Psalm 23:1-6 Jesus, the Shepherd

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
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By BENEDICT AUGUSTINE

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.”

Jesus, the great Messiah that mankind had waited for, does not set out to make a great fortune. He does not seek power among the people. He does not even write anything for posterity. While men like the Caesars, the family of Herod, or poets like Vergil and Horace all seek to win fame among the known world, Jesus leads a deliberately obscure life. Despite His miracles, His wisdom, His resurrection, Jesus Himself effectively hides his own divine nature from the world, only revealing this truth to a few disciples. Furthermore, He chooses the most average men to share His gospel with world, some uneducated, some insecure, and some temperamental.

Far from imitating the opulence and splendor of Emperor Augustus, or King Solomon for that matter, Jesus manifests the simplicity and humility of shepherd. He works outside, beside the “restful water” of the Sea Galilee, with the lowly, not in the city filled with the rich and powerful. He ministers to “the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others.” He cures them of their sickness, and they give thanks to God. In giving thanks the souls of these afflicted are refreshed; thus, Jesus' miracles offer life in more ways than one. The spiritual life opens up for these common people; “the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations” breaks apart.

Jesus achieves this opening through His divine love, and invites those who receive His love to go and do likewise. He does not descend on the people like the god-kings of the Ancient World even though He has every right to do so. He could have these newly mended people build great monuments for Him like Ramses, or overthrow the ruling party for Him like Julius Caesar, or subjugate the known world for Him like Mohammed. He could have enslaved these people and kept them in the dark; they would have welcomed it. Instead, He leads them out of the darkness of idols, conquest, and heresy. His “rod and staff” give them courage because He assures the people, His sheep, of their value.

Leading His people out of the darkness, He brings them to the table. After curing the people, Jesus feeds them; and in feeding them, He feeds the world because His disciples now know what it means to share the gospel: it is not a matter of sharing a message to the uninitiated, but of sharing everything that makes humanity possible. These common people can sit and eat around Jesus in the sight of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Romans, the very enemies of compassion, of honesty, and holiness. This latter group rules humanity by depriving humanity, yet Jesus and His followers demonstrate the opposite. Their humanity, His in giving, theirs in accepting, ennobles them and creates an abundance: “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

Finally, Jesus the Good Shepherd brings His sheep home. The miraculous healing and the miraculous multiplication of loaves all foreshadow something greater, something that “follows [them] all the days of [their] life.” The miracles symbolize the eternal “house of the Lord,” Jesus' Own house, Heaven. They happen in time while their meaning points to eternity. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, gives of Himself only to give even more: He gives life to the sick, only to give eternal life to the healthy; He gives food to the hungry, only to give eternal food to the filled; He sits and preaches to the ignorant, only to sit and preach to the wise in heaven. He sustains his sheep for the journey, so they can enjoy unending sustenance in the presence of His Father.

Jesus is the Son of God. He is Our Elder Brother. He is Our Lord and Shepherd. We are adopted children of God. We are His little siblings. We are His disciples, His sheep. He will serve us and keep us safe, as long as we listen to Him and follow. Because our faith is really this simple, we must cease to be so complex. Let the rest of the world stew in complexity. Our Lord calls us to simplicity and obedience, and we should respond by joining His flock. By doing this, we may finally recognize Jesus as our Guide, and enter His House at the end of our lives.

Mt 8:5-11 Great Faith

Monday of the First Week of Lent
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By KATIE GROSS

And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes;

and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;

and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,

and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven.”

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof…” I am convinced that one of the greatest obstacles to our faith is our own shame. Our world today is a very unmerciful world. We are told that in order to survive, we must constantly be on our guard. If we are struggling with some kind of sin, wemust hide it—how dare we struggle! If we have family or relationship problems, we must quickly sweep them under the rug—how dare we not maintain a perfect life all the time!  This is the way humans think—pride first, reality second. However, contrary to everything that has been instilled in us by this culture, God rejoices when we admit our weakness and guilt.

