December 14, 2014

Adam, An Apple, and Advent. Advent III ~ Br. Chip Noon

Gaudete in Domino semper; iterum dico, gaudete. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.

When I was a child, the priests and nuns in our parish taught us that Advent was a time of waiting, waiting in expectation for the coming of the baby Jesus. We were told that since the time of Adam and Eve, no one had been able to enter into heaven because of their original sin. And the coming of Jesus marked the start of the liberation from this bondage.

This was quite a message for young people to take in, especially since, if I remember correctly, there was no sense of wonder. And even though the third Sunday of Advent was called Gaudete Sunday, there was no message of rejoicing.

As I grew older, and especially as I started singing in choirs, I was able to piece together for myself a different story for Advent.

Adam lay i-bowndyn, bowndyn in a bond, Fowre thowsand winter thowt he not to. long

And al was for an appil, an appil that he tok. As clerkes fyndyn wretyn in here book.

Ne hadde the appil take ben, the appil taken ben, Ne hadde never our lady a ben hevene quen.

Blyssid be the tyme that appil take was! Therefore we mown syngyn Deo gratias!

Adam lay in the bondage of Hell for four thousand years because of his sin.

And it was all because of an apple. We know it’s true because it’s in books.

If that apple had not been taken and eaten, we would not have had The Blessed Mother among us.

So taking the apple was a blessed fault. Therefore we sing Thanks be to God.

Modern English Translation:

Adam Had Fallen

Adam had fallen Fallen deep into guilt; Four thousand winters, He regarded as not too long.

And all was for an apple, An apple that he took, That scholars find Written in a book.

Had he never taken the apple, The apple not taken, Never would Our Lady Have been a Heavenly Queen.

Blessed be the time, The apple was taken So that we may sing: Thanks to the Lord

This is the hymn that has made the greatest impact on me: Let us sing and rejoice and give thanks to the Lord for our salvation and for the humble acceptance of the word of God by Mary, his mother.

The readings today all exhort us to rejoice. “I rejoice heartily in the Lord.” “The Lord has done great things for us, and we rejoiced.” “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” “Brothers and sisters, rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.”

Advent is a time of reflection, expectation, and preparation. Like Lent, it is a penitential season, solemn in its observance, with a hushed reverence for what is to take place. And as in Lent, there is a Sunday set aside for lifting us out of the solemn observance and into the joy that awaits us. Laetare, Gaudete! The Lord Is Nigh!

In our time, after two thousand years, we know more and more that not only is the Lord near, but He is here among us.

This was John the Baptist’s message, found in today’s Gospel: “There is one among you whom you do not recognize.” Yet even more, today we know, deep within us, that he is here among us…and within us. Not only do we walk daily with the Lord, but each person we meet, each day, has the Lord within.

So when we turn today at Mass and give each other the kiss of peace, let us rejoice, for we are touching the Lord. Let our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord.

Lord, help us to rejoice in your presence. Help us to await your coming with reverence and with joy. And as we continue on our Advent journey, help us to bring the good news to all we meet, with courage, conviction, and happiness. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

December 12, 2014

Our Lady of Guadalupe ~ Br. Michael Marshall

Our Lady of Guadalupe is known as the Patroness of the Americas. In December of 1531, the Blessed Virgin appeared to an Aztec Indian Man by the name of Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, outside of what is now known as Mexico City. This was a very significant event in the history of religion in Latin America because the Aztec culture and religion was centered on the gods, while the Conquistadors brought Catholicism; there was a clash between the two for a number of years, and eventually the Indian religions disappeared. Many Indian folks converted to Catholicism due to missionary presence in Latin America.

Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego, as an indigenous woman, asking that a church be built at that location. She told Juan Diego to go to his bishop to tell of this request. His story was only believed after the fourth apparition. Castilian roses appeared on the hill where Our Lady appeared; roses which do not grow in that region, or in December for that matter. To prove that the Virgin had appeared again, he cut the roses and put them in his cloak to show the bishop. When Juan Diego addressed the bishop, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in the cloak after the roses fell on the ground. The fifth and last apparition was to Juan Diego’s uncle who was ill. Juan Diego was worried about his uncle and the Virgin told him that his ill uncle who was on his deathbed would return to good health.

Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe show her wearing a dress with jasmine flowers and a mantle which has stars. These have reference to the Aztec culture and the Winter Solstice, as she appeared to Juan Diego as an indigenous woman. The impact of her apparition was a huge event because this was a turning point in which the indigenous people connected with Catholicism, instead of through the influence from the Europeans.

First Reading: Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

God’s temple in heaven was opened,
and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in the sky;
it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns,
and on its heads were seven diadems.
Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky
and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth,
to devour her child when she gave birth.
She gave birth to a son, a male child,
destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.
Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
The woman herself fled into the desert
where she had a place prepared by God.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.”

Responsorial Psalm: Judith 13:18bcde, 19

(15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God,
above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God,
the creator of heaven and earth.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.
Your deed of hope will never be forgotten
by those who tell of the might of God.
R. You are the highest honor of our race.

Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

Waking up at 3 o’clock in the morning to go to Church… Who in the world does that? It seems so strange, doesn’t it? I understood why when I lived in Chicago and ministered to the Mexican immigrant population. One of the parishes at which I spent time ministering was named Our Lady of Guadalupe, and every December 12^th the community would go to church early in the morning to serenade the Blessed Virgin. This serenade was known to the Mexican people as Mañanaitas; mañana being morning in Spanish. This event is an expression of love for Mary, as her apparition had a significant impact on religion in Mexico.

