I did it my way

I’ve told this story before.  The story of sitting on the riverbank of the Mississippi at the White House in Saint Louis, Missouri.   How that the sun was shinning, the birds singing, the river flowing it’s long easy strides.   That I was sitting there meditating on being thankful and how awestruck we should be at the generosity of God.   There I was having this beautiful moment of relaxation with the beauty of nature when the thought occurred to me:  This moment would be perfect if a deer would just walk out of the woods right now.  God had created a moment in which I could encounter Him on a greater level, a moment in which the temporal could touch the infinite… a perfect moment.   There I was trying to be God.

Our first reading shows us that times haven’t changed much in that regards.  Just like I on the riverbank that Mark Twain made famous sought to perfect a moment that was already perfect, the world tries to tell us what makes us happy.   Frank Sinatra once sang a song called “I did it my way.”  In that song he lauds that his life is coming to an end, and that he always did it his way.  Later in his life he was known to complain about the song.   His daughter said he described it as like having something on his shoe, something unpleasant that you just couldn’t get off.  It was too ego centric, too self serving.  It reminds me of that saying the kids have, “I’ll do me, and let you do you.”   You be your own truth, and I’ll be my own truth, and we’ll be both be happy.  Yet, very few of us are happy.

The Saints show us a different way.  In their emulation of Christ they instead put others first.   They put their egos aside and serve God and man instead.   They let their own wants and needs go to the way side.  They aren’t concerned with honor, or glory, or riches or fame.   Recognition at the end of the day is not their concern.   Mother Teresa was once told by someone that they wouldn’t do what we she did for a million dollars.  She replied, “I wouldn’t do it for a million dollars either!”   She realized that the true reward is not in the comforts of this life, but in the joy of communion with Christ.  Not just in Heaven, not just in the Sacraments, but also in each other.  In the faces of those distressing disguises that Christ is wont to wear: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the refugee, the sinner.

Christ on the cross shows us the fulfillment of life.   The Disciples were confounded when He said that it was near impossible for a rich and wealthy person to enter the kingdom of Heaven.  The Jews in first century Palestine, like many of the people today, had a sort of prosperity Gospel understanding of how things worked.   The more God loved you?  The more you had.  The less favor with God?  The poorer and sicker they were.  Jesus turned that on it’s head.  The first, the most honored, wealthy and powerful King of all times and places?  Died destitute on the cross.  The first was last in the eyes of the world, but the last in the eyes of the world? Is first and foremost in Heaven.    That’s true happiness… right there on the crucifix.   A man with no wealth, no power, no honor, no pleasure…. But living out the will of the Father.   Dying in the place of all of us as the greatest act of love in the history of everything!   

That’s our challenge as well.  To die to self that we might serve others.   Not to make God an afterthought… not to get everything else in order first, and then.. After work, health, retirement, vacation, school, kids and all the other things we add in there, to find a moment for God… Rather to put God in their first.. And then place the rest around Him and in His arms… That is lasting joy.

His servant and yours,

Brian

“He must increase, I must decrease.”

A reflection on the readings for daily Mass for Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time:  Ezekiel 28:1-10; Deuteronomy 32; The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 19:23-30

What you see, isn't always what you get....

Many years ago I watched this movie about hackers in which one of the young men quoted the bible: "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."  I loved that movie quote.  The thing is, I never would have thought all those years ago that I would have used that very quote today to describe my spiritual journey before becoming Catholic.  I did experience God during that journey.  I experienced his presence, his Scriptures, and even glimpses into his body as kind and loving men and women tried to help me grow closer to Him.  I also experienced the opposite.  Periods in which people would funnel their own hate and bias into scripture and through scripture.  When people would demand you stop asking questions or reading anything outside of scripture.

