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From the Gospel of Luke 1:14; 4:14-21. Human history reveals many periods where people lost a sense of God’s transcendence. It may even be argued that human beings have been wandering and lost more than they have been at home and focused. Human nature being what it is, we struggle with who God really is the God of our salvation history or the “gods” of human constructs. Relying on our own designs and pursuits, we forget that we really are meant to listen to One upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests, Jesus Christ, and not to ourselves. That same history that reveals our fickleness and infidelity also reveals God’s constancy and faithfulness. God always finds us.

What reference point do you use when making decisions? Many times, impulse takes control and decisions are made based solely on emotion and desire. We all know that these types of decisions can often get us into trouble. When a person has a confident sense of who they are and a real understanding of what is important and of value, the likelihood of kneejerk impulsive choices diminishes. Baptism gives us what we need to make well informed and purposeful decisions. By this simple gesture, God claims us as His own and provides us with the identity and purpose we need to properly live life.

From the Gospel of Luke 3:22 - “We are called to live our baptism every day, as new creatures, clothed in Christ.”--Pope Francis. What reference point do you use when making decisions? Many times, impulse takes control and decisions are made based solely on emotion and desire. We all know that these types of decisions can often get us into trouble. When a person has a confident sense of who they are and a real understanding of what is important and of value, the likelihood of kneejerk impulsive choices diminishes. Baptism gives us what we need to make well informed and purposeful decisions. By this simple gesture, God claims us as His own and provides us with the identity and purpose we need to properly live life.

From the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12. In his Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis references a thought from Pope Benedict XVI: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Today we celebrate an encounter with the Person of Jesus Christ! This simple but holy event in time dramatically changes human life, pointing it toward a new horizon and giving it a decisive direction. This is a message and truth that is not meant to be shared with only a select few who qualify but with the entire world. Pope Francis continues saying, “Thanks solely to this encounter or renewed encounter with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being.”

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Take a moment to look around the church some time. You will see families of all sizes, shapes, and descriptions. Some are the biological variety, with a dad and mom and children of different ages. Some may be blended or adopted, foster families or families with only one parent in the home. Sometimes it is grandparents who open their homes to their grandchildren, or siblings who share an apartment and function as a family. Maybe the time has come for an elderly relative to move into your home.

Christmas is nearly here! It may be a very busy time for you, but please take the time to read the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke. You will hear about Elizabeth, her husband Zechariah, the angel Gabriel, Mary and Joseph and the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. If you do this, you will likely be better prepared to celebrate with joy the birth of our Savior this Christmas.

From the Gospel of Luke 3:10-18. “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us!" St. Teresa of Avila We’ve all heard the adage, “Laughter is the best medicine.” In many ways, it really is. When was the last time you really laughed? The gift of imagination allows us to see possible things that are yet to be. Imagine a world filled with laughter. We take life too seriously sometimes. Fear, uncertainty, pressure, negativity, disappointment, and myriad other human experiences can rob us of the joy needed for laughter. God never promised us an easy road, and we do have to take the course of our lives seriously. However, there is a balance to be sought and a possible joy that can be brought even to the darkest and most challenging of encounters.

From the Gospel of Luke 3:16. St. Ambrose shares some wisdom on our need to prepare the way and open the door for Christ. “You see that when the Word of God knocks hardest on your door, it is when his hair is wet with the dew of the night. In fact, he chooses to visit those who are in tribulation and trial, lest one of them be overwhelmed by distress. So, his head is covered with dew, with drops, when his body is laboring hard. It is important to keep watch so that when the Bridegroom comes, he is not shut out. If you are asleep and your heart is not keeping watch, he will go away without knocking; but if your heart is alert for his coming, he knocks and asks for the door to be opened to him.” When life gets overwhelming and difficult and we find ourselves feeling a bit downhearted and miserable, these words can bring great comfort.

From the Gospel of Luke 21:25-28, 34-36. Staying awake can often be a challenge, especially when we are exhausted. Life’s demands have a way of zapping every last bit of energy out of us. When we are tired it affects us not only physically, but psychologically and spiritually as well. All of our senses are dulled and diminished. We can overlook details, become disinterested, lethargic and apathetic, and detached. Getting sufficient physical rest only helps so much. We need to be rejuvenated, refreshed, and reenergized in other ways. If we are psychologically exhausted, we need to understand what is draining our emotions and taxing our relationships. If we are spiritually tired, we need to find the necessary “shot in the arm” to put us back in touch with God. Unfortunately, exhaustion is seldom limited to just one part of who we are. When we lack energy and zeal it is usually the case that everything suffers. We not only are affected physically, but psychologically and spiritually as well. In short, when we run out of gas the engine stops.

From the Gospel of John 18:33b-37 We often come to life expecting all of the pieces of the puzzle to nicely fit together. We want and expect harmony, order, and fairness, the achievement of rewards for good behavior, good health, and happiness. We can more easily accept death when it comes naturally after a good long life, but have a real difficulty comprehending the meaning of it all when it is cut short. Willing to put in a good measure of effort, we desire positive results. When things go wrong and life gets hurtful, unjust, and downright ugly, we become unsettled and can quickly fall into despair. This is especially true if we are people of faith who believe in a God who sees things on our terms and works in favor of our life agenda. What happens to our faith when we find ourselves sitting in a mess?