In the Gospel we find Mary confused as to why she would be chosen to be the mother of the Son of God, but she recognized it was her calling from the Lord. Juan Diego was also confused as to why Mary would ask him to approach the bishop to have a church built, but he did as she asked; and the miracle proved why he was chosen.

People called to ministry sometimes feel unworthy to take on something which is asked of them because it is outside of the box of everyday ministry. Here is an example… A priest knows they are good at preaching because someone affirmed this ministerial gift, but then the archbishop sees potential in leadership of a diocese; so they are chosen to become a bishop. The priest may not feel worthy but understands that they have been chosen for a purpose. It is important for anyone to listen to what is being asked of us in ministry. There is a reason why, and something great will result if willing to accept it.

December 10, 2014

Gifts

What you are is God’s gift to you.

What you become is your gift to God.

During this time of the year, many of our thoughts turn to gifts: giving and receiving, what we want to give, what we want to receive, what will please those we love, the shopping, the ordering, the wrapping, the general hustle and bustle of the Christmas season centering around gifts ad infinitum, donating to the people with the red kettles and bells so the less fortunate can have gifts…..

And then there’s the practice of ‘re-gifting,’ passing along that unwanted or unusable gift that we were given, to someone else, so that they will have SOMETHING, and so that they too, can possibly pass that pink and orange and green plaid scarf along, re-gifting it themselves to someone else who won’t use it either….and sometimes by some freak chance that unwanted item comes back to us several years later….and not much too worse for the wear…. And is re-gifting, as amusing (and cheap) as it may seem, necessarily a bad thing?

Why all this focus on gift-giving and gift-receiving at this time of year? The union of Christmas and gift giving was a gradual one; actually, the full story of the bright packages beneath the tree, like most of our Christmas customs, begins in the days before the birth of Christ. In ancient Rome, gifts were exchanged during the New Year’s celebrations. At first these gifts were simple, such as a few twigs from a sacred grove and small items of food. Many gifts were in the form of vegetables in honor of the fertility goddess Strenia. During the Northern European Yule, (yep, the yuletide season is a pagan thing) fertility was celebrated with gifts made of wheat products, such as bread and alcohol.

Like many of the old and pagan customs, exchanging gifts was difficult to get rid of even as Christianity spread and gained official status. Early church leaders tried to outlaw the custom, but the people cherished it too much to let it go. St. John Chrysostom urged no compromise with heathen abominations, but he, too, failed in this tenacity of hanging on to the tradition of gift giving. Since there was no general agreement about the exact date of the birth of Jesus, it must have seemed helpful to have it supersede the Saturnalia, so the rebirth of the sun became instead the birth of the Son of God, and the church leaders looked for a Christian justification for the practice of all this gift giving. This justification was found in the Magi’s act of bearing gifts to the infant Jesus, and in the concept that Christ was a gift from God to the world, bringing in turn the gift of redemption and everlasting life.

What you are is God’s gift to you.

What you become is your gift to God.

Wikipedia defines a gift as the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. By extension the term “gift” can refer to anything that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favor, including forgiveness and kindness.

God’s gifts to us are free and clear. He has given us the gift of His Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has given us the gift of eternal life: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (NIV); The gift of salvation: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8 (NIV); And the gifts that are unique to each of us: “We each of us have our own individual gifts: But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.” 1Corinthians 7:7 (NIV)

Besides the obvious gift of His Son, and the forgiveness that we receive through Him whom we receive by faith, what other gifts has God given specifically to you? What talents have you received? What blessings have been given to you?

We learn about the 7 Gifts of the Spirit in Isaiah 11:2-3: “² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— ³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;” (NIV)

And more importantly, what are you doing with those gifts? What are you giving back to God? What are you “becoming” as you use your gifts and talents? Which of the gifts that you have been given are you “regifting?” In other words, when we’ve received a gift from God, do we share that gift with others? Do we “regift?” We are told in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” (NIV) Jesus himself addresses this very thing in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. By using our gifts, they multiply and we bring others to know God, and by recognizing what we have been given and using them for God’s glory, we are giving back to God.

What is the most precious thing we can give to God? The most precious gift we can give is what God wants the most. God wants us to make the fervent attempt to repent, get right with Him, and not lead a double life, trying to follow two contradictory paths, but living our lives according to His will. God simply wants us to give ourselves to Him. This is the best gift we can give! Our gift to Him is how we respond to the gifts He has given us which are the gifts of life and of grace. We can best do this when we are headed in His direction, following His precepts with a grateful, willing heart and mindset, and by striving to be the best that we can be by becoming what it is that He wants us to be.

Barbara Streisand sings in “The Best Gift:”

The best gift
That I ever got
Didn’t really weigh a lot
It didn’t have a ribbon ’round
And it sometimes made a terrible sound
The best of all it seems to me
It wasn’t ‘neath the Christmas tree
And yet, I guess I’d have to say
That it made all the other presents twice as gay
The best gift that I’ve ever known
I’d always wanted most to own
Yet in my dreams of sugar and spice
I never thought it could be so nice
The best gift that I ever get
Was sometimes dry and sometimes wet
Was usually pink but oftentimes red
As it lay so innocently in it’s bed
The best gift of the year to me
The one I hold most dear to me
A gift that simply drove me wild
Was a tiny new born child…

As we celebrate the birth of THE tiny newborn Child, God’s greatest and best Gift to us, let us strive to make ourselves the best gift we can give to others, and to God. Amen.

