Weekly HOMILY for December 23, 2012: 4th Sunday of Advent, Cycle C -- Receiving Instead of Giving

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4^th Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

Terranuova Hermitage

December 23, 2012      

 

Receiving Instead of Giving

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

Some years ago the comic strip For Better or For Worse had a humorous episode just before Christmas.

Mom and Dad and six-year-old April are shopping at the mall.  April is absolutely captivated by all the toys, the decorations, and the glitter.

“Look, Dad!  I want it for Christmas!  I want a ‘Wake-Up-Willy’ and a rocket sleigh!  An’ a real camera an’...an’…an’…”

  

“Whoa! Slow down,” he says, trying to put the breaks on the runaway request list. “The perfect time to make a point,” he thinks to himself, “April, Christmas is a time for giving!  There is more joy in giving to others and it far outweighs any other pleasure.”

April stops and without a blink, responds, “I know, Dad.  But somebody has to receive or there’d be nobody to give stuff to.”

Elizabeth and Mary

Little April, of course, has a lot of child-like, self-interest going on here.

But April also leads us to a good insight.  In truth, it is important for us to see ourselves first as receivers and that insight will have real effects on us as givers.

We know from the background of today’s gospel that Mary’s cousin Elizabeth is an older woman, older for at least those times.  She was probably in her 40s with an average lifespan about 50.

Elizabeth and her husband have had no children and now surprisingly she gets pregnant.  She sees this as a gift from God and knows that she is a receiver.

Mary is Elizabeth’s much younger cousin, just a teenager.  She doesn’t fully understand the angel’s message, but she trusts God and sees herself as receiving a gift from God.

So both Elizabeth and Mary see themselves as blessed by God – as receivers.  And, very significantly, seeing themselves as receivers moves them both to be givers and also shapes how they give to others.

Receivers First, Then Givers

This may be a different way of looking at things, but it is a valuable insight.

We need to live first as receivers, not exactly like April in the comic strip, but as receivers from God hands.  We need the awareness that ultimately, everything in our life is a gift from God.

If we acknowledge at least to ourselves that all we have received is from God and we can feel some gratitude for that, the that awareness of receiving will indeed shape our giving. 

Receiving Shaping Our Giving

For example, this awareness that first we are receivers will (1) Lead us to be attentive to others and to give what they really need. 

In the gospel, Mary gives her time and assistance to Elizabeth when her cousin really needed it. 

We might give our listening or empathy to a spouse or child or friend, and not just a sweater or whatever the item is, good in itself, but maybe not what the person most needs from us. 

The awareness that first we are receivers will also (2) Lead us to give without our ego needs getting in the way.

Again, in the gospel, Elizabeth praises and exalts Mary as greater than herself, even though Mary is much younger and much less significant in the eyes of others. 

We might give an apology or recognition to a son or daughter or an employee, without letting our need to be well thought of get in the way.

And the awareness that first we are receivers will also (3) Lead us to give with no expectation of return.

Mary gives her time to Elizabeth and Elizabeth gives praise to Mary – each of them doing this because they want to do it and it is the good thing to do and each of them expecting nothing in return. 

We might give care to our parents or a nice present to a friend because we want to do it and it is good to do and expect nothing in return.

 

Conclusion

So, it may sound surprising, but it seems correct to say that Christmas is first about receiving and our giving should  flow from that experience.

Elizabeth and Mary both realize that first, they have received from God and this leads them to give.  It also shapes their giving.

Our awareness that we also are first of all receivers will also lead us to give and it will shape our giving. 

It will stir us (1) To give what others really need, (2) To give without our ego getting in the way, and (3) To give with no expectation of return.

Daily HOMILY for December 19, 2012: Wednesday of 3rd Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

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Wednesday of 2^nd Advent

St. Luke Institute

December 19, 2012

SILENCE +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Today’s Advent readings make me wonder if that first Christmas could have happened the way we recall that it did without silent waiting?

PEOPLE IN SCRIPTURE +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Without the silent yearning of the centuries of hopeful anticipation of the people of Israel

Ø  Zechariah, when it is announced to him by the archangel that Elizabeth is going to have a baby, is struck down into silence by losing his power of speech

Ø  Elizabeth herself speaks only a few words that seem to be chosen carefully, to praise God and salute her blessed cousin, Mary

Ø  Joseph says absolutely nothing that’s recorded in the Gospel, talk about silence!

