3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - January 26, 2020

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle A

January 26, 2020

 

The Holocaust Museum: Lessons

Three years ago, I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Probably some of you have visited this.  I had never been there before.  

As you know, the Museum is a memorial especially to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in the 1940s.  This genocide by the Nazis killed 6 million Jews.  

The Holocaust eventually included other targets, like citizens of Poland and the Soviet Union, gypsies, homosexual and disabled persons and others.  The Nazis exterminbated a total of 11 million people.  

As I slowly walked through the Museum, I found myself sad, in disbelef, in horror, and at times I became aware that I was just shaking my head NO!  It is just too hard to imagine this.  

Well, that experience quickly put me in touch with some thoughts that have been maturing in me over the last year or so. I have boiled these down to two reflections and I want to share them with you today. 

 

1.   Words Are Powerful 

My first reflection is that our words are powerful

The words we speak and the words we write or text or email – these can be very powerful.  We need to be aware of this.

For example, have you ever said something and the moment it is out of your mouth, you wish you could take it back?  Maybe in frustration, we said to a teenager: “You’re never going to amount to anything.”

Or to someone:“You’re a lazy, self-centered waste!” Or: “You’re a good-for-nothing blankedy blank.”

Our words can help a person develop and grow. Or they can freeze a person right where they are and even send them backwards.

Our words can build up self-estemn and self-confidence.  Or they can tear it down and injure someone for a lifetime.

Our words can give positive vision to a group or community.  Or they can lead those same people to harmful ways.

So, I am suggesting, we have to pause, reflect, and go within ourselves before we speak.  We have to get in touch with our true inner self and with God who is within us.

We have to consider the effects of our words for today and tomorrow and the future.  And then, we have to decide what to say and when to say it and how to say it.

So, knowing that our words have such power is very important.  We need to use our words in a mature and holy way.

2.   Negative Stereotypes Are Destructive 

My other reflection is related to the first.

Negative stereotyping is always destructive.  And it is always wrong.

This is what happened in Nazi Germany and what caused the Holocaust.  Thoughtless and hurtful words were applied to the Jews.  

These words and labels led to negative stereotyping.  In that instance, we know the horrific results.

Some scholars tell us that negative stereotyping arises from the human temptation to scapegoat.  We make another person or an entire category of persons the scapegoat for our problems.

So, we need to resist negative stereotyping of others. Today, it might be directed to Syrian refugees or Hispanic immigrants, to women or African Americans, to members of the LGBTQ community or to Muslims.

We need to have the inner strength not to paticipate in this. In fact, we need to label it as morally wrong.   

Instead, we are to follow the way of Jesus.  In today’s gospel, Jesus calls the first apostles to follow him.

Jesus calls us to do the same.  But following him means more than coming to Mass and receiving the Eucharist.

And one thing for sure that it means is that we use the power of our words constructively and caringly.  And it also means that we resist negative stereotyping and treat all persons as God’s daughters and sons.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - January 19, 2020

2^nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Cycle A

January 19, 2020

Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville   9:30 and 11:15am 

The Beloved Lamb

There is a old story about two men who were living in the same small town.

The one man was very rich and powerful; the other was very poor and powerless. The rich man owned so many sheep that he lost count of them, but the poor man had only one, tiny lamb.  

The poor man’s children loved this little lamb so much that they treated it like a member of the family. They played with it all day long and even brought it to the dinner table to share the little food they had to eat.  

Then one day an important visitor came to the rich man’s house for dinner.  The rich man wanted to serve a special meal but he didn’t want to kill any of his own lambs to feed the guest.  

So, he had his servants go over to the poor man’s house, take that family’s only lamb, and slaughter it for dinner. Now, the prophet Nathan tells this story in the Old Testament.  

And, this story of the beloved lamb is one of the images that John the Baptist must have had in mind in today’s gospel. John points to Jesus and says, “There is the lamb of God.”

John means,“There is God’s beloved lamb.” Like the one beloved lamb of that poor family, Jesus is God’s beloved Son and he is unjustly put to death.  

 

The Sacrificial Lamb 

Now besides this image of the beloved lamb, there is a second image that John must have had in mind.