I recently had an experience that made me think about this. School has been absolutely crazy this year! Many of you out there can probably relate—sometimes it feels like I barely have time to breathe. More times than I would like to admit, I haveput the finishing touches on a paper after a long night and then realized… whoops, I forgot about God today! Then comes the thoughts of shame—“You were so on fire before! You will never get that back! You are so selfish! You may as well not pray. God has been waiting on you all day and you weren’t there.” Howterrible are these lies I am tempted to tell myself! Although I am at fault, God never abandons me. Even the smallest prayer of sorrow is better than abandoning prayer altogether because I wasn’t “perfect.”

Many other sins can turn our walk with God into a game ofhide-and-seek. You weren’t perfectly nice to that coworker? “It’s too late to reconcile, and God is sooooo irritated with me!” You made a wrong choice one time at a party? “My entire Christian life is lost!!!” We have gotten sucked into a culture of perfectionism where one mistake can make or break us. But when did we forget that God came to save us because he knewthat we would not be perfect? By becoming discouraged by our own sins, we say to God that His passion was without purpose. We tell Him that we don’t believe that we were redeemed.  We tell him that we don’t believe in His mercy.

“Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.” How is it possible that God can be so pleased with a confession of guilt, as he was with that of the centurion? Shouldn’t the opposite thing happen? Even if he were merciful, shouldn’t he first chastise the man? No—he responded in just the way that God responds to each and every one of us when we confess our sins: with joy!
 

We all need to learn how to separate repentance from discouragement. David was a great example of a goodrelationship between a sinner and God. Talk about a “mess-up” by today’s standards! David was appointed by God to be the King of Israel, and what did he do? He stole somebody’s wife and killed her rightful husband. Many political leaders today have been condemned for much less. But David knew how to express his sorrow for his sins in a healthy way, consistent with who he knew God to be: he prays in Psalm 51, “My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.” He knew that while he was incredibly guilty, God would not strike down somebody who sincerely repented and tried to get back on the right path.

David would say this to the centurion: thinking in a strictly human way, we don’t deserve to be healed by Him. We aren’t worthy that He should enter under our roof. But that is quite alright. God does not operate in the same unmerciful way that humans do: “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). For this reason, we owe God praise! We can point to every weakness in our life and know that God has an attribute that is the exact opposite. We are unmerciful? God is merciful. We forget God? God never forgets us. We are self-obsessed? God is selfless.These aren’t just romantic words—this is reality. Let’s pray that we will come to believe in this truth. 

Mk 13:33-37 What If...

First Sunday of Advent
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By Fr. ALFONSE NAZZARO

Jesus said to his disciples:  "Be watchful!  Be alert!  You do not know when the time will come.  It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch."

God is always faithful.  Today's first reading, a letter from St. Paul to the Corinthians, is a great way to start off the season of Advent.  It is a heartfelt letter written to a community that is experiencing a lot of heartache, all for the sake of the Gospel.   

Are you going through tough times?  Are you experiencing a lot of drama in your life?  Has this year been dragging you down?  Have you been torn apart - physically, emotionally, and spiritually?  Then tis the reason for the season. 

Nearly five years had gone by between St. Paul's founding of the Church in Corinth and the arrival of this letter.  During his absence the community had fallen victim to a number of vices that were beginning to fracture its unity and drag members away from the faith.  St. Paul sees only blessings and graces in it all, for they are experiencing what he and the other Apostles experienced early on in their journey of faith. 

"Brothers and sisters:  ...I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way..."

"He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

God is always faithful.  Are you? 

Sin has a way of separating ourselves from our true Love.  Life without the Lord is Hell, literally!  Advent is that time of year when we invite the Lord back into our world and back into our lives. 