December 7, 2014

Patience is a Virtue, Advent II ~ Rev. Archdeacon Sr. Dollie Wilkinson, OPI

Patience-the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

After a recent conversation with my granddaughter, where she declared, “I get Christmas first!”, because of course being only three, she could not imagine being patient in waiting for Christmas. To the very young, the actual word “patience”, has very little meaning. But in 2 Peter 3:8-15a, we are cautioned to do just that.

“But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by Him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.”

Here we are cautioned to be patient, in waiting on the Lord’s mercy and favor. Just as the Lord is patient with us, so too should we be patient in waiting on His promises. How often have we prayed, expecting a quick answer to what seems to us an imminent dilemma? But as Peter states, “ with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day”. Meaning, what to us may seem like a dire concern, to the Lord, it is crucial only if it aides in bringing His children to salvation.

So many times I have heard the trite saying, “Patience is a virtue”. But what does this mean, and where does this saying come from?

“The first known publishing of the quote “Patiences is a virtue” comes from the poem “Piers Plowman” written between the years 1360 and 1387. Typical of texts from the 14th century, authorship can be debated though literary historians normally attribute most of the text to William Langland. However, there are multiple versions of this poem written at different times with sections believed to be authored by different, unknown people. “Piers Plowman” is a poem about a man, the poet and first narrator, in search of Catholicism and faith according to medieval standards. He does this by having dream visions after falling asleep. The poem is allegorical, meaning the characters are symbolic and also satirical. However, the allegory isn’t vague or abstract. The various characters include Truth (God), Wrong (Devil), Holy Church, Thought, Wit, Study, Conscience, Liar, Reason, Dowel (do well), Dobet (do better) and Dobest (do best) and others, including the seven deadly sins. Later, the characters are lead on a quest by Piers Plowman who also becomes the narrator. The Plowman is chosen as the guide due to his seemingly innocent and truthful nature.”

So in the allegorical poem by William Langland, we learn patience is a critical virtue,
highly prized by our Lord, “ regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” And thus the key to our salvation. But in our fast paced, hurry up world, how can we practice patience? Are we just like the child, eager for Christmas day, the frenzied opening of presents? Or can we do as our Father commands us, practicing patience, knowing the ultimate gift isn’t found under an evergreen tree. But in the patient, loving presence of our heavenly Father. And is this not the bestest gift of all?!!!

December 2, 2014

Merry Christmas OR Happy Holidays?? X that!!!

It’s that time of year again. The time for all and sundry to argue the finer points of holiday greetings: Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays. At the risk of being seen as a non-Christian priest, or a politically correct one, and abandoning or at least not defending my faith and my Lord, I feel compelled for some odd reason, to offer a treatise on the use of Happy Holidays. So here goes….

“Happy Holidays.” Now really, what’s wrong with that? It’s a pleasant wish that encompasses good wishes for an entire month and a half long season. Granted, that “season” is usually meant to be the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, and is usually understood to include only Christmas and New Year’s Day. However, in that time period, what other holidays are there? “Happy Holidays” is a collective and inclusive wish for the period encompassing Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Winter solstice, Christmas Day (The Nativity of the Lord), Boxing Day and St. Stephen’s Day, St. John’s Day, the New Year and Epiphany, and it would take me forever to get through the list, if I could remember the list at all, just to give a pleasant hello to someone! “Happy Holidays” is just easier! Most of the aforementioned holidays ARE Christian holidays, though, so what’s wrong with “Happy Holidays?”

Leaving those “Happy Holidays” that are in the Christian calendar for a few minutes; let’s look at the ones that aren’t Christian holidays. Granted, I don’t really consider the Winter solstice a holiday and don’t think I know any Wiccans personally, so I can omit that one altogether and not feel too bad about it. Kwanzaa is celebrated by our African American brothers and sisters and is not a substitute for Christmas, nor is it a religious holiday. Wishing someone a happy Kwanzaa does nothing to deny Christianity, but it’s a holiday that I personally don’t celebrate, since I’m not African American. I DO have many African American friends, however, and most certainly wish them all a happy and joyous Kwanzaa, as well as Merry Christmas!

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival, celebrating a miracle that occurred way back in the 2nd century BCE. Also known as the Festival of Lights, it is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt. The story of Hanukkah is alluded to in the book of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, but Hanukkah is not specially mentioned; rather, a story similar in character, and obviously older in date, is the one alluded to in 2 Maccabees 1:18, according to which the relighting of the altar fire by Nehemiah was due to a miracle which occurred on the 25th of Kislev, and which appears to be given as the reason for the selection of the same date for the rededication of the altar by Judah Maccabee. Now, 1 and 2 Maccabees are not considered canonical books by most Protestants, but are included in the Apocrypha, which IS in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. So while Hanukkah is not a Christian holiday, per se, it can be considered Biblical. And since it celebrates the lighting of the rededication of the Temple and is celebrated with lights, and Christ is “the Light of the World,” and the fact that Christianity has its roots in Judaism, Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish friends!

The day after Christmas is Boxing Day, which is celebrated in the Commonwealth countries. The tradition of Boxing Day has long included giving money and other gifts to those who are needy and in service positions, and this European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages. Shouldn’t we, as Christians, do this year round, and not just during the “holidays”?

