Mt 3:13-17 The Baptism Of Our Lord

The Baptism of the Lord
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Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?"  Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."

Life begins at 40!  We've all heard this before.  But it's not true.  Life really begins at baptism.   

Baptism is an extremely important sacrament.  It should never be put off.  Its importance comes directly from Jesus Christ, who said:  "Unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven" (Jn 3:5).  It's that important!  It even makes up an essential ingredient in the Lord's final command to his disciples:  "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."  After Pentecost, St. Peter's first words to new believers were:  "Repent, and be baptized..." (Acts 2:38).

Baptism is important.

The Lord's baptism.  Even the Lord got baptized!  How incredible is that?  In fact, it constituted His very first public act.  As soon as the Lord left home, He went straight to John, got in line and got baptized.  But why?  Because the Lord is desperate to be with us.  He wants to be close to us.  He wants to be united to us.  He wants to identify himself with us.  But the ultimate reason is because He loves us.  And He wants us to know that.  He wants us to know we are never alone, not even when we full of sins. 

This simple gesture is proof enough of God's amazingly shocking humility.  It wasn't enough for Him to become a man.  He even had to become a "sinner."  Of course he wasn't.  But who would have known, except the Father?

Our baptism.   Our baptism is not just a cute sacrament; it is also a rite of passage.  It can never be just a pretty little ceremony.  It should be the mark of something  (someone) new.  The beginning of an exciting journey. On your mark, get set, go!  

Those who are getting baptized, including babies, should be prepared to pass through this rite of passage.  That is, there must be a conversion that has taken place beforehand, for to get baptized into Christ means to have accepted His plan, His role, and made it their very own.  I must take up my cross and follow Him.  He must increase.  I must decrease. 

Every time this happens the heavens will open and we will hear the words our Lord heard:  "This is my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased."

Audio of my homily is available here. 

Lk 5:12-16 Healing Someone In A Different Way

Friday after Epiphany
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It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."

It happened.  There will come a time when something bad happens to you.  The reason may be as clear as water or as clear as mud! Regardless, something will happen, and it will change your life for "good." 

Are you ready?  How can anyone be ready. 

A man full of leprosy.  Awful.  Terrible.  A disease that not only affects the human skin but also the human spirit.  I can't imagine ever living with this horrible condition let alone its terrifying prognosis and permanent isolation.  

Are you ready to help?  How can anyone help?     

Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.  The Lord said, "I do will it.  Be made clean."  And it happened.  The illness went away.  The prognosis went away.  The isolation went away. 

We all remember the time when Pope Francis wrapped his arms around a horribly disfigured man.  The man's physical illness may not have gone away, but his spirit was definitely restored.  In just a few brief minutes this sick man had regained his supreme dignity. 

The news spread like wildfire across the internet:  "Pope Francis embraces horribly disfigured man."  "Pope Francis Kisses Man With Rare Disorder Showing The Healing Power Of Compassion."  "Disfigured man embraced by Pope: 'I felt only love'" 

Soon after his encounter with the Pope, this brave and anonymous soul felt confident enough to reveal his identity.  He was ready to come out of hiding; from among the walking dead.  He was ready to tell his story and rejoin society.  The newspapers couldn't get enough of him and they talked about him with love and admiration.  "His name is Vinicio Riva," they wrote, and the Holy Father is a miracle worker.  People magazine wrote:  "Vinicio Riva feels 'stronger and happier' since Pope Francis embraced him"

The disorder may not have left Vinicio, but the stigma sure did.  Does this sound familiar?  Then [Jesus] ordered [the leper] not to tell anyone, but 'Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.' The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him.

Lk 4:14-22 To Be The First To Love

Thursday after Epiphany
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Jesus returned to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.  He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

I believe.  Every Sunday we say the Creed:  "I believe in one God, the Father the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible..."  To me, this is the least demanding part of my faith.  But the Catholic faith is more, much more, than just an act of the intellect.  It is also an act of the will.

"I believe" means more than "I agree."  It means "I will." 

"Beloved, we love God because he loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar" (1Jn 4:19). 

We love God because he first loved us.  Why must the Christian love his estranged brother?  For the same reasons Christ loves us.  Love generates love.  This is the great bet the Lord has made.  He bet His life on it.  Why?  Because He can see more to us than just our sins.  He created us.  He knows us.  He knows the good we are capable of doing.  Hence, He has a lot of "faith" in us and He "believes" He can work around the failures and faults in each and every one of us.

Proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.  How funny!  How funny God is.  When I read today's Gospel passage I nearly broke a rib out of laughter.  God has a great sense of humor. 

