Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
A father once told his son that he would buy him a new car if he cut his hair, got all A's on his report card, read the Bible, and got up and went to Mass on Sunday's
Some months later the son returned to his father with all A's on his a report card
And he told his father that he had read the bible all the way through and hadn't missed a Mass in months.
"What about the hair cut?" asked the father.
The son replied, that "Jesus and the Apostles wore their hair long."
The father replied, "Then you also know that they walked everywhere."
Now matter how holy the family, when you live together 24/7 there is going to be conflict, because conflict is not a sin but simply an opportunity to love more profoundly. We see that today in the gospel story of the finding in the temple.
It's interesting, today the Church celebrates the Holy Family of Nazareth, which has always been held up as the model of Christian family life and yet when you think about it, while I REALLY wouldn't call the Holy Family dysfunctional I think we could all agree it wasn't exactly what you call normal. I mean you have Joseph, a good man who accepts the role of Jesus' human father and yet biologically, he is not His father. Then there is Mary, Joseph's wife, who is an out of wedlock mother and what's more, as Christians we believe, she is a perpetual virgin, Finally there is little baby Jesus, who feeds, and coos, and smiles, but still probably needed a nappy changed every now and then, who we Christians insist is the Son. not of Joseph, but of God Himself, consubstantial, or of the same stuff of God" all-powerful, all-knowing, God from God, Light from Light, as we profess in the creed. When you think about it the Holy Family is pretty weird and you have got to ask, in what way are they the model of Christian family life?
It's important to remember that God is good and His wisdom is beyond human wisdom, and when you accept the revealed truth of our faith and ask God for the patients and wisdom to see what God is doing we usually will find that the hard parts of our faith, that some want to simply dismiss, are in reality the most profound realities. We see this in the case of the Holy Family.
In the life of the Holy family we see through simplistic definitions of the family and see what is at the core of authentic family life and THIS is why Popes and Saints and Doctors of the Church have held up the Holy Family of Nazareth as an example to us.
Let's start with Joseph, what do we learn from this Holy Man?
Well first of all, we are reminded that God is Father, and He created men in his image and likeness, and so all men are created to be fathers. Fatherhood, for rational, spiritual, human beings, is more than animal paternity--more than biology! All men can be fathers, even a celibate priests like myself , men who choose to forsake the good of married life for the sake of the Kingdom of God--as Jesus tells us in Matthew, because fatherhood is about providing for your family, and protecting it from the evils of the world, it's about being holy, and educating your child as God intends, it's about trusting God and His Divine Plan and helping your sons and daughters to do the same. Fatherhood is a spiritual reality that is about mercy and justice, and love--all things that biology can't provide for!
Then there is the ever virgin Mary who is the model of Motherhood. What can we learn from her?
Mary reminds us that woman, like man, is made in God's image and likeness and while the Fatherly dimension of God often overshadows the maternal Scriptures are clear that God, who is not biological, and thus has no gender is also maternal to us, his children. However, Mary also demonstrates another dimension of the Christian family, its relationship with God: the spousal dynamic. Mary is a virgin who conceived a child, and while she was the human spouse of Joseph she is also known as the spouse of the Holy Spirit, because we believe that it was through the Holy Spirit that Jesus was conceived in her womb.
Mary is par excellence the spouse of God and she shows us that all authentic marital love, authentic family love, must start and be based on this relationship, on this love, not with our human husband or wife, but on our love of God. Both husband and wife can only come to the fullness of love with each other through our relationship with our God who teaches us what it means to be faithful, teaches us mercy and forgiveness, shows how to trust and to hope, and ultimately reveals to us what true love is on the cross. We all know people who get married in Vegas, or on the beach, or even here in the Church, and are divorced within the year, the month, or even the week! Human love is not enough to keep a marriage alive because human love is always partial. Human love, alway holds back from giving everything, and so often ends by refusing everything. Human marriage, like biological animal mating, has been occuring in this way since the fall of Man in the Garden, because human marriage is fundamentally about our animal drive to procreate, about creating biological life.
In contrast, Christian Marriage, and the Christian family, is fundamentally about spiritual life, life which takes a lifetime to develop and be born. Christian Marriage takes the human good of marriage, and sees it in the light of Mary's spiritual union with God, a spousal relationship and covenant that in Baptism we all share in! In the Christian family, all the members of the family , the Church, are scene in their true light--as Children of God. And so all members of the family have the duty in love: to help each other, their neighbors, and even their enemies to be what God created them to be. To help them follow God's plan, to be Holy, to be Saints!
