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Exploring the word

25 Dec 2011 - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Cycle B

For everything there is a season, an ancient Hebrew sage once told us. The season of Christmas, which lasts for eight days, is surely a time for love. God shows his delight in the human race—yes, us: weak, faltering, faulty, disobedient, and disappointing as we often are. The gift of God born into the world for our sake, Wonderful-Counselor, God-Hero, and Prince-of-Peace, comes undeserved and undeservable! All we can do in response is to say thank-you with full and grateful hearts. This is also a season for peace. As heaven and earth are reconciled in the birth of this child, don’t you suppose we on earth could do a little more to cultivate peace among ourselves? Christmas is a time for forgiveness. Jesus comes to save us from our sins. Isn’t it time we let go of a few old grievances, let a few old enemies off the hook? Emmanuel comes to be God-with-us, the generous self-offering of the Creator to creation. Will the presents we give one another under the tree suffice to answer that gift? Love covers a multitude of sins, we’re told (1 Peter 4:8). Because most of us have a few sins that could use covering, why not resolve in this Christmas season to do this one simple thing: love more fully and completely? To answer the great gift of divine love with our love in return? In his helpful little instruction The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence wrote that we should resolve to do each task out of love, however humble it is. We should pick up a leaf from the kitchen floor with love, he says. Because when we’re motivated by love, things change. Our hands grow gentler, our eyes softer, our words become tender and kind. Without love we’re likely to be careless, thoughtless, abrupt, insensitive. We may give offense without meaning to—and that’s to say nothing of when we actually mean to. But when we act from love and respond in love, our relationships thrive, our hearts expand, and the light in us shines before all and draws others forward into its brilliance. If we want to change the world, really make a difference in the entire scope of human history, we don’t have to invent something new. We can simply offer something so ancient it’s primordial: love. A single person motivated solely by love transforms everyone around him or her, like Francis of Assisi, Paul of Tarsus, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, or Mary of Nazareth. Try it for one day—this one Christmas day. Wash the dishes in love. Answer the doorbell with love. Smile at total strangers for love’s sake. Bear hardship with love. And the Word will become flesh in this world all the more, through you. Related scripture links Music in scripture: Exod. 15:1-21; Judg. 5:1-31; 1 Sam. 16:14-23; 2 Kings 3:14-15; Ps. 149; Eph. 5:18-20; Col. 3:16 Creation story: Gen. 1:1-31 Shofar usage: Exod. 19:16, 19; Josh. 6:1-20 John and Jesus strike a chord: Mark 1:2-4, 7-8, 14; Matt. 3:1-2, 7-12, 4:12, 17 Catechism links Music: CCC 1156-1158 Prologue: CCC 240-241; 291; 423; 456-463; 525-526; 720; 2466

Authors Alice Camille

seasons Love Peace Christmas

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The inner word

25 Dec 2011 - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Cycle B

The readings at the various Christmas Masses contain many powerful images. Sometimes, because we've heard them so often, we need to come at them with fresh eyes. It can help to just read the passages aloud and stop when a particular image strikes you. Many of the readings at today's Masses employ the image of light shining through the darkness to convey the importance of what this feast day is all about. Where in my life have I been feeling in darkness? Where in my ministry do I see people who are walking in darkness? Can I name one instance of where the light of God's presence shining? How does the promise of Christmas significantly affect my own life?

Christmas Light

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Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Cycle A

20 Nov 2011

SUNDAY SUMMARY Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 Even in a world full of prophets, God remains the ultimate Shepherd of the sheep. Psalm 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6 Those who follow God will know goodness and kindness now and in the life to come. 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28 History itself will one day be submitted to Christ and he to God as all in all. Matthew 25:31-46 Salvation is not rocket science. Any kindergartener might learn the way.

Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 Psalm 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28 Matthew 25:31-46 Christ the King

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Who's listening?