Just a couple of days ago a commentator asked for my opinion regarding a year without God.  I thought to myself, A year without God?  Done that.  Seen that.  Been there before.  Actually, I did it for ten years, from the age of 15 to 25.  I didn't go to Church, I didn't pray and I definitely didn't kneel.

I was a different person back then.  I never volunteered.  [I am speaking about myself, no one else.]  I didn't "donate" anything unless it was broken or I no longer wanted it.  I was vulgar.  I used profanity...and a lot of it.  But I still considered myself a very good person.  Hey, I never killed anyone!  But I did what I felt like doing: nothing more and nothing less.  What's wrong with that?  Pain was to be avoided and carrying a cross was definitely out of the picture.  I thought kneeling was a pain in the you-know-what.  I wasn't alone.  I knew a lot of people in New York that shared my "values."

But then I recovered my sight and senses and a lot of things changed.  I never imagined spending time in conversations with the elderly or visiting the sick on a daily basis.  Do I like doing that?  Not really, and to this day I still do it because the Lord commanded me to do it.  "Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:14).  But little by little my heart is changing and this "duty" is becoming less and less a burden and more and more a blessing.  If the Lord had not insisted upon it, I would never have experienced it.

I never thought I would enjoy working long hours and for so little pay.  Never!  If I had, I would never have bothered spending six long years getting a Master of Science degree and only using it for four short years in the business world. 

But the biggest change my "conversion" (it wasn't a one time deal, it's still going on, and will till the end) is making is with my friendships.  Boy has Christ (and His Church) changed things up for me.  It's definitely his fault! 
 
As a minister, the Lord and the Church have brought all types of people into my life.  They have insisted I show to others unlimited love and mercy.  This is personally challenging to me. Mercy and love does not come naturally to me. In fact, it never even crossed my mind until the Lord crossed paths with me.  This is all the Lord's fault!  

There are many Catholics in the Catholic Church.  There are many Christians in various denominations.  Not all of us are at the same heights of holiness.  I am no Mother Teresa or John Paul II or Pope Francis, and I may never be.  But it won't be because of the Lord's lack of trying; it will be because I stopped trying.  

In the lives of the Saints we have their faith, their doubts, their victories and their defeats before us.  This gives me great comfort and courage to know that the same Lord who created them also created me.

By allowing the Lord to love us first, He surprises us in how we can love so many others.

Mark 6:45-52 Practicing the Sport of Love

Wednesday after the Epiphany

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After the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd...He saw they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them.  About the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea...They had all seen him and were terrified.  But at once he spoke with them, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!"

 

“Love is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action.” —Mother Teresa

            You wouldn’t have to know a lot about rowing to guess it’s pretty miserable to be on the water in the rain. On a good day with no waves even the slightest mishandling of an oar or turn of the head can cause the entire boat to flip. If there is bad weather or any other sort of problem (getting caught by fishermen and having a duck crash-land in the boat are just a couple things that have happened to me…), the risk of flipping or damaging the boat or endangering the team skyrockets.

            My heart goes out to those disciples in the boat because I know first-hand what it’s like to feel that vulnerable and afraid—at the mercy of the next major gust of wind or downpour. Everything is chaotic. A true rower knows to deviate from his or her training to try and adapt to the weather is the worst way to cope with inclement weather. The best thing to do is keep your eyes glued to the neck in front of you and row.

            In the metaphorical boat that we’re all in on our journey with Christ, we (like rowers) must match our actions, or strokes, to those of Christ. As any rower knows, even if you are perfectly in sync with the leader of the boat, if your heart and power isn’t in it, your efforts are obsolete.

            The first reading today comes from 1 John and tells us,

“God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
In this is love brought to perfection among us,
that we have confidence on the day of judgment
because as he is, so are we in this world.”

And we do strive to be like him in this world. But a lot of the time, we fall into the trap of thinking just going through the motions is enough. Does it matter we often judge harshly those we are actively helping? That we can often interact with our loved ones with total selfishness? It should matter. Love is like a sport—it takes a lot of practice, and you can’t give up and expect to be good at it. Like the rowers who do the perfect stroke with no power to back it up, being Christians with no love for each other will get us nowhere.

When it would storm during practice, we would have to have faith our collective power output could match the intensity of the waves to get us safely back to shore. The world we live in has its own storms and crash-landing ducks. The only way to get through them is to allow our actions to be guided by Christ and powered by our love for him and for each other.

Consider St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Every action she ever did was 100% ordinary. What caused the world to be fascinated by her was her extraordinary ability to love. Mother Teresa did nothing in her life that millions of doctors and nurses around the world don’t do every day, but what she did, she did with great love. That’s what changed the world. It’s sad how people actively trying to love others can seem so revolutionary and foreign to their fellow Christians, and this is what we must work to resolve.

