40 Days with St. Paul of the Cross: “I had a special understanding of the infinite mercy, our Sovereign Good making me realize the greatness of his love in inflicting punishment in this life so as to avoid an eternity of suffering.” (St. Paul of the Cross – December 26, 1720 – Retreat Reflections)
0 Comments
Today’s Thoughts: Here we are on the day after Christmas, the day after the wonderful scene of Mary holding her newborn infant in a cave just outside of Bethlehem. In today’s readings, the scene has shifted to a place outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem. It is not a tranquil scene but one of mob violence as they drag a young man out of the city to his death all because he believes. Stephen becomes the first martyr of the new church.
On Friday we will celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, the baby boys martyred by Herod because he was so afraid of the infant Jesus. My point here is that in these early days after Christmas two of the feasts we celebrate, St. Stephen and Holy Innocents, stand in stark contrast to Christmas and they do so as a reminder that being a person of faith, that believing, comes with a challenge, comes with resistance from the world. Christmas is not a happily ever after story. It is the beginning of a journey of faith that will take us from a cave outside of Bethlehem to a hill outside of the Jerusalem and beyond. Christmas is the beginning of a challenge to wake up every day and find Emmanuel, God with us, in our lives. As we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen today, we are reminded that the world will not always see things as we do. Sometimes the world’s reaction to what we believe will be harsh and at times even deadly. But like Stephen we are asked to believe, to trust and to know that God is with us. In our prayers today we ask St. Stephen to help and protect all who are persecuted because of what they believe. We pray for peace among religions, peace in our world! “Peace demands the most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice. It demands greater heroism than war. It demands greater fidelity to the truth and a much more perfect purity of conscience.” (Thomas Merton) Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone. 40 Days with St. Paul of the Cross: “At dawn I went to confession with heart-felt contrition and great self-knowledge. Afterwards at holy Communion I was as dry as a stump and I remained so nearly all day.” (St. Paul of the Cross – December 25, 1720 – Retreat Reflections)
Today’s Thoughts: In this most unusual year I thought it might be good to offer a few thoughts for this Christmas Day…
“And the Grinch, with his grinch feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling. "How could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!" He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!” (Dr. Seuss' The Grinch) “To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” (Thomas Merton) While it is good that we seek to know the Holy One, it is probably not so good to presume that we ever complete the task.” “God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) “Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ) “Just because something is impossible, doesn't mean you shouldn't do it.” (Dorothy Day) “It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” “For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol) “Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home.” (G.K. Chesterton) “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:5) “We are all meant to be mothers of God...for God is always needing to be born.” “Every creature is a word of God and is a book about God.” “We are celebrating the feast of the Eternal Birth which God the Father has borne and never ceases to bear in all eternity…. But if it takes not place in me, what avails it? Everything lies in this, that it should take place in me.” (Meister Eckhart) All of these thoughts have something to say about our celebration of Christmas. However, I think Eckhart, the great Dominican mystic of the Middle Ages, has his finger on the meaning of the Christmas. Yes, Christ was born in history some 2,000 plus years ago and yes Christ will be born again at the Second Coming but what is most important for us is that Christ is born each day within us. As Eckhart says, “Everything lies in this, that [Christ’s birth] should take place in [us].” In other words, each day we need to take on the responsibility of giving birth to Jesus by the living of our lives. We should bring the presence of God to the world each day. Even though this year we will not encounter children joyfully celebrating the gift of Christmas in song, in story, in pageant. We will not experience them as angels, shepherds, Mary and Joseph. We will not get the chance to watch them place the child in the manager and proclaim, “Glory of God on high and Peace on Earth to all people of good will.” We might not get to see the joy, the excitement, and nervousness on their faces. But hopefully in some way we will sense the true meaning of Christmas that God is with us! My hope is that this Christmas, as you celebrate the mystery of the Christmas Eucharist, perhaps a little differently than in years past, you will look around at the faces of guests, friends and family, perhaps mostly on Zoom, and see the wonderful gift of God’s presence. We are lucky people – no, we are blessed people because Emmanuel is born within us each day all we need to do is believe! “Let us draw from the crib the joy and deep peace that Jesus comes to bring to the world.” (Pope Francis) A Blessed and Holy Christmas to all! 40 Days with St. Paul of the Cross: “On this holy night…I felt much tenderness especially in remembering the infinite love of our dear God in becoming [human], in being born amid such lack of comfort and in such poverty; and then I took my rest in God.” (St. Paul of the Cross – December 24, 1720 – Retreat Reflections)
Today’s Thoughts: The journey of Advent is almost over, later today we will gather with others to begin the celebration of Christmas. Along with my own thoughts this morning I would first like to share a few thoughts from Sr. Genevieve Glen, OSB whose reflections for this day I run across a few years ago…
