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Today is the first day of the calendar year, a day when people often make new resolutions or prophecies that attempt to predict the future; we could even say it’s a day of cosmic proportions. In the meantime, the Catholic Church celebrates the motherhood of Mary to replace the celebration of the circumcision of the child Jesus in the liturgical calendar. While the circumcision emphasized the humanity of Jesus and his incorporation in the Jewish covenant, the celebration of Mary as Mother of God reminds us that the child was not only a human baby visited by shepherds, but also God’s eternal Word made flesh in a total union with humanity. Continue reading Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother

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There are two stories we often hear about at this time of year. One involves Santa and the other is about Jesus. Santa’s story can be heard in a song: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. In this song, we are told that Santa is a wonderful old man who brings gifts to those who are good. But only to those who are good. If you cry or pout, if you are nasty or bad—forget it! Santa is not coming to you. We should, of course, strive to be as good as we can be. But the goodness found in Santa’s story is very different than the goodness referred to in Jesus’ story. In today’s Gospel, the angels announce that Jesus is the one who brings “joy to all the people.” Santa comes to those who are good. Jesus comes to all—both the good and bad alike. Continue reading The Stories of Jesus and Santa

Download Faith Connection for December 18th, 2012, You’ll be Glad you Did

DownloAs a child, did you ever want to be somebody special, to be selected by a teacher to have the lead role in the play, to sing the solo at the concert, or to crown the Blessed Mother in May? Perhaps you still have fond memories of such an event when you were singled out or when you were chosen. The story in today’s Gospel (Luke 1:2–38) tells us of the Annunciation, when an angel appeared to a young Jewish woman named Mary and announced that God had chosen her to be the mother of his child. What an honor!

Read more Continue reading Finding Favor with God

Download Faith Connection for December 11, 2011 Now!

The Advent season is marked at the half-way point by the
call to “Rejoice.” Long known as Gaudete Sunday, this week’s
readings emphasize the hope and expectation flowing out
of God’s enduring goodness.

Isaiah proclaims God’s compassion and liberation for
the oppressed and God’s lasting favor. Paul offers a message of
hope to the conflicted Christian community, urging them to
rejoice and persevere in prayer, thanksgiving, and confidence.
John points to the cause of our joy in giving testimony to
the one who is to come. Continue reading Unceasing Joy – Faith Connection

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A real change of heart, a complete conversion, is no simple matter. Many things conspire to keep us from changing or accepting change. Today’s readings grapple with the most fundamental changes of our lives—from sinners to forgiven sons and daughters, from ego-centered and self-absorbed creatures to Christcentered people with generous hearts. When Ezekiel challenges the people of his time to true change and conversion of heart, he identifies their resistance with their own frozen judgments, “The way of the Lord is unfair!”

Perhaps their comparative lens on life never allowed them to see themselves and their own need to change or the mercy of God in providing them the opportunity to be changed. In the Gospel reading, Jesus issues a similar but somewhat different challenge to the religious leaders of his time. Continue reading Free to Change and to Be Changed

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“The Laborers in the Vineyard” is a somewhat unsettling parable that seems to reflect common human expectations, then and now. The message was as hard for the original community as it is for us today. The landowner agreed to pay “the usual daily wage” to the first group of laborers he hired.

To the others hired later in the day, he simply said, “I will pay you whatever is right.” What is the “right” or just wage for someone who has merely worked one hour? The workers who labored all day felt cheated, as many of us probably would today, in the face of what seemed like an outrageous injustice. Yet, the parable ends with a poignant question, “Are you envious because I am generous?” There had been no injustice against those who worked all day, but an unbelievable amount of generosity was given to those who arrived late. Continue reading Are you envious because I am generous?

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Matthew is tough! When Luke reports Jesus’ words about how often we must forgive, he tells us seven times per day (17:4). But when Jesus answers Peter in today’s Gospel from Matthew, the amount has risen to “seventy-seven times.” The Greek phrase can also be translated, “seventy times seven times.” But whether it is 77 times or 490 times, the meaning is clear: we must always forgive. Today’s parable of the unforgiving servant shows us why.

The amount that the servant owed to his master (ten thousand talents) was an astronomical amount, about one billion dollars. The amount that a fellow servant owed to him (one hundred denarii) was a few months’ wages. By presenting this vast difference in amounts, the parable insists that if we appreciate the mercy that has been shown to us by God, our only option is to forgive others. Because, no matter how much forgiveness we are asked to extend to another, God has shown us more. Continue reading God Demands Forgiveness

Download and Read This Weeks Meditation Moment – Click Here

Recently, The Economist, reported on an academic study conducted in England examining how character is formed. The study revealed that the most important influence on whether young people developed a healthy and wholesome character was their parents. If parents disciplined their children, held them accountable for their behavior, and practiced “tough love” with them, the children would grow up shaped by the values of the community.

When children did not receive this parental guidance, they were much more likely to be shaped by the social norms of the changing culture. What this study also revealed was that many parents today, at least in England, were reluctant to provide the parenting that their children needed so badly. Too many parents, it seems, didn’t want to fulfill their parental obligations, preferring instead to be their children’s friends. Continue reading A Very Important Debt

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Today’s Gospel calls us to a deeper level of spirituality. It leads us into a sense of heightened consciousness, that is, it offers us the choice to become fully awake to God’s actions in our lives. In Jesus’ rebuke of Peter, he gives his disciples and us a new perspective on what it means to follow him. Imagine yourself standing among Jesus’ followers and hearing these words: “Deny your very self, take up your cross, and follow me.” These words followed upon the startling revelation that Jesus was journeying to Jerusalem with the full knowledge that he would suffer greatly, be killed and be raised up.

Would you, like Peter, be inclined to question whether this made any sense? It is only in relationship with the God of unconditional love and mercy that we can begin to hear these words and accept them. This is not a message that urges us to earn God’s love in order to become worthy of it. We are already loved and the Divine dwells within us. This is not a message of self-hate or masochism. After all, when we were created, God declared our innate goodness. Rather, it is a message that directs us as we travel our spiritual journey. Paul puts it plainly “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). Continue reading The Cross and the Culture