What would life be like without Jesus Christ?  Recently, I saw a trailer for the movie "America" by Dinesh D'Sousa.  I haven't watched the movie, yet, but I did find the trailer very interesting.  The narrator begins his presentation with a series of questions: 

"What would the world look like if America did not exist?... 
What if George Washington had been killed by a sniper's bullet?...  What if the Civil War tore our country into two or ten?... 
What if Hitler got the atomic bomb first." 

We could never know the answer to any of these questions, and any attempt to answer them would be highly speculative. 

But what about this:  What would the world look like if Jesus had never entered it?  Can we know?  I think so, by breaking it down and asking the question:  What would I be like if Christ had never entered into my life?  Now this I can know! 

And I can even tell you...it wouldn't be pretty. 

I know that if Christ had not entered into my life, then it would be an "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth."  I would be like a terrorist, and I would have no qualms about it.  I would do whatever it took to succeed.  I would do whatever it took to get ahead.  I would allow my "natural" instinct to govern my emotions and my decisions.  I know...because I have it in me. 

And so do so many of us.  Just watch the nightly news. 

If someone had wronged me, my fury would go out of control.  My bitterness would only grow.  My resentment would find no quiet until sweet revenge had been achieved.  I would be unchained!

All of us need Advent.  We all need to be put back into that awkward - yes, awkward - position that Christ has placed us in:  Love your enemies...Do good to those who harm you...Forgive seven times seventy times. 

For what would my life be like if Christ were not a part of it?  Oh...so easy! 

But an easier life does not necessarily mean a better life. 

What would have happened to America if George Washington had been killed?  We don't know.  But we do know what happened to the Apostles when Jesus was killed.  They prayed and kept going. 

What would have happened to America if America had been torn into two or ten countries?  We don't know.  But we do know what happened when the Apostles were scattered like sheep and ran off in every direction.  They prayed and regrouped. 

What would have happened to America if the Nazis had invented the atomic bomb first?  We don't know.  But we do know what happened when Christ's enemies crucified Him:  they fell apart or converted. 

The Lord has already given His followers the worst case scenario.  We don't need to imagine a world lost or a world without Him.  We already know...and it isn't pretty.

Advent is all about praying, regrouping and converting; that is, preparing ourselves for the coming of the Lord.

LK 21:34-36 Drowsy Hearts

Saturday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
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By STEPHANIE JUAREZ

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy

from carousing and drunkenness

and the anxieties of daily life,

and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.

For that day will assault everyone

who lives on the face of the earth.

Be vigilant at all times

and pray that you have the strength

to escape the tribulations that are imminent

and to stand before the Son of Man.”

This Gospel is a tough one! It reminds us that, someday, we will have to undergo a final judgement from our God. We will have no where to run and no excuses when that day comes. When we finally see Jesus face to face, will it be a joyful encounter? Do we trust in His divine mercy and long to see His face or do we run from prayer?

Love demands a response If our hearts are drowsy or anxious it is because we have forgotten The Lord’s great love for us. If we have gotten drunk on envy or high on pride it is because we are living for ourselves and not for Christ. If we have let the tasks of daily life or the desire for material things overwhelm us it is because we have lost sight of Heaven. This tends to happen a lot around the holidays. Ironically, it gets worse as we get closer to Christmas. But we must not forget that Love (i.e. God) demands a response. His love should change us into more loving people. His humility should make us more humble. Our hearts should be awakened and conformed daily to look more like His sacred heart. This is the life of a Christian. Constant and deep conversion.

Hidden Love When I reflect on what it means to be humble, obedient, and merciful I always think of St. Faustina. In the eyes of the world she was a simple nun: poor, uneducated, and basically a nobody! Yet Jesus chose her to be the secretary of His Divine Mercy. Through His apparitions to her He revealed how much He desires to extend healing mercy to those souls that are willing to trust totally in Him. He also revealed how much He desires to unite Himself with us not just in eternal life but right now through the Eucharist! You see, Holy Communion prepares us for our final union with Christ. The more we prepare ourselves to receive Him in a state of grace when He is hidden in the host, the more prepared we will be to stand before Him at the hour of our death! In the host He is humble, hidden, vulnerable, and thirsting for our love. How do we respond? How are we preparing ourselves to meet our Savior?

