My friends, with each new year, we are blessed with a fresh opportunity to look at our lives, being as honest as we can, admitting what has worked, what has not, and then deciding what we may want to change, by way of course correction, toward becoming our best selves –someone who will make our own personal life better as well as the lives of all that we touch in 2023.

   In my younger years, I called these proposed changes, as you probably did too, “New Year’s resolutions,” and in those years, I often times, let them go by the wayside before January was over. 

   At this point in my life, the changes that I am talking about are smaller, more doable ones, perhaps.  They are about “focus”—trying to be present to the moment –where I am and who I am with.  They are about respecting others and their opinions—working on being more kind, having more mercy in regard to others and their feelings, being conscious of truth and truth-telling, and being aware of the consequences when I am not. 

   I think most of us have been in the situation of “the elephant in the living room,” the topic we are all aware of, but no one wants to bring up for fear of hurting others, friends, and family, yet it is a constant, unwelcome guest.  Maybe 2023 might be the year that we can address this issue with the idea of bringing in more “light” as Michelle Obama speaks of in her new memoir, The Light We Carry.

   The readings for this first Sunday in the New Year, 2023 are encouraging in this regard.  We are told in both of the first two readings from Numbers and Galatians that we are “children of [our loving] God,” who wants an intimate relationship with us. 

   Paul instructs us to call God, “Abba,” meaning, “Loving Parent.”  This loving God is understanding and merciful toward our human condition, the psalmist says.  This God is all about “blessing” us, giving us a second chance, to become all that each of us was meant to be— “a light in our world.” 

   Often times, we are like Mary, Jesus’ mother, and ours, by extension, if we choose.  She calls us “to treasure all things and reflect on them, in our hearts.”  In our busy lives, we can sometimes get, “too busy” and miss opportunities to be that unique “light” that only we can be in any situation, the light that our brother Jesus asks us to be.

   The older I get, the more I realize that life is short, and thus, so precious.  I am compelled to “speak the truth,” as kindly, but firmly, as I can, especially to “considered,” powers-that-be.  It is the very least that can be expected of “God’s children,” of followers of our brother, Jesus.  Will this always be easy?  No, it will not! –but it is still the right thing to do! 

   Today’s feast is of Mary, Jesus’ mother.  She can be our mother too, or our sister, whichever relationship we might choose.  She has much to teach us about resiliency, and patience in dealing with what life brings.  Her “yes” in faith to a life which she had no actual idea about, going in, and all that it would bring, mirrors our lives too.  The Scriptures tell us that, “she treasured all… [that she didn’t understand] and reflected on [these things] in her heart.” 

   If we were to resolve in the New Year, to “reflect” in our hearts, all that is going on around us, at least, some of the time, this would be a great step toward becoming our best selves—toward “shining” our own, particular light. 

   As I said above, we might also consider our relationship with Mary, as a sister—a good, big sister who has had many wonderful, life experiences to share with us, if we are truly willing to delve into her life.  We can then take what we have learned from her and apply it to our own lives, pondering perhaps the wisdom of the elders among us, while they are still here. 

   Unfortunately, our knowledge of this strong woman of faith, may have been watered down over the years, by Church fathers who apparently have no need for, nor desire, for women who are strong, and who have been gifted by our God, with ideas and abilities to make our Church better, stronger, and something that the next generation truly wants to be part of! I believe Roy Bourgeois said this best, “Who are we, as men, to say that our call from God is authentic, but God’s call to women is not?” (Roy was a member of Maryknoll and served as a priest for 40 years until he was expelled for participating in a woman’s ordination). 

   Thus my friends, we have a new year upon us, a bright and shining opportunity to see and hear and ponder life as it comes to us—always keeping the examples of Mary and her son Jesus in the foreground so as to be the best we can be, for ourselves, and for others.  Amen? Amen!

   My friends, in the nearly 15 years of my priestly ministry, I have come each year to the Christmas Season wanting to share a story that uplifts and makes very plain the true meaning of this miraculous season—the great action of our God for each of us.  Only twice have I come across stories that are spot-on in depicting what Emmanuel, “God- with-us” really means. 

   I’ve shared both stories several times over the years, because a really, good story can be heard and appreciated more than once! Both stories that I am referring to are about men who learned God’s true intention in the Incarnation through the experience of their own lives. 

