II was the universal crusader against the culture of death in the secular West in the name of the gospel of life alive in the Church but he was not aware of the stain of sexual predators undermining papal authority. This was moral deafness.

Papal infallibility questioned. Paul VI issued the controversial encyclical Humanae Vitae, and John Paul II the no less controversial Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. Both have been called “definitive and irreformable.” What is the meaning of papal infallibility in doctrine when popes fail to notice in practice the moral storm that engulfs the church? Is papal infallibility only about theoretical doctrinal orthodoxy at the exclusion of practical moral awareness? Who wants a theoretically infallible doctor who fails to diagnose a fatal cancer?

Canonizations. Paul VI and John Paul II have been canonized and Pius IX beatified. Strictly speaking, saints are canonized for their heroic virtues and not their administrative initiatives or their philosophies and theologies but this is a misleading distinction. Who wants a saintly doctor with a trail of medical blunders? Saints are to be role models for the church, but in our times of decreasing private devotions in the West, who looks to popes (especially the pope of the Syllabus) as role models? The mass production of saints inaugurated by John Paul II needs to be questioned and canonizations revised.

Conclusion: absolute power creates absolute corruption, but do popes need absolute power? From the White House to the Vatican, all governments have their weak points. The greater the power, the more these weak points can be magnified. Pope Francis may be a living saint, but like his patron saint of Assisi he has no good administrative skills, and this weakness, from Paul VI to Pope Francis, has brought abomination and desolation in the church. Do popes need absolute power? The gospel suggests that power in the church is best served when shared rather than centralized at the top.

The universal sexual scandal has brought to light some major flaws of the church as an institution: moral deafness, questionable infallibility, some questionable aspects of canonizations, and absolute power leading to absolute corruption. Like the Jews returning from exile, we must purify the desolated and ruined church and built a better one from the foundations up.

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February 24

The gift of self is free!

“Give, and it shall be given unto you, a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing.” But I have northing to give! Nonsense! Love is free.

We can give a smile and offer friendly words to strangers, and usually they smile back and engage in a friendly conversation.

We can give encouragements: everybody needs a little uplift and friendly suggestions. Depression is a condition people need to be lifted out.

We can give compliments—but not flattery. A compliment is always precise and truthful, a flattery is general and exaggerated.

We can offer a listening ear: at times people are emotional volcanoes ready to explode. For them, telling a secret to a listening hear is to let it go.

We can offer constructive criticism. Very often we do not see the obvious: it requires an outsider to see how to solve a puzzle.

We can give a hand, in the little things of daily life. This is not to encourage laziness: to help is to do things together, to work with them, not instead of them.

We can make excuses for the failures of others, rather than expose their failings and push them down.

“The kingdom of God is among you,” Jesus told the Pharisee (Lk 17:21). The kingdom of God is in the smile, the encouragement, the friendly hand, and the mercy for people’s failures. There is also much more to it, but that part is free to give and to receive.

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February 17

"Blessed are the poor"

Who wants to be poor? Not me! But this is not the point here. The poor are those who is not possessed by their possessions. When you own a house, it ends up owning you, that is, for the perfectionists who want to fix everything to perfection. Some millionaires are more eager to increase their pile of bucks than to pay fair salaries; they are possessed by their money.

There is a parable about a rich fool who was blessed with an exceptional harvest and then he started worrying: what am I going to do with all my pile of gain? He tore down his barn, and in his worries ended up with a heart attack. Quite a few people kill themselves at work hoping to relax in retirement, and then they collapse. The parable ends with, “Therefore, do not worry about your life... Instead seek the kingdom” (Lk 12:12-31)

We are possessed by our desires, our emotions, our attachments, even more than by things. Desires should no be just repressed but purified. To become aware of our desires one only has to make a list of what we wish to have, to do, and to become; then it becomes clear that we are like the rich fool.

Sometimes our emotions explode, but even in ordinary times there is always some latent anxiety and fear, because of our natural vulnerability. The best life insurance to overcome fear is trust in God and seeking the Kingdom.

There are also our attachments to things, habits, and comfort. We tend to be naturally territorial, as can be seen in children who may fight over toys and even over the space they occupy. Habits and customs create order in everyday life, but they also become prisons. In many churches the pastors know that they cannot go against the habits of parishioners by changing the place of a statue or the time of the Sunday service. Can you change your habits of checking your smart phone every so often? Or not watching a given TV program?

“Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.” Blessed are those who are not possessed by their desires, emotions, and attachments, because they are open to something grater than themselves. They are blessed, that is, full of inner happiness.

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February 10

What is your vocation?

This Sunday we read two stories of exceptional vocations, those of Isaiah and St. Paul, and that of Simon Peter which is quite ordinary. Here are the various steps.

- Jesus asked Simon, “Put out a short distance from the shore.” “Who do you think I am? Your servant?” Simon could have said.
- Later Jesus said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets.” Simon could have replied, “No thanks! We worked the whole night for nothing. I had it for today!"
- After the miraculous catch of fish, Peter could have said, “Congratulations, Master, I want to hire your as my fishing advisor!”
- When Jesus said, “From now on, you will catch men,” Simon could have replied, “I love my trade, and I know nothing about catching men. So, No!
- “When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.” That’s folly! What will happen to Simon’s wife and kids?
- “God will provide!” Simon could have said, “Yah-Yah! I have heard that before! God is no guarantee of success, is he?”

In this story we can see how a vocation consists of taking one step at a time. After each positive step, we are invited to move forward another step.

So what are we called to do? “Be what you are,” said Augustine. Be a good spouse, a good parent, a good employee or boss. We have many vocations. The most important of these is parenting. As parent we leave an indelible mark on children. Because of the competition from peers and the social media, the strong involvement of parents in the lives of children is more important than ever. By age 10 many kids have their smart phone.

The extended family is increasingly an intentional creation: if you do not participate in it, you’re out of it. Creating a strong extended family requires sustained effort. The main beneficiaries are again the children: they will feel for life the living and loving presence of numerous relatives and family friends—as opposed to feeling like orphans in their own family.

How generous are we to the outside world? I just visited a parish where the median income in the town in 2016 was $102,534 Based on the published collection of the previous Sunday, I estimated that the average contribution to that collection was 0.5 percent of the attenders’ income. This is abysmal: it represents less than the tip to waiters at a restaurant! While on average the income of Catholics is higher than that of Protestants, they give only half percentage-wise on Sunday collections.

There are many ways to contribute to the needs of others. If we are generous and move forward one step at a time, one day we may hear the Lord saying, ‘Come, and follow me!.”

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February 5

Your State of the Union

The way we perceive things shapes the way we relate to them. The way we perceive the state of the Union will dictate the way we react to it.

Not since the 1960s has the Union been so bitterly divided, politically, socially, and economically. The high point of strife was 1968, with the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the protests over the Vietnam war. We are still involved in controversial wars, racial strife, economic and social inequality, and no leadership pointing to the future.

We may wonder to what extent Voltaire was right when he said that “Politics is the art of lying appropriately,” or more simply put, “In politics, lying is truth.” How sad if this is true today!

America was build on the integration of immigrants through our social melting pot. Immigrants bring their skills and their labor. “The average cost of raising a child born in 2013 up until age 18 for a middle-income family in the U.S. is approximately $304,480, adjusted for projected inflation,” according to the US Dept. of Agriculture. By accepting one million immigrants over 18, Germany saved itself $304 billion. The current trend in the US is to demonize immigrants and to built walls around our borders. There is no more melting pot. Worse: for at least a third of the population the American dream is dead because of racial, social, economic, and educational barriers.

The “Great Society” was a program launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65 aiming at the total elimination of poverty and racial injustice. This program was and still is achievable. But then as today, the US policy was to be the overlord of the world, at the cost of justice and equality at home. There is more to greatness than the size of one’s nuclear and conventional weapons.

For many years after 1968 the mood was “law and order” on the right and powerless rage on the left. The politics of law and order and powerless anger have then and often today infested the whole social body. Hence we are all infested by it. There is not much we can do about the state of the Union, but there is much we can do about the infestation of self-righteousness and anger in our own hearts and our environment.

Francis of Assisi found one answer, available to all:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is despair, hope.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Only such a spirit of peace will help heal the deep wounds of national division, and the absence of such spirit can only increase the national polarization. Let us hope that President Trump will foster such a spirit in his State of the Union.

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January 20: The Cana Wedding

Signs of God to reveal his glory

There are many sings that reveal God’s glory: the universe, our experiences, and Jesus of Nazareth – who at the Cana wedding performed the first of his signs to reveal his glory.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.” (Psalm 19). We do not often have the opportunity to watch the sky in a clear night, as the lights of our metropolises may cloud our view, but documentaries often show images of the universe with its billions and billions of stars, galaxies, qusars, black holes and dark matter. Then we may feel, like the scientist and mathematician Pascal (1623-1662)

Universe is an infinite sphere of which the center is nowhere
and the circumference everywhere.
The eternal silence of these infinite spaces fills me with great awe.
What is man in this infinity?