I think the perfect example would have to be my understanding of the book of Revelation.  For many, many years I thought of revelation as a line by line commentary on current events.  I watched the news to find things that lined up with people in the scripture, events that might have some kind of connection to the Antichrist, the Beast, the Dragon etc.  I honestly lived in fear of those times to come.  Would I be ready?  Would my family make it?  Is there any time left?  Will I be able to stand up to the upcoming 'tribulation' period? I believed our God was going to come and snatch up the Christians and leave the rest of the world behind to suffer in anguish for not choosing him fast enough.  Not very kind of God, and not very lovely to imagine in my mind.

Then I read an amazing book by Scott Hahn, the Lamb's Supper.   I took time to digest the information in that book and to examine it in light of the writings of the first and second century Christians. In a sense, I began to grow up.  I still believe the book of revelation can have things to teach us about the current times.  I also think that it could give us a glimpse into the future, sure.  What I believe first and foremost though is that it is a book written with a preterist perspective that gives us a firm and sincere glimpse into what worship looks like in Heaven.  Not just in Heaven, but a glimpse into the metaphysical reality of what the Mass truly is.  That's an astounding thought isn't it?  This is a written account of what happens at Mass as we all gather together and Heaven kisses earth.

With that in mind let's again read the second reading for this coming Sunday:

I, John, looked and heard the voices of many angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders. They were countless in number, and they cried out in a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing.” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea,
everything in the universe, cry out: “To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever.” The four living creatures answered, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Think about that for a moment... when you go to Mass and the Eucharist is elevated before you.. when the Priest lifts up the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ before you... that is happening right before your eyes.  The countless numbers of those who have gone on before us are gathered around the Lamb who was slain and calling out to Him.  All of those men and women who you have loved who have died in Christ are now next to you in the pew blessing God with their lips, exalting Him with their souls.   How about you?  Are you joining them in this blessing with your heart?  Are you participating as fully as you are capable with the faculties he has given you?  Do you sing the hymns with the angelic choirs?  Pray with the priest during the collect? Or are you just checking your watch to see if it's time to go?  Glaring around at others judging them instead of focusing on Christ present in a unique and substantial way right before your very eyes?

Just like with Peter, Christ is asking you a simple question when you come forward to Communion.  When the minister raises up the Host and says "The Body of Christ," imagine Christ speaking to you....

"Do you love me?"

How do you respond?  It's interesting that in that encounter Jesus asks Peter three times do you love me, but we lose a hint of it in English.  He asks him do you agape me?  That is do you love me so much you are willing to sacrifice yourself for me?  Do you love me that much?  Peter says I phileo you lord... "I love you like a friend."   Oh how that must hurt.  Jesus asks Peter if he loves him completely, more than life itself.. and Peter responds you know you're my bro man.   So Jesus asks again? Do you agape me?  Again Peter responds you're my bro.. we're friends man.  Then Jesus sighs and asks again... "Do you love me like a friend Peter?"  The Scriptures record that Peter was distressed as he responded "Yeah, that's right.. I love you like a friend."

Then Jesus says to him, there will come a time when you are ready to agape me Peter.. a time when you will grow into the man I have created you to be.. I love you completely Peter, and I accept you where you are.. but I love you too much to leave you there.   When you found out I was dead?  You went back to your old ways, your old life... but that is not what I ask of you... I ask metanoia, change.. So go forth, and take care of my flock.. because you are no longer a child.  "Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Jesus was speaking of the death Peter was to experience...  Peter was eventually crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus.

Jesus is asking you the same thing when you come forward to receive the Sacraments.  "Do you love me?"  Think of that when you say Amen this time... are you saying "You're my bro"?  Or are you saying "I love you completely, sacrificially, I will give anything for you."  There is a saying that goes around anytime someone wants to justify whatever their 'pet sin' is.  I hear this so often "Jesus loves me just the way I am."  I agree... but he loves you too much to leave you that way.  He has created you for so much more.. He has created you to be perfect, as the Father is perfect.   That is what "charity" means.. it means loving as God loves... loving so fully that you are changed.. you are molded.. you are formed into the image of God that you were made in.   Are you ready for that?  I think all of us, every time we come forward to receive our Lord and Savior, should be asking ourselves.. have I put away childish things?  It's time for us to grow up.  It's time for us to listen to that final command from the Lord when he says "Then follow me."