   One man had the job of shining shoes on a street corner of his hometown and always wished for more of this world’s material goods.  Through what we might call, “a Christmas miracle,” he had the opportunity to obtain several wishes granted him to experience not only material riches, but power and control over others—over everything really, or so he thought. 

   Not a believer in any higher power, nor a praying man, he discovered one day, as he was seemingly “ruling over everything,” that many of his subjects were praying “to God,” and not wanting anyone to be higher than himself, he made his final wish and that was to be like God if God were to appear on earth, and “miraculously” found himself back at his shoe-shine-stand. Not in power, but in lowliness the Scriptures say. 

   The other story is similar in that an unbelieving man who could never quite get his “head around” the Christmas story—that of God coming to earth, “to be one-with-us,” discovered one night, as he tried to save a flock of geese who got lost in a storm, and get them to shelter, the true meaning of the Incarnation. It seems that the geese were afraid of the man trying to shoo them into the safety of his barn, and only when he disguised himself and took on the “look” of the geese, walking as they did, flapping his made-up wings, would the geese begin to follow him to safety. 

   Too many times friends, over the span of our lives, well-meaning tellers of the Christmas story have tried to explain it from their heads—theologically, instead of from the heart, where the message originated in the first place, and have caused the message, the story, to stop there.  An angry God, needing to be appeased, sent his own son to die for the failings of humankind.  Such a story I think leads us all to “beat our breasts,” feeling guilty and not really very joyful. 

   Yet the Scriptures throughout Advent and Christmas time speak of joy—the joy of a young woman, Mary, who said her “yes” in faith to the God of Love in her heart.  The joy, no doubt, of her partner, Joseph when he learned that he too was called to be part of the Incarnation.  The joy of an older woman, Elizabeth, who recognized the presence of God within her younger relative and proclaimed that joy, “How [is it] that this should happen to me…that the mother of my [God] should come to me?” 

   And yes, there are those Scripture passages, like the reading from Titus that Elliot did for us tonight so wonderfully, that still cling to the idea of Jesus’ coming being all about “salvation…to redeem us.”  It is important when we hear such readings to go that step deeper that I always encourage for us to get to Jesus’ true message.  The “salvation” that has always been offered is NOT about “redeeming us,” but “showing us the way,” to be our best selves.  “A light,” Scriptures say, “shining in [our] darkness.”

   Jesus was incarnated among us, looking, and acting like us, just as in the story of the geese, so that we could more easily, and clearly, hear and trust and believe how much God loves us. 

   Even though Church fathers try to lift up Jesus’ “kingliness,” his “sacrificing” for us, which cuts into the joy of this blessed season; we would do well to listen to the words of the “mothers” in this season instead, who exult in the “fruit” of their wombs and their ability to share this simple, yet so precious gift of life with our world.  And incidentally, this is the work of Christmas—sharing the Good News that God is, truly, “with us.” 

   That our God would love us so much to become poor, simple, and one-with-us, in order that we could have a clear example of how best to live our one, amazing life, is cause for the greatest joy, really, in my mind.  The power and control that the shoe-shine man sought in his life, only to find out in the end, were not what would make him happy, no doubt caused a “sea-change” in him if he was able to wrap his heart, rather than his head around the concept. 

   The Christmas story, friends, if we really delve into it, asks us too, like the shoe-shine man, to consider a God, not of power and control over us, but one who loves us in an over-the-top way, simply because, WE ARE, and for no other reason.  Choosing to become one-with-us in our simple, poor, and imperfect humanity so that we would not miss this point—of God’s profound love, or ever be afraid of this life force within us, is a cause for great joy! 

   The joy that we instinctively feel at this time of year, as we reach out to others, within our families and among our friends, is the true mark of “God-with-us,” whether we be Christians or of any other religious group.  Our God, who is love, is always, “chasing after us,” as one Scripture translation tells us, wanting to be part of our lives, in all the rejoicing and sorrowing times, and asks us to reach out in the same way in order that people could truly see the face of our loving God and in that way, know that they are loved and cared for too.  The truth of it is friends, most of us only know that we have a God of love, if they experience that love through us.  This is the work of Christmas and should continue all throughout the year.  May we each know God’s wonderful love now and always—and that is our challenge, to make sure that anyone and everyone we encounter knows that they are loved—through us! Amen?  Amen!