What then comes to mind is Psalm 8:

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place—
What is man that you are mindful of him,
and a son of man that you care for him?

We may also have experienced signs of God in exceptional coincidences. Most people have stories like this one. Once I was in desperate need of money, then out of the blue I received through the mail a $8,000.00 check. The money came from an inheritance I had no knowledge of, and they did not know I needed money. At another time I was in German with no prospect of finding a job, then I got a letter saying that I job with lodging waited for me in Paris. Things like this happen very rarely, but “coincidental” signs of God in everyday life are relatively common. Can you tell your story?

Our greatest sign is the Son as the image of the invisible God, from whom we received the injunction, “This is my beloved Son: listen to him.”

What do you do to listen to the signs of God that reveal his glory?

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January 13: Baptism of the Lord

"Praise the Lord, o my soul!"

One of the psalms of today is a song of praise: “Praise the Lord, o my soul. Lord, my God, you are great indeed!” There are many reasons to sing praise; I like especially the following:

You bring forth food from the earth
wine to gladden people’s hearts
oil to make their faces shine
and bread to sustain the human heart.

Giving grace has its own rewards. Families where people are usually in a positive mood tend to be happy while couple that complain about each other’s limitations sour their relationship. Just saying one good thing about one’s spouse a week or more often brightens the future. Companies that promote the value of their employees are up to twelve times more successful that those that just use them. Heart patients who emphasize the positive sides in their condition have been found to improve. Obviously in most cases complaining does not help. Gratitude is like the virtue of hope: it makes the future look brighter, it also makes possible such a brighter future. Here is a simple prayer for everyday living: “Lord, help me be grateful for what I have; to remember that I don’t need most of what I want, and that joy in found in simplicity and generosity.” (Adam Hamilton)

St. Paul had a strange experience.”A thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me.” We might expect that his prayer was heard, but it wasn’t, or rather, it was but in the strangest way: “My grace is sufficient for you; my power is made perfect in weakness.” Now, instead of praising God for all the good things (food, wine, oil, and bread), he praises God for his negatives: “I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” (2 Cor 12: 7-9).

Boasting for one’s weaknesses has limitations. “I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” What is there to boast about? "Those who live according to the the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh,” and there is nothing to boast about, but “those who are concerned with the things of the spirit are concerned with the spirit.” Now here is what to boast about: “You are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.” (Rom 7:5-7) Now we can boast about the life of the Spirit in us – which is what gratitude is about, and sing, “Bless the Lord, o my soul.”

On his baptism Jesus was overshadowed by the Spirit, as a voice said, “You are my beloved Son.” Through the Spirit we can all claim to be beloved sons, and give praise.

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January 6, 2019, Epiphany.

My happy memories of Epiphany

On the day of the three kings when I was in boarding school, every table selected a king, and the king of kings sat at a special table on a podium in front of all of us. Then, walking from one end of the dining hall that seated over 300 students, came the Principal, with a white apron on, bringing humbly the food on a platter to the king of kings at the other end of the hall. It was very impressive. Thus on the day of the King of Kings, the principal became the servant of all. What a nice tradition!

Many years later in Guatemala I visited a little church in a poor neighborhood. It could hardly seat 100. Everybody sang. There was no dominant voice, neither that of the cantor nor that of the priest, and the choir and the guitarist blended nicely together. There was a family spirit. All sang in one voice “Señor ten piedad” because this song was part of heir common culture. They did the same with “Gloria a Dios en el cielo,” as if this song was their common heritage.

The homily on this feast of the Epiphany illustrated the life of this community. “We must all be missionaries. We must go to the people who have become estranged from the church. We must knock at the doors, and many will reject us. May the star of Bethlehem guide us with a missionary spirit.”

This was a parish of about 150,000 people, 25 percent of which were Catholic, only about 3 percent of them practicing their religion, most of them being indifferent, according to the priest.

The Christian celebration of Epiphany takes place on the day the Romans celebrated the Saturnalia. On that day a king and queen were selected by including a black and a while bean in a cake. Those who got the pieces of cake with the beans were king and queen of the day. This practice was common on January 6 when I grew up.

What do you do on January 6? Religion is sustained by local customs; often no custom leads to no religion. Customs are created: make your own, for Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and other religious celebrations.

