LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
Fr. Jim Deiters

Recently, five parishioners and I made a pastoral visit to our Sister Parish in Guatemala.  Each time I go there, I always return with a changed heart and mind.   Spending time with poor people…whose main decisions each day are about where their water and food will come from, is so humbling…as all the things I worry about become so trivial…compared to their struggles.  I was inspired by the stories of women in one village talking about their trust in God, even when the severe drought caused by climate change has their only source of water almost dried up. I realize how far my faith still needs to grow.

One person, named Cristobel, had a big impact on me in our visit to the small mountain village of El Naranjo.  To get there, you take an hour-long ride up a very dusty road filled with potholes; but when you arrive, the people are dressed in their finest Sunday outfits for Mass.  What first made Cristobel special was the big hug he gave me at the sign of peace.  You see, Cristobel, who is probably around 25 years old, has Down Syndrome; and like all those with this bless-ed disability, he is filled with joy and affection.  Since we were sitting in the front row of this tiny church, I couldn’t help but notice the faithful devotion of each person going to Communion.  But Cristobel brought tears to my eyes, when after receiving the Body of Christ, he stepped to the side and fell on his knees, bent forward, put his forehead to the floor, and I heard him pray, “Thank you.”

In my 28 years of priesthood, probably about 10,000 times, I have stood at the Altar and proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God” before receiving the Eucharist.  Cristobel’ faith and devotion shook me to the core as I felt more than ever that I was truly in the Presence of THE Lamb of God.

In my theological mind I know that Jesus’ title as “Lamb of God” from the Gospel today represents Jewish symbolism for the Passover and connects to the prophesies of Isaiah about the servant who gives his life for others.  But suddenly that day, having just consumed the Eucharist, I became more aware than ever that THE Lamb of God was within me.

When John the Baptist announces to the crowd that Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” notice that the word ‘sin’ is singular, which emphasizes the world’s collective brokenness.  In that sense, coming forward to Communion is a risk…since we are taking into our bodies, yes Jesus, but also the brokenness of the world that Jesus carries within himself!   Holy Communion puts us in “communio” union with all the broken members of Christ’s Body!  That is why receiving the Eucharist is not a ‘private’ devotion, but just the opposite, it is meant to pull us OUT OF our self…and recognize our unity and concern for every member of Christ’s Body.  Yes, Communion is a personal experience, but received in the context of a community, both those in this room and throughout the world, it is a very public act of commitment, covenant, and communion with others.

But interestingly, when we sing the Agnus Dei, in that text, notice we sing “Lamb of God who takes away the SINS of the world…have mercy on us.”  The word “sins” in the plural, means we are proclaiming that Jesus also takes away all our individual sins…recognizing how much we need healing on a personal level…in addition to the healing needed on a global level.

I don’t want to get too technical here, but it does add a richness to this phrase we proclaim in the Gloria and these other two significant parts of the Mass.  And I think it gives us the spiritual opportunity to think again about what Jesus as the “Lamb of God” really means to us.  Ultimately, this title means that Jesus is our Savior, who truly does take away my own sins…and heals the collective brokenness of the world.  In our prayer this week, we can reflect on what it really means that Jesus is our Savior - Lamb of God.  For John the Baptist, it meant giving witness to Jesus by boldly proclaiming his faith in Jesus as the Son of God.  Will receiving THE Lamb of God into our bodies possibly move us to be bolder in talking about our faith with our children, grandchildren, friends, and people in the public arena?

This new season of Ordinary Time challenges us to think about how we profess our faith in ‘ordinary’ ways – in our homes, workplaces, and through social media.  Cristobel of El Naranjo may never know how much his profession of deep faith inspired me that day, even though I thanked him after Mass, and he gave me another big hug.  So that coming forward for Communion never becomes just a routine, our proclaiming Jesus as the “Lamb of God” must lead us to new ways of living and professing our faith.

LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
BAPTISM OF THE LORD
Deacon John Gomez

When our youngest son Kyle was in kindergarten, we went to Kansas City to visit grandma. Father Reggie the local parish priest visited the house while we were there to bring grandma communion. After his visit he looked at Kyle and said, “You will make a very good priest some day.” After Father Reggie left, Kyle asked his mother, “Do I have to be a priest? Priests drive black cars and I don’t want a black car.”

