Second Sunday of Advent

Our readings this weekend provide much comfort. We hear the prophet Isaiah being told to comfort God's people. In the second reading, we are comforted to hear that the Lord is not as much delaying His return as allowing us the time to prepare our hearts and live in holiness and grow in devotion before the final dissolution of the world in the purifying fire of God. The Gospel is of the beginning of Mark's Gospel, and the preaching of John, his baptism of repentance and the prophecy of the Messiah's soon revelation.

We may not like to admit that we are sinners. Those who cannot admit they are sinners cannot admit they need a savior. The greater the sin, the greater the need for a savior, too. We live in a world that tries to explain away sin, and Christ as a result. Comfort comes not in saying we do not sin, but that we have a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are set free in Baptism, and renewed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are invited to live and conduct ourselves as if already in the new Heaven and new Earth.

Resources

To those looking for a list of our current seminarians, see the list of resources to the right hand column of this page (about quarter of the way down), or click here, remember you can download directly to your computer by Right Clicking or pressing option and clicking your mouse at the same time. Note that all of our resources are pdf's, and will require either Adobe reader or some other pdf reader.

For our current prayer calendar of priests, Seminarians, and Pastoral Administrators, click here.

First Sunday of Advent, 2008

This weekend, we enter a new liturgical year. In our readings this weekend, the Church reminds us of Jesus' injunction on us to be ready. We are called to be alert, to be working until the return of Jesus. Advent is more than the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas or a shopping season. It is a season of watchful waiting, of longing, of penance, prayer, and preparation for the return of Jesus Christ. Some will point out that Advent pays attention to three comings of Christ - Christ in History (born as a child, who lived, died and rose again), Christ in Mystery (in the Sacraments), and Christ in Majesty. These first weeks of Advent, we especially focus on this - to be watchful for His return. If He comes today, would we be ready? Would we have lived our lives in such a way that we would be recognize Him immediately, and that He would recognize us?

20 Tips For Making A Good Confession

Fr. Zuhlsdorf has 20 Tips For Making A Good Confession at his blog, What Does the Prayer Really Say. These are especially useful as we are about to begin Advent during which we prepare our hearts and minds.

Feast of Christ the King

Christ is the King of Heaven and Earth. When He returns, He will judge us but the standards of His Kingdom, not of ours. In the parable that we have been given this weekend, this judgement is placed in terms of our service to the least. Note that those condemned were not necessarily 'evil' according to the parable. Their response suggests that they served Jesus Christ when they recognized Him, but did not serve when they did not. Those that are commended served without seeing Christ. This is true character - they did the right thing without any hope of reward other than knowing it was the right thing to do.

At times, we may not be sure of our vocation, but we ought to be sure of the right thing - the works of mercy. We serve the Body of Christ hidden in those around us, nourished by the Body of Christ, the Eucharist.

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend, we hear the Parable of the Talents. The servants are called before the Master who is to leave for a time. He entrusts to them his wealth, to one five talents, to another two talents, and to the third one talent. He does not tell them what to do with it - it must have been simply assumed that they were to put it to use. The first two doubled the amount, but the third in fear buried it. The servants are asked what they did with the talent they were given. The one who only made two was not critiqued for not making five - he did the best he could! The poor fool who buried it was condemned for not even trying. He knew the Master's wish, and went directly against it because of fear. One can get the sense that had he tried and lost it all, he would have not been as harshly treated. The talent is taken away, the man is condemned, and the talent is given to the one who had earned five.

This parable reminds us that what we have is God's gift to us, entrusted to us to be shared with others. We must use the gifts, we cannot bury them or hide them in fear. By using them, we may find them increased, and by not using them, we will lose them. We will be held responsible for doing our best with what we have been given.

Dedication of The Basilica of Saint John Lateran

This Sunday, we celebrate the dedication of the Cathedral of Rome, St. John Lateran. It is the Pope's cathedral as Bishop of Rome. That this dedication is celebrated even on Sundays reminds us of the universality of the Church.

In our Gospel for this weekend, we hear of Jesus cleansing the Temple, which is early in Jesus' ministry recorded in John's Gospel. He tells them to destroy the temple and He will raise it up again. They hear it as the Temple - the center of the religious activity of the Jewish people. That temple was in the process of restoration of 46 years, and they cried foul. John redacts it for us: He was speaking of His Body. Temples are the places of encounter with God. Jesus is that place of encounter with God the Father, in the person of God the Son. Destroy that Temple, and it will be raised.

In the Second Reading form 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that we are the Temple of God, too. We are the Body of Christ. We can hear echoes from Paul's conversion from being a persecutor of the Church to hearing Christ asking why he [Paul] is persecuting Him. We are built to the building of God. Some of us are called to build, too, on that same foundation of Jesus Christ. We build, so that we can be for others a place where they can encounter God because we strive to live with Christ.