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Sail on Silver Girl

Lately, as most of you know, I've been having some kidney issues.  As part of the treatment for this 10mm kidney stone my doctor suggested I invert myself to 45 degrees every night after having consumed sixteen ounces of water.  They already took the step of doing lithotripsy to break the stone up into smaller pieces (hopefully).   Now the goal is to use gravity and fluid to get those pieces up out of the bottom of my kidneys and through the bladder to freedom.  The Exodus of the kidney stones eh? So I've been taking this old box spring and placing it on the couch to create as much of an angle as I can.  Then I drink my water, wait thirty minutes and lay with my face downhill for half an hour.

What I did not expect is that my daughter would love this time.  She can't wait to get on the mattress and lay next to me reading or watching TV.  Daddy are we going to do that tonight?  Then we play around, I poke her and tickle her.. and sometimes I roll over on her and mash her like I forgot she was there.  All the while she's giggling, reading, or often just falling asleep.  It's a comforting time.  It's an amazing moment of bonding that I will cherish for years to come.

Yesterday my buddy Clyde Joshua came over while I was cleaning out the garage and it reminded me of when Moira was very little.  He was walking around asking questions, pointing at this or that, or laughing and running away when he thought I was going to 'get him.'  He would follow right in my footsteps and hand me this or that, and mimic the things I was doing.  Moira used to do that when she was very small.  In fact, she mimicked not just the good, but the bad.  Isn't that how kids learn to do the bad anyway?  Children remind us of that fact when they pull out those special words in front of grandma or at school.  They become their parents.  Sometimes I open my mouth and my dad pops right out...  That's a big responsibility!

Today's Gospel reminds us of that truth, and gives us a better option.  Jesus is always upsetting the cart.  He never walks away with people indifferent.  Either they love him or hate him, but they always make a choice, they are always challenged.  Today they are mad at him, again.   He has just equated himself with God!   Today we would just kind of laugh if someone did that... "they're crazy!"  It was very serious to his contemporaries.   Serious enough they had him killed for it right?  Then he goes on to speak that truth, that children do what their parents did.

Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,

but only what he sees the Father doing;

for what he does, the Son will do also.

There is that pesky Amen, Amen again.  Remember, in the Semitic languages often there are no superlatives. (Good, better, best would be "good" "good good" "good good good", brings a whole new meaning to Holy, Holy, Holy eh?)  Amen means that what he is saying is truth.  It has that connotation of this has been confirmed, it has been supported, it is upheld as the truth.  So to say Amen and Amen.. he's saying this is the truth of the truth!  It's as if Jesus is saying "Pay attention to what I am about to say!"  Then he goes on to affirm that notion that as the Son he mimics his Father.. he follows in his footsteps.  If God raises the dead? So does Christ.  If the Father heals the sick? So does the Son.   If He frees the captor and forgives sin?  Well so will Jesus himself.

That brings an amazing level of depth to that reading from Isaiah in which God lists off a litany of the things he will do to bring his people back to him, back to freedom, back to love.  He declares he will feed them, give them drink, protect them from the elements and never forsake them.  Regardless of what they ever do he will always remember them.  That's a powerful promise to us today as well.  God wants us to be in relationship with Him.  Jesus himself is offering a personal invitation to each and everyone of us to be in this amazing personal covenant, not just a private one with God alone but in communion with his entire Body, the Church.
That begs the question for those of us who claim to be a part of that Body though... If children mimic their parents, then who can we claim as ours?  When I was young my daughter would follow me around, just as Clyde Joshua did yesterday.  The words I used? She used.   The things I did? She did.  The places I went? She went.  I was just telling my friends last night that Saturday of last week I had a bad day.  You know those days when you wake up and the world seems off kilter?  I couldn't get out of this bad funk.  I was snappy.  I was rude.  I was a jerk.   I stormed around like some monster seeking to destroy an enchanted forest.   My wife and kids took the brunt of it.  If anyone had seen me that day, would any of them been convinced I was a Catholic at all? Probably not.   I wasn't acting like my Father at all.

