Spiritual Childhood

This evening at the Catholic Chapel at Dover Air Force Base I spoke on spiritual childhood, an important part of the spirituality of Advent and Christmas. “Unless you become like a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus said. Isaiah saw a child at the center of the Peaceable Kingdom.

In the short catechesis as our service began, I recommended the bible as a way to know Jesus Christ as a teacher of faith and prayer. I like the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) because it’s the version we use in our liturgy and it’s got great notes. Its recent revision takes into account newly discovered biblical manuscripts, the latest archeological finds and historical and biblical scholarship.

The New Jerusalem Bible and the RSVP translations are also good.

Many still use the King James version of the bible, one of the great literary treasures of the English language, but it has drawbacks. It hasn’t benefited from the advances in biblical scholarship that have taken place since its creation in the 16^th century.

According to a recent survey of Catholics in England, most English Catholics still don’t read the bible much; usually they only know it from Mass on Sundays. That’s also true here in the United States, I think.

It’s important that we take our direction from the 2^nd Vatican Council which sees the bible at the heart of our spirituality and a bridge to better relationships with other Christian churches.

Pope Benedict offers a fine example of how to use the bible in his three volumes entitled Jesus of Nazareth. His last volume, on the infancy narratives, was just published before Christmas.

I spoke in my main presentation about the spirituality of childhood, reflecting on a description given by St. Leo the Great. To be a child means to be free from crippling anxieties, forgetful of injuries, sociable and wondering before all things.

The Road Through the Wilderness

I’m preaching a mission at the Catholic chapel at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware this week.

Sometimes the best view you can get of the world in which you live is from above. Here’s a picture taken from a plane in the 1930s or so of the road up to Jerusalem from Jericho and the Jordan Valley. I add another from the ground of the road outside Jericho from more recent times.

 

Both pictures tell us the road to Jerusalem is a climbing, winding road. It wasn’t easy to take when prophets like Isaiah and John the Baptist knew it. Of course, today it’s easily managed by car or bus. But in those days you walked and you didn’t always know what to expect when you went through deserts and mountains and some fertile areas where there was water and crops were grown.

Isaiah and John the Baptist knew this road very well and they used it to explain our way to God. First, it’s an image that says life will never be easy.  On that road you are going to get hungry, tired, even wonder whether you will make it or not. Unexpected things can happen: you may get robbed like the man did in the parable of the Good Samaritan. That happened on the road up from Jericho to Jerusalem, you may remember. You might be blind, like the two blind men from Jericho who couldn’t find their way.

But if you want to get to Jerusalem and enter the house of God, you have to take that road. Jesus took it when he went up to the Holy City.

The message of Isaiah and John the Baptist, so beautifully expressed in our first reading for today (Isaiah 35,1-10), is that God will bring us there.

2nd Sunday of Advent

We’re reading from the Gospel of Luke today. He plays a major role in the season of Advent. All this year, in fact, we’ll be reading from Luke’s Gospel on Sundays.

When you read Luke, notice especially his thrust towards the world beyond Judaism. Though he repeats most of the stories about Jesus found in the gospels of Mark and Matthew, Luke emphasizes the universal message of Jesus. His gospel is meant for everybody.

In Luke’s gospel, for example, old Simeon in the temple predicts the Child will be a “light of revelation to the gentiles.” ( Luke 2, 32) “All flesh shall see the salvation of our God,” John the Baptist says to today’s gospel. (Luke 3,6) Outsiders like Namaan the Syrian and the widow of Zareptha will accept his gospel rather than his neighbors, Jesus says in the synagogue at Nazareth. (Luke 4,17 ff) After his resurrection Jesus tells his disciples “A message of repentance and forgiveness would be preached to all nations.” (Luke 24,47)

Luke further emphasizes that the Christian message is good for this world. It brings life. The Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s sequel to his gospel, tells of the beneficial spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, “the ends of the earth.”

