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

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Tuesday 4^th 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  1^st 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 2^nd 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 4^th 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 3^rd 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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