How then do we know how to act?  We emulate the Son.  He healed the sick, he cured the blind, he fed the poor and hungry, he offered forgiveness and compassion to all he met, and above all he proclaimed the Kingdom of God.  Are we doing that?  Do our actions show others that we are Children of the Most High?  Are we reaching out to the poor, the destitute, the widow, and the orphan?  Are we welcoming the strangers who come into our midst?  Are we building walls or bridges?  As we journey through the last remaining days of our desert of Lent, let us take time to examine who we are... to draw closer to God... so that when people look at us, they can say "Now there is a child of God, there is a person who loves others!  There is someone I want to be more like."

His servant and yours,
Brian

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Visions of Sugar Plums Dancing in My Head

We have a tendency as people to draw in on ourselves, to leave the outside world to wallow in it's own miseries while we protect our own.  One of the churches I went to growing up had that sort of notion built into their theology of what they felt a Christian should do.  One year the Pastor decided he was going to take his family to see the Smithsonian and visit the capital.  He came back preaching a message of Hellfire and brimstone, declaring the world lost. He had apparently gotten out of his car to see two men holding hands walking down the street, quickly packed his kids up and drove back to our small coal town.  From that day on he never left the area as far as I know.

That is part of the problem with us as a people, not just a church.  We become very closed minded.  Our comfort zones take over and we begin to close out anything that begins to draw us out.  That leads to those thoughts that make us start to quantify what it means to be one of 'us'.   "We eat meat.  Drink beer.  Speak English. Carry Guns. If you don't like it get out." says one seemingly popular meme on Facebook.  For centuries the popular idea of church was to draw in on ourselves.   The Catholics had their own little village around the Parish, the Protestants theirs around their church, etc.   The kids didn't play together.  The parents didn't talk unless it was work related and they were forced to.  All stemming from prejudice, from hate, from injustice.

The vision we have recorded in Isaiah as the author begins to close out this magnificent volume of poetry, prose, and theological insight is a world in which none of these things exist.  A world in which their is no pain, no sorrow, no death, no more crying and distress.   I heard many a preacher expound on this end of time place in which the lame would run on legs that work, the deaf would hear, the blind see, and all sorrows be relegated to a past that we no longer even remember.  What a vision that is, what a dream, what a thing to come.....

The thing is, it's not just a place to come.  What Isaiah is describing is the Kingdom of God.  What Isaiah is describing is what Jesus was proclaiming when he opened that scroll and declared that scripture was fulfilled in their hearing.  What does that Kingdom look like?  One of the confirmation students asked a question about it, something along the lines of "How are we not going to be bored in heaven?"  They had seen the artwork, heard the descriptions, and for them.. it sounded boring... eating the same meal every day.. talking to the same people.. never on their phones, never watching TV... they couldn't understand it.  I told them one of my favorite parables (forgive me if you've already heard it.)

Back in ancient times the stable was directly under the house.  A man had two cows that he kept for milk in his basement.  They had never seen the outside.  They couldn't remember anything other than now.. other than the basement, the water and the hay.  One night the farmer who owned the house through a grand party.  They had live music, dancing, food and fun.  People joined around the tables having a great time.  Laughing, giggling, sharing, drinking, and laughing again.  It went way into the night.  After many hours of all of these strange sounds, scents, and goings on.. one cow looked at the other and said, "What is going on up there?"  The other replied, "I don't know.. but that must be some really good hay!"  They could only describe it from their own experience.. they had a small glimpse of what was to come.. a minute experience of what would happen if they went up to that party... but they described it in the only way they know how.. from their experience.