In today’s gospel for the 2^nd Sunday of Advent you can see the evangelist’s universal thrust. He introduces John the Baptist by a list of impressive world leaders:  Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod Antipas and Philip, the sons of Herod the Great, and the Jewish priests Anna and Caiaphas– all significant figures, and most strong opponents of Jesus.

They represent the power structure of the day, but Luke is not interested in their stories. He would have us recognize the real power in this world: Jesus and John.

How insignificant John the Baptist seems compared to an emperor and Roman governor, other powerful rulers and priests. Unkempt in appearance and in ragged clothes, John looks like a nobody as he preaches to travelers near the Jordan River, on the road to Jerusalem. What power does he have? Luke answers simply, “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.” The word of God empowered him.

The gospels invite us to see ourselves and our world in the stories they tell. What can we see in this gospel?

Does Luke remind us that Jesus is more important than anyone else in this world, even ourselves? Keep before your eyes the One who is far more important, far more wise, far better than any celebrity or anyone famous. Look for the One who in the manger and on a cross. God is present and powerful there.

We are meant to bring our gifts to this world. Our time and place wait for the goodness of the gospel, and who will bring it but us?  I mentioned earlier that Luke’s gospel says Jesus’ message is meant for everybody. Do we really believe that, or are we losing our belief that Jesus Christ belongs in everyone’s life?

John the Baptist in the desert seems to have nothing. But he has the word of God, a word he preached and lived.  Isn’t that enough?

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

On the Feast of her Immaculate Conception, December 8, the church reflects on a sermon of St. Anselm, the 12^th century monk and Archbishop of Canterbury, who offered this beautiful tribute to Mary.  We tend to see this mystery–that she was preserved free from original sin–as mainly a personal gift granted to Mary and affecting no one else but her.  Anselm sees it differently:

“Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night – everything that is subject to our power or use – rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless to us or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by human acts of idolatry. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices.

“The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness. Not only does it feel the unseen presence of God, its Creator, it sees God openly, working and making it holy. These great blessings spring from the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb.

“Through the fullness of the grace given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in heaven are glad to be made new. Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad at the restoration of their shattered domain.

“Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.”

Friday, First Week of Advent

  Readings:

Isaiah 29:17-24:  The deaf shall hear and the blind shall see.

Matthew 9:27-31:  Jesus gives two blind men sight.

Two blind men are among the many healed by Jesus in Matthew’s gospel. They’re healed together and they represent the blind who will see when the Messiah comes, Isaiah says.

Notice there are two of them, not one. Do the two blind men represent a collective blindness, a group blindness, perhaps a group prejudice against certain people, or a way of thinking that distorts how others are seen? Is it more than    physical blindness they share?  The cures Jesus worked touched more than the ills of body.

When John Newton, the former 18^th century captain of an African slave ship, wrote the famous hymn “Amazing grace,” he said he “was blind, but now I see.” It wasn’t physical blindness he described. The tough seaman was converted on a voyage after reading Thomas a Kempis’ “The Imitation of Christ,” and gradually came to see the horrific evil of slavery as well as other vices he had fallen into.

In 1788 after years of debate over the issue in England, Prime Minister William Pitt formed a committee to investigate the slave trade which, until then, was largely seen by the nation as good for their country’s economic welfare. One of its star witnesses was John Newton who described in detail the slave trade and the horrendous practice it was.

This advent may Jesus bring light to our world, our nation, and our church. There are many things we don’t see.

What do you think they are?

Messengers of Advent

In the four weeks of Advent the Prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist and Mary of Nazareth are messengers from God.  Isaiah is one of the first voices we hear. His voice is constant in our readings for Advent.

Isaiah was a priest in the temple of Jerusalem in the eighth century– the worst of times, when the powerful armies of Assyria were ravaging the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. God came to Isaiah in a vision in the temple’s Holy of Holies (Isaiah 6) and he’s overwhelmed by a Presence more powerful than all the mighty armies and their clever leaders. God is “Emmanuel,” “God with us.” no matter how bad the times.