New Years Day: Now, there’s a pagan holiday for you! The Romans dedicated this day to Janus, the god of gates, doors, and beginnings. The month of January was named after Janus, who had two faces, one looking forward and the other looking backward. It is from this Roman custom that we get the making of New Year’s resolutions: looking backward, we resolve to not do something or other, and looking forward, we resolve TO do something or other. Among the 7th century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands, it was the custom to exchange gifts at the New Year. So, I guess I’m asking, should we as Christians NOT celebrate the new year and not wish everyone a “Happy New Year”? If this is the case, then we should certainly avoid making New Year’s resolutions, too. (Especially those that include diets and exercise!)

And then, there are the religious holidays that most Christians don’t really celebrate, and some don’t even know about. The Feast of Saint Stephen, who was the first Christian martyr on 26 December, the Feast of St. John who was the “Beloved Disciple” on 27 December, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 December, and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 12 December have already been mentioned.

Finally, there is Epiphany, which is perhaps one of the most important holidays of the liturgical or church year. It is the last day of the Twelve Days of Christmas of which we sing in the (often-denigrated) Christmas carol, and which is overlooked by most non-liturgical churches. Epiphany, which falls on January 6, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. Western Christians commemorate principally (but not solely) the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the Baby Jesus, and thus Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles. The early Christian Fathers fixed the date of the feast on January 6. Ancient liturgies noted Illuminatio, Manifestatio, Declaratio (Illumination, Manifestation, Declaration) taken from Matthew 3:13–17; Luke 3:22; and John 2:1–11; where the Baptism and the Marriage at Cana were dwelt upon. Western Christians have traditionally emphasized the “Revelation to the Gentiles” mentioned in Luke, where the term Gentile means all non-Jewish peoples. The Biblical Magi, who represented the non-Jewish peoples of the world, paid homage to the infant Jesus in stark contrast to Herod the Great (King of Judea), who sought to kill him. In this event, Christian writers also inferred a revelation to the Children of Israel. Saint John Chrysostom identified the significance of the meeting between the Magi and Herod’s court: “The star had been hidden from them so that, on finding themselves without their guide, they would have no alternative but to consult the Jews. In this way, the birth of Jesus would be made known to all.” The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast was in A.D. 361, by Ammianus Marcellinus. St. Epiphanius says that January 6 is hemera genethlion toutestin epiphanion (Christ’s “Birthday; that is, His Epiphany”). He also asserts that the Miracle at Cana occurred on the same calendar day, and it was on this day, too, that John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. So on 6 January, after all the Christmas trimmings have been put away, the gifts exchanged, New Years resolutions have been made (and some broken already), and the kids are back in school, we can still say, with all feeling, “Happy Holidays.”

Honestly, don’t you think “Happy Holidays” is so much easier? And besides, I really like Bing Crosby’s Christmas carol, “Happy Holidays!”

Now, What about that pesky “Xmas” that annoys so many people?

To begin: Look around in your churches, my friends, especially those of you from a liturgical background, and see how many X’s you can find.

“Xmas” is a common abbreviation of the word “Christmas“. The “-mas” part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for “Mass“, while the “X” comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as “Christ“. There is a common misconception that the word Xmas is a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the “Christ” out of “Christmas”. While “Xmas” is considered to be an informal abbreviation, and should never be used in formal writing, it is historically correct.

The word “Christ” and its compounds, including “Christmas”, have been abbreviated in English for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern “Xmas” was commonly used. “Christ” was often written as “XP” or “Xt”; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as AD 1021. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for “Christ”), and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. The labarum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters rendered as ☧, is a symbol often used to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the OED Supplement have cited usages of “X-” or “Xp-” for “Christ-” as early as 1485. The terms “Xpian” and “Xtian” have also been used for “Christian”. The dictionary further cites usage of “Xtianity” for “Christianity” from 1634. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, most of the evidence for these words comes from “educated Englishmen who knew their Greek”.

In ancient Christian art, χ and χρ are abbreviations for Christ’s name. In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons, Χ is an abbreviation for Χριστος, as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma); compare IC for Jesus in Greek.

Thus, really and truly, the use of the “X” isn’t taking Christ out of Christmas at all. And instead of protesting the use of “X” during the Christmas season, wouldn’t we ALL be better people, the world be a better place, and Christ be better served, if we kept that “X” in our words and deeds every day of the year? Should we not celebrate Him always, 24/7/365?

So, having said all of the above, Happy Holidays (all of them) to all of you, and may you keep Christ, not only in Christmas, but also in your hearts and minds and lives, every day and always. Amen.

December 1, 2014

Blessed John of Vercelli

John Garbella was born early in the 13th century, somewhere near Vercelli. He studied at Paris and was ordained priest before 1229. He taught canon law at the University of Paris. While he was professor there, Jordan of Saxony (who was a friend of Saint Albert the Great) came to Paris, and John saw one after another of his best pupils desert their careers to join the Dominicans. He seems to have considered them quite objectively, without reference to himself, until one day he had an interior voice that spoke to him that it was God’s will for him to join the Dominicans. No one can say that John did not respond with alacrity; he dropped everything and ran down the street. (“Let me go; I am on my way to God!”) Jordan received him happily and gave him the habit.

In 1232, John was sent to Vercelli to establish a convent there. He built this and several other convents in Lombardy as houses of regular observance. While provincial of Lombardy, he also became inquisitor. It was a particularly difficult moment. His brother in religion, Peter of Verona, had just been killed by the heretics in Como. The entire countryside was in a state of war, with roving bands of heretics and robbers. It was the task of the new inquisitor to try to bring order out of this chaos, and what John did was remarkable, considering the situation. In spite of his heavy labors, which included the supervision of 600 friars in 28 different cities (he reached them only by walking), John of Vercelli established the ideals of study and regular observance in all of his houses.

