Keep Watch Good Soldier

In all branches of our armed forces two very important rules apply to a soldier on watch,) one a soldier is not to leave his post until properly relieved, and two) he is to be diligent and observant as he is on watch.  There is one very important reason for this, i.e. safety.  The one on watch is responsible not just for himself but his entire platoon or regiment and in some ways the entire division and the entire army itself.

            

That may sound strange, but so too are we, “standing on watch”, if you will.  As Christians we stand on watch for ourselves, but we also stand watch for one another.   What are we to do as we stand on watch?  The prophet Isaiah tells us from today’s first reading “Would that you might meet us doing right, that we were mindful of you in our ways!”  As we prepare for Christmas, and I have said it before, it’s not just about the infant child being born in a manger, but being ready to receive so that He may be born in our hearts.

Advent season is a penitential season, one in which we fast, pray, and offer sacrifice so that we can make ourselves ready for the Lord’s coming.  Isaiah speaks about doing right and being mindful of God in our ways.  I offer you some practical steps in this regard.

            

Doing right is not always the easiest thing to do.  Sometimes we do wrong thinking we are doing right.  Doing right means being honest, forthright, trustworthy, fair and good.  One such example of doing right is to be fair and not to judge according to appearance or bias.  Do we respect all human persons?  Do we truly love our neighbor?  Today there is such great vitriol between people when it comes to discussing immigration, for instance, who can stay in America, who may not, who do we keep out, who do we let in, do we build walls like they did in the ancient days, etc. etc.  What instruction did God give to His people Israel?  “You shall not oppress a resident alien; you well know how it feels to be an alien, since you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.” (Ex. 23:9)  The odd thing is that all Americans are immigrants or descendents of immigrants, the only true Americans are American Indians whom by the way we did not treat so well.

Another example of doing right is that we live out the great commission of Jesus, by doing onto others as we would do onto Jesus Himself.  “Did you visit me when I was in prison, did you clothe me when I was naked, and did you give me food when I was hungry, take care of me when I was sick, and bandage me when I was injured?” Praying for others is good, leaving money in the poor box is good, but it is not enough, not nearly enough.  Am I comfortable in my home and has my home become a bubble that shuts out the rest of the world?  For instance, the poor, the homeless, the down trodden, the prisoner, all of them are out there somewhere far away, which has nothing to do with me, they created their own condition and circumstances in life.  Will you be able to say that to Jesus’ face when you meet Him?  Basically, those folks are not my problem!  Maybe we are the problem for not doing right!

Christmas is about holly, cheer, lights, trees, wrapped presents, good Old Saint Nick with his reindeer, and trust me I love all of that stuff, I still have a Santa I put on my desk every year during Advent.  But that only scratches the surface; true Christmas is about preparing oneself in doing right and being mindful of the ways of God.  God Himself was born in a manger and a stable out in the middle of nowhere.  Would you have gone out to see Him, or would the infant have been one of those poor people we keep outside of our bubble?  Would you have let Mary and Joseph into your home so that the baby Jesus could be born in your house if you had no idea who they were?  Would I have sent them away?  If I was a good soldier I would have been keeping watch, I would have recognized that fellow soldiers were in need and would have invited them in, because when I keep watch the right way I am on alert for doing good and being mindful of God’s ways and not my own.  That’s Christmas, doing good and keeping watch!  Are you ready to keep watch this Advent?

Christ the King of the Universe

The right to rule and govern, to judge or offer pardon, belongs to the King, when it comes to eternal rule and judgment that belongs to the King of kings alone.  Today we celebrate The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  It is not just a pious title, but one that is real, true, and good.

When the Logos became flesh and lived among us, He lived among us as a humble servant.  Even His birth was a very humble event, born in a manger among the farm animals and farm hands.  He grew up in a poor hard working family, living among other hard working poor folks.  There was nothing that would have made you think, “Here is a king.”

Even when He began His public ministry and performed great deeds and miracles many believed He was not the Prophetic King, the Messiah that would come because they were expecting someone like King David, someone who would rule them and deliver them from the Romans.

Jesus did not want to come in that fashion but rather as the suffering servant so that He could teach us two things, one) the redemptive value of the Cross and two) to teach us how to live – what love really is.

Now, however, Jesus is no longer the suffering and poor servant, He is the One who sits at the right hand of the Father, governing and ruling the nations.  He still remains brother and friend to us, one who is close to us, but never again will He suffer or be poor.  And to Him belongs judgment of peoples as the Gospel of Matthew tells us.  “He will separate the goats and the sheep.”  Sometimes we get caught up in judgment and we find ourselves doing that, eternally judging others, that is a no-no.  Actually it is a very serious and grave sin to do so since we take the role of King of kings, which we are not to do; it belongs to Christ and Christ alone.