“Today, I prepare for the coming of the King. What am I, and who are You, O Lord, King of eternal glory? O my heart, are you aware of who is coming to you today ? Yes, I know, but - strangely - I am not able to grasp it. Oh, if He were just a king, but He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Before Him, all power and domination tremble. He is coming to my heart today... I hear Him approaching. I go out to meet Him and invite Him. When He entered the dwelling of my heart, it was filled with such reverence that it fainted with fear, falling at His feet.

Jesus gives her His hand and graciously permits her to take her place beside Him. He reassures her saying, See, I have left My heavenly throne to become united with you. What you see is just a tiny part and already your soul swoons with love. How amazed will your heart be when you see Me in all My glory. But I want to tell you that eternal life must begin already here on earth through Holy Communion. Each Holy Communion makes you more capable of communing with God throughout eternity.” (Diary of St. Faustina #1810-1811)

As we prepare for Sunday Mass tomorrow and for the season of Advent, let us be vigilant of the things that cause our hearts to fall asleep and our souls to wander away from The Lord. Do not be afraid to make changes or to let go of whatever is keeping you from a deeper, more joyful union with Jesus. Our Blessed Mother can help us along this journey through her powerful intercession. I am going to begin the Novena to the Immaculate Conception today, please consider joining me!

“Pray, hope and don't worry. Anxiety doesn't help at all. Our Merciful Lord will listen to your prayer.” - St. Padre Pio

This mediation was written by Stephanie Juarez. You can read more of her writings on her blog Lover of the Light.

Lk 17:11-19 The Gifts We Take For Granted

Thanksgiving 2014

By FAITH NOAH

And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed. 
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 

The other day I saw a video (link tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpA-FsKLA6A ) about a girl named Kayla Montgomery, diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at age 14. When her symptoms appeared, she would lose feeling in her legs. With medication, she could reduce the effect of these symptoms, but she was no longer allowed to play soccer, her favorite sport.

Instead, she picked up cross-country. She was a slow runner, but she told her coach, Patrick Cromwell, to push her to be the best she could be.

By senior year, she was competing in state competitions. However, she was no ordinary runner. Every race, at the one mile mark, her body temperature increased, triggering her MS symptoms. She could still run, but she felt nothing. Unable to come to a coordinated stop after the race, she relied upon her coach to help her at finish line as her legs gave out. As she crossed—and collapsed—he would catch her, carry her, and give her water and ice to cool down.

Every race, Kayla collapses. Every race, she moans and pleads for water as she is carried away. Why go through that? Why do it?

"Since I know that my mobility is a gift right now, I guess I make every day that I run as best I can, so I don't waste that gift,” Kayla says.

Kayla falls down after each race, but she doesn’t fall with bitterness or anger, cursing her limitations. She falls down victoriously. She falls down in thanksgiving. She falls down because she has given her all; for those few miles, she has conquered her limitations.

Like the cleansed leper who falls down at Jesus’ feet, we are called to humble ourselves in thanksgiving, recognizing, despite our limitations, all that Christ has done for us.

He doesn’t ask for this praise. In fact, He didn’t even tell the lepers to return to thank Him. Rather, He told them toleave. It was the thankful leper who disobeyed, who came back to Jesus. He put off being declared clean, being reintegrated into Jewish society, because He recognized that thanking God was more important.

That’s the price we must pay as Christians. Thanking God is our first priority. Amid joy and amid pain, God has blessed us. There’s no denying that.

So if you have encountered great blessings in your life, go thank God. And if you have encountered great woes…go thank God.

In the end, we all have something to be thankful for.

People like Kayla serve as examples of the fact that even amid suffering and limitations, God is calling us to greatness. He’s calling us to find the wonderful things He has in store for us, to run the race, and to run so as to win.

