The Heart of the Matter

From those who have been given much, much will be expected

At this point in the liturgical calendar, between the end of one church year and the beginning of a new one, the aura of judgment and the end times are reflected in the Scripture readings at this time of year.  Smack in the middle of this year's liturgical transition is Americans' favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. 

A visual image that combines for me these elements is the central mosaic in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.  It's a massive image of Christ as Judge, wearing red, with red beams shining from His halo.  The look on His face is stern and a bit unsettling.  I remember seeing this mosaic when I was a seminarian in nearby Baltimore many years ago.  I was stunned by the expression on His face and at first thought it was too harsh.  As I have matured, however, the expression is now very appealing to me.  I see it now as the expression of the Lord addressing Americans with His great admonition: "From those who have been given much, much will be expected." 

These last few months with all of the financial turmoil provoke, I hope, a closer feeling with the world's have-nots.  Perhaps as our resources become more constrained we may become more grateful for what we do have, and more willing to take on a sense of responsibility for those who are less fortunate.

If you receive this blog posting by e-mail, the picture of this mosaic probably won't come through, so to see it click www.fatherbillsblog.com and scroll to the 11-25-08 posting.  Then click the picture and let it be today's meditation.  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Jesus, risen from the dead, is our reason for hope

Easter Monday is supposed to be a day of relaxation for parish priests and liturgists and R.C.I.A. directors, after the intensity of Holy Week and Easter, so I was looking forward to some rest and relaxation.  Instead we had two funerals.  What a powerful time of the year for death and funerals, wrapped around the holiest days of the Church year.  For both of these families their beloved one died in Holy Week, the week when our Lord and Savior died.  Then on Easter Monday these families gathered to celebrate the Eucharist for their beloved dead.  Just like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, still grieving for their crucified Master, so these two families, still grieving, gathered around "the breaking of the bread" to experience the Risen Lord in the midst of their sorrow.  Even though the apostles saw and touched the Risen Lord, it still took them 40 days to believe that Jesus was really risen from the dead.  I hope and pray over the next 40 days these families will not only be consoled over the death of their mothers, but also be slowly brought into a deeper conviction that Jesus, the conqueror over death, is the source of their hope for "the life of the world to come."

More on how we need a Savior, especially in an age of terror

Fear is a powerful motivation.  Somewhere along in life we learn that there is a reason to be afraid.  I remember that before my mother died (when I was 13) I was afraid she was going to die.  And she did die.  We all learn sometime to be afraid, but fear diminishes our freedom to live, really live.  Over my nearly 34 years of being a priest I have seen fear do terrible things to families: I've seen a battered wife, afraid for her life, kill her husband.  I have seen a young wife desert her husband because she was afraid she could not take care of him and could not live with him so changed as he was by his injury.  I have seen multiple instances of an aging husband deserting his also aging wife for a younger version because, really, he was afraid of his own advancing mortality.  And I have seen teens kill themselves because of things they were afraid of.

Fear is what motivated Peter to deny Jesus, and Paul to persecute Him, and the chiefs priests and elders to condemn Him, and Pilate to crucify Him.  Fear was at work in the Pharisees of Jesus' time (and in our time as well) with their fear: if we don't do everything just right, then it will all fall apart.

Where is the trust in Jesus?  Fear actually may be mankind's bedrock sin: from Adam and Eve's fear of being found out, to our own fears, which are legion, today.  What we should fear is "that Day" when we meet our Lord face to face and experience the shame of realizing how little reason there is to give in to fear because of how much He loves us.  Knowing this confidence is to know Him as Savior; and this confidence just might change the world.

The Holy Name of Jesus

Today is the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and is, therefore, an opportunity to reflect on the power of the name of Jesus.  If you are tormented by a worry, or by a sense of shame for some past sin, or by a fear of some looming catastrophe, say the name of Jesus, with reverence, over and over again, and let the impact of His love come upon you. 

For the Lord Jesus promised, "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do" (John 14:13). For His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies."   (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 2666).

 

"If you think the name Jesus continually, it purges your sin and kindles your heart; it clarifies your soul, it removes anger and does away with slowness. It wounds in love and fulfills charity. It chases the devil and puts out dread. It opens heaven, and makes you a contemplative. It puts all vices and phantoms out from the lover." (Richard Rolle, from the January 2008 Issue of Magnificat) 

Getting in the Christmas mood yet?

Download god_rest_ye_merry_gentlemen_we_three.mp3

While shopping for just the right gifts for family and friends it helps to get in the mood with some holiday music.  And as you choose your music, don't forget the reason for the season, that Christ was born on Christmas Day.   Click and enjoy!

The Meaning of the Word became Flesh (Logos and Sarx)

Let's try and capture what we believe in when we say we believe in Jesus as the Son of God.

Belief in Jesus, the Word made flesh, makes more sense to us when we understand that the definition of the Scriptural term “Word” is the “meaningfulness of being.” So when we say, “the Word was made flesh”, we are saying that the meaning of all being has entered history in one human being.

This is what Pope Benedict XVI calls “the staggering alliance of logos and sarx, of meaning and a historical figure.” The meaning that brings everything into being, and sustains everything that exists, has entered human history and has become one human individual.  The meaning of all being, the meaning that transcends everyone and everything, is now found in the midst of time and in the countenance of one human being: Jesus Christ.

Can that really be true?

My oh my,the world is changing!  Our director of religious education decided to do a little fact finding to find out what our school age children know.  She found out that those families who do not go to Sunday Mass, are very likely not to know a great deal of what us older folks got through osmosis from our culture that was at least nominally a Christian culture.  Today, however, in our more secularized culture if we ask a child who Adam and Eve are, they probably won't know.  If we ask who Moses was, they probably won't know.  If we ask who Noah was, they won't have even heard about him.  And what about Jesus?  Now here it gets even more frightening.  I just read an article about a cardinal in Rome who is asking the church to get into blogging and start having an impact on sharing the truth about who Jesus is.  The real Jesus!  There is so much misinformation being spread that it's time for the Catholic Church to enter blogosphere and introduce Jesus for Who He really is.

So, I am taking on as my mission to explain in these blog posts the importance of who Jesus is, and what discipleship means for those who heed His call to intimacy with Him.  Stay tuned.  And I ask the Lord Jesus to bless and magnify His work through these posts, and I ask you all to pray that this little contribution towards a better understanding of who Jesus is will lead many souls to Him.