Introductions, please

     I believe that it is John the Evangelist in his gospel that introduces us to Andrew, the brother of Simon (Peter).  Andrew was a disciple and follower of John the Baptizer, as well as a fellow fisherman with his brother, Simon.  In his attraction to the message of John, he saw Jesus and knew in his heart that this was the one.  Excited, he returned to his brother and told him to come and meet the master, to seek him out and to come to belief.  He wanted to introduce his brother to the Lord.

     In Matthew today we hear of Jesus introducing himself to Andrew and Simon, who were casting their nets into the sea, and inviting them to "Come after me ...".

     Introductions are important.  In fact, it was the Baptizer John who announced to all of those who were with him the day that Jesus came to the waters of the Jordan that "This is the Lamb of God".  That introduction opened the way for them to hear and embrace the Living Word of God and begin to focus on the One who is greater than John.

     In his letter to the Romans this morning, Paul says that if we confess with our lips and believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord, we will be saved and justified.  He says "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  But then he adds, how can they call on one in whom they have not believed?  And how can they believe if they have not heard?  How can they hear if no one preaches?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?

     Like Andrew who hungered and searched for an answer to life and was introduced to John, then through John to Jesus, and who shared that introductory task with his brother, and countless others, we are also invited to introduce to him all whom we love - all whom we know - all whom we meet.  It is the introduction of a lifetime.  We have been blessed, so share the blessing.

     Introductions, please ...

A worldwide Kingdom

     This past Sunday the Church celebrated the Feast of Jesus Christ Our Lord, King of the Universe.  I shared on Saturday a reflection on the feast.  But on Sunday I had the experience of sharing our 11:00 am liturgy with three brothers who have come to our diocese to bring the Word of God and to minister to God's People in this part of the world.  These three - Fathers  Ronald Maquinana, Gerry Juarez and Jose Pimentel - who have recently arrived from the Philippines to serve as priests in this missionary diocese, are wonderful priests who have accepted a great sacrifice in leaving family and diocese to come to the U.S.  They join two others who have been with us for over two years now, and who have endeared themselves to us, Fathers Joseph and Jimmie.

     Their visit to our parish was a part of their introduction to the diocese and their period of adjustment to this local Church.  Each had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the people of SEAS (Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton) and to receive our wholehearted welcome.  After Mass I invited them to dinner, and found out a little more of their lives and experiences of priesthood.  They are delightful, and I am sure a welcome addition to our priestly service.  They are awaiting their assignments, so keep them in your prayers ... and if you are local, express your welcome to them if and when you meet them.

     So, on the feast of the King of the Universe, it was a universal as well as local celebration of Catholic Faith.

Long Live Christ the King!

     Last year on this Sunday we celebrated the "Feast of Christ the King".  This year, after a year with the Roman Missal, 3rd Edition, we celebrate the "Feast of Jesus Christ our Lord, King of the Universe".  Under either title, we acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives at the close of the liturgical year and also at a time in history when that acknowledgment is ignored and ridiculed by so many.

     This feast is rich in historical background, yet relatively new to the Church's celebration.  Even though only established universally by Pope Pius XI in 1925, the roots of the celebration, as found in Scripture, go back to the beginning.  In the story of creation, Adam and Eve did not speak of God as a king, but they knew who was "boss", and that their friendship and relationship with him meant everything to them.  He was their all.  When the People of God wanted an earthy king, like their neighbors, God gave them a man after his own heart, David.  Sinner though he was, David knew God as his Lord and King, and reflected that in his governance.  Daniel in the first reading today speaks of the Kingdom of God, an eternal kingdom that will never end.  When God sent his own Son to us, and that Son was brought before Pilate, Pilate asked whether he was a king.  Jesus said: "It is you who say that I am" and acknowledges that his kingdom does not belong to this earth - but that he is King and Lord.  Paul in Romans asks who do we live for - do we live our lives for ourselves or do we live our life for Christ?  A great question.