My friends, the 3^rd Sunday of Advent, known to most of us as, “Gaudete” Sunday, comes from the Latin meaning, “rejoice.”  Prior to the 2^nd Vatican Council, the four Sundays of Advent had a somewhat different meaning than today.  In those days, the Advent wreath candles were purple, meaning “penitence” with a pink one to designate Gaudete Sunday, meaning that Christmas is almost here, and we can now switch from a penitential mode to one of rejoicing. 

   A little more of the back story now, to help us understand where we are today.  In those pre-Vatican II times the liturgical colors for Advent and Lent were purple to signify times of penitence. With the 2^nd Vatican Council, when St. John XXIII “opened some doors and windows” to let the fresh air of the Spirit in, all the Seasons of the Church Year, along with many other areas of Church practice and ritual were looked at to see if indeed the “signs and symbols” were saying what the true meaning of each was. 

   The example of making the Seasons of Advent and Lent quite similar was examined and found wanting.  Thus, Advent’s liturgical color became blue, which symbolizes royalty, more so, creation, and is in deference a bit to Mary, Jesus’ earthly mother. 

   I have written and spoken before of the importance of the rituals in the Catholic church and of how I have always found them so meaningful for establishing the focus for each Season of the Church Year. That is why I am so irritated by the practice of the last 15 years or so of reverting to the use of purple for Advent instead of blue as, in my mind and others, it simply “muddies the water” in clearly understanding the meaning of this season. 

   This of course can be linked to the 28-year long papacy of John Paul II who did not agree with many of the changes of Vatican II that brought “fresh air” into the Church, and spent his long years, “at the helm,” taking us backward. 

   An interesting fact that I wanted you to be aware of is that three years ago when I wrote about this same issue—the ritual color for Advent, church supply catalogs offered blue and purple candles as choices.  Today, those same catalogs offer only purple candles for Advent wreaths.  Curious, but we will leave that for now.

   This Advent, I am participating in an on-line retreat with Jesuit, Dan Schutte.  It is wonderful! The retreat is comprised of a 15-minute reflection by Dan for each week and each reflection concludes with him singing one of his own musical pieces. As he sings, there is a changing backdrop of different people and other aspects of creation—and quite beautiful!

   I am a bit behind, having only done the first week, but already his theme for Advent is clearly all about, “joy” –nothing about, “penitence.”  He speaks of the great love of God, or as I am fond of saying, “over-the-top” love for each of us. He reflects on Jesus’ words, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.”  A cause for joy? I think so! 

   Isaiah, in today’s 1^st reading speaks of joy—in fact, he uses the word, “joy” 5 times in this reading. The 1^st part of this passage is all about, “beauty” –all that our God has given us to “enjoy.”  Isaiah goes on to say that when the Messiah comes, much good will accompany this one, “those who are lame will leap like the deer,” and so on…

   James, in the 2^nd reading is speaking about the Second Coming, as these first followers of our brother Jesus, thought that his coming would be sooner rather than later.  He instructs them, his readers, “to be patient.”

   I will skip over the notion of the Second Coming as I feel there is merit in staying at the crib for a while to learn the lessons it has to teach us, which we will be exploring as time goes on.  James’ advice, of “being patient” is good to reflect on so that we don’t hurry too fast to Christmas and beyond as the hierarchy of the Church seems to do, or at least, confusing the messages. 

   The Advent time of waiting has many “jewels” that we shouldn’t miss.  There is the beautiful story of our sister/mother, Mary of Nazareth to reflect on—a woman, strong, resilient, compassionate, who said, “yes” to God for all of us.  Unfortunately, the hierarchy of the Church gets caught up in “sin” and “sinful” humanity in the December 8^th “feast” day of the “Immaculate Conception,” which basically states that Mary was conceived without original sin and at the same time, eliminates Jesus’ humanity—if Mary is without sin, then she is not human, pure and simple.  Why my friends, would Church fathers do this? –of all the beautiful and wonderful character traits that they could lift up—why, pray God, this one? 

   And the simple answer is—to control the story.  When the seemingly “wise men” of the Church discovered, sometime in the later 19^th Century that women weren’t merely, “the receptacles” for new human life, but actually contributed equally as the men did to that human life, Mary had to be declared without sin to become the first home for the Christ Child. 