We often speak of vocations in the Catholic Church, of being called by God to live a certain kind of life. For some of us that vocation may be to the married life with its blessings and challenges of unity, chastity, and fidelity in our secular society, of bearing and raising children, of teaching them our faith, of trying to protect them from the many apparent and sometimes hidden dangers in the society around us, of hoping for their happiness, of sharing their dreams and disappointments, of laughing and celebrating with them, and of crying and mourning with them. We also pray that more men and women will hear the call to the vocations of the priesthood and religious life, of a humble service to our brothers and sisters, the people of God, that bestows the blessings of peace and fulfillment to both the servant and the served, of a discernment of God’s loving and compassionate presence in every person and in all of creation so that we may give of the same graces which God so abundantly fills our lives. Still others are called to the single life, a life that can contribute to the creation of the kingdom of God in many of the same ways as the other vocations through humble service, teaching, and nurturing; a life that may offer freedom from many of the concerns and responsibilities of the other vocations, and yet a life that must carry the heavy burden of periodic loneliness and isolation. But have you ever heard of the vocation of Justice? Isaiah proclaims, “I, the Lord, have called you (vocation) for the victory of justice.”

Imagine what it must have been like for the Israelite people to hear these words from the prophet Isaiah while they are in exile in Babylon enduring oppression. First, you have lost your homeland. The land that had been promised to your ancestors for generations, that your family had worked sowing and reaping grain, tending the orchards of date palms and olive trees, shepherding the flocks of goats and lambs, and dressing the vineyard to produce the bountiful blessings of God. Worse than that, imagine under the Babylonians that you have lost your freedom. No longer can you decide where you will go or what you will do, when you will work and when you will rest; no longer can you express your opinions or feelings. The Babylonians won’t let you provide for your family’s future, have your children receive an education or obtain medicine when they are ill. Your entire life’s focus is simply surviving today. The ultimate Babylonian injustice is being denied the ability to worship God because Babylon destroyed the Temple. Well you don’t have to imagine; Psalm 137 tells us: “Desolate Daughter Babylon, you shall be destroyed, blessed the one who pays you back for what you have done to us! Blessed the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock.” That sounds more like vengeance than justice. So what is justice?

Saint Thomas Aquinas explored this question. In its simplest terms Aquinas said justice is the virtue of being in right relationship. He explained that justice is based on the natural law inscribed on our hearts by the wisdom of God to direct all of our actions toward our ultimate good. Justice guides the relationships within our families: the foundational relationship of love and compassion between husband and wife; the respectful and nurturing relationship between parent and child. Justice also guides the relationships within our extended family and community: the expectation that our basic and inalienable rights protecting the dignity and development of human life in all its diversity will be honored. Justice is our expectation that responsibilities to provide those things necessary for human decency will be fulfilled: namely living in safety, free of violence; having adequate nutrition and medical care; access to education; and participation in societal structures and decisions influencing the common good. Justice even guides our relationship with creation helping us to consider the effect our decisions have on the environment not just for ourselves but for people living in distant lands and for future generations. Furthermore, justice has no upper limit—there is no such thing as too much justice. Aquinas recognized that all other virtues can become vices if we have too little or too much. For example, the virtue of hope becomes the vice of despair when we lack hope or it becomes the vice of foolhardiness when we have excessive hope. A lack of justice is clearly the vice of injustice, but how can you have an excess of justice? Like the beatitudes that call us to constantly become more humble, peaceful and merciful, we must continually strive to become more just.

The Israelites eventually received their justice. Cyrus the Great, the Persian King, conquered the Babylonians and permitted the Israelites to return to their homeland and begin construction of the second temple in Jerusalem. The powerful Persians won justice for the weak Israelites. Today Catholic Social Teaching refers to this as solidarity. We are one human family whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences. We are our brothers and sisters keepers, whether they are here in O’Fallon, or East St. Louis, or southern Texas, or Guatemala. In solidarity our love for all our sisters and brothers demands that we promote justice throughout our world engulfed by violence and conflict. To love someone is to desire that person's good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, solidarity seeks the good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the good of "all of us", made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society.

