The Hobbit: Gird your loins, we're going on an adventure

My son and I saw the Hobbit this weekend.  The movie was excellent! The world created by Tolkien really comes to life on screen in a very big way.  The main character of the movie, Bilbo Baggins, is a mild manner Hobbit who really just wants to enjoy the comforts of his home in the Shire, but things change rather quickly when he has multiple unexpected guests show up for dinner, an interesting group of dwarves, who consume everything he has to eat in the house.    The dwarves have much more in store for Bilbo: they want him to sign up to be a burglar in a wild adventure.  Bilbo would much rather that they all go away so he can just be alone to enjoy a little dinner by himself.  Of course after thinking about it a little while he "girds his loins" and takes off on the wild adventure.  There wouldn't be much of a story if he didn't. Bilbo exhibits a virtue that is thrust upon him, fortitude, which results in courage to join the drawves on the adventure for a noble cause.   On the adventure Bilbo encounters elves, orgs, trolls, goblins, and of course a dragon.  You and your family will enjoy it very much.  Tolkien's enduring story is brilliantly brought to life in this journey. To learn a little about the mythical world of Middle Earth and the hero's in each of the stories I invite you to read Tolkien's Myth and Heriosm on Word on Fire blog.    Note: there is some violence in the movie that may not be appropriate for young children. For a full review see Steve Greydanus (he is a deacon candidate) review of the Hobbit on Decent Films.

Rejoice the Lord is near! What to do if it's hard to rejoice.

Father Vince reminded us that the third week of Advent is Gaudete Sunday, a time to rejoice as the Lord Jesus’ coming is near.  Gaudete is Latin for rejoicing.  Jesus coming is certainly a time to rejoice, but it can be very hard to do so when there are tragic events like the one that happened last Friday in Connecticut.  What should we do when we are sad, confused, and not experiencing joy in our lives?  We need to turn to God in prayer.    Prayer is not a magic set of words or a way of asking God to do something he would not normally do.   Prayer is a relationship with the one who loves listens, and cares for us.   Reading, reflecting on, and praying on Scripture is another good way to find joy when we have none.   Scripture has many situations where the people of Israel were in misery and suffering and later experienced joy in return from exile to their homeland.   When they turned back to a relationship with God their joy returned.  We have much to be joyful for, even in the midst of our trials; because our savior Jesus Christ, came to live among us experiencing the same sorrows we’ve all experienced.  He also conquered death through his own suffering, gaining for us the gift of eternal life, for those who believe.  He continues to be present among us and by being in a relationship with the person of Jesus he can lead us to joy.  Please take some time for quiet prayer during the remaining time of Advent to reflect on the joy of Christ’s coming.  May God bless you!

Experience joy of Christ's coming with purity of heart

In reflecting on Father Anto’s homily for the Third week of Advent the main idea that came to me was the joy we should be experiencing in anticipation of Christ’s coming at Christmas.    Father Anto shared with us that a time we should experience joy is when our hearts are pure.   This joy is something he feels after making a good confession and it’s something we can also experience as well during this Advent season.  In Matthew’s Gospel people were coming to John the Baptist asking what they should do in expectation of the Christ coming.  John called for them to repent and to show love of neighbor by sharing their food and clothing with the poor and to treat others fairly by not abusing their positions for personal gain. To be best prepared to welcome Jesus at the joyous occasion of his birth is to have a pure heart. John’s words are good for us to reflect on in preparing to purify our hearts and confess our sins. A good confession is a pathway to a joy filled heart of purity.  It is a wonderful gift to God, our loved ones, and ourselves in getting ready for Christ’s coming by preparing our hearts to be pure to great him.  If you have not been to confession for while just let the priest know, as he will guide you through, so you can experience joy. May God bless during the last few weeks of Advent.

Worms and Maggots take notice - change is coming

In today's reading we hear in the opening reading Israel and Jacob being referred to as a worm and maggot.   Wow that is really low!  I think the prophet used these words to get some attention.    Israel is going to be restored after being in exile and suffering.    Beautiful images are used for providing the needs of people who are suffering such as marshlands in the desert for water and a threshing sledge to cut down mountains and make hills chaff for ease of travel in rugged land.   Life will be less of a burden with God in their lives.  Jesus also gets our attention telling us that the least in God’s kingdom of heaven will be greater than John the Baptist.    The rulers at the time had just arrested John and his followers were asking Jesus what was going to happen.   John was preparing the way for Jesus and the leaders were trying to stifle the message.  Today we have a similar situation with the culture stifling the message of Jesus coming at Christmas.  They’ve changed Christmas to Happy holidays and have removed Jesus.  Don’t let the culture take Christ out of Christmas.   Keep him front and center daily preparing for Christmas during Advent.   When someone tells you Happy Holidays don’t get mad.    Just smile at them and tell them, “Thanks for being so kind in remembering all the holidays my faith celebrates, Christmas, Holy Family, Mary Mother of God, and Epiphany.  That’s a lot to remember! The most important is Christmas, so in the future you can just tell me Merry Christmas.  Have a Merry Christmas!”  Have a blessed Advent and God bless.

