December 31, 2006
Dear Friend,
May 2007 be a year of new initiatives for peace throughout the world. To that end the Holy Father made the following comments two weeks ago in an address to Makram Obeid, the new ambassador of Syria to the Holy See, when the latter presented his letters of credence.
“You have spoken of your government's concern over the annexation of the Golan Heights by Israel in 1967. With a heavy heart, I note that a wide range of territorial and other disputes have led to armed conflicts in recent times that threaten the peace and stability of the entire Middle East,” said the Pope. “Repeatedly I have pleaded for a cessation of violence in Lebanon, in the Holy Land and in Iraq," the Pontiff said.
Benedict XVI said: “The world looks on with great sadness at the cycle of death and destruction, as innocent people continue to suffer and targeted individuals are kidnapped and assassinated.” The Pope said that the Church, “Emphatically rejects war as a means of resolving international disputes, and has often pointed out that it only leads to new and still more complicated conflicts. Sadly, from the current situation in the Middle East, it is only too evident that this is the case,” the Holy Father said.
The Pontiff added that the solution to the conflict lies within the framework of international law and “the implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions. In this regard, I have frequently urged that the various nations of the Middle East should be supported in their aspirations to live in peace within secure internationally recognized borders," Benedict XVI said.
In his address to the Syrian ambassador, the Pope also referred, in particular, to “the scourge of terrorism” which “increases the fear and insecurity experienced by so many in the region today.” The Holy Father added that he was glad to learn, from the Syrian ambassador's address, “about the Syrian government's commitment to counter this growing threat to peace and stability.”
“The world looks especially to countries with significant influence in the Middle East in the hopeful expectation of signs of progress toward the resolution of these long-standing conflicts,” said the Pontiff to the Syrian diplomat. Makram Obeid, 62, has been minister of transport for the past six years, and is also ambassador to Spain, where he resides.
Let us all pray for new initiatives for peace in Iraq, the Holy Land, and Lebanon.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Weekly THIS AND THAT for January 1, 2007: You Know You Were Alive in 2006 If ...
This and That:
You Know You Were Alive in 2006 If …
1. You hadn’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
2. You accidentally entered your password on the microwave.
3. You had a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mailed the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family was that they don’t have e-mail addresses.
6. You pulled up in your own driveway and used your cell phone to see if anyone was home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television had a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, was now a cause for panic and you turned around to go to get it.
10. You have now ordered more Christmas gifts on-line than from using the catalogues and telephone.
11. You now download all your music rather than purchase CDs or listen to the radio.
12. You use your cell phone rather than a grocery list in the supermarket.
13. You can’t recall ever having used an 8-trac, cassette or video disc.
14. You find it easier to get a response from a company’s website on–line than calling their offices and trying to get through to a live individual.
15. You get up in the morning and go on line before having your coffee.
16. You have started tilting your head sideways to smile. :-)
17. You are reading this and nodding your head and laughing.
18. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to get this bulletin column.
19. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
20. You actually looked back to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list.
Happy New Year!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
You Know You Were Alive in 2006 If …
1. You hadn’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
2. You accidentally entered your password on the microwave.
3. You had a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.
4. You e-mailed the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family was that they don’t have e-mail addresses.
6. You pulled up in your own driveway and used your cell phone to see if anyone was home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television had a web site at the bottom of the screen.
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, was now a cause for panic and you turned around to go to get it.
10. You have now ordered more Christmas gifts on-line than from using the catalogues and telephone.
11. You now download all your music rather than purchase CDs or listen to the radio.
12. You use your cell phone rather than a grocery list in the supermarket.
13. You can’t recall ever having used an 8-trac, cassette or video disc.
14. You find it easier to get a response from a company’s website on–line than calling their offices and trying to get through to a live individual.
15. You get up in the morning and go on line before having your coffee.
16. You have started tilting your head sideways to smile. :-)
17. You are reading this and nodding your head and laughing.
18. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to get this bulletin column.
19. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
20. You actually looked back to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list.
Happy New Year!
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly HOMILY for January 1, 2007: Bells: a Sign of Hope for the New Year
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, Cycle C
New Year’s Day
Our Lady of Grace
January 1, 2007
Bells: A Sign of Hope for the New Year
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Hearing Bells
One hundred and forty-three years ago, as the year 1863 was passing over into 1864, our nation was deeply divided by the Civil War. Americans were killing Americans on American soil. Families were divided, North and South with brothers fighting brothers.
On that Christmas, the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was feeling very down. He was very worried about our Nation and about his son who had been wounded in battle.
In the midst of these feelings, Longfellow scribbled these words: “In despair I bowed my head; `There is no peace on earth,’ I said. `For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to all.’”
Then, just as he had written these words, Longfellow heard (bells begin to ring) … the sound of bells from a nearby church. For him, the peeling of bells spoke of hope and of something much stronger than his downcast spirit.
And letting the pealing of the bells flow over him (pause and listen), Longfellow rewrote his words: “Then peeled the bells more loud and deep: `God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to all.’”
As you may know, Longfellow’s words became our popular Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
I Heard the Word
Those bells reminded Longfellow of God and of what Christmas is all about. They gave him hope to face the New Year.
In a sort of mystical way, they revived the seeds of faith and hope that lay deep within him. They helped him to see the positive possibilities for human life that the birth of Jesus proclaims for a New Year.
And I would submit that those very same bells can do the same for us as we begin a New Year (Stop bells.)
For us, the Scripture readings this New Year’s Eve (Day) – like the bells – awaken our faith and hope in the possibilities that the Jesus, the Prince of Peace, brings us.
A Possibility: Reverence for Human Life
In the second reading form Galatians, Paul tells us that we are daughters and sons of God and that that same God has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, Jesus, who cries out “Father.”
We are no longer slaves to sin, but sons and daughters of God, and brothers and sisters to one another.
That fact can be the foundation for reverencing the life and dignity of each person, a value so important for our day and age.
For example, the birth of our Savior and this New Year can lift up the thoughtful care of our elderly who are less able to take of themselves.
It can lift up a sensitivity within us for the life of the unborn and for all children who need a safe and secure environment for growing.
And the birth of our Savior and a New Year can quicken in us a desire to alleviate the suffering of people whom we do not even know – whether they are homeless here in Baltimore County or the millions starving in Darfur in the Sudan or Tanzania.
Reverence for life is strengthened by the Spirit of Jesus within us, a Spirit that cries out “Father,” and makes us all members of one human family.
A Possibility: Respect for Differences
Last Sunday, in the Gospel of Christmas, the Shepherds go in haste to Bethlehem and find the baby lying in a manger. They see and they understand what had been told them, and return glorifying and praising God.
Next Sunday, on the Feast of the Epiphany, the Gospel will tell of three Wise Men from the East – specifically Persians – who come to pay homage to the newborn Savior.
In a wonderful contrast of visitors, Jesus draws to himself non-Jews, both the poor, uneducated shepherds and the wealthy, educated Wise Men.
Thus the birth of our Savior and this New Year can lift up the possibility of living with a genuine respect for differences, again so important a value for our day.
So Christmas urges us to assume that people are of good will even when their political opinions are different. It calls us to accept differences in religious background or race or culture.
The dawn of a New Year may call us Americans and us Christians to work at understanding the Muslim religion and the Arab culture from which the Wise Men came.
It may call us to appreciate the gift of the poor and needy to us, that is, their gift of faith and trust in God in not having material things.
Yes, the birth of our Savior and this New Year lifts up the possibility of living with a new respect for the differences we find in others.
Conclusion
(Bells begin to ring.) Tonight (Today), my friends, may we allow the bells of Christmas and the visiting of Shepherds and Wise Men to the manger awaken our faith and hope.
May they awaken us to the marvelous possibilities that the birth of Jesus proclaims.
May they awaken us to a reverence for the life and the dignity of each person, and to a respect for the difference among us.
(Bells end after mediation.)
New Year’s Day
Our Lady of Grace
January 1, 2007
Bells: A Sign of Hope for the New Year
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Hearing Bells
One hundred and forty-three years ago, as the year 1863 was passing over into 1864, our nation was deeply divided by the Civil War. Americans were killing Americans on American soil. Families were divided, North and South with brothers fighting brothers.
On that Christmas, the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was feeling very down. He was very worried about our Nation and about his son who had been wounded in battle.
In the midst of these feelings, Longfellow scribbled these words: “In despair I bowed my head; `There is no peace on earth,’ I said. `For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to all.’”
Then, just as he had written these words, Longfellow heard (bells begin to ring) … the sound of bells from a nearby church. For him, the peeling of bells spoke of hope and of something much stronger than his downcast spirit.
And letting the pealing of the bells flow over him (pause and listen), Longfellow rewrote his words: “Then peeled the bells more loud and deep: `God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to all.’”
As you may know, Longfellow’s words became our popular Christmas carol, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
I Heard the Word
Those bells reminded Longfellow of God and of what Christmas is all about. They gave him hope to face the New Year.
In a sort of mystical way, they revived the seeds of faith and hope that lay deep within him. They helped him to see the positive possibilities for human life that the birth of Jesus proclaims for a New Year.
And I would submit that those very same bells can do the same for us as we begin a New Year (Stop bells.)
For us, the Scripture readings this New Year’s Eve (Day) – like the bells – awaken our faith and hope in the possibilities that the Jesus, the Prince of Peace, brings us.
