Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Every night, all over the world, religious men and women, priests, deacons and many lay people recite a few verses from today’s gospel, Luke 2: 22-40.  The verses are used during Night Prayer which is part of the Liturgy of the Hours.  They form a prayer called the Nunc dimittis:  “Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled:  my own eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of every people:  a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”  This is Simeon’s prayer that he offered after seeing the baby Jesus in the Temple forty days after his birth.

Simeon’s story is the centrepiece of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord that we celebrate today.  It’s another epiphany, an appearance or manifestation of a divine being.  In this case the Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that the forty day old baby he held in his arms was “the Christ of the Lord.”  The Spirit promised Simeon that he would not die until he actually saw the Messiah.  Holding the child, Simeon rejoiced and proclaimed his beautiful prayer of thanksgiving.  For Simeon the child represented the end of his life.  Like John the Baptist, Simeon was a messenger who must diminish so that the mission of Jesus could be fulfilled.

After giving Joseph and Mary a blessing, Simeon has some challenging words for Mary, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted —and you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”    This is the paradox of the feast we celebrate today.  It is a feast of joy and light.  In other countries it often is called Candlemas when candles are blessed and lit to reflect Christ as our Light.  However Simeon’s words to Mary remind us that there is a price to pay for following the Light of Christ.  For Simeon and John the Baptist the price was death.  For Mary the price was the pain she would experience when her son was crucified. 

The challenge for us on this Feast Day is to commit to the demands placed on us as followers of Christ.  The life of a Christian is not all sweetness and light.  However, we can pray that the Light of Christ will illuminate our life’s journey so that we like Simeon, will see “the salvation which [God has] prepared in the sight of every people.

 God our Father,
you spoke your mighty word to the world
and there was light.
You have spoken your Word Jesus Christ among us
and there is light in our minds and hearts.
Do not allow us to keep this light of Jesus
hidden but let it shine in our words and deeds,
that it may brighten the footsteps
of all people in search of the truth.
We ask you this through Jesus Christ our Lord
who is the light and the guiding star of our lives,
 Amen.

Spirituality is ...

“Spirituality is not a formula; it is not a test.  It is a relationship. Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy.  Spirituality is not about perfection; it is about connection.  The way of the spiritual life begins where we are now in the mess of our lives.  Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality not because the spiritual life will remove our flaws but because we let go of seeking perfection and, instead, seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives.  Spirituality in not about being fixed; it is about God's being present in the mess of our unfixedness.”

Michael Yaconelli in "Messy Spirituality

Boxes of Love

I have in my hands two boxes
Which God gave me to hold

He said, “Put all your sorrows in the black,

And all your joys in the gold.”

I heeded His words, and in the two boxes
Both my joys and sorrows I store

But though the gold became heavier each day

The black was as light as before

With curiosity, I opened the black
I wanted to find out why

And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole

Which my sorrows had fallen out by

I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud,
“I wonder where my sorrows could be.”

He smiled a gentle smile at me. 

“My child, they're all here with me.”

I asked, "God, why give me the boxes, 
why the gold, and the black with the hole?”

“My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,

the black is for you to let go.”

Class Assignment that Lasted a Lifetime

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in their paper.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual. On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments. No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature. The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "Yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot." After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it." Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it." All of Mark's former class mates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It’s in the top drawer of my desk at home." Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album." "I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary." Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times, " Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists."

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again. The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late...

- From “The Inspiration List”

Prayer of Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.

          Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
          Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies.
          Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you.
          Be honest anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight.
          Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous.
          Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow.
          Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
          Give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

Donuts

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending Seminary in Utah. In this Seminary classes are held during school hours. Brother Christianson taught Seminary at this particular school. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson's Seminary class.

Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over. One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're

pretty tough, don't you?" 

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls.  Everyone was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend. Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"

Cynthia said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?"

Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott.

Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.  When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"

Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No." Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?"

Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort

involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely.

Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups.  You can do them any way that you want." And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on.

Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come." Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."

Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?"

Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down. Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity.  Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.  The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular.

Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.  Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson, can I help him?" Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."

The Little Fish

"Excuse me," said a little fish.  "You are older than I, so can you tell me where to find this thing called the ocean?"

"The ocean," said the older fish, "is the thing you are in now."

"Oh, this? But this is the water.  What I’m seeking is the ocean,"  said the disappointed fish, as he swam away to search elsewhere.

(From Anthony de Mello)

What becomes clear to us on our own spiritual journey is that we don't have to look for God or for spirituality. We only have to look.

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus took his disciples up on the mountain and gathered them around him. And he taught them, saying “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who are persecuted. Blessed are those who suffer. When these things happen, rejoice, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

And Simon Peter said, “Do we have to write this down?”

