• Isaiah 35: 1-6, 10. The prophet sees the desert blooming with new life, as the eyes of the blind our open, the ears of the deaf unsealed, and everyone returns singing to Zion.
• James 5: 7-10. The patience of the farmer is emphasized. He plants the seed in the autumn and waits through the early and late rains till the crop begins to grow in springtime. Remember the patent endurance of the prophets.
• Matthew 11: 2-11. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come?” Jesus answered with messianic citations from the Hebrew Scriptures and the praised John.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

I have always maintained that Christianity is a progressive faith. It is forward looking. It certainly honors and reveres the tradition that points to the Divine origin of creation, but essentially its aim and goal is a future reality that is to come. Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation are Divine principles that will define the Kingdom of heaven. Today we strive, as commissioned citizens of this Kingdom, to make these principles real in our lives and in our society so to hasten the arrival of this Divine moment of salvation history. Isaiah and James point to this hope and expectation. But in their message of hope they also exhort patience.

In the Gospel reading John the Baptist is in prison and he sends out his disciples to inquire about the nature of Jesus. John’s ministry has been to preach the message of redemption and reconciliation in preparation for the one who will bring in this Kingdom of heaven. Now in his own despair he wonders if Jesus indeed is the one foretold. Jesus offers an affirmative response with a prophetic testament linking his actions to the prophesy of Isaiah in the first reading.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus consistently honors the Prophetic tradition and the Ten Commandments but outside of that his actions and teachings are forward looking so that through himself he is demonstrating the virtue of living in this future Kingdom. People are healed, forgiven, feed, reconciled and given new life. These are the attributes of God’s coming Kingdom. Jesus offers God’s Justice by offering compassion and forgiveness to all, even to those who do not seek forgiveness “Father Forgive them for they know not what they do.” He never condemns anyone to exile or punishment but instead is always inviting us to be in relationship with God the Father. He Brings about God’s Peace through the message of non-violence and reconciliation ultimately making an example of this virtue through his own life. And He demonstrates the Integrity of all Creation by being open to all people and nationalities and also by exhibiting a unique interrelationship with the natural world.

But even by the time that James is writing his epistle the early Christian community is getting antsy. When will this salvation moment take place? How long must we wait? James reminds the people of the long process that is salvation history by reminding them of the patience and endurance of the Prophets. He exhorts the early community to exhibit the same patience and endurance while assuring them that He is coming. Now, 2000 years later, how do we address the natural impatience of our own people? We can do so by pointing to aspects of God’s reign in our midst. The Kingdom of heaven was brought to our attention through the life and ministry of Jesus, and we await the final culmination of that moment. But for the present we progressively collaborate with God to bring about aspects of the Kingdom in our midst. This progressive development is challenging and often accompanied with social violence of some form or another.

In Passionist spirituality we recognize a formula that is based on the Paschal mystery whereby we go through a spiritual process of accepting a “Mystical Death” in the hopes of accomplishing a “Divine Rebirth.” In this process our own lives are reborn into a more meaningful existence through a period of trial and tribulation. This can happen in periods of our own social history as well. While we saw the devastation of the American Civil War and the Two World Wars we can also point to the progressive reality where we no longer accept the institution of slavery, where we can declare that all humans have established inalienable rights and dignity, and where we attempt to form a global international system for states to discuss their issues rather than to go to war. These are moments or social “Mystical Deaths” and “Divine Rebirths” whereby we as a human community progress towards a social semblance of the Kingdom of heaven. We are not at the end of the journey and it looks like we have quite a ways to go. We too must be patient and make our hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand.

• Isaiah 2: 1-5. Isaiah prophesizes about the future glory of Jerusalem. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.”
• Romans 13: 11-14. Paul reminds the Romans that they must be awake and ready for the immanent salvation. The people should conduct themselves properly and “throw off the works of darkness.”
• Matthew 24: 37-44. Jesus tells the disciples that the coming of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah and the Flood. We must be prepared for we do not know the hour when the Son of Man will come.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By Fr. Phil Paxton, CP

Every year around this time, I reflect on the distinction between preparing for the holiday of Christmas and preparing for the holy day. Preparations for the holiday have already begun. Christmas decorations are adorning the stores, and shoppers are listening to Christmas music. People are buying gifts and looking for the best deal, whether it’s in a store or online. Trips and visits are planned, and menus for Christmas dinner are getting set. This Sunday marks the beginning of the season of Advent, and the time of preparation for the holy day of Christmas, when we celebrate the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, into the world, and wait for Him to come again. Both kinds of preparation can be positive. I still enjoy giving and receiving gifts. I enjoy hearing about how friends and family are decorating their homes or getting ready to bake dozens (hundreds!) of Christmas cookies.

