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      While today is the Feast of the Holy Family, I would not be a good uncle if I did not remember my nephew Connor McAdams, who is 11 years old today. He has actually been in a television commercial and have every video gaming system known to man, except the PS3. He is an Apple computer whiz who gets good grades, and is very funny. He has inherited nothing from his uncle, which is a good thing. He just tolerates me from time to time. ;) Hopefully when he grows up he will become a millionaire so he can support his poor parents in their old age! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR! I am avery proud of you!

     The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to him. See the kind of kingdom that is his, coming as he did in order to be this kind of king. See how the deliverer is already working deliverance, the savior already working salvation. (Office of Readings)

     When we reflect on the Birth of Christ, Calvary is always nearby.  We see in this day and age that children still provoke a mixed response. Some value them as precious gifts created in the image and likeness of God in which the human race finds its hope, and others see them as an obstacle to their standard of living or a burden on an over-populated world.

      Most Catholics connect this day to the evils of abortion and that is definitely true. However, today, there is not only the slaughter of the Innocents, but also the destruction of Innocence, which could be argued to be far worse. The children who have succumbed to physical death now rest in the mercy of God’s love forever, but the children who undergo a spiritual death are being destroyed much more slowly. Many are not taught about Jesus Christ. Many have not been taught how to pray. With some parents allowing the media to raise children in a culture soaked with sexual exploitation, violence and narcissism and moral permissiveness, is there any wonder that children can no longer live in innocence? Children today need to be protected and need to be formed in goodness, holiness, purity and real happiness. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can say that in the infant Christ, innocence has been restored, and it is now up for us to realize it.

     Father, the Holy Innocents offered you praise by the death they suffered for Christ. May our lives bear witness to the faith we profess with our lips. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

     Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio

     Today is the Feast day of St. John the Apostle, who is also known as St. John the Evangelist and the Beloved Disciple. It does not matter which title you use, although I have to admit that it seems a little cheesy to me for John to refer to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Anyway, he is thoroughly rooted in the divinity and human of Christ. Both are beautifully described and meditated upon throughout his Gospel and Epistles.

     Many people like to say that John is their favorite Gospel. I wonder whether it is due to its mystical and poetic style, it is both heavenly and earthly or if it is because Jesus does most of the speaking. I don’t know. While it is clear that the Gospel is a text inspired by the Holy Spirit, John still must have had a great deal of writing talent to compose such great works.

     It is assumed that he is the last Apostle who died and that he died of natural causes, not as a martyr as his fellow apostles did. The symbol that is used to describe his Gospel is the Eagle, because in his Gospel, he carries the reader and listener to the loftiest heights of the mystery of God.

     God our Father, you have revealed the mysteries of your Word through John the Apostle. By prayer and reflection may we come to undersand the wisdom he taught. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen.

     The new movie directed by Denzel Washington entitled The Great Debate came out yesterday and I saw it this afternoon. It is a true story set in 1935 in Marshall Texas. Some might call it “Remember the Titans for Eggheads and Orators,” but there is more to it than that. It has a solid plot line and it deals with the reality of racism in the Depression era South. Some parts of it are not pretty, but it is a strong reminder that the word has power. For someone like me, who has the duty and privilege of proclaiming the ETERNAL WORD, it reminds me of the serious responsibility of preaching the Gospel to help God change hearts.  I would recommend this movie to adults and teenagers. My only regret is that I would have liked to seen more of the debates, but at two hours, I guess there was not much else to do. Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker are formidable forces in the film.

      It seems strange to some that we celebrate the Feast of the First Martyr of the Church on the day after Christmas. However, when we look at the life of Christ, the manger is not far from the Cross. Caryll Houselander wrote a wonderful book called, Wood of the Cradle, Wood of the Cross, to remind us of this fact. Calvary reminds us of the fact that the Word needed a human body to sacrifice on the cross, hence the importance of the Incarnation. St. Fulgentius of Ruspe speaks of Stephen’s martyrdom in way similar to what Pope Benedict said in his audience:

     And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown first in the king, it later shown forth in the soldier. Love was Stephen’s weapon by which he gained every battle, and so won the crown signified by his name. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcome the raging cruelty of Saul and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven. in his body and tireless love he longed to gain by prayer those whom he could not convert by admonition.

     Lord today we celebrate the entrance of St.Stephen into eternal glory. He died praying for those who killed him. Help us to imitate his goodness and to love our enemies. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     Just in case things get too crazy tomorrow, I am going to post my Christmas homily tonight. If some of you are having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, maybe this will help:

Christmas Day 2007

       One of the great traditions of Christmas is the exchange of gifts. All of the children here cannot wait for Santa to arrive. Moms may be hoping for a piece of jewelry and dads for some new electronic gizmo, but over time, we begin to recognize that the best gifts we receive are those that come from the heart.