It can be difficult to really reflect on what motivates our ‘good’ deeds. We don’t like to consider how we can better love others. Isn’t it enough that I’m volunteering at 8am on a Saturday? Not if you haven’t said anything nice to anyone all morning. We manufacture excuses to not love each other. We don’t practice loving each other. This is why when, like the disciples, we find ourselves in the middle of a storm, we panic. We forget to model ourselves after Christ and try to rely on our own ideas instead of the power of love. 1 John reminds us,

“There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear
because fear has to do with punishment,
and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.”

Rowing requires a great deal of trust. You have to trust the other people and the person in the position of leadership in your boat. Since you’re not facing the direction you’re going, you have to trust those around you completely. In our life, we also can’t really see where we’re going. All we can do is try to pull our hardest and love as best we can. For, as 1 John reads, “if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.” Challenging ourselves to love more people more diligently is our most basic calling and the best way to be close to God.

Erin is studying Communications at the University of Texas at Austin.  She loves writing and the sport of rowing (or crew).  When I asked her to write this meditation, I did not know the Gospel would be such a fitting reward.

Mk 6:34-44 I Can Always Do Something

Tuesday after Epiphany
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By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place and it is already very late.  Dismiss them so that they can go...buy themselves something to eat."  He said to them in reply, "Give them some food yourselves."  But they said to him, "Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of good and give it to them to eat?"

This morning I read a small commentary on today's scriptural readings. 

These days between Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord foreshadow the marvels we can expect to encounter in Jesus Christ...  He is the One whose 'heart is moved with pity' when he recognizes our bottomless need.  Out of our nothingness he will make a miracle of untellable abundance...

Out of our nothingness.   Really?  I don't like this reflection.  It just doesn't correspond to the facts.  The Lord didn't take our nothingness.  He took something from us.  Now I know what the author is trying to say: "We have very little to give to God."  That's true, to a certain extent.  But to say we have nothing to offer is a dangerous thing.  It gives us the perfect excuse to excuse ourselves from giving anything.  What difference will this make, right? 

I believe this comment doesn't do justice to what the Lord is trying to convey to his followers.

Jesus specifically asked his disciples:  "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  He knew.  They knew.  Everyone knew they didn't have enough food to feed five thousand people.  Regardless, they returned to Him and said, "[We have] five loaves and two fish."

Did the Lord dismiss their find?  Did He mock them?  No.  The Lord took the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, he blessed them... Jesus blessed their humble offering, which was everything they had.

So were five loaves and two fish "nothing?"  Absolutely not!  And before their eyes, He blessed their humble offering.  

They had given Christ (and their neighbors) more than they could have ever imagined! 

I can't do anything about it.  The Lord did not ignore his disciples' find.  What he did ignore was their lack of faith: "Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?"  

Does your lack of faith get in the way of God doing something incredible? 

To think we have nothing to offer, nothing to give, is downright wrong and outright dangerous.  We do, we have much to give, but we cannot do it alone.  We need the Lord's help.  We need His grace.  We need His forgiveness.  We need his blessing.

All I can do is pray.  "I'm gonna pray for my son who left the Church."  "I'm gonna pray for my mother-in-law."  "I'm gonna pray for my spouse."  "I'm gonna pray that God makes me a better person." 

These prayers are all fine and dandy, as long as these prayers don't end there.  We have to add our commitment:  our sacrifices and blood. 

Christian prayers are not hostage negotiations.  It's not about demanding things or getting things from God.  We are not prayer terrorists.  We are handmaids of the Lord.  We work for the Lord.

Christian prayer is all about team work.  It's all about family  The Lord called us his brothers and sisters.  So when I ask for the Lord's help I must promise to give Him mine as well.  He taught us how to do this:  "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

Simply demanding that Jesus "take the wheel" is not a Christian prayer.    Simply demanding that the Lord change things is not a Christian prayer.  It doesn't work like that.  He doesn't work like that.  He wants our two cents.  He wants us to let go or to hold on.  We always need to be ready and willing to back up our prayers with sweat and blood.  This is how the Lord taught us to pray and to live. 

I didn't do anything.  Stop the false humility!  You did something.  You did more than you think.  The question is:  Did you do something good or bad?

Stop saying, "I really didn't do anything."  That's nonsense.  What happened is you gave your five loaves and two fish and the Lord blessed it.  So stop saying you didn't do anything when you gave a hand, lent a hand, said something kind, did something beautiful, told someone you loved them, embraced them, or simply sent them a text message telling them you remembered them.

If you still think that was nothing, then imagine having done the opposite.  Would that still be nothing?

Mt 2:1-12 That Ah Ha moment

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord
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When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews?  We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."