14 Aug 2011 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Religion spends a lot of time defining boundaries: who belongs and who doesn't, who conforms and who doesn't, who is like us and who isn't. But another major piece of the business of religion is journeying across limits and encountering the outsider. As the Acts of the Apostles show, Christianity came to be as it reached out to wider and wider circles beyond its original Jerusalem core. It's a good message for the people in church today: Yes, you have to know and understand what you believe, and celebrate and witness to what is unique about your beliefs, but you also have to realize that faith grows and expands as it meets the new and different. Are there outsiders in the assembly today? Who's not here who could be? What can those who are here do to make their faith welcoming and hospitable, rather than clannish and exclusive?

boundaries christianity church message

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Exploring the word

31 Jul 2011 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

CERTAIN SCRIPTURE PASSAGES can make us feel rather foolish. Listening to the prophet today we realize we’ve all been thirsty—and yet have, at times, obstinately and self-destructively refused to “come to the water.” More often than we’d like to admit, we’ve squandered our resources on “what is not bread” and can’t hope to sustain us. “The hand of the Lord feeds us,” the psalmist insists; that doesn’t imply that you and I come to the table of plenty to be fed. Imagine being one of the 5,000 gathered before Jesus at that fateful hour by the Sea of Galilee. Your stomach is growling after a long day of teaching, and food is freely being offered around. Would you pass the basket without taking something from it? What an absurd choice that would be! Yet we do these things and some even more ridiculous. Because the banquet of God’s word is before us, full of rich fare, and we may ignore it. The sacraments are offered lavishly for our help week after week, and we may say: later. The community of faith gathers with its centuries-old deposit of faith, and we may choose to be lone rangers on the God-quest. What will separate us from the love of Christ? Paul asks. Not the deep life-crisis; not a worldly threat; not cosmic powers; and not even death. The only thing that can separate us from Christ is self-will—a thing that Paul does not mention in his list of dangers. Christ will not separate himself from us, but we can choose to separate ourselves from Christ, and it’s a relatively simple uncoupling. “The only thing that burns in hell is self-will”: So asserts the Theologia Germanica, an anonymous 16th-century document emerging from the same spiritual movement that produced the mystical theologian Meister Eckhart. Hell doesn’t have many fans these days, at least in its popular rendering as an eternal fiery torment. But when self-will pits itself against God’s will, we’re about to get burned, no matter what you care to call it. Jesus chose his Father’s will above his own and is now united by that common will for all eternity. When we separate ourselves from Christ, we’re making a far different choice. That demonstrates the remarkable autonomy of human freedom: You and I can do what even angels and principalities can’t do, what even death is unable to achieve. Jesus puts his very life in our hands, but we can refuse it. He passes the basket of plenty, but we can decline the invitation. He offers us love that’s stronger than death, but we can, if we insist, look elsewhere. 18th Sunday us from Christ is self-will—a thing that Paul does not mention in his list of dangers. Christ will not separate himself from us, but we can choose to separate ourselves from Christ, and it’s a relatively simple uncoupling. “The only thing that burns in hell is self-will”: So asserts the Theologia Germanica, an anonymous 16th-century document emerging from the same spiritual movement that produced the mystical theologian Meister Eckhart. Hell doesn’t have many fans these days, at least in its popular rendering as an eternal fiery torment. But when self-will pits itself against God’s will, we’re about to get burned, no matter what you care to call it. Jesus chose his Father’s will above his own and is now united by that common will for all eternity. When we separate ourselves from Christ, we’re making a far different choice. That demonstrates the remarkable autonomy of human freedom: You and I can do what even angels and principalities can’t do, what even death is unable to achieve. Jesus puts his very life in our hands, but we can refuse it. He passes the basket of plenty, but we can decline the invitation. He offers us love that’s stronger than death, but we can, if we insist, look elsewhere. Related scripture links A healthy approach to fear: Matt. 10:26-31; Luke 12:32; John 6:20; 1 John 4:18 Jesus on material concerns: Matt. 6:25-33; Luke 12:22-31 Our reconciliation in Christ: Eph. 2:14-18; Col. 1:19-20 Time cannot separate us: Heb. 13:8 Jesus is the power above other powers: Phil. 2:9-11; Col. 1:16-18 Sufficiency: John 4:13-14, 6:35, 8:12, 11:25; 2 Cor. 12:9-10; Phil. 4:19 Catechism links No charge for grace: CCC 2121 Eucharist: CCC 1322-1336, 1397

Authors Alice Camille

Bread separate from christ paul Hell meister eckhart self-will God's will

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26 Jun 2011 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle A

The readings and the solemnity itself speak of the living bread, the Body of Christ; the bread of eternal life and the church in which the many baptized come together as one to share that bread. This day should also awaken a hunger for God. How would you describe your deepest spiritual hunger? Spiritually, what do you need the most? What spiritual food would be most satisfying? How is this nourishment available to you?