That was Isaiah’s message then, and it’s his message for us today. He always seems unreal, as he must have seemed to those who saw Assyrian armies wasting their land.  All nations streaming toward the mountain of the Lord’s house, laying down arms of war?  All peoples, nations and races living in harmony and peace?

Today, the prophet’s promise still seems an impossible dream in our splintered world.  But Advent is about such a hope. It’s not just a personal hope for ourselves and those dear to us, but hope for the whole world. The peaceable kingdom, a seemingly impossible achievement , is not impossible achievement for God.

God is with us. Emmanuel.

Prophets like Isaiah  tell us not to be satisfied with anything less than the Kingdom of God. We become satisfied with what we see and hear, our immediate goals and achievements, our daily projects.  The prophets remind us these are stepping stones to something more. It’s all preliminary to what’s hidden in God’s plan.

Like the bread and wine we bring to the altar, there’s more than we see.  There’s  something more.

Tuesday: 1st Week of Advent

Advent turns us into children, not physically, of course, but spiritually. A child stands at the top of Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom in today’s reading:

“The calf and the young lion shall browse together,

with a little child to guide them.”

“A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,

and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (Isaiah 11,1)

As a child Jesus enters this world  and, before saying a word,  speaks to us from the manger in Bethlehem and his years in Nazareth. Later, he invited his followers to become like little children and praised the childlike.

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

for although you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.” Luke 10

What does he mean by “childlike”? I remember what one of the saints said about this teaching of Jesus. To be a child means to be “free from crippling anxiety, to be forgetful of injuries, to be sociable and to keep wondering at all things.” (Leo the Great)

Think about it.  In a nurturing home a child is cared for, fed and clothed, and brought into life in a thousand small ways that say “Don’t be afraid, we love you.”

But we can lose the sense of being cared for as we grow up and assume adult responsibilities. We can become crippled by anxieties as we begin to believe that it’s all up to us; everything depends on me. No one takes care of me.

From infancy to his death, Jesus lived as a child of God, his Father, and knew he was in God’s caring hands. Shouldn’t we follow him?  No matter how young or old we are, we reach out in prayer to “Our Father.”

Think about those other qualities of spiritual childhood, “forgetfulness of injuries,” “sociability” “wonder at all things.” They are gifts of childhood. Let’s not lose them.

Advent Weekday Readings: 1st Week

 All the Old Testament readings we’ll read at Mass for the 1^st Week of Advent  are from Isaiah and proclaim a message of universal salvation. Even if you can’t get to Mass, take a look at them. They’re wonderful Advent reading.

The prophet’s favorite image describing God’s promise is found in Isaiah 2:1-5 (Monday)–all nations will stream to God’s mountain for instruction. “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Wars are no more; a fragmented humanity becomes one.

Quite a claim, considering that Assyrian armies were laying waste the towns and cities of Israel and Judea as he spoke. But God’s promise trumps all human conquests.

For Isaiah, the mountain of the Lord is Jerusalem, on which the Jewish temple is built. All nations will come there; they will be fed a rich banquet (Wednesday), there the poor will triumph (Thursday), the blind will see (Friday); it’s the rock where people dwell safely, where children play around the cobra’s den, and the lion and the lamb lie down together (Tuesday). The prophet’s imagery in these readings is strikingly beautiful.

The Gospels  for the 1st week point to the fulfillment of the Isaian prophecies in Jesus Christ. The Roman centurion humbly approaching Jesus in Capernaum represents all the nations that will come to him. (Monday) Jesus praises the childlike, who will enter the kingdom of heaven. (Tuesday) He feeds a multitude on the mountain.(Wednesday) He affirms that his kingdom will be built on rock. (Thursday) He gives sight to the blind. (Friday)

Remember too, that Matthew’s gospel, source of many of our Advent readings, portrays Jesus teaching on a mountain (Isaiah’s favorite symbol) and working great miracles there that benefit all who come.  He is the new temple, the new Presence of God, Emmanuel, God with us.