That is what Heaven is like.  We can't tell you exactly what it is going to be like, but we can describe it as best as we can with words.. even that will be inadequate.   A feast, a party.. communion... those are all good starts.  So I asked our students to talk about things they liked to do.. how does that make you feel?   We came up with a list of adjectives to describe those things and categorized them into two columns: good and bad.

Good	Bad
Happy	Sad
Comfort	Pain
Light	Darkness
Peace	Fear
Tranquil	Anxious

God is good.  To be with God means to be good.  To be away with him means to experience bad.  All of those things in the good column... that's what being in Heaven is like.  You know those moments when you're out watching the sunrise and you just get lost in the moment?  For that moment you aren't worried about the bills, or the decisions your kids are making, or that rattling in the front end of your car... your content.. you just are.. comfortable.. peaceful.. tranquil.. For some it's that sunrise, for others it's catching that big fish, or listening to their wife sleep peacefully at night.  It might be that first kiss, or the last one.  Dinner with a friend or a night in at home... it looks different for each of us.  What we do know though, is that God is involved in those moments... all good things come from him.  

That's what Isaiah is trying to describe to us.  We have to avoid that notion though that we should bottle up in a room and wait.  Too many Christians are only waiting for the Kingdom to arrive at the end of time.  They are hiding in the room fearful of the world, that it might taint them.. that they might be infected by the sin of others...   Jesus came though to bust us out of our rooms.. to send us to the proclaim the message to the ends of the earth.  The disciples themselves gathered with Mary the mother of God and locked themselves in a room for prayer.   The Holy Spirit descended on them in a dramatic and miraculous way and the doors were thrown up!  They marched out in the town square declaring the kerygma to the all who would hear, and hear they did!  That's our challenge as authentic, intentional disciples. Not to try and hide in our church, but to get out into the world and bring about change... challenging the morals, measures of judgement, values, philosophies, metaphysics, epistemology of the people to become more adherent to those of God. (Evangelii Nuntiandi §17-24)

We don't have to wait till the end of time to experience that.  I think that's part of the frustration of Jesus in the Gospel as he talks about how everyone demands a sign.. everyone wants more from him than the message.. they don't want to do it themselves, they just want Jesus to take care of it.   He just came from the Samaritans.. the 'other'... the 'they'... guess what?  They didn't need a sign.  They didn't need a miracle.   They just came out on the witness of a woman, a woman who was of ill repute... and they came to believe in Christ.  He didn't move a mountain.. he didn't change the world first for them.. they became disciples out of their love for the Scriptures, the message proclaimed, and for Christ himself.  Are we like them? Or like those in his own home town who wanted to throw him off the cliff?  Do we truly believe what we are given?  Are we going out into the world proclaiming and changing the world to be more like the Kingdom of God?  Or telling God to do it himself?  Church is not behind a closed door.  It's not just on Sunday, or just when you are at daily Mass... we are the Church and it's our job to bring God's presence into the world, into our policies, into our politics, into our judicial judgements, into the very fabric of who we are, to all ends of the earth. 

Sure, God could and will at the end of time, do it himself... but he's offered you something far more greater and noble.. the opportunity to create with him.. the opportunity to be a witness to truth, justice, and joy.  Are you doing that?  That's what Lent is about.. it's about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, the refugee, the immigrant, the widow, the orphan.. it's reaching out to those on the margins, those hurt by the Church, those hurt by their own actions, in the streets and the hedgerows and saying, "God loves you."   It's not just sitting in the room to receive the message yourself, but taking that message out with you to the ones who aren't there.. bringing them closer to Christ.  Remember it's not just enough to feed them, clothe them, shelter them... without at some point bringing Jesus to them... It's not going to be easy.. Jesus himself was rejected in his home town.. and many only came out to see him perform, like some street magician...  but He has sent us a Holy Spirit.. someone to help us, guide us, and give us the strength and courage to bring this message to others.  Through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving let us grow closer to Christ.. so that we can bring Him, His message, His Kingdom... to the very world itself.. that we might experience those good things.. those things which Isaiah spoke about in some way here and now, and that not only us.. but everyone else might see those things.. and say.. I want that too! 