Ø  And Mary’s divine maternity is contingent upon what? Her quiet, docile, humble discipleship

Ø  It’s almost as though speech is completely useless in the face of the marvelous ways and manifestations of God

CAPTURING THE WONDER +++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  A stillness, a stillness captured so well by medieval and Renaissance artists, Bellini, DaVinci, Fra Angelico, as they portray the dramatic solitude in the silence at the moment of the Annunciation

Ø  All of these great personalities of Advent teach us the wonder of silence

Ø  They teach us of the necessity of stillness at the most pivotal moments of God’s breaking into our world

CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  We need to make to time to be still, to be silent, and to listen to the birthing in our midst of the Son of God

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Daily HOMILY for December 18, 2012: Tuesday of 3rd Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

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Tuesday Advent 3

St. Luke Institute

December 18, 2012

A PERFECT SITUATION +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary you wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her."

Ø  Family life is not a Thomas Kincade Christmas card

Ø  Many of our issues and challenges can't be solved with Father Knows Best-like sitcom simplicity

Ø  And Martha Stewart's idea of domestic perfection seems to be located in another galaxy far away from our own reality

AN IMPERFECT SITUATION +++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus’ birth is the cause of great turmoil and scandal to Joseph and Mary

Ø  Mary's unexpected pregnancy puts a great strain on the still new relationship between the Mary and her fiancé

Ø  But, with faith in God and trust in one another, the couple manages to work through it and create a loving home for one another and the child

JOSEPH HELPS CREATE HOPE ++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Every family knows some kind of situation that causes tension, disappointment, hurt and estrangement

Ø  Often holidays only exacerbate those situations

Ø  We’re invited today to resolve that Joseph will be who we will emulate for our family this Christmas

Ø  That we will make efforts to let go of our hurts

Ø  Make efforts to resolve the anger

Ø  And with God’s grace think of Joseph as a member of our small group sharing his consternation, hurts and anger, humbly yet joyfully

CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Today’s Advent prayer?

Ø  That Joseph may be a source of new insights, reconciliation, and welcome for ourselves as Christmas approaches

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Daily HOMILY for December 17, 2012: Monday of 3rd Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

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Monday of 3^rd Advent

St. Luke Institute

December 17, 2012

GOD AND HUMAN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  Matthew and all the evangelists take great pains to insure that their readers believe that Jesus was truly God and truly a human

Ø  This is why John, on the one hand, would say, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” and add immediately, “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”

Ø  Today Matthew weighs in with, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”

Ø  By his genealogy Matthew situates Jesus among the families of humanity according to the flesh, while still remaining God

GENEAOLOGY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø   This reading, a challenge for any lector, mentions the patriarchs and many of the welcomed and unpleasant characters of human history

Ø  Matthew’s point? That Jesus participates in our human generation and in our very nature

Ø  Thus Matthew includes individuals who had shocking carnal relations, for he writes “And Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar” or even plainer yet, “And David became the father of Solomon by Uriah’s wife.”

Ø  So we’ve got in Jesus’ lineage adulterers and murders!

Ø  By this means, the genealogy reveals that it is our very sinful nature that Christ himself comes to heal in the root by being born of it and sharing in it

Ø  It is the very nature – our very nature – that had fallen, revolted and plunged into inordinate desires

ASSURANCES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  So the genealogy assures me that when my nature flees God, Jesus takes hold of me

Ø  When I dash out and run away from God in revolt, Jesus stops me and holds me close

Ø  When the last thing I may want in my life is God, Jesus’ face in prayer or his words give me pause and enable me to return

Ø  In all these ways I am blocked from the downward spiral that can be my life

CHRISTMAS  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  So what we prepare to celebrate in Christ’s birth is a God who has entered fully into my life

Ø  It is that reality that gives me hope to start again today

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Weekly HOMILY for December 16, 2012: 3rd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C -- Choose Your Savior: John or Jesus?

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3^rd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

December 16, 2012

Terranuova Hermitage

 

Choose Your Savior: John or Jesus?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

John: Not a Disciple

Have you ever wondered why John the Baptist never became a disciple of Jesus?

No question, John respected Jesus.  He humbly said that he wasn’t even worthy to tie Jesus’ sandal straps.

John asserted that he should be baptized by Jesus and not vice versa.  He extolled Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away our sins.”

But with all of this, there is no evidence that John ever became a disciple.  In fact, John even sent someone to Jesus to ask if he really was the promised One of God.

So, again, the question: Why?  Why did John not become a disciple?  

Why?  Kingdom

The answer seems to lie in how John and Jesus each viewed the Kingdom of God.

In one respect, both John and Jesus preached the same message. “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is here in our midst.”