And at the end of the race, when we have given it our all, He is waiting at the finish line, ready to catch us as we, like Kayla, fall to His feet in thanksgiving.

Thank God we have the opportunity to run this race. So let’s run it well. Happy Thanksgiving!

Faith Noah graduated from Ursuline Academy way back in 2014 and was valedictorian of her class.  She is currently a student at Vanderbilt University and contributes to this blog whenever she can.  She is an outstanding young lady with amazing grace and faith.

Lk 17:11-19 The Attitude of Gratitude

Thanksgiving 2014
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By JENNIFER BURGIN

As they were going they were cleansed.  And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered a used set of "The Liturgy of the Hours" from a third-party seller on Amazon.com.  Inside the pages I discovered several prayer cards left by the previous owner.  "What I wonderful, personal touch." I thought to myself.   "I'm so blessed to receive these books in such excellent condition and with an added bonus.  No way I'd find such prayer cards in a new set."  As I thumbed through one of the volumes, a small piece of cellophane dropped on the floor.  Sealed inside the cellophane was a real four-leaf clover! The previous owner used it as a bookmark for years.  The clover showed age, yet remained beautifully preserved. I didn't know this until recently, but a four-leaf clover symbolizes "God's grace."  I felt a wave of gratitude inside my heart, thanking the Lord for connecting me with these books.  He continuously pours out his grace through the little things.  I never thought an old used set of books along with a four-leaf clover would bring a smile to my face.  I plan to treasure these Liturgy of the Hours volumes for years to come.

The Attitude of Gratitude   Today is Thanksgiving Day in America.  It's a day of turkey comas, football mania, and shop-until-you-drop pre-Black Friday sales.  Sadly, I see more people stressed out around this time of the year than at their jobs.  Thanksgiving has certainly become commercialized with the whole "buy, buy, buy" mentality.  We still get together as a family to eat and drink, but it is often short lived. Within just a few hours we're in front of the television cheering for our favorite football team or buying Christmas gifts at the local store.  Do we thank God for all of  the blessings he's given us? Do we pray together as a family? Do we  thank our loved ones and friends, letting them know how much they mean to us? Do we thank the Pilgrims and Indians who started the Thanksgiving tradition?  The big question lingers:  Do we adopt an attitude of gratitude?    

An attitude of gratitude creates an environment where we become more aware of others. Simply put, we get out of our own selfishness and see a whole other side of humanity.  In today's gospel reading, only one of the ten lepers thanks Jesus for being cured.  He's even a foreigner! Why is this?  Is it that the other lepers aren't as grateful?  Perhaps. However, I think it's more of an act of ignorance. These lepers just don't realize the precious gift of healing given to them by Christ.  They go on through their life, relieved of the painful symptoms but completely oblivious to the source of relief.  This is how faith is.  Some people believe and others don't.  Faith and gratitude go hand and hand.  When we have faith in Jesus Christ, and set our minds to follow his teachings, gratitude is a welcomed side effect.

On this day, while enjoying a Thanksgiving feast with family, take a few moments to remember all of your blessings.  Go around the table and say one thing you are most thankful for.  Cherish the family moment together and remember God's grace touches the lives of everybody in subtle, unique ways.  Adopt an attitude to gratitude!

"Thanksgiving is good but thanks-living is better." 

(Matthew Henry, 17th Century Welsh Non-Conformist Minister)

Happy Thanksgiving!

This meditation was written by Jennifer Burgin.  Please follow her blog:  Jennifer's Spectrum of Spirituality

Lk 21:12-19 The Never-Ending History of Christian Persecution

Wednesday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

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By BENEDICT AUGUSTINE

“’They will seize and persecute you,

they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,

and they will have you led before kings and governors

because of my name.’”

