The beginning of a New Year has a lot of promise. We don’t know what will happen: the joys and sorrows, the opportunities before us and plans that will get scrapped, the changes that God will ask of us, the opportunities for ministry that will cross our paths, and the list continues. God does not have it all mapped out, but the promise of Christmas is that he will walk through it all with us. His Birth is the promise that by taking on Flesh, God will always be with humanity.
Mary teaches us today how to live this year in a way to grow in faith. The Gospel writer tells us that “And Mary kept all these reflecting on them in her heart.” Mary kept praying over all the events in the life of Jesus and opened her heart to God to give her the insight she needed to make sense out of it all. What a great example to follow. No matter what is to happen this year we need to bring it to Jesus. I am sure she didn’t always understand what he was doing or why, but she opened her heart to him. So must we. By opening our hearts to Jesus.

he will walk with us and give us the insight to make any decisions,
he will be our rock when we feel that life is out of control,
he will be the source of our forgiveness and the wellspring of grace.

Mary teaches us that when God asks anything of us ad we accept it, He will give us the grace we need. God will give us the strength to endure the Crosses we will be asked to carry and the fullness of joy to celebrate the Resurrection that also occur.
When Joseph and Mary fulfilled the precepts of the Law on this eighth day after the birth, they teach us the importance of living out the precepts of our faith. We are called to pray every day, to celebrate the Sacraments, to study the Sacred Scripture, to live out the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, to not be afraid to be faithful Catholics. I would encourage you to take one thing and devote the year to it

Grow in your life of prayer.
Read one spiritual book
Read through the the Bible this year
Learn about one saint and try to imitate him or her
Get involved in one ministry in the parish
Commit yourself to one act of charity every day

May this New Year be a year of grace for each of you. May the prayers of the Mother of God help you to be faithful to the Christian life. Let 2020 be a time when you encounter Jesus so deeply that you, like Mary, bear him into the world.

This Sunday is one of the easiest and hardest Sundays to preach on. It is the easiest because we all have an experience of family whether it is good or bad and the hardest because we all have an experience of family whether it is good or bad. We all know that there are many different definitions of family in our world today:  mom and dad and kids, dad and dad, mom and mom, grandparents raising grandchildren, single moms and single dads,  blended families, children being raised in the foster care system, and the list continues.  Looking at all the definitions of family that we have, these are the things that seem consistent

Basic unit of society no matter how the family is structured
A group of people with some common purpose
A group of people from a common stock and united by certain convictions or a common affiliation

It is in this basic unit of society that we learn about how to be a man or woman of faith and part of the community of faith. The first two readings challenge us how to be a good family no matter the make up: respect one another, take care of each other, be kind to each other, admit when we are wrong, forgive each other, put on Christ, pray together and do everything in the name of Jesus Christ. If we could practice this in our basic units of society, in the family of the church, in the family of the world, then, what a different world we will live in. The make up of what a family is not important: it is how the family lives together.

One pain that I hear a lot from parents is that their children have walked away from the practice of the faith and the Church. What I want to say to you is that you have not failed. All you can do is to lay the groundwork of faith by showing your children what it means to follow Jesus. You can only plant the seeds. It is all I can, too. I am a firm believer that every single person at some point has to make the choice to follow Jesus or not. We cannot do that for anyone; we can just witness about how faith is important to us. I am not above a word of challenge once in awhile, but I leave that up to you. Together we can only entrust them to the Blessed Mother and St Joseph that their prayers will lead them on a journey back to Jesus even if they go on a detour.

We have a common purpose: to continue the mission of Jesus. We are all brothers and sister in Baptism (our fundamental connection) and it is Jesus who binds us together. It is essential that people see us a Holy Family, not perfect, but people who strive together to be followers of Jesus. No one can exist alone and stay healthy: healthy, emotional or spiritually. The same thing is true as people of faith. Small faith sharing groups, common worship and mission are part of the family of faith. Jesus will use us to draw people to him, to increase this parish family, by our faithful witness to him. Again, it doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be authentic. They will know we are Christians by our love for the rest of human kind.

