“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:35-36)

We may recognize this passage from yesterday’s gospel reading and what is sometimes referred to as the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, or The Judgment of the Nations. The King (Jesus) returns to judge the nations. He separates people by placing them on his right and left. To those on his right, he makes the above statement. They ask when did we feed you and give you drink, clothe you, take care of you, or visit you in prison?

He replies, “Whatever you did to one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”  In other words, when we serve the needs of others, particularly the “least,” we serve Jesus as well.

Two weeks ago, I broke my right wrist. Since I am right-handed, I have become very dependent, and my wife, Marilynn, has had to help me with many ordinary daily tasks that I can no longer do myself, including some of those mentioned by Jesus above. Since I am currently quite dependent, I fall into the category “least brothers of mine.”  She has done this with patience, understanding, and love.

Her support of me, however, is not a one-time thing for she has been doing this throughout our sixty years of marriage with our five children, thirteen grandchildren, neighbors, and friends. This has been particularly true with our daughter, Emily, who was born with Down syndrome and is now 37. After Emily completed her schooling, she worked for a bakery and catering business for twelve years until it closed its doors during COVID.

Since then, Marilynn has worked tirelessly in helping Emily fill her day with meaning and purpose. She has provided a daily routine with a morning walk and various chores including getting the newspaper, making the beds, folding the laundry, getting the mail, taking out the trash, and setting the table for the evening meal. She developed the idea of Emily serving coffee and cookies after daily mass two days a week at our parish, St. Mark. She hired a job coach to assist with the preparation of the coffee and got the staff and pastor’s support. Emily has developed quite a following of people attending daily mass who come to receive a smile, a hug, and a cup of coffee.

Jesus says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)

How do you look for ways to serve “these least brothers of mine?”

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

These are the words of a father whose son was possessed by a spirit that frequently threw him to the ground with seizures.  The father said to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”  Jesus replied, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” The father cried out in desperation, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.” Jesus commanded the spirit to come out of the boy and he was healed. (Mark 9:14-29)

Belief and faith are something Jesus holds in high esteem.  He says to people who have been healed through his prayer, “Your faith has healed you.” Yet, we sympathize with the father of this boy who has seen his son suffer for such a long time.  He has some belief, or he would not have asked Jesus to intervene.

Like the father in this story, how often is our faith challenged by a lengthy illness in ourselves or a loved one that continues indefinitely without any sign of improvement, or an addiction in a loved one that no amount of prayer seems to bring under control. We pray, we fast, and we ask friends to intercede.  We read scripture that tells us, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  (Mt. 21:22)

Yet, the illness, the addiction, or the circumstance continues.  We become fearful that our belief is not adequate.  

Seventeen years ago, I was diagnosed with an advanced and aggressive form of prostate cancer. My Gleason score, a marker measuring the severity of prostate cancer, was a nine on a scale of ten. The pathology report from surgery showed that the cancer had migrated outside the prostate into at least one lymph node.

My wife, our five children and their families, and friends prayed for me. One friend was even so bold as to push his way into the pre-op room and pray over me and the two surgeons.  After surgery, I underwent hormone therapy for three years and my PSA, a measure of the presence of prostate cancer cells, was undetectable for nine years. Then my PSA started to rise again, and a tumor was detected above my bladder in 2021.  I underwent thirty-eight sessions of proton radiation, and my PSA has now fallen below the level of recurrence in the past year.

This week will mark the seventeenth anniversary of my surgery.  While I may have had moments of wondering whether my belief was sufficient, the faithful prayers of my wife, family, and friends re-enforced that belief.  I praise God for his healing presence through prayer, and for revealing his knowledge to the medical profession for the advances in prostate cancer treatment during this period.  Like the father of the possessed son, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!” 

How do you overcome your unbelief?

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (John 14:23)

Jesus makes this promise to the disciples in his last conversation with them before his arrest.  This is not like the promise of heaven that we cannot experience until we die.  This is a promise for today!    

If we love Jesus and live by his teaching, he and the Father, the God of all creation, will take up residence in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus says this promise is not just his but the Father’s as well.  “The word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.” (John 14:24) If Jesus and the Father make their home in us, they take up residence in us and we become, as St. Paul says, “the is temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Co. 6:19)

Think of it!

Jesus and the Father are in us, present to us, available to us at every moment.  Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, they are available to guide our conduct and help us make the daily choices in our lives.  St. Paul eloquently captures the essence of this when he declares, “The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations is now disclosed to the saints…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:26-27 NIV) Our hope is in Christ and Christ in us!

Why is it that so many of us do not always experience the reality of Christ residing in us?  The answer may be found in the individual choices we make that determine whether we bury God’s presence in us, or let him be seen, heard, and experienced? 

In my early adult years I lived my life in a way that mostly buried God’s presence in me rather than allowing that presence to be manifested.  I believed in God and attended church regularly.  Yet my Christian faith had become secondary to other priorities, namely career.  I hardly thought about God’s presence in me, and so that presence seldom impacted others.  

