This was the hom
ily I gave last night; with a few minor changes, I gave it in similar form at the Masses today as well.
Bottom line: Young Kevin McCallister, in Home Alone, decides that when he gets big, he’s going to live alone — family life is just too tough for him to imagine! Our God, coming to us, is exactly the opposite: Christ chooses to come to us precisely through the relationships of family and community, with all the challenges that presents!
It seems like Pope Francis is everywhere in the media these days. Not only is he Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”, he was named “Person of the Year” as well by the London Times, and even “The Advocate.” Just today, I noticed today that Esquire Magazine has name him the Best-Dressed Man of 2013! For a man who less than a year ago was a retired Archbishop in South America, this is quite a switch.
Over on Facebook, a friend noticed wryly that the media was now focused on Pope Francis’ Urbi et Orbi (“to the city and to the world”)message of world peace, as if this were a dramatic new statement launching the Church into hitherto unknown directions seeking peace and justice around the world. Obviously, all prior popes, especially those of the past century or so, have focused on the same themes; there is nothing new in that.
But there IS something new going on, and I think we miss it at our peril: what’s new is not what the Pope is saying, but that people are hearing what he’s saying. Rightly or wrongly, justifiably or not, many of our contemporaries had tuned out the messages and words of previous popes; now they’re inclined to tune back in. It’s not that the message has changed one whit. But the messenger has, and the way the messenger crafts his message has. The classic words of the Second Vatican Council, echoing Pope St. John XXIII, told us that the Church
has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel. Thus, in language intelligible to each generation, she can respond to the perennial questions which people ask about this present life and the life to come, and about the relationship of the one to the other. We must therefore recognize and understand the world in which we live, its explanations, its longings, and its often dramatic characteristics (Gaudium et spes, #4).
It seems to me that the key to Pope Francis lies in that paragraph. As a Church, we’ve been blessed with popes who could, since the Council, focus on certain “signs of the times” and their interpretation. But that’s only the first part of what we need to do if we’re going to be proper evangelizers. Many teachers are good at giving students the facts of things, but that doesn’t guarantee that simply knowing those facts will lead to life-changing wisdom. We have to take the next steps in addition to a “just the facts, ma’am” approach. So, in addition to reading the signs of the times in light of the Gospel, here’s the rest:
This is where Pope Francis is proving himself to be a master catechist an evangelist. He clearly understands the the scriptures (beautifully so, I might add) and official church teachings. However, what he is bringing to the task is a profound understanding of the rest of the mission: his words, his demeanor, his life style choices, his actions, all point to a messenger that is committed to the content and the context of the mission. This is not in the least a criticism of previous popes. No person can do everything. However, those who assert that the pope’s change of style is unimportant because “the message” remains the same are missing the whole point. The message is never just about the content the message; the style and context of the message is equally important.
We call this evangelization. If people who previously not “heard” the message are now able to “hear” it, God bless them, and God bless the messenger!
Over the next two days, we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, Deacon and Protomartyr of the Christian Church. The Western part of the church celebrates St. Stephen today, while the Eastern traditions celebrate tomorrow. What we know of Stephen comes to us from the Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 6 recounts the selection and ordination of “the Seven” men dedicated to caring for the needs of the Greek-speaking Christian community of Jerusalem, with Stephen the first name listed. What I have always found fascinating is that the two members of this “deacon class” (although they’re never actually called “deacons” in the text) which we read about — Stephen and Philip — are never depicted serving only the Greek-speaking Christian community! Stephen, of course, preaches to the entire community, which gets him in trouble with the authorities and leads eventually to his martyrdom; Philip is shown being led by the Spirit to a variety of places, including the famous encounter with the Ethiopian official. He explains scripture to him and then baptizes him before being led by the Spirit to another place. As Pope St. John XXIII would say later, in a different context, “In the present order of things, Divine Providence is leading us to a new order of human relations which, by men’s own efforts and even beyond their very expectations, are directed toward the fulfillment of God’s superior and inscrutable designs.” Stephen and his brothers were being directed by the Spirit to fulfill God’s “inscrutable” designs!