Finally, in Jesus we see a reality about our Children that maybe many parents would prefer to forget! Jesus is the Son of God, the Word made Flesh, Wisdom incarnate, and God's holy Spirit is his own. Sure there were probably many human experiential things that Joseph and Mary had to teach Jesus but intellectually Jesus shared the mind of God and was the teacher not the student as we see in the story of the finding in the temple.
In Baptism this reality manefests itself in our children just as it did in the Christ Child. Parent's often forget that their children in baptism become conduits of wisdom and grace, like the child Jesus sitting today in the midst of the teachers, asking questions and teaching them. While it is not true that your child is the incarnate son of God the same spirit that Jesus possessed is given to your children in Baptism, that is why it is so important to realize that the family is the school of truth, beauty, wisdom, faith, hope, and Love and that while we do all have distinct roles in the family, ultimately the teacher is not mom or dad or gramps but God himself who teaches all members of the family through each other and through our neighbors.
So this Christmas, as we celebrate the Holy family, I encourage youto take seriously the reality of the family. Don't worry about being a "normal family" rather concentrate on being a holy family, with God at the center of your everyday life. Focus on protecting, providing for, and teaching each other, in humility, like Joseph did! Focus on your spousal relationship with God, as did Mary, so that your divine spouse can teach and help you through life's most difficult times. Try to be the Christ child, Emmanuel, God with us, for one another, all the time remaining open to the ways the Spirit of God is working in and teaching you through the lives of your spouse and children and parents.
Being a Holy family is not easy, but it is good, does lead to happiness, and ultimate draws us into the family life of the Church which is a precursor of the family life of Heaven. Lets pray that one day we will be able to say St. Dad and St. Mom, St. Son, St. Daughter, or even St. Aunt or Uncle. Because this is the destiny of the Christian family that we see in the example of Ss. Mary and Joseph.
What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Jerusalem Gaudi Gaudio Magno
Homily for the Third Sunday in Advent
Gaudete Sunday
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Today the Church Celebrates Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Rejoicing because Advent is more than half over and we are closer to the celebration of the culmination of Human History on Christmas Day.
Today's readings are full of joyful exaltation but what is the cause of this great joy!
St. Peter in his first letter instructs the Church to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. It is this hope that Peter talks about that gives rise to joy and the reason for our hope, for our joy, for this period of anxious preparation ts the birth of Jesus Christ.
At the center of our faith before all other mysteries is the mystery of the reality we celebrate at Christmas, that God became Man. As Catholic's we believe a lot of things that the world calls crazy:
We believe that a poor Virgin gave birth, to a king,
We believe in a king and savior who was born in a stable, was murdered by his own people, and died but lives today
We believe that the words of a priest can forgive sins, and change bread and wine into blood and flesh.
We believe in an allpowerful God who allows His week creatures to blapheme His name and destroy His masterpiece of creation
And yet really if you think about it, all these things don't seem so crazy when we realize the awesome contradiction of Christmas "THE WORD became FLESH" we read in John's Prologue. That's like saying that the constitution of the United States
became a person, except the Constitution only governs a small portion of human culture. The Word is God's master plan for creation and we believe that all that is stuffed into a limited human body. What's more, the Word doesn't just pretend to be flesh, Jesus isn't the big bad Word in sheeps clothing. The Word truly becomes Flesh. The unknowable, uncontainable, all-powerful, all-knowing, Lord God of Hosts, who created all things by uttering His Word limits himself and humbles himself so that he can be with us, so that he can dwell in our midst, and speak to us not out of a cloud of fire or through messenger spirits but face to face - mano a mano.
The incarnation is like the president of the United States, deciding that rather than give a press conference he was going to visit the home of every citizen of the United States just so that he could tells us he really does feel our pain. Only the president never created a tree or animal, a human, a planet, or a universe out of nothing. The cause for our joy is this reality, which is almost unimaginable! I sometimes think that it's the fantastic nature of Christian Gospel that shows it must be true. Think about all the other attempts man makes to search for God all the other religions of the World. They are all about submission to the will of God: man follows God's will, or else we get struck by lightening. No other religion preaches a God who cares about us more than a dog trainer cares about his dogs obeying. In contrast Christianity proclaims a God who seeks us out, desire to be close to us, because he loves us. A God's who's laws are given "that we may have life and have it more abundantly." A God who humbles himself to become one of us and then dies to show the depths of His love for us.