A Possibility: Reverence for Human Life
In the second reading form Galatians, Paul tells us that we are daughters and sons of God and that that same God has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, Jesus, who cries out “Father.”
We are no longer slaves to sin, but sons and daughters of God, and brothers and sisters to one another.
That fact can be the foundation for reverencing the life and dignity of each person, a value so important for our day and age.
For example, the birth of our Savior and this New Year can lift up the thoughtful care of our elderly who are less able to take of themselves.
It can lift up a sensitivity within us for the life of the unborn and for all children who need a safe and secure environment for growing.
And the birth of our Savior and a New Year can quicken in us a desire to alleviate the suffering of people whom we do not even know – whether they are homeless here in Baltimore County or the millions starving in Darfur in the Sudan or Tanzania.
Reverence for life is strengthened by the Spirit of Jesus within us, a Spirit that cries out “Father,” and makes us all members of one human family.
A Possibility: Respect for Differences
Last Sunday, in the Gospel of Christmas, the Shepherds go in haste to Bethlehem and find the baby lying in a manger. They see and they understand what had been told them, and return glorifying and praising God.
Next Sunday, on the Feast of the Epiphany, the Gospel will tell of three Wise Men from the East – specifically Persians – who come to pay homage to the newborn Savior.
In a wonderful contrast of visitors, Jesus draws to himself non-Jews, both the poor, uneducated shepherds and the wealthy, educated Wise Men.
Thus the birth of our Savior and this New Year can lift up the possibility of living with a genuine respect for differences, again so important a value for our day.
So Christmas urges us to assume that people are of good will even when their political opinions are different. It calls us to accept differences in religious background or race or culture.
The dawn of a New Year may call us Americans and us Christians to work at understanding the Muslim religion and the Arab culture from which the Wise Men came.
It may call us to appreciate the gift of the poor and needy to us, that is, their gift of faith and trust in God in not having material things.
Yes, the birth of our Savior and this New Year lifts up the possibility of living with a new respect for the differences we find in others.
Conclusion
(Bells begin to ring.) Tonight (Today), my friends, may we allow the bells of Christmas and the visiting of Shepherds and Wise Men to the manger awaken our faith and hope.
May they awaken us to the marvelous possibilities that the birth of Jesus proclaims.
May they awaken us to a reverence for the life and the dignity of each person, and to a respect for the difference among us.
(Bells end after mediation.)
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Christmas: A Holiday or Holy Day?
December 25, 2006
Dear Friend,
In a Catholic School Religion class during Advent, the children were asked, “What do you think of when you hear the word “Christmas”? The good news is that “Jesus” won most often. Unfortunately, he took only 42 percent of the vote. “Presents” was the first runner-up with 25 percent. It may not be happy news that one quarter of the students in a Catholic School say they think about Christmas presents before they think about Jesus. The news may in fact be worse, since you might expect that the children were playing up to expectations, giving answers they thought would make the teacher happy or were more focused on Jesus because the poll was conducted during Religion Class. Whatever the reason, we can say at least 25 percent of the class missed the point or did they?
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that, like most folks in a “consuming” culture like our own, these kids confused the Christian “holy day” of Christmas with the consumer “holiday” of the same name. Folks who have organized to protest the commercialization of Christmas call the consumer holiday “Consumas.” I’m not sure that will ever catch on, but it is a good descriptor. Christmas and Consumas do not even occupy the same time period, though this isn’t immediately apparent since they do overlap. Christmas is part of a cycle that begins with the 1st Sunday of Advent and ends only with the Baptism of the Lord in early January. The longing of four weeks and the celebration of the weeks are both elements of the season. The commercial holiday, on the other hand, officially begins with the shopping madness on the day after Thanksgiving. If you look carefully however, it actually begins even before then with the appearance of the first Christmas items and displays in the Malls. It could be as early as on the day after Halloween. Someone observed that Macy’s had a Santa outfit on sale for $50 during the month of August. Consumas ends officially at midnight Christmas Eve. Although you won’t hear a single Christmas song or carol the day after-Christmas, liquidation sales will go on for another 12 days.
Of course the overlapping Christmas Seasons have different heroes. The central figure of the Christian Christmas is Jesus Christ. The central figure of Consumas is Santa Claus. While Jesus gives us love unconditionally, Santa Claus gives us things if we’ve been good. Note that almost everything that Santa Clause brings has to be bought. The whole meaning of Consumas – commercial Christmas – is to sell us “stuff” and by that measure it’s a very successful holiday. Your Money Magazine found that Americans charged an average of $3,000,000 a minute between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 1997.
But I believe beneath the mounds of stuff people genuinely want to celebrate something more, something deeper and it’s very difficult to escape the messages of commercial Christmas because there are so many of them and they are everywhere. Here are a few quick ways to help you celebrate the holy day rather than be consumed by the holiday.
Be Aware: Recognize that commercial Christmas is a non-Christian and at times even anti-Christian celebration. That’s why is called Consumas as in it can “consume us.”
Take Responsibility: We can’t change the culture, but we can change our own choices and actions toward the culture. No one is forcing us to escalate how much we’re going to allocate for gifts. No one is binding us hand and foot and dragging us into the department stores or onto the webpage. And let’s not blame the media for our own willing seduction.
Present Gifts from the Heart: Buying or making a few after Christmas gifts from the heart is a good way to share the holy season with those you love. The key? Keep it simple and meaningful. Connect the gift (try making something) to a quality of the person you love. Try a symbolic or sentimental gift. Next year no one will remember what you gave them, but if it’s from the heart, they will.
Watch What You Watch: Viewer beware! Discriminate when it comes to “Christmas Specials.” While they may be about charity, repentance, and forgiveness, they’re not really about Christmas. Christmas is about a divine/human person whose life, death, and resurrection teach us that “God is with us” (Emmanuel), alive, and in this world.
Celebrate All of the Christmas Season:
Don’t stop celebrating on December 25th as the secular season fizzles out. Plan some of your Christmas socializing for after Christmas Day. For example try celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family with your family gathered around the dinner table. On New Year’s Day celebrate the Solemnity of Mary; on the following Sunday, celebrate the Epiphany.
Have a great Holy Day and Holy Season.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Dear Friend,
In a Catholic School Religion class during Advent, the children were asked, “What do you think of when you hear the word “Christmas”? The good news is that “Jesus” won most often. Unfortunately, he took only 42 percent of the vote. “Presents” was the first runner-up with 25 percent. It may not be happy news that one quarter of the students in a Catholic School say they think about Christmas presents before they think about Jesus. The news may in fact be worse, since you might expect that the children were playing up to expectations, giving answers they thought would make the teacher happy or were more focused on Jesus because the poll was conducted during Religion Class. Whatever the reason, we can say at least 25 percent of the class missed the point or did they?
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that, like most folks in a “consuming” culture like our own, these kids confused the Christian “holy day” of Christmas with the consumer “holiday” of the same name. Folks who have organized to protest the commercialization of Christmas call the consumer holiday “Consumas.” I’m not sure that will ever catch on, but it is a good descriptor. Christmas and Consumas do not even occupy the same time period, though this isn’t immediately apparent since they do overlap. Christmas is part of a cycle that begins with the 1st Sunday of Advent and ends only with the Baptism of the Lord in early January. The longing of four weeks and the celebration of the weeks are both elements of the season. The commercial holiday, on the other hand, officially begins with the shopping madness on the day after Thanksgiving. If you look carefully however, it actually begins even before then with the appearance of the first Christmas items and displays in the Malls. It could be as early as on the day after Halloween. Someone observed that Macy’s had a Santa outfit on sale for $50 during the month of August. Consumas ends officially at midnight Christmas Eve. Although you won’t hear a single Christmas song or carol the day after-Christmas, liquidation sales will go on for another 12 days.
Of course the overlapping Christmas Seasons have different heroes. The central figure of the Christian Christmas is Jesus Christ. The central figure of Consumas is Santa Claus. While Jesus gives us love unconditionally, Santa Claus gives us things if we’ve been good. Note that almost everything that Santa Clause brings has to be bought. The whole meaning of Consumas – commercial Christmas – is to sell us “stuff” and by that measure it’s a very successful holiday. Your Money Magazine found that Americans charged an average of $3,000,000 a minute between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 1997.
But I believe beneath the mounds of stuff people genuinely want to celebrate something more, something deeper and it’s very difficult to escape the messages of commercial Christmas because there are so many of them and they are everywhere. Here are a few quick ways to help you celebrate the holy day rather than be consumed by the holiday.
Be Aware: Recognize that commercial Christmas is a non-Christian and at times even anti-Christian celebration. That’s why is called Consumas as in it can “consume us.”
Take Responsibility: We can’t change the culture, but we can change our own choices and actions toward the culture. No one is forcing us to escalate how much we’re going to allocate for gifts. No one is binding us hand and foot and dragging us into the department stores or onto the webpage. And let’s not blame the media for our own willing seduction.
Present Gifts from the Heart: Buying or making a few after Christmas gifts from the heart is a good way to share the holy season with those you love. The key? Keep it simple and meaningful. Connect the gift (try making something) to a quality of the person you love. Try a symbolic or sentimental gift. Next year no one will remember what you gave them, but if it’s from the heart, they will.
Watch What You Watch: Viewer beware! Discriminate when it comes to “Christmas Specials.” While they may be about charity, repentance, and forgiveness, they’re not really about Christmas. Christmas is about a divine/human person whose life, death, and resurrection teach us that “God is with us” (Emmanuel), alive, and in this world.
