Luke 15:3-7Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: I have found my lost sheep

How cool is it that Jesus will stop at nothing to find the lost, just like a shepherd will go into the mountains and dangerous terrain to find that one sheep who is lost and stuck on a ledge with no way to save himself. 

It is truly a time for celebration.  Not only because we are grouped together and united in Christ, but also because our own worries and anxiety for that one is now calmed because of the Lord.  We usually think about the lost sheep in relation to the Good Shepherd.  We sometimes tend to forget its relationship to the others.  When we have someone we know leave the Church, or be sucked into dangerous ruts in life, whether depression, drugs, alcoholism, or self destructive behaviors, don't we worry and become anxious for them?  Prayer is the key.  Prayer can change so many things.  Unconditional love, but a firmness of knowing when we can help and when we can't.  Sometimes things are too great for us alone, and we need to trust in God to intervene.  That is where our Lord comes to us or others as the Good Shepherd.  We need to remember that he is there, and if we need his help, we need only ask--be prepared for him to respond in ways that we don't expect.

John 8: 51-59 Vocation to Follow into Life

Religious leaders are important to the faithful no matter what faith people are.  As Catholics we look toward the Pope, our Archbishops, Bishops and Priests.  What is the first step in being a religious leader?  It is the vocation, that calling forth by God the Father for this particular mission.  It emerges from deep introspection and discernment.  If that calling, that vocation isn’t there, then it is empty.  Many of us know people who thought they were called to the vocation of priesthood, but it was not meant to be.  Whereas we all know those whose vocations were solid and bear good fruit as our Priests and Bishops.  As Jesus said regarding them in their vocations as our religious leaders, and to us in the paths that God has lead us on, “It is not you who have chosen me, but I who have chosen you.” (Jn15:16)

In our first reading today we see clearly that God has called Abraham to be a father of all nations, to shepherd of his people, and to lead them in the path of righteousness as God’s chosen people.  As God tells Abraham, I will be “your God, and the God of your descendants after you...”  God so loves us and knows what is right for us, that he guides us into the right paths as a loving merciful Father. 

Similarly the in the Gospel today we run into the religious leaders, men called by God to lead the people,  discoursing with Jesus regarding Abraham; the leaders saying that Abraham, their father, was dead, but Jesus talking of eternal life.  The Jews do not believe what Jesus tells them.  They are convinced that life is finite, that “Abraham died, as did the prophets.” They ask Jesus if he is greater than Abraham and the prophets since he, Jesus, is telling them, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.”  They are filled with doubts and suspicion.  It is like something is missing from their spirituality.  Yet, here is the Good Shepherd, Our Lord, instructing and calling them and us in a Way that offers hope and life.

Pope Francis in a discussion on death reminds us, “God always gives life. He gives it to you here and he will give it to you in the next.  He is God of life, not of death…In our faith death is a consequence of human freedom.  We were by our own sins, those who opted for death, which entered into the world because we made room for disobedience to the plan of God.  Sin entered as pride before God’s plan and with it, death.” (On Heaven and Earth ch 10, p77; by Bergoglio and Skorka. Image/Random House 2013) At the same time God calls us to be closer to him and for this purpose sent his only Son for the salvation of humankind, that we might have life restored to us through him.  We are called to proclaim the wonders our God has done.  God the Father is fulfilling the covenant that he set with his people.  We are called to fulfill our covenant with him by following Christ in the Way, so that we might know the Truth when Jesus says, “Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.”  Christ Jesus was God for he tells us, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” 

 

John 5:1-16 Do You Want to Be Well

There was a man who'd been sick for 38 years sitting in the porticos of the Sheep Gate.  Jesus asked him, "Do you want to be well?"  (Note the irony that the Good Shepherd is taking care and healing his sheep at the gate.)

Human compassions would dictate that our hearts yearn to help those in need.  God's is no different.  Although the Jewish law dictates that no healing should be done on the Sabbath, God is greater than the Sabbath, and the Son of God heals this man.  God's mercy and compassion are endless for all days and all times. 

There is much in our world that we wonder where is God's mercy.  A child recently told me that sometimes God takes people away so they don't do really bad things.  Why is it so easy for a child to understand this and difficult for adults?  There is a man who is busy trying to take care of his grandchild because the boy's father wont.  He is trying not to become bitter, and wonders where is God's mercy in this situation?  Many of our saints remind us that when we ask God to help us with difficulties we have a preset idea of what God should do.  We forget that God will do what is best for us even if it takes us on a journey that we don't expect or are sometimes not entirely thrilled with.  Is it easier to fight God's will, or to put our will in-line with His letting ourselves be vessels of his love?

Mark 3:20-21 What does it mean to be out of one's mind?

What does it mean to be out of one's mind?  Does it mean that we mourn when our enemy dies, as David did at Saul's death?  Does it mean that we show compassion to those in need?  Does it mean that we give even the shirt off our back? 