Emmanuel, as the Church approaches the end of Advent, we begin to pray for the Light of Christ, the Light of God with us, Emmanuel, because this is the reason for Christian hope! This is what every heart longs for!!! although we often don't know our own heart well enough to realize it! This is the reality that we celebrate at Christmas, and that during advent we prepare our hearts for, because the reality is that God did come to be with His people when the baby Jesus was born 2 millenia ago, but He is still waiting for His people to let this reality sink in and change the way they look at the world.
Christ is the Prince of Peace the source of our joy and when we realize that He is all our hearts want and need there is no reason to be greedy, or steal, or kill, or lust. When we realize that we are made to enjoy God, gazing at the Light, Truth, and Love that is the face of God, the Face of Jesus Christ--the whole world changes for us. And we are at peace, because we have attained our hearts deepest longing- Emanuel
Gaudete Sunday
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Today the Church Celebrates Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Rejoicing because Advent is more than half over and we are closer to the celebration of the culmination of Human History on Christmas Day.
Today's readings are full of joyful exaltation but what is the cause of this great joy!
St. Peter in his first letter instructs the Church to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. It is this hope that Peter talks about that gives rise to joy and the reason for our hope, for our joy, for this period of anxious preparation ts the birth of Jesus Christ.
At the center of our faith before all other mysteries is the mystery of the reality we celebrate at Christmas, that God became Man. As Catholic's we believe a lot of things that the world calls crazy:
We believe that a poor Virgin gave birth, to a king,
We believe in a king and savior who was born in a stable, was murdered by his own people, and died but lives today
We believe that the words of a priest can forgive sins, and change bread and wine into blood and flesh.
We believe in an allpowerful God who allows His week creatures to blapheme His name and destroy His masterpiece of creation
And yet really if you think about it, all these things don't seem so crazy when we realize the awesome contradiction of Christmas "THE WORD became FLESH" we read in John's Prologue. That's like saying that the constitution of the United States
became a person, except the Constitution only governs a small portion of human culture. The Word is God's master plan for creation and we believe that all that is stuffed into a limited human body. What's more, the Word doesn't just pretend to be flesh, Jesus isn't the big bad Word in sheeps clothing. The Word truly becomes Flesh. The unknowable, uncontainable, all-powerful, all-knowing, Lord God of Hosts, who created all things by uttering His Word limits himself and humbles himself so that he can be with us, so that he can dwell in our midst, and speak to us not out of a cloud of fire or through messenger spirits but face to face - mano a mano.
The incarnation is like the president of the United States, deciding that rather than give a press conference he was going to visit the home of every citizen of the United States just so that he could tells us he really does feel our pain. Only the president never created a tree or animal, a human, a planet, or a universe out of nothing. The cause for our joy is this reality, which is almost unimaginable! I sometimes think that it's the fantastic nature of Christian Gospel that shows it must be true. Think about all the other attempts man makes to search for God all the other religions of the World. They are all about submission to the will of God: man follows God's will, or else we get struck by lightening. No other religion preaches a God who cares about us more than a dog trainer cares about his dogs obeying. In contrast Christianity proclaims a God who seeks us out, desire to be close to us, because he loves us. A God's who's laws are given "that we may have life and have it more abundantly." A God who humbles himself to become one of us and then dies to show the depths of His love for us.
Emmanuel, as the Church approaches the end of Advent, we begin to pray for the Light of Christ, the Light of God with us, Emmanuel, because this is the reason for Christian hope! This is what every heart longs for!!! although we often don't know our own heart well enough to realize it! This is the reality that we celebrate at Christmas, and that during advent we prepare our hearts for, because the reality is that God did come to be with His people when the baby Jesus was born 2 millenia ago, but He is still waiting for His people to let this reality sink in and change the way they look at the world.
Christ is the Prince of Peace the source of our joy and when we realize that He is all our hearts want and need there is no reason to be greedy, or steal, or kill, or lust. When we realize that we are made to enjoy God, gazing at the Light, Truth, and Love that is the face of God, the Face of Jesus Christ--the whole world changes for us. And we are at peace, because we have attained our hearts deepest longing- Emanuel
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tota Pulchra est Maria
Homily for the Solemn Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Given at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
On Dec. the 8th, 1954 Pope Pius the IX define dogmatic truth that:
the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception,
by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God,
in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race,
was preserved free from all stain of original sin
Today we celebrate as a solemn Feast that definition
which is the cause of our great hope during the advent season
Because Mary our Mother and the Mother of the Church
is not just a Saint in Heaven who intercedes for us,
but she is the model of the Church.