To go to church on Sundays is a custom, or a tradition, or a habit. So is staying in bed on Sunday morning. In the above example of Epiphany in Guatemala, it seems that 97 percent of the Catholics do not seem to have a weekly religious custom or habit since 97 percent do not go to church on Sundays. Of course there is more to religion than customs and habits, but this is the level we all begin at in childhood.

I remember with fondness the Epiphany when the Principal served food to the king of the day, and all of us ate the cake of the Three Kings to select a king for each table.

What are your religious customs and traditions that sustain your faith?

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Fourth Sunday of Advent. December 23

“Here comes the mother of my Lord to visit me!"

Elizabeth’s greetings to Mary lead us to the Christmas crèche, but we aren’t there yet: we haven’t finished the Advent preparation.

According to Augustine, Mary was the first disciple of Christ. How is this possible since she did not follow him in his ministry? One preaches by example as much as by word, hence Mary could witness Jesus’ teaching for nearly thirty years. “Blessed are the poor in spirit and the beggars before God because theirs is the kingdom of God.” “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.” These are things we can observe every day: the beggars of God bring forth the kingdom of God and the peacemakers bring peace to all the children of God.

As the first disciple of Christ, Mary is the image and model of all believers. Late Medieval art has beautifully illustrated this vision in the various paintings of the Virgin of Mercy covering with her cloak the whole church the way she covered the baby Jesus in the manger. But as model of all believers, she leads us to be better disciples of Jesus Christ..

Nobody likes to go to a party empty-handed; at least we dress up a little. The Christmas party is coming: what are we bringing after the four weeks of preparation? Let us look back at the first week of Advent: what was your resolution? I asked myself, “Will I be more accepting of others by Christmas?” I admit that my resolution has somewhat been side-tracked; I do not know how. Recently I had a cold that clogged my brain and made my mind foggy. Well, I tried, at least a little. What was your resolution?

And did you make a financial contribution – for Yemen or other pressing needs? - There are still a few days left to do so. Then we will gleefully sing:

“Venite adoremus! Venite adoremus, Christ the Lord!

Send your reflections and comments to hegy@adelphi.edu

COMMENTS

A Poem

After a number of years of absence from Sing Along Messiahs, I finally decided to participate in the Chicago Sing Along Messiah at the Harris in downtown Chicago.The next morning during prayer, I had the impression to write a Christmas poem to honor those in our parish who lead the Proclaimer (lector) ministry. Here’s the poem I wrote

At Christmas Time
God’s Word is fresh;
we eat and proclaim,
to pass on the Flesh
of God’s Holy Name.

That’s where God dwells,
in manger-hearts adored.
Amid the straw and the smells:
Lives the Word of the Lord.

The headline in today’s Chicago Tribune reported a putrid smell of urine for the Dioceses of Illinois in an article, “500 accused priests unnamed State Attorney General report finds extensive abuse, says church yet to ID many.”Startling news and I wonder about the timing of the article, just a few days before Christmas when so many inactive Catholics find their way to Mass. I feel for the many priests who are implicated in this ongoing scandal and who live to proclaim the Gospel message without reproach.

Perhaps that’s why we need the Messiah who was born to straw and smells to dwell among us and save us despite our messiness. May we call upon that God of love, hope and joy to find peace during this Christmas tide.
Merry Christmas!
Dave Pipitone, Streamwood, Illinois

My prayerful reflection

Pierre, You suggested prayerful reflection on the season and the end of Advent. Here’s mine. Resolutions? None. Growth and development? Probably not much. Reflections of the advent and discipleship of more than one Mary and the coming of the Son. Lots.

Incarnation for someone who has born six children probably means something different from those who have not. At the beginning of Advent all my children and most of the grandchildren (eleven in all) came to celebrate my entering the “fourth age,” i.e. eighty. They prepared the food, greeted guests, brought me a glass of wine from time to time, and finally sang a rousing happy birthday not to me but to the gathered cousins who rarely come together to celebrate their own birth.

Like Mary, I had no idea what I was getting into. Like Mary, I was called to carry human life to term, in my case six persons to continue whatever meager love I gave them. Like Mary, I hope to carry that Christ in my being, to bring that Christ forward in to whatever small world I occupy, and to multiply that Christ presence again and again in one way or the other.

I am grateful for the experience of having children, but mostly for being able to multiply not loaves but lives who can nourish each other and those they meet when I have faded away. Advent is about giving. Advent is about multiplying that gift of God with us—that is us—to those we meet along the way. We cannot all do it physically—but we can all “make the Word flesh” in the places and persons who are part of our lives.

