Baptism calls us to Righteousness

(A reflection originally written for my Church bulletin)

How would you feel if God said to you; “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased” or “This is my beloved daughter, with whom I am well pleased.” You may think that this is impossible for we are not the Son of God. No, we are not the Son of God but each of us have been given a wonderful gift through Jesus Christ.

Jesus establishes this gift with his baptism. Jesus states he must be baptized to “fulfill all righteousness,” which is Jesus’ desire to fulfill the earthly purpose his Father has given him. Our righteousness can only start with the washing away of original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve that we are all born with. Without this cleansing we are barred from all the other graces God wishes to give us.

Recall the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John “Unless one is born of water and Spirit, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God". Later Jesus further confirms the importance of baptism when He tells the Apostles; “Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The words of Jesus should be enough for us to realize the importance of baptism.  The Church recognizes this importance and teaches us that through baptism all our sins are forgiven; original and personal sins. The Catechism also tells us baptism is the gateway to the Spirit, the door to the other sacraments and is the foundation upon which the entire Christian life is built.

We become God’s adopted children through baptism. This is the gift Jesus has given us and by it we are brought into God’s family. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults states that Baptism incorporates us into Christ and forms us into God’s people. Hence we are called and indeed are the children of God.

Live your baptism to its fullest. We are the adopted sons and daughters of God. Make God well pleased.

Advent Reflection, Third Sunday, 2016

Today is Gaudete Sunday. We have passed the midpoint of Advent. The normal purple vestments of Advent are not worn. The vestments worn at the Mass today will be a rose color. This is a visual encouragement for us to continue our spiritual preparation for the coming birth of Jesus. This encouragement and joy is shown by the lighting of the pink candle on an Advent wreath and the Entrance Antiphon of today’s Mass.  The antiphon points us to the joy of the coming of our Lord when we sing “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed the Lord is near.”

Why do we rejoice? First, we rejoice because the Word became flesh. We see God in the baby Jesus. We take comfort in the fact that God has not abandoned us. We were created out of love and that love for us has lead to the birth of Christ. Jesus has come so we may know the Father through the Son and by this we may know the way for eternal salvation.

In every baby we see the possibility of great things that can be. We see a child growing and the richness that their life can have. We too are like babies in the eyes of God. We have such great possibilities but we are easily turned away from the richness God has prepared for us.  Jesus is our hope for salvation. He points us to the right path for salvation. We can read of Jesus as an adult.  He fulfilled all that our own human nature can be.  It is by his birth that our hope takes root.

So today we do rejoice! The Lord is near both in the celebration of his birth and through his salvation. His birth leads to his Passion and Death but we know it is not the end of the story. The story of Jesus continues with his Resurrection; our hope for a new life. Our story starts with our birth, continues through death and into what we hope is our eternal salvation, the salvation that Jesus won for us by his Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Today Collect (the opening prayer of the Mass) reminds us of this.  We celebrate the Lord's Nativity for we know of the joy of salvation that it offers.

O God, who see how your people
faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity,
enable us, we pray,
to attain the joys of so great a salvation
and to celebrate them always
with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.

Praying the Rosary

My Rugged Rosary

The rosary is a prayer that gives us the opportunity to reflect on Jesus and our own lives.  Last Friday I was reciting the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary when I came to the third Sorrowful Mystery; Crowning with the Thorns. I reflected on the Roman guard pushing that crown of thorns onto the head of Jesus and the pain it caused when suddenly I saw myself as the guard. I was the one pushing down the crown of thorns. It was a painful thought but I did not want to leave it as I knew it had meaning to me.  As I continued to pray the ten Hail Marys, I realized it was my sins that pushed down that crown of thorns.  These sins occur when I do not return the love God has shown to me.

I moved on to the next mystery; Carrying the Cross.  I continued to reflect on the pain caused by my sins but now I also thought of Jesus voluntarily taking up the cross.  I thought of the cross Jesus carried.  I began to see the cross not being made of wood but being made out of the sins of the world.

Finally I came to the last sorrowful mystery; The Crucifixion.  In my reflecting on the crucifixion, I saw Jesus the loving Son, sacrificing his life for my sins.  I realized it was my sins that made necessary the crucifixion.

The praying of the rosary opened up my eyes to a new way to look at the death of Jesus on the cross.  My sins do cause pain.  God knows my sins even if I do not recognize them.  My sins make the thorns cut deeper into Jesus.  My sins make the cross a little heavier.  My sins make the death of Jesus a little more painful.  I realized my sins have to do this!

The sacrifice of Jesus is for all mankind and for all of time. The pain of his sacrifice must include the sins that I commit today.  Understanding the sacrifice of Jesus in this way opened up a deep sense of love in me.  I felt God's love for me through the sacrifice his Son made for all.  The sins of mankind; past, present and future have been forgiven by this one sacrifice.

Can I come close to imagining a love this strong?  God allowed his Son to endure the suffering and pain caused by my sins of today so I could be forgiven by a sacrifice of love made two thousand years ago.

