Monthly Archives: December 2024

Part Time Believers

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Today’s gospel is the Prologue from the Gospel of John. In part, it reads: 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” … “What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”… “…to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.” (John 1:1, 4-5, 12)

It is a glorious and amazing passage which promises the “power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.” Here in the shadow of our celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family, it speaks to the everlasting Holy Family of God in eternal life. Here in this life it asks that we clothe ourselves in the Word of God so that we focus our life on the will of God in the here and now, to become witnesses to the love and embrace of God that all might “believe in his name.”

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Family Holiness

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Is your family holy? What makes a family holy?

Most often when we think of families, we think of what makes them healthy – and that’s a good question, a good goal, and something worth time and energy to ensure. A family should want to be a place where its members feel welcomed, warm, embraced, safe, supported, loved and so much more.  But do all those things – as good as they are – make a family holy?

Is your family religious? Of course one answer is – “why sure…we are here at church.”  And if you are here to give praise and worship to God, then St. Thomas Aquinas would hold that your family is religious in that you possess the virtue to give God that which is fitting worship and praise.

Is your family holy?  Aquinas makes a distinction between being religious and being holy. Holiness is the virtue by which we make all our acts in accord with the will of God. 

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Holy Family – closing thoughts

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This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family with the gospel taken from Luke 2:41-52. This pericope is unique among the canonical gospels. While apocryphal gospels (e.g. Gospel of Peter, Protoevangelium of James, others) purport to convey stories of the child Jesus, they are all late 2nd century and later manuscripts of doubtful provenance. One of the development processes of growing up is individuation in which one discovers their identity apart from that described as “child of…”  It does not mean that one discards family ties, religious experiences, and what came before, but it inevitably means taking on a new dimension of being an individual. It is a process of coming to know who you are and “whose” you are.

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Joy Complete

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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. In the midst of the Christmas season today’s gospel seems out of place. It recounts Mary Magdalene’s experience of Easter morning when she reports to Peter and the other apostles: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they put him.” In that scene she is the first witness to the Resurrection, the first evangelist proclaiming the Good News to those who would be charged with carrying that news to the end of the earth. The scene is as foundational to evangelization as can be.

Evangelization, bringing the “Good News” to the people of the world is something that has always been wrapped up in promise. From the very beginning, even as Adam and Eve were being expelled from the Garden of Eden, there was the promise of a son who would come to restore. In a certain sense, the entire Old Testament has the echo of the promise, given through the prophets, that the promise holds and God is faithful to His word. In that light, the Christmas Nativity gospel can be thought of as “Hope has arrived.”

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John the Evangelist

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Today is the feast of St. John the Evangelist, the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. John was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, the youngest apostle, son of Zebedee and Salome. His brother was James, who was another of the original Twelve. According to the Synoptic Gospels (Matt 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Lk 5:1-11), Zebedee and his sons fished in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus then called Peter, Andrew and the two sons of Zebedee to follow him. Continue reading →

Holy Family – some highlights

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This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family with the gospel taken from Luke 2:41-52. Normally we would have several days of posts to move through the reading in detail. Given these are the days after Christmas I thought it good to post the full commentary for those who want to read in depth, but offer the highlights and key points here in the post. Here are several points of interest:

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Fr. Joe Nangle OFM – Stories of Mission

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My good friend and mentor, Fr. Joe, passed away December 14th. His life was celebrated in a wonderful ceremony a week later. I was honored by Joe in his asking me to give the homily when the time arrived. In the homily I mentioned Joe was a gospel man and a wonderful storyteller. A while back I had the opportunity to meet Joe at one of our houses of formation in Silver Spring, MD – the purpose was to capture Joe on video telling stories. We did several videos with just Joe reminiscing, but there was a “spark” missing. I suggested we try a another video but this time with a dialogue partner. All good storytellers need an audience.

Below is the video. The plan was to go for about 7-8 minutes, but as the conversation evolved, I just let the camera roll. The whole video is 35 minutes, so grab some popcorn and a beverage, and enjoy!

Thanks to Russ Murray, OFM: you were a great audience!

Feast of the Holy Family

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This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family with the gospel taken from Luke 2:41-52. There are major feast days dedicated to each member of the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, and Joseph – but the Feast of the Holy Family commemorates their life together, and the celebration focuses on religious life within the family. It is a Feast that seeks to portray the Holy Family of Nazareth as the “true model of life” (cf. Opening Prayer of the Mass) from which our families can draw inspiration and know where to find help and comfort.

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