However, their idea of the Kingdom was very different.  John and Jesus both agreed that God would make his presence felt in the near future.

The idea of God becoming personally and immediately involved in the world was a common expectation of the time, but that is where the agreement between John and Jesus seems to end.

John and Kingdom

John the Baptist held a very traditional understanding of God’s Kingdom.

He believed that God would come to his people primarily as a judge, that God would separate the good from the bad – like the wheat from the chaff, as he says in today’s gospel.

God would reward the good and punish the bad.  God would include the good and exclude the bad from his Kingdom. 

And, God would successfully defeat all of the enemies of his people on this earth.  God’s coming and Kingdom would be triumphal and mighty.

Jesus and Kingdom

Now Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom of God was very different.

In fact, Jesus himself was the Kingdom and so it is in him as a person that we see the difference. 

No question, he would address evil and darkness. No question there would be an accounting for our personal behavior. 

What’s very different is Jesus’ way of accomplishing this and the kingdom is very different from John’s expectation.

For starters, Jesus comes to save, not to condemn.  He comes to invite, not to force by fear.

Jesus tends to understand where others are coming from, and he does not judge.  He relates with others and does not distance them.

In fact, Jesus even has lunch or dinner with those whose behavior or thinking is seen as sinful and wrong.  In short, he includes all and excludes no one.

So Jesus’ approach, his way of being the Kingdom of God, is very different from John’s expectation.  It’s little wonder that John does not become a disciple!

 

What Should We Do?

So, what do we and I do with all of this?

I cannot help but remark that both John’s and Jesus’ approach are present in Christianity today.  In fact, this probably accounts for much of the division and tension both between and within Christian churches of our time.

That’s all I want to say about that.  The real question for us is the one that the people in today’s Gospel ask. “What are we to do?” 

I suggest that whatever our vocation, job, or life situation is, we are all to embrace the Kingdom in basically the same way. 

We are to embrace it as we see it in Jesus.  This means, for example, that we are to draw to God adults who are not formally practicing faith or those whom we see as going in the wrong direction by engaging in respectful conversation about life and faith and not by forcing them with guilt and shame or diminishing them as persons.

We are to view a life of faith not just as fulfilling obligations and agreeing to teachings.  We are to see it also as a matter of relationship, community, empathy, charity and social justice.

We are to reach out and not leave a stone unturned for reconciliation – to forgive or be forgiven.  We are not to get stuck in our having to be right and the other person having to be wrong and therefore their having to come to us.

We are to include and never stop including within our family, our friendships, and even our Church.  We are not to exclude if, for no other reason than that it does no good for others or for ourselves.

Conclusion

One of our Catholic Scripture scholars remarks that John the Baptist urges repentance and conversion as a condition for communion with God.  Jesus practices communion as a prelude to a deep experience of God and God’s love.

All of this is something of the kingdom of God as we see it in Jesus.  Embracing this is what we are to do.        

Daily HOMILY for December 11, 2012: Tuesday of 2nd Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

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Tuesday of the 2^nd Week of Advent

St. Luke’s Institute

December 11, 2012

DISCOMFORT +++++++++++++++++++

Ø  In the course of our lives, we experience many forms of discomfort

Ø  We may be uncomfortable financially, finding it hard to cover all the bills

Ø  We may be uncomfortable physically, when we have broken a bone or have an intestinal virus

Ø  We may be uncomfortable relationally, as when we cannot resolve some conflict with another person

Ø  And we may be uncomfortable emotionally, as when we are filled with anxiety or overcome with loneliness

THE FEEL OF COMFORT +++++++++++++

Ø  It’s in the face of these human discomforts, the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah today: “Comfort, give comfort to my people”

Ø  The Lord brings a message of comfort to his people who have suffered now for too long

Ø  He proclaims that the people who are in exile will now be restored to their homeland, to Jerusalem

Ø  This word “comfort” is warm, consoling, and reassuring

Ø  In the gospel, Jesus shows himself as the source of comfort by tending even a single lost sheep

Ø  No one, not even the least, is unimportant in his eyes

CONCRETE COMFORTS +++++++++++++

Ø  Today, for us, Jesus continues to bring comfort

Ø  Jesus comforts us first by his presence

Ø  He is Emmanuel, God-with-us on each step of the journey of life

Ø  He comforts us by his guidance

Ø  He is the way and shows us the way to live and return to the Father

Ø  Jesus comforts us by his strength

Ø  He nourishes and strengthens us especially through the Eucharist

Ø  And he comforts us by his vision

Ø  He gives us hope that all forms of death can give way to new life

JESUS AS FULFILLMENT +++++++++++++

Ø  So, Isaiah so touchingly proclaims: “Comfort, give comfort to my people.”