So, even though this maybe the hardest and easiest Sunday to preach on, it is the opportunity to celebrate what Jesus’s birth transformed us into: men and women loved by God and given a common purpose to spread the Hope he brought into the world by His humble birth in Bethlehem and into a family that showed us that Love can conquer all the difficulties that life will throw at us.

Do  you have a hard time shopping for just the right gift? I often worry that what I give will not be liked or I will get the polite “Thank you” and the gift will end up in the back of closet or will be on the re gift list. I wonder if God felt the same way when he gave the gift of Himself in Jesus. Will they like the gift I am giving? So, what does the gift of Jesus mean? It is pure Love! It is the gift that keeps on giving!

In Jesus we find hope. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time keeping a sense of hope. World and national unrest, seeing many families try to deal with the stresses of today’s hectic pace of life, a rise in the opioid crisis, so many teens and people in the 20 and 30’s struggling with the stresses of life and sometimes choosing to opt out of life, people are hungry and cold and then all our own personal stresses. Isaiah re focuses us on the fact that the coming of a Savior would radically alter the world and begin something new. This new way of life can be ours! But, we need to surrender to Jesus as Lord for hope to be born is us. Will you, can I, open our hearts right now to Jesus as Lord?
With a heart surrendered to Jesus, hope is born in us. Nothing that will separate us from him and our hope will change the world.  This doesn’t mean that the road will be smooth and carefree, but our response will be. Hope is the foundation; it is the true meaning of Christmas. In the birth of Jesus, hope was born anew. On the Cross, it was given to all and its proof is the empty tomb. Even death itself is destroyed by the Hope born today. Can we allow God to be born is us right now?
It is living as a hope filled people that keeps us on focused on Jesus even when we struggle with our faith. My belief is that if we are rooted in the hope that we are given today, any question about Catholic belief or misunderstandings can be asked and discussed. As long we stand firm in the fundamental and core beliefs of the faith, as long as we remain rooted in Jesus, we will find our answers. Look at the Shepherds in the Nativity story. You can’t tell me them they bought into the angel’s message not have any questions or doubts. But, when they say God Himself lying in dirty straw and surrounded by all the animals and odors of a barn, they believed. Hope and Love radiated from that scene and changed the shepherds’ hearts. Even the greatest of our saints struggled with parts of what we believe, but what makes them saints is that they didn’t give up the Church in their struggle. Their hearts were fixed on Jesus and him alone. I know how hard it is to be faithful given some of the news we hear about the behavior of some of the clergy and bishops, but, remember Jesus is the head of the Church. His mission continues despite the behavior of others because the Church is not just them; it is each one of us. Are we focused on the hope that Jesus is or only on the negative behaviors of others? Are we allowing other’s behaviors to keep us from Christ, especially Christ present in the Holy Eucharist?
My brothers and sisters, God doesn’t worry if we like His gift, if we want it, or just leave it unwrapped in the darkness of the closet of our hearts. He just keeps offering his Love made Human in Jesus. He just keeps offering the Hope that was born in poverty and as a fragile Child. Maybe tomorrow or tonight before we open our gifts, we can all take a few moments and open the gift that God gives, Jesus himself. All it takes is a couple of moments, and a simple prayer: Thank you Lord for the Hope that is born in me this day! Thank you for Jesus, Hope itself.

It seems like people want everything yesterday, in our world. We give up on making a change because it doesn’t happen quick enough or the way we want it to. Many people who deal with depression and anxiety and many mental health problems struggle with this; I suspect that we all do. We think we should be a certain way. We have a tape running through our minds: I should be perfect, I should be happy, I am weak and cannot change, I am not good enough or worthy enough of change, if I change, then people will expect too much of me and I will fail…..and the list continues.
This line of thinking is what makes us blind, lame, deaf and certain parts of our hearts dead. We get trapped in our own thinking and put ourselves down and then feel there is no hope. We feed ourselves the line of: I am too old, not smart enough, why bother, I don’t want to even though I know I need to. I must do it all myself.

Isaiah reminds us that the work of change is not ours; it is God’s. We only need to say yes to Him everyday of our lives. The signs of the kingdom that he writes about are already with us, if we let God in.

