Tag: Christianity

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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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Jesus Heals the Blind Man

Jesus heals the blind man

Mass Readings

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
En Español

Reading 1 – Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm – Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
Reading 2 – Hebrews 5:1-6
Gospel – Mark 10:46-52

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Our readings from this past weekend have many interesting themes: blindness, calling and light. These readings are trying to cut through the sadness and human suffering of our day, from Central America to Pittsburg and beyond. It’s easy to nod our heads and say, “Right on, Deacon!” But the question is, what are you going to do about it?

Our readings open with Jeremiah who speaks of gathering in those scattered by the Exile: I will gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child; they shall return as an immense throng. This theme of gathering in the scattered sheep reflects the two great hinges of the Old Testament, of Hebrew Scriptures: the Exodus and the first and second exiles which together are the Exile. This promise and this hope is not just a desire to bring them home physically, but also a desire to bring them home spiritually. It is God’s call to bring His people back out of darkness, out of blindness and into His Light.

And so it’s no surprise then that we find in the Gospel the story about a man named Bartimaeus who lived in the darkness of his blindness. He called out to Jesus and begged for help.

What was the response of those around Jesus? They rebuked him!

But Jesus stops and says, “Call him.”

How does God call us? In the Letter to the Hebrews, we read, “No one takes his honor upon himself but only when called by God…” How does God call us?

God who knows our sins, but calls us by our name!

This is in direct contrast to Satan, the great deceiver who knows our name, but calls us by our sins!

Wow!

Think about how the deceiver calls you. “You’re not good enough!” he whispers in our ears. “You’re too fat!” “You’re on drugs!” “You’re a drunk!” “You’re worthless!” I wonder what the people who rebuked Bartimaeus said to him as he called out to Jesus. Was it so different?

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

I think those people around Jesus who rebuked Bartimaeus suffered a spiritual blindness that was just as profound at blocking out the world as Bartimaeus’ physical blindness! It was just as profound as the scattered sheep of Israel Jeremiah preaches about. But Jesus called him anyway. How does Bartimaeus respond? He immediately jumped to his feet, threw away his cloak and ran to Jesus. Once healed, instead of leaving Jesus, he stayed with him and followed.  Doesn’t that sound like discipleship? There’s two parts here: first Jesus called Bartimaeus out of darkness back home, and then Bartimaeus followed him. That’s critical! God calls us, but God will never force Himself on us. He gives us the freedom to choose. Bartimaeus followed Jesus. How do we live our faith? Do we follow Jesus, or do we prefer to wallow in the darkness of the world? Faith is our response to God’s call.

Consider this, how do we call other people? What are the first thoughts of other people? “Oh, that’s the cheater; the drunk; the druggie; the crook; the immigrant-lover; the gun-lover; the bleeding-heart, the Jew, the terrorist.” Is that how we answer God’s call?

Now this is important: sin is not just personal.

Sin can also exist in our institutions, that is, in our government and in our businesses. We call that institutional sin. But institutional sin is not a phenomena independent of us as individuals. NO! We allow institutional sin. We encourage it. We expect it. I’m not talking politics here. This is bigger than either party and frankly both parties are a huge part of the problem. What do I mean?

It is the institutional sin of public policy and business that exploits third world countries because we demand cheap clothes, or poorly-made trinkets and junk we might use only once. It is a sin reflected from our hypocritical demand for a just wage, but that turns a blind eye to child laborers in southeast Asia. It is a sin reflected from our desire for cheap and perfect looking fruits and vegetables like Honduran bananas at 48 cents per pound, but turns a blind eye to the average Honduran worker who can’t feed his family because he only earns about $1 per day. It is a sin reflected from our shock and sadness over human tragedies like the Central American migrant caravan or the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, but turns a blind eye to leaders who applaud violence or admire repressive governments. It is institutional sin to suggest only government has the right solutions, assuming people are too ignorant to do the “right thing”.

Perhaps these contradictions are good enough for them, but we are Christians! Difficult as it is, we have to judge public and business policies not with the blind eyes of the world shrouded in darkness, but with Christian eyes bathed in light.

Bartimaeus lived in darkness. He answered when Jesus called him. He was healed and then he walked with Jesus. Like Bartimaeus, we must allow the healing power of Jesus to wash over us so that we can be healed from the darkness of this world!

The Christian, you and me, we have been called by Jesus through our baptism. We are healed. We received the light of Christ and we follow Him. In the Psalms we read, “The Lord has done great things for them. The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.” How do we show it? There are no armchair quarterbacks or pew warmers in church!

As healed disciples, we must share Christ’s love with others and that starts with the people we encounter everyday – the guy who cut us in traffic or pushed us as we tried to board the train/tram/bus; the waiter who can never seem to get our order right; the cashier who messed up our change; and most especially to our families and our friends. By sharing Christ’s love, we allow Jesus to kindle the light we received as disciples so that we can bring His light into a dark world that desperately needs hope. We need to share our light.

Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine. Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Homework! Contemplating on Jesus who we encountered this weekend at church in the healing power of reconciliation, in the Word we heard proclaimed, in the Eucharist we received, there are three things I ask:

  1. Be humble. Jesus wants to heal you and to heal me. Our response shouldn’t be, “I’m not worthy.” Our response should be, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
  2. Don’t let them stop you. The world will tell us to be quiet – to not reach out to Jesus. The world will say that Jesus can’t fix our problems whether its immigration or gun violence or whatever. Don’t be distracted by political rhetoric of the left or the right. Our response should be, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
  3. Let go of the past. We can be blinded by past hurts and politics. Just as Bartimaeus immediately jumped to his feet, threw away his cloak and ran to Jesus, look away from the darkness and toward Jesus the Light.

If you haven’t been to church in a while, or if you go to church every weekend, but simply go through the motions, I encourage you to listen to the invitation from the Gospel: Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.

I think that by doing our homework, we will not only grow in our faith, but bring the light of Jesus to heal our corner of the world.

Got it? Get it? Are you going to do it? Good! May each of us receive the healing grace and love of Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Image: Healing the Blind Man, by Morgan Weistling.

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Ash Wednesday

ashwednesday

Mass Readings

Ash Wednesday Readings
February 14, 2018
Reading 1 – Joel 2:12-18
Psalm – Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 12-13, 14 and 17
Reading 2 – 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Gospel – Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Once again we begin our journey from Ash Wednesday, through Lent, through Holy Week, to Easter. Our journey reminds us of our need to be mindful – mindful of the Jesus Christ was born human; who came and lived and walked among us; who suffered and died so that you and I might be saved; and who rose from the dead on Easter. It is that Jesus, the risen Jesus Christ who invites you and invites me each into a personal relationship.

But there are so many things in this world that distract us from having a relationship with Jesus. Maybe, we glance at our phone just for a minute and get so caught up in social media that a whole hour has disappeared. Maybe we sit down in front of the television to catch up on that show everyone is talking about, and suddenly you realize you just binged watched the whole season – the whole season! Maybe you sit down and open that special box of chocolates on the St. Valentine’s day and think, “I’ll have one piece – just one piece,” or crack open that case of beer that’s sitting in the fridge calling your name, or perhaps that bottle of scotch that your friend gave you for Christmas only to look back and see an empty container! “Whoa! Where did that go?”

All of these things are examples of things that distract our relationship with Jesus. And if we have not relationship with Jesus, then it’s easy to take everything and everyone around us for granted. Now is a perfect time to reconcile ourselves against those sins – those excesses in our life. Now is the time to go to the sacrament of reconciliation and lay our sins at the foot of the cross.

Holy Mother Church reminds us that we have access to three ancient, powerful, spiritual exercises to help purify our bodies, our hearts and our minds from all of the things that distract us, and that might contaminate our thinking and our bodies. Any combination is a wonderful sacrifice for our Lenten journeys. They are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. But Scripture reminds us today that whatever you do, don’t call attention to it. You’re not trying to win the praise or admiration of those around you. We sacrifice to deepen our relationship with Jesus of Easter morning.

Setting time aside for mindful prayer is important. It’s about being deliberate in the way we pray. Whether you pray a pre-written prayer or you pray spontaneously, if you sacrifice time to pray more during Lent, be mindful about your prayer. Slowly pray those words so that they impact you. It’s not about checking a box. It’s about deepening our relationship with Jesus.

Fasting gives us an opportunity to purify our thinking and our bodies. We can fast from electronics. We can fast from social media. We can fast from television. And we can fast from food. It seems that the medical world is catching up to this ancient biblical secret. Doctors and nutritionists more and more are recommending some form of fasting be incorporated into our diets. Even intermittent fasting has a powerful, healing effect. This is a wonderful opportunity we have here in Lent to try fasting. If for some medical reason you are not sure whether or not you should fast, then talk to you doctor. Tell your doctor you are a Christian and you would like to incorporate fasting in your treatment program. Let them help you design something that works for you. Perhaps by giving up food it might clarify our thought to deepen our relationship with Christ.

Almsgiving is not just about giving money away. It’s really about changing the way we look at our money, our wealth and our possessions. It’s about recognizing that everything I have belongs to God. I am just the steward. That’s why Holy Mother Church calls giving “stewardship” to remind us that what we collect in this world is not only meant for our benefit, but meant to be shared with others for the building up of God’s kingdom. When we give, it’s not about saying I have an extra two bucks so let me put it in the basket, but how will this sacrifice bring into a deeper relationship with Jesus.

This Lenten season is a wonderful opportunity to invite family and friends back to the Church. If they don’t understand what all of this is about, then try to share with them. Help them understand what we are doing and why. They don’t need to turn to some fancy New Age hocus pocus. We have access to three, ancient and powerful spiritual exercises in our own faith tradition.

Holy Mother Church tells us that if we do these spiritual exercises, then we might have an encounter with the risen Jesus Christ, the Jesus of Easter morning, who wants to help us change our lives so that you and I might experience the salvation promised by God.

Homework! As you go through Lent this year, there is one thing I suggest we do:

  1. Every time you do whatever it is you are sacrificing this Lent, ask yourself, “how is this sacrifice drawing me into a stronger relationship with the Jesus.

If we do our exercises, then hopefully we will recognize that we’re not giving up chocolate for the sake of giving up chocolate. No! But that are trying to draw closer to Jesus Christ.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Are you going to do it? Good! Through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, may we all come to know and to love Jesus. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!