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---Scriptural Reflections--- by Fr. Bert SM

Reflections based on the liturgical readings for the day.

Thursday, December 07, 2006 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dec.8,2006 Scripture: Gen.3:9-15,20. Psalm 98:1-4. Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12. Luke 1:26-38 In one of his poems, William Wordsworth said of Mary, "our tainted nature's solitary boast." The selection from Ephesians is important for helping us to understand the use of a special word which becomes a new name for Mary. The word flows from a verb which means to "be favored and graced by God in a generous way." It is used in the greeting that Gabriel gives to Mary in the Annunciation account which also is her vocational summons to be the person involved in the great mystery of God's love, the Incarnation. Ephesians probes into the mystery of God's loving plan for all of us and these words show us how we too are special in our calling no matter what they may be. "Before the foundation of the world we were chosen to be without blemish...through Jesus Christ." In looking at Mary we learn that our Catholic tradition sees this as being perfectly accomplished in her . This is the grace of her Immaculate Conception, that is , her freedom from the blemish of what is termed "original sin." Though this was already preached and written about in the seventh century, it was not taught magisterially as dogma until it was proclaimed such in 1854 by Pius IX. Indeed, according to Ephesians, God's intention for all of us was to be without blemish of sin, but it was only Mary who used her free will to give a convincing "Yes" to this intentional plan of God's love. Such is the gift of our freedom that we could say no to that plan, but Mary did not say no to God's love for her. Thus the Angel Gabriel gives her a new name after the salutation, "Rejoice, you who have already been graced and favored by God" that is the meaning of the perfect passsive participle with which Mary is given this new appelation (KECHARITOMENE). It was through the saving and redemptive love of Jesus that she enjoyed this magnificent new grace so generously given to her who was "our tainted nature's solitary boast." Her "yes" should have been ours as we have seen from Ephesians, but now it is through her that we can say "yes" to the call of God each day. We too are to bear Christ withiin us and bring him to the crying needs of our world. We too are called to be creative agents of God's loving redemption. Her yes made the mystery of God's love visible in the Incarnation. God became one with us that we too might become daughters and sons of God. It is remarkable that this young woman who was totally human in every dimension of her being showed us how to say "yes" to God's call. She personified the yes in her free and intelligent response. We are led to appreciate her yes during this special day of the Advent season. We can mirror her yes in our lives through openess to God's plan and through love for one another. I personally believe that God's primordial love has been accomplished in Mary and I rejoice and thank her for showing us how to say "yes" and mean it with all our heart and soul. Thank you, Mary, for showing us that you are "our tainted nature's solitary boast." Amen.

posted by Fr. Bert SM at 9:59 AM

Wednesday, December 06, 2006 Thursday of the First Week in Advent, Dec.7, 2006 Scripture: Isaiah 26:1-6. Psalm 118. Matthew 7:21,24-27: Trust is very important in any love relationship. This is especially true in our relationship with God and with Jesus. The readings for today led me to reflect on the importance of trust which is similar to our absolute commitment in faithful love to Jesus (a key theme of the Johannine literature). Then as I read Isaiah this morning, I was led to think of Mary the Daughter of Zion who trusted in the message given by Gabriel to her. She risked everything with that act of trusting love and thus became the Mother of the Messiah, Jesus. Both the Advent Prophet Isaiah and the Virgin Mary are our witnesses to what Advent means. We will continually hear from Isaiah, while Mary will be remembered at specific times during this Advent journey of trust, faith, and love. Trust means patient waiting, loving endurance, and communication with the person of God and Jesus. The Scriptures are actually our connection in this communication and they become for us the topics of our conversation with the Lord our God. Isaiah and Mary are our personal guides for developing these lines of communication. With them we learn how to risk letting go of our own plans, our own desires and letting those of God be our source for love during this holy season. Recently, I witnessed a wedding which was carefully planned. The bride and groom had chosen today's passage from Matthew. I had never been asked to look at that passage for a wedding, nor do I remember any other couple to have chosen this selection from Matthew. They insisted and I then was able to think about it and realize that this was for them an entrustment in love. They, do to the nature of his being a baseball pitcher, would have to be separated from months at a time. He was the one who chose this passage which speaks of building on a rock foundation. For her, he is her rock of security for the future foundation of their family. They both had not only carefully planned this wedding, they made it a public sign and covenant of their trust that their love with the Presence of God within it would endure like a solid rock. I learned much from this young handsome groom and this beautiful bride. They had understood what Jesus' parable was all about. Amen.