It’s also important to realize the Persians stood in solidarity with a foreign people who had absolutely nothing to offer in exchange. We can’t approach justice with an attitude of what’s in it for me? All too often the poor and marginalized have nothing tangible to offer in exchange; that’s part of the reason they need our support to obtain justice. What we have to gain by standing in solidarity with them is increased justice throughout the world. There is no such thing as too much justice.

Okay deacon I understand justice but what is the victory of justice? Consider the reason Jesus sought baptism by John in the Jordan. He certainly didn’t need it for the forgiveness of his sins. No, Jesus was baptized so that he would be in right relationship with faithful Jews and the law. Why did Jesus proclaim the Good News? Because he wanted to be in right relationship with God His Father. Why did Jesus celebrate the Last Supper, suffer and die on the cross? Because he wanted us to be in right relationship with the Father too. The victory of justice is Jesus’ victory over sin and death that begins in baptism. In our vocation of justice we must answer God’s call; we must accept Jesus invitation to salvation. We must live in solidarity with our marginalized and disenfranchised brothers and sisters around the world to obtain justice. In that way we too can hear the voice of God saying, “My beloved, in you I am well pleased.”

MARY MOTHER OF GOD 
Fr. Jim Deiters

Not sure if you took the time to notice the sunset last night, but it was spectacular!  It made me smile at how God gave us such a dramatic beautiful close to the year of 2019.  I smiled because I often hear people say, “I’m sure glad this year is over and next year has to be better.”  I realize that it has been a rough year for many of us, but meanwhile, God closed out the year with an all-natural, live-animation, 3-D, thought-provoking masterpiece of sun, color and sky...on the biggest screen possible – his canvas of the cosmos!  We cannot imagine all of the awful things that God has observed we humans did to one another in the past year, but God still chooses to end each day and each year with a sunset of love that blankets us with hope and peace, assuring us that we are still held close in the palm of his hand.

We Catholics are the one religion that comes to church at the close of one year and the beginning of a new one to re-center ourselves in God, especially celebrating the great Mystery and Miracle of God becoming a human through the Virgin Mary.  While today’s feast highlights the significance of Mary in the great story of God’s love for humanity, the focus is still on the Mystery of God becoming a human, which is an inexhaustible phenomenon to contemplate.

Christian’s veneration of Mary goes back to our beginnings.  Some of the earliest scriptures, hymns and prayers celebrate the important role of Mary in Christ saving the world.  And it was shortly after our ancient ancestors officially defined Jesus as fully God and fully human that they also officially gave Mary the title of “Mother of God” at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD.  With my love of history, I could talk about those councils all day…, but for our feast day and our New Year, let’s look briefly at this Gospel and the interesting relationship between the shepherds and our Mother Mary.

In those times shepherds were considered some of the poorest, dirtiest, most untrustworthy people of the day.  But Mary chose to pay attention and listen to them, as the scriptures say that she seriously reflected on their message. She was a listener to the voices of the lowly and through them she heard God’s news about her Son Jesus.  Do you see how this is all part of the great Mystery that is almost laughable in God’s surprising ways that do not make sense to our normal way of thinking?  That God would choose such lowly, poor, outcast homeless persons to be his messengers to Mother Mary and Joseph?  And then he surprised a male-dominated world by choosing to enter our human condition through a woman…whose feminine traits teach us how to be better listeners.

Mary models for us to think about the New Year as a time to be better listeners; especially opening our ears and heart to those we least expect to inspire or enlighten us.  Most of us are “hearing impaired” in terms of our selective listening…or often reacting before really hearing the thoughts of the other person.  But Mary especially invites us to pay more attention to people living is some form of poverty.  Beyond the poor we serve in our outreach ministry, we also can be better at listening to the poor in our own homes and parish. An angry child, a confused teenager, an upset spouse, a person who is grieving, someone going through a divorce, an elderly person living alone…, are all persons who have much to teach us if we listen and reflect on their needs.

