Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville

14 hours ago

Sunday, December 16, 2018
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Zep 3:14-18a/Phil 4:4-7/Lk 3:10-18
It is "REJOICE SUNDAY!"
If you give a gift, give one that magnifies relationship...you know that person, they know you. AND REJOICE IN THAT RELATIONSHIP!
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Advent is happening all around us whether it is happening inside or not. There is no need for anxiety though, because God’s Grace is the basic inside story every moment. There is a sense of joyfulness in the events of Advent, with parties, dinners, musical presentations to heighten our spirits.

We hear a joyful theme in today’s Eucharistic Liturgy. We prepare for the parties, dinners, social gatherings of the season. We prepare for the liturgy in a similar spirit. We can ask the same questions of the communal gathering of the liturgy as we would ask of the parties and dinners. We would want to know who will be there, what will be served, what should we wear, and generally what is expected.

We are invited to pray with these same questions. Who will be there? What will be served? Who is the inviter? What shall we wear? How shall we respond? What is expected is that we come to receive joyfully the reality of life as a total gift as is our faith in the Inviter and what the Inviter wishes to serve.

Advent Hint: It is helpful to our spiritual life to spend more than a glancing-moment in our reading of Christmas Cards with their notes of good wishes both printed and hand-written. It is good for our souls also to spend time with the pictures or drawings on those cards and notes. We too quickly look at the signature. Do that first, as is natural, and then again after spending time with the card. It will become a prayer and a preparation for the Advent Liturgy.

REFLECTION The first two chapters which precede our First Reading today, are prophesies against the nation, the leaders and the people of Israel. Disasters will befall God’s people because of their false worship and disregard for the needs of the poor. All this sadbad news is replaced by the glad-news we hear today.

The very first verses of the Book of Zephaniah cry out that God is going to sweep away all living things from the face of the earth. The leaders, the judges, the prophets, and the priests have all defiled the nation and the city of Jerusalem. What we hear is a pledge and an announcement that this very same God of troubling vengeance has remained faithful and actually is in “her” presence. Fear and disheartening have been driven away and the victorious warrior is now singing and dancing with joy over Her return.

The images in this poem are celebrational and reflective of the ritual festivals of this agricultural land. Instead of a sweeping away, there is a gathering up. Rather than banishment, there is inclusion. The people are to shout for joy that what was held against them has been removed and they are to relate gratefully with their new and loving King.

It is “Rejoice Sunday” which is always the theme of the liturgical readings for this, the Third Sunday of Advent. The sense of joyful anticipation is emphasized. Jesus, as Victorious Warrior, is drawing near. The Second Reading for today echoes strongly this spirit Someone very good to us and for us is near and we will be better for that Someone’s arrival.

In the Gospel, John is still in center stage predicting the imminent arrival of the Messiah. In response to this preaching, various groups of people line up to find out what they must do to be ready. In a sense we are back to wanting to know what’s going to be expected, what will make them ready for the event. The crowds, the tax collectors, the soldiers and presumably other groups of influential people, stepped up to make sure they would be wearing the proper clothes and appearing just right and ready.

John tells each in turn to let go of the natural inclinations of their trade or lifestyle. Basically John is telling them to be freed from their fullness of self to receive a life that leads to the fullness of life. John the Baptist uses a familiar farm image to describe one of the missions of the One who is to come. The Waited-For will have a large fan in His hand and will separate the precious grains of wheat from the expendable chaff. The grain are those who will receive life through the Messiah and in turn give that life through their deeds. The chaff will be those who will choose other ways of receiving meaning for their lives.

Luke ends this revelation with John continuing distributing “Good News”. The rejoicing is both the giving and the receiving of the News of the coming of the presence of the Good. This is a partial reason for the giving of gifts during this Advent and Christmas season. Gifts are meant to express something about the giver, the receiver and something about the relationship between both.

The seven sacraments within the Catholic Church say the same kind of things as gifts of God. I would like to propose that in the spirit of Advent and Christmas we give, not presents, but sacraments. These big and little things are gestures expressive of the giver, the receiver and the relationship between both. God does this in the sending of the Good News in Christ. The things we give will have accompanying notes verbally expressing or making explicit what is being said by the gift. We are saying something about our feelings, our reverence
for the receiver and something explicit about our union or love. The gift says something of the good news about our relationship and the words complete it and make it all a Christmas “Presence” and Christmas sacrament within the present we are sharing.

John was preparing to present Jesus and made it explicit by his preaching. In giving and receiving Christmas sacraments we are symbolizing in our little spiritual way, exactly what God is doing every time we gather at the Eucharist and every time we live out God’s Grace. By Larry Gillick, S.J. Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality ... See MoreSee Less

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Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville

2 days ago

Who are the people in your life who could bring you closer to God?