How appropriate that we also talked about Baptism in the early church.  How that catechumens fasted for three days, then spent the entire night in prayer separated from the rest of the Church. They were bathed and put on pure white robes.  Then as the sun rose in the east, the church doors would burst open and here would come these newly cleaned, pristinely dressed, new Christians through the door into the Church where the others had waited all night.. to receive Jesus for the first time.. Think of that imagery for a moment.. you've been waiting all night in anticipation.. you're in the dark.. and the doors burst open, and in through the arch comes the bright rays of a newly risen sun... and in the midst of that glorious vision you see these beautiful people glowing in their freshness.   That's supposed to be you!  Is that what people see when you come into the world?  Happiness?  Joy?  Freshness?  Goodness?  Are you wearing your baptismal robe like a sign of beauty and peace?  Or are you hiding it under the grime of the world.  

His servant and yours, 

Brian 

"He must increase, I must decrease."

Wishy Washy.

Tomorrow's readings for daily mass contain a hard message, a challenging message. During Advent it is important that we get those challenges to the way we are walking our faith.  All to often, when we are honest with ourselves, we are failing to walk the walk and talk the talk.  We get tied up with the minutia of life.  Christmas shopping needs to be finished. Gifts need to be wrapped.  Company Christmas parties to attend.  Last minute cooking and cleaning before guests and family arrive.  Travel plans to be made.  So many things going on.   It's easy to get tied up in all that.  To not be able to see the forest for the trees.  Advent reminds us to slow down.  That all of these things can be good, but they aren't the focus, they aren't the reason for the season. 

Jesus calls out the head honchos in the Gospel passage.  He gives them a parable with two sons in it.  One son says he'll do it and doesn't.  Another says he won't, but later does.    He wants to know which one of those sons did what the father wanted him to do.  The one who did what he asked of him, even though he said he wouldn't.    John the Baptist had come to them preaching repentance, a way of life.  They didn't listen to him.  Even when the people that most Jews of the time thought were least likely to hear the voice of God began changing their lives, began following Jesus, the chief priests and elders kept on in their obstinacy.  They who had given an oath to God, they who had studied the law to see what God asked of them, they who knew the Scripture in and out... had said "Yes we will do" and then did not.   Those who had sinned, had fallen away from God... had initially said No to religious life... turned their hearts to God and were being saved.

How many times have you and I turned our back on our promise to God?  We have given an oath, a promise to God.  Some of us have done so at Baptism.  Others at confirmation.  Some have received an Altar call in some church or another.. some of you might have simply prayed a sinner's prayer.. all of these are a promise.. to try and live the Gospel.  To us Catholics, it's a promise to live the Gospel of the Apostles.. as handed on through their disciples to the Church.    That's a serious oath.  A serious promise.  How many times have we failed to live it?  How many times have we said "yes" only to then not do. It's not too late... to be the one who initially said no, the one who wasn't doing.. and then turned and did it anyway.

The first reading and the Psalm remind me of Saint Francis and his way.  My wife and kids kind of roll their eyes at me when I begin talking about Saint Francis.  I'm passionate for his message, for the way he lived the Gospel.  I get excited when I speak of him.  I feel the urge every day to be more like him, because I feel that Saint Francis truly lived the Gospel the way Jesus challenges us to do so.  In being more like him, I feel I will be more like Christ.  That's a lofty goal.  One I am likely not worthy of.