Mary is a preview of coming attractions
Because Mary is what we will be one day,
if we persevere in holiness.
Baptism purifies us from the guilt of original sin
making it possible for us to love God,
but we still struggle with the effects of sin.
For Mary all the stain of original sin is removed
and whats more she is given
the add grace of life with the Holy Spirit
In Mary's singular privilege we see
what God has planned for all of us
if we trust in Him and persevere to the end.
However to understand and apprieciate this gift
we must understand what we mean by original sin and its effects.
Original sin is that first sin of the human race
to choose knowledge of good and evil
over the sure path of following trusting God.
By doing so we chose to make ourselves the judge
of what is good and bad, right and wrong,
and we see the repercussions of that today.
Because of original we lost control of bodies
and became subject to them
Concupiscence—or the tendency to make bad choice
apart from God's plan and law took control of our will
so that even when we tried to do the right thing,
evil motives crept in.
A large part of this is our passions and emotions
which became unduly powerful in our decision making process
Our bodies literally took on a mind of their own,
not doing what we want them to do
and doing what we wished they wouldn't
Physically Death and Sickness entered the world
But worse than this spiritual death became a reality.
Our eyes became cloudy and we became blind to the Truth
about creation, ourselves, our nature, God, God's law,
And this spiritual blindness made it even more difficult
to choose well.
Original sin is a mess.
And it creates a mess in our lives and relationships
it creates so many knots of tension and anxiety
that make it so hard to be happy.
The gift of the Immaculate Conception
is freedom from all the knots that sin creates in life.
Freedom from the physical, spiritual, and mental
limitations that sin causes
so that we can be at peace in all situations
come what may
because we know that God is walking with us
in the garden of this world
just as he walked with Eve and Adam in paradise.
Today as we look toward Mary with hope,
praying for that day when our Baptism is completed
and we become completely free to love and be loved by God
Free to be completely happy
We remember Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception
but also under the title of Mary the untirer of knots.....
Given at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
On Dec. the 8th, 1954 Pope Pius the IX define dogmatic truth that:
the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception,
by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God,
in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race,
was preserved free from all stain of original sin
Today we celebrate as a solemn Feast that definition
which is the cause of our great hope during the advent season
Because Mary our Mother and the Mother of the Church
is not just a Saint in Heaven who intercedes for us,
but she is the model of the Church.
Mary is a preview of coming attractions
Because Mary is what we will be one day,
if we persevere in holiness.
Baptism purifies us from the guilt of original sin
making it possible for us to love God,
but we still struggle with the effects of sin.
For Mary all the stain of original sin is removed
and whats more she is given
the add grace of life with the Holy Spirit
In Mary's singular privilege we see
what God has planned for all of us
if we trust in Him and persevere to the end.
However to understand and apprieciate this gift
we must understand what we mean by original sin and its effects.
Original sin is that first sin of the human race
to choose knowledge of good and evil
over the sure path of following trusting God.
By doing so we chose to make ourselves the judge
of what is good and bad, right and wrong,
and we see the repercussions of that today.
Because of original we lost control of bodies
and became subject to them
Concupiscence—or the tendency to make bad choice
apart from God's plan and law took control of our will
so that even when we tried to do the right thing,
evil motives crept in.
A large part of this is our passions and emotions
which became unduly powerful in our decision making process
Our bodies literally took on a mind of their own,
not doing what we want them to do
and doing what we wished they wouldn't
Physically Death and Sickness entered the world
But worse than this spiritual death became a reality.
Our eyes became cloudy and we became blind to the Truth
about creation, ourselves, our nature, God, God's law,
And this spiritual blindness made it even more difficult
to choose well.
Original sin is a mess.
And it creates a mess in our lives and relationships
it creates so many knots of tension and anxiety
that make it so hard to be happy.
The gift of the Immaculate Conception
is freedom from all the knots that sin creates in life.
Freedom from the physical, spiritual, and mental
limitations that sin causes
so that we can be at peace in all situations
come what may
because we know that God is walking with us
in the garden of this world
just as he walked with Eve and Adam in paradise.
Today as we look toward Mary with hope,
praying for that day when our Baptism is completed
and we become completely free to love and be loved by God
Free to be completely happy
We remember Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception
but also under the title of Mary the untirer of knots.....
Monday, December 7, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Let God in to your Car
Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
Three priests were driving down the road when they missed a turn and went into the ditch.