In today's Gospel the crowds had again gathered around Jesus just as they do around Pope Francis today because they want to touch holiness, to be healed, to have their hope renewed.  We are all like that.  We want to be in God's presence.  God calls us to his presence so that we might be in communion with him.  Jesus will not turn away those in need for he has such great love and compassion. 

His family thinks that he is out of his mind.  But aren't all things possible in God?  And so, if one must be crazy, why not be a fool for God?  Why not love as he loved?  Why not enact his spiritual and corporal works to grow that love?  Our Good Shepherd is teaching us and leading us in this path, for this is the path to eternal life.  In this path we give up our will, what we think we ought to do, and are drawn out of our comfort zones, and perhaps others will think we are also out of our minds. 

St. Ignatius of Loyola has a prayer, let us join with him today:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That is enough for me.

Luke 2:16-21 The Lord is Salvation

In today's Gospel we are greeted by the shepherds as they enter the presence of the ultimate Good Shepherd laying in the manger with Mary and Joseph by his side.  Christ has entered into the human story to be one with us, in communion with us, and to bring to fruition that saving act prophesied that would reunite human kind with the Father for all time, namely through his Passion and Death.     

Mary keeps all these things in her heart.  She is our example in contemplating scripture, or in her case, living Scripture through the words and actions of her son, Jesus, whose name means "the Lord is Salvation," in light of the teachings of the Old Covenant. She comes to understand and proclaim the Truth.  Imagine being near to the Lord, hearing the voice of God, feeling his presence and helping him within the early communities as he reaches out to those who seek his compassion and mercy.  Mary is our example, our guide in how we should follow the Lord Christ, our Good Shepherd.  She remains obedient and humbled, but continues to contemplate throughout her life.  We are called to her example to find understanding.  As we begin this new year, let us follow our Lady in following the Lord of Mercy and Compassion.  Let us hold in our hearts those who are in states of migration, those who are refugees, those who like the shepherds, live a modern nomadic life; may we be true Christians as we follow Mary's example of following Christ's command to love one another as God loves us. (Jn 13:34)

Matthew 9:27-31

In today's Gospel two blind men are following Jesus begging for his mercy and pity.  Jesus asks them, "Do you believe that I can do this?"

This Advent season we are preparing ourselves to receive Christ as the hope of the world.  Do we believe that he can do this?  Faith is a gift of God the Father through the Holy Spirit.  Christ Jesus stands knocking at the door of our hearts ready to lead us through the gates of eternal life should we seek him.  For those who follow Jesus as the blind men did, seeking to see the eternal Kingdom, the Lord will reveal it "according to your faith."  For these men, their eyes were opened. 

Jesus warns them, "See that no one knows about this."  We are told that "they went our and spread the word of him through all the land."   Did they miss the point?  When we receive a gift, do we focus solely on the gift, or the giver?  Perhaps that is Jesus is really warning of overlooking the One, The Father in Heaven, who has given them the ability to see and to attain the Kingdom and its eternal life, by instead focusing on the fact that Jesus has restored their sight.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Let us focus on that as we prepare to meet the coming of Christ this Christmas.

Matthew 15:29-37

In today's reading Jesus goes up the mountain where those who are poor in spirit, those who are outcasts such as the blind, the lame, mute, etc. have come for healing.  Jesus is touched and says, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.  I do not want to send them away hungry."  Jesus then takes seven loaves and five fish, blesses them and the feed the crowds with seven baskets left over. 

Jesus first goes to the mountain.  Mountains have been used as a meeting place with God throughout history.  Jesus is man yes, but also the Christ, the door keeper who ushers us through the door to God, so we find it appropriate that he is gathered with those who are humbled, meek, and the poor in spirit.  He consoles them, he forgives them their sins, and heals them.  Are they just healed in body?  No, Christ heals the soul, the spirit, too.  As we read today's Gospel we are called to that mountain too, to be healed and made whole, to be purified and ready to meet God. 

Ask yourself, What do I need healing in my life?  Is there something physically wrong with me, or does it mask a deeper pain?  Is there something that I can find healing through in an Anointing of the Sick or through the Sacrament of Reconciliation?  In both there is great healing if we are open to it.  Perhaps this can be part of our Advent journey?

Matthew 4:18-22

Feast of St Andrew, the Apostle

In this Gospel reading we hear the calling forth of Andrew and his brother Simon, called Peter, by Jesus.  They were fishermen along the Sea of Galilee. Jesus promises that they will be "fishers of men." After they are called, Jesus calls James and John.

We are each called to follow Jesus too in the ways that lead to the Heavenly Kingdom.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd and we are his flock.  By living in his Way, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are to be known as Christians by our love. 

We are called not once, but repeatedly to follow in the ways of Christ.  Each time we say 'yes' that is a conversion where not only are our thoughts refocused on the Lord, but also our actions and words.  Every time we go through a conversion experience, we come that much closer to the Lord.  As we continue through Advent, let us take listen closer to the Lord's call, so that our hearts my be turned much more towards that Enduring Light.