Practice, Practice, Practice

Every good student, every good athlete, every good actor prepares diligently for their upcoming test, game or performance.  Even the highly gifted prepare well in order to polish up their skills.  Every single one of us does the best we can in order to excel in the thing we love.

Granted not all of us loved school, or sports, or even acting, I simply mention these as examples.  No matter what it is that we love we are usually extremely dedicated to it in order to become the best at it.  This doesn’t mean we don’t have our lazy moments, all of us need a “timeout” every so often, but nevertheless we usually plug away hard at what we love.

There are many important things that we hold dear in life, our family, our friends, charitable causes, hobbies, political interests, sports, leisure, etc.  We work so hard at these to achieve perfection.

A young couple will do so much to prepare for a perfect wedding day, parents will do everything they can to see that their children are well educated and brought up right, people will work through and through for that perfect dream house, the perfect vacation, and again the athlete trains day and night to become the best, as well as the actor, and the student.  Basically we give it our all.

It is this time of the Church year that she reminds us to prepare well, not just for a game, a test, or a production, but to prepare well for Christ Himself.

Think of how crazy we go preparing the house when visitors are coming for dinner.  The floors are swept, the windows dusted and cleaned, the best foods prepared, and our best selves are presented, and rightly so, but imagine now that Jesus was coming for dinner?  Think of how much more we would clean the house, serve our best food, wear our best clothes, and absolutely present our best selves.

We usually don’t think this way because Jesus doesn’t literally call or ring the door bell, but He truly does come to us.  And how would we prepare both our houses and ourselves if Jesus was literally coming to dinner?  Would we prepare more so than we do for a game, a show, a test, or if friends were coming for dinner?  All of us would say “yes.” 

Today is the 1^st Sunday of Advent, it is a season in the Church which is used for preparing ourselves for the literal and figurative coming of Christ – we remember when he was born literally in Bethlehem, but we also prepare a place in our hearts for him to be born on the 25^th of December.  So, the Lord has knocked on our door, he is asking to be let in, are our homes swept clean, are we wearing our finest clothes, have we prepared the best food, and have we been diligent in our Christian lives?  This is the time to do so if we have been a little negligent.

Often times people will ask, “how do I remain a good Christian, how do I prepare myself for the Lord?”  The student, the athlete, the actor all know what they must do, be it a method of study, rehearsing lines, or practice drills, the Christian also must follow some formula or method.

The fathers of the Church had a three pronged approach to the penitential season; they often spoke about prayer, fasting and alms-giving.

As Christians we need to pray and our prayer can take many forms, there is meditative prayer, which can be a meditation on a Scripture verse or an entire chapter, one can meditate on some aspect of the faith, on God, it can be many different things.  There is also petitionary prayer, making our requests to God.  There are also set prayers, e.g. Our Father, Hail Mary, the rosary, etc.  St. Paul challenges us to pray always.  He did not mean “to say Our Fathers” all day long that would be impossible, rather we should have a disposition towards prayer all the time, thinking of the Lord and feeling His presence, to say little locutions (e.g. Jesus I love You) throughout the day, etc.

Believe it or not the season of Advent is a season of penitence.  We should be offering spiritual sacrifices to the Lord.  We usually do not associate Advent with Lent, but it is the same type of season we are preparing ourselves for the Lord, in one case preparing for the Triduum, in this case for the birth of the Lord.  What kind of spiritual sacrifices can we make?  There are all kinds; they range from giving things up to taking up new things.  For instance if I love sweets, I would try to give them up.  If I talk too much, to quiet myself and listen or if I lack a virtue such as patience to take up the challenge of being more patient.

Alms-giving, this takes away sin as Scripture often reminds us.  Not simply giving from my abundance but to give from my first fruits – from my very means, hard to do indeed.  It is not just about giving money, but time as well.  There are so many good folks who need help, be those who come to soup kitchens, shelters, people still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy, and the Church itself, meaning your local parish.