As they pulled themselves together, a drunk pulled up and asked if they were all right.
"Oh, yes, Jesus is with us," one replied.
The drunk thought that over for a minute then said: "well, you'd better let him get in with me, because you're going to kill him!"
My friends, today we wait and prepare ourselves for Emmanuel, which means God with us. In the Gospel today we hear a long litany of names that mean little or nothing to most of us, Twenty centuries after the fact, we are interested in Jesus, not in tetrarchs and obsolete geography, but these names and places are important because they anchor the story of Jesus' birth to history, to a particular time and place, to the everyday world of work and taxes and politics. Pope Benedict XVI made this same point in the Advent of 2006, when he said: “In these days the liturgy constantly reminds us that ‘God comes’ to visit his people, to dwell in the midst of men and women and to form with them a communion of love and life: a family” (Angelus, 10 December 2006).
In today’s Second Reading, St Paul makes the same point in one of the most memorable, beautiful, and powerful phrases of the entire New Testament: “"I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."
God doesn't create us and then forget about us, like some kind of divine architect or watchmaker. RATHER He gives us the gift of life, and then wants to accompanies us, gently trying to guide us into a deeper and deeper friendship with him, never giving up on us. He knows where we were born, where we grew up, what we have suffered and enjoyed, the wounds in our hearts. Nothing about our lives is unimportant to Him, because we are each important to him.
As today’s First Reading puts it, we should rejoice because we are “remembered by God.” Its so important to realize that God is not a God of the North Pole or a galaxy far far away, but the God of the here and now, the God of our everyday life.
God is not an alien He isn't up there and we don't just find him in Church, he is in that car with the three priests, but also with the drunk he is in our workplace, at school, and on the sports field,
St. Paul teaches us that we should pray always, this is only possible if God is where ever we are, and if prayer is not something foreign to us, but as simple and essential to us as breathing.
The many saints that God has given to the Church throughout the centuries are powerful reminders
that God is with us in all the situations of our life. St John Vianney, used to make a point of being available to the faithful no matter what--He would spend 13 hours a day in the confessional and travel long distances to visit the sick. This was before the invention of the automobile, and since he had no horse of his own, his generosity often took him on long walking trips
One time word came to him that a very sick man about three miles away was asking for confession.
so St John Vianney threw on his cloak and hit the road. Unfortunately, it was bitter cold, and raining. Thinking of the sick man, the saint was undaunted. He trekked through the cold and the freezing rain,
and finally made his way to the house of the sick man. By the time he arrived, St John was himself shivering and dizzy with a high fever. He had fallen so ill that he had to hear the confession lying down on the ground beside the sick man's bed. Witnesses, in fact, noted that the priest was sicker than the penitent.
The determination of St John Vianney to make sure this sick man could experience the mercy of God's forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation is a living sign of just how much God wants to stay involved in our lives. Not because we are perfect, or even good, but because he loves us as a perfect Father loves his little children, and he wants to give us an abundant life. We all want to believe that God wants to be involved in our lives. And yet, sometimes it feels as if God is pretty far away.
Sometimes, in the face of economic difficulties, sickness, and so many other kinds of suffering, it seems hard to find him. Advent is the time to remember and get used to the idea that God wants to be a part of, to accompany us, in everything we do and to get better at finding God's hand in all things, even our crosses,
This advent I would like to propose three things to do to help you see that God is with us in the Year that Barrack Obama became president, when Deval Patrick was Govenor of the State, in the Pontificate of Benedict the XVI and the Episcopate of our Bishop George
First, we need to have an honest, regular prayer life.
• Too often we only pray to God when we are in trouble.
• Imagine Mary or Joseph coming to the infant Jesus only when THEY needed something; That's not just child abuse,
• it's GOD ABUSE --> and yet so often we are all guilty of it.
• We need to recommit ourselves to daily, personal prayer,
• even if it's only for 10 or 15 minutes.
Second, we need to take the crucifix seriously.
• It is no coincidence that the crucifix is the central image of our religion
• As Catholics we start all our prayer with this sign because God chose to save us by sharing in human suffering.
• We need to look often at the crucifix, and contemplate it, and teach ourselves to remember that suffering is not outside of God's plan of salvation, but an essential part of it.
And third, we need to help others carry their crosses.
• The devil's favorite tactic is to make us think so much about ourselves that we lose sight of the bigger picture.
• When we go out of our comfort zone to support, console, and encourage those who are suffering even more than we are, we break the devil's spell.