Such a statement makes me wonder how much these men of old and into the present have ever really studied who our God is, and why God came among us! Our God does not think as badly of us as we and our leaders seem to. 

   Jesus, in fact, states in Matthew’s gospel today just what his Abba God believes.  Jesus is lifting up John the Baptist, saying, and I quote, “I solemnly assure you. History has not known a person born of woman greater than John the Baptist.  Yet the least born into the kin-dom of heaven is greater than he.”  What is he saying here?  Basically, our brother Jesus is saying—no one is greater than John and in fact, everyone is! 

   This is one of those two-sided, deeper than the surface statements Jesus makes throughout Scripture, and to me, it says, we are all, basically equal in God’s eyes, loved, appreciated, worthy, and wanted. 

   Dan Schutte says it like this, and I paraphrase, God made each of us in God’s image and each of us hungers—deep down, with an unquenchable human desire for love.  We try to fulfill this human need in many different ways, he says—some good and some, not-so-good.  We are all aware of some of the not-so-good ways—food, alcohol and other drugs, power, and control over others, and we all know the things we turn to in time of need. And of course, this is about abusing any of the above-mentioned things. 

   Intellectuals, scientists, and the like will name, “something greater than us,” stating simply that humans seek fulfillment in this “greater someone or some entity.” Spiritual folk speak of “God” as this greater entity that each of us move, instinctively toward.

    Dan continues saying that “God hungers for us as much as we hunger for God.  God and we complete each other.” Then he formulates the question that we may be internally asking, “Are you saying that God longs for me?”  His response, filled with emotion, “Absolutely!” 

   Now, such a god sounds quite wonderful to me—an intimate, loving God who wants only good for me, and not bad.  It was such a God who chose, out of “bigness of heart” to send Jesus, “not to save us,” but to let us know how much we are continually, “longed for.” I would guess this is why Jesus wept over Jerusalem shortly before his death—because the people there and us by extension, just didn’t get it! 

   A final question for this 3^rd Sunday of Advent—a Sunday of Joy—why is it so hard for us humans to believe in an intimate God of love and caring and in the musical selection of Dan Schutte, Beyond the Moon and the Stars, [One] “who chose to dwell with us, for no reason other than love?  Advent, Schutte continues, calls us to joy, everyday and seems to be saying that we need to be more concerned about the good that is all around us—in people and the rest of creation, and then all the religious language about sin and unworthiness simply won’t matter because it rings, untrue. 

   Friends, I believe in a God who “lifts us up,” not one who “pulls us down,” and when our Church hierarchy doesn’t get the message right, I become angry, and saddened.  The rituals and rites and liturgical colors of our wonderful Church are meant to carry us through the Church Year, from beginning to end, something like the following:

• Advent prepares us for a God who is continually “coming to us” –creating and re-creating, and the color for this action is blue.
• Christmas-time all the way to Epiphany is a time to rejoice in how much our God loves us and the color here is white/gold.
• Lent reminds us that we don’t always get it right and calls us to repentance and a desire to do better and the color for this is purple.
• Easter-time is once again about rejoicing in God’s, over-the-top love for us and the color is white/gold. 
• And finally, Ordinary Time, which covers the greatest section of time in the Church Year calls us to the hope of being our best selves, following the way shown by our brother Jesus, and the color for these actions is green.

   All of the rituals, colors, signs, and symbols were originally put in place and freshened up during the 2^nd Vatican Council for a reason—to make following Jesus all the more meaningful.  To ever use any of the above for power and control over others, or to keep them, “in place” is simply wrong!

   So, my friends, today is all about, “joy!” Let’s try and keep that focus.  All of our Advent preparation, amid the sometimes rush should be about, “a quiet joy at first, that continually grows through the four weeks of Advent.  Advent is a rich time as it draws us to the crib and all that we can learn there—that is why there are 12 days of Christmas!  Amen? Amen!