Celebrate All of the Christmas Season:
Don’t stop celebrating on December 25th as the secular season fizzles out. Plan some of your Christmas socializing for after Christmas Day. For example try celebrating the Feast of the Holy Family with your family gathered around the dinner table. On New Year’s Day celebrate the Solemnity of Mary; on the following Sunday, celebrate the Epiphany.
Have a great Holy Day and Holy Season.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly THIS AND THAT for December 25, 2006: The Treasures of Our Heart at Christmas
This and That:
The Treasures of Our Heart at Christmas
Dear Friends and Family,
On behalf of our Pastoral Team and the people of Our Lady of Grace parish, we thank you for worshipping with us on this glorious day and wish you a blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year.
“Prosperous” is the point I want to address for a moment. The treasures that surround us today are of different types or levels. At one level we have the gifts and treasures of our department stores and on-line shopping. At another level, we have the family and friends that surround us around our holiday tables. It’s a third level of treasures, the treasures of our heart, of which I wish to speak.
On December 7th through 10th the drama ministry here at our parish presented four performances of “Treasures of the Heart.” Seventy-four children and youth spoke, sang, and danced to make a point to sell-out crowds each evening: the poor and destitute residents of a Baltimore shelter – the setting of the play – had something to teach us all about those three levels of treasures we long for. Well, read on and you’ll see that maybe not all of us, just most of us “long for.”
The following are just a few of the many emails I received from individuals who attended one of the performances. In them you will see the struggle people go through as they confront the possible treasures they could have within their own heart. Clearly, the play moved beyond stage, scenery, and lighting into the lives of those who witnessed it in any number of ways. We’ll end with a final word from Mary and St. Matthew.
Our sincerest thanks to Mary Miller who wrote, directed and choreographed it, the Production Team who created the environment, and of course the children and youth of our community who delivered the message. How proud we are of you. God bless you all. And to all who joined us for the celebration of Christmas, may you experience these “treasures of the heart” in abundance!
Gratefully,
Father Nick Amato
PS. Production deadlines made it difficult to contact and each person to ask permission to use his/her letter so I chose to drop all the names to safeguard confidentiality.
Dear Father Amato,
I know I am up late, but I am working the night shift tonight. However, before coming to work this evening I had the extreme pleasure of attending the production of “Treasures of the Heart” that was performed at your facility under the direction of Mary Miller.
All I can say is WOW!!! Between the talent and the message, that show was a knockout! The message the audience received was more than inspiring. For many of us, I believe it was life changing. I don’t think I will ever look at a homeless person the same way again. And thanks to Mary Miller, I will never look at death the same way either.
What a blessing it must be for those children to be led by, not only their faith, but the faith of Mary, as well. I wonder if they feel the same way I do when in her presence. I wonder if they too feel as if they are in the presence of a saint.
It was obvious by the lack of hair that she is struggling with her own illness, but that did not stop her from touching the hearts of many. God Bless her, God Bless you and God Bless the Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore County.
Dear Rev. Msgr. Nicholas Amato,
I have found in my study of religions a common theme. Humility and simplicity are “pleasing to God.” I have had a few chance encounters with people who have honestly acquired the trait of humility. I have encountered many whom I believe try to be humble, but never quite pull it off. The true belief and insight of knowing that we, in the most literal sense, know nothing, is rare. I know nothing, I know nothing, and I know nothing! I believe last evening I met a woman who exemplifies this beautiful trait to perfection. She is someone I’m sure you know well and her name is Mary Miller.
When I exclaimed to her how inspirational I found her musical and the beauty of her talent onstage, she graciously thanked me and then gave all the credit to God. My wife (who is an atheist) replied with something like, “Oh come now, honey, they’re your words, give yourself a pat on the back.” Mary replied with something like, “I will, for taking the time to listen to Him. These really are His words and I am just grateful he chose me to help them be heard.”
This is true humility. A beautiful sight and unfortunately one, my wife does not understand. I am sure it is through your guidance and leadership that she has acquired such a beautiful trait. Congratulations. And congratulations on an incredibly moving, musical. You should take it on tour!!!
Dear Msgr. Nicholas Amato,
I couldn’t go to bed this evening without writing to say how grateful my family and I are for the wonderful musical “Treasures of the Heart.” It was one of the most moving experiences we have experienced in a long time. I have never, I mean never, seen my husband cry in over 20 years of marriage but he cried this evening. We all cried and laughed and had our mouths hanging open in awe at the beauty of the message portrayed in this musical.
And let me say, Mrs. Miller belongs on Broadway; she is absolutely phenomenal. I don’t know how she goes from playing director to playing a very dramatic role in only a few minutes. She has more talent in her little finger than I have in my entire family. When I approached her after the show to complement her on her talent she pointed upward and said that she can’t take the credit because it belongs to God.
What an amazing woman. And the children in the show were just as amazing. I don’t know how she got children to portray such love for faith and God. And you could tell that it wasn’t just acting she really has taught these children to have faith. It was beautiful.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I wasn't in the Christmas spirit before this show, but now it really does feel like Christmas.
God Bless You All.
Dear Rev. Msgr. Nicholas P. Amato,
I don’t know whom to write this to, but I noticed your name at the top of the program and got your email address from the church website. I assumed you should be the person to receive this letter. My name is Sally [name changed] and I’m a teenager like a lot of kids on the stage this weekend. And my mom has cancer. It made me cry to see the woman who played the mother on stage because I am very scared that my mom will die. But it also made me feel better because maybe she will be happy when she does. The woman who played the part of the mother was so believable. I think she really does believe she will be okay if she dies. I don’t really know if I believe in God too much. I kind of do, but I’m not really sure. But it was nice to think that if my mom dies she would be happy.
It was also nice to see someone be okay with cancer. For my mom it is like the devil or a dirty word and she hates it and doesn’t want anyone to know she has it. It’s like she is afraid; if she talks about it, it will become real or something. But this woman was okay. She even did her part with no hair.
I talked to her after the show and, although she was surrounded by people waiting to talk to her, she made me feel like I was the only one there. A lot of adults brush kids off, but she made me feel like what I had to say was important. And she made me feel so much more calm about things with my Mom. Its like she waved a magic wand over me and took some of my hurt away. She made me feel a lot better.
I’m not so mad anymore and I’ve been pretty mad for a long time. I just wanted her to know that I said thank you for helping a stranger feel better about herself and about her mom’s cancer.
Dear Msgr. Amato,
Well, she did it again! Another home run for the Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore County. After watching the wonderful production of “Godspell” earlier this summer, I made it a point to find out when the youth theatre’s next production was so that I could reserve a few tickets. I actually brought along a few colleagues of mine from the theatre and television industry. Of course, I had to drag them kicking and screaming all the way. The thought of going to a small upstart church community production when you are used to a professional atmosphere can be less than appealing.
Well, let me say, we were all completely floored. We felt like we were sitting in the Lyric. You need to get this company a stage. I mean, “Godspell” is difficult to direct, very difficult. And I mean no disrespect when I say this, but “Treasures of the Heart” must have been a nightmare. Anytime you have more than a dozen people onstage the director’s challenge goes up considerably. And when those actors are young children it goes through the roof.
Ms. Miller managed to handle this challenge very creatively. Between her creative directing and the amazing script and music we were all mesmerized. One of my colleagues didn’t want the show to end which is a huge compliment coming from him. The only change I could see making is providing the audience with tissues as they enter. I was very moved by many of the scenes, but especially the scene between Ms. Miller and one of the young actresses. I lost my mother recently and as far as I’m concerned this scene was a gift from God to me. It helped me heal and for that I am eternally grateful.
We tried to speak with Ms. Miller after the show, but she was surrounded by children of all ages. I can see why they love her so. So instead, I write this letter to you in hopes that you will share it with her and the rest of the company.
Once again I must say BRAVO!!!! And may God bless you all with Ms. Miller’s presence for many years to come.
Dear Father Nick,
I needed to relay to you and have you thank the entire cast and crew of “Treasures of the Heart” for changing an old girl’s life. My best friend runs a Food Bank so you would think I would know plenty about those in need and already be doing my part to help the hungry and homeless. Well, I know about them, but I have certainly not been doing my part. This show has changed me, I hope forever. I’m not sure why it took me this long to “open my eyes” as they said in the show but I’m not going to waste time with that question. Instead I am going to help in whatever way I can.
I have already volunteered 8 hours this week in a shelter and donated a carload of groceries to help the hungry. The kids in the show were right; it feels so good. I feel as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Not only that, but I lost my mother four years ago and have never recovered from it. That is until this past Sunday. The message Mary Miller gave me made me feel as if my mother is happy and content with God. I no longer worry for her. And I am beginning to no longer grieve. Instead I picture her dancing with God.
I’m so grateful, so very grateful. Thanks for teaching an old dog several new tricks. I did convey my thanks to Mary Miller during intermission and she was so warm, gracious, loving, gentle and very humble. I heard someone else say that they are already sewing feathers on her angel wings in heaven and I have to say I agree wholeheartedly. God Bless You All.
… and now a final word from Mary and St. Matthew:
I knew of the plight of the homeless, but in preparing this musical I found something I didn’t quite expect. I found a spirit in the cold among those who will be alone or hungry this Christmas. Though they were without worldly possessions, hungry and sometimes dirty and stricken with illness, there seemed to be a hope, a belief. As one gentleman put it, “They can take away your house, your car and your money, but they can’t take away your spirit and all that lies inside your heart. Things such as faith, reverence, tenderness, humility, love and hope.”