He raises our hope beyond human hope.

Here’s a schedule of the readings for the First Week:

Advent: Week 1

Monday:

Isaiah 2:1-5:  All nations stream to God’s mountain.

Matthew 8:5-11:   The Roman centurion at Capernaum.

Tuesday:

Isaiah 11:1-10:  Promise of a king, a shoot from the stump of Jesus.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon him.

Luke 10:21-24:  God reveals himself to little ones. Blessed are the eyes that see. what you see.

Wednesday:

Isaiah 25: 6-10:  A banquet of rich food is offered on this mountain.

Matthew 15:29-37:  Feeding of multitude.

Thursday:

Isaiah 26:1-6:  On the day of the Lord the poor will triumph.

Matthew 7: 21-24-27:  Build your house on rock.

Friday:

Isaiah 29:17-24:  The deaf shall hear and the blind shall see.

Matthew 9:27-31:   Jesus gives two blind men sight.

Saturday:

Isaiah 30:19-21-23-26 People are healed and given an abundance of gifts.

Matthew 9:35; 10:1, 5, 6-8  Jesus pities the lost sheep and sends his disciples to cure, to raise the dead and give life.

Come and See

There’s not much said about the apostles in the New Testament; they walk in the shadow of Jesus. Because of that, we have only a few details about Andrew, the brother of Peter, whose feast is today.

One detail is his name, Andrew, a Greek name, which may be due to the fact that the area around the Sea of Galilee was multi-cultural and Jewish families sometimes took gentile names.  His family was from Bethsaida where a lot of trade went on. Did Andrew speak some Greek?

Maybe he did, because later in John’s gospel he and Philip bring some Greek pilgrims to Jesus before his death. Jesus sees their coming as a sign of his approaching passion and glorification and he rejoices. (John 12, 20-28) We have to be careful of seeing Jesus’ apostles as poor uneducated fishermen, not likely to get along in a bigger world.

Andrew must have been religious. Early in John’s gospel, he’s described as a disciple of John the Baptist who points Jesus out to him. Jesus then invites Andrew and another disciple to stay for a day with him. “Come and see.” Afterwards, Andrew “found his brother Simon and said to him ‘We have found the Messiah.’” (John 1,35-41)

The Greek Church honors Andrew as its patron and considers him the first apostle because he was the first to see Jesus and follow him; then he called his brother. Tradition says Andrew was crucified on the beach at Patras in Greece and during his martyrdom extolled the mystery of the Cross of Jesus. He’s also the patron of Russia and Scotland.

A number of saints and feasts are celebrated during Advent. Certainly, saints like Andrew belong in our celebration of the Incarnation.  Jesus, the Incarnate Word, drew people to himself who, in turn, drew others. His grace can’t be contained.

“Come and see,” Andrew says.

Saving Santa Claus

Macy’s had their annual Thanksgiving Parade last Thursday and the key figure, of course, was Santa Claus. He promptly went from the parade into Macy’s to become a salesman and take orders from little kids.

But he’s more than that, isn’t he?

My good friend, Mauro DeTrizio, whose family comes from Bari, Italy, has had a lifelong devotion to St. Nicholas. He’s also a good videographer and his dream has been to produce a video on St. Nicholas, our Santa Claus.

So we teamed up to produce a couple of them as part of our campaign for saving Santa Claus. He’s more than a salesman; he’s a saint, and his gift for quiet giving is part of our seasons of Advent and Christmas. He mirrors God’s love shown in Jesus Christ.

Telling his story is one of the ways to save him from being captured by Macys and Walmart. First, take  a look at our version for little children. Then, you might want to go on to our  modest contribution for bigger children– like us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADevygB9jNs