Jesus calls us to take seriously His breaking into the world, because it was not simply a onetime event, Jesus continues to break into our hearts all the time looking for a home and place to rest.  Have I prepared that place for Him deep within me?  If God is the most important thing in my life then I will make the most time for Him, more so than the dedicated athlete, actor and student.  They get ready for shows, tests, and games.  My friends we are getting ready for the birth of Christ, Our Lord and God!

King of kings and Lord of lords

Today we celebrate The Solemnity of Christ the King, a feast in the Church that affirms that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16).  We will also begin the season of Advent next week which will then lead us into Christmas, when Christ our Lord was born.  Today’s feast is much different than Jesus’ first coming into this world.   When Jesus (the eternal Word) was born it was in Bethlehem in a manger it was by simple and humble means, not many people around except for a few shepherds and farm hands, along with some animals, it was humble indeed.  However, as the today’s reading points out the next time Jesus returns it will be magnificent, powerful, and awesome, a King on His coronation day. 

I want to look at two things, one) that Jesus is truly a King, but secondly that we too are royalty – we share in His Kingship.

During Jesus’ public ministry He was careful not so much to proclaim that He was King and this I think He did this for two reasons. One) The Jewish people were oppressed by the Romans, they were seeking a new King, someone like David and Solomon of old who would rise up, defeat the Romans, and return Israel to its former glory and freedom.  Two) the point of Jesus’ ministry was salvation, a repentance of sins.  I am sure Jesus could have freed Israel from under Roman oppression quite easily if He wanted to, but it wasn’t the time for it, as the message of “Repent and believe in the Good News for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk 1:15) was much more pressing for “We were all dead in our sins” (Rom 5:8, Eph 2:1).

The other thing about Jesus as King is that it reminds us that Jesus will not come humbly the next time, but to judge the nations. (C.f. Mt. 25)  This type of Jesus is a little tougher to accept, we like the nice Jesus, the one who tells us, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28, NIV).  All of us like the nice – cute little baby Jesus, who is tender, meek, and mild.  And it is true, Jesus is all of those things, for there is no one who has more compassion than Christ Himself, but Jesus is also the King of kings, and as a King He must rule and render judgment, He must be both just and administer judgment otherwise He would be no King at all.

We, are however, not to fear this Jesus as in fear meaning scared out of our wits, but rather to fear him meaning respect, wonder, and awe.  We must also invite the King of kings to look into our hearts and convict us if we have sinned in order to repent as Jesus reminds us to do so often through the Gospels.  It is the repentant heart that receives the Good News and not only receives it but it becomes engrained in us so deeply that we too share in the royalty of Christ. 

Jesus’ promises are true and we partake in them.  All who are baptized, by sharing in Jesus’ death and resurrection are made priests, prophets, and kings.  When St. Paul says we share in Christ’s death and resurrection he was not talking symbolically or using pious platitudes, he was being literal, everything that is Jesus’ is ours and we are so intimately united that we were on the cross with Him when He was crucified, we were also buried with Him in the tomb, but we also resurrected with Him on the third day, resurrected to new life. 

In that new life we share in Jesus’ ministry and role as priest, prophet, and king.  There is not enough time to discuss each of these, but since we are celebrating Jesus as King of kings I want to say this, “you and I are royalty!”  We don’t belong to just a group, a committee, or fellowship gathering; we belong to the Kingdom of God, royal, majestic, and eternal.

Isn’t it amazing that this God who is so different than us, so much more powerful than us, would give us everything?  It is hard to imagine, but it is answered by one word, “Love!”  We are loved beyond logic, beyond explanation, beyond what we could ever imagine.  Even with all of our flaws and sins, God breaks through our darkness, our sadness, and even our despair sometimes, and places a crown on our heads, reminding us, you are not only my friends, but I give you my kingdom, our Kingdom.