For a variety of reasons (not the least of which is his Greek name!), we may assume that Stephen was himself a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian of Jerusalem. It may seem somewhat strange that the first person we memorialize after the great feast of Christ’s birth is the first martyr [“witness”] of the New Covenant, but it’s not really a leap at all. Christ came to us in the fullness of humanity, with special care and concern for those most in need. Christ’s birth was proclaimed first to shepherds “living in the fields” — rough men, living in the open, not the expected recipients of angelic messages! Then there were the wise men who came from outside the Jewish religious and cultural tradition. Christ came to all people, and not just to some privileged religious class or group.
Perhaps this is the legacy of Stephen: as the first witness of the New Covenant, he proclaims the universal message of Christ with his very life, with a special concern for those “unexpected” recipients of God’s care and concern.
One of our most beloved “Christmas Carols” involves St. Stephen, and even before Christianity renewed a contemporary diaconate, the connection between Christ, Christmas, Stephen and the poor is made beautifully clear. In “Good King Wenceslaus,” the saintly monarch connects Christ’s birth immediately to the care of the poor man. I, for one, don’t find the fact that this takes place “on the feast of Stephen” to be accidental at all.
Christ comes for all; we serve all. It’s not the end of the story, but the beginning.
So, in honor of one of our great patrons — as Christians and as Deacons — pray and sing along!
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath’ring winter fuel
“Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know’st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
“Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither.”
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather
“Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
“Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.”
In his master’s steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
A great Christmas present for the whole family.
Thanks to the prayers of so many, along with the great skills of loads of doctors, nurses, medical technicians: Vinny is now home and resting with his parents and younger brother and sister.
Can’t thank everyone enough for all of the prayers.
We’re hoping that ALL of our children and grandchildren get and stay healthy!
Now that our reflections on the “O Antiphons” are complete, and since the next couple of days will be rather busy with celebrations in the parish, I’m violating liturgical nicety by wishing everyone early Christmas blessings! I am thankful to the Vatican News agency for the lovely picture and quote from Pope Francis:
Christmas should make us realize that, as God has become one of us, we too are called to become like God: humble, close to others, especially the poor. — Pope Francis
Merry Christmas!
From Vespers, 23 December:
While the original texts of most of the “O Antiphons” were in Latin, here’s one that’s even more ancient (although Latin appropriated it later!). “Emmanuel” is a Hebrew word taken directly from the original text of Isaiah: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
As a teenager and young adult, I studied for eight years (high school and college) in the seminary, discerning a possible vocation to the priesthood. When I left the seminary after college, the military draft was still in place, and I was due to be drafted. Believing that I might have more control over matters if I simply enlisted before I could be drafted, I joined the Navy. No guarantees were made, and I had no idea where I might be sent after the conclusion of Basic Training. I was stunned and thrilled to find out that my first orders after boot camp were to go to Hebrew language school for a year; I was blessed to serve as a Hebrew linguist for the first couple of years in the Navy, largely on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean.
In language school, all of our instructors were native-born Israelis, known as sabra. They quickly got us chatting away in modern Hebrew, and one of the topics they would ask involved answering the question, “What did you study in school?” (“Ma lamadita bevet sefer?”) When I responded that I had studied Philosophy, they asked why. I answered that I had been studying to become a priest. From that moment on, every afternoon for at least one full hour, we began reading Biblical Hebrew. What a great joy it was to be able to read the Hebrew scriptures in their original language! One particular text we read was the prophet Isaiah, including the verse given above. “Im [“with”] + “anu” [“us”] + “El” [“God”]: God with us! (The Latin and English sometimes interchange the “I” for an “E”, so either “Immanuel” or “Emmanuel” is acceptable.) The original word order is somewhat interesting, with the word for God coming at the END of the phrase. While word order is of differing significance in different languages, the fact that God is at the end of the phrase underscores the foundational importance of God to all that goes before. We see the same thing in many Hebrew names: for example, Michael is “mi” [“who”] + “cha” [“like”] + “El” [“God”]. So, “Immanuel” becomes almost a cry of stunned realization: “With us, GOD!”