The examples of being better listeners to one another of course must also be nourished by spending more time listening and reflecting on God’s very Word that comes to us from the Scriptures.  Mary held the very Word of God in her arms and taught him about God’s Mercy and Love; and then she gave him to you and me. Those who ponder and treasure in their heart Jesus, as God’s very Word, will naturally become better listeners…and know when God is speaking, even when the God’s Message comes to us from the most unlikely sources.

At the Altar today, picture yourself with Mother Mary at your side, pointing us to Jesus and inviting us to listen and pay more attention to the needs and messages of hope of those around us in the New Year.

LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
HOLY FAMILY
Fr. Jim Deiters

When studying scripture, it is always helpful to put the story within an historical and cultural context.  For example, when I am teaching Church history to our junior high and helping them make the connection between history and the bible, I also like to use a world map and timelines for them to see the physical places where this all really happened.  One day we were talking about how the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus encompassed all the land around the Mediterranean Sea including North Africa.  One of the girls had a small ‘light bulb experience’ and said, “Wait a minute, you mean that Jesus lived around the time and place of Cleopatra in Egypt?” I smiled at her fascination with Cleopatra and then quickly pulled out this same Gospel passage and said, “yes, Jesus lived about 25 years after the death of Cleopatra and he even lived in Egypt for a while when he and his parents were refugees there.”
 
As wonderful as religious artwork sometimes helps our faith, the idyllic cute manger scene or statues of Mary dressed in clean blue gowns do not portray the reality of their lives, especially in the early years of their family life when the Holy Family was pretty much homeless and living as immigrants in a foreign land.  Since Jesus, Mary, and Joseph faced many struggles, we can call on them in prayer when facing difficulties or transitions in our own family life.  They faced financial problems, a sometimes embarrassing child, threats on their life, and eventually the death of a child.
 
Since the word “family” means so many different things to a ‘parish family’ of so many people, and for some the word ‘family’ is difficult, Mother Church gives us this beautiful reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians that challenges us to focus more so on the “holy” part of today’s feast.  St. Paul breaks down the word ‘holy’ using virtues like “compassion, kindness, humility, patience and gentleness.”  Wouldn’t it be great if these words were written like wallpaper all over the walls of our kitchen and living room…to surround our home life with reminders of the kind of holiness we want to live by?  It could be helpful to think of being holy more as ‘verb,’ as daily actions. We can also help one another grow in holiness with words of encouragement when we see a family member or friend acting with kindness, patience, and gentleness.  
 
While most of us have a list of ways that we are NOT behaving as holy disciples, I invite us to use this feast day to be more aware of ways that we ARE already doing some holy things and build upon those.   Using “positive reinforcement skills,” when we notice someone being gentle, forgiving, or compassionate, we need to encourage one another so these acts will multiply.  It is proven that by acknowledging in front of others a person who does an act of love…they will definitely do those kinds of acts more often.
 
But we have to remember WHY we are called to strive toward holiness.  It is not simply for a humanist reason to be ‘good people’ to one another.  Non-believers can be good people.  Rather, we strive to act like Jesus, Mary, and Joseph because that is how God created us to BE!  Made in God’s Image, any time we are not acting with gentleness, kindness, humility, and forgiveness, we are being less than our true self!  Made in God’s likeness, it is actually of our essence to BE forgiving, patient and humble…like God is!  And when we demonstrate these virtues in how we treat others we are giving Glory to God!  Our whole life is meant to glorify God…by being as patient and forgiving as God is toward us!
 
To grow in holiness then is to strive daily to make these virtues visible in how we act and speak to others.  Whatever version of family you are in – married, divorced, single, or other – we bring to God our family dysfunctions and past actions of ‘unholiness’… and pray for the miracle of the Eucharist to transform us  more and more into Jesus…so that His gentleness and compassion and mercy toward US will be seen in how we treat others.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us!
 

LISTEN TO HIS HOMILY
CHRISTMAS
Fr. Jim Deiters
There was a beautiful picture in the newspaper this week that was taken in Bethlehem of this little Middle-Eastern boy kneeling down and peering into the silver and marble lined hole in the basilica that preserves the location of Jesus’ birthplace.  While millions of tourists visit the site annually, the picture of the little boy looking into this sacred spot captured our human race’s search for Jesus to come and help us.  God indeed came as a baby some 2000 years ago, but many people keep wondering why there is still so much hate and division if God already came to save the world from our mess?  The little boy caught on camera peering into the holy space…represents each of us…searching for some proof that God really IS among us, even with so many signs of darkness all around.

