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!

   My friends, I will begin today letting you know once again, why I choose to not name this feast, “Christ the King.”  First of all, this title was not claimed by Jesus—it was a title we humans gave him and one, he did not want.

   People, mainly some of his early followers, wanted a “Messiah” who would take on their enemies, the Romans.  They didn’t realize that Jesus’ mission was about so much more—to show humankind, the way, the truth, and the life—that of justice for all. 

   It is important for us to remember that this particular feast is only about 100 years old, so fairly new for us Catholics and other Christian denominations.  All the Christian denominations carry in their belief systems the notion of Christ as “King” who will come to judge us at the end of time. 

   Pope Pius XI, in 1925, established this feast as he felt that Catholics were forgetting about Jesus and that this feast would re-establish his place in our lives.  It was too bad that the emphasis was in “Jesus’ power over us” rather than uplifting his life and encouraging us humans to “walk in his footsteps.” 

   All of the Scripture readings for this weekend give us aspects of what it is to be a “king” or “leader,” in the best sense of the word.  Let’s take a look.  In the first reading from Samuel, the people came to David calling him forth to lead them.  Their prophetic words, “Here we are,” thus presenting David with a community to lead.  This people saw previously, David’s ability and reminded him, a former shepherd, that God was now calling him to “shepherd” people. As an aside, in the early days of Roman Catholic Women Priests ordinations, many of us, myself included, placed the words, “Here we are,” on banners, and added, “We are ready” as our statement of faith in what God was doing within us. 

   One of the reasons why it is important to use the correct names for our leaders is our human tendency to “take the power” and run with it, forgetting “why” this power was entrusted to us in the 1^st place.  The story of David lets us know this—he forgot to “shepherd” and opted for “reigning” instead, until he once again found his way. 

   In present day, we see those with power in our Church wanting titles and other privileges—we call it “clericalism” –something Pope Francis has cautioned against.  In fact, he has advocated that those called to serve, remember that they are “servants” and to be more like “shepherds” than “lords.” 

   In the second reading from Corinthians, again we see Paul’s lack of having known Jesus in his humanity.  Paul’s relationship was with “the Christ” and unfortunately, he is, kind of stuck in the language of, “forgiveness of sins” and that the Christ, in the person of Jesus took care of that by “dying on the cross.” 

   Let’s look then to the gospel from Luke and jump into the conversation between Jesus and the “more open-minded criminal” dying next to him on the cross to perhaps get some clarity around the issues of “kingship” and “servanthood.” 

    The more open-minded criminal is taking issue with the one on the other side of Jesus, complaining to him about if he is the Messiah, why then doesn’t he save himself and them. “We deserve it after all, [he says]—we are paying the price for what we have done, but this one has done nothing wrong.” Now we know Jesus’ answer that indeed the more open-minded one would be with him, in paradise, soon.  But for our purposes, let’s look at this more open-minded criminal’s assessment of Jesus. 

   The fact is, what he said about Jesus is not entirely true—that “Jesus had done nothing wrong.”  In the eyes of the powers-that-were in Jesus’ time—he had done plenty wrong! Jesus was advocating that the leaders deal out justice for all, especially the least among them, and criticizing them for not being the “servants” that true kings and leaders should be.  The only way to silence such a one was the punishment that Jesus was suffering. 

   So my friends, if we are to be true followers of our brother Jesus, then we cannot get caught up in the theology “that God sent Jesus to die for our sins.”  If we stay there, then Jesus “does” it all—there is nothing for us to do, but live, without ever questioning, never looking at ourselves, never taking the responsibility for our own actions and doing our part. 

   Jesus came to show us how to live our human experience in the best way.  Sometimes that may get us into trouble, as it did Jesus, but we will be standing on some pretty strong shoulders. We are expected as Jesus’ followers to get out into our world, in the midst of the sometimes mess we find there and to do our part to make things better.  A friend recently shared a favorite quote from Dan Berrigan with me, which seems appropriate here.  “If you want to follow Jesus, you better look good on wood!” 

   In conclusion then, let’s hone in on Jesus’ true mission for each of us—anything that isn’t ultimately about attempting to be our best through kindness, mercy, and justice for all, including ourselves—basically about love, should not be wasting our time.  And you will notice that I included, “ourselves,” as we can’t, in love, be there for others if we forget ourselves. It’s a balance.

   So, we end where we started—what to call this feast.  As we conclude one Church Year and start another next Sunday, with the beginning of Advent, I would suggest that we remember Jesus, our brother, as a “servant” instead of a “king” as walking in the footsteps of the first might be much more doable than the second.  Amen? Amen!