From the Gospel of Mark 13:24-32, “And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory.” Take a moment to ponder these words from today’s Gospel. How does this image make you feel? For people to truly understand the significance of this message, something profound has to happen within. If we find ourselves reacting with a sense of dread or fear, we have to step back and ask why. Our answer will reveal a great deal about our relationship with God. It’s hard to fall in love with a God of whom we are afraid. God does not want us to be afraid. Nor does He want us to align our wills to His in order to avoid some kind of horrendous eternal consequence. That sounds like too much of a superficial power play on the part of God who continues to seek out His children in love.

From the Gospel of Mark 12:38-44. On December 10, 1979, a very petite holy woman known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta spoke these words in her Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, “But I am sure in the families and many of our homes, maybe we are not hungry for a piece of bread, but maybe there is somebody there in the family who is unwanted, unloved, uncared, forgotten, there isn’t love. Love begins at home. And love to be true has to hurt. I never forget a little child who taught me a very beautiful lesson. They heard in Calcutta, the children, that Mother Teresa had no sugar for her children, and this little one, Hindu boy four years old, he went home and he told his parents: I will not eat sugar for three days, I will give my sugar to Mother Teresa. How much a little child can give. After three days they brought into our house, and there was this little one who could scarcely pronounce my name, he loved with great love, he loved until it hurt. And this is what I bring before you, to love one another until it hurts, but don’t forget that there are many children, many children, many men and women who haven’t got what you have. And remember to love them until it hurts.”

From the Gospel of Mark 12:28b-34. Centuries of God’s devoted people have found this prayer on their lips: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone!” The fundamental prayer has been laid as the cornerstone of many spiritual lives. Where did you learn how to pray or did you? Maybe there is a wisdom figure in your life who inspired and guided you by the genuine, holy simplicity of their lives. His or her example may have led you to God and taught you how to pray. Or perhaps you discovered this art on your own after stumbling over yourself enough times and finally realizing it was time to reach out to Someone greater than yourself. There is a timeless truth that we not only tend to forget, but may have never learned. There is only one God, the Lord alone! As a result, we often worship other gods rather than the One true God. Everything in our life gets distorted and we find ourselves lost and off center.

From the Gospel of Mark 10:46-52. When we see God with true sincerity of heart and God passes us along our way, it is only then that we will be able to cry out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!” We have to truly want to be healed by, and in union with, God in order for us to reach out to him. If God is only an abstract idea, theory, or someone found in the pages of a book, there is no motivation for a relationship and no desire to seek him. God needs to be real in order for faith to be real. It’s all about the journey.

From the Gospel of Mark 10:35-45 “What do you wish me to do for you?” Whether we realize it, this is a question God is always asking. It’s an important question because the answer we provide will reveal a great deal about where our hearts lie. Our requests of God can often appear very noble and altruistic. They consist of requests for healing for someone in need of prayers, successful resolution of a personal conflict, assistance in overcoming a disease and myriad other desires for both ourselves and others. We are especially concerned about those we love and can easily find ourselves bringing their struggles to God for a hearing in our prayer.

If we are truly in love with God, then the basics are not going to be enough. That love is going to want to be expressed in going above and beyond, in leaving the comfortable and familiar, in stretching and growing, and in following a voice other than our own. St. Teresa of Calcutta rightly instructs us that for “love to be real, it must cost, it must hurt, it must empty us of self.” Being in love with God requires more than just checking the boxes of the commandments. It requires a sincere and unconditional self-investment. Desiring God with our whole heart, mind, and soul means that I must also desire a relationship with my neighbor with that same degree of fervor.

From the Gospel of Mark 10:2-16. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “It takes three to make love, not two: you, your spouse, and God.” Apart from the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ, nothing speaks better of God’s incarnate love than marriage. God designed it this way. We place great value on love and rightly so. What we fail to realize, however, is that love, its very presence and place in our lives, is not simply part of the human package deal. Love comes from God. It is one of God’s greatest gifts to human beings. When we begin to realize that our very ability to love is sacred, it changes up how we see the essence of life, and purpose and sanctity of marriage.

In calling people to change their ways, one may use a carrot or a stick – reward or punishment. In today’s Gospel (Mark 9:38-43; 45, 47-48) one might say that Jesus chooses the stick when he speaks of the fires of Gehenna, a place that was feared and reviled by the residents of Jerusalem for centuries. It was viewed as a cursed place, the closest thing to hell one might imagine. It was in Gehenna where ancient peoples practiced the human sacrifice of children to appease pagan deities. To show their utter disdain for Gehenna and the evils that happened there, it eventually became a landfill where the populace of Jerusalem dumped their garbage which was then burned. The fires would burn constantly day and night as the smoke and horrible odors would waft over the countryside.

Most people today like success. Almost daily, through a wide variety of media, our attention is often drawn to those who are the wealthiest, the most powerful, the most beautiful, the most fashionable, and even to athletes and teams with the most wins. Their activities grab the headlines or the lead story on the evening news; their photos appear regularly in the social media, and their lives can dominate our conversations. At times we may desire what they appear to have - fame and fortune. We can begin to use these ideas of “success” as a standard for our own vision of what it means to be “successful.”

As Catholics, we usually think of Peter as the saint, the first Pope, the one whom Jesus entrusted with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, the rock on whom the Church was built. The basilica that bears his name sits at the center of Rome, in Vatican City. Yet, Scripture passages such as today's gospel show us a more headstrong and human side of Peter, one who was far from a perfect disciple. In today's gospel passage, Peter could not accept the fate Jesus foretold for himself. In fact, Peter rebuked Jesus when he predicted he would suffer and die. Peter, like countless others, was expecting a Messiah who would be a powerful religious and military leader, who would rise up, unite the people, and overthrow the yoke of Roman occupation. He was not expecting a Messiah who would willingly surrender his own life
be subjected to a shameful passion and death.