Since the average age of our parish is 27, and with so many young people coming back to Mass on Christmas with parents and friends, I want to cater my reflection toward those in high school through their thirties, although a message for all of us.  As Catholics, who belong to a universal Church, we have no option but to think globally, never giving up on concern and help for people of every country.  We must never forget how the really poor of the world will spend Christmas today.  Like the little boy seeking into the holy spot in Bethlehem, another image of people searching for God and help I noticed in the paper had a convoy of trucks in Syria, with refugee women, children, and teenagers piled in the back with the few things they could carry with them in their fleeing for safety; Another picture showed all of the tents set up across the Mexican border from Texas that are filled with our Catholic brothers and sisters who are homeless, fleeing for safety and dignity.  Of course we have other kinds of poverty in our own country as well. I bring these up on Christmas day because these are part of the questions and doubts that many young people have about God and the Church – where IS this Jesus that we say “saved the world” and is “God among us?”

In light of so many young people feeling disconnected from God or the Church, I want to reflect this Christmas on Jesus as…the Truth.  In a world where phone pictures and words can be twisted and altered to be anything you want them to be, one young adult asked me, “how you can know if anything is really ‘real’?” But this is why Christianity and the importance of Jesus are exactly what young people and our world need!  Jesus reveals the real Truth about God, us, and he is the Way beyond the suffering of this world.  We adults and religion in general, have not done a good job of helping young people make the connection between their questions about suffering and hate…with the Truth of Jesus…as a peace-maker who counters violence and lies with love and honesty.

Dear young people, Jesus Christ is a very different version of Truth than anything you will hear coming out of the mouths of our world leaders or see in movies or can be created with a phone.  I apologize if we have not shown you how unique and radical it was that God became a human in the person of Jesus.  If we have not taught you how to pray and meditate on God’s incredible love for you, or helped you make a link between Jesus in the Manger and Jesus on the Cross with the struggles of your life, then we pray and hope that this Christmas you will open your heart to discover a new relationship with Jesus, beyond belonging to your parent’s religion.  Jesus wants to help you to know the real Truth your mind and heart are searching for.

This leads us to the opening line of our Gospel today in which the writer John tries to describe how the same Jesus that was born in a manger, died on the Cross and was raised from the dead, is also the same God at the Beginning of all things.  The opening line is meant to remind us that “In the beginning” God planned for all things to be Love and Light.  God’s great creation of love culminates in the Person of Jesus Christ (think of one big circle).  Jesus is God infusing all of Creation with the Word of his love.  Each person has to choose to either live IN God’s sphere of truth or love…or not.

Jesus invites us to be a part of God’s plan for truth and love to be the real rulers of this world.  We marvel at the Manger because it reminds us of how simple God’s message of truth and love really are.  Tying Christmas in with Pentecost, the Holy Spirit wants to shake each of us out of our tired lives and stop blaming others for what’s wrong in our world…and be actively involved in the Church’s 2000-year mission and goal to make Jesus’ love and truth a reality for every person.  You and I NEED Jesus – from the Manger, to the Cross, and in His very Body and Blood, to come into us and re-create US into being people more committed and passionate about Jesus and the Catholic Church’s goal of staying focused on the real truth of God’s Love for everyone.  The Altar is our Manger… and only Jesus Christ, God’s Real Truth, can feed us with the peace and joy for which we long.

LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Fr. Jim Deiters

The highlight of my Advent this year was the joy of seeing our school’s First Grade students act out and sing the story of Jesus’ Birth.  Each student memorized one line from the Gospel story and in between they sang various Advent and Christmas hymns.  I was fortunate to be sitting toward the back where the cast of characters were waiting to walk on for their part – each of them seemed to be ‘type-cast’ by their teacher; the three boys dressed as kings really believed they were royalty, and young Mary serene as ever; but my favorite this year was Joseph, a shyer boy who played Joseph’s part well…with a sense that he really didn’t want to be there…but humbly submitted to the role with a bashful smile.