It was the good fortune of John of Vercelli to live in an age that was well peopled by saints. He formed a close friendship with Saint Louis, the king of France. Several of his tasks in the order, particularly the Commission on the Program of Studies, he shared with Saint Albert the Great, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Peter of Tarentaise (the future Pope Innocent V). In such company one would need to have a superior set of talents; John did.

In 1264 the chapter of the order met at Paris. Blessed Humbert had resigned as master general of the order. John went to the chapter hoping that he could resign as provincial of Lombardy. Instead of escaping one office, he fell heir to a still more difficult one. He was elected master general in 1264 and served in that capacity until 1283. John was then a man in his sixties and was, moreover, handicapped by a crippled leg. However, he accepted the office which would require him to walk, not only all over Lombardy, but all over Europe. It took a brand of courage and obedience that was little short of heroic.

During the generalate of John of Vercelli, the relics of Saint Dominic were transferred to the new tomb that had been prepared for it by Nicholas of Pisa. When the transfer was made, John of Vercelli fixed his seal on the tomb; the seals were still intact on their examination in 1946. During the translation of the relics, according to the account in the Vitae Fratrum, when the body of Saint Dominic was exposed to view, the head was seen to turn towards John of Vercelli. John, embarrassed, moved to another part of the church and gave his place to a cardinal. Whereupon, the head of Saint Dominic was seen by all to turn again in John’s direction.

On the death of Clement IV, John of Vercelli was very nearly elected pope. Being warned of the possibility, he fled in fright. However, his good friend Cardinal Visconti, was elected and took the name Gregory X. He appointed John as legate on several different missions.

He was commissioned by the pope to draw up the Schema for the second ecumenical council of Lyons in 1274–that council to which Saint Thomas Aquinas was hurrying when death found him on the road. At the council John distinguished himself for his assistance by offering to the council the talents of his best men. At the council, he accepted for the Dominican Order the special commission of promoting reverence for the Holy Name of Jesus and fighting blasphemy, which was, in that day as in ours, a prevalent vice. He can thus be considered the founder of the Holy Name Society, even though the Confraternity was not formed until 1432.

Several precious relics were suitably enshrined by John of Vercelli. These included several thorns from the Crown of Our Lord, which had been given him by Saint Louis of France. The cord of Saint Thomas, with which he had been guided by the angels and which he had worn until death, was given into the care of the master general, who gave it to the convent of Vercelli for safe keeping.

John’s career was rapidly reaching its end. In 1279, he presided over the famous chapter of Paris at which the order made the doctrine of Saint Thomas officially its own. The following year he laid the foundations of the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. One of his last official acts was to provide for a work on the instruction of novices (Benedictines, Dorcy).

Born: 1205 at Mosso Santa Maria, Italy as John Garbella

Died: September 1283 at Montpelier, France of natural causes; buried at the Dominican convent at Montpelier; his tomb was desecrated by Calvinists in 1562, and his body disappeared.

Beatified: 1903 by Pope Pius X (cultus confirmed), 1909 elevated him to the honors of the altar

November 30, 2014

He Sees You When You’re Sleeping… 1 Advent ~ Br. Michael Marshall, Novice

Every year before Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, I sit in the pew waiting for the excitement of the birth of the Christ Child. The anticipation builds until the fanfare of trumpets announces the great “Joy to the World, our Savior’s come!” the great climax of the Advent Season. But, what IS Advent? What does it mean?

The Season of Advent, the 4 week period before Christmas, is a season of preparation, and the beginning of the church year. Each of the four Sundays mark a step closer to the Christmas celebration. Many people think of Advent as the four weeks of countdown, during which a candle is lit on the Advent wreath each Sunday, a purple candle representing each Sunday until the Third Sunday, which is known as Gaudate Sunday. But Advent is SO much more than that!

The Advent season is a time of examining how we have been living as a follower of Jesus. As well, it is a time of reflection. I have learned that Advent is a time of charity and love. I do not mean we just throw a couple quarters in the Salvation Army kettles as we pass by when Christmas shopping because we feel guilty if we do not, but it is a season of giving of ourselves. Christ has told us that we are called to love our neighbor unconditionally. Don’t you think the beginning of the church year is a good place to start doing so?

In The Gospel reading for today, Jesus is sharing with his disciples that they will not know when the Lord will return. “…you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.” (Mark 13:35) One might wonder why the Gospel for this Sunday was chosen, since it refers to the Second Coming instead of the birth of the Savior. The message of Advent is not just about being ready for that one time and final event, but is also about always being ready when called upon in time of need.

As children, this message was shown to us in a different way. Throughout the “commercialized” Christmas season, which has, in many ways, seemingly replaced Advent, there are many carols and other songs about Christmas. When we read the Gospel for today, we find something very familiar to one of the most classic children’s Christmas songs, “Santa’s Coming to Town.”

“He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been good or bad
So be good for goodness sake!
Ohh! You better watch out!”

Yes, the song is about a jolly, chubby old man in a red suit, but the message of Jesus is definitely in the song. Not everyone has children, but all of us once were, and we can be children at heart. We KNOW this song! We can think of this catchy song to remind us of what Jesus is saying what we should be doing during the Advent season. Let us remember that that we do “not know when the Lord of the house is coming,” and that we should always and in every way, be prepared for the coming of the king, far before we sing “Joy to the World” on Christmas morning.