Peace to all this holy season,
Dee Christie

Dee’s is a marvelous piece of writing for Advent and Christmas — life-affirming.
Anton Jacobs, Divine Word College, Epworth, Iowa

Mary visiting Elizabeth

Pierre's resolution to be more accepting of others fits well with the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth. Here in the midst of a "family visit" we hear of two women rejoice with wonderful surprises. A baby leaping in the womb assures Elizabeth that God's saving activity is near at hand. While she was undoubtedly amazed had "removed her curse" in old age, she knew God was doing even more wonderful things. Mary's great "yes" finds affirmation in Elizabeth's greeting.

Accepting others seems much more possible when one is open to being surprised. When we think we have the other "all figured out" we limit what might come to see in them. When we limit ourselves by our yesterday's behavior, we limit what we might come to see in our present moment. Pope Francis invites us to be open to the surprises of Christmas. And, of course the greatest surprise is that God would become one of us in the flesh of an infant. God becomes one with us in our poverty and brokenness - a truth first seen by those "abiding in the fields" and later venerated by strangers from afar.

Christmas Peace,
Frank Berna, La Salle University

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Third Sunday of Advent. December 16

“Whoever has two cloaks should share it
with the person who has none"

Most of us have more than two coats, two pairs of shoes, or two outfits, and when we have outgrown hem, we give them to a charity. But his Sunday we are reminded that love of God must also include responsibility in the public sphere. Advent is a special time for making a financial contribution.

I will not argue from a biblical but a statistical perspective. Everybody knows the words of Jesus “ I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” The fact is that there are no naked and hungry people in my neighborhood. So we must go where they are—in Yemen, the immigrants, the underdeveloped and impoverished nations and families..

Christmas is very expensive, and we are willing to pay for it. The average American spent $700 on holiday gifts and goodies in 2016, totaling more than $465 billion. This means that a family of three spent $2,100. Fifty-four percent of the shoppers could not pay for it and had to spread the expenses over several months. Not wise.

The total budget of the Pentagon in 2016 was $523.9 billion; so we spend nearly as much for Christmas as for national security and foreign wars. Much of our public expenses is financed by the national debt, which means that our children will have to pay for the spending of their parents and grandparents. Not wise!

America first! We do so much helping others! Yeah! Look at the data, please. In terms of foreign aid, the U.S. spends about as much (0.15 of Gross National Income) as Turkey (0.17) and Croatia (0.14). This represents less than half the amount of China (0.36), and many times less that European countries: Great Britain (0.67), Germany (0.49), France (0.36), and especially Sweden (1.36).

Rich individuals like rich nations tend to be stingy. A national survey in the US revealed that those making $90,000 and above give an average of 1.1% of their income to charities of all kinds while those earning $12,500 or less contribute 2.2% This has been knows for a long time. Furthermore, the top ten percent of givers contribute over 70 percent of all contributions while the bottom 40 percent contribute practically nothing. If you are an average giver, you contribute around 0.3 percent.

Why are rich people more stingy? Hard to know. Here is my guess. In order to get to the top of the social ladder, you must be very efficient—in time, resources and money—and the result is that you have nothing left to give;it's all taken already! We are too busy to have anything to give. Does this make sense?

The good news is that most of us are above average givers. According to a survey taken by America Magazine last week, 95% of the respondents donate money around the holidays. This is exceptionally high. As explained by a respondent, “I donate throughout the year, but I view it as a spiritual practice during Advent and Lent, a way of putting Gospel values into practice.”

The Yemen famine and the poor from all over the world call on us. Let us hear their cry.. Send your reflections and comments to hegy@adelphi.edu

COMMENTS

Rejoice!

One of the themes of Third Advent is rejoicing. We see that theme in the first two readings, but in the gospel we hear stern exhortation from John to give to those in need. The two, of course, go together. Part of rejoicing is giving to those in need, being attentive to the poor and other victims, including those struggling in Yemen and survivors of sexual abuse.

Pierre's post certainly challenges us to work harder at helping those in need. I welcome that challenge; I definitely could give much more. But how do we do that while also caring for our own needs? What does giving more look like?

Part of the answer, it seems, is honestly assessing what our own needs are. What do I truly need to be healthy and happy? How can I get by with less so that others can have more? I am indeed a spoiled American, so I have to work hard at revising my understanding of what my needs are so that I can have more to give to those who have so little.