Each of the four Gospel writers describes Jesus’ beginning a little differently.  They introduce us to a wide variety of characters who each have something to teach us about our own role in Jesus’ life.  For this Fourth Sunday of Advent, we have Joseph as the main character, with Matthew describing how Joseph handled the difficult situation of his wife Mary getting pregnant without him.  It highlights how messy and challenging the situation was for everyone involved…once God chose to become human…through a virgin’s womb!

I want to highlight one part of the story that I think is helpful for us to learn from Joseph’s example… for those times when life gets pretty messy, difficult, or doesn’t seem fair.  The part that stands out for me is how Joseph is changed through the dream he has.  In the bible, the word “dream” is used often to describe ways that God intervenes and ‘meddles’ in a person’s thoughts or plans.  In a sense, the word “dream” represents prayer time -when one has a close encounter with God. 

In prayer, we sort of leave this world for a while and go to that place where God wants to spend time with us…and ‘snoop’ into our thoughts and plans.  This is why prayer is actually a little risky, since we have to be vulnerable and open to what God has in mind for us…which is often different from our own ideas.  But this is why prayer, “letting go” time with God, is also very freeing…as we let God be the conductor of the symphony of our life!

What does Joseph brings to God in his dream-prayer time?  - His intention and plans.  He ‘intended’ to walk away from the embarrassing, messy Mystery…of how Jesus was conceived.  But Joseph’s holiness is revealed when we learn that he vulnerably took his plan into his prayer – his dream time with God.   What Joseph thought was good for him -walking away in upset - God needed to change and persuade him to trust in the bigger picture of how God would use the difficult situation for a greater good that Joseph could never imagine…most of which happened years beyond his own life time.

Think about how that one prayer period that Joseph made time for and let God change his mind…blesses your life and mine, some 2000 years later!  What a great advertisement for the value of making time for prayer!  To think… that15, 30 or 60 minutes of prayer in my meager day could possibly be used by God for something he plans for 10, 100 or 1000 years from now!?!  We so underestimate how God wants and needs to use our little life. Joseph brings his own intentions to God…and vulnerably allows God in his prayer to influence his thinking and plans.  Joseph models for us how to trust that the Holy Spirit of God, who got Joseph into this mess in the first place, is now going to use his life and his response, “Okay I’ll do this,” to literally bless the life of every single human being for the rest of time!

This is so challenging for us, who often plan only for the ‘short run,’ spending the majority of our time and energy for what feels right in the moment.  Joseph chose to take his ‘short run’ plans and fears to God in prayer…and allowed God to show him a much bigger vision of how God wanted to use his life, his spouse and child to bless the world…way beyond what other people would think or say about them.

Every Eucharist is a vulnerable prayer-dream time with God.  Here Jesus invites us to be like Joseph and bring our fears to him…with an openness as to how God wants to use our life and even whatever challenge we are facing, as a means and vehicle for our own unique part in salvation history.  That is why we each come to the Manger, as we are, to be fed…and better understand our purpose and role in God’s incredible story of his Love for us.

What made John the Baptist so popular is that he challenged and helped people use their imagination…to think about a new way of living that was more meaningful and connected to God.  Like the people of John’s time, we sometimes think of God as some spirit way up in the sky who is disconnected from our daily struggles.  The Baptist was preparing people for a whole new way to think about God – as someone in our midst – mixed, if you will, into the very DNA fabric of humanity!  But it takes imagination to think of God in such a personal, intimate way. 

BUT, this is exactly who Jesus is – God among us – Emmanuel – God in our midst!  God came up with this incredibly imaginative way to become more intimately involved with humanity… by becoming human like us!  Part of the purpose of having an Advent/Christmas season each year is to not only to celebrate the birth of Jesus 2000 years ago, but for each of us to imagine Jesus being born anew and incarnate within us…very REAL in our lives in the here and now. 

John the Baptist asks a question that hovers in many people’s minds, especially teenagers and young adults: “Is Jesus the One, or should we look for another?” If we really do believe that Jesus is THE One sent from God, then we have no option but to choose daily…to follow his teachings and his example of love, generosity, and forgiveness…, since Jesus is God’s very Self!

