Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Daily HOMILY for December 23, 2014: Tuesday of the 4th Week of Advent


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Tuesday 4th Advent
St. Luke’s Institute
December 23, 2014
INSIGHTS ON ZECHARIAH ++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Z can B key 2 understand how R faith works
Ø  2 insights we might have easily missed in the Gospel account are worth noting
ZECHARIAH REFLECTS +++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  When the angel Gabriel tells Z that Elizabeth will give birth to a child, at first, he doesn’t believe
Ø  Faith isn’t strong enuf 2 trust words of messenger
Ø  What’s contributing 2 that lack of faith & trust is that he & Eliz have given up trying 2 have child & they now advanced in years
Ø  Becz of Z’s lack of faith, Gabriel says that he’ll B mute, unable to speak
Ø  1st insight: rendering Zechariah mute not a punishment, rather opportunity 4 him 2 reflect
Ø  He needs 2 reflect on his faith & come 2 trust G more & being unable 2 speak will help him do this
ZECHARIAH CONFIRMS ++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  In Gospel, Eliz gives birth 2 child that was foretold
Ø  Of course issue of naming the child arises again
Ø  Elizabeth says that the child’s name will be John
Ø  1- Recall this is name Gab told Z to give the child
Ø  2- But there’s no indication that Z ever told Eliz
Ø  So Eliz’s naming child John – w/o having learned it from her husband – is another indication of hand of G at work in naming. Who told her? J’s mute!
Ø  Notice, that when Zechariah confirms the name, immediately, he’s able to speak
Ø  So the 2nd insight is that in 9 months of being mute, Zechariah’s reflected and grown in faith…
Ø  And his confirming the name John is, in effect, an act of faith on his part regarding the name
Ø  Thus, with faith he is now able to speak
APPLICATION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  1-Perhaps, as we hear scripture passages and verses of the Psalms each day, we lack faith to respond to the promises being made to us
Ø  2-Perhaps we need times of muteness and silence in order to ponder, chew, digest how God is operating in R own lives. Put hearing 2 experience
Ø  3-Perhaps as Xmas Eve approaches, the silence of Advent can burst into profound act of faith 4 us
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Experiencing that would be a Christmas like no other
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Daily HOMILY for December 22, 2014: Monday of the 4th Week of Advent


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Monday 4th Week Advent
St. Luke’s Institute
December 22, 2014
JOY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  Mary’s song, the Magnificat, which is the text for today’s Gospel, has been called a Canticle of Joy
Ø  It fulfills the 3-fold definition of joy:
Ø  (1) The settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life,
Ø  (2) The quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right,
Ø  (3) And the determined choice to praise God in every situation
MARY’S SONG OF JOY +++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  It is comforting to realize that the singing of this canticle by Christians has at times been considered subversive by dictators and repressive government regimes
Ø  Mary’s proclamation confirms that Christ’s coming and teaching can have a powerful impact even in the present
JOY OF RIGHTING WRONGS ++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  One of the persisting criticisms of Christians has always been that we are only interested in the future, the world to come,
Ø  And, consequently, there is an opening to preach acceptance of injustice now in view of eternal hope
Ø  Influential people, whether they be religious or political figures, who advocate class supremacy, racial prejudice, selfishness, or unbridled profit making, should not expect or find support among Christians
Ø  Our God, we are reminded, comes to confuse the proud, depose the mighty, and raise up the lowly
Ø  The coming of Christ, in practice however, should herald the introduction of concern for the lowly and the hungry in our world
Ø  Whether it does that or not, of course, depends on our willing cooperation with God’s desire for justice and compassion
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  It’s high time we get fully committed to the way God sees the world!
Ø  Doing so, Mary assures us, may be the best way to have the Savior born to us, as he was to her
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Daily HOMILY for December 17, 2014: Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Advent


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Wednesday 3rd Week of Advent
St. Luke’s Institute
December 17, 2014
SKIP THE GENEALOGY +++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  In our personal reading of scripture we are likely to skip over genealogies and assume there is nothing interesting in them
Ø  Matthew’s genealogy, however, tells a different story
Ø  In this list of names, we can see God’s grace at work in ways we might not expect
OR HEAR IT AGAIN +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  The patriarchs are the first group of people in the genealogy
Ø  Note not everyone in that list is noble or saintly
Ø  Jacob, we know, stole his father’s blessing
Ø  Israel’s kings make up the second group
Ø  The kings reflect the best and the worst of Israel
Ø  Among those listed are idolaters, murderers, and adulterers, not least of which would be King David
Ø  Unknown people make up the third group
Ø  What’s worthy of note is that God is at work in people others might consider forgettable
Ø  Finally, the women sprinkled throughout the genealogy have marital histories that include scandal or scorn
GRACE AT WORK IN THE GENEALOGY ++++++++++++
Ø  Yes, Jesus indeed has an interesting family tree
Ø  If it were ours, my guess is that we would not want it published
Ø  What’s important to understand is that in this family tree we see how God’s grace is at work through saint and sinner,
Ø  As well as the saint and sinner within each of us
CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ø  It invites us to see how God’s grace works through sinners and the unknown around us, and even through us, in unexpected ways
Ø  SLI is the kind of place where we can have that transforming insight every day

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