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a reflection on living a life of discipleship

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04 Second Sunday of Advent

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Mass Readings

Second Sunday of Advent 
Reading 1 – Baruch 5:1-9
Psalm – Psalm 126: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Reading 2 – Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11
Gospel – Luke 3:1-6

In today’s Gospel, Luke 3:1-6, we hear about John the Baptist. The reading tells us that he is the voice crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord…”

Why does God send John the Baptist ahead of Jesus?

Well, I think it ties well to what we discussed in last week’s episode, where sometimes Jesus is knocking on our door, but for whatever reason we don’t respond. So Jesus will try to come to us through other people. That helps me understand why John the Baptist was necessary then and why he so important to us today.

Who was John preaching to? Well, he wasn’t just talking to the establishment Jews who tolerated the Roman authorities and were tolerated by the Roman authorities. He was also speaking to the everyday person, people who were perhaps caught up in their own lives, going about their everyday routine. But he also preached to people who were caught up in their pious devotions. You know, sometimes it’s easy to get lost in pious devotion that we forget why we are praying. So John the Baptist was trying to get through to people by saying it’s God we’re supposed to be worshipping and it’s the Messiah we’re waiting for.

That’s a similar trap that I think many Christians fall into. I have experienced people so immersed in a particular devotion, but who clearly aren’t convicted as disciples of Jesus. Maybe you know the type. Perhaps that person is a real grouch or just plain mean or totally focused on themselves. In other words, there is no real transformation in their lives. Pious devotion isn’t about loading up your holy roller disco card. No, it’s about deepening your relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s about making a connection; having an encounter with Jesus, and that encounter should change the way we live our lives. If I’m not changing or growing in discipleship through pious devotions, then perhaps my acts of piety are a distraction. Maybe the voice calling out in the desert is trying to remind us that my piety should be oriented to Jesus – that it is Jesus who saves.

For others, perhaps it’s not piety that distracts us, but the busyness of our lives. What do I mean? Well, certainly, we can get caught up in our everyday lives and in the world around us. We wake up in the morning, and it’s all go, go, go, go! Then at the end of the day, we sit down and think, “Where did the day go?” Perhaps the voice crying out in the desert is trying to say slow down and appreciate the gifts God has given us. You can find Him in nature all around us; in the people we see every day; and in our friends and family. Maybe the voice calling out in the desert is trying to remind us that the rat race can’t save us. Only Jesus saves.

Perhaps others get too caught up in the world they build for themselves. Society tells us that we are kings of our own castles. Being a king means I should ask, “what’s in it for me?”

This is a great challenge especially for Christians living in the United States. For example, someone might say, as people have said to me, “Well, the tax law has changed, so I’m not getting the same tax benefit for my donation. I will not be able to give money to support your ministry helping orphans in Honduras through Friends of Los Niños.” Or they try to justify themselves and say, “I’m really upset about the scandal rocking the Church today so I’m not going to give to my parish and I’m not going to give to the diocesan capital campaign.” But our Christian faith tells us we are not supposed to be kings dripping with wealth, but stewards. We’re supposed to take care of our gifts and wealth for the building up of God’s kingdom, not to own wealth for our exclusive benefit.

Perhaps the voice crying out in the desert is saying don’t get so caught up in the world, don’t stubbornly try to control the world around you. My 401k, my bank account, my stock portfolio can’t save. Only Jesus saves.

Homework: Nourished by the Eucharist and by the Word of God proclaimed, ask yourself:

  1. How attached am I to my possessions? Am I too quick to make excuses why I can’t make a donation to charitable causes this year?
  2. Is my faith the best kept secret, a private devotion, or am I willing to share my faith with others?

I think by doing our homework this Advent season, we might be better able to hear the voice crying out in the wilderness and recognize the opportunity to have an encounter with Jesus Christ, an encounter that leads to transformation, transformation that leads to salvation.