To prepare us for Christmas, John the Baptist calls us to think again about our belief that Jesus IS the One… and if we are ready to give up looking for other paths to happiness.  When we really accept Jesus as the only One who can save us and fulfill our inner desires, it helps us to be set free from our addictions to our false ego, materialism, and whatever else we thought we needed for happiness.

In these holy days of Advent and Christmas, I encourage you to let God’s gift of your imagination be used in your prayer time.  Led by the Holy Spirit, our imagination can help us be amazed in a new way that the same Jesus in the manger… chooses to be intimately united with our flesh and bone in Holy Eucharist.  In this Communion, our life and Christ are knitted together…so that we reflect the very image of God!  THAT brings Christmas Peace and Joy!

LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Fr. Jim Deiters
 
I have three different friends going through three very different versions of change and loss in their life.  One is helping his mom go through his dad’s things after his death; another is in the midst of a house-move after a difficult divorce; and the third is clearing out and re-doing their home after the kids have moved out.  In each of the situations, I have had very enriching conversations with my friends, listening to how they are dealing with such big transitions in their life.  Sometimes big changes in life we know are coming but can never fully prepare for their reality… and others come as a sudden surprise.
What I find interesting about Advent is that I think it falls into the category of life’s “annual sudden surprise.”   Everything around us quickly moves from Halloween to Thanksgiving to a busy, fast pace of tinsel trimmings…and suddenly we walk into Mass with quiet solemn Advent.  The
sacred peacefulness of our Advent liturgies sort of jolts us into another world of God that asks us questions very different from the world around us…which actually, the culture doesn’t ask many questions at all…but usually TELLS us what we are to think, do and be.

This “surprise effect” of Advent is especially true in how the Gospel writer Matthew presents John the Baptist to us.  In Luke’s gospel, we get introduced to the Baptizer as a baby in the womb of his mother Elizabeth.  But Matthew, after writing about Jesus’ birth suddenly announces, “John appeared…” telling us he preached the need for repentance and conversion.  Right in the middle of our Christmas parties, bright lights, too many sugar cookies, and expectation to stay cheerful, we arrive here at Mass and hear scriptures that sort of jolt us into facing the our deeper questions about life, conversion, heaven and the end of the world.

But isn’t’ that also why we like and NEED Advent?  There is something very calming to the dark purple and deep blue colors and starkness of environment here that takes our mind and heart to a more profound place than wrapping paper.  Our ears and heart NEED these Advent scriptures that remind us of the hope and beauty of our life IN God…long after the parties are over.  As one of our young adults recently said, “For me, going to Mass is sort of a time to ‘decompress’, turn it all off, and breathe in God’s love.”

But John the Baptist doesn’t let us just sit and be calm!  While the Mass is a time to find peacefulness in God Presence, this Gospel also shakes us from our sleep-walking through life to make sure we are really preparing for Jesus’ Second Coming…and meeting Jesus for what I call our “life accountability report.”  John the Baptist minces no words when he says that each person must “produce good fruit” with their life and stop living superficially like “chaff” that blows away. Listen closely in Mass to the prayers that remind us to prepare and look forward to Christ’s Second Coming. 

John the Baptist acts as a shining spotlight for our lives, revealing for us that we may be investing a lot of our energies in the wrong places. The gift of Advent forces us to admit, maybe with some sadness, that parts of our quest for happiness have disappointed us.  In the time of John, large crowds came to him because they recognized they needed help and wanted a voice of clarity and sanity-- just as we do in our chaotic and confusing times.

The prophet announces that God’s Kingdom has arrived by telling us that someone, the Christ, is coming with the Holy Spirit’s Fire… to enflame our spirits that are chilled by boredom; to empty the parts of life that have become bloated with excess; and the Spirit will shake us from sinful habits or apathy and indifference.   In this sense, there is a wonderful contrast and balance between Advent’s calming, centering environment…and the startling message of the Baptizer telling us to wake up and get ready for Christ and his Spirit’s fire that will sort out those who are using their life to bear fruit in God’s Kingdom from those who are not.