This week, if each of us chooses just one of those three tactics, I can guarantee you will begin to see more clearly and have a deeper experience of God's involvement in your life, and thus gain a bigger share of Advent joy.
This Advent let God into your car with you, let him into your homes, and schools, and workplaces so that you can exerience life with God.
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL
Three priests were driving down the road when they missed a turn and went into the ditch.
As they pulled themselves together, a drunk pulled up and asked if they were all right.
"Oh, yes, Jesus is with us," one replied.
The drunk thought that over for a minute then said: "well, you'd better let him get in with me, because you're going to kill him!"
My friends, today we wait and prepare ourselves for Emmanuel, which means God with us. In the Gospel today we hear a long litany of names that mean little or nothing to most of us, Twenty centuries after the fact, we are interested in Jesus, not in tetrarchs and obsolete geography, but these names and places are important because they anchor the story of Jesus' birth to history, to a particular time and place, to the everyday world of work and taxes and politics. Pope Benedict XVI made this same point in the Advent of 2006, when he said: “In these days the liturgy constantly reminds us that ‘God comes’ to visit his people, to dwell in the midst of men and women and to form with them a communion of love and life: a family” (Angelus, 10 December 2006).
In today’s Second Reading, St Paul makes the same point in one of the most memorable, beautiful, and powerful phrases of the entire New Testament: “"I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus."
God doesn't create us and then forget about us, like some kind of divine architect or watchmaker. RATHER He gives us the gift of life, and then wants to accompanies us, gently trying to guide us into a deeper and deeper friendship with him, never giving up on us. He knows where we were born, where we grew up, what we have suffered and enjoyed, the wounds in our hearts. Nothing about our lives is unimportant to Him, because we are each important to him.
As today’s First Reading puts it, we should rejoice because we are “remembered by God.” Its so important to realize that God is not a God of the North Pole or a galaxy far far away, but the God of the here and now, the God of our everyday life.
God is not an alien He isn't up there and we don't just find him in Church, he is in that car with the three priests, but also with the drunk he is in our workplace, at school, and on the sports field,
St. Paul teaches us that we should pray always, this is only possible if God is where ever we are, and if prayer is not something foreign to us, but as simple and essential to us as breathing.
The many saints that God has given to the Church throughout the centuries are powerful reminders
that God is with us in all the situations of our life. St John Vianney, used to make a point of being available to the faithful no matter what--He would spend 13 hours a day in the confessional and travel long distances to visit the sick. This was before the invention of the automobile, and since he had no horse of his own, his generosity often took him on long walking trips
One time word came to him that a very sick man about three miles away was asking for confession.
so St John Vianney threw on his cloak and hit the road. Unfortunately, it was bitter cold, and raining. Thinking of the sick man, the saint was undaunted. He trekked through the cold and the freezing rain,
and finally made his way to the house of the sick man. By the time he arrived, St John was himself shivering and dizzy with a high fever. He had fallen so ill that he had to hear the confession lying down on the ground beside the sick man's bed. Witnesses, in fact, noted that the priest was sicker than the penitent.
The determination of St John Vianney to make sure this sick man could experience the mercy of God's forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation is a living sign of just how much God wants to stay involved in our lives. Not because we are perfect, or even good, but because he loves us as a perfect Father loves his little children, and he wants to give us an abundant life. We all want to believe that God wants to be involved in our lives. And yet, sometimes it feels as if God is pretty far away.
Sometimes, in the face of economic difficulties, sickness, and so many other kinds of suffering, it seems hard to find him. Advent is the time to remember and get used to the idea that God wants to be a part of, to accompany us, in everything we do and to get better at finding God's hand in all things, even our crosses,
This advent I would like to propose three things to do to help you see that God is with us in the Year that Barrack Obama became president, when Deval Patrick was Govenor of the State, in the Pontificate of Benedict the XVI and the Episcopate of our Bishop George
First, we need to have an honest, regular prayer life.
• Too often we only pray to God when we are in trouble.
• Imagine Mary or Joseph coming to the infant Jesus only when THEY needed something; That's not just child abuse,
• it's GOD ABUSE --> and yet so often we are all guilty of it.
• We need to recommit ourselves to daily, personal prayer,
• even if it's only for 10 or 15 minutes.
Second, we need to take the crucifix seriously.
• It is no coincidence that the crucifix is the central image of our religion
• As Catholics we start all our prayer with this sign because God chose to save us by sharing in human suffering.