Why were they looking?  There is a lot to meditate on in today's Gospel passage.  Three wise men were following a star.  But why were they looking?  Why were they even searching?  I think it is because they were restless; something or someone was missing in their lives, that ah ha moment.

We tend to think wealthy people have it made. Believe me, they don't.  We tend to think poor people are miserable.  Believe me, they aren't.  For these two reasons, the crèche is the ideal place to meditate and contemplate on these misconceptions and correct our superficial impressions. 

The wise men had their eyes fixed on the heavens because they were looking for meaning on earth.  What's this world all about? 

For them, it wasn't unreasonable to believe in a higher being, and one that would want to reveal himself to them.  It was just a matter of time and keeping their heart, mind and eyes open.  So when these men saw an amazing scene, they immediately set their hearts and minds to finding the person behind it.  

Was this their ah ha moment?  Not yet.

Something about that star.  We would like to believe the wise men were astronomers.  I tend to think they were more like philosophers or poets or even storm chasers.  They were adventurers.  They were dreamers.  They were star chasers. 

The star may have inspired them, but I believe they were already inspired well before they ever saw the star.  The star simply gave them an excuse to get moving.  It clinched a hunch they had.  So they journeyed to got to the bottom of it. 

Where they surprised it led them to a manger?  I think so.  Was this their ah ha moment?  I  believe so.

What's below that star?   A while back I read that NASA was very much interested in catching an asteroid.  They want to catch it and bring it back to earth to study it.  How amazing is that.  But while I was reflecting on this, I thought about today's readings. 


Now I know the wise men followed a star, not an asteroid.  But what I find most appealing about them is that they weren't interested in catching it and bringing it home.  Herod was. 
Herod wanted to catch the star (the child) and bring it back home to destroy it.  I think many of us would love to catch Christ's star and bring it back home with us and have it settle above us!  This takes a lot of pride and a lot of arrogance.

The wise men were amazing.  Their encounter with the child Jesus changed their lives.  In fact, they even journeyed back home a different way.  This takes humility.  It takes a lot of courage as well.
Was this their ah ha moment as well?  You bet. 

The Cave.  The wise men traveled a great distance and found themselves inside a cave, adoring a child and kneeling before his mother and father.  They had never imagined a star tied to a manger, the divine and human being one, a child being the Son of God, royalty mixed in with poverty, and strength flowing through humility.

Was this an ah ha moment?  Oh yeah.  It was an epiphany!

JN 1:35-42 Conversion Influence

Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,“Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.             

Today the Church honors Elizabeth Ann Seton, one of the first American-born Saints.  She is considered the founder of Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph and influential in establishing the American Catholic parochial system.  Born into a wealthy New York Episcopalian family, she later converted to Catholicism after the death of her husband. I find Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's story fascinating.  She experienced much suffering and prejudice but remained prayerfully faithful.  The Catholic Church would not be the same without the positive influence of converts!

Conversion   Jesus calls all of us to conversion.  It's not instantaneous.  It's an evolving process.  Conversion never stops. Many times Our Lord calls us over and over again, but we fail to respond. Maybe we are burdened by situations in our lives that make us turn a deaf ear.  For Elizabeth Ann Seton, it took immersion into Italian culture and the painful death of her husband to realize her calling to serve the Catholic Church.  We all have our own unique conversion stories.  God calls each of us differently.   

What is your conversion story?

Personally, it took me years to decide to convert to Catholicism.  I was baptized in the Methodist church.  In high school, I played violin at the Baptist church.  I always felt drawn to praise and worship but the Protestant church just didn't feel like home. I felt like something was missing in my faith journey.  By my senior year of college, through the guidance of a dear sorority sister, I discovered I belonged in the Catholic Church! My mom recounts how when I was a little girl I told everyone I wanted to be a nun when I grew up.  I think Our Lord planted a "conversion seed" in my heart at a very young age!

Following Jesus   Following Jesus as his disciple is no easy task.  It takes perseverance, dedication, strength, and humility.  We can look to the Saints as role models.  With great foresight,  Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton identified a need to establish schools dedicated to Catholic education.  She saw the importance of passing on the faith to the next generation.

Acts of Righteousness  In our own conversion process, Jesus desires us to act in ways that are righteous.  We should love one another and avoid sinful temptations.  The disciples recognized Jesus walking along a path.  They described him as "Lamb of God" "Rabbi" "Messiah."  They didn't hesitate in the least to join Jesus. They acknowledged conversion taking place within their hearts. They didn't want to miss the opportunity to do good for the community as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Let us recognize the conversion influence in our own lives!

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Pray for Us!

This meditation was written by Jennifer Burgin.  In 2013, she celebrated her 15th year anniversary as a Catholic convert.  Please follow her blog Jennifer's Spectrum of Spirituality.