This is why we should not fear the end of the world as they say, but rather we should long for it, because it won’t be revealed to only a few in a manger in Bethlehem, no indeed, it will be revealed to everyone, and the glory of God will shine as we see our King coming to us, making all things new and giving us our final reward, life forever with our family – with our friends, and most of all with our God and Savior, Jesus Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Amen. FJ

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I am Thankful for:

            For being fearfully and wonderfully made. (Ps 139:14)

   For being known since before I was fashioned in my mother’s womb. (Jer 1:5)

            For every good gift the Father of Lights has given me. (Jam 1:17)

            For the peace in my heart. (Col 3:15)

            For being fully alive shinning the glory of God. (St. Irenaeus)

            For my family and remembering my dad. (Fr. John J)

            For all my parishioners, former students, and brother priests.

            For all my friends, especially my North Jersey Boys!

            For all the good food and desserts, we get a pass on Thanksgiving!

            For being called to the Priesthood, awesome – great joy – and tremendous responsibility.

            For being a Notre Dame FAN!

And most of all for all of those who founded this great nation, who came here on a wild hope and prayer, for making this nation free – built not just on bricks and mortar, but on their very blood, thank you and may you forever rest in peace for your sacrifices and labors, God speed.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! FJ

On Both Sides of the Blackboard

When I used to teach, no matter what class it was I would always incorporate a lesson I called, “What Makes You Happy?”  It was a neat little lesson and it wasn’t only for the students, in some ways it was directed back towards me and I imagine also towards all of you.  I want to give this lesson to you, but I promise I won’t put you on the spot like I did my students.

The class would begin by me asking, “Who or what is omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, prefect in every respect, etc. etc.?  All their hands would shoot up, since the answer was easy.  One wise guy, answered, “Me.”  All kidding aside, the answer is obviously, “God.”  I would then write God in small letters on the left side of the board and then put a line down the middle of the board leaving God all by Himself on the left side of it.  Here is where I tricked the kids, I would apologize to them and tell them I forgot roll call and would then take attendance.  Once done with that I would continue the lesson.

I then asked, “I want to know what makes you happy?  It can be anything, people, places, things, anything.”  The hands would begin to go up.  Some answers were obvious, some were interesting, and I’ll give you a sample.

1)    Vacation – Don’t we all love that

2)    Girl friend, boy friend

3)    Parents

4)    Siblings

5)    School – would get some chuckles here

6)    Chess

7)    My I pad

8)    My phone

9)    My car – or more accurately put – their parent’s car

10  My friends

11  Sleeping

12  Money – again mostly from their parents, a handful worked

13  Reading

14  Swimming

15  Sports

16  TV

And the list as you can imagine went on and on.  You may be asking, “What was the point of the lesson?”  I would then ask the students take a good close look at that blackboard, I mean really take a good look at it and then tell me what you see.  No hands would go up for a while until some brave soul would say, “Father John, God is small and all by Himself on the left side of the board.”  EXCELLENT observation.

God was small compared to things that made us happy.  No one would ever include God on the right side of the board, the lesson was full proof as they say and you may be thinking, well they were just teenagers, us adults would not answer that way.  Well, I did not do the lesson on you to avoid adult embarrassment.  We too would have left God on the left side of the board.  And thank the Good Lord that He is patient and understanding.  He knows our attachment to things and He sends us reminders, sometimes gentle, other times profoundly, “I am the Lord Your God!”

In today’s Gospel from Mark Jesus reminds us, “The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12)

Everything is about happiness, all of us want it, we seek it, and we crave it.  We go to look for it in people, places, and things when Jesus gives us the answer.  If God is perfect, eternal, all knowing, ever present, then isn’t logical if I want to be happy He would be the first person on my list, since everything on the right side is not perfect.  My friends it is the simple order of importance, God first, everything else second.

Where are you in your life?  Is God small and on the left side of the board or is He big and on both sides of the board?  Happiness in things is fleeting, iphones go bad, vacations end, you can’t sleep forever, and we can’t play sports forever either, but God does not rust, nor end, nor remain asleep, no, God is always there and He wants to be on both sides of the board of our hearts.  Will we make it so?