Fortunately, through God’s grace that changed one October evening when I experienced the opportunity to turn over my mixed priorities to Jesus.  It was a watershed moment.  I am still capable of messing up, but the good news is that we can repent of these times and bring our selves back into God’s presence.  We can then call on his gifts of wisdom, discernment, and courage to make daily choices consistent with Jesus’ teaching and partner with him in building his kingdom on earth in our time. 

Do you bury God’s presence in you or allow him to be seen in your actions and words each day?

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”  (Luke 12:48)

Jesus is talking to his disciples about the importance of a servant being watchful and found doing what is expected of him when his master returns.  He says the more responsibility that is given to you, the more that will be expected of you.

This is about our accountability to God for the life, time, talents, responsibilities, resources, and people he has given to us.  As in the Parable of the Talents, the master’s servants were expected to multiply the money that was entrusted to their care, not simply preserve it. (Matthew 25:14-30)

God creates each of us in unique and infinite ways.  No two of us are the same.  He creates each of us with unique physical, intellectual, and spiritual abilities and gifts “to work and take care” of the garden of his creation, and to love and serve him and one another in doing so. (Genesis 2:15)

As a father of five adult children, it is a blessing to see each of them use gifts that God has given them in addition to caring for their respective spouses and children.  To one has been given the gift of serving young people as a campus minister at a major state university.  To another has been given a way to teach history and make it come alive for her students.  To another has been given the compassion and understanding to oversee a special education program in a Catholic high school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

To another, along with his wife, have been given their special gift to capture unique images of marriage in a wedding photography business.  To our youngest daughter born with Down syndrome, God has given the gifts of purity of heart and love, which she shares in giving hugs to people she greets.   

What’s important is not what gifts God has given to each of us, but that we are fully using the gifts he has entrusted to us for his purpose.  Our goal should be to hear the words of the Father at the end of our time on this earth, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Mt. 25:21) 

How are using the gifts God has given to you? 

Fear and insecurity can be a terribly destructive force in our lives.  This is illustrated by the visit of the Magi with King Herod who told him of their search of the “newborn king of the Jews.”  Matthew reports, “When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all of Jerusalem with him.” (Mt. 2:3) Herod consulted with the chief priests and scribes who told him that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. 

When Herod learned that the Magi had ignored his instruction to inform him of the location of the Baby Jesus, he was furious and ordered all baby boys two years and younger in Bethlehem be killed. (Mt. 2:1-18)

This horrific act was precipitated by Herod’s fear and insecurity of losing his position as King of Judea.  The Jewish historian, Josephus, “depicts Herod as being pathologically jealous of his power – a number of his family were murdered by him because he suspected them trying to supplant him.” (Jerome Biblical Commentary)

The potential list of fears for many of us can run long and deep.  We fear for our safety, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job or position, the loss of our money and possessions.  We fear how we will look or be judged by others. We fear underperforming or not doing our best.  We fear illness, disability, and loss of independence.  In the workplace, we may be tempted to tell the boss what he or she wants to hear rather than the truth, out of fear of incurring their disfavor.    

We may even fear getting too close to God and what he may ask of us.  When Peter saw the miraculous catch of fish as a result of Jesus’ presence, he said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” He and the others were seized with fear, but Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching men.” (Luke 5:8-10)

God does not want us to live our lives in fear.  His angels told Zachariah, Mary, and Joseph, “Do not be afraid.”  St. John Paul II began his papacy with the words, “Do not be afraid!.” Jesus wants us to trust in him – in his love and provision.  How ironic that out of fear Herod sought to destroy the one true antidote to fear – Jesus, the Messiah and son of God. 

Do you share your fears with Jesus and ask him to take them? 

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) 

We have just celebrated God becoming one of us in the birth of Jesus, one of the greatest acts of humility and love in all of history. 

Yet in the world around us one year comes to a close and a new one begins full of conflict and strife, much like they have for centuries.  Wars continue in Ukraine and Israel.  Incidents of terror and mass shootings take place in our own country and abroad.  The church is plagued with disagreement. Identity politics and political agendas are tearing apart the very fabric of our nation’s traditions and moral values.   

The first chapter of John’s Gospel offers both a realistic context for what we have just celebrated and a hope that can carry us through the new year.  We will not read about it in the news media.  Speaking of Jesus, John says, “He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.” (John 1:10) Not a single governmental or spiritual leader in Israel took note of Jesus’ birth.  Only a few lowly shepherds were his herald.  In fact, Israel’s king actually wanted to kill Jesus, not unlike some authoritarian regimes in our day. 

“He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.” (John 1:11) Even before Jesus was born, he was rejected by the innkeeper who had no room for him.  As Jesus later revealed his presence and identity, the religious leaders of his day also rejected him and even sought his death. 