posted by Fr. Bert SM at 9:32 AM

Tuesday, December 05, 2006 Wednesday of First Week of Advent, December 5,2006 Scripture: Isaiah 25:6-10a. Psalm 23. Matthew 15:29-37 For me the Eucharist came to mind and became the focus of my prayer this Advent Wednesday. The Psalm 23 is one of many favorites of mine and it does complement the messianic banquet theme of Isaiah 25:6-10a and shows the same cure and care that God has for us as manifested by Jesus who is seated on the mountain slope. We can always depend upon the compassionate love of God and its manifestation in concrete ways in Jesus' words and actions among us. Today we read and are touched by how Jesus has pity on the crowds who came to hear him. We learn how he heals the blind, the lame, the deformed, and the mute who were placed near or beneath his feet. What a marvelous description of their location and their hopes which are realized in the cures they all experience. We, too, are among them with our brokeness, our blindness, and our physical weaknesses. We come with the same hope they had and we are not disappointed. He is not only concerned about healing us; he wants to sustain us for the journey back home or toward the kingdom of God. He does not want us to collapse on the way. This magnificent scene has a sacramental overtone for us as we look at the passage from the community dimension. We like the crowd are to be sustained by the seven loaves and the fish. My imagination led me to think of the seven sacraments and the symbol of Jesus as a fish. The ancient Greek word for fish comes to mind IXTHUS which is an anacronym for Iesus, Christos, Theos, Hyios, and Soter (Jesus,Christ, Son of God, Savior). Jesus takes the loaves, gives thanks (eucharistein), blesses and breaks them and distributes them through the hands of his disciples. We, too, like the crowd are nourished by this bread of life which is the Eucharist. We are privileged to hear and listen to Jesus's words and then to be fed by him and cared for him as the shepherd does for his sheep (Psalm 23). Thus the Eucharist becomes our bread and sustenance for the Advent journey whether it be for the coming of the kingdom or the remembering the Advent of Jesus being born of Mary in the mystery of the Incarnation. From the word of God given to us to the sacrament of Jesus' body and blood, we daily make spiritual progress on our journey. We have this bread for our journey so as not to collapse on the way. I am led to be thankful for the sacraments of healing and of communion that came to me through reflection this Advent day. I liked the last stanza of this hymn: "With you upon the mountain, Dwell all your holy ones. Their brightness, like a mirrors, Outrivals moons and suns. Our voices from the valley...Rise up in urgent prayer: Come, Christ, and make us holy, That we may join them there."

posted by Fr. Bert SM at 12:31 PM

Monday, December 04, 2006 Tuesday of first week in Advent, December 4, 2006 Scripture:Zecheriah 14:5,7. Isaiah 11:1-10. Psalm 72:1-2,7-8,12-13,17. Luke 10:21-24 Peace and consolation permeate the readings given to us today in the liturgy of Advent. These dispositions will help us throughout this Advent, but today we focus upon them by meditating on the Scriptures cited above. Isaiah gives us the most idyllic description of the Messianic age. I think it is realistic in the realm of the spiritual and within our interior life in the Spirit. The Messiah through the Spirit has the great gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, strength (fortitude) and fear of the Lord (sublime reverence in the Presence of the Holy). The mission of the Offshoot of David is to bring peace to the world. Even the animal world and nature will reflect this peace brought to us by the Messiah. We pray that this will happen today in our world of struggles, wars, terrorism, and violence. Our prayers can help us to have the needed dispositions for such a divine like peace and messianic justice. Our own efforts at bringing this about in our ministries and work are important and do help to make this world better. "Better to light a candle in the darkness than to curse it." Jesus, our Messiah and Savior is rejoicing in the Spirit. He has all of the gifts of the Spirit and brings them to us with his words and his healing power. Today we have an Advent revelatory word that tells us to be like children in our practice of virtue and in our openness to his message. Only then will we believe that peace can come about. Through the eyes of faith we can understand today's Gospel where Jesus says to us, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see; and the ears to hear what you hear." Many others liked the prophets desired to see this as Jesus and Isaiah have seen and revealed to those who believe. Lord God, help me to remember today's Scriptures and their message of peace, justice, and consolation. I thank you for implanting these seven gifts of the Spirit through the baptismal and confirmational anointings of sacred signs and sacramental words. Help me to accept them with childlike openness and with wonder. Amen.