Ø  Jesus now is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and our comfort in the journey of life

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Daily HOMILY for December 10, 2012: Monday of 2nd Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

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Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

St. Luke’s Institute

December 10, 2012

SINS RATHER THAN HEALING ++++++

·        In gospel, a poor, paralyzed man brought to Jesus by his friends / Cannot move or feel

·        And Jesus looks at him and says, “Your sins are forgiven”

·        Seems as if Jesus has missed the point

·        Friends have brought the man for healing

MISSED POINT? +++++++++++++++++++

·        Has Jesus missed the point?

·        Instead of healing, he’s communicating that there are things far worse and more crippling than physical ailments

·        Things like brokenness of our inner spirit

·        The alienation from God and from one another

·        The paralysis of not being able to hope

·        The blindness of not being able to see the goodness in others

·        The crippling of fear and anxiety

·        The lameness of self-rejection and lack of self-esteem

·        These afflictions are equally burdensome and, Jesus would say to us, far worse than the physical afflictions

NO RESTORE SPIRITS ++++++++++++++

·        Jesus comes to restore spirit to wholeness

·        To give us the unconditional love of God and assure us of our worth,

·        To break down the walls between US and others that our humanity can create

·        To bridge the gap between God and us that we alone cannot mend

·        To give inner peace based on union w/ G

·        To give vision, meaning & hope to our lives

ADVENT +++++++++++++++++++++++++

·        This is the Jesus whom Advent calls us to wait for and expect

·        This is the Jesus who’s breaking in our lives in our hearing

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Weekly HOMILY for December 9, 2012: 2nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C -- All Humanity Will See the Salvation of God

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2^nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

December 9, 2012

Terranuova Hermitage, Airville, PA

 

“All Humanity Will See the Salvation of God.”

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato  

Introductions

Hear ye, hear ye … In the days when Mr. A was Secretary-General of the United Nations, in Mr. B’s seventh year as President of the United States, when Mrs. C was Governor of Maryland, and Mr. D was County Executive of Harford County, in the fifth year of the pontificate of Pope E, and while Archbishop F was Archbishop of Baltimore – a man named John felt God calling him.

“John was a Marylander.  He began talking about repentance.”

Imagine a person being introduced publicly in this way:

Such an introduction gives us a sense of how Saint Luke is introducing John the Baptist in today’s gospel.  He wants us to know very precisely where John fits in history.

And so, Luke names the civil and religious leaders of the day.  But, notice, he makes absolutely no comment about them.

Not Others but Us

The fact is that Luke could say some very critical and negative things about the leaders of the time, but he does not.

Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, and Herod are secular rulers leading a secular government.  Notice Luke does not blame all the troubles of the world on them because they are not religious or they are not spiritual persons.

Nor are Annas and Caiphas the best of religious leaders.  But again, Luke does not bash them as being too progressive or too reactionary or too wishy-washy.

He simply names them to get to his real point and that is John the Baptist and us.  John calls us, personally and individually, to prepare for the coming of the One sent by God.

He calls us to do this by dealing with the “stuff” in ourselves.  He wants us to look at how we live, the choices we make, the kind of persons we are.

And in this noticing we can make way for the Lord to be more fully alive in us, not by being negative about our leaders or anyone else for that matter. 

To guide us in that looking, John uses the vivid images of the prophets who went before him.

Preparing the Way of the Lord

First, John says, “Every valley shall be filled in.”  So, do we have a bit of a valley that comes from being caught up in our culture of consumerism?

Is there an emptiness in us that we try to fill by buying things we do not need and by allowing mere desires to become needs? 

In this Advent season what is the valley I have to fill with the person of Jesus Christ by being more reflective and prayerful in the midst of all the busiyness?

Then John says, “Every mountain shall be made low.”  Do we have a mountain of rugged individualism?

Do we live with the attitude that we made it on our own and everyone else should be able to do that? 

Advent then could be a time to thank God for the talents, opportunities, and people placed in our lives that helped us achieve and that we are part of community that wants to be there for others to have some of those same blessings.

Next, John says, “The winding ways shall be made straight.” Do we create winding ways by pushing and twisting others to think or do things only my way?

Are we so insistent on getting our way that we don’t really consider what this does to those around us? 

Advent then could be a time to be more respectful and talk things through with others and arrive at a goal together that all may feel better about?