At the beginning of the third chapter of Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis turns his attention to the nature of the Church. “The Church, as the agent of evangelization, is more than an organic and hierarchical institution; she is first and foremost a people advancing on its pilgrim way toward God. She is certainly a mystery rooted in the Trinity, yet she exists concretely in history as a people of pilgrims and evangelizers, transcending any institutional expression, however necessary” (#111). The relationship of the People with God always begins in God’s own initiative: “God, by his sheer grace, draws us to himself and makes us one with him” (#112). So, the fact that we proclaim that God is with us flows from our realization that God has CHOSEN to be with us in every human condition and need. We have not earned God’s presence, we have not somehow bargained God int it! The covenant is always God’s initiative; as Love itself, God extends and provides for all creation. “The salvation which God has wrought, and the Church joyfully proclaims, is for everyone. God has found a way to unite himself to every human being in every age” (#113).
The implications of With-us-GOD are profound! As we know, “possessing God” and then waiting for the rapture at the end of time are not Catholic concepts! On the contrary, With-us-God “means that we are to be God’s leaven in the midst of humanity. . . . The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” (#114).
ADVENT REFLECTION
One this final evening before the Vigil of Christmas, what is the practical, pastoral impact of the realization in our own lives that God has truly come to us and remains with us? Am I, as an individual believer, and are we, as Church, a place where all people can find “mercy freely given”, universal welcome, love, forgiveness and encouragement? Or, am I — are we — perceived as people of rules and judgments who tend to exclude rather than include? This Christmas, as we celebrate the union and universal gift of God-for-all, may we re-dedicate ourselves to the liberating power of the joy of the Gospel!
From Vespers, 22 December:
The Jewish people had always wanted a King, and in Isaiah, the prophet describes the coming Messiah as a King with a difference. Consider:
The divine King of the Nations is not like any other monarch or political head of state. He establishes a reign of peace, a world that no longer even LEARNS about war. What a new way of thinking about things! This “novus mentis habitus” had been sought by many recent church leaders, including all of our popes from John XXIII to Francis. Pope Francis writes:
What is called for is an evangelization capable of shedding light on these new ways of relating to God, to others and to the world around us, and inspiring essential values. It must reach the places where new narratives and paradigms are being formed, bringing the word of Jesus to the inmost soul of our cities (Evangelii Gaudium, #74).
As disciples of this new Messiah-King, we find ourselves in the midst of these new “narratives and paradigms.” How can we best enter the story?
ADVENT REFLECTION
What new ways of relating to God am I being called to? How are we nurturing that relationship? Prayer, study, service? What new ways of relating to others am I being called to? And what new ways of relating to the world around us? Where, specifically, in our communities, are these “new narratives and paradigms” being formed? In our inner cities? In agriculture, family farms and migrant worker camps? On our campuses and businesses? How do I share in forming those new narratives?
I don’t often share my homilies, but here’s what I preached this weekend at our parish of St. Joseph in Spreckels, California.
From Vespers, 21 December, the Winter Solstice:
It is no coincidence that today’s Antiphon occurs on the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice. The “darkest” and shortest day, with the least sunlight of the entire year. On this day, then, the Church remembers that Christ, the Morning Star extolled in the great Exultet on the Vigil of Easter, brings light back into the world. The Latin root of the word “oriens” is “East”, the direction from which the sun “rises.” This explains the various English translations attempting to capture that sense: “morning sun”, “dayspring”, “morning star,” “dawn” and so on. The point is simple and based on Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined” (Is 9:2).
Pope Francis spends considerable time in Evangelii Gaudium speaking of the dangers facing “pastoral workers”: those clergy and laity who together attempt to serve the needs of others. Among those challenges, he writes that “the biggest threat of all gradually takes shape: ‘the gray pragmatism of the daily life of the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and degenerating into small mindedness.'” He is quoting then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from a speech given at a gathering the Presidents of the Latin American Episcopal Commissions for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1996. Pope Francis continues:
Disillusioned with reality, with the Church and with themselves, they experience a constant temptation to cling to a faint melancholy, lacking in hope, which seizes the heart like “the most precisous of the devil’s potions.” Called to radiate light and communicate life, in the end they are caught up in things that generate only darkness and inner weariness, and slowly consume all zeal for the apostolate. For all this, I repeat: Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the joy of evangelization. . . . One of the more serious temptations which stifles boldness and zeal is a defeatism which turns us into querulous and disillusioned pessimists, “sourpusses” (#83, 85).