     Why a feast of Kingship and Lordship in 1925?  Why then, for what purpose?  The reason is that history was at a particularly critical juncture.  Church and State were often seen as one, and when the State bore the weight of poor leadership, when revolution was necessary, often the Church suffered as well.  But even worse, in the Russian Revolution of 1917, not only the Church and State, but religion and faith itself was relegated to the opium of the people, the superstition that kept people back, the blindness that would stifle growth and prosperity, knowledge and wisdom.  There was no god but the state, no lord or master other than yourself (or the state), no religion worth following except for the man made ideologies of the secular mind.  The same held true in the Revolution in Mexico in the mid twenties.  Priests and bishops and thousands upon thousands of everyday Catholics were imprisoned and put to death, by firing squad and hangings, in those years.  Those who resisted, known as the Christeros, had a rallying cry that was on the lips of Blessed Father Miguel Pro (whose feast was yesterday) as he was being shot "Viva Christo Rey!" - "Long Live Christ the King!"  (I have mentioned previously the excellent movie entitled "For Greater Glory" which tells the story of those days ... it spent no time in the theaters but is available on DVD).

     Those days were at the beginning of a century that saw unbelievable suffering and death, inhumanity to man and negation of God, horrors beyond imagining.  Was it wise, with all of that happening, to draw our attention to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?  Is it important even now with governments, good and bad, who are struggling with their inadequacies to acknowledge the Kingship of Christ?  Now more than ever.

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     On a lighter note, do you realize that one month from tonight we will be celebrating the birthday of that Prince of Peace who is our Lord of Life?  We are one month away from Christmas Eve.

Black Friday

     Here we are in the middle of "Black Friday", a day dedicated to the unbridled expression of our consumeristic society.  This is the day of super sales, of packed stores and near riots in those stores when "the doors open", of the official beginning of the holiday season, of our going mad.  The retail store that my sister works in was well on their way to reaching their goal for the day, a fact that she reported to me as she got home from a thirteen hour shift  late this morning.  Hopefully she is sleeping soundly at home.  My understanding is that this is called "Black Friday" because it is the hoped for moving of the bottom line of commercialism into the black, into the good of profit.  I call it "Black Friday" for other reasons - it brings out that which is less appealing in our human nature.

     Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, is now being referred to as "Grey Thursday", mainly because many of those same stores are opening earlier, even into Thanksgiving Day - to appease eager shoppers and to get a jump on things.  A day held sacred for lots of years even in our secular society has begun to be undermined. 

     Thanksgiving was a day of rest, a day with family and friends, a day of good food, fellowship, prayer and gratitude.  Even for those not wise enough to recognize a greater power that is the source of our blessings, it was nonetheless a day of being grateful for what we have.  It was a special day set aside for something greater than the ordinary and the usual.  With parades and football and hopefully Mass or a time of prayerful gratitude, it stood out and helped us regain our priorities and reset our goals.  The infringement on that day is to be lamented.  The "greying" of Thanksgiving is to be counted a loss.

     But my lamenting goes well beyond Thanksgiving Day, for the way we describe thanksgiving is the way we used to and should continue to describe our "day of thanksgiving" which began and should begin our every week - the Lord's Day.  What we are losing in the national holiday has already been lost in our busy and self consumed society.  When we lost that day, that moment for family and friends, that gathering around the Table of the Lord and our family table, that day of rest and refreshment, we began to lose our souls.  We accept it under the guise of the inevitable or the common good, but we are less for it.  The brightness of that first day of the week, "SUN"day, our recharging moment of grace, has been clouded over in the darkness of self.  If we have accepted the greyness that afflicts Sundays then how can we be surprised that even Thanksgiving is being lost.

A day remembered

     Well, the day is almost over and thanks has been given, in worship this morning, at the beginning of a good meal, expressed to my sister, Janie, and together with her for mom and dad, and quietly in my heart for all of those who are a part of my life and ministry.  This Thanksgiving Day was a day of thanksgiving.