When we look at what’s going on in the world, or in our lives, the preparation to celebrate Jesus’ birth and to await His coming again becomes more and more important. Advent is a time of waiting, but not passive waiting. We are to get ready. As Jesus says in our Gospel reading from Matthew, “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

How are we to get ready? In our second reading from Romans, St. Paul exhorts his fellow Christians: “You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” To get ready for the day when Jesus comes, we are called to get out of certain things (“the works of darkness”), and get into others (“the armor of light”).

Our Scripture readings point to some of the “works of darkness” that are all around us, and keep us from the “peace” and “good will among all” that this time of year calls to mind. In our first reading from Isaiah, we hear the prophet look forward to a time when “One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” Violence is a work of darkness that has proven difficult for us to throw off. So often we seem to turn to violence almost as a first, rather than as a last resort. In the reading from Romans, St. Paul writes, “let us conduct ourselves…not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy.” Another work of darkness that seems prevalent is self-indulgence. We are tempted to want more and more and more, despite the consequences to others or even to the whole earth.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus points to another work of darkness. He says, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.” For me, Jesus warns against complacency. In some ways, this can be the most seductive work of darkness of all. We can be tempted to let our comfort determine our attitude toward others and to the world. As Christians, we can never be satisfied with what is. When it comes to the environment or poverty or violence, we really can’t wait to “conduct ourselves properly as in the day” (Romans 13:13), or beat our “swords into plowshares,” and our “spears into pruning hooks” (Isaiah 2:4)! We are called to act at this time in our lives!

We cannot throw off the works of darkness on our own. As St. Paul says, we are to put on “the armor of light.” We are to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Only in the grace and love of Jesus Christ can we let go of violence and self-indulgence and complacency. In sharing Jesus’ love we can work for peace and justice in our world. To paraphrase the words of Isaiah, we are being called: “O Church, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”

 May God continue to bless us all, and may we prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming.

• Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14. The 144,000 from every tribe of Israel are the ones who have survived the period of great trial.
• 1 John 3:1-3. We shall see God as God is, for we are God’s children. All who have hope keep themselves pure as God is pure.
• Matt 5:1-12. Jesus teaches the disciples the blessedness of following him as poor in spirit, sorrowing, single-hearted, peacemaker.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

This week our Church celebrates the communion of the saints. The Apostles’ or Nicene Creed that we recite at the beginning of the liturgy of the Eucharist reminds us that the communion of saints is a fundamental tenet of our Faith. Each of this Sunday’s readings reminds us that we are called to be part of this sacred community. Christ invites us all to be saints. This Sunday we recall the great men and women who have come before us and whose own lives were a powerful witness to the Kingdom of God. Some of these people may be famous people who are well known within the Catholic Community such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Paul of the Cross. Others may be more obscure and perhaps known only to us, parents, relatives and friends whom we remember for their own powerful testimony of being Christ like in our midst. These are all people who selflessly gave of themselves for their family, community or society. We recall these saints not for their own sake, but rather because they exist as living examples to us of how to be Christian.

The first reading comes to us from the Book of Revelation. This book, along with Daniel in the Hebrew Scriptures, are perhaps two of the most complex books in our own Sacred Scriptures precisely because they are eschatological books. They are rich in symbolism and because they are prophetic writings many lay readers get caught up in looking for clues and answers related to the end time. This week we read about the saints or the elect who number 144,000. This number has had the unfortunate effect of demoralizing many of us who believe that we have almost no chance to be part of this small community. The 144,000 mentioned in verse 4 indicate the elect from the twelve tribes of Israel, where each tribe has been given 12,000 elect. Verse 9 however, tells us that that there is another group of elect “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” Scripture scholars have argued that the first elect is symbolic of the Jewish community of saints, whereas the second group is the broader gentile community.

What is important for us is not how many elect there are but who they are. “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress.” In this world that we live in, all of us are subject to suffering of one form or another. We are all being tested and challenged to live our Christian vocation. Our early Christian martyrs suffered simply for being Christians. We suffer from the secular counter-cultural challenges to imitating Christ. We live in a society focused on individualism, value is given to material possessions, praise and reward is offered for those who gain the most for themselves. We may have the freedom to be Christians and to attend Church services but the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience stand in stark contrast to our own social values. While these two forms of suffering are very different they are both very real in their own way and just like our Christian ancestors were tested in their discipleship from the persecution of their day we continue to be tested in our own way today. We who are called to be saints are very much being challenged to live the Christian values of simplicity, fidelity, and mutual collaboration. Will we survive this time of great distress?