Witness to the Risen Lord (Homily Excerpts-3rd Sunday Easter Season)

Most of you know I retired a little over one year ago from the Caddo Parish Clerk's Office.  For the first year or two as a deputy clerk, I would go to court.  I heard both domestic and civil cases.  I do not remember most of the cases I heard but one thing that will always stand out will be the witnesses.  I recall one case that dealt with a car wreck.  The case went to trial by judge to determine fault.  The witnesses were sequestered, which means they were not allowed to hear any testimony nor were they allowed to talk to the other witnesses.  When called to testify,  a deputy sheriff would bring that witness into the courtroom to give their testimony.

What made this case so interesting was not the trial but the witnesses.  They each saw different things.  Do not miss understand.  They all saw the wreck.  They were all witnesses to the wreck.  They also saw with their heart though.  One witness saw a mother worried about her child in the back seat.  Another witness saw the driver looking at the damage to the vehicles while another witness noticed how the people gathered around the wreck.  The final witness mentioned how some people offered to help.  The one fact not disputed was that the wreck happened.  Each witness saw the wreck and testified to it but they also mentioned what was important in their hearts and thus what they thought would be important to us.

Today’s Gospel reading is similar to the experience of those witnesses of the wreck.  First recall last Sunday’s Gospel from the Gospel of John.  The Apostles have locked themselves, out of fear, in the upper room.  Jesus appears to the Apostles and shows them the nail mark on his hands and feet.  He greets them with “Peace be with you” and he disciples rejoiced.

Today, in the Gospel of Luck, we hear of the same event but from another point of view, through the eyes of a different witness.  The Apostles have locked themselves in the upper room.  Two disciples in the room are telling of their encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus.  Jesus appears and greats them with “Peace be with you.”  In today’s Gospel Jesus not only shows the disciples his hands and feet but tells the disciples that “Ghost do not have flesh and bones.”  Jesus then asks for something to eat.  It is implied that if Jesus were a ghost he would have no need to eat.

Holy Week Celebrations (Bulletin Column 20150329

Today is the beginning of Holy Week. It commemorates Christ Passion starting with his messianic entrance into Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday we read the people crying out as Jesus enters the city, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” We move forward quickly to the Liturgy of the Word where we enter into the passion of our Lord. We will hear of the torture, pain and death Jesus endures for our salvation. The Gospel reading should remind us that we do not want to become part of the crowd screaming “Crucify him.”

The evening Mass on Holy Thursday will mark the beginning of the Paschal Triduum. On Holy Thursday the Mass readings take us away from the passion of Christ to the calmer time of Jesus celebrating the Passover meal with his Apostles. We recall what the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church has called the source and summit of Christian life. Jesus, in anticipation of his sacrifice on the cross, institutes the Holy Eucharist. He tells us the bread has become his body and that the cup holds the blood of the new covenant. Jesus has already told us that we must partake of his Body and Blood if we are to remain in him and him in us. He now commands us to “Do this in remembrance of me.”

We also hear of Jesus stooping down to wash the feet of each Apostle. He tells them “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another‘s feet.” Jesus is reminding his followers that a master always puts his servants first. We too must take on the role of servant to those who God loves the most; the poor and downtrodden.

On Good Friday the Church takes us again to the Passion of Christ, but now it will have a new meaning. We see it through the eyes of having experienced the Last Supper on Holy Thursday. Good Friday also gives us the opportunity to venerate the cross. In the cross we will see the sacrifice of Jesus that reconciles us to God. We see how the Master has become the suffering servant. We will see Jesus as both the Priest and the sacrifice as he offers himself for our salvation.

The Triduum ends with the greatest celebration in the Church’s liturgical year, the Easter Vigil. On this day we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and the completion of God’s plan of salvation. We will hold candles to experience in both a physical and spiritual way the burning away of the darkness of sin as we hear the chant “The light of Christ.” The elect in RCIA will share in the beauty of our faith as they join the Catholic Church and receive the Sacraments of Initiation. We will receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in thanksgiving that comes from the knowledge and understanding of the sacrifice that is the passion of Christ.

This is just a short overview of some of the celebrations that take place during Holy Week. We have not even the mentioned the Chrism Mass where the sacred oils are blessed and the Priest express their unity with our Bishop. Holy Week can be a powerful liturgical and spiritual event in our life. In this one holy week we experience the culmination of the earthly ministry of Jesus. Please plan to attend the Holy Week celebrations at the Cathedral. May this week give you many blessings and deepen your love of Jesus Christ our Savior.

Making our Marriages Strong (Homily Excerpts-5th Sunday Ordinary Time)

A few years back someone asked me about the success of my marriage.

• My first thought was that the word success was a good word to us. 
• A successful marriage takes works.
• Each Man and woman in a marriage are different.
• They bring different personalities and traits to a marriage.
• Marriage must be nurtured and cultivated to grow.
• Marriage is not a stagnant relationship.
• It is alive thus a marriage must grow as we grow in wisdom and maturity.

Married love is based on giving.

• Jesus gave of himself totally by his Passion.
• In marriage the gift to give then is the gift of one’s total self. 
• The gift of oneself is given without resentment, 
• It is to put the needs of someone else before your own.

When we discover what love truly is we become closer to Christ.

• Through our marriage we show the love of Christ for others.
• Married life witnesses the total love of God.
• The goal of marriage is eternal salvation for our spouse.

We do not live perfect lives or in a perfect world

•  Our marriage will not always be perfect.
• The Book of Job provides a sobering reminder .
• We cannot escape the sorrows and tribulations of this life.