Next week we will begin Advent and prepare ourselves for Jesus’ first coming, Christmas, when He was the small and humble baby, this week, however, we are to reflect on Jesus as King of Kings, His second coming in glory, power, and judgment.  Yes it can seem a little scary and some would not preach about this kind of Jesus, but that would be to leave out an important aspect of who He is and the thought of Jesus as King of kings should make us fear a little, not to be frightened but to cause awe and wonder.  I leave you with lyrics of a beautiful song that I have loved since I have been a child, one that leaves me in awe and wonder about Jesus, King of kings.  “Who is the King of glory; how shall we call him?  He is Emmanuel, the promised of ages.  The King of glory comes, the nation rejoices.  Open the gates before Him, lift up your voices.”

Are You Ready?

For all intents and purposes Ordinary Time in the Church ends this week with this week being the 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.  I know there is an in between week, next week – Jesus King of the Universe before the 1^st Sunday in Advent. Hard to believe that we are almost at Advent, comes upon us very quickly, “Like a Thief in the Night.”

Those were St. Paul’s words from today’s 2^nd reading to the Thessalonians.  The readings will begin pointing to our Lord’s Second Coming, this week and next in order to prepare us but also remind us of His first coming, the day of His birth.

St. Paul, however, was not so much concerned about the first coming of our Lord, but rather concerned with His second coming, which can come upon us like a thief in the night, just as Advent is almost upon us and it seems like it came out of nowhere.  How often is that true for many things in life.  For instance one day we wake up and we realize, my goodness I’m forty, fifty, sixty, or seventy years old, or the people we know especially when they were children now have children themselves, or if we were waiting for something like graduating from High School or College, and then there it is, graduation day right upon us, and not only upon us but come and gone.

St. Paul is reminding us, so too will it be with the Lord, He will come out of nowhere it will seem.  However, as St. Paul says, “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief.  For all of you are children of the light and children of the day.  We are not of the night or of darkness.   Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober.”  As good disciples that day should not catch us off guard, if we live as children of light, and what does that mean specifically?  It means that we are to be faithful and virtuous.  Light constitutes visibility, warmth, radiance, a welcoming type of feeling, as where darkness constitutes fear, coldness, lack of sight or ability to see, hence the opposite of light, as one in hides in the dark. 

We are not to predict the day of when the Lord will return but neither are we to write it off as if it will happen much later, since both are predictions and predictions are wrong, what we are to say and believe, is that it could happen this very day or the next, but either way I am ready and not only ready, but I welcome it.  If I do not welcome the Lord’s return right here, right now, there is still some part of me hanging to what is here which will catch me like a thief in the night, for the things of here, the flesh and of the world distract me from my prize, to be with the Lord.  In the end there is really only one question that matters and only you can answer it, that question is, “Are you ready?”

Vocations Awareness Weekend

A few weeks ago we had our presbyteral convocation, an annual meeting of all the priests in the diocese.  I always look forward to it since I don’t always get to see my brother priests, so this annual event is beneficial on many levels, brother priests getting together for prayer, mass, social events, talks, training and some nice walks on the beach in Avalon.

At the end of the convocation Bishop gives his annual address to his priests.  Bishop Sullivan is an excellent speaker; he is down to earth, motivating, and inspiring.  You can clearly see he loves his priesthood and his desire to share that love is evident.  In his talk he made a number of points for us to consider as we move forward as a Diocese.  There was one point in particular that really hit home for me and that was that each of us priests is a vocation director and not just the man who holds that particular office, who by the way is Fr. Michael Romano.

I wish to extend that call by Bishop Sullivan and say that each and every single one of us is a Vocation Director.  You as parents are the first teachers, directors if you will of your children, shaping, molding and directing them towards first of all being model Christians, and then teaching them about vocations in life, i.e. marriage, family, priesthood, the single life.  Parents are the first to teach their children, and then it falls to teachers, us priests, religious, deacons, mentors to continue to plant seeds in those searching for their vocation.

There are young men out there who are thinking about priesthood.  It is our duty as a parish to help those seek out a vocation.  We are to encourage and challenge our young to make that call towards God in serving His people at the Altar and beyond.  This is done simply by asking a young man, “Did you ever consider the priesthood,” or by encouraging him, “I think you would make a wonderful priest.”

The response to priesthood is an honorable and blessed life.  Yes we give up some things, such as marriage, children, or the pursuit of advancement and riches, but we receive in marriage the People of God, we receive in children not just physical-blood offspring, but all children, and instead of the riches of the world we receive the riches of the Church.  Though we are not religious as diocesan priests we still take on a spirit of poverty in order to focus on what is true wealth, our relationships with our parishioners.  What a call indeed and what blessings.  When I was fifteen years old I did not see it, the blessings in all of that, but through others continuing to plant seeds in me I eventually understood the call when I was 26 years old and responded to God.  I thank the Lord that I did, I could not picture any other life for myself and my prayer is that if you are thinking about this call to priesthood that you answer it as I did and take up the call of Jesus our Savior to serve His people.  God bless you, Fr. John