Saturday, December 15, 2018\
Advent Week day Sir 48:1-4, 9-11/Mt 17:9a, 10-13

When I was elementary school I celebrated the end of the semester with a sleep-over at a family friend’s home. Everyone was surprised about the huge blizzard that blew in overnight preventing me from heading home the next morning. While I was safe and comfortable at my friend’s home, I was very worried about getting home in time for Christmas. My brother was happy to reassure me over the phone that if I was still snowbound on Christmas he would be willing to open all my presents for me. Needless to say, my response to him was not one of gratitude. Fortunately, my dad borrowed a snowmobile and I got home in plenty of time to celebrate Christmas with my family.

This story came to mind as I read today’s first reading from Sirach about the prophet Elijah. He appeared like a fire and his words were like a flaming furnace as he focused on bringing people home, back to the Lord. The sense of purpose from Elijah burns bright like a fire.

While as a young child I was thinking only of myself and my longing for my family (and my Christmas presents). I appreciate the dramatic way my dad came to bring me home. He could have waited until the snowplows did their work, but he wanted his family together all under one roof. Moments such as these from my life can help me understand the powerful message of scripture.

In the Gospel today Jesus tells the disciples: “Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.”

Today I pray for the grace to recognize people in my life who could bring me closer to God. I ask myself to explore times I treat someone as I please rather in the way they should be treated. I reflect upon how I can be inspired by Elijah to share the good news of the birth of Jesus this Advent season. I pray for the awareness to not let a busy schedule and long lists of obligations turn me away from God. Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved. By Mary Lee Brock- Professor of Facilitation and Mediation Theory and Practice ... See MoreSee Less

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Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville

3 days ago

Are we bearing fruit?
Friday, December 14, 2018
Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church - Memorial Is 48:17-19/Mt 11:16-19

The psalm in today's reading has a line which has always seemed rich to me: “The man who follows not the ways of the wicked... is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves never fade.”
This individual is “planted,” set in place by someone who presumably knows what he is doing, and the nearby water is running, alive. The tree, or each of us, has all that it needs at all times even though that support is not immediately visible. It is simple and clear, nearly invisible, and yet it is what the tree, or each of us, yearns for and cannot live without.

And we could say much the same thing about the invisible light that is also essential for such life.

Such a tree yields fruit, not simply enjoying its dependable and satisfying condition, and it yields that fruit in due season, but is there such a thing as the unfading leaves which the psalm mentions next? I would think that fruit trees are cyclic and shed their leaves on an annual basis in preparation for the next fruit-bearing cycle (but what do I know? I'm a city boy), and I would guess that this suggests that this tree does not produce fruit only once a year but does so on a regular and steady basis.

Take a look at Ezekiel 47:12 and Revelation 22:2, which pick up on this idea. The trees in these passages are obviously symbolic, possibly of us, and go well beyond what we expect of the trees in our ordinary lives. Considering these verses in the respective contexts might help develop some of the implications of this psalm verse for us...

To cut to the chase: are we like the tree of the psalm? God has planted us in the time and place that he thought best for us, gave us just the gifts that he thought we would need, and wants us to flourish and to bear fruit for others as a regular event – and I would dare to say that he expects or at least hopes for fruit from us both in season and out (2 Timothy 4:2; Mark 11:12-14). We are able to do so only because we have that almost invisible but radically necessary support from our God that we call “grace” – if we open ourselves to it. By Chas Kestermeier, S.J., Professor of English ... See MoreSee Less

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Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville

4 days ago

"Boldly invite others to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
December 13
Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr - Memorial -Is 41:13-20/Mt 11:11-15
As I read and pray with the readings for today I see the theme of “the kingdom of God”. In the season of Advent we are reminded that Jesus came to invite us into the kingdom of God through the incarnation. During Advent my prayer consists of phrases like, “Come Lord Jesus” and ”O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. For me it is a time to pray for God to fill my heart. Then I am able to respond with courage and love when Jesus says to me, “Come, follow me” (Mt 4:19). The readings we hear throughout the rest of the year about the life
and ministry of Jesus echo this continual call of Jesus to “Come, follow me.”

The first reading from Isaiah reminds me of God’s generosity and willingness to give the people of Israel all that they need, including the mercy and kindness referred to in the psalm. Israel is striving to be a great nation and kingdom at this time in history and these words from God remind them that they cannot do this on their own. It is God that helps them be a great nation. I can identify with the people of Israel who desire great things but easily forget that God is the giver of all good gifts. In the first reading it is obvious that God seeks to assist, to help and to give good gifts. God is saying, “Fear not”, I want good for you. I trust that God wants good for all of us. Advent is a time to remember the ultimate good gift God has given us all which is the gift of his son, Jesus. Through him we have our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

In the gospel reading from Matthew we hear Jesus talk about the “Kingdom of heaven” in reference to John the Baptist. Jesus says, “Among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist”, but goes on to say, “Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” The Catholic Study Bible suggests that the meaning of this statement by Jesus is that the greatness of John the Baptist lies in his role as the one who announces the kingdom of heaven. The message I heard in this is the invitation to be like John and to boldly invite others to enter the kingdom of heaven. By being a part of the kingdom of heaven we too find our greatness.
By Kathy Martin – Campus Minister ... See MoreSee Less

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