In the reading from Zephaniah we see the prophecy of the day when Jesus was to be born, and an image of the day when Jesus will come again.  God tells his people that on that day they will not need to be ashamed of their sins, their failures... their initial no... He says:

For then will I remove from your midst
the proud braggarts,
And you shall no longer exalt yourself
on my holy mountain.
But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
Who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD:
the remnant of Israel.
They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies;
Nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue


He says that the people of God will be humble and lowly.  That's a hard calling.  Society tells us to be the opposite.  To be proud.  To build ourselves up.  Rich. Wealthy. Powerful.   They shall be humble.  Lowly.  Honest.   That is our goal.   That was how Saint Francis lived his life.  More over, that is how Jesus Christ lived his earthly ministry as well.   Then the Church in her wisdom ties this message to the responsorial Psalm,

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
The Lord hears the cry of the poor.

During this time of Advent it is time to look back on our lives.  When we are going out to have lavish dinners, filled with presents and gifts, drinking and reveling... remember all of this can be good and lovely.   We cannot forget though the poor, the downtrodden, the lonely.  That brings me to a story I read last night about Saint Francis.  (Rolling your eyes and huffing yet?)    His monks had set up a feast for them around a holiday.  They had obtained (borrowed?) fine dishes, a table cloth, lots of food.   They had spent time organizing this meal.  It was full of small excesses, things you and I wouldn't even thing were fancy.  To those who lived the lives of Saint Francis friar's minor... they were extravagant.   Saint Francis came into the room where they had set a place for him at the head of the table, and he walked to the fire place.   He took out a spoon that had been dropped in the ashes, a beaten and poor spoon... he took the hat of a beggar and placed it on his head and sat down in the dirt and grime of the floor.  He ate his dinner as the poor.. as the ones who were being forgotten.. as the poor Christ might have done. 

It's so easy to forget them isn't it?  Even those monks who lived a life of the poor forgot the poor for a moment.  They were ready to sit and eat at their fancy table.  Francis did not want to forget, so he made a tangible reminder.  He embraced poverty in a radical way that challenged us.  As you prepare for your own celebrations, don't forget them.  We still have people starving in our own streets.  We have men and women in nursing homes that have been forgotten.  That have no visitors.   We have poor families that will have no gifts for their kids.. fighting to keep their homes, fighting to keep their lives.   We have refugees from other countries.  How many of those are forgotten already?  How many have dismissed them completely?  They have been made out as terrorists.. as them... they.. the enemy.  Sure some of them might be bad people.. some of them are widows.. orphans. 

We've made a promise.  We have an option this Christmas.  We can say yes, and mean it.  We can say no.. and change our mind and do it.  Or we can say yes, and do it.  I vote yes.. do it.  As Shia Labeouf would say, "Go ahead. Just do it!"  Consider ways that you can keep Christ in Christmas.  Not just the word.  Not just the tree and gifts.  Not just the nativity scene, though all of these are good things.  Keep the entire Christ in Christmas.. in each of the people out there in need.  Remember, whatever you do for the least of these.. you do for Him.  Find a way that you can give a gift to someone in need.   Invite someone to Church that hasn't gone in a long time.  Tell someone you are on the way to a communal penance service, and if they want to go they can ride with you.  Find someone you haven't checked on... reach out to them.  Look in on the elderly, the home bound, the bid ridden.  Invite someone to Christmas dinner that doesn't have a family anymore.  Give a hug.  Feed someone. 

Remember this list? 

The Corporal Works of Mercy

To feed the hungry;

To give drink to the thirsty;

To clothe the naked;

To harbour the harbourless;

To visit the sick;

To ransom the captive;

To bury the dead.

That's a real good place to start.    It's the year of Mercy.  It's Advent.  Let's get started! The Blessed Virgin Mary gave an unconditional yes to God.. no buts.. not ifs... Is your Yes unconditional?  If not, like the Son in the story.. we've said No... but it's not too late to change our mind, and go do what the Father has asked of us.

His servant and yours,

Brian