God's free Gift of Love

I will never forget the first time my wife told me she loved me. We had been dating each other exclusively for a year when she told me to sit down; she had something to tell me. Not the most encouraging way to start a conversation so I was not prepared to hear “I love you”. I was not expecting it for she had always hesitated to say these words. They meant too much for her to just casually say. For my wife, to tell someone you loved them was an ultimate declaration not lightly said and not to be taken back once said.

Her love gave my feelings value. It was a wonderful feeling but with love comes a great responsibility. My next thought was one of apprehension. I had to be worthy of that love. I had to respond in such a way that conveyed my feelings for her and to the love she has for me.

I cannot make my wife love me nor can my wife make me love her. These are choices we both freely make. God’s love is given to us freely. St. Paul tells us God’s love is a gift. It is not something we can earn. God’s love for us is so great that he gave his only Son for our salvation. Through the Son’s death and resurrection, God has made a place for us in heaven. Accepting God’s love is our choice but it can be hard for some. We may spend too much time thinking of our flaws and imperfections. We may not feel worthy of God’s love. We have to remember that Jesus tells us he did not come into the world to condemn. He came into the world to save us. Jesus knows our flaws, he know our imperfections and still he came; freely.

God’s gift of love can be accepted or rejected. God does not make or demand we love him. We are not forced into a decision to love God. God has given us the freedom to respond to his love. Has God's free gift of love been accepted? How are we responding to the acceptance of God's love? Is it heard in our words? It is shown in our deeds? It is the mercy we show to others? Are we feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty and sheltering the homeless? Are we keeping the commandments?

Let this be your prayer today; that your words and deeds be always a reflection of your acceptance of God’s love for you. (Modified version of Bulletin Column dated March 11, 2018)

Advent Reflection, Fourth Sunday, 2016

Bishop Robert Barron recently wrote that if we take an honest look at the Biblical texts dealing with Christmas, we will find that they have precious little to do with sentimentality. Bishop Barron writes of the visiting Magi from the East looking for the newborn king. Their search was not met with excitement or enthusiasm. Matthew tells us: “When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”  King Herod saw this newborn baby as a threat to his position.  Herod asked the Magi to return to him with news of this newborn king, When the Magi returned home by a different route King Herod became furious. To protect his kingship, Herod ordered that every boy in Bethlehem the age of two and under be killed. Herod does not sound like someone excited about the Christmas season.

Why would a newborn be such a threat to King Herod?  The Gospel reading for this Fourth Sunday reminds us of the mission Jesus is given. The Angel of the Lord tells Joseph during a dream about the child Mary is carrying; "She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” This newborn king could be the messiah who liberates the Israelites from the Romans and thus from King Herod's rule.

We have to remember that the Incarnation was just the first part of God’s plan.  The Advent season allows us the time to look beyond the birth of Jesus and make the connection to his death and resurrection. It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we are redeemed.

The Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent helps us do this.  In the Collect we pray that God’s grace be put in our heart so that through his Passion (the suffering of Jesus Christ up to his death) we will move to the glory of his resurrection. The Collect reminds us the Incarnation is just the beginning of God’s plan for our redemption.

The birth of Jesus is a challenge to each of us. It is a call to conversion and a call for self examination.  Just as Herod did, some of us may not want to let go of those things that distance us from God. That distance can keep us from the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Use these final days of Advent as a time for reflecting on the life of Jesus.  Have we let go of everything that is keeping us from the saving power of his resurrection?

This Christmas celebrate the infant Jesus in the manger. Join the angels in giving glory to God. Give glory to his birth and give glory to his resurrection.

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord,
your grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may by his Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.

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.

Octave of Easter (Originally Posted on my Facebook page)

The celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord last eight days in the Catholic Church and is called the Octave of Easter.  Each day of the Octave is ranked as a Solemnity in the liturgical calendar of the Church and is of the highest ranking of the feasts days.  The idea of an Octave has its roots in the Old Testament. There are many Jewish feasts that lasted for eight days with the feast of the Passover being one example.  The Octave of Easter will end on the Second Sunday of Easter which is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.  Each day during the Octave, we proclaim in the Gospel Acclamation:

This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. 

Allow these eight days to be an opportunity to reflect on the salvation God is offering us.  Let the death and resurrection Jesus be our example of the unfailing love God has for us. May we show our gladness by our actions and prayers. Happy Easter.

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.