Second Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
And Isaiah spends decades at the thankless task of calling Israel to return to the Lord. Then God says to Isaiah, “One more thing. It is too little for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel. I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” God tells Isaiah that all along He has been planning something more for the prophet, that one day Isaiah’s words will be heard far beyond the borders of Israel. We are the fulfillment of that prophecy. We hear his words – we, who live in a land Isaiah never knew existed, at a time in history he could never have imagined.
Baptism of the Lord • Year A
Jesus in his preaching made it very clear that we cannot make his message of universal salvation real for us unless we love God and love each other. But we cannot love what we will not understand. Jesus came to save all humans but all humans will not necessarily be saved… mostly because we continue to treat some of our brothers and sisters as discards of the human species, not worthy of our attention much less our love.
Feast of the Holy Family • Year A
St. Augustine said that “we make our times” … if our times are good or bad it is because we have made them so. No place is this more true than our family times. These are perhaps the most important and yet the most difficult of all the times of our lives.
Christmas • Year A
When Jesus was born, the only things he had going for him were his family and his Divinity. Oddly enough, his being God was little help in his human adventure. He had decided not to make much of his “being God” and thus throughout his earthly life he was treated like any other poor human. We are told that he “emptied himself” so that he could have the full experience of being human, the bad parts as well as the good parts. One of the good parts was in having a family. Jesus chose to be a member of a human family.
Fourth Sunday of Advent • Year A
I’ve known a lot of ordinary Joes and Marys in my life. Beginning with family and friends, most of the people I’ve encountered have been rather unremarkable as far as doing outstanding things goes. But I’ve found as I look at the entirety of their lives that they have been inspirational for me. They have become heroes, inspirational and extraordinary because of the longevity of their loyalty, the depth and strength of their faith which has established a tradition. They have become legendary in their goodness because of the ease with which they do it as a way of life.
Second Sunday of Advent • Year A
John’s message is not “I’m okay, you’re okay.” John does not think “It’s all good.” John does not make a few suggestions for modest improvement. John says: Salvation is at hand, so change your lives! God is drawing near: Be prepared! Christ is coming, and so this is no time to fool about with half-measures. We must part with our corrupt desires, surrender our bad habits, cut off our selfishness, ambition, lust and laziness. We cannot walk the narrow path of salvation if we are burdened with the weight of unrepented sin. And John’s good news is that we do not have to: We can repent and be reconciled to the Lord.