      My friends, even a cursory look at this Sunday’s Scriptures, gives us a clear picture that we are being asked to reflect carefully on our lives, who we have been, and what we have been about during this last Church Year, soon coming to an end—in fact, next week with the Feast of Jesus, the Christ, our Brother, and Friend.  Many of us have known of this feast, in the past as, Christ the King—one that I have suggested that we move away from as Jesus never claimed to be a “king.”  More on that next week. 

   I have always appreciated this time of year, in its physical and spiritual aspects.  For us living in the Midwest, specifically in Minnesota, this time of year calls us to “putting to bed” outside plants, securing our homes for the onslaught of colder temperatures that living here demands of us. 

   Colder temps and less light in our days move us indoors more, “looking for light” in other ways.  I will just let you imagine for yourselves, what brings “light” into your lives when outdoor light is less.  For me, it allows more time to be creative, as in getting back to “painting” as art, something that I have taken up in the last several years.  And for each of you, there is no doubt something that you enjoy doing when you are freed from many of the outdoor activities that take up our lives in the warmer months. 

   In a spiritual sense, this time of year, as I indicated at the beginning of this homily, calls us to assess our personal lives, how and if we have been faithful in our Christian journeys, in somewhat of a consistent way, both, “when convenient and when inconvenient,” as Paul says in another place. 

The Scriptures for this week have a bit of “urgency” about striving, as I always say here, “to be our best selves,” but there is the “realization,” in Jesus, who lived our human life, that this isn’t always easy. 

   Jesus, in Luke’s gospel selection today, lets us know, in no uncertain terms, this reality.  “All will hate you because of me…[but] have patient endurance”— [I will be with you.]  It seems that Jesus is letting us know that the important thing is that we keep trying!  So, this time in our Church Year gives us the opportunity to, “take a look and see where change is perhaps needed. 

   Earlier I stated that today’s Scriptures do call us to a bit of “urgency”—our God does keep wanting and expecting us to be about “justice” in our world, as the psalmist says today, even if we don’t always do it perfectly.  The prophet Malachi lays out this urgency— “the day is coming …when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble.” 

   Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians basically says, and I paraphrase, “present [your] selves as an example for [others] to imitate.”  Additionally, he tells them, “to be disciplined” [in their lives]. It might be good for each of us in these last days of the Church Year, as we assess, how we are doing in, “our walk with Jesus,” to imagine if we would be proud to have others “imitate our actions in the world.”

   The words of the Alleluia verse for today might be a good reflection as we prepare for a new Church Year soon— “I chose you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last.” 

   A good friend of mine and Robert’s over the years, Jim Fitzpatrick, died three years ago at this time Jim had been an active priest in our diocese for 10 years before needing to leave that ministry and go on to spend the remainder of his almost 50 years of life, in what the Church hierarchy would call, “inactive” ministry with his wife, Karen. The funny thing is that even though he ceased his “active” ministry as a diocesan priest, his life was anything but, “inactive.”  He and Karen were great supporters of women being ordained and could be found at many women’s ordinations, just one activity for justice that kept them both “active.” 

   One of the things I loved most about him, when he was my teacher in Old Testament my first year of high school, was his enthusiasm—we might say, “his fire for life!”  In fact, he was always saying, “C’mon, catch fire,” when we as students were less-than-interested. 

   At his funeral, another of his students, a School Sister of Notre Dame, Sister Catherine Bertrand, who gave the homily, shared that the gospel used that day was Jim’s favorite—that of the Transfiguration, because it is the only place in Scripture, he told her, where it says, “It is good for us to be here.”  I personally have always loved this passage too, and it does speak so well of what Jim was about in his life and what we are all to be about in our lives.  Think what it would mean if even on occasion we thought in our daily lives, “it is [indeed] good to be here.” How might all that we do then, change? 

   Our mission as Jesus’ followers is to get out into our world, do our piece as that is made known to us, and basically, “catch fire” as my friend Jim always encouraged in his students. 

   When we claim to follow our brother Jesus, it should be obvious to our world, that this is what we are about—making a difference, as he did!  Another prophet, not truly appreciated in his lifetime, Teilhard de Chardin had this to say: “Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.  Then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.” 

   So my friends, as we reflect on this past year, who and what we have been in our world, and if we haven’t yet “caught fire,” perhaps plan on doing so in the next year. 

Amen? Amen!