Parish Bulletin for Sunday, January 6, 2008

Epiphany of The Lord

"THE UNIVERSAL WELCOME"

Through the coming of Jesus, more than 2,000 years ago, humankind has been delivered from death and evil. Today's feast of the Epiphany of the Lord reminds us that this redemption was made possible through the saving words and works and sacrificial death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, each of us is bound to one another and all together to God. Our union is such that if one of us is hurt, all should know and bear the pain. If one of us experiences joy, all of us should break into smiles. This is the meaning of Epiphany: that one Lord has saved us, one light has illuminated our way, one star has summoned us all to one place, to one Person, to one experience of love, forgiveness, salvation, and peace.

What we hear in today's gospel is so much more than a lovely narrative about a young family receiving some rather odd visitors with rather extravagant gifts for their newborn. What we have here is a profound and richly developed proclamation of who Jesus is: son of David, Son of God, promised ruler and redeemer of Israel and the glorious shining Saviour whose presence brings together all of humankind in peace and in light. All – this is the key.

At the very heart of the truth we call Epiphany is the divine conviction that all human beings have worth and dignity; all have value and are intended to enjoy God's gift of salvation. Jesus lived out his mission heralding this truth in all that he did and all that he said. Jesus treated the blind, the lame, and the crippled, the outcasts and the beggars with as much respect as he treated those of high rank or status. He refused to see women and children as unimportant and inferior. Even when the Law labelled persons as having lesser status due to sin or disease or ethnicity, Jesus acted on the knowledge that God, who is greater than the Law, loves all.

Isaiah acknowledged that the God of Israel was indeed the God of all – all nations of the earth, including Israel, were blessed by God and gifted with his ever-boundless love. The recipients of the letter to the Ephesians were reminded yet again that we are one in Christ Jesus. Today's Feast of Epiphany celebrates the universal saving concerns of our God. It could be for some much more comfortable for us to focus on the traditional symbols of this feast – the star, the gifts, the exotic nature of the three wise men – but that is not the essence of this story. They serve to illuminate the deeper message of this feast and demand that we pay attention to what God is saying to us right here and right now, just as it was a call to the early readers of Matthew and continues to resound throughout our faith history to this very day.

God calls each and every one to know and experience the fullness of salvation in Jesus Christ. Think how radical this message was for early believers who felt the Messiah was theirs alone. This call from God was meant for non-Jews, people who didn't speak the language or know the customs; people who had no papers or passports; people who were neither circumcised nor baptized.

Does this echo for us today? Certainly! The story of the wise men and their arrival in Bethlehem is an integral part of the divine plan and a fulfilment of promises made long ago. The travellers from the East represent the nations who are being formally welcomed into the sphere of salvation. They are not an afterthought, nor are they outsiders who are intruding upon a private moment. They are the divinely intended recipients of God's gifts and purposeful participants in the plan now unfolding. Their presence here at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel prepares the way for the risen Christ's command at the end of Matthew: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . . . teaching them . . . . And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

This oneness, anticipated by the prophets, proclaimed by Jesus and effectively realized in his saving sacrifice, has become the responsibility of all members of the church. When human rights are being denied and walls between us are erected, the church – each one of us – must speak out in the name of justice, charity and mercy, as would Jesus. The Feast of Epiphany celebrates the universal saving concerns of God and our call to answer.

May all our beloved dead, especially

TUESDAY, Jan. 8

Weekday

8:30 a.m. Louke Sani

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 9

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † James and Kathleen Coyne

THURSDAY, Jan. 10

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Bertha Drake

FRIDAY, Jan. 11

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Don Bender

find eternal rest and refreshment in the kingdom of heaven. Let us pray to the Lord.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially:
Ken Tai, Hassan Kingrabe, Benjamin Rubio, Mervyn Cardoza, Jack Hamilton, Melita Juliana, and Carmelita Cosgrove

. . . Who have asked for our prayers . . . for those among us in special need . . . for those who experience the shadows of sickness and pain . . . for those who feel isolated in their illness . . . for caregivers. . . . We pray to the Lord.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, January 13, 2008

Baptism of The Lord

People have given Jesus many titles in order to explain his unique role in God's universal plan of redemption. Jesus has been called prophet, priest, king – but he was, like us, a layperson. Jesus shared with us that special vocation of "proclaiming the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them to God's will." Like us, he chose to "live in the world and be engaged in each and every work, and business of the earth and in the ordinary circumstances of social and family life." Like us, he was "called by God and was led by the Spirit . . . so as to contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within, like leaven," This particular description comes from Lumen Gentium, Vatican II and it is particularly apt to use it on this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

All these ministries that Jesus rendered so generously were begun by God and affirmed at the moment of his baptism. Through baptism, Jesus confirmed his solidarity with all that we know and experience as human beings, with suffering, struggle and the consequences of our own sins. Though sinless himself, Jesus shared the burden of the human condition and eased that burden by fulfilling the role of God's promised servant, as described so well by Isaiah. One with us, one for us, Jesus lived his life in such a manner as to bring forth justice where injustice would otherwise prevail.