posted by Fr. Bert SM at 8:06 PM

Sunday, December 03, 2006 Monday of the First Week in Advent, Dec.4, 2006 Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 22; Matthew 8:5-11 A verse from Isaiah 2 and one from Psalm 22 touched upon two meaningful experiences I have had. The first was the gift from Dr. Eric Lewis Friedland of a beautiful Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) with the following verse from our first reading for today: "For from Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." This third verse is inscribed in gold letters on the front cover of the Tanakh and it reminds me of my friendship with Eric and our many exchanges in the Dayton Christian Jewish Dialogue. We meet every month for two hours and I have been present for almost all of the meetings since 1972. Then as I read the Psalm, I realized that another verse struck me with the experience of a dinner in my honor. I was given a picture framed with a verse from Psalm 122 that had in Latin and Hebrew the following text: "Because of my relatives and friends I will say 'Peace upon you.'" (Psalm 122:8). Whenever we are able to share in the faith of another religion and know our own very well, we deepen our commitment to other persons and strengthen our own faith commitment. I have found this to be true for me through the friendships and the dialogues, perhaps over 300 of them, with those of the Jewish faith. We need to walk a mile in the other person's shoes before we really get to know that person. I like to read the entire book of Isaiah during Advent since he is the featured prophet. We have already seen the opening chapter of this classical priest and prophet and now we enter into the mystery and power of God's word as instruction and revelation. Our prayer is enhanced by the chosen psalms and the variety of selections from the Gospels makes this a season of scriptural delights. Matthew's Gospel was designed for a community consisting of both Jewish and Gentile Christians. No wonder several books have been written from passages in Matthew which are use for study in the dialogues between Christians and Jews. Many of his passages correlate with Judaism and Christianity. Today the emphasis is on the faith of a Roman or a Gentile. There is also a universal call to all to walk in the paths of the Lord even though we are all unworthy servants. We declare our trust in God by saying, "Lord, I am not worthy that you enter under my roof but say the word and my soul shall be healed." Matthew 8:8 . I changed the word servant to soul to fit my Advent prayer. Amen.

posted by Fr. Bert SM at 10:27 AM

Saturday, December 02, 2006 First Sunday in Advent, December 3,2006 Scripture: Jeremiah 33:14-16. Psalm 25:4-5,8-9,10.14. I Thessalonians 3:12-4:2. Luke 21:25-28,34-36. Perhaps, more than any other person in the world at any time in the history of salvation, Mary is the woman who shows us the way to enter this year's new liturgical year and this Advent 2006. All of us are called to renew and refresh our longing for the coming of the Lord and to grow each day in our relationship with Jesus the Messiah. Who better than the Mother of the Messiah could help us to grow in our faith and our love for the Son of God? She herself embraced each day of her pregnancy with new feelings and longings.Her expectations of seeing the coming of her child deepened with the passage of the months. Imagine her face beaming with joy and love as she, for the first time, saw her baby who, in turn, looked up to her. She was the first to see the Word become flesh and for him she was the first to be seen since she was his mother. No one has ever contested this event in the history of humankind. She alone is the mother of Jesus Christ. Just as every mother experiences something of the divine in giving birth to a child, this Mother Mary had a unique experience as a Virgin-Mother. It was St. Paul who reflected in a pastoral and theological manner on what this coming of the Lord means: "but when the designated time had come, God sent forth his son born of a woman, born under the law to deliver from the law those who were subjected to it, so that we might receive our status as adopted sons (and daughters) of God." (Galatians 4:4-5). Within this framework of God's plan and salvation history, we can renew ourselves by journeying with Mary this woman of faith and courage; we can through our faith of the heart call upon the Holy Spirit to refresh and renew us with vigor, enthusiasm and joy. Advent is a time for praying for our transformation into the person of Jesus who was born of Mary for our salvation. Today's readings focus on another coming of the Lord in his Parousia, the Greek word for Advent, only here it means the Second Coming at the end of time. Just as in yesterday's readings the tremendous signs of the endtime are graphically narrated by Luke, but there is also advice and guidance given by Jesus who is the proclaimer of what is to happen. Jesus is telling us to stand attentive to these signs and also to listen to his words. Our salvation is near at hand and we are to seize the day (Carpe Diem) and not allow the day to seize us with personal anxiety, fear, and selfishness. We are not to be captured by surprise. Watchfulness and prayer are the way to renewal and refreshment this Advent. We wait attentively for the Coming of the Lord. The suffering and emotive prophet Jeremiah tells us that God will fulfill the promises made through the covenant of the heart, namely, that a just shoot shall spring from David and that Jerusalem will be named the Justice of the Lord. We can see this as symbolic of the Messiah and the Church at worship during the Advent liturgies. Jesus is the Tsadiq the Holy Just One of the Lord as Paul has indicated in Galatians. Our Psalm and its response are a perfect faith reflection of what the readings are saying to us this first day of Advent. Our souls are lifted up to the Lord: "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul"...for you, O God, are my savior, and for you I wait all the day."... "All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy"..."The friendship of the Lord is with those who revere him and his covenant." Let us return often this Advent to the Psalm response and it verses. These prayers are carefully chosen to give us prayer from the heart. They join the readings during this season of Advent just as they do throughout the year. But here even moreso since they are the most ancient among the liturgical texts in the Masses of Advent. The second prayer for today offers us a beautiful prayerful conclusion: "O God, increase our longing for Christ our Savior and give us the strength to grow in love, that the dawn of his coming may find us rejoicing in his presence and welcoming the light of truth. Amen."