Another way to think of Advent is that it is a time when the Holy Spirit comes to us to help us “Clear the threshing floor”…and make room for God.  Advent and the call of the Baptizer speak to each of us who are going through some kind of change, loss, or transition.  We must not resist the darkness that comes with change and conversion…but enter into their depth… and re-interpret the experience as an opportunity to re-evaluate and clarify what’s most important in our Christian life and how we are preparing to meet Jesus face to face.  Pray with me:
Come Lord Jesus, and surprise us…with the fire of your Spirit…to calm our restless hearts.

LISTEN TO THIS HOMILY
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 
Fr. Jim Deiters

Our family Thanksgiving had a cloud of heavy grief hanging over us this year with the recent loss of my sister, following the death of another sister the previous year.  Like many of you who carry grief in your heart at every holiday, it takes extra effort to be grateful and cheerful.  We chose to continue our tradition of going around the room and each of us 50(!) immediate family members reading our list of things for which we are grateful, adding a favorite memory of our deceased sisters.  Of course it was more somber this year, as tears were shed, trying our best to express gratitude.  After my 6-year-old niece Mackenzie read her list, she came and sat on my lap.  After listening and watching for a while she whispered in my ear, “Why is everyone crying when Aunt Cathy is in heaven?”

The innocence and beauty of children being able to live in the present moment never ceases to amaze me.  Each day is a whole new beginning for them!  With their simple spirituality of “presence”…they bless us adults who often live dwelling in the past or fretting the future.   Real holiness is about training our self to live in the present moment, because that is the only place God lives.  God patiently waits for us to let go of the past and trust our future into his hand…and then simply sit in the middle of his love for us in the present moment.  Do we dare try this recipe for holiness…for our New Year we begin this weekend?

In my bulletin article this weekend I write about Advent and our Catholic Church’s New Year as a time for “new beginnings” and new possibilities.  I included some challenging questions for prayer about how to be a person of light and hope in the New Year.  The prophet Isaiah begins our new year with an image of a “mountain” to climb.  While the idea of climbing a mountain might initially sound intimidating, it does make real the effort and planning it takes to accomplish growing closer to God. 

If Isaiah was here in all of his boldness, he would probably ask us, “In the past year, have you worked at growing closer to God?  What new effort are you willing to put forward THIS year in climbing toward a friendship with Jesus?”  If we want to expand the “mountain climbing” image of getting closer to God, Isaiah might also ask, “What supplies are you taking on the hike that will help you know God better this new year?  A bible study session?  Time at Eucharistic Adoration?  Quiet time with the Scriptures?” Or just as importantly, Isaiah might ask us, “What do you need to take out of your backpack and let go of…to be more focused on your spiritual life?  What sinful habit needs to be thrown out since its keeping you from a more beautiful, peaceful life in Christ?”

The mountain of God that Isaiah describes is not only a deepening relationship with God, but also an experience of what he calls, “God instructing us in his ways…and teaching us how to walk in his paths.”  Isaiah is challenging us to make to time to LEARN about how God thinks and what kind of “paths” God walks on.  The main thing Isaiah talks about regarding this “path of God” is that it is a place and experience of PEACE, where “weapons of harm are dismantled and people use only instruments that help bring people together in peace.”  Pope Francis recently challenged all world leaders to eliminate weapons of mass destruction and stop nuclear buildup.  As we pray for world leaders to seek this kind of peace, we also have to look inwardly at our own lives.

To get more personal with these images, we might ask our self what ‘weapons’ we use in our words or gestures that are not creating peace and unity…or adding God’s light in our dark world?  Basically these Advent readings at the beginning of our year are asking us to think about our life as if it was our last year to live.  God gives us a new beginning, a new chance, with new possibilities to make this year of spiritual growth our best ever.

To use the language of St. Paul, who echoes Jesus in the Gospel, a new year is a time to “wake up and throw away works of darkness.”  St. Paul invites us to “put on the LIGHT of Christ Jesus,” calling us to wear a “new year’s garment” of Christ’s virtues with each new day of life we are given.  Each and every Eucharist IS our ‘wakeup call’ as to who we really are as children of God, people of light and hope.  If in this past year I have not had my priority on “climbing God’s Mountain” and living in God’s light, then this Eucharist is God giving you a new beginning, with new grace and mercy for new possibilities.  “Come! let us walk in God’s Light!”