Although these words are focused on pastoral workers, they certainly apply to all people. In today’s world, it is easy to become overwhelmed and discouraged. As the pope reminds us, though, as followers of Christ and proclaimers of the Gospel, we are “called to radiate light” and only in our relationship with Christ and the relationships which flow from that primal relationship, can we truly carry that light into the world. Pope St. John Paul II told deacons and wives in an audience in 2000 that, when they were discouraged they should “throw yourselves into the arms of Christ, and he will refresh you.” In these final days of Advent, no better advice can be given!
ADVENT REFLECTION
Are we ourselves discouraged and overwhelmed at this time of year? As Christ the Morning Star enters the world, may we too be illumined and strengthened to bear that light to others. No sourpusses allowed! “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. . . .”: Are we, disciples of Christ and heralds of the Gospel, perpetuating the darkness, or sharing the Light?
From Vespers, 20 December:
Today the Church, again using the language of the prophet Isaiah, refers to the Messiah as the Key of David. Consider the following passages:
The notion that of the Messiah as the one with the power of the key is further referenced in the New Testament when Christ gives the “power of the 
keys” to Peter. While, of course, the Key can “shut, and no one can open,” the hope of the Antiphon is on the opening of dungeons and the liberation of people from bondage. With Christ comes freedom.
In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis often uses the language of freedom and openness to all in their need. Consider, at #63:
We must recognize that if part of our baptized people lack a sense of belonging to the Church, this is also due to certain structures and the occasionally unwelcoming atmosphere of some of our parishes and communities, or to a bureaucratic way of dealing with problems, be they simple or complex, in the lives of our people. In many places an administrative approach prevails over a pastoral approach, as does a concentration on administering the sacraments apart from other forms of evangelization.
While the pope clearly criticizes certain cultural and societal shortcomings which devalue the human person and keep them “locked up” in various ways, he continues to level criticism as appropriate on the structures of the Church itself and the attitudes of some of its people. For example, at #70:
It is also true that at times greater emphasis is placed on the outward expressions and traditions of some groups, or an alleged private revelations which would replace all else, than on the impulse of Christian piety.There is a kind of Christianity made up of devotions reflecting an individual and sentimental faith life which does not in fact correspond to authentic “popular piety”. Some people promote these expressions while not being in the least concerned with the advancement of society or the formation of the laity, and in certain cases they do so in order to obtain economic benefits or some power over others. . . . It is undeniable that many people feel disillusioned and no longer identify with the Catholic tradition. Growing numbers of parents do not bring their children for baptism or teach them how to pray. There is also a certain exodus towards other faith communities. The causes of this breakdown include: a lack of opportunity for dialogue in families, the influence of the communications media, a relativistic subjectivism, unbridled consumerism which feeds the market, lack of pastoral care among the poor, the failure of our institutions to be welcoming, and our difficulty in restoring a mystical adherence to the faith in a pluralistic religious landscape.
This is quite a review! So how does the “Key of David” open us up to address this general breakdown? We believe that Christ, fulfilling those prophecies of Isaiah, IS the light to the nations, and he IS able to open the eyes of the blind, and to set those imprisoned free. Since this is a blog dedicated to all things diaconal, we can ask specifically of all who are ordained to this service: How are we to “use” the Key of David in our ministries? How might we address that rather bleak checklist of “prison cells” enumerated by the pope? Each one of those items is, in fact, hampering the freedom of all, and we are called to help break down those barriers. How can we improve family communication, use the power of the media in positive ways, preach the objective truth that God loves God’s creation and wants all to live in freedom, the use of resources for the common good of all, reach out with new energy to the poor and the marginalized, be a more welcoming parish community, and assist in developing a healthy Christian spirituality? Christ is the Key, and he has called us all to participate in the use of that Key in the world today.
ADVENT REFLECTION
Take a look around the parish. What structures, policies and practices can and must be reformed so that the Key (Christ) can be more effectively used? Are there things keeping people “in their place” rather than setting them free? Now look beyond the parish? What needs in the community are not being met at all? How can we move outside parish and even Church boundaries to carry the Key to all of those imprisoned?
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“Call me Ishmael. . . . Whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul. . . I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can; I quietly take to the ship." -- Herman Melville
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