Second Sunday of Advent - Preparing for Christmas

This Sunday Father Vince reminded us that Christmas was only two weeks away and asked us if we were getting prepared for Christmas.    He asked were essential needs in preparing to decorate, bake desserts, travel, and buy gifts.   He reminded us that this is a time to prepare which the color purple of Advent reminds us.  He related this to the preparations that the people were making visiting John the Baptist for forgiveness of sins.  John was preparing for someone special who was coming, Jesus Christ.   Luke’s Gospel uses people and places to set the events in history to remind people what was going on at the time.   Political rulers Tiberius Caesar, Pontus Pilate of Judea, and Herod of Galilee were ruthless in their governing.  Jewish priests Annas and Caiaphus were more interested in politics of the temple than leading the people of Israel to God.   Jesus came amidst the troubled times in which these rulers led and the people were really struggling.   The other readings of the day in Baruch and Philippians were about people who were also going through struggles.  People today are struggling as well with the events of hurricane Sandy, Tornado in Henryville, Explosion in Richmond Hill subdivision, marriage trouble, and economic struggles.  What is the answer to get through these struggles: to enter into a relationship with God.  As Christians we have Jesus Christ to rely in a personal intimate relationship to help us.  This does not mean that we won’t have struggles still, but we will have someone who lived among and will be with us as we go through tough times.   As you prepare for Jesus coming of Christ use the time to work on your personal relationship with Christ.  The Advent reflection booklets are a good way to have a daily personal encounter with Christ.  Have a blessed Advent and may God bless you!

My Year of Faith - Website and mobile app to help on your faith journey

I was listening to a Teresa Tomeo this morning on CatholicConnections program on Catholic Radio Indianapolis on the way into work today.  She was interviewing Bishop Kevin Rhoades from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, discussing the unique ways the diocese is reaching out using new media communications during this Year of Faith.    They have created a website, My Year of Faith, which has a brief and information daily post on the Catholic faith.    Every day the reflection is something different.    Today the post is “Restoration from Exile” which gives some background on the exile that the people of Israel went through in the Old Testament writings.  Yesterday is was on St. Nicholas.  On Tuesday it was on an app for your mobile phone, Confession, to help with examination of conscience (I use this app and have purchased for my son to use on his iTouch).    In addition to the web site there is an app call My Year of Faith for your mobile phone as well.    The app is created by Little I Apps, the same people who created the Confessions app.   This looks like a great tool for folks on the go to keep up with and learn about their faith during the Year of Faith. Enjoy the website or app and have a blessed Advent!

Feast of St. Francis Xavier & being a missionary in the culture

Today is the Feast Day of St. Francis Xavier, patron Saint of Missionaries, and also the patron St. of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.   St. Francis Xavier lived in the early 16^th century in Spain and was destined for a career in academics.   Through his friend St. Ignatius of Loyola this all changed and he followed a calling to serve Christ as a missionary in Japan and India.   He lived in and among the cultures learning their language and living, working, and sharing meals with them.  By assimilating with the culture he was able to get many to come to know Christ and convert to the faith. He desired to go on to China, but incurred an illness on the way there and was left on an island in a simple hut and died there.  You can get a daily summary and listen to an audio clip on the Saint’s Daily by subscribing to Franciscan Media saint of the day.  Today’s Gospel about the Roman Centurion’s profession of faith is a good example that if we model our faith in our living among the culture we can bring others to Christ.   We recall the centurion’s word prior to our receiving the Eucharist, “Lord I am not worthy to enter under your roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed. “   We need to keep in mind he was a Gentile and came to know the faith by the loving example of Christ and his disciples working in amongst the people who needed healing.    If we go about modeling the faith with those we live, work, and play with in our culture we can help bring others to Christ.

Seeing the signs of Jesus coming? Be prepared!