She reflects on Zechariah’s words in this way, “God promises a firm kingdom, an enduring house, an immovable throne. Today’s Gospel offers the only lasting reassurance: “The dawn from on high shall break upon us, / to shine on those who dwell in the darkness and the shadow of death, / and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” The firm kingdom won’t have a geographical capital, the enduring house is not made of stone mined from a local quarry, and the immovable throne won’t ever appear in a TV show about the rich and famous. The firm kingdom stands on the power of God’s word. The enduring house is not a building but a person, Jesus Christ, the new and eternal Temple not built by human hands. And the immovable throne is a wooden cross whose shadow is light that reaches into every corner of our darkness.” (From Daily Reflections for Advent and Christmas – Waiting in Joyful Hope 2018-19 – by Sr. Genevieve Glen, OSB – Liturgical Press) So, our question this morning will we gather and live this day and our life with the faith and joy of Zechariah in the promises of God? So often there are things that get in the way of our recognizing the gift and presence of God in our lives. You might say like Zechariah we become mute. We are so busy with what we think is important we fail to speak of God's presence in our life. We fail to recognize the gift of God's love in our life. We fail to trust in the promises of God like the one's made to David and proclaimed by Zechariah in today's Gospel. As we enter this final morning of Advent on this Eve of Christmas, we are called to remember the promises, we are called to celebrate the gift, we are called to be joyous, we are called to bless God, we are called to put our feet on the way to peace! May these wonderful days of celebration open our mouths and our hearts to proclaim the promises of God that we encounter as we gather with family, friends and a community of faith. May we celebrate with the joy and spirit of Zechariah blessing God and embracing peace! Have a blessed and holy Christmas Eve everyone! 40 Days with St. Paul of the Cross: “When the sea is swept by storms, the waters are raised by the wind and swell into huge billows. As these waves approach the rocks they beat upon them as if they wanted to break them up and smash them to pieces. But not so! They beat upon the rocks, yes, but they do not break through nor do they smash them to pieces although they may knock off a small chip here and there. No matter how great the waves may be, because the rocks are so hard there is no danger that they may be shattered. Similarly, the soul at prayer is a rock because God holds it fast in his infinite love. It may even be called a rock of strength because the Sovereign Good imparts this strength to it.” (St. Paul of the Cross – December 23, 1720 – Retreat Reflections)
Today’s Thoughts: “What then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.” I have celebrated a few baptisms in my life as a priest and there is one thing, I do the same at each one. During my homily, I ask all gathered to consider asking themselves two questions as they celebrate the baptism of the child. When they get a chance during the party that usually follows the baptism, to hold the child for a moment, they are to ask themselves – First, what do they, wish, dream, hope for this child? Second, how will they help this wish, dream, hope to come true?
As I prayed with the Gospel (Luke 1: 57-66) this morning the picture that I painted above of a baptism came to mind. If you have ever taken a baby in your arms perhaps one of the first questions that came to your mind was – “What will become of this child?” The same question people asked at the circumcision of John. I think it is a natural question to ask when seeing a newborn. What will this child be? What gifts, what talents, does this child have? What kind of life will this child encounter, live? What lies ahead for this child? Another thought when looking at a newborn is the fact that this child has come from God. I use an image in one of my mission talks of a newborn child coming into the world. The image is that when a child is born, the child, she or he comes directly from the hands of God. The last face before coming into the world a child sees is God’s. If the child could speak in words that we could understand she or he could tell us about God. Unfortunately, by the time the child can speak in words we understand she or he has forgotten what God looks like and like us, the child spends the rest of her or his life making the journey back to those hands of God. Just think the first hands to embrace us after we take our last breath will be God’s. The first face we will see will be God’s. In other words, the hands of God are with us at birth and throughout our life. The story we find in the Gospel today about John’s circumcision is all our stories. When we came into the world people wondered what we would become. People looked at us with love and knew God’s hands were at work. Yet, unlike John we don’t know the end of our story. It is still being lived out; it still needs an ending. We know what John became. We know how John lived out God’s call. We know how John allowed God’s hands to be at work in his life. Who then are we? How then are God’s hands at work in us? These are our questions for this day. These then are our questions for the celebration of Christmas. These then are our questions for the beginning of a New Year. Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone! 40 Days with St. Paul of the Cross: “I was recollected with a great feeling of fervor.” (St. Paul of the Cross – December 22, 1720 – Retreat Reflections)
Today’s Thoughts: Mary's Magnificat one of the most beautiful prayers. It reflects her trust and faith in God. It reflects her commitment to God's plan for her. Each evening I pray this prayer hoping that as I live life, I can have the same trust, faith and commitment in and to God.
Think of the setting in our Gospel today. Mary finds herself at Elizabeth house having travel some 90 miles either on foot or by donkey. She carries a child in her womb that has been placed there through the most unusual of circumstances. She is betrothed to Joseph, but the child is not his. We might ask what does she have to be thankful for? For what can she praise God? Yet, her prayer is a prayer of praise. She praises God first and foremost for his love for her. Both women in the scriptures today, Mary and Hannah, teach us about praise, commitment, trust, and faith. They are models of what it means to be a friend of God, of what it means to be beloved by God. They teach us true friendship and commitment. Perhaps as we prepare in these final days before Christmas, we might look at our own friendship with God and renew our commitment to proclaim God's greatness in our life! Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone! |
Fr. Paul R. Fagan, C.P. "Preacher on the Run"Just a few thoughts to help you on your journey through life...let me know from time to time what you think... Archives
May 2023
Categories |