Through his teaching in word and deed, Jesus brought light where darkness lived and flourished. This light, the good news of his teaching, enabled the blind to see with new clarity, the prisoners to experience new freedoms and the alienated and disenfranchised to recognize themselves as related to God and to others through the bonds of covenantal love. Through baptism, Jesus also proclaimed loud and clear his solidarity with God and was recognized by God as Son.

Graced by God's own Spirit, The Matthean Jesus holds out his own experience of baptism today as a teachable moment, inviting us, the people of the 21st century church, to see in Jesus' baptism the purpose and significance of our own baptism. Like Jesus, we are graced with the Spirit and acknowledged as sons and as daughters who are pleasing to God. God's acknowledgement comes without distinction or partiality regarding gender, race, social status or political preference.

Early Christians also reached out in caring and service to all others without exception. God shows no partiality, says Peter in the home of Cornelius. The natural consequences of that insight required Peter and the other disciples to do the same. But this mandate continues to challenge us even today. In the beginning, the challenge required people who came to Christ through Judaism to accept those who did not. Today, that challenge also requires sincere believers to extend welcome to others with no exceptions.

If we dare to accept this mandate as it stands, this requires of us an entirely new manner of looking at others as God sees them and a totally new manner of dealing with others that supersedes all of our preconceptions, prejudices and fears. When the task seems too daunting we are reminded that the grace of baptism enables ordinary believers to do what Jesus did. "Go about doing good." (Acts) As God was with Jesus, so God is with us.

What Do We Hear?

Today's feast is not just a remembrance of Jesus' baptism; it is also a reaffirmation of our own. With that renewal of belonging comes a renewed sense of purpose – " to make "Christ and the Church present and fruitful in those places and circumstances where it is only through (each one of us) that the Church can become the salt of the earth and the light of the world." (Lumen Gentium #3.)

Our world is so much in need of the salt and the light that are ours to offer. Our witness, our service, our preaching of the Gospel with every word and every deed – these are the stuff of privilege and of responsibility that belong to us through the grace of baptism.

May all our beloved dead, especially

TUESDAY, Jan. 15

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Governor Bill O'Neil

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 16

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Alonzo LeBlanc

THURSDAY, Jan. 17

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † James and Kathleen Coyne

FRIDAY, Jan. 18

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Rose Locicero

find eternal rest and refreshment in the kingdom of heaven. Let us pray to the Lord.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially:
Ken Tai, Hassan Kingrabe, Benjamin Rubio, Mervyn Cardoza, Jack Hamilton, and Melita Juliana

. . . Who have asked for our prayers . . . for those among us in special need . . . for those who experience the shadows of sickness and pain . . . for those who feel isolated in their illness . . . for caregivers. . . . We pray to the Lord.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, January 20, 2008

Baptism of The Lord

New Beginnings

The Season of Christmas is over for another year and we move once more into Ordinary Time. This year, this period of ordinary time is extremely short, yet the Gospel stories we hear proclaimed are filled with new beginnings – the beginning of the universal mission of Jesus and the church – the beginning of Jesus' life and believers' lives in baptism – the beginning of the mission of Jesus' disciples, marked by service, the establishment of justice, healing peace, forgiveness and salvation.

If we listen very closely to today's readings, we hear how we are to meet and manage our year ahead in fulfilling the call to discipleship that is the call of all those who are baptized. Once more, we find ourselves at the Jordan River along with John the Baptist in today's Gospel story. John's promise of reprieve from sin and its consequences is fulfilled in the one who can deliver the reprieve and John is quick to point him out to those gathered at the Jordan. John challenges them and us to accept the experience of baptismal belonging that Jesus alone can offer. Jesus' baptism would bring the Holy Spirit and afford us a share in his relationship with God. John testifies to this in today's reading when he sees Jesus coming the day after his baptism and says "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

It is important for us to realize that the church's understanding of Jesus evolved considerably between the time of John and Jesus' earthly ministries and the end of the first Christian century, when John's Gospel was written and distributed. This changed understanding is obvious to even the most cursory reader who is comparing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke with the writings of John. What is most evident in his writing is a growing awareness that Jesus, who is God, is the fullest and most perfect revelation of God.