And finally, John says, “The rough ways shall be made smooth.” 

Do we have a roughness about us that both Saint Luke and John the Baptist avoid in today’s gospel? Are we caught up in blaming and bashing others with angry and demeaning words? 

In this Advent season do we need to be more reflective, less confrontational, and work at understanding things from the perspective of others especially those whom we may dislike?

Conclusion

“Hear ye, hear ye…” Saint Luke introduces John the Baptist to us today.

And we remember he says nothing negative about the civil and religious leaders of the day.  John wants us to look more at ourselves, not at others.

With a self-critical eye we turn our attention to our valleys and mountains, our winding and rough ways and in the process prepare the way of the Lord. 

That sort of preparation has a real impact on society. That is how the sacred can emerge from within the secular and bring to birth the reality of which John speaks: “All humanity will see the salvation of God.” 

Daily HOMILY for December 5, 2012: Wednesday of 1st Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

Wednesday 1^st Week of Advent
St. Luke’s Institute
December 5, 2012

THE POOR & BLESSING OF SHARING ++++++++++++++

Ø  A poor woman carrying a small pail came to Mother Teresa’s soup kitchen to beg for rise for her children

Ø  Mother Teresa took her small pail and filled it with rice from the kitchen’s bin

Ø  After thanking Mother for her kindness, the woman took out a second container and poured half of the rice into it

Ø  “Why did she do that?” Mother Teresa was asked by a visitor

Ø  Mother explained that the second container was for another family near the woman’s home who could not make the long trek to the soup kitchen

Ø  The saint was asked why, then, did she not offer to fill the second container for the woman

Ø  Mather Teresa answered, “Because I did not want to deprive her of the blessing of sharing”

THE APOSTLES & BLESSING OF SHARING ++++++++++

Ø  The miracle recounted in today’s Gospel is a miracle about sharing

Ø  When confronted with the needs of the crowds, Jesus takes all that the apostles have managed to collect – seven loaves of bread and a few fist, according to Matthew’s version, and manages to feed everyone

Ø  We have begun the season of sharing and gift-giving

Ø  Advent anticipates God’s greatest gift to his people – the gift of himself in the person of Christ

Ø  At this table, we celebrate that gift in the simple blessings of bread and wine

Ø  All that God asks of us is that we be willing to become bread and wine – Eucharist – in the compassion and forgiveness we are able to extend to one another

CONCLUSION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  May the Lord take the bread and fish that we are able to give and transform them into vehicles of God’s compassion for those we encounter today

Ø  May the blessings of this Advent Season be, for us, the blessing of sharing many times over

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Daily HOMILY for December 4, 2012: Tuesday of 1st Sunday in Advent, Cycle C

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Tuesday 1^st Week of Advent
St. Luke’s Institute
December 4, 2012

CHILDLIKE FOLLOWERS THEN ++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  The time of fulfillment is coming and today we find Jesus rejoicing that his disciples are out in the world, working wonders – just as he has commissioned them to do

Ø  They have been casting out demons, healing the sick, preaching the good news of Christ

Ø  More than this, Jesus is rejoicing that his Father’s will is being done by these disciples and that the Kingdom of God is being established

Ø  Notice all of this is being done through the anointed work of ordinary folks – not scholars, presidents, kings, archbishops, military leaders, doctors, lawyers, or Nobel Prize winners, but by a “childlike” band of fishermen and everyday folk

CHILDLIKE FOLLOWERS NOW ++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ø  We see Jesus praising his Father that he has “hidden these things – the mysteries of the kingdom – M from the wise and the learned,” but “revealed them to the childlike”

Ø  And so this is a day all of us can feel worthy – and anointed – to do God’s work of building the kingdom

Ø  We don’t need to be Scripture scholars, theologians, members of the Church’s magisterium, or “higher ups” in any way whatsoever

Ø  What we need to be is a people who are open, ready, eager, willing, curious, alive, alert – just as “little people” (children) are

Ø  In this way, the mysteries of the kingdom will be revealed to us, the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be handed over to us, and we will be proudly boasting that, thanks be to God, “even the demons are subject to us.”

GOD ENTERING IN HISTORY THROUGH CHILDLIKE +++++++

Ø  Yes, at Advent we celebrate the fact that God continues to be about to enter history, is about to intervene, about to change things, about to heal someone brokenness, about to bestow hope upon someone who is hopeless, about to reveal the Father’s infinite love

Ø  And all of us “ordinary folks,” who are childlike enough to want to be part of it, will be given major roles in the action

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