HOMILY for January 1, 2017: Christmas, Cycle A

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Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, Cycle A

Terranova Hermitage

January 1, 2016

Theme: New Year’s ResolutionsBy (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

Erma’s Resolutions  

Some of us, maybe many of us here will remember Erma Bombeck.

Erma was a well known humorist and brought smiles to many faces.  She wrote about fifteen books and did many newspaper columns.

Erma Bombeck died in 1996.  Well, one year she came up with a list of six New Year’s resolutions and they go like this.:

1.    I’m going to clean this dump just as soon as the kids grow up.

2.    I will go to no doctor whose office plants have died.

3.    I’m going to follow my husband’s suggestion to put a little excitement into my life by living within our budget.

4.    I’m going to apply for a hardship scholarship to Weight Watchers.

5.    I will never lend my car to anyone I have given birth to.

6.    And, finally, just like last year, I am going to remember that my children need love most when they deserve it least.

Mary

With all of Erma’s wit, she ends with a very insightful resolution.

That resolution – about loving her children when they deserve it least – shows some thoughtful reflection.  Erma must have reflected on her role as a mother and discerned what she was called to do.

In today’s gospel, Mary is also presented as a person who reflects.  Saint Luke says that after she has given birth to Jesus, “Mary treasures all these things and reflects on them in her heart.”

Well, the example of Mary calls us to the same reflective spirit in our own lives.  This can be especially appropriate on New Year’s Day.

So, if we are inclined to make some New Year’s resolutions, I recommend that we reflect on the three dimensions of time – on the past, the future, and the present.  And let’s do it in that order – the past, then the future, and finally the present and see what resolutions are appropriate for us.

Resolutions: The Past

First, the past.  Maybe we need to resolve to stop saying things like “If only I had done this” or “If only I had not said that.”

Usually, our “if onlys” are a waste of time and energy.  We cannot bring back or re-do the past.

On the other hand, if our regret is based on an appropriate feeling of guilt, then let’s resolve to ask for forgiveness from the person involved or from God.  In this way, we bring the past to completion and let the past be past.

Resolutions: The Future

Then, the future.  Maybe we need to resolve to stop saying things like “What if this happens” or “What if he does that.”

Usually our “what ifs,” like our “if onlys,” are a waste of time and energy.  They are almost always focused on something in the future that we cannot control.

So maybe we need to resolve to cut out all the “what ifs” and instead to follow Mary’s example and trust in God about the future – to trust that God will be with us through whatever happens.  Maybe this resolution will enable us to approach the future with less anxiety and with more peace.

Resolutions: The Present

And that takes us to the last dimension of time, the most important, the present.   Maybe we need to resolve to be present to the present – to really be present to the person we are with or the work we are doing at any given moment.

I think this may be the most important resolution for us today.  Our Smartphones – like my iPhone – they enable us to be connected with other people and with other events and with news all the time.

They are a great help, but, but we may find ourselves texting or talking with someone else and not communicating with those sitting right at the same table with us.  So maybe we need to resolve to be present to who and what is present.

Maybe we need to resolve to find how God is coming to us right here and now.  And maybe we can find our peace and joy and fulfillment right there – by being present to the present.

Conclusion

So, with those thought, Happy New Year!

HOMILY for December 25, 2016: Christmas, Cycle C

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Christmas, Cycle C

December 25, 2012

Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air

The Difference Between Night and Day

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

When Night Ends

Some centuries ago, a wise old rabbi once asked his students how they could tell when night had ended and day was on its way back.

A student responded, “Could it be when you see an animal in the distance and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?”  The old rabbi answered, “No!”    

Another student said, “Could it be when you look at a tree in the distance and can tell whether it is a fig tree or a peace tree?”  And again the old rabbi answered, “No!”

Now the students were becoming frustrated.  “Well, then, when is it?”

The old rabbi pondered a moment and then gently said, “It is when you look on the face of any man or woman and see that he or she is your brother or sister.  Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time it is, it is still night for you.”

O Holy Night

Tonight, we celebrate a very holy night.

We celebrate a night that the famous Christmas Carol address as O Holy Night.  And we call this night Holy because what happens on his night marks or intends to mark the end of night.

The birth of Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the son of God, the Word of God taking on human flesh – however we state it – is the moment when “day is on its way back,” to use the words of the rabbi in the story.  

In Jesus Christ night is ending and day is returning in several ways.

Day Returns: Brothers and Sisters

First, the infant in Bethlehem can be seen as embracing all human beings.

This little innocent child attracts and reaches out to the poor, lower class, uneducated shepherds.  And he also attracts and reaches out to the more affluent, upper class, educated wise men.

With his outstretched arms, Jesus wants to be loved and love everyone as a brother or sister.  With him, the day is on its way back for us also as we look on the face of man, woman, or child and see our oneness with them.

The words of O Holy Night express this very truth.

“Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is peace.”

Day Returns: Self-Worth

Secondly, the infant in Bethlehem manger also affirms the worth of every single one of us here tonight and everywhere.

God by taking on our humanity proclaims the inherent worth of each person.  No longer do we need to look for self-worth or self-esteem in any other person, in any other place, or in any other object.

The Son of God in this little human body has fused the divine with the human and the night of self-doubt and self-deprecation, feeling bad about ourselves is over.  

The day has come to reverence the value of each person, from our first moment in the womb to our last breath before meeting God face-to-face.

And again, the words of O Holy Night capture this truth.

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

Day Returns: Hope

And finally, the infant in Bethlehem so importantly gives us hope.

Sometimes we all – myself included – can grow weary trying to keep up with the stresses of everyday life.  We can feel weary as we look at the extent of the problems facing our country and our world.

In the midst of this, this beautiful infant gives us the hope of “Emmanuel – God is with us.”  

He offers us the assurance of his presence each step of life’s way, sustaining us and guiding us until our personal night and darkness begins to end and our personal day and light start to come back.

And again, the words of O Holy Night lift up this hope.

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”   

Conclusion

So, the night begins to end and the day is on its way back.

The infant in Bethlehem enables us to:

Ø  See all persons as brothers and sisters

Ø  Lifts up our self-worth in a way that no one else and nothing else can do

Ø  And by gives us hope for life

That’s why we sing: “O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!”