And all of this is part of joyfully embracing Christ's triple-Advent: the first coming of Bethlehem, the Second Coming, and the ways Christ comes to us today, such as through the Eucharist and through caring for others. We in the Church often do a lot of griping. While some of that may be justified, our focus is to be on, neither griping nor turning a blind eye to suffering, but joy rooted in the hope that Christ provides, a joy that takes seriously the world's sin and evil but offers more.
David VonSchlichten, vonschlichten@setonhill.edu

Gaudete!

If ever there was a time when we needed Gaudete Sunday, this is it. Our news outlets shout at us of war, corruption, hatred, violence, ineptitude in high places, starving refugees, and babies as defendants in court. And yet today Zephania, Isaiah, and Paul all insist that it is to rejoice.

Zephaniah assures us that the Lord is in our midst, to take away our fears, and to remove disaster from us. Isaiah for his part tells us to be confident and unafraid. And Paul, with his resounding Rejoice! tells us not to be anxious about anything. The peace of God will fill our minds and hearts.

Luke continues the story of John at the Jordan. When asked what he meant by his message of repentance, John talks about sharing what we have with those in want. He also reminds those whose exercise power over people’s lives to do so with compassion and justice. For tax collectors this means not collecting more than is owed. For soldiers this means not threatening or maligning others. For all of us this means to do whatever it is we do with integrity and diligence, and always with care for the poor and the margeinalized.

The Advent candles burn this year in a world filled with death, destruction, sorrow, and want. Yet the candles do burn, spreading light a little at a time, through me and through you. Each time we feed the hungry, reach out to the lonely, give a blanket to a shivering homeless person, we make the Advent light burn a bit brighter.
Marie Conn, mconn@chc.edu

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Conversion: Turn to God
the way sunflowers turn to the sun

The topic of this second Sunday of Advent is conversion (metanoia), which means "turning around," but conversion does not happen in just one turning around. Sunflowers, poppies and marigolds are common heliotropic flowers, and there are 24,000 species that have flowers turning the sun. They wake up with the sun, open their petals, bathe in the warmth of the day by following the sun at all times, and close up at night to keep warm. This is a good image for conversion.

This image illustrates the relationship between creatures and their Creator. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” There are quite a few flowers that can grow in the shade—but not without light! These flowers are not ready for full sun. Many people grow without the full light of God, but they would grow faster in direct sun.

Carmelite Brother Lawrence (1614 –1691) is well known for his Practice of the Presence of God (a 50 page booklet, https://www.pathsoflove.com/pdf/Practice-of-the-Presence-of-God.pdf) He worked as a cook most of his life – a job he disliked – but he “accustomed himself to do everything for the love of God, and with prayer on all occasions he found everything easy.” Throughout his life he practiced being in the presence of God, so that “in the greatest hurry of business in the kitchen he still preserved his recollection and heavenly-mindedness.”

This may be easy for brothers doing manual labor but for most of us work requires constant attention. Actually we often have little time for anything but work, to the point of sacrificing sleep and health. Then comes the price tag: overweight, hypertension, alcoholism or coffee addiction, irritability, meaninglessness, depression (or heart attack), etc. This is natural: we are made for God and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.

Seals are mammals that spend most of their time underwater but they need to breathe at least every 30 minutes. In the winter, they create breathing wholes. Our hearts are restless unless they turn to the light every so often. Have you created breathing wholes in your schedule – every hour or few hours – to turn to the Creator? A break of only a few minutes of silence restores both the body and the mind.

Conversion is the slow process of turning to the God of light and love. We need to practice the presence of God, at least from time to time. We need breathing wholes to come back from under the water to find peace and rest.

GUESTION: Do you have breathing holes in your daily schedule? Could you plan to have a few on a regular basis?

COMMENTS

God is good. All the time, God is good!

While I know conversion comes as a life long project, I sometime find it difficult to preach conversion on a Sunday. The people assembled for worship, like the preacher, are by no means perfect. We all have things to work on. Still, the people have assembled! They make an effort to be in God's presence, to give thanks, and to ask for strength to go forward. I find that most often they have little difficulty seeing themselves as sinners in need of God's mercy. However, they do have difficulty seeing themselves as holy people; people in whom God is at work; people who have been taken hold of by God's reign.

I like the image of the sunflower for conversion - a turning toward the good. Though this entails a turning away from that which is not good, the accent lies on the Good! In Advent we are called to see light in darkness, if only a tiny flicker. In Advent we are called to believe in the Promise - God's reign taking hold of us and our world, if only a promise on a distant horizon.
God is good. All the time, God is good!