The second reading reminds us that as part of the communion of saints we are called to be children of God and to imitate the purity of Christ. The Gospel goes on to offer a description of this pure lifestyle through the beatitudes. The beatitudes identify a special grace to the aspects of suffering that we face in this world. The beatitudes are not telling us that we are blessed simply because we suffer. Instead the beatitudes are inviting us to redeem society through our own response to suffering. All members of the human family suffer; it is a common element of all creation. How shall we respond to the personal and social suffering of our world? Should we take a defeated stance and allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by our own limitations and the social injustice of our world. No, again we are called to live the values of the saints, humility, compassion, simplicity, righteousness, mercy, integrity and peacefulness. By being a lived witness to these values not only will we be ensuring our own participation in the communion of saints but we will be bringing society one step closer to the kingdom of heaven.

Thoughts for your Consideration: by Fr. Phil Paxton, CP

One night this past week I was watching a TV program. It was entitled “2100,” and aired on ABC. It was basically a program that tried to shed light on what would happen to the world for the rest of this century, based on the choices made by individuals, communities, and nations. On the program there were many opinions and projections given by various scientists. But what I found most engaging was the approach used to tie all these forecasts together. The program used the form of a narrative, following the life of a fictional character named Lucy, born in 2009. Not surprisingly, there was no mention of God or faith or spirituality in Lucy’s story.

Is there a faith dimension when discussing ecological issues? Yes! In fact, there are many theologians and spiritual writers who have dedicated themselves to these very issues for many years. One of them is Tom berry, a passionist, who just recently died. He had written much on the Passion suffered by the world. As you may remember last month, there was an announcement about the U.S. Catholic Bishops encouraging people to take the “St. Francis Pledge” with regards to climate change and its effects on the world, especially the poor.

I am neither a scientific expert nor a theologian on ecology, but it seems to me that the mystery of the Trinity has much to say about these issues. When we think about God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are led to the conclusion that God is a God of love and relationships. This is how God chose to reveal the Divine Self to us. When we look at our Scripture readings for today, we see that out of love, God chooses to be in relationship with us.

In our first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people of all that God has done for them, leading them out of slavery in Egypt. In our second reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, St. Paul reminds his fellow Christians that in the Spirit they can cry out to God just as Jesus did: “Abba, Father!” He also tells them that they are children of God, “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” And in our Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus sends out His disciples to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus also promises them (and us) that he will be with them always, “until the end of the age,”

As one of my professors in the seminary said to us, if we believe that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that we are made in the image and likeness of God, we are meant to live in community. He could have said that we are meant to live in relationship. In fact, we are created that way; created in relationship with God, with each other, and with all of creation. It is in recognizing our connectedness to God and to all of creation that we can be willing to make the necessary choices for peace and justice and the sustainability of our environment. And it is in the love of Christ for us that we can be willing to make the sacrifices necessary for the good of all. For sacrifices will need to be made.

The doctrine of the Trinity, like all the tenets of our faith, calls us outside of ourselves to love God and the world. As we recognize more and more our connectedness in Christ, we will find ourselves more and more willing to forego the ways of violence and exploitation. Instead, we will seek the ways of the Gospel: peace, justice, reconciliation and cooperation.

 
Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• How do you see relationships that are “out of whack” or unhealthy in our global world?  
• What needs to be renewed?
• Paul in Romans reminds us that we are children of God and heirs with Jesus Christ.  What experience has helped you to realize that we are all children of God?  What experience has shown you that we still have things to do to make sure that everyone is treated as a child of God?
• How has God’s Spirit called you into being part of a community?  
• How does the Spirit of God help you to live in community with others?  
• How is your community called to connect to other communities?

• Exodus 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17
• 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
• John 2:13-25

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez, CPP

The lectionary readings for this Sunday remind us of the social contract we have with God. In many ways the heart of Jewish and Christian Scripture is the story of God’s social contract with humanity and the early development of this saga. The Jewish Scriptures offer the earliest phase of this development in which God chooses the community known as the Israelites and develops this contract in the form of the Ten Commandments. As we know from the rest of scripture the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) are never dissolved or rescinded. Jesus tells us that he does not abolish the law but rather he fulfills it. Therefore, it seems worthwhile to reflect on the nature of this contract and what it means for us.

I had learned in my theological studies that the Ten Commandments, especially as they were written in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy, very much follow the prescription of a legal social contract in the way it was written back in the 6th century BCE. Such a contract requires two active agents, God and humanity. This means that God has certain expectations of us. Those of us who have children are familiar with having expectations. Yes we will provide basic needs for our children and they will inherit what we have worked for, but, as responsible agents of the home, we require that they fulfill specific expectations. They are to behave and demonstrate kindness, do chores, be good stewards of their rooms, help their younger siblings and develop their talents responsibly by going to school and engaging in social activities. In a similar way God calls us to be His children and to inherit His Kingdom, but God expects us to be responsible and loving agents of our neighborhood and global community.