Such simple treasures … faith, reverence, tenderness, humility, love and hope. Not treasures of the earth, but treasures of the heart. As I pondered the gratitude they displayed, I was reminded of words we have all heard before:
“Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty, and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and take you in; or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and come to you? And answering, the King said, “Amen I say to you, as long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:37-39.
The Treasures of Our Heart at Christmas
Dear Friends and Family,
On behalf of our Pastoral Team and the people of Our Lady of Grace parish, we thank you for worshipping with us on this glorious day and wish you a blessed Christmas and prosperous New Year.
“Prosperous” is the point I want to address for a moment. The treasures that surround us today are of different types or levels. At one level we have the gifts and treasures of our department stores and on-line shopping. At another level, we have the family and friends that surround us around our holiday tables. It’s a third level of treasures, the treasures of our heart, of which I wish to speak.
On December 7th through 10th the drama ministry here at our parish presented four performances of “Treasures of the Heart.” Seventy-four children and youth spoke, sang, and danced to make a point to sell-out crowds each evening: the poor and destitute residents of a Baltimore shelter – the setting of the play – had something to teach us all about those three levels of treasures we long for. Well, read on and you’ll see that maybe not all of us, just most of us “long for.”
The following are just a few of the many emails I received from individuals who attended one of the performances. In them you will see the struggle people go through as they confront the possible treasures they could have within their own heart. Clearly, the play moved beyond stage, scenery, and lighting into the lives of those who witnessed it in any number of ways. We’ll end with a final word from Mary and St. Matthew.
Our sincerest thanks to Mary Miller who wrote, directed and choreographed it, the Production Team who created the environment, and of course the children and youth of our community who delivered the message. How proud we are of you. God bless you all. And to all who joined us for the celebration of Christmas, may you experience these “treasures of the heart” in abundance!
Gratefully,
Father Nick Amato
PS. Production deadlines made it difficult to contact and each person to ask permission to use his/her letter so I chose to drop all the names to safeguard confidentiality.
Dear Father Amato,
I know I am up late, but I am working the night shift tonight. However, before coming to work this evening I had the extreme pleasure of attending the production of “Treasures of the Heart” that was performed at your facility under the direction of Mary Miller.
All I can say is WOW!!! Between the talent and the message, that show was a knockout! The message the audience received was more than inspiring. For many of us, I believe it was life changing. I don’t think I will ever look at a homeless person the same way again. And thanks to Mary Miller, I will never look at death the same way either.
What a blessing it must be for those children to be led by, not only their faith, but the faith of Mary, as well. I wonder if they feel the same way I do when in her presence. I wonder if they too feel as if they are in the presence of a saint.
It was obvious by the lack of hair that she is struggling with her own illness, but that did not stop her from touching the hearts of many. God Bless her, God Bless you and God Bless the Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore County.
Dear Rev. Msgr. Nicholas Amato,
I have found in my study of religions a common theme. Humility and simplicity are “pleasing to God.” I have had a few chance encounters with people who have honestly acquired the trait of humility. I have encountered many whom I believe try to be humble, but never quite pull it off. The true belief and insight of knowing that we, in the most literal sense, know nothing, is rare. I know nothing, I know nothing, and I know nothing! I believe last evening I met a woman who exemplifies this beautiful trait to perfection. She is someone I’m sure you know well and her name is Mary Miller.
When I exclaimed to her how inspirational I found her musical and the beauty of her talent onstage, she graciously thanked me and then gave all the credit to God. My wife (who is an atheist) replied with something like, “Oh come now, honey, they’re your words, give yourself a pat on the back.” Mary replied with something like, “I will, for taking the time to listen to Him. These really are His words and I am just grateful he chose me to help them be heard.”
This is true humility. A beautiful sight and unfortunately one, my wife does not understand. I am sure it is through your guidance and leadership that she has acquired such a beautiful trait. Congratulations. And congratulations on an incredibly moving, musical. You should take it on tour!!!
Dear Msgr. Nicholas Amato,
I couldn’t go to bed this evening without writing to say how grateful my family and I are for the wonderful musical “Treasures of the Heart.” It was one of the most moving experiences we have experienced in a long time. I have never, I mean never, seen my husband cry in over 20 years of marriage but he cried this evening. We all cried and laughed and had our mouths hanging open in awe at the beauty of the message portrayed in this musical.
And let me say, Mrs. Miller belongs on Broadway; she is absolutely phenomenal. I don’t know how she goes from playing director to playing a very dramatic role in only a few minutes. She has more talent in her little finger than I have in my entire family. When I approached her after the show to complement her on her talent she pointed upward and said that she can’t take the credit because it belongs to God.
What an amazing woman. And the children in the show were just as amazing. I don’t know how she got children to portray such love for faith and God. And you could tell that it wasn’t just acting she really has taught these children to have faith. It was beautiful.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I wasn't in the Christmas spirit before this show, but now it really does feel like Christmas.
God Bless You All.
Dear Rev. Msgr. Nicholas P. Amato,
I don’t know whom to write this to, but I noticed your name at the top of the program and got your email address from the church website. I assumed you should be the person to receive this letter. My name is Sally [name changed] and I’m a teenager like a lot of kids on the stage this weekend. And my mom has cancer. It made me cry to see the woman who played the mother on stage because I am very scared that my mom will die. But it also made me feel better because maybe she will be happy when she does. The woman who played the part of the mother was so believable. I think she really does believe she will be okay if she dies. I don’t really know if I believe in God too much. I kind of do, but I’m not really sure. But it was nice to think that if my mom dies she would be happy.
It was also nice to see someone be okay with cancer. For my mom it is like the devil or a dirty word and she hates it and doesn’t want anyone to know she has it. It’s like she is afraid; if she talks about it, it will become real or something. But this woman was okay. She even did her part with no hair.
I talked to her after the show and, although she was surrounded by people waiting to talk to her, she made me feel like I was the only one there. A lot of adults brush kids off, but she made me feel like what I had to say was important. And she made me feel so much more calm about things with my Mom. Its like she waved a magic wand over me and took some of my hurt away. She made me feel a lot better.
I’m not so mad anymore and I’ve been pretty mad for a long time. I just wanted her to know that I said thank you for helping a stranger feel better about herself and about her mom’s cancer.
Dear Msgr. Amato,
Well, she did it again! Another home run for the Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore County. After watching the wonderful production of “Godspell” earlier this summer, I made it a point to find out when the youth theatre’s next production was so that I could reserve a few tickets. I actually brought along a few colleagues of mine from the theatre and television industry. Of course, I had to drag them kicking and screaming all the way. The thought of going to a small upstart church community production when you are used to a professional atmosphere can be less than appealing.
Well, let me say, we were all completely floored. We felt like we were sitting in the Lyric. You need to get this company a stage. I mean, “Godspell” is difficult to direct, very difficult. And I mean no disrespect when I say this, but “Treasures of the Heart” must have been a nightmare. Anytime you have more than a dozen people onstage the director’s challenge goes up considerably. And when those actors are young children it goes through the roof.
Ms. Miller managed to handle this challenge very creatively. Between her creative directing and the amazing script and music we were all mesmerized. One of my colleagues didn’t want the show to end which is a huge compliment coming from him. The only change I could see making is providing the audience with tissues as they enter. I was very moved by many of the scenes, but especially the scene between Ms. Miller and one of the young actresses. I lost my mother recently and as far as I’m concerned this scene was a gift from God to me. It helped me heal and for that I am eternally grateful.
We tried to speak with Ms. Miller after the show, but she was surrounded by children of all ages. I can see why they love her so. So instead, I write this letter to you in hopes that you will share it with her and the rest of the company.
Once again I must say BRAVO!!!! And may God bless you all with Ms. Miller’s presence for many years to come.
Dear Father Nick,
I needed to relay to you and have you thank the entire cast and crew of “Treasures of the Heart” for changing an old girl’s life. My best friend runs a Food Bank so you would think I would know plenty about those in need and already be doing my part to help the hungry and homeless. Well, I know about them, but I have certainly not been doing my part. This show has changed me, I hope forever. I’m not sure why it took me this long to “open my eyes” as they said in the show but I’m not going to waste time with that question. Instead I am going to help in whatever way I can.
I have already volunteered 8 hours this week in a shelter and donated a carload of groceries to help the hungry. The kids in the show were right; it feels so good. I feel as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Not only that, but I lost my mother four years ago and have never recovered from it. That is until this past Sunday. The message Mary Miller gave me made me feel as if my mother is happy and content with God. I no longer worry for her. And I am beginning to no longer grieve. Instead I picture her dancing with God.
I’m so grateful, so very grateful. Thanks for teaching an old dog several new tricks. I did convey my thanks to Mary Miller during intermission and she was so warm, gracious, loving, gentle and very humble. I heard someone else say that they are already sewing feathers on her angel wings in heaven and I have to say I agree wholeheartedly. God Bless You All.
… and now a final word from Mary and St. Matthew:
I knew of the plight of the homeless, but in preparing this musical I found something I didn’t quite expect. I found a spirit in the cold among those who will be alone or hungry this Christmas. Though they were without worldly possessions, hungry and sometimes dirty and stricken with illness, there seemed to be a hope, a belief. As one gentleman put it, “They can take away your house, your car and your money, but they can’t take away your spirit and all that lies inside your heart. Things such as faith, reverence, tenderness, humility, love and hope.”