Bread spiritual hunger body of christ

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29 May 2011 - Sixth Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Proclaiming the Word of God, receiving the Holy Spirit, sacrificing for what is good: The scripture for this week presents some of the great themes of Christian life. How do you make your preaching into proclamation? If someone were to ask you "What is the Holy Spirit?", what would be an answer you could give them that would open the reality of the Spirit for them? What (or who) is the Holy Spirit for you? The Letter of Peter says, "It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil." Where in your life have you had to change your behavior, make a difficult choice, or renounce something you desired because of your faith in God? To what good did these sacrifices lead?

Holy Spirit christian life letter of peter

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Who's listening?

08 May 2011 - Third Sunday of Easter, Cycle A

Everyone in church today is preoccupied with any number of things: family, job, money, happiness, to name a few. The Letter of Peter, though, focuses its hearers on what is of ultimate importance. Something very precious has been handed on for us and our salvation, namely the imperishable gift of Jesus Christ and everything he stands for. If we hold to this greatest gift, which we receive when we take and drink the cup of Christ's precious blood, the worries and demands of the rest of our lives sort themselves out and fall into place.

Salvation christ's blood letter of peter

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The inner word

27 Mar 2011 - Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

Aren't the readings this week about the journey of faith? The Israelites in the desert, with some stubbornness, come to trust in the God who really is with them and saves them. Saint Paul speaks of the power of faith to bring believers to the grace of hope and salvation. And in the long gospel story, the Samaritan woman moves from unbelief to faith to testifying in the Christ who brings living water. What has been your personal "exodus"? When have you felt as if you were traveling through the desert? Where did you find "water," the living presence of God? The Samaritan woman came to faith through a direct experience of Jesus. What are your most personal encounters with the Lord? She also testified to her neighbors about Jesus. Where do you make your most effective testimony to your faith?

faith journey Samaritan Exodus christ

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Exploring the word

06 Mar 2011 - Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

A GOOD NAME is hard to develop—and harder to retrieve once compromised. Just watch a few news cycles and see how quickly folks move from celebrity to notoriety. When it comes to God, however, the Good Name resides in perfect integrity with the all-good Lord. That may explain why blasphemy—using God’s name in vain—is so devastating. Not a hair’s breadth of distinction stands between the Name and the One it represents. Often in the Bible, and again today in Psalm 31, it’s noted that God acts to keep integrity with the divine Name. God is a rock, a stronghold, and a faithful guide by definition, declares the psalmist. Moses also urged God to resist scrapping the deliverance of faithless Israel because it would make God appear inconsistent to do so. Perish the thought! Later in 2 Timothy this trait of perfect integrity is transferred to Jesus, who remains faithful despite our infidelity, because, after all, he can hardly deny himself. Contrast the interlocking pieces of Divine Name and Action with the decidedly less integrated performance supplied by the likes of you and me. We say, “Lord, Lord” but don’t behave like the Lord’s servants. We speak God’s name in prayer, call ourselves Christians, yet there’s a gap of considerable size between the name we bear and the testimony our lives offer. We don’t think of this credibility gap as blasphemy, but it’s not far off, according to Jesus. To use the name Christian as a category instead of a job description is to use it in vain. If our actions aren’t as Christian as the religious preference we blithely check on forms, then we mustn’t be surprised when God declares in the final analysis of our lives: “I never knew you!” One of the most popular spiritual guides of all time, The Imitation of Christ, points to this improper use of our Christian heritage as a source of personal condemnation: “the word heard and not fulfilled, known and not loved, believed and not observed.” We who hear, know, and believe are held to stricter account than those who live apart from the world of religion altogether—an indictment churchgoers rarely accept. We want to believe mere attendance has got to be worth something; punching the clock on these rituals should earn us a better wage than those who are absolute no-shows. But that is not what scripture says. Moses advised the people to bind themselves to God’s word and will—physically if necessary—but take it heart and soul into their observance most surely. Jesus predicts complete ruin to those who listen to divine words without acting on them. If you have ears, don’t fail to hear this. Scripture links The root of all evil: 1 Tim. 6:6-10 Phylacteries in the NT: Matt. 23:5 God the rock: Deut. 32:15, 31, 37; Pss. 18:3; 62:8; 94:22; Isa. 17:10; 26:4; 30:29; Hab. 1:12 God before money: Matt. 6:19-21, 24, 33; Luke 12:13-15, 16-21, 33-34; 16:13 Catechism links Foundation in God: CCC 1718-1724 Right relationship to money: CCC 2402-2449

Authors Alice Camille

psalm 31 god's name the imitation of christ rock

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