God enlivens our vision – Exod 3:1-15, Luke 13:1-9

Lent, Yr C, Wk 3; Notre Dame (Farley Hall)

I wonder how many burning bushes Moses walked past.  We’d all like to think that we’d notice something like that, that it takes no special spiritual gift to notice something, to draw close to it out of curiosity, and then be surprised by God.  But, we walk past burning bushes all the time.  That kind of attentiveness that attends to the world in a sensitive enough manner to notice how God might be calling out to us isn’t something we just have automatically.  It is a gift, but it’s a gift we give thanks for by working to develop it, just like musical talent, or athletic ability.

Jesus’ glorious word sustains us on our walk –Luke 9:28b-36

Lent, Yr C, Wk 2; televised Mass for those unable to attend Mass (Diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend)

I’m sure we all have moments from our past that we love to revisit in our memories; moments that we would have loved to freeze-frame when they happened, that we long to have been able to package in a way that we could open them up again and again, and let their fragrance revive us from any spiritual drowsiness we find ourselves in.  There are big, obvious moments like a wedding, your first child’s first smile or, for me, my profession of perpetual religious vows, or my ordination; and any number of more unique moments we each cherish.  What’s amazing about those moments though, is that each of them look forward, prepare us for something totally new, something that we could never have begun to embrace without that amazing moment, but we also could never have gotten to if we hadn’t climbed down from the mountain and dared to walk in the plain.

God gives us love – 1 Cor 12:31-13:13

OT Yr C, Wk 4; Notre Dame (Howard Hall)

When the Oscar nominations came out, everyone’s eyes went straight to the best picture, directing, and, most of all, acting nominations.  Will this be Leo’s year?  I’ve got to back the Brit (Eddie Redmayne).  How about Brie Larson, who I thought was great in Room?  Not many people looked to the small print at the bottom of the articles, that told us who got nominated for best sound mixing or best sound editing.  I have to admit: I have no idea what the difference between those two things is.  Can anyone tell me why Bridge of Spies got nominated for sound mixing but not editing?

Jesus frees us for joy –Luke 4:14-21

OT Wk 3, Yr C; Holy Cross House (retirement home for Holy Cross priests and brothers).

“Jesus taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.”  What a wonderful way to start our Ordinary Time walk through the Jesus’ earthly ministry, guided this year by Luke.  We start out hearing of Jesus teaching, to universal praise and acclaim, becoming a revered teacher given an overwhelmingly positive reception.  We know that that’s not going to last.  In fact, by the end of this very chapter, the people who hear him teach react so negatively that the try to push him off a cliff!  When I started praying with this lectionary selection and preparing myself to preach, it seemed a little odd to me that the lectionary really cuts one story in two.  It almost feels like we should have ended with a ‘to be continued’ sign, because the negative reaction that’s soon to come is the reaction to this inaugural Nazareth sermon that we hear.  But, as I sat more and more with the reading, and the lectionary’s choice of how to carve up this pie, I began to see the wisdom.

Jesus expands our joy –John 2:-12, 1 Cor 12:4-11, Isa 62:1-5

OT Wk 2, Yr C; Notre Dame (Farley Hall)

When I was in parish work, our sacristan had to take a couple of months off to recover from surgery, and I thought I’d figured out everything she did each week and either arranged cover or just decided to do it myself.  But, over those couple of months, I gradually realized more and more things that just somehow got magically taken care of when she was around.  During the first week she was gone, one of our parish school kids, a little second grader, came up to me with a panic struck expression: “There is no blessing in the church!”  Somewhat worried about this exile experience she seemed to be having, I tried to figure out what was actually wrong, and eventually figured out that all of the holy water stoups were dry.  Problem fixed.  I wish every spiritual crisis was as easy for me to solve!

Jesus baptizes us – Luke 3:15-16, 21-22, Isa 40:1-11, Titus 2,3 extracts

Baptism of the Lord, Yr C; Notre Dame (Fisher Hall)

Jesus’ baptism is clearly important.  In Luke, it’s our introduction to the adult Jesus, all four of our gospels narrate it, which means it beats out Jesus’ birth by a factor of 2:1 there), it’s important enough to me that I picked an image of it from my first parish to put on the holy card we gave out at my ordination.  Yes, Jesus’ baptism is clearly important.  But, Jesus getting baptized isn’t what struck me as the most important thing in this gospel.  Studying and praying with it over this week, one sentence stuck with me: “He will baptize you.”

God welcomes us into the family of love – Luke 2:41-52, 1 John 3:1-2

Holy Family, Year C; Notre Dame (University Village)

We’ve just heard tell of a perfectly loving family.  But that perfectly loving family isn’t the one our feast celebrates today: the one perfectly loving family is not Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but God.  By which I mean: God the Father, and Jesus the Son.  God is family, and by that I don’t mean that God really likes families (though he does), or God is close to us like a familial relative (though he is), I mean it as literally as we can mean anything about God: God is a family, the one perfectly loving family.  The relationship of love between God the Father and Jesus the Son is the love from which all other love is spun.  It’s a love between father and son that drove everything that Jesus did; and everything that Jesus did serves to invite us into that love and empower us to respond in love.  It’s why had to be in his father’s house, about his father’s business.  It’s why Jesus prayed so much.  It’s the love that gave Jesus the strength and the trust to be able to offer everything for us.  It’s the love that drew Jesus up to return to his father after his resurrection, to continue to show us what love looks like, and that led him to send us the Spirit that we might live in that love.