This is the image of the lambs that were sacrificed everyday in the Temple in Jerusalem. These lambs were seen as sacrifices to atone for sin. 

So, John points to Jesus and says, “There is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus is like those sacrificial lambs because he sacrifices himself for our sins.

But, he is also unlike those lambs because, as John says today, he is “the lamb of God.”Jesus is the sacrifice that once and for all time brings us reconciliation with God.

The Victorious Lamb 

Finally, John must have also had a third image in mind.

The Book of Revelation pictures a victorious lamb. The author describes his vision of a lamb on a heavenly throne with people from all over the earth giving him honor.

So, John speaks of Jesus as “the Lamb of God …the one who ranks ahead of me because he is before me.” John’s idea is that Jesus ranks first, above him and above everyone else in the human family.

Jesus is the Lamb of God who rose from the dead. This is why he now receives honor and praise as the victorious lamb.   

The Lamb of God for Us

So, John the Baptist has these three images in mind about Jesus.

Before we receive communion here at Mass, we sing three times: “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” It is helpful to remember these three images as we sing these acclamations.

First, we remember the image of the one beloved lamb of the poor family. And we express our love for Jesus as the beloved Son and Lamb of God.

Here we can also recall that we ourselves are also beloved. Each of is is a beloved daughter or son of God.  

Then we remember the image of the sacrificial lamb of the Temple. Here in the sacrifice of the Mass we offer Jesus himself under the forms of bread and wine.

Here we can also recall that we are to be sacrificial. Our sacrifice is intentionally to give our daily lives to Christ by accepting him as our way. 

  

And finally, we remember the image of the victorious lamb in heaven. We do this when we say at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer: “Through him, with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, forever and ever.  Amen”

And as we do that, here we can also recall that we too have the promise and hope of heaven. That victory over death will also be ours through the victorious lamb.  

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A - January 12, 2020

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

 Cycle A

January 12, 2020         

Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 4:00pm 

Saint Matthew Parish, Baltimore 11:00am 

Adam and Eve 

One day a religion teacher asked her second graders to take their crayons and draw a picture of their favorite Old Testament story.

One little boy drew a picture of a man dressed up in a tuxedo, wearing a top hat, and driving an old car. In the back seat were two passengers, a man and a woman, both dressed in bathing suits.

The teacher said, “Brian, that’s a nice picture, but what story does it tell?” Little Brian was surprised at the question.

He responded, “Well, doesn’t it say in the Bible that God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden?” Little Brian’s picture, in a light-hearted way, helps to introduce what I want to talk about today.

As we celebrate Jesus’ baptism, I want to share some ideas about the meaning of our own baptism. 

Human Condition 

Little Brian was trying to depict what happened after Adam and Eve sinned.

As he said, God drove them out of the Garden of Eden. We call Adam and Eve’s sin Original Sin. 

In our Catholic teaching, we have also said that we all inherit Original Sin and that baptism cleanses us from this. Well, we have to understand this carefully.

We do not inherit Original Sin in the way that we inherit blond hair or blue eyes. Innocent little babies whom we bring here for baptism are not made sinful by something they didn’t do.

Instead of that, some of our theologians say that Original Sin is more like the human condition into which we are all born. The truth is that our world is imperfect and fractured and, in that way, sinful.

Just think about our unconscious, knee-jerk reaction when someone offends us. At least at first, we usually react by wanting to do something to get back at them.

That is a sign of the human condition, the imperfect, fractured, sinful world into which we all born. I find this to be a helpful way to think about Original Sin.

Spiritual Opportunity

That takes me to the question: what does baptism do about this?

I would say that baptism is the spiritual opportunity that responds to our human condition. It brings us into a relationship with God and ignites the life of God within us. 

Baptism starts a process of transformation that leads us to live out of the life of God. This gives us the opportunity to live in a new way.

Examples of This Opportunity

For example, we now have the opportunity to live with a clear vision about life.

We realize that all that is in some way comes from God – the One who transcends the heavens and the earth. And so, we now live with a desire to protect and enhance human life wherever it is found. 