The details of this contract are revolutionary compared to the typical association that tribal groups in the fifth century had with their deity. Instead of demanding sacrifice and rituals that appease the deity God asks the Israelite community (and us) to promote social justice. To worship and be in relationship with God is directly related to our social responsibility. The Decalogue presents the first three laws as some basic expectation of sacred respect that we owe our God. The remaining seven laws list some pretty basic expectations with regard to the global human community. All of this is ultimately summarized in the greatest commandment “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:37,39)

Paul reminds us however that this contract is beyond the wisdom of the world and our responsibility towards fulfilling these divine expectations cannot be measured by social metrics. In this case Paul has to explain to the Corinthian community the social paradox that Jesus, who is the ultimate expression of God’s love and justice, was executed by the “wisdom of the world” and the social structures that governed his society. Whenever our own society attempts to achieve social peace by focusing simply on the legal dimensions of the Decalogue despite preserving its social structures, it usually ends up sacrificing the spirit of the law which is to build up the human community.

So the Romans and the Chief Priest saw Jesus as a disturber of the peace instead of a divine reformer who was establishing a right relationship with God and the human community through incidents such as the cleansing of the Temple. And they had him crucified as a criminal. Yet “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”

Now is a time for us to review the “wisdom of the world” based on the spirit of the contract we have with God. How do our financial institutions, corporations and governments address the negative spirit that supports stealing and coveting when so many human needs are being unmet? How do global militarism, terrorism and civil conflict address the spirit that prohibits killing? How do our domestic laws protect the spirit of family respect and how do they support the responsibility of parents? And finally how does our society and its dysfunctional partisan discourse honor the spirit of our sacred relationship to one God and our responsibility to one human community?

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• What are the things that need renewal or reform in our world?
• What policies based on the former wisdom of this world need to revised for not promoting the spirit of Divine wisdom?
• What would Jesus do if he entered one of the “temples of our financial system” today?

• Joel 2:12-18
• 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2
• Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Thoughts for Your Consideration: by Fr. John Bucki, SJ.

Lent is a time to make faith real in practices which are a source of growth, life and even joy. Growth and new life are possible. It is possible to move beyond earning religious credits or spiritual merit badges to freedom, joy, justice, peace and new life. It is possible to move beyond a spirituality of showing off to a spirituality of awareness and new life for the whole community. It is possible for the whole community to be renewed with a spirit committed to the common good of all God’s people – a spirit dedicated to justice and peace.  It is possible to live a spirituality which is in touch with the real world and its problems – especially the poor. The prophet Joel calls the whole community to renewal and writes: “Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart…”

What type of “return to God” is called for this year – in our generation – in this time and place – in the midst of our world’s issues?

• Is it a call to live more simply as we deal with the realities of our economic problems?
• Is it a call to change our way of living, so we stop human activities that are destroying the earth with global warming?
• Is it an end to greed?  An end to the greedy practices that created the “sub-prime mortgage crisis” and the “financial collapse of our banking system” and the loss of jobs and income for so many people?
• Is it an end to the practices that pay executives hundreds of times more than the average worker, even when their companies are not doing well?  [In his message for Lent last year, Benedict XVI writes “According to the teaching of the Gospel, we are not owners but rather administrators of the goods we possess. … In the Gospel, Jesus explicitly admonishes the one who possesses and uses earthly riches only for self.”]
• Is it an end to the use of torture and other such practices by various governments?  An end to practices like “extraordinary rendition” or “torture by proxy?”
• Is it creating policies and practices that give all men and women access to quality health care?
• Is it bringing to an end the excess power of lobbyists and wealthy special interests in and around our government?  Is it working to be sure that the needs of ordinary people are heard by our Congress?
• Is it bringing to an end the excessive spending for war and preparation for war by our nation and almost every nation in the world?  Is it working to bring to an end the wars in the Middle East?
• Is it changing the way we live so as to respect the environment and limit our over consumption of limited resources?
• Is it becoming more reflective and prayerful as we experience our world?
• Maybe returning to God will involve moving toward putting the common good before our own good!

In his message for Lent this year, Benedict XVI reminds us that “At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, “dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride” (Paschal Præconium).”

For Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• What kind of fasting will help you get your values in order this Lent?
• What kind of prayer will help you be more aware of those in need?
• What kind of almsgiving and good works will help you move away from selfishness?
• In May of 2000, John Paul II said, “Solidarity is learned through ‘contact’ rather than through ‘concepts,’ and should permeate the sphere of being before that of acting.”  What events have helped you to have contact with those in need?  What events during this Lenten season will help you have a healthy contact with those who are in need?