Such simple treasures … faith, reverence, tenderness, humility, love and hope. Not treasures of the earth, but treasures of the heart. As I pondered the gratitude they displayed, I was reminded of words we have all heard before:
“Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty, and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and take you in; or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison, and come to you? And answering, the King said, “Amen I say to you, as long as you did it for one of these, the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:37-39.
Weekly HOMILY for December 25, 2006: Apple Pie and the Son of God
Christmas, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
December 25, 2006
Apple Pie and the Son of God
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Apple Pie
Behold the apple pie; hm-m-m-m-m-m. (Show the pie.)
How many like apple pie? (Pull out one slice.) This pie has an important lesson to teach us.
What can we say about the slice?
It’s (1) Like what it came from in substance, (2) It has the same flavor as the rest of the pie, (3) It looks pretty much the same as the pie, (3) It has the same ability to satisfy a hungry person.
How Are We Like That Slice of Pie?
We are like that slice of apple pie. We have been created by God. And the created thing – the piece of pie – is always like the creator – the pie.
And just as the painting tells us something about the painter, and the song tells us something about the composer, and the baby tells us something about the parents,
In a similar way we are like the God who created us.
And like the slice of pie, God holds us in existence just as the piece needs the source, just as the source needs the piece to achieve the pie’s purpose, that is, to satisfy, delight, enthrall.
What We’re Not
What else does the analogy or comparison say about us on this Christmas Eve (Morning)?
Fundamentally, it says we’re not just a bag of skin filled with bones and muscle and organs.
So then, how can we be sure that we are in fact a “slice of the pie,” a slice of God, so to speak?
And that is what Christmas is all about. We can be sure we’re a slice of the pie because of three reasons.
What We Are
First, God told us we are: he created us out of nothing and created us in his very own image, that is, he made us like himself. He loved us in creating us and wants us to be part of him.
Second, God sent his son to connect the slice to the pie. It’s as if the slice wandered far from the pie and forgot where it came from. By becoming one with us – as slice – and forgiving us our sins, he’s brought us back to God, back to the pie.
Third, the angel called Jesus, Emmanuel, which means “God-with-us.” That no matter where this slice of pie would go, Jesus as Emmanuel would with us because he is now part of our spirit.
Application
What’s that mean for us? We’ve been created, saved from our sins, linked to the pie AND we’re a slice of the pie for others to enjoy.
Thus, we are godly and we can do godly things: we have the flavor to lift people up, to make them smile, to create a sense of community.
We have the appearance of God: we can be God’s mercy and forgiveness when others have sinned, God’s clarity and understanding when others are confused.
We have the ability to satisfy as God satisfies: that is, we have the answers to ultimate and important questions regarding why are we here on earth? What does life really mean? Where is my life headed? What will heaven be like?
Conclusion
May every slice of apple pie we ever eat remind us of Christmas and the joy that is ours knowing we’re a son or daughter of God.
And like the old Jefferson’s sit come of many years ago where the theme song was: “We’ve finally got a piece of the pie-ie-ie,” I’d say we are a piece of the pie, where and the pie is God and Jesus’ birth helps us understand the mystery of being God for others.
Our Lady of Grace
December 25, 2006
Apple Pie and the Son of God
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Apple Pie
Behold the apple pie; hm-m-m-m-m-m. (Show the pie.)
How many like apple pie? (Pull out one slice.) This pie has an important lesson to teach us.
What can we say about the slice?
It’s (1) Like what it came from in substance, (2) It has the same flavor as the rest of the pie, (3) It looks pretty much the same as the pie, (3) It has the same ability to satisfy a hungry person.
How Are We Like That Slice of Pie?
We are like that slice of apple pie. We have been created by God. And the created thing – the piece of pie – is always like the creator – the pie.
And just as the painting tells us something about the painter, and the song tells us something about the composer, and the baby tells us something about the parents,
In a similar way we are like the God who created us.
And like the slice of pie, God holds us in existence just as the piece needs the source, just as the source needs the piece to achieve the pie’s purpose, that is, to satisfy, delight, enthrall.
What We’re Not
What else does the analogy or comparison say about us on this Christmas Eve (Morning)?
Fundamentally, it says we’re not just a bag of skin filled with bones and muscle and organs.
So then, how can we be sure that we are in fact a “slice of the pie,” a slice of God, so to speak?
And that is what Christmas is all about. We can be sure we’re a slice of the pie because of three reasons.
What We Are
First, God told us we are: he created us out of nothing and created us in his very own image, that is, he made us like himself. He loved us in creating us and wants us to be part of him.
Second, God sent his son to connect the slice to the pie. It’s as if the slice wandered far from the pie and forgot where it came from. By becoming one with us – as slice – and forgiving us our sins, he’s brought us back to God, back to the pie.
Third, the angel called Jesus, Emmanuel, which means “God-with-us.” That no matter where this slice of pie would go, Jesus as Emmanuel would with us because he is now part of our spirit.
Application
What’s that mean for us? We’ve been created, saved from our sins, linked to the pie AND we’re a slice of the pie for others to enjoy.
Thus, we are godly and we can do godly things: we have the flavor to lift people up, to make them smile, to create a sense of community.
We have the appearance of God: we can be God’s mercy and forgiveness when others have sinned, God’s clarity and understanding when others are confused.
We have the ability to satisfy as God satisfies: that is, we have the answers to ultimate and important questions regarding why are we here on earth? What does life really mean? Where is my life headed? What will heaven be like?
Conclusion
May every slice of apple pie we ever eat remind us of Christmas and the joy that is ours knowing we’re a son or daughter of God.
And like the old Jefferson’s sit come of many years ago where the theme song was: “We’ve finally got a piece of the pie-ie-ie,” I’d say we are a piece of the pie, where and the pie is God and Jesus’ birth helps us understand the mystery of being God for others.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Weekly MESSAGE for December 17, 2006: Jesus, More Than a Small Red Berry
December 17, 2006
Dear Friend,
Now I’ve seen it all. The marketing campaigns seem to get crazier each year. Try this one on for size.
This year you can see in magazines an ad for Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, in which a soda bottle is jauntily decorated with a sprig of holly. The rest of the page is given over to a carol entitled: “We Wish You a Merry Cranberry and a Lemon-Lime New Year. Lime tidings we bring, of Lemon we sing. Good tidings of Cranberry and a Lemon-Lime New Year.”
You’ve guessed it; the infant Jesus has been replaced with a small red berry!
There are also signs that the Christmas midnight Mass could one day be a fond memory. Midnight Masses are still treasured celebrations in Catholic parish and at Our Lady of Grace. In many places they are celebrated at 7:00pm so that younger children can participate. But recently a few parishes, with the best intentions and in the hope of attracting more families, have scheduled the Midnight Mass in the late afternoon – often around 4:00pm on Christmas, as do we. “It’s fantastic” claim many, “we can now relax on Christmas and enjoy opening our gifts.”
What’s a believer to do? I wouldn’t venture an answer since I don’t have children nor do I need to entertain a house full of family. It gets increasingly difficult to keep our focus on the reason for the season. But focus we must and keeping Advent can help.
Happy 3rd Sunday of Advent.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Dear Friend,
Now I’ve seen it all. The marketing campaigns seem to get crazier each year. Try this one on for size.
This year you can see in magazines an ad for Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, in which a soda bottle is jauntily decorated with a sprig of holly. The rest of the page is given over to a carol entitled: “We Wish You a Merry Cranberry and a Lemon-Lime New Year. Lime tidings we bring, of Lemon we sing. Good tidings of Cranberry and a Lemon-Lime New Year.”
You’ve guessed it; the infant Jesus has been replaced with a small red berry!
There are also signs that the Christmas midnight Mass could one day be a fond memory. Midnight Masses are still treasured celebrations in Catholic parish and at Our Lady of Grace. In many places they are celebrated at 7:00pm so that younger children can participate. But recently a few parishes, with the best intentions and in the hope of attracting more families, have scheduled the Midnight Mass in the late afternoon – often around 4:00pm on Christmas, as do we. “It’s fantastic” claim many, “we can now relax on Christmas and enjoy opening our gifts.”
What’s a believer to do? I wouldn’t venture an answer since I don’t have children nor do I need to entertain a house full of family. It gets increasingly difficult to keep our focus on the reason for the season. But focus we must and keeping Advent can help.
Happy 3rd Sunday of Advent.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly THIS AND THAT for December 17, 2006: Refelction on These Weeks of Advent; What They Say to Us
This and That:
Reflection on These Weeks of Advent: What They Say to Us
Human beings cannot live without hope.
Unlike the animals, we are blessed – or cursed – with the ability to think about the future and to fear our actions to shaping it. So essential is this to human life, that human beings cannot live without hope, without something to live for, without something to look forward to. To be without hope, to have nothing to live for, is to surrender to death in despair. But we can find all sorts of things to live for and we can hope for almost anything: for some measure of success or security or for the realization of some more or less modest ambition; for our children, that they might be saved from our mistakes and sufferings and find a better life than we have known; for a better world, throwing ourselves into politics or medicine or technology so that future generations might be better off. Not all these forms of hope are selfish; indeed, they have given dignity and purpose to the lives of countless generations.