posted by Fr. Bert SM at 12:52 PM

Friday, December 01, 2006 34th week in Ordinary Time, Dec.1,2006 Scripture: Revelation 20:1-4,11.21:2. Psalm 84:3-6.8 Luke 21:29-33 Today's Psalm and its response started my day of prayer and led me to think about "desire" and "longing" for the joy, happiness, and peace promised to us by our God who is love. This Psalm led me to understand how to deal with the fears about death, the endtime, and judgment which are so strongly stressed in the readings of the last week in ordinary time. The Book of Revelation has some ominous scenes, but they are balanced today by a reflection on the vision of the heavenly places and God's being seated on a white throne. The selection from Luke's Gospel is also about reading the signs of the endtime and knowing when it is near, but we have already learned that even Jesus tells us that only God knows when the end of time is. The victory of the Lamb sacrificed for us is now complete and the beast and Satan are thrown into the fiery pit. God reigns forever and so do those who are with God--the martyrs and those who have give testimony to Jesus and the word of God. The the beautiful scene of a bride descending from the heavens as a new Jerusalem is described by our visionary, John of Patmos. This scene remained with me as I just recently witnessed a beautiful wedding of a former student. She was radiant with joy and beauty emanated from her person as her handsome and strong husband received her hand in the sacrament of matrimony. It helped me to understand the imagery of today's vision of the bride coming down from God to earth. The image or parable Jesus uses in Luke narrative about the coming of the endtime is not as attractive as the one given in Revelation, but it does help us to think about reading the signs of the times and being ready to witness to what Jesus is saying. Often for our prophetic stances this means being counter-cultural in many realms where we are ministers, teachers, and examples of God's revelatory words. The burgeoning of the fig tree becomes a sign that both nature and humanity are being transformed by God and the Lamb of God as history moves progressively toward its final purpose. My prayer led me to quietly and slowly to pray the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father) which emphasizes the reign or kingdom of God throughout its seven eschatological petitions. It is a prayer that perfectly fits the themes for this past week.Amen.

posted by Fr. Bert SM at 12:48 PM

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Links The Mary Page The Marianist Family The Marianist Mission The Marianists - Province of the United States Previous Posts Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dec.8,2006 Thursday of the First Week in Advent, Dec.7, 2006 Wednesday of First Week of Advent, December 5,2006 Tuesday of first week in Advent, December 4, 2006 Monday of the First Week in Advent, Dec.4, 2006 First Sunday in Advent, December 3,2006 34th week in Ordinary Time, Dec.1,2006 Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, Nov.30,2006 Wed.Ordinary Time, November 29,2006

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