If you were here for one of the Christmas Masses, I hope you picked up and have unwrapped your Christmas present! We handed out almost 2,000 copies of Rediscover Jesus by Catholic author Matthew Kelly. (And if you were away, no worries, we have more of the books!) I hoped you have begun to read the 40 chapters – a chapter at a time. The book is not a novel that begs you to turn page after page until you reach the end. It is more a “40 day retreat” which offers you four practical invitations at the end of every chapter, each of which appeal to a different part of our being. To Ponder engages the mind, Verse to Live (taken from the Gospels) can engage almost any part of us; Question to Consider engages our memories and life experience, and Prayer engages our hearts. Almost every reader will find at least one of those four points striking. These invitations allow us as readers to reflect on the message of the chapter in a way that is deeply personal. Continue reading
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The Theology of History. It is interesting to note that Luke relates no encounter between Jesus and John. In fact, before we are told about Jesus’ baptism, we are informed that John has been put in prison! A traditional way of understanding this order of events is that Luke (the rhetorical historian) divides history into three separate and distinct eras. The first is the time of the prophets, which includes John the Baptist. That era ends with the imprisonment of John. John will no longer be in the picture. After that, the time of Jesus begins with a statement in our text about: (1) the opening of the heaven, (2) the coming down of the Holy Spirit in a visible form (dove); and (3) heavenly speech. This era of Jesus ends with his ascension — related only in Luke & Acts. Jesus will no longer be in the picture. After that, the time of the Holy Spirit (or the Church) begins with a statement in Acts 2:1-4 about (1) something coming “from heaven,” (2) the coming down of the Holy Spirit in a visible form (tongues of fire), and (3) heavenly speech. 
Recently I found myself on a basketball court. I picked up the ball with visions of past glories rebounding in my head (…and those glories are more delusional than actual). As I positioned myself at the free-throw line it occurred to me that the ball had become noticeably heavier and that the basket was somewhat further away. Undaunted, I went through the routine and took the shot. The shot arched nicely through the winter air and in my mind the crowd broke out in a chorus of ….. air ball, air ball! … as the shot returned to earth well short of its intended destiny of “nothing but net.” 
Several years ago I was researching for my master’s thesis on early Franciscan Missions. One of the really interesting aspects of the early Franciscan missions was the one to China. The friars arrived in China in 1292 and John of Montecorvino was the first bishop of Beijing. But all that is besides the point. In the course of my research I ran across The Travels of Marco Polo in which he describes his travels in the far east. I was scanning the text to see if he had any mention of contact with the friars or the Christian monasteries that dotted the silk road in those days. 