      My friends, as we continue our Advent journey to Christmas, preparing ourselves for the great gift of Jesus, among us, and with us, for that is what “Emmanuel” means, the readings for this Sunday are all about “justice,” and making sure that it is available to all—especially to the least among us. And it would seem that we humans would know how to bestow justice by keeping our eyes on our brother, Jesus.  None of this should be a surprise to us, as the Scriptures again and again, tell us that this is what Jesus was about.  And if we wonder whether or not we can do this, we are told that Jesus’ Spirit will give us “wisdom” to know how to act justly in our world.

   The other operative word then, in today’s Scriptures, along with “justice,” is “Spirit.”  Isaiah, in the first reading, describing the coming of the Messiah says, “The Spirit of God will rest there [with Jesus, that is].  This is really an affirmation that Jesus will not only be human— “a shoot will sprout from…Jesse,” but indeed, Jesus will be of God.

    Let’s look further then to the Scriptures today, for this “straight” path toward living “justly” that Isaiah foretold the Baptist would preach about.  The prophet Isaiah gives us the beautiful reading envisioning a time when, the calf and the lion, the wolf and the lamb, will lie down together, in peace.  We can hardly imagine such a thing –it is almost as if we turned on the morning news and heard that Vladimir Putin had decided to declare peace with Ukraine, and we might understandably think that we had heard it wrong! But this is exactly what Isaiah is prophesying about today, even imploring us to consider. We must envision what we hope for to make it possible, to happen. 

      This reminds me of when I have in the past, misplaced something, and I keep looking, and just can’t find it.  Robert usually tells me in these cases, “Kathy you have to believe it is there!” When I approach it this way—believing, I often find what I am looking for in the same place I was looking previously, to no avail.  And for us all, friends, we have to believe that the “goodness” we hope for, in our world, our nation, our city, our families, can actually come about—and very likely, it will need to come through us!  And when I say, “us,” I mean, all of us, each doing our part—together!

   That is what our brother Jesus was all about in his life—preaching and teaching that we could, “move mountains,” –be our best selves if we wanted to, and truly believed that it was possible.  Advent is all about encouraging us, each one of us, that the time is now! John, in the gospel today, basically tells us that the time is now to reform our lives and Jesus continues this message throughout his earthly life—we don’t have to wait till a future time when all will come to fruition—our baptisms call us to allow, “justice to flower” –and to “judge wisely” what is of God and what is not, and then, to do our part.

   And even though our journey now in Advent, and throughout our lives won’t always be, “black and white” –easy, that is, Paul in his letter to the Romans today, assures us that,” “The Spirit of Christ Jesus [will allow us] “to live in perfect harmony,” by doing the part, in our world, that is ours to do.

  And friends, this will all come about as Isaiah continues to prophesy today— “the poor will be judged with justice and the lands afflicted will be given their rights.”  In our own time, we can apply these words saying, women will break that glass ceiling ever more consistently, in Church and State, the LGBTQ+ community will come to be accepted, more and more, the wisdom of the elderly will be more and more appreciated and sought out, and the poor in body, mind and spirit will be nurtured and cared for more and more.  We could go on.  We may not see it in our lifetimes, but we can trust the words here as the mission of Jesus was foretold by John, with the call to us, to do the same!

   So, my friends, I have thrown a lot at us to consider today, and we can’t as individuals do it all, but if we were to do nothing more than to wrap our hearts around the idea that God thought enough of us to send Jesus to show us the way, to make peace with those we can’t seem to make peace with, to be kind, merciful, patient, just in our dealings with others—ultimately, loving, not only when that is easy, but more so, when it is hard, then we will have made a good job of Advent and prepared well for so great a gift as Jesus!   Amen? Amen!

My friends, here we are once again, beginning a new Church Year.  Of all the things that I disagree with concerning our beloved Church, the practice of setting up each Year of Grace, with the beginning of Advent, that does not coincide with our secular beginning and ending of a year, is NOT one of them.  In other words, the Church hierarchy got this one right! 

   Additionally, giving us specific readings for each Sunday of the Church Year to ponder, allowing the Spirit to speak through those readings, is a wonderful thing.  And I have to believe that Jesus’ Spirit has a sense of humor, because two people reading the same reading can come up with totally different explanations, as to meaning. 