     I’m sure that many parents here remember the gifts their children have made for them- a little ornament made out of plaster of paris, a wooden board with a picture of the nativity shellaced to it, or a change holder made from clay with the word “dad” scratched on the side. Why were these little things so precious to us? I think that it is becuase our children made something for us from their heart.

     In the minds that we helped to create they thought up an idea for a present. With the hands we helped create they formed their little projects. Finally, with the soul God created they wanted to do their best to give mom and dad a sign of their love.

    When they would present their gift wrapped in brightly colored paper and ribbon, their eyes watched as we opened their precious gift, and we will never forget their smile and bright eyes when we would tell them that it was just the thing we wanted. It is just the gift we wanted because it came from their heart, and not from a store.

     Today we celebrate the wondrous gift of God, Jesus Christ his Son, born of the Virgin Mary. What makes this gift different from every other is that God the Father not only gave us a gift from his heart, he actually gave us HIS HEART. Jesus Christ is truly the Heart of the Father. Present with the Son from all ages, the Father knew that if we were to be blessed and know the joy of salvation, he would have to give us more than a message or an angel, he would have to give us his only-begotten Son, his Heart, who takes on through the Virgin Mary a human heart, a human body and a human mind. We see him wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. We hear his cries of hunger. We touch his little hand as he tries to wrap it aound our big finger. He looks up at us with his bright eyes.

     The child Jesus, the Son of God, has given us the gift of Himself, his own Heart, his own Flesh and Blood so that we may know the meaning of everlasting life with God and a life full of grace and love. One day that gift will be poured out on the cross so that we too may become children of God.

     Jesus presents himself to us today and anxiously looks on, hoping that He will be accepted by each one of us- The Giver Himself becomes the Gift. As we gaze upon this little bundle of joy from whom our salvation will come, let us all say to the Lord “This is not only the gift I wanted, it is truly the gift I needed. It is the perfect gift, it is the Heart and love of God”

     Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     Today is the final “O Antiphon” of this Advent season. This antiphon reminds us of something that we all too readily forget, namely that God is with us. With the Incarnation, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who has been with us through the words of the prophets and the teaching of the Law is now to be personally and permanently with us as Jesus Christ, the God-man. His continual presence in our lives frees us from fear of loneliness and hopelessness. He will ultimately free us from death through his resurrection. As we get ready to begin Christmas Eve tomorrow, let us prepare our hearts to encounter the Christ child in Word and Sacrament.

     O Emmauel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.

Please ray for all priests and seminarians, and support Sacred Heart Radio.

     Day six of the “O Antiphons” brings us to the title of the Messiah as the King of the Nations. We see that the Messiah is not only going to restore Judaism to its rightful place, according to Isaiah, but all nations will come to see the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the true God of all peoples.  

     Jesus Christ fulfills this prophecy of Isaiah in a much wider sense. As the Son of God, he was sent by the Father to save all peoples and restore them to grace through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus comes to be not only the symbol of the union of the human race, but he in fact embodies in himself the union of the human race. All peoples become one in Christ. We, however, spend a great deal of time focusing on how different we are from others. We see the division which is still present. We cannnot bring about unity solely on our own, it can only happen through the Spirit of Christ which is the source of all unity.

     As we prepare to celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace, let us ask the Lord to help us help us to be instruments of unity in our families, in the work place and whereever God may put us.

     O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.

Please pray for all priests and seminarians, support Sacred Heart Radio, and if you have the chance, send up a prayer to the Lord for me that he may be merciful and give me something decent to preach on Christmas Day.

     On this fifth day of the “O Antiphons” we pray “O Radiant Dawn.” This verse gives us a true understanding of the Christian disposition. Christians are by their baptism, “morning people.” We know that with the rise of the sun, there is a new day of hope. We have passed through the darkness of sin, death, confusion and division and this is becuase “the dawn from on high shall break upon us.” The dawning of a new day shows us that God is always with us and that every day he gives us a new opportunity to serve him and one another. May the Lord especially radiate the warmth of his love and the brightness of his glory on those who are still in darkness through loneliness, loss, isolation and feeling unloved.

     O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Plase pray for the safety of all the seminarians who have gone home for Christmas break, as well as all priests who have a lot of work ahead of them for the next four days, and support Sacred Heart Radio.

    In the Office of readings for December 20, we read a beautiful homily from St. Bernard, one of my most favorite homilies. He anxiously asks Mary, who has been told by the Angel Gabriel that she is to be the Mother of God:

        The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us. The price of salvation is offered to you. We shall be set free at once if you consent.

       . . .Answer quickly, O virgin. Reply in haste to the angel or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer wth a word, receive the Word of God. Speak you own word, conceive the divine Word . Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.

      . . .Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O Blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator.

     Dear Mother of God, you said yes when the angel Gabriel told you that you were to become the Mother of God. Help us not to be silent. God awaits our response to his love in faith this very moment. Help us not to hesitate, but to give our fiat with a strong and humble voice!!!

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support SAcred Heart Radio.