ANGELS UNAWARE
It was 4:30 am, a blustery December morning in D.C. I had been there the day before for meetings, and my flight home scheduled for the night before had been cancelled due to ice and snow. I was on stand-by for the first flight out Wednesday morning, if I could get to the airport be-fore 5:00 am.
My mood was hardly the best.
I hailed a cab.
I was tired, cold, coughing. The driver had the radio on. We listened to news of shootings of kids on a school bus, bombings, and assassinations in the Middle East, war in various places around the world.
Christmas seemed far away, long ago.
The cabbie observed how dangerous the world was. After the news, he told me he and his family had fled a war-torn nation as refugees.
I commented on how his job—driving a cab in the middle of the night in a city hardly known for its safety—was far from safe.
He turned on the light and pointed to the sun visor above him. There was an image of the Madonna and Child (Mind you, he had no way of knowing I was a priest, as I had my scarf wrapped around my neck, covering my clerical col-lar.) “Jesus and Mary are my only protection,” he in-formed me. “Yes, danger is everywhere. We can only be truly safe with them.”
Some angel—a messenger from heaven—usually crosses my path every year as Christmas nears. When I entered Reagan National Airport, “Silent Night” was on the speak-er. This year’s angel came in the guise of a cabbie.
I’m glad I left him a good tip.
Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan
Doers of the Word ~ Putting Your Faith Into Practice
Friday, December 28, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
3rd Sunday of Advent
3rd Sunday of Advent
Holiday magazines are well known for providing quick, practical ideas for trimming the house, wel-coming guests, and preparing enticing food. The suggestions that are offered are designed to help the host and hostess show off a stunning atmos-phere without spending days and weeks preparing for a party or dinner that may only last an hour or two. Often eve-ryday items are transformed with a swatch of fabric, a can-dle, or some evergreens. Ingenious cutting makes plain vegetables or ordinary hors d'oeuvres into holiday delights. The operative concepts in getting people to buy these idea books and read them are: quick, easy, and practical.
In the Gospel today, John the Baptist offers quick, easy, and practical ideas for those who would prepare for the coming of the Christ. As St. Luke tells us, people in his day were filled with expectation. John was pretty straightfor-ward in what he thought they should do: If you have two coats, give one away to somebody who doesn't have one; be equitable in your dealings with others; don't push people around; don't lie about people. In modern parlance, we might say that John the Baptist was asking people to act justly in the world.
Unfortunately, today we don't often think of justice as quick, easy, or practical. Our understanding of justice is more often colored by the contemporary legal system than by the divine laws of the covenant that binds God and his people. There was a reciprocity and equanimity in the cove-nantal relationship. There were duties to be fulfilled on each side. John was asking that those who were filled with expectation for the coming of the Messiah would set them-selves aright with one another so that God's covenant would find full expression in the relationships that bind people to God and to one another. Justice is really about leveling things out. And when you think about it, that is pretty easy. If you have more, then you share.
Holiday magazines are well known for providing quick, practical ideas for trimming the house, wel-coming guests, and preparing enticing food. The suggestions that are offered are designed to help the host and hostess show off a stunning atmos-phere without spending days and weeks preparing for a party or dinner that may only last an hour or two. Often eve-ryday items are transformed with a swatch of fabric, a can-dle, or some evergreens. Ingenious cutting makes plain vegetables or ordinary hors d'oeuvres into holiday delights. The operative concepts in getting people to buy these idea books and read them are: quick, easy, and practical.
In the Gospel today, John the Baptist offers quick, easy, and practical ideas for those who would prepare for the coming of the Christ. As St. Luke tells us, people in his day were filled with expectation. John was pretty straightfor-ward in what he thought they should do: If you have two coats, give one away to somebody who doesn't have one; be equitable in your dealings with others; don't push people around; don't lie about people. In modern parlance, we might say that John the Baptist was asking people to act justly in the world.
Unfortunately, today we don't often think of justice as quick, easy, or practical. Our understanding of justice is more often colored by the contemporary legal system than by the divine laws of the covenant that binds God and his people. There was a reciprocity and equanimity in the cove-nantal relationship. There were duties to be fulfilled on each side. John was asking that those who were filled with expectation for the coming of the Messiah would set them-selves aright with one another so that God's covenant would find full expression in the relationships that bind people to God and to one another. Justice is really about leveling things out. And when you think about it, that is pretty easy. If you have more, then you share.
Monday, December 10, 2012
First Sunday of Advent
First Sunday of Advent
Christmas dinner in most homes is planned weeks in advance. Guests are expected; we must be ready for them with a magnificent feast. On that day, a perfect choreography of timing will ensure that everything arrives on the table hot and ready to eat. But what if we had no idea what time our guests would be arriving? Would we still be prepared? How would we greet them when they finally do arrive?'
On this first Sunday of Advent, we are given to recall and renew our greatest expectation, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the faithful prepared for the glori-ous coming of the Messiah, no one knew the hour or even the day, let alone that this coming would be in such a humble place as a stable in Bethlehem. Likewise, Jesus cautions us that not even the angels in heaven know when the Son of God will return. "What I say to you, then, I say to all: Watch!"
As we remember the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah and renew our spirits to prepare for Christ's return, we must know that there is "no surer pledge or clearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth ... than the Eucharist." (CCC, 1405) We are anxiously awaiting the most glorious of guests, who promises to be with us soon if we only live through his eyes and his heart now. Our meal is prepared, our feast is ready. Are we?
Christmas dinner in most homes is planned weeks in advance. Guests are expected; we must be ready for them with a magnificent feast. On that day, a perfect choreography of timing will ensure that everything arrives on the table hot and ready to eat. But what if we had no idea what time our guests would be arriving? Would we still be prepared? How would we greet them when they finally do arrive?'
On this first Sunday of Advent, we are given to recall and renew our greatest expectation, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the faithful prepared for the glori-ous coming of the Messiah, no one knew the hour or even the day, let alone that this coming would be in such a humble place as a stable in Bethlehem. Likewise, Jesus cautions us that not even the angels in heaven know when the Son of God will return. "What I say to you, then, I say to all: Watch!"
As we remember the anticipation of the coming of the Messiah and renew our spirits to prepare for Christ's return, we must know that there is "no surer pledge or clearer sign of this great hope in the new heavens and new earth ... than the Eucharist." (CCC, 1405) We are anxiously awaiting the most glorious of guests, who promises to be with us soon if we only live through his eyes and his heart now. Our meal is prepared, our feast is ready. Are we?
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