   An example to flesh this out:  The Scripture passage from John 17, “that they all would be one,” the genesis of our church name, “All Are One,” which means, as you know, that everyone is welcome at our table, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, even religious background—basically, if you want to pray with us, you are welcome! This same Scripture was used against me by the male bishop in Winona at the time of my ordination with Roman Catholic Women Priests, stating, [on that day when we] “all are one,” (meaning, everyone believing what the Catholic hierarchy says is so) we can then move forward, together. 

   So,  let us look at this season of Advent—what it means and what it calls each of us to through the chosen Scriptures.  A good thing to consider as we think about the fact that any given Scripture can be used for opposing ideas as in my example above, is that whatever we read in Scripture should call forth the best in us—call us to more, not less.

   As we know, Advent is a four-week time of waiting; a time that calls us to, “slow down,” even a bit, and be conscious of our world, its joys and sorrows and consider how our presence in this world brings either joy or sorrow.  This request that we adequately prepare for the feast of Christmas, by retreating a bit into, “the basement of our hearts” to steal the title of a piece I have shared with you in the past, comes during one of the busiest times of the year. Now, granted, we do have some control over our “busyness,” but that is another story and homily. 

    It’s also a matter of deciding what is most important in our lives.  I would be one to say, “we can bring the “seemingly” secular into the “seemingly” religious and with the gift of “balance,” find a place for both.  Sometimes, we discover how something that seems to be “secular,” can really be quite “a holy thing,” seen through bigger eyes and hearts.  Father Ed Hays, in his many writings and artwork did a wonderful job of uniting the two, and calling it all, good.

   So, back to today’s scriptures that can have many meanings for us as individuals depending on our focus.  In the first reading from Isaiah, the prophet, he says, “God’s home will be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills.” He goes on to say, “they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks—one nation will not raise sword against another, nor will they train for war again.” So if we were thinking that the prophet is merely saying that “the highest hill around will belong to God,” we would be missing the point.  The “highness” has more to do with us—how we live our lives—how we strive to be our best—how we most consistently choose “love” over “hate” or any other negative response in our lives. 

   For those who have lived through many Advent Seasons, you know that the Scriptures for this season always have a sense of urgency about them –Paul, in his letter to the Romans today, says, “…now is the hour for [us] to wake from sleep.”  And from Matthew’s gospel, that urgency continues, “[we] do not know the day [our] Savior is coming.” One final comment as we reflect on “urgency” is that the apostles, including Paul, thought that the Second Coming of Jesus was going to happen sooner, rather than later. 

   So friends, for all of us these 2,000+ years since Jesus walked the earth, we may doubt that there is any “urgency” in getting our lives in order.  And again, we must remember that our striving in this life to be our best, is not simply about “getting ourselves into heaven one day,” but about being the type of person that makes life and our world better.  And when did we need the “touch” and actions of Christians in our world more than now?

   Perhaps a way to conclude here as we begin this new season of Advent, along with a new Church Year, that really calls us to remember that we have a God, who loves us mightily, “Just the way we are,” to quote a modern-day saint, Fred Rogers, is to ask ourselves where we stand on several current issues.  And not only where we stand, but if we have resolved to do something about them.

1. If as Isaiah mentions today, “we [can] train for war,” why can’t we then, “train for peace?” Ask yourself if you agree on this one and perhaps share your view with someone who can make a difference—Thursday Morning Post Card Group at Blue Heron, 10 o’clock.
2. Why are we as a country so accepting of weapons of mass destruction—rapid-fire, high-capacity guns used to slaughter our country’s people, from young to old?  Each of us needs to get serious about this one as only we, each of us, can make the change we want to see. 
3. This year was the 20^th anniversary of the Danube 7, who in 2002 defied Church authority and chose to be ordained, by three, male, and anonymous bishops in good standing with the Church, following their God-given calls, which in other words, means that the ordinations of the Danube 7, just like those of any man, can be traced back to “apostolic succession.”  This began the process by which your pastor was ordained in 2008.  By then we had moved ahead, and women bishops (3 of the original 7) had been consecrated and things progressed from there. 

   So, my friends, if that causes you any joy or hope for more inclusion in the Roman Catholic church, perhaps a letter to Bishop Robert Barron, 55 West Sanborn, Winona, speaking of your joy and hope might be appropriate this Advent. 

   Whether any of the above actions speak to your heart or not, we are still called to do our parts in whatever way we choose—the only choice we don’t have is to do nothing.

Amen? Amen!