And Phillip said “Is this going to be on the test?”

And John said, “Would you repeat that, slower?”

And Andrew said, “John the Baptist’s disciples don’t have to learn this stuff.”

And Matthew said, “Huh?”

And Judas said, “What’s this got to do with real life?”

And then one of the Pharisees said, an expert in law, said, “I don’t see any of this in your syllabus. Do you have a lesson plan? Where’s the student guide? Will there be a follow-up assignment?”

And Thomas, who had missed the sermon, came to Jesus privately and said, “Did we do anything important today?”

And Jesus wept.

Who are You?

A woman was in a coma and dying. She suddenly had a feeling that she was taken up to heaven and stood before the Judgment Seat.

“Who are you?" a Voice said to her.

“I'm the wife of the mayor," she replied. 

“I did not ask whose wife you are but who you are." 

“I'm the mother of four children."

“I did not ask whose mother you are, but who you are." 

“I'm a school teacher."

“I did not ask what your profession is but who you are.”

And so it went. No matter what she replied, she did not seem to give a satisfactory answer to the question, “Who are you?”

“I'm a Christian.”

“I did not ask what your religion is but who you are.”

“I'm the one who went to church everyday and always helped the poor and needy.”

“I did not ask what you did but who you are.”

She evidently failed the examination, for she was sent back to earth. When she recovered form her illness, she was determined to find out who she was. And that made all the difference.

Your duty is to be. Not to be somebody, not to be nobody - for therein lies greed and ambition - not to be this or that - and thus conditioned - just to be.

From Anthony de Mello, SJ

Everybody

This is a story about four people named: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.

Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job.

Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it!

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

The Search for God

Do not let anxiety sabotage

your search for God. 

You know well that when

you search for something too anxiously

you can come upon it a hundred times

without ever seeing it.

Anxiety masquerades as true spiritual energy,

even as it wearies out mind,

drains our enthusiasm,

and deadens our soul.

It pretends to stir up our soul,

but all it does is dampen our spirit.
It pushes us until we stumble over our own feet.

We need to be on the watch for this impostor

that would have us believing

that our spiritual life

depends completely on our efforts,

so that the more panicked we are,

the more anxiously we search,
the more likely we are to find God.

Let God do his part.

Be patient.

Not even our best efforts

can earn the blessings of God.

Our role is to be ready

to receive God’s gifts

with an open heart -

carefully, humbly, and serenely.

Set Your Heart Free - 

The Practical Spirituality

of Francis de Sales

by John Kirvan

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

In 2002 Pope John Paul II introduced five new mysteries of the Rosary, the Luminous Mysteries, to cover Christ's public ministry. The Baptism of the Lord is the first Luminous Mystery and marks the beginning of Christ's public ministry. With his baptism Jesus leaves his private, domestic life at Nazareth, and sets out to proclaim God's salvation for the world.

Today's feast celebrates not just Christ's baptism, but ours. Through our baptism we have been born from above -- from God -- and have become the children of God. Just as Jesus shared our human life through his birth at Bethlehem, so we share his divine life through our rebirth at baptism. We become God's beloved sons or daughters, with whom he is well pleased.

Jesus’ baptism prepared him for his mission and ours prepares us for our mission. We are not simply called to a private, cozy relationship between each of us and God; rather our baptism commissions us to share the faith we have received. Like Jesus, we are meant to be luminous -- lights revealing the glory of God and the power of his salvation. Like Jesus we are called to dispel the darkness of ignorance and error. If we live up to our vocation God will, indeed, be able to say, 'This is my beloved son or daughter, with whom I am well pleased.'

There is a final point, which we can easily overlook. When God calls us to carry out any task, he always gives us the strength to do it. After his baptism Jesus prepared for his mission by spending forty days praying in the desert. His whole ministry formed a rhythm of preaching and healing, punctuated by long periods of prayer. This should remind us that we cannot be faithful to our baptismal mission without God's help, which we must seek in prayer. The greatest mistake we could make would be for us to try doing God's work without his assistance.

God our Father,
with Jesus you call us to be
your beloved sons and daughters
and with him you give us the mission
to become humble and dedicated servants.
Grant that we may not break
those crushed by sin and sorrow.
Help us to serve always the cause of right,
to be eyes to the blind
and a voice for the downtrodden.
May we please you in all we do.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Amen.

Three Important Things in Life

You've heard it said, “Be nice to your kids.  They'll choose your nursing home.”  Well, there may be other and more important reasons for being careful how we treat one another.

I think that U.S. industrialist Charles M. Schwab may have gotten it right. At age 72, Schwab was sued for a large sum of money.  Many high-profile persons would have settled out of court, but Schwab went through with it and eventually won the suit.