Frank Berna, IV Dei, berna@lasalle.edu
La Salle University

Come, O come, Emmanuel

I will admit, I am one of those good at brooding. Maybe it’s my Druid genes. But I practice too. (So this is a nature/nurture issue.) This time of year, it becomes easier to avoid the sun. But I need it, and I need you all who remind me to face the light. I am grateful for the reminders to face the Son, to stop embracing the brooding and cynicism. Thank you Frank and Pierre and all on this list. The liturgical church in its wisdom has us anticipate and celebrate the birth of the Risen One at the time of solar solstice. Come, O come, Emmanuel.
Dan Finucane, djfinuc@aol.com
Saint Louis University

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First Sunday of Advent. December 2

Prepare for the coming of the Lord

In today’s readings Jesus evokes the last days when “the Son of Man (will be) coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” And Paul exhorts us “to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus.” Advent is the time to get ready.

A famous person was once asked what he (sic) would like as an epitach on his tombstone. He replied, “Just put: “He tried.” Years later when asked if he would change his epitaph, he said, “Yes, put: “He tried everything!” I would like this to be said about me, but then people would might, “Everything, like what?” What is that we would like to try and change for Christmas, in order to be ready for the coming of the Lord?

We should make a resolution for Christmas. I have recently seen a documentary about Mister Rogers, and was impressed by his attitude, presented in a song:

I like you as you are
Exactly and precisely.
I think you turned out nicely,
And I like you as you are.

“Children need to hear that,” he said. And adults, too! We all like to be accepted as we are. Nobody can change us, except ourselves. Even God cannot change us, in spite of all of the calls for conversion. Pope Francis is a good model of patience by accepting those who infringe upon his schedule. Our schedule cannot be more important than his.

“Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Mt. 25:40). Among the little ones some are pushy, obnoxious, arrogant, self-centered, insensitive, angry, pessimistic, depressed, divisive, closed-minded, deceitful, manipulative, uncompromising, and much more and much worse. And we have to accept them as they are? Well, I may be one of them sometimes, and I would like to be accepted then.

Will I be more accepting by Christmas? If I put a little reminder on my computer screen, maybe; and then, only a little. But those who were given only one or two talents have to produce only one or two more. And if we do, we will be prepared for the coming of the Lord.

And you, what are you going to do? Hurry: it’s only four weeks until Christmas!

COMMENTS

Not just  individual sheep and goats waiting for an individual judgment

I would like to offer two reflections in response to the above, concerning the readings for the beginning of our new Church year. The first may seem a bit out of place, but I ask you to bear with me.

The first Sunday of Advent continues the theme of the last Sundays of the Church year—a focus on the final days (traditionally: heaven, hell, death and judgment—this is a Redemptorist writing this!). This reminds us that while we are waiting for the wondrous divine breakthrough that we celebrate at Christmas, we are also attentive to our final end.

But have you ever noticed that the great parable of the sheep and the goats in Mt. 25 has the king seated on his throne to judge the nations! We are such an individualistic society that we almost automatically think of the parable in terms of individual sheep and goats and thus individual judgment. I could expound on this but I want to draw one simple thought out of it. Do we realize how much we are collectively who we are? Christians in North America or Western Europe think very differently about ourselves than, say, Christians in Pakistan or Iraq (where the community is at risk). We think of ourselves in the context of our own culture, which is highly individualistic.

Perhaps this recognition of cultural influence would lead us to think in an entirely new way about our preparation for the Feast of the Incarnation. We might spend some time in prayer thinking about the influences upon our faith journey from our culture (not just the consumerism and materialism that we so easily decry—and then practice!). But the only way to gain any insight would be to listen to and learn from other people. What could we learn from refugees now in our community? Or by inviting a ‘different’ family for a time of sharing over tea or supper about Christmas customs? Or by admiring the customs of other cultures/peoples/nations in order to get a perspective on our own customs that we take for granted?

Forgive the length of this reflection, but I now come to my second point and this is meant to add to Pierre's lovely reflection about accepting people. Take a look back at the second reading and the challenge to the Thessalonians to “…abound in love for one another.…” Every letter of Paul, Peter, John, and James has a number of passages describing what a Christian community should look like, how it should live. (It’s a good exercise to go through the New Testament letters, find and reflect on these passages.) In conjunction with the parable on the wheat and the weeds living together until the judgment, Christian community does not begin by excluding those who do not measure up morally or according to the correct degree of ‘being nice.’ It begins and ends in kindness, gentleness, care for one another, mutual forgiveness as needed, singing psalms in joy together. Isn’t that a great place to begin our meditation on preparing for Christmas?