The Johannine Jesus is the Word that existed before creation who became flesh in Jesus. Coming into the world as light, he can reveal God because he is the only one who has seen God's face and heard God's voice (3:13; 5:37) This Jesus is one with God (14:9); to see Jesus is to see God (14:9) See what I mean? To hear the Johannine Jesus speak the "I am" statements is to hear God speak. In a word, the Johannine Jesus and God are one and the same. This is indeed new understanding!

Obviously, John the Baptist did not share this depth of insight with the Johannine evangelist and his community of believers. Nevertheless, he is placed here at the outset of the fourth Gospel as the witness who will point the way and direct others to Jesus and to God. He is made to speak about pre-existence and about the Spirit remaining upon Jesus to clarify his role for the earliest Christians, many of whom thought that John was a much more appealing messianic figure than Jesus. Keep listening!

Next week, Matthew will announce the arrest of John and from then on the focus is upon Jesus, the disciples he would call to himself, his mission of justice, his service to God's least ones and the controversies he would provoke. John will be but a memory, but his service was uniquely valuable and integral to God's plan. He will always be remembered for ‘preparing the way' and ‘making straight the path.'

That all our beloved dead, especially

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † John Shea

THURSDAY, Jan. 24

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Michael Corosella

FRIDAY, Jan. 25

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Wanda Enright

May live again in the presence of the God of limitless love . . . that those who grieve may find comfort . . . . Let us pray to the Lord.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially:

Ken Tai, Hassan Kingrabe, Benjamin Rubio, Mervyn Cardoza, Jack Hamilton, Melita Juliana, Carmelita Cosgrove and George Annett

. . . Who have asked for our prayers . . . for those among us in special need . . . for those who experience the shadows of sickness and pain . . . for those who feel isolated in their illness . . . for caregivers. . . . We pray to the Lord.

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, January 27, 2008

The Call to Discipleship

In today's Gospel, Jesus chooses disciples to share in his mission of rescuing human beings and leading them from the darkness into the light of God's love. The mission requires great selflessness and will result in the death of the leader for the sake of the followers. Once more we are drawn into the call of Jesus to follow him and today, each one of us who profess to be Christian, are asked once more if we are willing to accept the cost of discipleship and to continue the mission.

Matthew understood that Jesus' mission was, at long last, fulfilling the vision that Isaiah shared with his contemporaries in the eighth century B.C. Isaiah actually saw the darkness overshadowing his people in terms of foreign oppression; Matthew believed that the light of Jesus' words was dispelling the darkness of sin and death. Matthew used his references to Old Testament writings as building blocks upon which he structured his Gospel in order to affirm Jesus, in whom the promises of God were being fulfilled.

The Isaiah reference in today's Gospel is only one in a line of those same affirmations. This same reading goes on to explain how this purpose will be accomplished: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (V 17)

This repentance requires a thorough transformation of mind and will on the part of those who take Jesus' message to heart. The radical nature of this transformation is clearly illustrated in the responses of Peter, Andrew, James and John in today's story. At Jesus' word, they left behind a way of living that they had chosen for themselves, with its relative security and predictability. After that, their life, choices and futures would be determined by their discipleship.

"Come follow me" brought in a radical change in the way people chose their teachers as well. It was customary for disciples or students of Jesus' time to seek out a rabbi from whom they chose to learn. When John says in his Gospel, "You did not choose me, but I chose you," and Matthew's call: "Come, follow me," we find a Jesus who does his own choosing. Jesus also gave them the tools for the journey and he continues to choose disciples to this day to follow his way, his lifestyle, his commitment to justice. Jesus continues to supply the tools for the journey for his followers today – the grace and the strength and the courage needed to follow him truly in faith, in hope and in love.

The startling thing about today's Gospel and the call to discipleship is the immediacy of the responses from Simon, Andrew, James and John. He encounters them on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee as they are fishing and plying their trade. Jesus calls them and they go. They will not be back home anytime soon. If we choose to be disciples of Jesus, we too are expected to drop what we are doing today and immediately follow Jesus forever. Are we willing? Are we ready?

That all our beloved dead, especially

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 30

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † John De Souza

THURSDAY, Jan. 31

St. John Bosco

8:30 a.m. - † Michael Corosella

FRIDAY, Feb. 1

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † John and Elizabeth D'Souza

may live in the presence of the God of limitless love . . . that those who grieve may find comfort . . . . for those who must use food banks to feed their families . . . for those in mourning . . . . Let us pray to the Lord.

Please remember the sick in your prayers during the coming week, especially:

Ken Tai, Hassan Kingrabe, Benjamin Rubio, Mervyn Cardoza, Jack Hamilton, Melita Juliana, Carmelita Cosgrove and George Annett

. . . who have asked for our prayers . . . for those among us in special need . . . for those who experience the shadows of sickness and pain . . . for those who feel isolated in their illness . . . for caregivers. . . . We pray to the Lord.