John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness. We are not told how he got there. He just suddenly appears, which automatically moves our minds to mystery. A mystery is about to unfold, and it’s about to unfold in the desert of all places. Cities, like Jerusalem, are where the hustle and bustle of life happens. And just like us, people were going to the desert to escape the rat race that life can often turn into. I think they were ...
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In the secular world, we celebrate New Year’s on January 1st, but from a liturgical point of view, the first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new Church year. We say “good-bye” and “thank you” to the gospel writer Luke who has been our guide for the past year, and we buckle ourselves in and allow gospel writer Matthew to be our pilot for this new year.
The new liturgical year begins much in the same way as the ...
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\This solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe was first celebrated 100 years ago. In 1925 the world was rebuilding after the end of World War I, Italy was run by a fascist dictator, and the Church had lost much of its political power. In the background of such chaos and upheaval, Pope Pius X, chose to establish the Feast of Christ the King. He didn’t simply want to write an encyclical that most people wouldn’t read. He wanted ...
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Every seventh year, more or less, November 9th lands on a Sunday. November 9th is the feast of the dedication of a church building in Rome called St. John Lateran. It’s kind of unique, because every other feast in the Church centers around the life of a saint or some important event in the life of Jesus or Mary, like the great feasts of Christmas or Easter. So, why have a feast involving a building, especially when Jesus passionately said, ...
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That first reading from the Book of Lamentations, Scripture scholars don’t know who wrote it. Their best guess is that the Prophet Jeremiah wrote it. It starts off quite depressing; that’s probably why it’s called “lamentations.” It’s the year 586 B.C.E., and Jeremiah is looking at the once-beautiful city of Jerusalem now in ruins. The Babylonians have invaded and took over the country of Judah destroying everything in their path including the capital city of Jerusalem and the sacred Temple. ...
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When it comes to good storytelling, usually the storyteller tells the story and then gives the meaning only afterwards. In between we’re supposed to try and see how the story connects with our lives. But like last Sunday’s gospel, Luke again breaks storytelling rules by giving us the meaning and then tells us the story. The opening line says that Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt. So, ...
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Usually, in the world of storytelling, the storyteller tells a story or a parable, has the listeners puzzle the story in their mind for a while, and then the storyteller gives the lesson. Just this one time, though, our storyteller, Luke, does it the opposite way. He gives the meaning before the story. This is not a good way of telling a story by giving the meaning ahead of time. It pre-empts the listeners’ response to the story by saying, ...
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You probably know that the readings we hear, on any given Sunday, are the same readings proclaimed in every Catholic church throughout the world. This revised common lectionary (R.C.L.) is also used by many other Christian denominations and acts to unite us. Also, as you probably figured out, there’s usually a connection between the first reading and gospel passage. Let’s see if these two readings have something to say to us on our faith journey.
The first reading mentions an Old ...
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Let’s try to get a little bit of context in order to discern what God might be saying to us in these bizarre readings we have today. The first reading comes from the Prophet Habakkuk. This reading reminds me of the Acadian Deportation of 1755 when the British deported the Acadians from this region to places as far away as Louisiana. As you know, if we don’t learn our history, we are doomed to repeat it. In Habakkuk’s time, the ...
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Last weekend’s gospel parable, if you recall, was about a dishonest manager who considered three different strategies because he was about to be fired and would have no place to live. He was desperate for someone to show him mercy. The first strategy of blaming someone else was not going to work. The second strategy of playing the “poor-me-I’m-the-real-victim-in-all-of-this” card wasn’t going to work either. So, he opted for the third strategy, which did work. He gave mercy away to ...
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