And to tie these two thoughts together, perhaps at the final judgment, in place of the nations we will find our own Christian communities standing together before the Great and (we trust!) Merciful Judge!

Mark Miller, CSs.R., markmillercssr@gmail.com
Toronto, Canada

Emphasize the holiness of ordinary people

As a child,stories of the end times frightened me. Often enough they were used to help "keep us in line." Since these were the days before "elf on a shelf" the strategy may not have been all that bad. Today, however, I realize that this apocalyptic literature intends to give us hope in the immediate challenges and uncertainties of life; hope in the midst of our own foibles and limitations.

In recent years when preaching, I find that I want to, and do, emphasize the holiness of ordinary people - the people of the Church. Additionally, I invite myself and the congregation to be open to the workings of God (holiness) in people and places we may not expect. While holiness requires ongoing conversion, I believe the starting point of goodness even in the sinner, better reflects Gospel.

My own "resolution" for Advent is to continue developing that perspective in my own life. How unlikely, how amazing that God becomes one of us in Jesus! God really does think rather well of us!
Frank Berna, I.V.Dei., berna@lasalle.edu
La Salle University

Dear Francis...
Your words were that of Jesus' speak to me thru you! Thank you,
Evelyn Augusto, evelynaugusto2012@gmail.com

Advent is really about opening up

Remember the context of all this biblical grandeur and pomp and circumstance stuff. People were looking for an apocalypse, an end of the world when the bad guys would be taken away and life would be good--like the "good old days." Yet we believe--we know--that God IS here, always, not just in some future time. All this judgment stuff puts the focus on us: are we good enough? Do we try hard enough? What are our sins? Maybe it's time to remember that Advent is really about opening up to God's love. Isn't that the Mary story--she said yes. Although doubting the possibility of the gift that was about to be given to her, Mary still said yes. That's really all the judgment that God looks for: did we say yes, do we say yes, will we continue to say yes to the Son of Man coming to us? Remember the metaphor: we are the sheep, not because we are good (because sheep generally are pretty clueless) but we are loved. Don't let these reading get your goat.
Dee Christie, dlchristie@aol.com

Our job is to help produce a new beginning

The eschatological focus of Advent gets me thinking that endings and beginnings are cyclical more than linear. Maybe the "end" that we hear of in these texts refers not just to THE end but to various endings and beginnings and how the two go together. To quote the song "Closing Time," "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

In this dark age of increased racism and anti-Semitism and xenophobia coupled with populism and autocratic rulers and an opioid crisis and an anthropogenic climate crisis and rampant gun violence, it is easy and tempting to think that this is THE end, but maybe it is AN end, and our job, empowered by God, is to help produce a new beginning.

On a somewhat related note, I recall Pierre channeling the wonderful Fred Rogers's challenge for us to accept people as they are. I agree. How do we do that with, say, a deranged, autocratic ruler whose way of being involves spreading hatred and division?
David VonSchlichten, vonschlichten@setonhill.edu

Where was the Lord in all of this?

Considering our epitaph is a useful focus for reflecting, and a very useful lens through which to read the Advent lectionary. For years I have opened my intro to theology course by giving my students a 3 x 5 card. They are to answer two questions: “What does it mean to be human?” and “What would you like on your tombstone?” One answer for each side of the card.

The exercise gets a discussion started and the course started, and we revisit it at the end of the semester too. There is something about being finite and intertwining with others that always comes out. A charming way to introduce freshman to the humanities, no?

So, this summer, I had surgery. A guy I met about ten days earlier cracked open my sternum and put in a new (bovine) aortic valve. The ICU too was a useful focus for reflecting. Reflecting became extraordinarily basic. Before, during, and after I had an enormous support system from friends, students, medical folks.

Asking where the Lord was in all of this was overwhelming answered by the “small voice” recognition, a few days in, “Who do you think all these people are?” The talents of all the people around me added up. The support was palpable. Intensive care indeed.

The smarmy reminder at the time, is that I couldn’t control my own movements or choices for a while. The advent readings (current events too) remind me, that the same is true outside of the hospital. (I knew that. I asked my students to think about that, no?)

Dan Finucane, djfinuc@aol.com
Saint Louis University

See the other reflections of 2018