First Sunday of Advent, Cycle B - December 2, 2012

Black Friday…Cyber Monday….Christmas decorations in all the stores since early November....Colored lights and a flying reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh in your neighbors yard….A 20 foot inflatable Snow with Happy Holiday on it….Heavy traffic around the Malls.

These are some of the signs I’ve been noticing since the beginning of November.   It’s the secular start of the Christmas season, mainly focused to on shopping and not too much on Christ.  

Did you notice some signs in the Church this morning that things are a little different? It’s the start of the season of Advent, and new liturgical year.  Father Vince and I are both wearing purple vestments.     There is purple draping behind the altar.    This morning we lit the purple candle on the Advent wreath.  The color purple is a sign of anticipation.  Does anyone know what we are anticipating?   We are anticipating the coming of Christ into the world at Christmas.  What else are we anticipating? Christ coming in Glory at the end of time where he will come to judge each and every one of us.   The end of time and judgment may sound a little frightening, but as Christians this is something we should look forward to with joy, if we are prepared.    The Church takes some time before rushing into the Christmas season to prepare to meet Christ.

In the Gospel today Jesus tells us there will be signs in the sun, moon, and the stars and also roaring of the sea on the earth causing the people to be dismayed, perplexed, frightened, and full of anxiety.  The eclipse of the sun & moon were very scary events for the people of Jesus time. The prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Joel described these events in their writings of the end times. When Jesus used these same descriptions it caused the people listen and take notice of what he had to say.

In today’s world we also see some signs that cause us to be anxious & dismayed.   For some people all the hype from the secular Christmas season causes some real anxiety about pressure to spend money.  Many of us are going through tough economic times due to job loss or uncertainty.   Others are dealing with the signs of destruction of lost homes or businesses caused by natural disasters such as hurricane Sandy on the East coast or the tornadoes in Henryville area of Southern Indiana where over two hundred families are still without homes.

Turning back to the Gospel Jesus gives some good news for the people to be hopeful for in the midst of the calamities: THEIR REDEMPTION IS COMING! They will see the coming of Son of Man in a cloud with power and great glory.  The Son of Man is a reference Jesus used to refer to himself as the One to bring salvation to God’s people.  This is a reference the people recognize from the prophet Daniel.  He is announcing the fulfillment the prophecy to the people.  Jesus also gives the people some good advice on how to be ready for his coming.    He warns them to not let their hearts become drowsy from inappropriate activities or anxieties of life, but to be vigilant and pray to have strength to escape the tribulations and to stand before the Son of Man. 

Jesus tells us to be vigilant.  The dictionary defines vigilant as being “alertly watchful”.  To be alert we should be ready and prepared. How can we do this?  By focusing on the things in our lives to bring us closer to Jesus and getting rid of the things that don’t. If we know Christ is going to be coming again in Glory we should be vigilant for his coming and be at our best when we meet Jesus when he comes again. 

When he comes how do we want to meet him?  Today’s opening prayer provides a wonderful image. 

Grant your faithful, we pray, Almighty God the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds, so that, gathered at his right hand they may be worthy to posses the heavenly Kingdom.

This reminds me of an image we see quite often in the movies.  A soldier who has gone off to war and then returns home to his loved ones. When the soldier gets off the airplane we see the friends or family members running with tears of joy and hugging them in a loving embrace. Many of us who have had similar experience being away from our families after a long business trip.   When arrive home our children are overjoyed to see us and run up to give us hugs and kisses.   Both of these images are what we need to keep in mind at the excitement we should have at the coming of our Lord Jesus.

Now after the loving embrace what usually happens next?  You get caught up with each other on what we’ve been doing since we’ve been apart.   Has anyone ever had the unfortunate experience of doing something bad and getting the “wait till your father gets home speech?”   If so you probably hid instead of running up to great you father when you came home.  Wouldn’t you feel much better telling your loved one about all of the good things you’ve done than having to go through all our misgivings?

This Advent, take the time to be alert and make yourself ready for the coming of Christ in Glory.   Use this time for prayer to be with Jesus and listen to him.   Listen to what he is calling you to do to become closer to him and rid yourself of what is separating you from him. Starting this Advent you’ll have a wonderful opportunity to do so after the 8:45 am Mass as we will have adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for an hour.  This is a wonderful time to slow down in this busy season before Christmas and be with Christ.  Also try to take some time out each day for 5 or 10 minutes of prayer and ask how can I prepare my self to be ready to meet Christ.   Consider participating in Advent activity to focus on others to see Christ in them and be Christ to them.   This will help you to prepare for the coming of Christ.  Have a blessed Advent!

