Category: Uncategorized

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Gospel: Matthew 12: 46-50

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother?  
Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today we celebrate the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a feast that dates back to the 6^th century. 

While Mary’s presentation in the Temple is not recorded in the Gospels, many believe that her parents, Anne and Joachim, brought her to the Temple in Jerusalem around the age of three, consecrating her to the Lord.

Mary was their only child. Taking her on pilgrimage and offering her back to God was both an act of faith and thanksgiving. 

Some years later, Mary will do the same as she and Joseph bring the Christ-child, wrapped in swaddling clothes, to the same Temple, also offering him to God. 

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This feast teaches us three things.

First, Christians are called to be people of gratitude. We recognize that everything is from God and, ultimately, everyone belongs to God, even those we hold most precious in our lives.

Second, we are a pilgrim people. Pilgrims are on a journey; the ground we stand upon is neither our home nor our final destination. It’s merely a place of passage. We see this world – and all things in it – as passing, and act accordingly.

Occasionally, we also make smaller pilgrimages, like going up to Jerusalem (or, for some parishioners next February, Portugal!) to remind us of our true homeland, heaven.

Third, we are generous people. We give to God what belongs to God. In Anne and Joachim’s case, they offer their only daughter. Mary does the same with Christ. 

We, too, should offer our lives in service to the Gospel.

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On this, her feast day, may Mary intercede for us that we’d be people of gratitude, pilgrimage, and generosity, recognizing that everything and everyone belongs to the Lord.

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Image credits: (1) Crossmap Blogs (2) Vatican News (3) Living Bulwark

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Revelation 4: 1-11

I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,
and I heard the trumpetlike voice
that had spoken to me before, saying,
“Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.”
At once I was caught up in spirit.
A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat one
whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.
Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.
Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones
on which twenty-four elders sat,
dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, and peals of thunder.
Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne,
which are the seven spirits of God.
In front of the throne was something that resembled
a sea of glass like crystal.

In the center and around the throne,
there were four living creatures
covered with eyes in front and in back.
The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf,
the third had a face like that of a man,
and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.
The four living creatures, each of them with six wings,
were covered with eyes inside and out.
Day and night they do not stop exclaiming:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks
to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down
before the one who sits on the throne
and worship him, who lives forever and ever.
They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:

“Worthy are you, Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things;
because of your will they came to be and were created.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Advent is an appointed season, when we’re called to contemplate the return of Christ, the end of the world, and the new world being ushered in by him.

As we near this holy season, the Church offers us excerpts from the Book of Revelation as our first reading to warm us up, as it were. Revelation contains some of the most graphic images of what heaven is like.

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“I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,” he says today, “and I heard the trumpetlike voice saying, ‘Come up here and I will show you.’”

Just as a door connects two different spaces, so heaven and earth are linked; bound together. Once John passes through that door, he sees God seated upon his throne. But he does not describe God using human-like qualities.

In a single word, God is light. 

Three colors that emanate from God are green, red, and an unbearably bright crystal. The green represents God’s mercy; the red, his wrath for those who have harmed his “little ones”; and the brilliant crystal, his holiness.

Thus, God is merciful, just, and pure.

Beneath his throne is a sea of glass, representing the purity, expansiveness, and luxuriousness of heaven.

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Surrounding God’s throne are four living creatures, which resemble a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a human. These creatures represent many things, including the four Gospels and the life of Christ. 

The lion represents the strength and power of Christ. The ox, being an animal of sacrifice, represents Christ’s self-offering. The human represents his incarnation. And the eagle represents the Holy Spirit, who comes to us at Pentecost.

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Finally, John hears a loud chorus of praise, the only possible reaction to being in God’s presence. Together, they sing, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.

As we prepare for the Lord’s return, may we join our hearts with the choirs of heaven, praising the God of yesterday, today, and forever for having loved us and given himself for us.

Some day we, too, shall see for ourselves what the splendor of heaven is like.

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Image credits: (1) Bible Pics (2) Bible Only, WordPress (3)

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Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22

I, John, heard the Lord saying to me:
“To the angel of the Church in Sardis, write this:

“‘The one who has the seven spirits of God
and the seven stars says this: “I know your works,
that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die,
for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent.
If you are not watchful, I will come like a thief,
and you will never know at what hour I will come upon you.
However, you have a few people in Sardis
who have not soiled their garments;
they will walk with me dressed in white,
because they are worthy.“‘

The victor will thus be dressed in white,
and I will never erase his name from the book of life
but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father
and of his angels.

“‘Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”“

“To the angel of the Church in Laodicea, write this:

“‘The Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the source of God’s creation, says this:
“I know your works;
I know that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either cold or hot.
So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold,
I will spit you out of my mouth.
For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’
and yet do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments to put on
so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed,
and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see.
Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise.
Be earnest, therefore, and repent.

“‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
then I will enter his house and dine with him,
and he with me.
I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne,
as I myself first won the victory
and sit with my Father on his throne.

“‘Whoever has ears ought to hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

The Word of the Lord.

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The Book of Revelation includes a compilation of letters written to seven different churches, including the church in Sardis, an ancient city located in western Turkey.

Seven centuries prior to Revelation being written, Sardis was one of the greatest cities on earth, admired for its immense wealth. 

The city center was tucked away high on a hill, surrounded by flat-faced mountains. Many considered Sardis to be unconquerable because there was only one steep, slippery way in or out. 

Yet the city was destroyed twice several centuries apart for the same reason: no one guarded the city gates. By the time John wrote this letter, the city – and the local church – were in steep decline.   

As he says in our first reading, “I, John, heard the Lord saying to me: ‘To the Church in Sardis, write this: You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.’”

They were dead because no one watched.

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This is the most frequent command in the bible: “watch.” 

We are all responsible for guarding our minds, bodies, hearts, and souls. Satan, the great tempter, is cunning and patient, often waiting until our guard is down to approach our “city gates” – when we’re tired, frustrated, proud, or buzzed.

When he strikes, how often we fall, losing the grace we cannot live without.

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As we approach the holy season of Advent, the Lord encourages us to double-down on our defenses – pray, confess, be humble and disciplined.

Unlike Sardis, keep watch, ready to receive the Lord upon his return.

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Image credits: (1) Forsythe Church of Christ, YouTube (2) The Archeological Exploration of Sardis (3) Tumblr