November 26, 2014

Blessed James Benefatti

James is known as the Father of the Poor. He was a Dominican at Mantua, Italy in 1290, and was a Doctor of theology and a priest. He was also a friend and brother friar of Nicholas Boccasino who later became Pope Benedict XI, and for whom James held several support offices including papal legate. He was the Bishop of Mantua in 1303, and noted for his devotion to the poor. James rebuilt his cathedral and refurbished churches and was appointed Papal legate for Pope John XXII. He died 19 November 1332 at Mantua, Italy of natural causes. His body was found incorrupt when exhumed both in 1480 and 1604. He was beatified in 1859 by Pope Pius IX.

November 25, 2014

Saint Catherine of Alexandria

According to the traditional story, Catherine was the daughter of Costus, a pagan governor of Alexandria, where she was born. She is said to have announced to her parents that she would only marry someone who surpassed her in beauty, intelligence, wealth, and social status. This has been interpreted as an early foreshadowing of her eventual discovery of Christ. “His beauty was more radiant than the shining of the sun, His wisdom governed all creation, His riches were spread throughout all the world.” Though raised a pagan, she converted to Christianity in her late teens. It is said that she visited her contemporary, the Roman Emperor Maximinus Daia, and attempted to convince him of the moral error in persecuting Christians. She succeeded in converting his wife, the Empress, and many pagan philosophers whom the Emperor sent to dispute with her, all of whom were subsequently martyred. Upon the failure of the Emperor to win Catherine over, he ordered her to be put in prison; and when the people who visited her converted, she was condemned to death on the breaking wheel, an instrument of torture. According to legend, the wheel itself broke when she touched it, so she was beheaded.

According to Christian tradition, angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where, in the 6th century, the Eastern Emperor Justinian established Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Mount Sinai, the church being built between 548 and 565 in Saint Catherine, Egypt, on the Sinai peninsula. Saint Catherine’s Monastery survives, a famous repository of early Christian art, architecture and illuminated manuscripts that is still open to visiting scholars. The historian Harold T. Davis says that Catherine’s story dates only from the 10th century AD, and that “assiduous research has failed to identify Catherine with any historical personage”; Davis suggests that the invention of Catherine may have been inspired by the story of the martyred pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria. She did certainly form an exemplary counterpart to Hypatia in the medieval mindset; and it has been suggested that she was invented specifically for that purpose. Like Hypatia, she is said to have been highly learned (in philosophy and theology), very beautiful, sexually pure, and to have been brutally murdered for publicly stating her beliefs. The story of Catherine is placed a hundred years before Hypatia’s death, but there are no contemporary sources for her life.

Because of the fabulous character of the account of her martyrdom and the lack of reliable documentation, the Roman Catholic Church in 1969 removed her feast day from the Calendar. But she continued to be commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on November 25. In 2002, her feast was restored to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial.

The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia describes the historical importance of the belief in her as follows:

Ranked with St Margaret and St Barbara as one of the fourteen most helpful saints in heaven, she was unceasingly praised by preachers and sung by poets. It is believed that Jacques-Benigne Bossuet dedicated to her one of his most beautiful panegyrics and that Adam of St. Victor wrote a magnificent poem in her honour: Vox Sonora nostri chori, etc. In many places her feast was celebrated with the utmost solemnity, servile work being suppressed and the devotions being attended by great numbers of people. In several dioceses of France it was observed as a Holy Day of Obligation up to the beginning of the seventeenth century, the splendor of its ceremonial eclipsing that of the feasts of some of the Apostles. Numberless chapels were placed under her patronage and her statue was found in nearly all churches, representing her according to medieval iconography with a wheel, her instrument of torture. Meanwhile, owing to several circumstances in his life, Saint Nicholas of Myra was considered the patron of young bachelors and students, and Saint Catherine became the patroness of young maidens and female students. Looked upon as the holiest and most illustrious of the virgins of Christ after the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was natural that she, of all others, should be worthy to watch over the virgins of the cloister and the young women of the world. The spiked wheel having become emblematic of the saint, wheelwrights and mechanics placed themselves under her patronage. Finally, as according to tradition, she not only remained a virgin by governing her passions and conquered her executioners by wearying their patience, but triumphed in science by closing the mouths of sophists, her intercession was implored by theologians, apologists, pulpit orators, and philosophers. Before studying, writing, or preaching, they besought her to illumine their minds, guide their pens, and impart eloquence to their words. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, it was rumored that she had spoken to Joan of Arc and, together with St. Margaret, had been divinely appointed Joan’s adviser.

November 23, 2014

Good Sheep and Baaahd Goats???

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
34:11 For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. 20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, 22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

Psalm 95:1-7a
95:1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! 7a For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Ephesians 1:15-23
1:15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Matthew 25:31-46
25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

What a lot of sheep in the scriptures for today! In spite of what many people think, West Virginia is not made up totally of backwoods hillbillies who have farm animals running in and out of their houses. In fact, West Virginia DOES have some major metropolitan areas. I’ve lived in one of those metropolitan areas my entire life. It is for that reason I never really “got” the parable of the sheep and the goats. Yes, I was in 4-H, and no, I didn’t raise any kind of critter for the County Fair. The amount of knowledge I have about most farm animals comes to me second hand from reading books and watching television. I have no experience with sheep or goats, and what I know about them could really fit into a thimble.

I know that we get wool from sheep, and some people get milk from goats. Female sheep are called ewes, male sheep are rams, and baby sheep are lambs and are cute. Lambs show up on cue in the spring around Easter time, and Jesus is the Lamb of God. One serves mint jelly when serving lamb. When someone is called a “lamb” it is considered to be a compliment. Goats have horns and beards and are said to be stubborn. A female goat is a nanny, a male a buck, and a baby a kid. Sheep and goats can mate and produce (usually sterile) offspring. There are pigmy goats (cute too), and fainting goats (weird.) Sheep and goats are often in the same fields and herds, being watched by a shepherd.