In the comfort of a developed country, with friends and family sitting in our pews on a Sunday morning, listening to a homily that assures us God’s love, Catholics in the Western world have a difficult time understanding Jesus’ warnings of persecution and physical death. So much of it seems like needlessfearmongering, conspiracy theory, and irrational fundamentalism.

Perhaps Jesus’ disciples living in the oppressiveRoman Empire, which often killed its problems rather than solved them, as well as living with an increasingly desperate Jewish Nationalist sect, the Sanhedrin, who was also willing to use force to advance its agenda, would prompt Jesus to state the obvious: becoming Christian will put the believer at odds with his neighbors. Nothing less than God’s own Holy Spirit could empower new believers to face such adversity. Nothing less than John’s revelation of Christ’s return could instill such hope into Christian who knew that torture and death awaited him. Nothing less than Jesus’ prophecies and later His resurrection could counter the leviathan of the world. Such difficult times called for difficult words, and this explains Jesus’ warnings.

Nevertheless, these words still apply throughout the ages. The first three centuries of the Roman Empire witnessed the torture and death of thousands of Christians. Even after Christianity became the state religion, the Arian heresy acted as the oriflamme of persecutors who set their sights on eliminatingorthodox Christians for the next three centuries.

After Rome declined in the West, Muslim armies from the east soon swamped the Mediterranean and nearly all of Europe, slaughtering Christians or enslaving them while endangering Christendom for nearly a millennium. Pagans like the Huns, the Mongols, and the Vikings also joined in attacking Christians during this time.

At the tail end of Muslim hegemony, which ruled over most of the Eastern hemisphere with the exception of Western Europe, the Protestant Reformation arose, breaking up Christendom with bloody wars and national rivalries would last indefinitely and lead to renewed persecutions and divisions.

With the religious wars casting the shadow of skepticism over religion in general, political movements such as socialism, nationalism, fascism, or some other ideology promising heaven on earth soon led persecutions against the church once more. Whenever a revolution or civil war broke out (i.e. the French Revolution, the English Civil War, the Spanish Civil War, the Bolshevik Revolution, etc.),Catholics would lose no matter which side won.

Today, the tradition of persecuting Christians still holds strong, for even if new threats to the Churchsprout up, the old ones tend to linger and sometimes even worsen in their terror. The Muslim world continues to viciously persecute Christians with impunity. Nationalists and Socialists in Asia continue to brutalize Christians without a murmur from the media. Although not physically militant, skeptics and secularists in the West openly defy and marginalize the Church through deceit and mass scandal. As a result, many Christians in the West have succumbed to ignorance, vice, and delusion. The world goes up in flames, and we laugh, doubting its reality as we create our own. At least those who suffer a physical death because of their faith can look forward to a heavenly reward; those who trade away their baptismal birthright for uninhibited dissolution—like Esau trading away his birthright for a bowl of redstew—have nothing to hope for after the party ends.

As usual, Jesus speaks for all times, not just His own. This is a fallen world, and the cross neverdisappears. Until He comes again with His angels, Catholics will have to endure the adversity of the world. Seeking the good, the true, the beautiful will separate us from the majority, who seek the bad, the false, and the ugly. Even when offered as a choice, one good and one evil, the former often proves too difficult while the latter proves so easy. Persecution is easier than conversion; ignorance is easier than wisdom; hatred is easier than love. As long as this remains true, devout Catholics will have enemies in their midst, both inside and outside the Church, for even “parents, brothers, relatives, and friends” will become hostile.

Fortunately, God will come to out aid if we let Him. Jesus, the Word Himself, will supply the words of our defense. He will inform (and reform) our hearts, if not our minds, with the Truth. He will save those who stay with him and persevere for His sake. For this, we should be happy, even grateful. In our faith, we have hope, and in our hope we can truly love. Our enemies cannot make such a claim. Our struggle will end, and in this struggle we will find true joy, but their struggle never ends, and, after so muchpleasure-seeking and ridicule, they will inevitablyfind true sadness.