We live with a respect for the earth and are clear that we have to use our resources thoughtfully. The opportunity to live in this way comes from our baptism in the name of the Father. 

We now also have the opportunity to live with a clear idea of who God is and who we are called to be like.

We have the Word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ. And so, through Jesus, we now see God as loving, forgiving, and universal in his plan of salvation.

Through Jesus, we see ourselves as called to become merciful, peacemaking, and faithful to commitments. The opportunity to live this way comes from our baptism in the name of the Son.

And we also have the opportunity to live with a clear sense of God’s presence. 

Jesus, who is Emmanuel – a name that means God-with-us – has promised to be with us always through the Spirit. And so, we can now live an inner, interior life, where we know for sure that God is present at our deepest core, our soul.

Even in our darkest moments and loneliest times, we are assured that God is with us. The opportunity to live this way comes from our baptism in the name of the Holy Spirit.

  

Conclusion

So, a human condition that is imperfect and sinful, and a great spiritual opportunity in the sacrament of Baptism – that’s what I am thinking about on this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. 

Feast of the Epiphany, Cycle A - January 5, 2020

Feast of the Epiphany

 Cycle A

January 5, 2020  

Saint Mary Parish, Pylesville 4:00pm and 9:30am 

The Magi’s Gifts 

So, these persons called magi come from some country east of Israel. They apparently are priests or recognized spiritual leaders in some other religion.

And they bring some interesting gifts to the newborn Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These gifts are symbolic: they say something 1) about Jesus and 2) about the magi.

First, gold says that Jesus has spiritual authority. It was seen as an appropriate gift for a king and so these magi are recognizing Jesus as in some way a king – the King of the Jews, but more than that, the king of everyone on this earth. 

This must be so because the magi themselves are not Jews. So, the gold symbolizes Jesus’ unique spiritual authority.

Then, the myrrh symbolizes Jesus’ humanity. This was a fragrant resin that came from a tree. 

It was used in making lotions or creams for the body and also in preparing the body of a deceased person for burial. So, myrrh symbolizes the humanity of Jesus. 

And then, the frankincense symbolizes that Jesus is also divine. This was a substance made from wood chips and fragrant oils. 

In Jesus’ day, it was used in the temple services and at times, we still use incense here at Mass to enhance our worship of God. Frankincense symbolizes that Jesus is divine, that in some amazing way he is God, here on earth, among us.

So, the gifts of the magi are symbolic because they say something about the newborn Jesus. But they also say something about the magi.

These are expensive and the best possible material gifts the magi could give to Christ. In that way, these three gifts symbolize their desire to give themselves, their life to God, to dedicate their life to God in some way.

Our Gifts

Now, these gifts of the magi recall for me our gifts here at Mass.

As we begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist, bread and wine are brought to the altar. Something like the gifts of the magi, these gifts are also symbolic: they say something 1) about Jesus and 2) about us. 

First, they symbolize Jesus’ sacrifice of himself on the cross. Jesus gave us these gifts at the Last Supper and told us to use them as a way to remember what he did for us.

In fact, these gifts of bread and wine are even more than symbolic of Jesus. They actually become the body and blood of Christ himself.

And then, these gifts also symbolize the gift of ourselves to God. They symbolize that we, much like the magi, choose to give God the very best that we have. 

You see, at this point in the Mass, we are to offer ourselves to God – how we live, how we relate to others, how we go about our jobs or our studies or our family responsibilities, our goals and our sufferings and on it goes.

This is the underlying meaning of the words that the priest speaks soon after the bread and wine are presented at the altar. The priest says: “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”

On one level, we are speaking of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. But on another level, the words of the priest are a reminder that each of us is to make a gift or offering or sacrifice of ourselves here. 

That’s why the priest says: “Pray, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable…” The bread and wine symbolize this giving of ourselves to God. 

  

Conclusion

So, today, on this feast of the Epiphany, we remember the gifts of the magi and what they say 1) about Jesus and 2) about the magi themselves. 

And we remember our gifts here at Mass and what they are to say 1) about Christ and 2) about us. Let’s keep all of this in mind especially today as the bread and wine are brought to the altar.