     Last year on this date, November 22nd, my post was entitled "What were you doing?"  I reflected upon the tragic events of November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas.  For those of us of that generation, this day will always have meaning and the events of that day will always resonate in our lives.  Naturally we are not what we were then, things change.  But I truly believe that we have lost so much over the years, losses that are increasing in speedy ways as time goes on.  The President's death did not bring this change about, but it serves as a recognizable starting moment in history.   We will survive, as history has shown.  President Kennedy's assassination took place 98 years following another presidential assassination on Good Friday, April 15th in 1865.  And the nation survived that terrible event.  But it behooves us to always "remember".

The Table of Plenty

     HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

     Today in this great nation we pause "to give thanks" for the blessings that we have received.  The stories of the early days of our presence in this land tell of such days - with the pilgrims of New England, the Jamestown Colony of Virginia, and I recently read of such a gathering in what is now Florida by the Spanish settlers in Saint Augustine.  Those gatherings often included those who were not a part of "the" family, but who lived here already, and in many cases provided insight on survival in a new land.  These gatherings usually took place at harvest time and celebrated the completion of the preparations to survive for a while longer.  These gatherings were rarely a celebration of untold abundance, but usually followed a devastating and harsh year or two of not having enough, of barely surviving.  These gatherings always took place around a table and the gathering of the family with friends, old and new.  These gatherings always paused to give thanks ... to the Almighty Lord, to God.  Even those that were not religious knew the value of acknowledging that higher power.

     For those of us who are people of Faith, giving thanks must be second nature.  Realizing how we are gifted and blessed is paramount to understanding who we are and who God is.  Our gathering around a table as family to give thanks is something that we do often, at least weekly at the Sunday Eucharist (a word that means "to give thanks"), and not only on this Thursday in November.

     There is a hymn that we sing entitled "Come to the Feast" which goes something like this ...

Come to the feast of heaven and earth,

come to the table of plenty;

God will provide for all that we need,

here at the table of plenty.

     As you gather around your table to share the plenty that we have been blessed with, remember the other feast at the other table that we gather around on the Lord's Day, and pledge to be faithful to giving thanks ... not only on this Thanksgiving Day but on every day of our lives, and not only at this table, but at the Lord's Table where God provides all that we need.



      Our Table of Plenty and Table of Life at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

     My sister Janie and I will be dining out and sharing a Thanksgiving buffet at Carson's Premiere Catering in Scottdale which is operated by Tim Carson, a friend.  Janie works in retail, and as everyone who does knows, "these are the times that try men's souls".  She worked late yesterday and goes in tonight at around ten, thus not having time to cook (or rest).  The only problem in eating out is that there are no leftovers to nibble on.  Disappointing, but good for the wasteline.

 

     Another Thanksgiving memory that I have and want to share is that while on Sabbatical in the Fall of 1996 in Berkeley, some in our program were from Canada.  We got to celebrate both the Canadian and the United States Thanksgiving Days, which we did with gusto.  Good memories.

Worthy are You ...

     In the midst of a remarkable vision, having received an invitation to "Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards", standing before the throne, surrounded by the twenty-four elders, the hosts of heaven and the four living creatures, John, as recounted in the Book of Revelation, heard this exclaimed:

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,

who was, and who is, and who is to come."

 

    The hosts of heaven fell on their faces in worship.  The elders who were crowned with glory and sat upon the thrones of leadership, threw their crowns and themselves down in humble adoration and worshiped the One who sat upon that throne.  They exclaimed:

 

"Worthy are you, Lord our God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things;

because of your will they came to be and were created."

 



    The vision, couched in terms that are foreign and fanciful to the sophisticated hearer, is a bold image of what happened in time, of what is to take place now, and of what is meant to be in the days ahead.  We stand before the throne of the life-giving God, the One who has set all things in motion and given us life, the One who has freed us from sin and death by the death of his Son on that Cross, and the One who must be the Lord of our lives.  Fanciful?  Or the unbelievably necessary reality for us?  Make believe or reality?  An option if and when needed or essential for life?  I know the answer, as I hope you do as well.  However, for the masses who do not see clearly the urgent message or are too weak to respond in Faith or just too blind, we need to pray, fast, witness and intercede in their behalf.  The reason is simple - HE - whom we love and adore and who we introduce them to, is worthy to receive their glory and honor and praise as well as ours.