Deacon Steve's New Year's Resolutions

Following is Deacon Steve Hodge's Homily from December 2, 2012. The readings are from the 1^st Sunday Advent – C

Good morning!

Happy New Year, my friends!

Today is the beginning of the Church year. 

The church doesn’t wait for January 1^st to begin its New Year; it begins on the first Sunday of Advent.

As we begin this New Church Year I think it’s appropriate that we say to each other “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” just like we do on January 1^st.

As I reflected on today’s readings and the season of Advent, I thought about January 1^st - New Year’s Day. 

Besides the food, the celebrations, and all the football games, what else do people do on January 1st?

Do any of you ever make New Year’s resolutions?

Some more popular New Year’s resolutions include:

-            Lose weight

-            Exercise more

-            Eat better food

-            Read more – watch less TV

-            Get out of debt

-            To get organized

These are wonderful things to do to improve our bodies and our minds.

We all feel better when we put away the junk food and eat healthier.

We all feel better when we exercise our bodies and become more physically fit.

We all feel better when we lose weight and have less to carry.

Reading more, getting out of debt and becoming more organized all help us feel better about life.

My friends, this Advent season we can apply these same New Year’s resolutions to our spiritual life.

Advent has a two-fold purpose:

To prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas and to prepare for the coming of Christ at the end of time.

As we look ahead to the coming of Jesus, let’s take a look at a few resolutions that we may consider for our Advent journey.

We can certainly exercise more, can’t we?  What are some spiritual exercises?

We can pray more.

We may want to pray morning prayer and evening prayer.

How about the rosary, or the divine mercy chaplet?

We may want to consider spending time with Jesus in front of the Tabernacle.

How about attending mass during the week as well as Sunday?

Like physical exercises, spiritual exercises really help us to feel better.

Once we recognize this, the exercises become something that we look forward to doing each day. 

And if we skip a day, we feel as though something isn’t right, that something is missing.

Our next resolution is to eat better. How do we eat better spiritually?

                We’ve all heard the sayings ‘You are what you eat’ and ‘garbage in garbage out.’

With that in mind, if our goal as Catholics is to become more Christ like, then we need to feed on Jesus.

                How do we do that?

The most obvious place is here at the Mass, where we feed on Jesus in scripture, in each other, and in the Eucharist.

We can feed our minds and our souls by reading about the Church and about the saints.

We can study the Bible study, too - the Gospel of Luke would be a great place to start. 

My friends, just as our bodies need nourishment each day, our souls do as well.

Let’s remember that God in word and sacrament is food for our souls.

Another resolution is to lose weight.  How do we lose weight spiritually?

My friends, sin are the ‘calories for the soul’ and it’s sin what weighs us down and burdens us spiritually.

                Sin is a real drag on us and prevents us from being in right relationship with God.

Sin keeps us from experiencing true joy and true peace in God because it adds unnecessary weight to our souls.

                Sin also is like having debt because it prevents us from being truly free.

In our second reading Paul addresses the Thessalonians:

Paul says:

“we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that,
as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God
and as you are conducting yourselves you do so even more.
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”

Paul is telling the people to conduct themselves in a manner that pleases God.

What pleases God?  Eliminating sin in our lives is pleasing to God.

Let’s throw off the extra weight this Advent season. 

Let’s encounter Christ in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where we can lose the weight and debt of sin.  

Take advantage of the many reconciliation opportunities here at SSFC and at our surrounding parishes. 

Let’s meet Christ in this healing sacrament and lose some weight on our souls.

To get organized is another spiritual resolution that we may consider this Advent season.

Part of being organized is making plans and carrying them out.

The church reminds us with our Gospel reading to make plans that prepare us for the coming of Jesus.

We need to stay awake, to stay vigilant because we don’t know when our time is up on earth.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus points out the importance of being prepared for the coming of the Son of Man.  Jesus says:

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

Jesus tells his disciples that they must stay awake and be ready at all times.

Dear friends, let’s quit procrastinating - now is the time!

Last week Fr. Vince talked about removing those obstacles from our lives that are hindering our relationship with God.

Pride, Indifference, Arrogance, Anger, Selfishness, & Time.

Let’s kick those obstacles and get organized by making spiritual plans as we prepare to meet Jesus. 

As we continue our Year of Faith this Advent season, let’s make our own lists of New Year’s resolutions for our souls.

Let’s eat better.  Let’s exercise more. Let’s lose some weight.  Let’s read more.

And let’s get organized as we wait for the coming of our savior Jesus.

Happy New Year!