But one of the reasons why we read the Old Testament during Advent is to learn what to hope for. The people of the Old Testament had the courage to hope for big things: that the desert would be turned into fertile land; that their scattered and divided people would eventually be gathered again; that the blind would see, the deaf hear, the lame walk; that not only their own people, but all the peoples of the earth, would be united in the blessings of everlasting peace. Clearly, their hopes were no different from ours or from any human being’s: lasting peace, tranquil lives, sufficiency of food, and end to suffering, pain and misery.
Thus we hope for the same things as the Old Testament people, for their hopes are not yet realized. But we differ from them in two ways. First, the coming of Jesus in history, as a partial fulfillment of God’s promises, immeasurably confirms and strengthens our hope. Secondly, we differ from the Old Testament people because Jesus has revealed to us that God is not afar off, but is actually already in our midst, hence the importance in the Advent liturgy of the figures of John the Baptist and of Mary. Because they recognized the new situation, they serve as models for the Church in discerning the presence of our Savior in the world.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Reflection on These Weeks of Advent: What They Say to Us
Human beings cannot live without hope.
Unlike the animals, we are blessed – or cursed – with the ability to think about the future and to fear our actions to shaping it. So essential is this to human life, that human beings cannot live without hope, without something to live for, without something to look forward to. To be without hope, to have nothing to live for, is to surrender to death in despair. But we can find all sorts of things to live for and we can hope for almost anything: for some measure of success or security or for the realization of some more or less modest ambition; for our children, that they might be saved from our mistakes and sufferings and find a better life than we have known; for a better world, throwing ourselves into politics or medicine or technology so that future generations might be better off. Not all these forms of hope are selfish; indeed, they have given dignity and purpose to the lives of countless generations.
But one of the reasons why we read the Old Testament during Advent is to learn what to hope for. The people of the Old Testament had the courage to hope for big things: that the desert would be turned into fertile land; that their scattered and divided people would eventually be gathered again; that the blind would see, the deaf hear, the lame walk; that not only their own people, but all the peoples of the earth, would be united in the blessings of everlasting peace. Clearly, their hopes were no different from ours or from any human being’s: lasting peace, tranquil lives, sufficiency of food, and end to suffering, pain and misery.
Thus we hope for the same things as the Old Testament people, for their hopes are not yet realized. But we differ from them in two ways. First, the coming of Jesus in history, as a partial fulfillment of God’s promises, immeasurably confirms and strengthens our hope. Secondly, we differ from the Old Testament people because Jesus has revealed to us that God is not afar off, but is actually already in our midst, hence the importance in the Advent liturgy of the figures of John the Baptist and of Mary. Because they recognized the new situation, they serve as models for the Church in discerning the presence of our Savior in the world.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly HOMILY for December 17, 2006: Do What You Do Only Better
3rd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
December 17, 2006
Do What You Do, Only Better
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Experiences with You
This past week, I met with a man who is a former Marine.
He shared his experience in the Vietnam War and how his life has been since then. He has also talked about the anxiety that he and his wife are feeling right at the moment for their son who is now a Marine serving in Iraq.
That conversation last week led me to think of other talks I’ve had.
I recall sessions I have had with groups of parents, both here and in my former parishes.
These meetings are usually parent preparation sessions for First Eucharist, First Reconciliation, or Confirmation of their children.
What I remember almost always about these sessions is looking out and seeing how stressed and tired many of you look at those gatherings.
“What Should We Do?”
So, this past Tuesday morning, as I was focusing on these two experiences – the Marine and parent meetings – I started connecting them with today’s Gospel passage.
John the Baptist has been telling the people to prepare for the coming of the Savior. And the people begin asking him: “What should we do?”
To the crowds or people in general, John simply answers: “If you have enough clothing and food, share something with those who do not have enough.”
To the tax collectors, John simply answers: “Be honest and don’t collect any more tax than you should.”
And when some soldiers ask, “What should we do?” John answers: “Be respectful of people and don’t bully them.”
Now, notice the consistency in John’s answers. He doesn’t ask any of the groups to do anything outrageous, like giving away their life savings or quitting their jobs.
He simply asks them to do well what they are already doing – and to do it ethically, morally, and with care and respect for other people.
And the bottom line for John is that in doing well what we already do, we prepare for the coming of Jesus into our lives. It’s a simple though profound insight.
The Baptist and I
I can readily identify with what John the Baptist says to the different groups of people.
John is (1) Taking people where they are, that is, where they are in their stations of life with their beliefs and their responsibilities. And in that acceptance of where they are, (2) He is assuming their basic goodness and sincerity.
And my point today is that this is what I believe our approach as a Church, as priests, or as the faithful should be. It is the approach or attitude I feel when I meet with individuals or groups like the Marine or parents at Sacramental Preparation sessions.
Conversely, I believe it is inappropriate for us as a Church, as priests, or as individual Catholics to beat up on one another – and we do, do that!
To site one concrete example that touches us all, it is inappropriate for us to put others down because we see them as not conforming 100% to what we see as the teachings of the Church or the way of the Gospel.
In our Catholic Church today, there are some who use the term “Cafeteria Catholics” to describe other Catholics whom they see as not agreeing with or living out everything that the Church teaches.
This term is, in effect, a put-down and I believe it is a very inappropriate expression.
The truth is that all of us have some question or doubt or disagreement or inconsistency in our faith life. So, let’s just accept that as where that person is coming from and follow the respectful approach of John the Baptist today and respecting them in that very place.
We need to understand that all of us – myself included – are on a faith journey doing our best or at times muddling through to follow the way of the Lord.
In our best moments we hope – again, myself included – that we offer something to help one another grow a bit in our faith as parents, spouses, children, teens, friends, employers, citizens, etc.
And that’s exactly the kind of counsel that John the Baptist offers us today. But always, we do this with a basic respect for one another.
Never should we put one another down. Never should we use terms that stereotype others and in effect make them less than us, terms like “Cafeteria Catholics.”
Conclusion
I am struck by John’s approach today as a response to folks asking “What shall we do to prepare for the coming of Christ into our lives?”
And his response is: (1) Taking people where they are and (2) Standing on a position of respect and openness toward them.
It’s interesting that in doing so, you, like John, not only help bring that person to faith, but you also prepare for the coming of Jesus more deeply into your own life and in the life of this parish community.
Our Lady of Grace
December 17, 2006
Do What You Do, Only Better
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Experiences with You
This past week, I met with a man who is a former Marine.
He shared his experience in the Vietnam War and how his life has been since then. He has also talked about the anxiety that he and his wife are feeling right at the moment for their son who is now a Marine serving in Iraq.
That conversation last week led me to think of other talks I’ve had.
I recall sessions I have had with groups of parents, both here and in my former parishes.
These meetings are usually parent preparation sessions for First Eucharist, First Reconciliation, or Confirmation of their children.
What I remember almost always about these sessions is looking out and seeing how stressed and tired many of you look at those gatherings.
“What Should We Do?”
So, this past Tuesday morning, as I was focusing on these two experiences – the Marine and parent meetings – I started connecting them with today’s Gospel passage.
John the Baptist has been telling the people to prepare for the coming of the Savior. And the people begin asking him: “What should we do?”
To the crowds or people in general, John simply answers: “If you have enough clothing and food, share something with those who do not have enough.”
To the tax collectors, John simply answers: “Be honest and don’t collect any more tax than you should.”
And when some soldiers ask, “What should we do?” John answers: “Be respectful of people and don’t bully them.”
Now, notice the consistency in John’s answers. He doesn’t ask any of the groups to do anything outrageous, like giving away their life savings or quitting their jobs.
He simply asks them to do well what they are already doing – and to do it ethically, morally, and with care and respect for other people.
And the bottom line for John is that in doing well what we already do, we prepare for the coming of Jesus into our lives. It’s a simple though profound insight.
The Baptist and I
I can readily identify with what John the Baptist says to the different groups of people.
John is (1) Taking people where they are, that is, where they are in their stations of life with their beliefs and their responsibilities. And in that acceptance of where they are, (2) He is assuming their basic goodness and sincerity.
And my point today is that this is what I believe our approach as a Church, as priests, or as the faithful should be. It is the approach or attitude I feel when I meet with individuals or groups like the Marine or parents at Sacramental Preparation sessions.
Conversely, I believe it is inappropriate for us as a Church, as priests, or as individual Catholics to beat up on one another – and we do, do that!
To site one concrete example that touches us all, it is inappropriate for us to put others down because we see them as not conforming 100% to what we see as the teachings of the Church or the way of the Gospel.
In our Catholic Church today, there are some who use the term “Cafeteria Catholics” to describe other Catholics whom they see as not agreeing with or living out everything that the Church teaches.
This term is, in effect, a put-down and I believe it is a very inappropriate expression.
The truth is that all of us have some question or doubt or disagreement or inconsistency in our faith life. So, let’s just accept that as where that person is coming from and follow the respectful approach of John the Baptist today and respecting them in that very place.
We need to understand that all of us – myself included – are on a faith journey doing our best or at times muddling through to follow the way of the Lord.
In our best moments we hope – again, myself included – that we offer something to help one another grow a bit in our faith as parents, spouses, children, teens, friends, employers, citizens, etc.
And that’s exactly the kind of counsel that John the Baptist offers us today. But always, we do this with a basic respect for one another.
Never should we put one another down. Never should we use terms that stereotype others and in effect make them less than us, terms like “Cafeteria Catholics.”