Ok, does everyone understand the homework? So, are you going to do your homework? Well, good! For a copy of today’s reflection, head over to our website, https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/. May each of us this Advent season come to know the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen

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03 Immaculate Conception of Mary

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Mass Readings
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Reading 1 – Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Psalm – Psalm 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4
Reading 2 – Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12  
Gospel – Luke 1:26-38

Mary remains one of the most controversial figures in the Christian world today. Sadly, she is a source of division within the greater Christian community. So before we get rolling, let’s clear up a few of things. First, today we celebrate Mary’s conception, not Jesus’. This confuses people often as we celebrate the Immaculate Conception so close to Christmas. Second, we venerate, we honor, but we never worship Mary. Honoring Mary is part of the Christian tradition. Mary was honored from the earliest accounts. Perhaps as early as within 200 years of Jesus dying do we find writings referring to Mary as Theotokos or Mother of God. Now if people are writing about Mary this way in the first two years, that means people were probably referring to her as “Mother of God” well before that. The Orthodox tradition in its liturgy honors Mary. Even Martin Luther acknowledged Mary as a Mother of God, and so too then does the Lutheran World Federation. Without using too broad a brush, this practice of honoring Mary is not specifically Catholic.

Alright, now that we cleared that up, let’s jump in to today’s Gospel, Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary and he says to her, “Hail, full of grace!” What does that mean?

One way to look at grace according the theologian Fr. Michael Himes of Boston College is that it’s God’s love outside the Trinity. Now this is a very helpful definition in reflecting on today’s Gospel. You see, Original Sin disrupts our relationship with God in a fundamental way. So, the tradition holds, that God needed to prepare Mary for her mission if she was willing to accept God’s plan for her life. So at the point of her conception, God freed her from the stain of Original Sin. This meant that rather than be disoriented away from God, she was able to fully receive God’s grace or God’s love. Being filled with God’s love meant that she was able to receive Jesus and bring him into the world. Jesus then is the love of God that fills Mary.
Now this did not make Mary supernatural or superhuman. Rather, Mary is able to love in the most human way possible – without any perceived ideas and without any conditions. Her love without the stain of Original Sin is fully human.

Gabriel goes on to tell her, “Do not be afraid, Mary…” Ok, let’s stop here for a minute.
So, who is Mary? Well, given the culture at the time, she was probably a teenager, perhaps an older teen, and she was betrothed to an older man named Joseph. So this angel appears to her. Scripture doesn’t give us a lot of detail here. Perhaps the angel came in all the splendor and glory of the kingdom of God, glowing and shining and radiant. Or maybe the angel came in the form of a human dressed in ordinary clothes. We just don’t know, but either way I have to wonder what my reaction would have been as a teenager if an angel had appeared to me and said God needs you for a mission. To be honest, I think I would have freaked out!

But Mary didn’t freak out. Instead she says in today’s Gospel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Ok, timeout. If Mary had been caught pregnant out of wedlock, if Joseph had handed her over, she probably would have been stoned to death, not to mention the shame and scandal that she would have brought on her family. Her life was on the line, but she says very bravely, “ok”, “according to His will, not mine”. Wow!

We honor Mary today because of her yes. She was the first disciple – the first person to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Did she keep quiet about it? No! She had to tell Joseph. She goes on to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. She can’t keep the Good News to herself. So the model, the image of Mary is not someone shrouded and bowed and quiet, but someone who courageously says, “YES”, and who goes out and faces a hostile world even under threat of death. Now that’s discipleship!

Homework: Nourished by the Eucharist and by the Word of God proclaimed, ask yourself:

  1. Am I willing to say yes to God, your will and not mine?
  2. Is my faith my best kept secret, or am I willing to share my faith with others?

I think by doing our homework this Advent season, we might be better able to re-energize our discipleship and go out into a world that desperately needs to hear a message of hope.

Ok, does everyone understand the homework? So, are you going to do your homework? Well, good! For a copy of today’s reflection, head over to the website, www.deaconrudysnotes.org. May each of us this Advent season come to know the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen

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02 First Sunday of Advent

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Joseph and Mary at Innkeeper's door: There's no room at the inn

Mass Readings

First Sunday of Advent

Reading 1 – Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm – Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
Reading 2 – 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2
Gospel – Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Happy first Sunday of Advent!

We hear in the first reading today, “The days are coming, says the Lord…”, Jeremiah 33:14. Scholars tell us that Jeremiah preached over 600 years before Jesus was born, and yet this warning from Jeremiah is more relevant for the Christian today than perhaps at any other time in history. You see, those early Christian communities that began to form not long after the Resurrection believed that Jesus would return during their lifetime in all his glory as Jesus Himself described in today’s Gospel, Luke 21:25-28, and 34-36. After a little time passed, they began to realize that things will unfold in God’s time – not their time. So the focus gradually shifts away from the imminent coming of Jesus to living lives of discipleship in an unbelieving world.