Because of my lack of knowledge of animal husbandry, I had to do some research when commenting on the scriptures appointed for Christ the King Sunday. From my childhood on, it has always seemed to me that the goats in the Scriptures got the raw end of the deal, and I wanted to find out just why this is. I mean, what’s wrong with the goats? This is what I learned:

Sheep are gentle, quiet, animals and do not give their shepherds a lot of problems. They are not aggressive; they are very docile animals. The word “docile” as described in the Webster’s dictionary means, “easily managed or handled, readily trained or taught.” Sheep love to follow the shepherd, and can often be quite affectionate.

Goats, on the other hand, tend to be more independent, are rather aggressive and quarrelsome, and goats are pushy, self-sufficient, and headstrong. They rear and butt in order to establish dominance. Goats will easily revert back to their wild conditions if given the chance. Goats are naturally smelly animals.

Overall, a goat’s reputation is less than positive. Even goat metaphors are negative. For instance, “Look at the old goat” refers to an old fool or dirty old man. “You get my goat!” applies to a person who irritates another. The nursery rhyme, “Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow; and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go” gives a positive view of the little lamb, but when the gypsy girl, Esmeralda, in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, has a pet goat that performs tricks, the people want to hang the girl because they presume she’s using witchcraft. The Jewish Heritage Online magazine reports: While goat’s milk was reported to have some medicinal benefits, goats were regarded as “armed robbers who would jump over people’s fences and destroy their plants.” The ancient rabbis were said to have told this story:

There was once a certain pious person who suffered from heart trouble, and the physicians said the only hope for his recovery was for him to drink warm milk every morning. A cow was not available to this fellow but his family was able to come up with a goat. After some days the sick man’s colleagues came to visit him, but as soon as they noticed the goat they turned back and said: An armed robber is at the house of this man, how can we come to see him? They then sat down and inquired into their friend’s conduct, but they did not find any fault in him except this sin of the goat….

Anyway you look at it; goats tend to be seen in a negative way.

So what about the shepherd? The shepherd is the man or woman who takes care of the sheep and goats. It’s that simple, and even I knew that. Christ as shepherd is a pretty easy analogy to understand. We are his flock and he takes care of us. What I didn’t realize or know is that the analogy runs deep in the literature of the ancient world. In Mesopotamia, the region along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the model for kings was the shepherd. The king-as-shepherd was to “rule kindly, counsel and protect the people,” and “guide them through every difficulty.” Babylon’s Hammurabi, credited with the world’s first written law code, was described as a shepherd of his people. In ancient Egypt, the shepherd’s crook was used “as an insignia of kings, princes, and chieftains.” In the Iliad and the Odyssey from ancient Greece, ship captains are called “shepherds of ships.” Plato uses the shepherd analogy to define justice in the Republic, and in the “Statesman” uses the shepherd to symbolize the work of a good ruler. And of course today, the shepherd’s crook is a symbol of our bishops, representing them as the shepherds of Christ’s flocks.

Having learned all of this, what then, does the parable of the sheep and the goats mean for us? How do we apply this to our lives? Remember, all the nations are gathered before the judge, before the throne of the Son of Man, before the King, THE Shepherd, and the Shepherd separates them

– the right from the left, the sheep from the goats,

and he judges them

– and those on the right are saved, and those on the left are

condemned.

The judgment is made on the basis of the compassion, the love, or the

lack of it, that is shown by those who are gathered before the throne of judgment.

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in” the Son of Man tells those on his right. To those on his left he says the exact opposite. “I was naked” he tells them, “and you did not give me clothing, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”

Awesome words these. Words of great clarity. Words with a powerful message for those who have ears to hear it.

Yet, in the end, despite our knowledge of the story and of its message, the message about the vital importance of our acts of sharing and caring, especially with those who are numbered among the least of us – the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned, despite our knowledge of this parable there are elements to it that are not often talked about, or if talked about which are glossed over.

I speak of course, about the surprise expressed by the sheep and the goats when they hear the Son of Man say – “I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me drink.” or “I was naked and you did not clothe me” and “I was in prison and you did not visit me”

Why is that? Why are they surprised?

What is it that both the sheep and the goats seem to be missing when they perform their good works – or when they fail to?

I think that they are missing a sense of how the sacred penetrates and is interwoven in the ordinary – indeed in the less than the ordinary, in those places – those persons – that we might consider far from holy – far from being a part of Christ, much less Christ embodied.

Remember the words that Jesus uses.

He doesn’t talk about how blessed are we when we visit our friends who are sick, or how wonderful it is when we give good things to our family members and our fellow believers, or how nice it is when we clothe the folks who are just like us.

No. Jesus talks about the least among us – the least within this world, those whom conventional wisdom might even regard as accursed,

– the poor,

– the thirsty,

– the sick in the wards and in the deserts and jungle floors,

-those who are in prison

– perhaps sex offenders

– perhaps murderers

– perhaps only those who have stolen so that their families may eat.

We don’t know. But we do know that they are the least amongst us. Those persons whom we might think don’t count. Those people whose opinions we might regard as unimportant or invalid, because of their age – or their sex, their gender identity, their socio-economic status, educational level, or sexual orientation. Those people whose cries we might ignore because of their race.