Only God can “ Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak.”
Only God can say to those who hearts are frightened: “Be strong, fear not!”

Where do you think John the Baptist got the strength to confront the leaders of his day? Certainly not from himself; He was on fire with his love of God and his mission to proclaim the coming of the One who will transform the world into the Kingdom of God. Notice that the proof Jesus sends to him is not his preaching; but the testimony of the works he is doing. Jesus will be proclaimed to the world today by the work we do in His name and by the our witness that He alone is shaping and molding us into living signs of the Kingdom.

Take a couple of minutes right now and ask God to show you what he wants to heal so that you can be a sign of his kingdom. Allow Him to show you what fears he can help you deal with; where you need strength and peace. Let God show you and me the sin that needs to be forgiven. May each of us then ask for the grace to let God work within us and transform us into the person He calls us to be.
Remember though, whatever God want to change in you and me will not happen today, but it will happen in God’s time. Today is only the beginning, if we want it to be.
Remember the words of St James:
“You too must be patient.
Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand”.

The Lord is coming, in fact he is already here. May our hearts be open to him right here and now.

     Some people were having a discussion about what was the best way to cook a turkey.  There were many different recipes, but one was intriguing.  It was quite traditional with one very interesting twist.  Before the turkey was seasoned, etc. this one cook would cut the turkey in half.  The rest of the folks began to have a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages.   Some thought it was to make it easier to baste, others that it would give more flavor for the gravy, others were not quite sure.  Finally, they asked the cook why.  He wasn’t sure but said he would check with his mother.  When he asked, he was told that was they way she was taught by her mother.  All her brothers and sisters agreed.  So, he asked his grandmother who said it was the way it had always been done because she was taught by her mother.  Unfortunately his great grandmother had passed way, but there was one great aunt left.  He went to see her and asked why the turkey had to be cut in half to cook it.  She simply looked at him and said:  My mother had to cut the turkey in half because her oven was too small for the size of the turkey that was needed to feed everyone on Thanksgiving.

     How much we are like that family.  We do things over and over again and think that it is the only way.  The Gospel of this First Sunday of Advent warns us not to get complacent.  We are told to be prepared and awake.  It is too easy to get stuck into living our faith on the surface and not encountering God.  Advent is the time to wake up and allow God to change us into the people He created us to be.  Advent is the time to remember that God is creating a new heavens and earth which began on Calvary but is not yet completed.  There is no room for complacency in the Christian life.  We cannot blend into society; we need to stand out as witnesses for something better.

Isaiah tells us that one sign of the Kingdom will be peace and harmony. 

 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.

     The amount of anger that seems to be pervading our world today is unbelievable.  How we talk to each other when we disagree, what we hear and see on the news, how political discourse is done, how any of the world’s religions are used to justify violence,  the amount of violence on our streets and in our hearts does not reflect the Kingdom.  We do not have control over anyone else, but we do have control over ourselves and our own hearts.  St Paul tell us to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”.  To put on Christ demands we solve our issues with one another in peaceful and respectful ways.  Name calling and barbs do more damage than a fist and a gun; honesty, compromise and peaceful communication change the world.

     I wonder if this type of change is even possible today.  Without Jesus and faith, it is impossible.  The daily living the of Gospel, reading the Scripture and daily prayer, the regular celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the weekly attendance at the Eucharist are the key and necessary elements needed to transform us.  Reconciliation challenges us to confront our sinfulness; the Eucharist transforms us into the living Body of Christ.  By doing this, God will take us out of our complacency and surface Christianity and make us authentic signs of the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven;  here and now!

     Let us start preparing this week; not for Christmas Day, but for eternity.  If we are trapped into doing it the same way over and over again, now is the time to wake up and ask God to show us how and what to change.  May we beat the swords of our angry words into the songs of peace.  May we turn the spears of our name calling into the pruning hooks that till the soil of the Kingdom.  May the dew of God’s Spirit descent into our hearts and water the seeds of the Kingdom of God.

Come Lord Jesus, Come today!