I think an unintended consequence of this shift is that Christians might take for granted Jesus’ return. In fact, it almost becomes academic. Yes, Jesus will come at some point way out there in the future – just not today. That thinking makes us too vulnerable to the world around us. Don’t get me wrong, we all need to engage the world around us, but for the disciple, the world around us, especially consumerism, presents unique challenges. The focus of consumerism is on me and my things. Right? We convince ourselves we deserve that new gadget or new device or new car. The great tragedy is that we get so caught up in all that stuff that can never fulfill us that many of us fail to see Jesus trying to come to us right now.

Take the innkeeper in the Nativity story, for example. In that story, the whole Roman world is on the move to be counted in the census ordered by Caesar Augustus. To be counted, you had to go to your hometown. The problem was that Mary wasn’t just pregnant – she was very pregnant! Nonetheless, they made the journey, as Scripture says, from Nazareth to Bethlehem. By the time they arrived, they couldn’t find a place to stay. They knock on an innkeeper’s door who tells them there is no room at the inn, but he offers them a place in the stables.

Now let’s stop for a minute and look at this story from the eyes of the innkeeper. Here’s a guy just going about his business. By the time Joseph knocks on his door, I’m sure the innkeeper was exhausted. Remember, the whole Roman world is on the move. His place was packed. Maybe he was annoyed at the way some of his customers had behaved earlier. Maybe he lost business because he hadn’t ordered enough food and wine. Maybe he was frustrated because his son hadn’t taken out the trash. So here at the end of the day he’s looking forward to his warm, comfy bed when someone else knocks on his door. That knock on the door probably grated on him like fingernails scratching a chalkboard. You can almost hear him bark out as he answers the door, “No, of course we don’t have a room!”

Can you imagine just for a second what would have happened if that innkeeper had recognized the Messiah knocking on his door through other people – through Mary and Joseph? Why, I bet he would have pulled the Holy Family inside and perhaps even offered his own room so that Mary could bring Jesus into the world in a comfortable bed. That inn would have been the most celebrated in all history! Today there would probably be a huge church marking the spot and we would have known the name of our anonymous innkeeper. If only he’d recognized the opportunity.

I wonder how many times in my own life I might have missed the opportunity to see Jesus in the people around me, like in the eyes of that homeless guy that I tried not make eye contact with on my way to work. Or maybe, maybe he tries to come to us through the immigrants we might catch a glimpse of on a cable news program or through that person we know who leads an alternative lifestyle. Too often, I think, we’re quick to judge other people – to blame them for their own problems or the problems of our society – that we fail to recognize the possibility that Jesus might be trying to reach out to us through one of them.

Why does Jesus do that? Why does he come to us through other people? I believe that Jesus loves us so much that He constantly pursues us – He’s constantly knocking on our doors.
But here’s the trick. We have to open the door. Like that innkeeper, we have the power to decide whether or not to open or close the door. That’s what free will is all about. You see, God pursues us, but He will not force Himself on anybody. We have the freedom to act. And when we open the door, we invite God’s saving grace into our lives.

I think this season of Advent, this time of preparation that the Church sets aside for us, is an excellent opportunity to pause and to ask ourselves if we are open to the possibility of seeing Jesus coming to us this Christmas, perhaps through the people around us.

Homework! There are two things I think we can work on this week. Nourished by Christ in the Eucharist and in the Word proclaimed, let’s reflect on these two questions:

  • First, how do I treat other people? Can I see Jesus in the people I encounter?
  • Second, what is one thing I can do this Advent to prepare myself for Christ’s coming at Christmas? For example, could I go to mass every weekend? Could I receive the Eucharist? Could I go to confession?

I think by doing our homework we’ll be more aware of Jesus trying to reach us through other people, that we recognize the knock on our doors so that we might recognize the opportunity to have an encounter with Jesus Christ, an encounter that leads to transformation, transformation that leads to salvation.

Does that make sense? Are you going to do your homework? Good! May each of us this Advent season come to know the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!