St. Miltiades of Rome, Bishop and Martyr, (314)
St. Eulalia (Merida), Virgin and Martyr, (304)
St. Gregory III of Rome, Bishop, (741)
Well here’s a new one!
I was going to order a few Christmas gift baskets for relatives and friends. In the past I had purchased some items from a French on-line merchant BienManager, French Gourmet Food and Gifts.
On background, their website notes that they are located in Lozere, in the center of France. They work with 200 producers that match traditional know-how and produce quality products.
They also note that they deliver worldwide.
Because of past purchases I am on their E-mail list. I very much enjoyed what I had purchased, and true to their marketing the quality and variety were excellent.
The marketing E-mail I received from them a few weeks back had some very nice looking baskets with just the right things for the folks on my Christmas gift list.
I went to their website, filled my shopping cart and behold – they do not ship to the United States.
If I lived in Andorra, Gabon, Mayotte, the Gilbert Islands, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Tuvalu, Equatorial Guinea, Poland or any one of 115 countries I could buy their stuff. But no U.S. of A.?
Well, perhaps it was a website error.
I wrote to the company and received a very speedy reply from Mme. Aurelie Verlaguet advising me that even though they have an FDA registration number they can no longer ship to the United States due to the Patriot Act.
Past deliveries were unnecessarily delayed because of Patriot Act requirements and as such they could no longer guarantee the quality of the products they shipped here.
Sad really. I wrote back to Mme. Verlaguet to express my regret, not only that I could no longer engage in open commerce with a reputable company, but that our “involvement” in the crazy politics of the Middle East has brought about such problems.
I guess that free trade and international commerce only apply if you’re rich enough to take your corporate jet to the store, or rather, you import the stuff yourself and take yet another cut from the consumer.
A little humor – for the next encounter with someone who has a “My boss is a Jewish carpenter” bumper-sticker.
St. Leocadia, Virgin and Martyr, (304)
Saints Hipparchus and Companions, Martyrs, (297)
St. Gorgonia, Matron, (372)
On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
As we look about the world we see little more than the bad.
We see evil, poverty, despair, ruthlessness, greed, lust, envy, sloth. It looks like the seven deadly sins on steroids. Evil seems to be pumped up.
Then we look at our lowly Church.
It is small. A couple hundred congregants here, forty or fifty somewhere else.
We see fewer children in church, more elderly. Almost no one present on weekdays or Holy Days of obligation, fewer and fewer on Sundays.
We wonder, how can the Holy Church survive against the ways of the world? How can the Holy Church compete against basketball, baseball, football, soccer, late night partying, or exhaustion from work? How can the truth – which can only be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ as passed down through the Church – compete against a society where people would rather find their own way, their own truth, their own definitions?
Whenever we feel a bit glum, depressed, and whenever we feel our hope is fading, think of Jesse.
Brothers and sisters,
Literally, the stump of Jesse is Jesse’s inability to produce.
His line of descendants was dying off. Jesse’s line was dried up and had lain dormant for 600 years. There was no holy king descended from David on Israel’s throne, only a pawn of Rome.
The king was an Edomite, a convert to Judaism, and a Hellenist at heart. He was corrupt and cruel. He literally killed off the Hasmonean Dynasty and after Jesus’ birth tried to kill off the last shoot from Jesse, the heir to David’s throne.
The Jews of that day certainly could empathize with the way we feel.
They saw people working on their own terms. The Chief Priests and Pharisees laid burdens on people, and as Jesus said, they themselves will not move them with their finger. Holiness was in short supply, and truth – as Pilate said – Truth, what does that mean?
When John showed up and said:
—Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!—
Could anyone possibly have believed him? Would anyone jump up and say that they were going to be victorious. Wouldn’t your average normal Israelite, and especially their leaders, think John either insane or subversive?
Brothers and sisters,
What most people missed was that the shoot did sprout, and that shoot is the Lord, the promised Messiah and Son of God.
By lineage Jesus came as the son of David. In reality He came as true God and true man. He is the promised one who changes everything.
We get all warm and fuzzy when we hear about lions and lambs, children and vipers. Those phrases are symbolic of how Jesus’ coming changed the world.
So when we look at the world and feel hope slipping we must remember that the the world has been changed in Jesus’ coming and that the Holy Church lives. It lives even in the face of the world because it is holy. It is filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaims every truth necessary for salvation.
It lives in the promise Jesus gave:
—lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
Those who enter the doors of the Holy Church through baptism are made its sons and daughters and are grafted onto the vine, the Body of Christ.
As the Body of Christ the Holy Church lives, grows, and maintains hope. She is true to who she is.
The Holy Church lives as the beacon of the one, true, holy, and universal faith, taught without compromise or error.
Friends,
Our message is one and it is subversive.