And that the Son of Man, that Jesus the Christ, claims to be among them – indeed IN them. And that is surprising is it not – at least to most of us? In fact, it might even be considered to be outrageous.

There is no question raised in this parable of what creed either the sheep or the goats had believed; or whether they had sworn allegiance to one whom the Bible calls the Son of Man – the Good Shepherd – the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

There is only the surprise that this exalted one – who is – in fact – Christ Jesus himself – has been present in every person they had ever met, and most especially, in the needy ones and the least important ones – the ones that Jesus calls “the least.”

And that judgment is based on whether we treat this king, this son of man, present in these the least, well; or ignore him in his suffering and his want and his need.

That is – to say the least – a bit disconcerting. We sometimes think that religion is about believing “stuff”, and that if we believe the right “stuff” we are safe.

But it seems not to be so. Rather our faith seems to be about awareness,

about having our eyes opened to the real world, and responding compassionately to it. Whether or not we are “aware” that the Christ is there.

The parable is calling to us to see the Christ in the squalling child who is getting in our way, and to hear God in the voice of the beggars who so often come and sit with us on Sunday in their dirty and smelly clothes – waiting for a chance to get a free lunch. The parable is calling us to see the Christ in those who irritate us, who have done us wrong. In those whom we don’t particularly care for. The parable is alerting us to the importance of compassion and to the fact that the Son of Man is present in the needy of our world, that Christ is present in each and every human being with whom we come into contact, regardless of who they are, how they act, how they have treated us, or what they believe.

To encounter the least of the brothers and sisters of the Son of Man, however, we don’t need to go to Calcutta, or the Sudan or to one of the

overcrowded prisons in our land do we?? Aren’t there many who are marginalized, many whom we are regarded of little significance of not being equal to those close to us right here amongst us – here in our hometowns, in our parishes, or even in our own families?

Remember the first and the greatest commandment – the one about how we are to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind?

Consider what John the Divine, John the Apostle, the disciple of Christ says about that love in his First Letter. He writes in Chapter three, verse seventeen:

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in

need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in

him?

and again in the 4th chapter, verses 20 and 21:

Anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen,

cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us

this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

The sheep – those on the right – have shown love for their brothers and sisters, and in doing so they have shown love to God, and so they enter the kingdom prepared for them. Their faith is alive – even if they have not grasped the fullness of it. Even if they have not recognized how the Son of Man is everywhere about them. One might say the law has been written on their hearts and guided their actions, if not their thoughts and words.

But think of it. Think of the fullness of it. If our eyes were opened to the depth of the real world and not the shallow world of conventional wisdom, then we would see God present in everyone and everything, especially in the needy and the least important ones.

And that would be even more transforming, – not only for the sheep, for those who are doing good, and for those to whom they are showing the compassion of God, – but also for the goats, for those who may have the right creed and doctrine but who may have judged the least among us as not being deserving of their love and care, as not being people in whom the Holy One dwells.

What a priceless thing if the sheep are not surprised – by the presence of the Son of Man in everyone – and in joy remind those who may risk being judged as goats that all people are wonderfully made and all need to be treated as we would treat the Son of Man.

Provocative isn’t it? It raises a thousand questions in your minds I am sure.

How far should we go in our caring? Whom should we care for – and whom, if any, should we not care for? How can we prioritize our caring so that the truly needy get what they need while those who would suck us dry do not. Or should we even worry about that?

I can’t answer these questions for you. It is something that each of us needs to struggle with on a case-by-case, day by day basis.

But I can tell you that Christ is all around us. That Christ is in the least among us. In the single welfare mothers – and the AIDS patients, and in the prisoners in our jails and in the homeless upon our streets.

Think about this one last time with me. Think of it some 2000 years ago when the Son of Man – the one who is King of King and Lord of Lords, wandered as a poor preacher in a poor land, having no home to call his own, much less a throne of righteousness.

Think of when the Son of Man was tried for blasphemy and flogged 39 times as a common criminal and then was hung on a cross to die as one who was accursed. Think about how the Son of Man came among us – that first time – as we prepare for his coming with Advent starting next week. Think about the circumstances of his life and his death.

The prophet Isaiah, some 700 years before the birth of Christ puts it

this way:

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was

despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and

acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide

their faces he was despised – and we held him of no account.

Where is Christ to be found today? Where is the Son of Man? He is most certainly here among us, and in you my brothers and sisters. But he is also here in ways we do not so easily grasp.

I understand the surprise of those sheep on the right of the Son of Man – and of the goats on the left. I understand because it is so easy to not see him in those who are reckoned to be the least among us. I understand because I have some decisions to make.

Do I want to be a sheep or a goat? I most definitely want to be a sheep, and I can think I am a sheep, but literally act like a goat. Am I feeding the hungry? Giving drink to the thirsty? Taking in a stranger? Clothing the naked? Visiting the sick and imprisoned? Recognizing the Christ in every person? Respecting every person? Looking for the good in every person? If I am not, then who am I? Clearly the goat, not the sheep.

If we think we are sheep, we should be acting like sheep. We have all talked and talked about serving Christ in some way, but like goats we often have gone our own way, too caught up in our own needs and desires. The buck stops here (pun intended!)

As we celebrate Christ as King, and prepare for Christ’s coming during the season of Advent, the beginning of the liturgical year, let us make a new (liturgical) year’s resolution, to love and care for our fellow human beings, to treat every person with whom we come into contact with dignity and respect, to serve our Lord with gladness, to exorcise our individual goats, and to truly become the sheep of Christ’s pasture. Amen.