“But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God.” (John 1:12)   

This is our hope for the coming year!  When we open the door of our heart to Jesus and invite him in, he says, “Remain in me, as I remain in you.”  “I am the way and the truth and the life.”  “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (John 15: 4; John 14:6, 23)

When we let Jesus and the Father make their home in us, we experience the world around us with a different perspective.  An inner peace is possible even though there is a lack of peace externally.  Jesus says:

• “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” (John 14:27)
• “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.”  (Mt. 11:28-29)
• “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage,! have conquered the world.” (John 16:33) 

A blessed New Year to all!

Do you ever struggle with grasping the full meaning and purpose of God becoming one of us in the person of Jesus Christ?  For many years radio commentator Paul Harvey shared the following story at Christmas to help us understand.

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The man to whom I’m going to introduce you was not a scrooge; he was a kind, decent, mostly good man; generous to his family, and upright in his dealings with other men.  But he just didn’t believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas time.  It just didn’t make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise.  He just couldn’t swallow the Jesus story, about God coming to Earth as a man.

“I’m truly sorry to distress you,” he told his wife, “but I’m not going with you to church this Christmas Eve.” He said he’d feel like a hypocrite.  That he’d much rather stay at home, but that he would wait up for them.  And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall.  He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper.  Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound…then another, and then another.  Sort of a thump or a thud…at first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow.  They’d been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn’t let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony.  That would provide a warm shelter if he could direct the birds to it.  Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn.  He opened the doors wide and turned on the light, but the birds did not come in.  He figured food would entice them.

So, he hurried back to the house, fetched breadcrumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the barn.  But to his dismay, the birds ignored the breadcrumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow.  He tried catching them…he tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms…instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm lighted barn. 

And then he realized that they were afraid of him.  To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me…that I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them.  But how?  Because any move he made tended to frighten them and confuse them, they just would not follow.  They would not be led or shooed because they feared him.

“If only I could be a bird,” he thought to himself, “and mingle with them and speak their language.  Then I could tell them not to be afraid.  Then I could show them the way to safe, warm…to the safe warm barn.  But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand.”  At that moment the church bells began to ring.  The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind.  And he stood there listening to the bells, listening, listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas.  And he sank to his knees in the snow.

May you and your loved ones have a blessed Christmas!

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”  (Luke 1:35)

The birth of the baby Jesus and our spiritual birth have a common element.  The source of both is the Holy Spirit.

The conception of Jesus in Mary was brought about by the Holy Spirit.  The same Holy Spirit is the source of our spiritual birth.  Jesus said to Nicodemus, “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.  No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:3, 5)

Both Mary and Nicodemus asked the same question, “How can this be?”  Both Gabriel and Jesus gave the same answer.  It is by the Holy Spirit that these things happen.  As Jesus was born through the power of the Holy Spirit, so too was the Church, and so too, are we.

Ever since I was a young boy growing up in a small town in Iowa, I have experienced a special feeling of God’s presence on Christmas Eve.  It is a feeling of peace and love.  A calm descends; the earth is quiet from all the hurrying and scurrying of Christmas preparations.  It is the Holy Spirit.

When I was old enough to drive, I would often leave the house after our Christmas Eve traditions with family, and drive through the neighborhood of my former paper route.  I knew every family on that route.  Some houses would be dark.  Others would be full of lights with people inside celebrating the coming of the baby Jesus.

The words of the song Silent Night gently echoed: “Silent night, Holy night. All is calm; All is bright.”

As we move closer to the celebration of Christmas this year, let us remember the role of the Holy Spirit – how the creator of all that exists became one of us through the Virgin Mary, and how we can experience God’s presence and saving grace at this very moment.

Do you experience God’s presence through the Holy Spirit?  If not, find a quiet place and invite him in.

“Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” (Luke 2:10)

These are the words of the angel who appeared to shepherds in the region of Bethlehem where Mary gave birth to Jesus.  The angel told the shepherds that Jesus had come for all people.

The “good news” was not just for the shepherds or the Jewish people, but for all people.  All people included the unbelieving and pagan world of the Roman and Greek cultures at the time.  It included the Magi, educated and wealthy, and believed to have come from Persia.

Jesus is everyone’s savior. 

The prophet Isaiah says that Jesus came for the lowly, the brokenhearted, the captives, those who mourn and grieve, and those who are in despair and darkness.  He says that Jesus wants to give them a crown of beauty and a garment of praise so that they may become oaks of righteousness. (Is. 61:1-3)

While Jesus walked this earth he did exactly what Isaiah said.  Today, he expects to continue to do this, but through us by the power of his Holy Spirit.

For us, “everyone” includes the check-out clerk in the grocery store, the telephone solicitor who we hang up on, the person at work who is difficult to get along with, the person asking for money at an intersection, the person who talks during church services or the children who can’t sit still.  “Everyone” includes those who think different politically than we do and even the terrorists who wish to do us harm.

Lord, when I see the people you put in my life, let me look upon them with the understanding that you came for them just as you came for me.  It doesn’t matter who they are, what their religion, race, position or financial status is.  Your offer of salvation and new life is available to them.  Let me use the occasion to introduce them to you through my conduct and words as you give me the opportunity. 

Do you look on the people you encounter in your life as people Jesus came for?