The world does not want to hear that there is one truth, one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Those tied to the world would rather live in the lonely desperation of crafting their own system of belief, or adopting any one that might be convient at the moment. The world does not want to play by the rules of a God who would die for it. The world balks at saying:
`We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’
The world does not want to face the one who Isaiah described as follows:
Not by appearance shall he judge,—¨
nor by hearsay shall he decide,—¨
but he shall judge the poor with justice,—¨
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.—¨
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,—¨
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.—¨
Justice shall be the band around his waist,—¨
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.—¨
Jesus has come!
In this Advent season we recall that the would is filled with hopelessness. We stand against that hopelessness. We are here to celebrate our hope and to prepare ourselves, members of His Holy Church, to carry out His mission.
Go out there today and every day going forward. Tell of our hope.
Tell everyone you meet, I am a Catholic, a child of the Holy Church, committed to be a servant of God, His adopted son, his adopted daughter. Regardless of looks, regardless of appearances, regardless of the world’s direction, the truth is simply this – Jesus has come and has given us the truth. The Church lives this and I intend to live it. Join me at St. Paul in saying:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Amen.
Solemnity of the Conception of the B.V.M.
St. Romaric, Abbot, (653)
St. Budoc, Abbot, (6th century)
St. Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Martyr, (397)
St. Euthychian of Rome, Bishop, (283)
St. Athenodorus of Mesopotamia, Martyr, (304)
St. Nicholas of Myra, Bishop, (4th century)
St. Abraham of Kratia, Bishop, (558)
Saints Dionysia, Majoricus, and Companions, Martyrs, (484)
St. Sabas, Abbot, (532)
St. Crispina, Martyr, (304)
St. Nicetius of Trier, Bishop, (566)
Gospel: John 20:11-18
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” —¨
You might very well ask yourselves, Jim, why are you here, dressed like that, providing a Catholic funeral service for a man who considered himself an atheist?
Seems a bit odd, don’t you think?
I will give you an answer a little later.
First, I want to reflect on *********’s life. On the remarkable traits ********* displayed.
********* lived a life of note, and he lived it as a man. He stood for what he believed in, Country, family, hard work, brotherhood. A real man’s man.
When I remember *********, I remember a man of remarkable dignity and elegance.
He was well read, a dashing figure. He loved history, the news, sports, his community, and the things of the earth like his garden and nature.
Certain events illustrate the kind of man ********* was.
Think of family dinners, especially dinner on Easter Sunday. ********* would come to the dinning room table, well dressed. He sat at the end of the table. He never needed to speak loudly. He never demanded anything. He was perfectly polite, calm, and dignified.
More than that he watched his family around him. He took pleasure in their interaction, especially that of the children. He watched them eat the steak he had grilled, with his own special blend of marinade. He watched his family as it blossomed and grew. He didn’t interject himself into the process of seating arrangements, or getting grandma to sit down.
A lot of men would try to control the events going on around them. ********* never needed to, because he was in control of himself.
In the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 21 we read:
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
I recall too the look on *********’s face as his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and assorted nieces and nephews would sit around him in the sun porch, in the living room, or out at a restaurant.
They would ask questions or tell stories. He would listen attentively, providing little glimpses into his life; the things that would interest a child.
He told them of his childhood, his love for his family, a love he lived in looking after family members. He told them about the one room school house he attended, and about the farm where he was raised.
If you had a chance to look at his face during these times with children you would see a smile, a smile of pure joy.
In the Gospel of St. Luke, Chapter 18 we read:
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
In these passages we hear of Jesus the teacher, Jesus the fisherman, and in the Gospel passage, I read of Mary Magdalene seeing Jesus as the gardener.
All traits that ********* possessed. All the things he loved in his life. All these things were images of God, and ********* carried them well.
So that is why I am here. I am here to attest to the fact that ********* carried the image of Jesus Christ within himself.
Now of course he was not perfect. He had weaknesses like any man. But isn’t that our hope.
It is the hope in which we all share. That even in our imperfection, even with our foibles and mistakes, we still carry the hope of everlasting life.
The Christian religion, regardless of the brand of Christianity, gives us the opportunity to put into practice the things we know we believe. It connects us in a regular pattern of practice to the figure upon which our humanity is modeled, Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, family,
********* has been called home.
He will stand before Jesus and he will see Jesus the fisherman, Jesus the carpenter, Jesus the teacher, Jesus the gardener.
********* will recognize in Jesus all the things he was. Most assuredly, he will recognize in Jesus the hope to which he has always been called. When he sees that hope in Jesus he will enter the heavenly kingdom.
When Mary met Jesus in the garden beside His tomb she was not meeting a ghost. She met the resurrected Jesus. She met Jesus in whose image she, *********, and all of us will be resurrected.
Jesus told her:
—go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
********* has gone up to God. He has gone up to his God and our God, to his Father and our Father.
So I am here to tell you that news. To reassure you, in the Christian faith we all share. To let you know that you carry *********’s legacy within you just as you carry Jesus’ image within you.
Remember our brother *********, and remember to develop the image of God that is within you; to practice the faith that assures us of our hope.
*********’s life has not ended, it has been perfected. By our hope our lives will not end, they will be perfected. Amen.