December 19, 2010. Homily, December 21, 2010

Luke 1:39-47

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

"The Lord is with thee" meaning the God of her fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Joseph, of David is with her. She must respond to Gabriel, the able-bodied one, the hero of God, the angel who stands before God. She is alone in her response, And her only support is the narrow will of God, and her readiness to believe, and her readiness to obey.

When my grandson Tucker was a babe in arms (say 8 or 9 months), my daughter Jessica his mother was standing next to me. Tucker was wearing corduroy overalls and I was wearing a corduroy sports jacket. Tucker took his overall cloth between his forefinger and thumb, rubbed it and then looked at me, telling me that he was wearing the same cloth as I. Communication of an abstract thought by one who could not speak; so too John, a babe in his mother's womb leaped for joy when he heard Mary's greeting. John "the forerunner" prophesying Jesus; the word "Jesus" means "God saves".

December 11, 2010. Homily, December 12, 2010

Matthew 21:28-32.

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' The son said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him, but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

Joe Wilkes, my first boss, head of maintenance in my father's plant. Whenever there was an emergency, spilled acid, a broken press, the call would go out to Joe, "Joe, there is an emergency, can you come right away to Building 3?" And Joe would always answer "No." As he explained to me, "Whenever anyone asks for your help, always say 'No,' for if you say 'No,' you can always say 'Yes' later, but if your say 'Yes,' then what can you say." The benefits of low expectations, the promise of less than your capabilities, for that leaves room for you to perform and to exceed.

This is a gospel of Matthew and Matthew was a tax collector.

Mary Magdalene, the herald to the Resurrection, was a prostitute.

This is the shortest parable in the Gospels.

It was directed at the chief priests and the elders who were likened to the second son, who verbally agreed to follow God's will but actively did not. Sinners, as symbolized by tax collectors and prostitutes, refused to do God's will at first and flouted His law by the lives they led, but many of them ultimately repented at the preaching of John the Baptist, changed their lives and turned to follow Jesus. Jesus thus indicates that God prefers the humble who realize their mistakes and seek to correct them to the proud of heart who will not accept God's initiative in their lives.

While God's love and support are always there for us and he always invites all sinners to repent, the passage is a reminder that we cannot rest on our laurels and assume that a good life in the past will save us. As children of God, we must continues o grow in the love of the Lord each and every day and keep that love relationship alive and strong.

December 8, 2010. Homily, December 11, 2010

Mt. 17:9a, 10-13

As they were coming down from the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come first and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

The Gospel of the Lord.

John the Baptist would preach "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Whoever believed his words and repented of their sins, John baptized in the river Jordan, that is, he immersed each one in the water while placing his hands on the head of the baptized. Therefore, John the Forerunner was called the Baptist. In the process, John required of everyone that the repentance be sincere and the correction in oneself be accompanied by good works.

The Pharisees were proud of their descent from Abraham, praised themselves for fulfilling the Law, and considered themselves worthy to enter the Kingdom of Christ the Messiah. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead and in the future life. To these people John said, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" — that is, who told you that you by your own power could escape the anger of God and eternal punishment in the future life? "Bring forth fruits worthy for repentance. And think not to say within yourselves: we have Abraham as our father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Remember, every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire."

Hearing these words, the people asked him, "What shall we do then?"

John answered, "He that has two coats, let him impart to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise," — that is, first of all, do good.

Then, publicans, or tax collectors, came and asked, "Master, what shall we do?" The publicans collected taxes for the Romans. The Jews hated the power of the Romans. Besides that, several of the publicans collected more than was proper and oppressed the people. The Jews despised all the publicans and considered them unworthy to enter the approaching Kingdom of Christ. John said to them, "Exact no more than that, which is appointed you."

The soldiers also asked of him, "What shall we do?" It often happened that the soldiers, dissatisfied with their wages, took property that belonged to other people, treated poor people badly, and accused other people for their own profit. John said to them, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."

Many then wondered if John was Christ the Saviour, but John explained that he was not the Christ. "I baptize you with water," he said, "but after me One mightier than I is coming," — that is, soon after me will come He for whom you wait — Christ, "the latchet of Whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose;" — that is, I am unworthy to even be His servant to take off His shoes for Him. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire;" — that is, the baptism which He will give will burn up your sins like fire and give you the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The holy Prophet John preached to many others, teaching the people who came to him.

In a very mysterious way, Jesus says to us today: «John is this Elijah, whose coming was predicted. Let anyone with ears listen!» (Mt 11:14-15). What does he mean? He wants to make it clear to us that John was his true forerunner, who carried out the same mission as Elijah, according to the belief, which people at that time had, that the prophet Elijah was supposed to come back before the Messiah.

December 6, 2010. Homily, December 8, 2010.

Luke, 1:26-38:

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, that Mary was born without original sin, thus preparing her to be the Mother of God.

Inn the Garden of Eden, Eve was tempted by the devil in the form of a serpent and disobeyed God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; she tempted Adam who also ate. Both were expelled from the Garden of Eden. We do Bible Studies in 6th Grade of CCD. I ask my class, "Is that fair?" Those who say "Yes" say God only gave them one rule, why is that so hard to obey. Those who say "No" say they should have received another chance. To which we answer, the second chance is what the whole rest of the Bible is about.

In this Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, we have a stained glass window dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. It is the first window on the right, my left, directly behind the Blessed Sacrament Chapel where the Host is kept. The center panel shows Mary Immaculate with the serpent crushed beneath her foot. Beneath is the heraldic shield of Pope Pius IX who governed the Church for 32 years, the second longest time after Peter. The panel to the left has the ship of the Church, Papal Infallibility. When the pope speaks ex cathedra, from his Chair he is infallible. He has only done that once, on the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1854, 100 years before the cornerstone for this Church was laid. Pope Pius IX also convened the first Vatican Council in 1869, broken up in 1870 when Garibaldi conquered the Papal States.

Gabriel: God's able-bodied one, or hero of God.

David was the ancestor of Joseph. David was also the ancestor of Mary.

Mary said "Yes" overturning the sin of Eve, who on the Devil's urging disobeyed God the Father and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - original sin.

There have been many aberrations of Marian piety, and we need to stay close to the authentic tradition. St Ambrose gave it luminous expression in his comment on this passage. "Every soul who has believed both conceives and generates the Word of God and recognises his works. Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you to magnify the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one to exult in Christ."

Compare Mary's visit from the angel Gabriel with Zechariah's visit from the same angel Gabriel [My name is Gabriel. I stand before God.] Mary a humble young virgin in her home. Zechariah a priest of the Jewish faith in the Temple charged with responsibility for the holy of holies, the sanctuary, the Tabernacle. While Mary believes, Zechariah doubts and is struck dumb for his impertinence.

December 6, 2010. Homily, December 7, 2010.

Matthew 18:12-14

Jesus said to His disciples: "What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."

The Gospel of the Lord.

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. [For the Son of man is come to save that which is lost.] What is your . . . . "

How valuable are we to the Lord. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Lk 21:18. (An assurance of the most special providence over all Christ's disciples.)

Nothing is more astonishing than the care and concern of God for His followers.

God the Father does not want to lose any one of us, even any part of us, so that He [and His guardian angels, the angels in heaven] watches over us and will bring us with Him to heaven to be with Him to the end of time.

Christ will lead us through sufferings, to glory with Him.

Everything that is ordered is a creation of God.