• We need to look often at the crucifix, and contemplate it, and teach ourselves to remember that suffering is not outside of God's plan of salvation, but an essential part of it.
And third, we need to help others carry their crosses.
• The devil's favorite tactic is to make us think so much about ourselves that we lose sight of the bigger picture.
• When we go out of our comfort zone to support, console, and encourage those who are suffering even more than we are, we break the devil's spell.
This week, if each of us chooses just one of those three tactics, I can guarantee you will begin to see more clearly and have a deeper experience of God's involvement in your life, and thus gain a bigger share of Advent joy.
This Advent let God into your car with you, let him into your homes, and schools, and workplaces so that you can exerience life with God.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
I just can't wait
Homily for the First Sunday of Advent
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
“I can't wait until Friday.”
“I can't wait until summer.”
“I can't wait until Christmas.”
“I can't wait until graduation, until I'm older, until I'm married,”
I can't wait, I can't wait!
Its amazing how often you hear this little phrase or its equivalent, everyday!
Personally I like most Americans used to hate waiting: Waiting in traffic, for public transportation, for weekends, waiting for the next phase of my life to begin.
We do not live in a culture that values waiting, rather we live in a hurry up world where waiting seems to cause stress and anxiety. And as a result, we have found ways to avoid it:
We can take pills to grow stronger or to lose wait faster.
We can shop online to avoid waiting in line.
We overwork to get to where we want to be in life faster
Or we just pretend that what we are waiting for is already here. The other day I was walking in Boston,
going to my 10 year HS reunion and as I walked through downtown crossing tt looked like it was December 25th not November 25th.. And we wonder why our kids are in such a hurry to grow upand make adult mistakes while they are still in middle school?
We live in a “can't wait” culture that is always looking forward to the future and looking forward to the future is a good thing, after all it is the basis of the Christian virtue of of hope. However, while hope looks forward to the future, the other two theological virtues Love and Faith point to the past and present, to the now, to testify to God's goodness giving us a basis for our hope not just in the future when, God willing, we get to heaven, but right now, at this moment in history!
The problem with a “can't wait” culture, with always looking toward the future. is that we miss the present and rushing toward the future for so much of our life we often fail to ever stop pushing forward long enough to enjoy the things we once hope for, but which have now been displaced by new “I can't waits.”
A perfect example of this is Christmas, how many of us, if we continue along our “can't wait” path
will be sick of Christmas by the 26th of December?
For the Christian the now is essential, because God gives us each moment, as a little gift, a piece of the puzzle of life, that we will need to be happy forever in the future joy of heaven. Waiting, is not wasted time for the Christian but an opportunity to reflect on what we are, why we are doing the things we do, and where we are going in life. The Church gives us the season of Advent to contemplate the reason for the Season to consider where the joy of Christmas truly comes from,and to prepare ourselves to receive it.
When we live our life moving from one “can't wait” to another, we are like athletes who don't take time to stretch, let alone practice in between games, sure we play a lot of games but we win few because we are just not prepared!
Ultimately, Advent is a time to remember that we can offer ourselves to others just as God offered himself to us when He humbled Himself to be born, the child of Mary, in a stable.
This advent I challenge you to hold off on the presents hold off on the parties, hold off on the Christmas carols and cards, and take some time to remember that the three kings gave gifts as an expression of their joy at the birth of Christ - an expression, not the cause!!
There is no record of Jesus giving Mary Magdalene silver earrings for Christmas; instead he gave her respect. He didn't buy Peter a new fishing boat; rather he gave him responsibility. He didn't go to the mall to buy the apostles new PS3s he humbled himself and washed their feet.
Jesus' gift to mankind wasn't based on material wealth, because Jesus knew, what we so often forget, that stuff is ok, but stuff never makes up for the absence of love, fellowship, and communion. This is what makes us happy, joyful, and fulfilled
If we really look at the needs of others, we may see that while they may want presents, perhaps what they really need is simply to be acknowledged. They deserve dignity, respect, and love for which gold, silver, and precious gems, are cheap replacements.
The paradox of the American Christmas season is that we bypass Advent because we can't wait for the joy of Christmas and then we focus on toys, jewelry, and electronics hoping that these things will bring us the joy we so desire, while in fact they distract us for that joy. Just look at the exchange lines at the malls the day after Christmas. So much for bringing us joy!!! We want to enjoy the material stuff that makes Christmas the cultural extravaganza that it is. In doing so, we lose sight of why Christmas is so important.