Conclusion
I am struck by John’s approach today as a response to folks asking “What shall we do to prepare for the coming of Christ into our lives?”
And his response is: (1) Taking people where they are and (2) Standing on a position of respect and openness toward them.
It’s interesting that in doing so, you, like John, not only help bring that person to faith, but you also prepare for the coming of Jesus more deeply into your own life and in the life of this parish community.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Weekly MESSAGE for December 10, 2006: Sunday Mass in the Life of the Believer
December 10, 2006
Dear Friend,
Did you know that Vatican officials have study days? On a recent one organized for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, on the occasion of the anniversary of the promulgation of a Vatican Constitution, the Pope sent the prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Francis Arinze, a message about the importance of Sunday worship.
The topic of the Study Day was, “Sunday Mass for the Sanctification of the Christian People” and Pope Benedict XVI in his message stated that it is urgent to emphasize “the sacredness of the Lord’s Day and the need to participate in Sunday Mass.”
The Pope stressed that, for the early Christians, participation in Sunday Mass “was the natural way to express their belonging to Christ, their communion with his Mystical Body, in the joyful hope of his glorious return.” This was manifested in a heroic way in the case of the martyrs of Abitene, who faced death exclaiming: “We cannot live without gathering on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist,” Benedict XVI said.
With Mass attendance numbers way down, it seems necessary to emphasize the sacredness of the Lord’s Day, inasmuch as the culture in which we live is often characterized by religious indifference and secularism. May the Lord’s Day regain its importance and be lived fully in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Dear Friend,
Did you know that Vatican officials have study days? On a recent one organized for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, on the occasion of the anniversary of the promulgation of a Vatican Constitution, the Pope sent the prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Francis Arinze, a message about the importance of Sunday worship.
The topic of the Study Day was, “Sunday Mass for the Sanctification of the Christian People” and Pope Benedict XVI in his message stated that it is urgent to emphasize “the sacredness of the Lord’s Day and the need to participate in Sunday Mass.”
The Pope stressed that, for the early Christians, participation in Sunday Mass “was the natural way to express their belonging to Christ, their communion with his Mystical Body, in the joyful hope of his glorious return.” This was manifested in a heroic way in the case of the martyrs of Abitene, who faced death exclaiming: “We cannot live without gathering on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist,” Benedict XVI said.
With Mass attendance numbers way down, it seems necessary to emphasize the sacredness of the Lord’s Day, inasmuch as the culture in which we live is often characterized by religious indifference and secularism. May the Lord’s Day regain its importance and be lived fully in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Weekly MESSAGE for December 10, 2006: A Season of Hope in a Culture of Death
This and That:
A Season of Hope in a Culture of Death
Donald DeMarco, a philosophy professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary (my old Alma Mater) has investigated the dysfunctional theories and lasting legacies that are so prevalent in our culture today in his new book “Architects of the Culture of Death.” He recently shared how facing the real challenges in life, and not following the path of least resistance, is the way to live authentically and combat the culture of death. The Advent Season is a time of great hope and the Culture of Life.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Q: Some tend to blame the 1960s for all of the current troubles in society. In hindsight, did the ‘60s reflect the culmination of a logical train of events and ideas?
DeMarco: The ‘60s represented, among other things, a sexual revolution in the sense of separating sex from responsibility; this may more properly be viewed as a devolution. It also represented a rejection of authority, including a rejection of fatherhood – the cultural notion as well as the religious notion of fatherhood. The views of Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are very much in evidence during this period. It was also a period during which many religiously minded people were trying to create a synthesis between Christian and Marxist thought. It was believed, by some, that Christianity had the love while Marxism had the structure for social change. Christianity and Marxism, however, are really disjunctive belief systems and cannot be reconciled with each other. Indeed, the ‘60s was a tumultuous period and represented the convergence of the thought of a number of the “architects” we have treated. But it did not provide the genesis of the problem. Rather, it was the fruition, if one can use that term, of the problem. There are roots that go back to the Great Wars and even to the Enlightenment period – when man [sic] began to think that he could live very well without God or religion. Albert Camus’ phrase continues to haunt the modern world and man’s pretense to self-sufficiency: “Why did the Enlightenment lead to the blackout?”
Q: How is it that the “architects of the culture of death” continue to enjoy a high level of respect in the popular culture?
DeMarco: I believe the essential appeal that our 23 architects have – and it is an appeal that was operative right from the beginning – is that they offer the world the promise of an easier life. The path of least resistance, or the short cut, has always had great appeal. The modern world would love to separate death from life and enjoy life without death. This is the promise of the false Messiahs, whose message is more religious than most people seem to realize. Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud and others have an Old Testamentary kind of righteous anger. They are surely moralists. And they propose to bring about a better world than the one we have grown weary of. Ortega y Gasset wrote a wonderfully prescient work in 1931 called “The Revolt of the Masses.” One of my favorite phrases from that work, which contains no end of memorable phrases, is “the sovereignty of the unqualified.” Ortega was pointing out that the social pyramid was being inverted – that the qualified people were deposed to the bottom, while the unqualified masses had ascended to the top and assumed control of culture. We now live in a mass culture with mass taste, mass standards and standardized mass living. Philosophy and religion are regarded with deep suspicion. Wisdom is assumed to be either non-existent or unattainable. Media entertainment is just that – a distraction from reality, but hardly ever enlightening. Ours is a very superficial culture and we are in love with the unholy triad of immediacy, expediency and simplicity. We allow ourselves to be influenced by the kind of incomplete, poorly thought out philosophies that we find among the architects of death. It is easy for anyone to float downstream – even a dead man can do that. But to swim against the current, to discover our authentic identity as loving human beings, takes effort, courage and virtue in many forms. The media continue to lull us to sleep, dangling before our eyes the enticements of early retirement, financial independence, a reduced workweek, exotic vacation packages, material ease and a thousand other forms of somnolence that represent the comfort of death more than the energy of life. And so, we are easily exploited by bad philosophies.
Q: If the culture of death rests on a fragmented view of the person and the eclipse of God, as you note, what does the culture of life rest on? What hope is there for the future?
DeMarco: The obvious answer is that the culture of life rests on its citizens being unified persons and establishing authentic relationships with God and neighbor. The answer is obvious enough, but the implementation or the bringing it about is quite something else. We need inspiration to accept the real challenges of life. Difficulty ought not be daunting. The English poet John Keats is truly a heroic figure. In a letter to his siblings back home in British Isles, he explained how we need difficulties in order to rise to the task and find out who we really are. “Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is,” he wrote, “to school an intelligence and make it a soul? As various as the lives of men are – so various become their souls, and thus God makes individual beings.” Keats was living in exile in Rome and dying at age 23 of tuberculosis. Despite his early death, he left for posterity some remarkable and insightful and beautiful poetry. We must pay more attention to people like Keats and less to the Howard Sterns of the world. If there is one thing I would like readers to take from our book it is the primary significance of anthropological realism. All this means is that we must understand realistically, without tempting illusions, what it means to be a human being and then find the courage to live in the light of that understanding, which is to live authentically. What is a human being? He is a person who is simultaneously a unique individual and a communal being with loving responsibilities toward his neighbors. In this dynamic tension between the poles of individuality and communality emerges a real person who can form good marriages and assist in providing the basis for a better society. When Fyodor Dostoevsky submitted his great novel, “Crime and Punishment,” he appended the following note: “This is the story of a university student whose mind is infected with incomplete ideas that float on the wind.” The culture of life is based on complete ideas of the human person. John Paul II’s personalism is a good place to begin if we want a better understanding of what it means to be a human person. And as challenging as it may be to live as a complete human being, this challenge is necessary if we are to avoid the enticements of the culture of death and live in accordance with the principles of the culture of life.
A Season of Hope in a Culture of Death
Donald DeMarco, a philosophy professor at Holy Apostles College and Seminary (my old Alma Mater) has investigated the dysfunctional theories and lasting legacies that are so prevalent in our culture today in his new book “Architects of the Culture of Death.” He recently shared how facing the real challenges in life, and not following the path of least resistance, is the way to live authentically and combat the culture of death. The Advent Season is a time of great hope and the Culture of Life.
Fondly,
Father Nick Amato
Q: Some tend to blame the 1960s for all of the current troubles in society. In hindsight, did the ‘60s reflect the culmination of a logical train of events and ideas?
DeMarco: The ‘60s represented, among other things, a sexual revolution in the sense of separating sex from responsibility; this may more properly be viewed as a devolution. It also represented a rejection of authority, including a rejection of fatherhood – the cultural notion as well as the religious notion of fatherhood. The views of Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are very much in evidence during this period. It was also a period during which many religiously minded people were trying to create a synthesis between Christian and Marxist thought. It was believed, by some, that Christianity had the love while Marxism had the structure for social change. Christianity and Marxism, however, are really disjunctive belief systems and cannot be reconciled with each other. Indeed, the ‘60s was a tumultuous period and represented the convergence of the thought of a number of the “architects” we have treated. But it did not provide the genesis of the problem. Rather, it was the fruition, if one can use that term, of the problem. There are roots that go back to the Great Wars and even to the Enlightenment period – when man [sic] began to think that he could live very well without God or religion. Albert Camus’ phrase continues to haunt the modern world and man’s pretense to self-sufficiency: “Why did the Enlightenment lead to the blackout?”