Before he left the witness stand, he asked permission of the court to make a statement of a personal nature. 

This is what he said: "I am an old man, and I want to say that ninety percent of my troubles have been due to my being good to other people.  If you younger folk want to avoid trouble, be hard-boiled and say no to everybody.  You will then walk through life unmolested, but…” and here a broad smile lit up his face, “you will have to do without friends, and you won't have much fun.”

Maybe that's why Henry James said, “Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”  It's a vital part of a whole and happy life.

To Be Holy

Monks, mystics, hermits and the like may seem to say that holiness means setting oneself apart from the world, it's temptations, trials and troubles. In the desert wastelands, river valleys, lakesides, forests and mountain tops men and women have experienced God and come to know their selves and calls.  But not so for the rest of us. We are called to be in, not of, the world.  To be sure we are holy when we choose God and not ourselves and sinful desires.  Being relatively sin-free is a worthy aim and no doubt a noteworthy accomplishment. But this is only a beginning and not the end of what is actual and authentic holiness.  Nor is holiness something we put on and take off like brocaded vestments or religious jewelry. Neither is it restricted to churches and cathedrals.

Jesus Christ calls us salt and light. We are to make a difference in the lives of family, friends, and strangers by our words, with our actions, in our example, through our efforts. Words in a Jewish Prayer book remind us how and when we find holiness: There is holiness when we ... strive to be true to the best we know; are kind to someone who cannot possibly repay us; promote family harmony; forget what divides us and remember what unites us; we love -- truly, honestly, and unselfishly; we remember the lonely and bring light where it is dark; share -- our bread, our ideas, our enthusiasms; gather to pray to God who gave us the power to pray: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts; all of life can be filled with God's glory.

~ Father Paul Wharton (and Likrat Shabbat)

Broken Resolutions

Most of us, I suspect, have our own long history of broken New Year's resolutions.

How many times have we begun a new year with the sincere intention of ending some bad habit and of finally setting ourselves to living life as we should have been living it all along and, after a very short time, have found ourselves again solidly embedded in our old habits and ruts?

Hence, most of us live lives not so much of quiet desperation as of quiet resignation . . . “This is the way I am! This is the way my life has always been! This is the way I will always be!”

The belief that things can be different, and for the better, is a crucial part of our Christian faith. To believe that there can be “a new heaven and a new earth” (and that we can be paragons of virtue and delight within it) is not something that takes its ground in natural optimism (for example, “I always see the positive in things.”) but is something that is rooted in the belief that “nothing is impossible with God.”

How to change? As Psalm 96 puts it, “sing a new song to the Lord.”

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

Many years ago, I decided that I wanted to become a serious stargazer.  I mentioned my interest to a friend who presented me with a telescope.  This was not a simple point at a star and look telescope.  This was a real telescope that required some knowledge about   astronomy or at least a sense of where to look to see what the night sky had to offer.  I must admit I was a bit disappointed.  All I wanted to do was take a close look at some stars and planets.  I didn’t realize how complicated the sky is with thousands and thousands of stars, clusters, nebulae and galaxies.  Serious stargazing takes work and I was not sure that I wanted to put much energy or effort into the project.  So, my telescope sat in a corner, rarely used, until I finally gave it away.

The Magi who followed the Star of Bethlehem were scholars.  They were serious stargazers who, when they saw the “star at its rising,” dropped everything they were doing to follow it.  They did not have telescopes.  They had to rely on the low-tech science of the day.  They studied the night sky watching for changes and movement. They knew this new star represented something extraordinary, the “newborn king of the Jews” and they were willing to make great sacrifices to find him.  We don’t know exactly where they came from but St. Matthew implies that they traveled a great distance to get to Bethlehem.  What is interesting to consider is that this star clearly was not invisible.  Others must have seen it.  The Scribes and Pharisees, the chief priests and scientists of Israel must have seen the star.  But they did nothing to investigate.  Pagan foreigners recognized the significance of the star and set out to  find it.   

All our readings today emphasize that Jesus was born for the people of all nations.  The Magi were non-believers, pagans, gentiles, not worth any consideration in the eyes of the people of Israel, but they were the people who had the faith and humility to seek and welcome Jesus into our world.  They did not know where the star would lead them.  However, they pursued their journey of faith knowing that the end of their journey would reveal something spectacular, “the glory of the Lord.” On this Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, we should ask ourselves, what star do I follow?   Will I recognize a God sent star?  What will I sacrifice to follow that star? 

Father,
you revealed your Son to the nations
by the guidance of a star.
Lead us to your glory in heaven
by the light of faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God forever and ever.

 Amen