Advent is the time to stop and remind us what makes Christmas so important. Advent provides an opportunity for us to direct our intentions, so that our relationships with God and others can be renewed by our celebration of the birth of Christ. So don't rush into Christmas. Enjoy the season of Advent. Take advantage of this time of waiting to ask yourself what will really make my family and friends more happy this Christmas?
Given at St. Patrick's Church
By: Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd
“I can't wait until Friday.”
“I can't wait until summer.”
“I can't wait until Christmas.”
“I can't wait until graduation, until I'm older, until I'm married,”
I can't wait, I can't wait!
Its amazing how often you hear this little phrase or its equivalent, everyday!
Personally I like most Americans used to hate waiting: Waiting in traffic, for public transportation, for weekends, waiting for the next phase of my life to begin.
We do not live in a culture that values waiting, rather we live in a hurry up world where waiting seems to cause stress and anxiety. And as a result, we have found ways to avoid it:
We can take pills to grow stronger or to lose wait faster.
We can shop online to avoid waiting in line.
We overwork to get to where we want to be in life faster
Or we just pretend that what we are waiting for is already here. The other day I was walking in Boston,
going to my 10 year HS reunion and as I walked through downtown crossing tt looked like it was December 25th not November 25th.. And we wonder why our kids are in such a hurry to grow upand make adult mistakes while they are still in middle school?
We live in a “can't wait” culture that is always looking forward to the future and looking forward to the future is a good thing, after all it is the basis of the Christian virtue of of hope. However, while hope looks forward to the future, the other two theological virtues Love and Faith point to the past and present, to the now, to testify to God's goodness giving us a basis for our hope not just in the future when, God willing, we get to heaven, but right now, at this moment in history!
The problem with a “can't wait” culture, with always looking toward the future. is that we miss the present and rushing toward the future for so much of our life we often fail to ever stop pushing forward long enough to enjoy the things we once hope for, but which have now been displaced by new “I can't waits.”
A perfect example of this is Christmas, how many of us, if we continue along our “can't wait” path
will be sick of Christmas by the 26th of December?
For the Christian the now is essential, because God gives us each moment, as a little gift, a piece of the puzzle of life, that we will need to be happy forever in the future joy of heaven. Waiting, is not wasted time for the Christian but an opportunity to reflect on what we are, why we are doing the things we do, and where we are going in life. The Church gives us the season of Advent to contemplate the reason for the Season to consider where the joy of Christmas truly comes from,and to prepare ourselves to receive it.
When we live our life moving from one “can't wait” to another, we are like athletes who don't take time to stretch, let alone practice in between games, sure we play a lot of games but we win few because we are just not prepared!
Ultimately, Advent is a time to remember that we can offer ourselves to others just as God offered himself to us when He humbled Himself to be born, the child of Mary, in a stable.
This advent I challenge you to hold off on the presents hold off on the parties, hold off on the Christmas carols and cards, and take some time to remember that the three kings gave gifts as an expression of their joy at the birth of Christ - an expression, not the cause!!
There is no record of Jesus giving Mary Magdalene silver earrings for Christmas; instead he gave her respect. He didn't buy Peter a new fishing boat; rather he gave him responsibility. He didn't go to the mall to buy the apostles new PS3s he humbled himself and washed their feet.
Jesus' gift to mankind wasn't based on material wealth, because Jesus knew, what we so often forget, that stuff is ok, but stuff never makes up for the absence of love, fellowship, and communion. This is what makes us happy, joyful, and fulfilled
If we really look at the needs of others, we may see that while they may want presents, perhaps what they really need is simply to be acknowledged. They deserve dignity, respect, and love for which gold, silver, and precious gems, are cheap replacements.
The paradox of the American Christmas season is that we bypass Advent because we can't wait for the joy of Christmas and then we focus on toys, jewelry, and electronics hoping that these things will bring us the joy we so desire, while in fact they distract us for that joy. Just look at the exchange lines at the malls the day after Christmas. So much for bringing us joy!!! We want to enjoy the material stuff that makes Christmas the cultural extravaganza that it is. In doing so, we lose sight of why Christmas is so important.
Advent is the time to stop and remind us what makes Christmas so important. Advent provides an opportunity for us to direct our intentions, so that our relationships with God and others can be renewed by our celebration of the birth of Christ. So don't rush into Christmas. Enjoy the season of Advent. Take advantage of this time of waiting to ask yourself what will really make my family and friends more happy this Christmas?
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