Q: How is it that the “architects of the culture of death” continue to enjoy a high level of respect in the popular culture?
DeMarco: I believe the essential appeal that our 23 architects have – and it is an appeal that was operative right from the beginning – is that they offer the world the promise of an easier life. The path of least resistance, or the short cut, has always had great appeal. The modern world would love to separate death from life and enjoy life without death. This is the promise of the false Messiahs, whose message is more religious than most people seem to realize. Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud and others have an Old Testamentary kind of righteous anger. They are surely moralists. And they propose to bring about a better world than the one we have grown weary of. Ortega y Gasset wrote a wonderfully prescient work in 1931 called “The Revolt of the Masses.” One of my favorite phrases from that work, which contains no end of memorable phrases, is “the sovereignty of the unqualified.” Ortega was pointing out that the social pyramid was being inverted – that the qualified people were deposed to the bottom, while the unqualified masses had ascended to the top and assumed control of culture. We now live in a mass culture with mass taste, mass standards and standardized mass living. Philosophy and religion are regarded with deep suspicion. Wisdom is assumed to be either non-existent or unattainable. Media entertainment is just that – a distraction from reality, but hardly ever enlightening. Ours is a very superficial culture and we are in love with the unholy triad of immediacy, expediency and simplicity. We allow ourselves to be influenced by the kind of incomplete, poorly thought out philosophies that we find among the architects of death. It is easy for anyone to float downstream – even a dead man can do that. But to swim against the current, to discover our authentic identity as loving human beings, takes effort, courage and virtue in many forms. The media continue to lull us to sleep, dangling before our eyes the enticements of early retirement, financial independence, a reduced workweek, exotic vacation packages, material ease and a thousand other forms of somnolence that represent the comfort of death more than the energy of life. And so, we are easily exploited by bad philosophies.
Q: If the culture of death rests on a fragmented view of the person and the eclipse of God, as you note, what does the culture of life rest on? What hope is there for the future?
DeMarco: The obvious answer is that the culture of life rests on its citizens being unified persons and establishing authentic relationships with God and neighbor. The answer is obvious enough, but the implementation or the bringing it about is quite something else. We need inspiration to accept the real challenges of life. Difficulty ought not be daunting. The English poet John Keats is truly a heroic figure. In a letter to his siblings back home in British Isles, he explained how we need difficulties in order to rise to the task and find out who we really are. “Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is,” he wrote, “to school an intelligence and make it a soul? As various as the lives of men are – so various become their souls, and thus God makes individual beings.” Keats was living in exile in Rome and dying at age 23 of tuberculosis. Despite his early death, he left for posterity some remarkable and insightful and beautiful poetry. We must pay more attention to people like Keats and less to the Howard Sterns of the world. If there is one thing I would like readers to take from our book it is the primary significance of anthropological realism. All this means is that we must understand realistically, without tempting illusions, what it means to be a human being and then find the courage to live in the light of that understanding, which is to live authentically. What is a human being? He is a person who is simultaneously a unique individual and a communal being with loving responsibilities toward his neighbors. In this dynamic tension between the poles of individuality and communality emerges a real person who can form good marriages and assist in providing the basis for a better society. When Fyodor Dostoevsky submitted his great novel, “Crime and Punishment,” he appended the following note: “This is the story of a university student whose mind is infected with incomplete ideas that float on the wind.” The culture of life is based on complete ideas of the human person. John Paul II’s personalism is a good place to begin if we want a better understanding of what it means to be a human person. And as challenging as it may be to live as a complete human being, this challenge is necessary if we are to avoid the enticements of the culture of death and live in accordance with the principles of the culture of life.
Weekly HOMILY for December 10, 2006: Getting Out from Behind a Closed Door
2nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C
Our Lady of Grace
December 10, 2006
Getting Out from Behind a Closed Door
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Back in the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany, there was a famous Lutheran pastor and theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer spoke out strongly against the atrocities of the Nazis. As a result, he was arrested, imprisoned and eventually executed.
Shortly before Christmas in 1943, he wrote a letter from his prison cell. In the letter, he says this.
“Life in a prison cell reminds me a great deal of Advent. One waits and hopes and putters around.
“but in the end, what we do is of little consequence. The door is shut, and it can only be opened from the outside.”
Justice with God
Bonhoeffer gives a wonderful insight into the human condition before the coming of Jesus.
In a sense, we human being were imprisoned in our own humanity. The door was shut and it could only be opened from the outside.
And that is precisely what Jesus did; he opened the door from the outside. Many of our Advent Scripture readings describe what Jesus was going to do in terms of justice.
They speak of Jesus as “The Lord of justice.” Here we are not talking about the kind of justice that a law court or the sheriff’s office can give.
Instead, the Scriptures are saying that the Savior will bring about a just or right relationship between God and humanity. Through this Savior, through Jesus, no longer are we frustrated in our search for meaning and purpose in life.
No longer are we unfulfilled in our desire for life, even life beyond death. Jesus has opened the door for us and forged a lasting communion between God and us.
He has fulfilled the deepest yearnings of the human heart. That is the justice, the just or right relationship that the Advent Scriptures foretell.
Justice on Earth
Now, there is also a second dimension to the justice of the Advent Season.
St. Peter, in today’s second reading, says: “We await new heavens and a new earth where the justice of God will reside.” The idea is that we need to do what we can to establish a just or right relationship between ourselves and all other persons on this earth.
Isaish in the first reading and John the Baptist in the Gospel use some images to describe this effort – filling in valleys and leveling mountains and making a straight road for our God and Savior. These images help to pinpoint the work of justice that we are to do.
For example, we are to fill in the valleys created by hunger and discrimination. Sharing food and other necessities with the needy and checking our attitudes or words of prejudice toward minorities – these efforts will help those in the valleys of life to rise to a more just and human standard.
Then, we are to level the mountains created by consumerism and waste. Trying to live more simply, giving away clothing that we have not used in the past year, recycling paper and glass and whatever we can, not wasting food and electricity and water – these are simple ways of lowering the mountains of waste and maybe allocating more to those who do not have the basics.
And finally, we are to straighten the roads that have been made crooked by misplaced values. Perhaps figuring out a way of putting more resources into our schools and the teachers who educate our children especially in a day when millions go to athletes and entertainers – I suggest this as one way of straightening out some of the winding and twisted roads of our society.
Conclusion
So, Jesus’ coming to this earth fulfilled our deepest dreams and brought us a just and right relationship with God.
We now need to extend among all peoples the justice that the Lord brought. That work of justice is our best way to prepare for the Lord’s Second Coming on earth.
Our Lady of Grace
December 10, 2006
Getting Out from Behind a Closed Door
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Back in the 1930’s and 1940’s in Germany, there was a famous Lutheran pastor and theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer spoke out strongly against the atrocities of the Nazis. As a result, he was arrested, imprisoned and eventually executed.
Shortly before Christmas in 1943, he wrote a letter from his prison cell. In the letter, he says this.
“Life in a prison cell reminds me a great deal of Advent. One waits and hopes and putters around.
“but in the end, what we do is of little consequence. The door is shut, and it can only be opened from the outside.”
Justice with God
Bonhoeffer gives a wonderful insight into the human condition before the coming of Jesus.
In a sense, we human being were imprisoned in our own humanity. The door was shut and it could only be opened from the outside.
And that is precisely what Jesus did; he opened the door from the outside. Many of our Advent Scripture readings describe what Jesus was going to do in terms of justice.
They speak of Jesus as “The Lord of justice.” Here we are not talking about the kind of justice that a law court or the sheriff’s office can give.
Instead, the Scriptures are saying that the Savior will bring about a just or right relationship between God and humanity. Through this Savior, through Jesus, no longer are we frustrated in our search for meaning and purpose in life.
No longer are we unfulfilled in our desire for life, even life beyond death. Jesus has opened the door for us and forged a lasting communion between God and us.
He has fulfilled the deepest yearnings of the human heart. That is the justice, the just or right relationship that the Advent Scriptures foretell.
Justice on Earth
Now, there is also a second dimension to the justice of the Advent Season.
St. Peter, in today’s second reading, says: “We await new heavens and a new earth where the justice of God will reside.” The idea is that we need to do what we can to establish a just or right relationship between ourselves and all other persons on this earth.
Isaish in the first reading and John the Baptist in the Gospel use some images to describe this effort – filling in valleys and leveling mountains and making a straight road for our God and Savior. These images help to pinpoint the work of justice that we are to do.
For example, we are to fill in the valleys created by hunger and discrimination. Sharing food and other necessities with the needy and checking our attitudes or words of prejudice toward minorities – these efforts will help those in the valleys of life to rise to a more just and human standard.
Then, we are to level the mountains created by consumerism and waste. Trying to live more simply, giving away clothing that we have not used in the past year, recycling paper and glass and whatever we can, not wasting food and electricity and water – these are simple ways of lowering the mountains of waste and maybe allocating more to those who do not have the basics.
And finally, we are to straighten the roads that have been made crooked by misplaced values. Perhaps figuring out a way of putting more resources into our schools and the teachers who educate our children especially in a day when millions go to athletes and entertainers – I suggest this as one way of straightening out some of the winding and twisted roads of our society.
Conclusion
So, Jesus’ coming to this earth fulfilled our deepest dreams and brought us a just and right relationship with God.
We now need to extend among all peoples the justice that the Lord brought. That work of justice is our best way to prepare for the Lord’s Second Coming on earth.
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